Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-07
2003-08-12
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
C361S749000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06604948
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to testing head assemblies in disk drive mass storage systems, and more particularly to a connector board for providing electrical connections between a disk drive head assembly and a testing apparatus during testing and media certification.
2. Description of the Background Art
Disk drives are used extensively for storing digital data as a series of magnetic domains upon one or more platters, or disks, which are fabricated from a magnetizable material. The disks are configured to rotate about a spindle wherein data is read and written from the disk surface by a head assembly. The head assembly is positioned in close proximity to the disk surface where it can read or write a circular track on the disk platter. The head assembly is mounted to an actuator assembly capable of moving the head to any track on the planar surface of the platter. An actuator assembly includes an actuator and an actuator block for supporting the heads. Heads are coupled to the actuator block via a head gimbal assembly (HGA) and a load beam. The gimbal assembly allows the head to pitch and roll according to the topology of the disk surface. A slider is associated with the head which is capable of flying over the boundary layer of air associated with a moving disk platter.
To reduce the failure rate of an assembled disk drive in the field, a large portion of the assemblies in the disk drive are tested separately. In particular, drive heads, which are major components of disk drives, are tested individually using a head tester. Disk drive heads typically comprise miniature transducer elements having an integral set of very fine gauge wires to accommodate movement of the head when attached to an electromechanical actuator assembly. The head tester measures the electrical characteristics of the head and preferably the flying parameters relating to the head and its slider. In addition, the disk drive media is tested in a certification process which is preferably performed in combination with the head assembly that is to be used with the media in the final drive assembly. After media certification, the head assemblies are packaged and assembled with the media into a disk drive.
During testing, the head assembly may be interfaced to various test equipment which may provide different forms of test connections. Prior to testing, the fine-wire leads of the head assembly are conductively attached to a connector board to facilitate providing serviceable test connections. Since the method of establishing electrical connection with the tester often varies, the fine-wires from the head assemblies may need to be removed from one connector board, after the completion of a particular test or tests, and reattached to another connector board for subsequent testing. Each time the connector board is changed, the wires from the head assembly which are bonded to the connector board must be disconnected and subsequently bonded to another connector board. It will be appreciated, therefore, that changing from one such connector board to another is not only time consuming, but it introduces another step into the process that can lead to head damage from mechanical stresses or static voltage stresses. For example, the current class of GMR heads can be sensitive to any electrostatic discharge (ESD) event which exceeds five volts. As the disk drive industry has moved increasingly towards the use of magnetoresistive (MR) heads within disk drives, the heads typically require a total of four contacts, two for the write element and two for the read element. A substantial percentage of the connector boards being used therefore are configured as four-wire connector boards.
An example of a four-wire connector board can be found in our prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,216 entitled “Integrated Connector Board for Disc Drive Storage Systems” issued on Mar. 2, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference. That patent describes a connector board that has a four-wire “input” connector for attachment to a head assembly and two-sets of four-wire “output” connectors having different pinout configurations for interfacing with different types of test apparatus. Such “double-connector” boards can be fabricated to accommodate head assemblies which require any number of connections, such as two-wire, four-wire, and five wire. As can be seen in
FIG. 1
, one aspect of the above-referenced double-connector board is an integrated right and left side, conductor pads that are arranged in a predefined pattern for the pin contactor of a head tester block, and conductor traces adapted for insertion within an insertion connector terminal of a media tester. It should be noted that
FIG. 1
illustrates the flexibility of the double-connector board wherein heads are shown joined by wiring to each of the left and right side portions; however in practice, a head would be joined to either portion, but not both portions. The double-connector board therefore provides a reliable method of establishing connectivity with a tester configured for that particular number of head wires and phase of head assembly testing.
While the foregoing double-connector board configuration is suitable for most four-wire MR heads, some disk drive manufacturers utilize both two-wire connector boards and four-wire connector boards. In addition, two-wire connector boards are still utilized by a number of companies, in which case a separate connector board is required for the read and write heads. Furthermore, combination heads are being used in which read and write access is provided by means of a single pair of connections. As a result, connector boards are still being swapped out, even though damage to the head may occur, because making a changeover would be costly and difficult due to the large installed base of testers having the present configurations.
Therefore, a need exists for a connector board that provides test connectivity during head testing and media certification to testers configured for either four-wires or two-wires. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies of previously developed connector board solutions.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a connector board which provides head assembly connectivity for testers employing various aggregate numbers of connections. The connector board of the present invention may be utilized with testers requiring either a four-wire connection or a two-wire connection. By way of example, and not of limitation, the invention comprises an integrated pair of double-connector boards that may be separated into two separate four-wire double-connector boards (e.g., a right side, and a left side that is a mirror image of the right side) as described in our previous patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,216 which is incorporated herein by reference, and which may also be further divided into two separate two-wire connector boards (e.g., an upper two wire board and a lower two-wire board).
An object of the invention is to provide a connector board which is compatible with two-wire and four-wire testing of head assemblies.
Another object of the invention is to provide a four-wire connector board that can be further separated into a pair of two-wire connector boards.
Another object of the invention is to provide multiple electrical connection formats within the same connector board, such as edge connectors and pin type connections, which may be employed at different stages of the head assembly testing process.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations thereon.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4604665 (1986-08-01), Muller et al.
patent: 4633110 (1986-12-01), Genco et al.
patent: 46
Lin Zuxuan
Schadewald, Jr. Frank W.
Schaenzer Mark J.
Bradley P. Austin
Nguyen Phuongchi
Seagate Technology LLC
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