Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically...

Details Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically... Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically...

2000-03-20

2002-06-04

Davis, David (Department: 2652)

Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval

Fluid bearing head support

Disk record

Reexamination Certificate

active

06400529

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a head assembly and disk drive having same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a hard disk drive has a head assembly positioned at the tip of an arm driven by an actuator. The head assembly is composed of a head slider mounted on a suspension together with an integrated circuit, or IC, chip. The head slider has a magnetic head formed using thin film technology. The magnetic head is composed of an inductive head and a magneto-resistive head, hereinafter referred to as an MR head. The inductive head writes information to a hard disk and the MR head reads recorded information from the hard disk. The head IC chip has the function of, for example, amplifying a microsignal read by means of the MR head.
Attendant upon recent improvements, that is, increases, of the frequency of the data signals handled by data processing devices, there is a demand for hard disk drives capable of reading and writing high data-signal frequencies of for example 200-300 MHz, well in excess of the current 70 MHz standard. As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, raising the data signal write frequency necessitates increasing the data signal transfer rate. Increasing the data signal transfer rate in turn requires physically reducing the distance from the head slider to the IC chip, thus minimizing inductance and electrostatic capacitance along the signal transmission path between the head slider and the head IC chip.
Additionally, the head assembly must be one that can be produced using production techniques currently in use or under development.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
show a head assembly
10
described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent App. No. 10-124839. A head slider
11
is joined to a head IC chip
12
and the head IC chip
12
is fixedly mounted on a suspension
13
.
The head IC chip
12
comprises a lower surface
12
a
, an integrated circuit part and a wire pattern (neither of which is shown in the drawing), an electrode
16
, an upper surface
12
b
and another electrode
17
, the electrodes
16
and
17
being connected by a through hole
18
.
The head slider
11
is affixed to the lower surface
12
a
of the IC chip
12
using an adhesive agent
19
. The electrodes
15
and
16
are electrically connected to each other. A flexible cable
20
is affixed to the upper surface
12
b
of the head IC chip
12
using another adhesive agent
21
. The electrode
17
and an electrode
22
of the flexible cable
20
are electrically connected to each other.
According to the above-described head assembly
10
, the physical distance separating the head slider
11
and the head IC chip
12
is essentially eliminated, making it possible to greatly increase the transfer rate of the data signal.
However, referring to the head IC chip
12
, it can be appreciated that the electrode
17
must be formed on a surface opposite a surface on which the integrated circuit part is formed, and, further, one or more holes must be opened in a silicon wafer to form one or more through holes
18
. Yet the formation of the electrode
17
on the surface opposite the surface on which the integrated circuit part is formed and the opening of one or more holes in a silicon wafer is either very difficult or virtually impossible, and accordingly, the head IC chip
12
described above is essentially impossible to produce.
Additionally, referring to the common method by which the head slider
11
is produced, it should be noted that, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a plurality of magnetic heads
14
are arranged in the form of a matrix on a surface
26
of a wafer
25
. The wafer
25
is then cut along the matrix so as to cut out individual sliders
11
. As can be appreciated, the electrode
15
on the head slider
11
as shown in
FIG. 1B
is formed on a surface different from the surface on which the magnetic head
14
is formed. The surface on which the electrode
15
is formed is not the surface
26
of the wafer
25
but is instead the surface that first appears once the wafer
25
has been cut along the matrix and the individual sliders
11
cut out. Accordingly, the electrodes
15
are formed on each individual slider
11
cut from the wafer
25
. Additionally, the length of the longest side is small, that is, approximately 1 mm. Accordingly, it is very difficult to form the electrodes
15
on the surfaces of individual head sliders
11
and hence it is exceedingly difficult and substantially impossible to produce the head slider
11
.
Accordingly, the head assembly
10
, too, is essentially impossible to mass produce.
Additionally, referring to the adhesive agent
19
, it can be appreciated that because the adhesive agent
19
is injected into a gap between the head slider
11
and the head IC chip
12
after electrodes
15
and
16
have been connected to each other, there is a possibility that air bubbles may be trapped therewithin, thus reducing the strength of the bond between the head slider
11
and the head IC chip
12
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved and useful head assembly and disk drive having same, wherein the foregoing problems are eliminated,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved and useful head assembly and disk drive having same, wherein the head assembly can be produced without undue difficulty.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved and useful head assembly and disk drive having same, wherein the bonding of the head slider to the head IC chip is improved.
The above-described objects of the present invention are achieved by a head assembly comprising:
a head slider including a magnetic head and a first electrode;
an IC chip supporting the head slider on a principal surface of the IC chip; and
a suspension supporting the IC chip, the IC chip comprising a second electrode and a third electrode on the principal surface thereof, the third electrode being connected to the suspension, the second electrode being electrically connected to the first electrode.
Additionally, the above-described objects of the present invention are also achieved by a disk drive comprising:
a recording medium;
an arm driven by an actuator; and
a head assembly that rotates together with the arm,
the head assembly comprising:
a head slider including a magnetic head and a first electrode;
an IC chip supporting the head slider on a principal surface of the IC chip; and
a suspension supporting the IC chip,
the IC chip comprising a second electrode and a third electrode on the principal surface thereof, the third electrode being connected to the suspension, the second electrode being electrically connected to the first electrode.
Additionally, the above-described objects of the present invention are also achieved by an IC chip, the IC chip supporting a head slider including a magnetic head and a first electrode on a principal surface of the IC chip, a suspension supporting the IC chip, the IC chip having a size larger than a size of the head slider, the principal surface of the IC chip including an area for supporting the head slider and a second electrode electrically connected to the first electrode of the head slider and a third electrode electrically connected to the suspension, the second electrode and the third electrode provided at an area outside the area for supporting the head slider.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3591733 (1971-07-01), Pflughaupt
patent: 4789914 (1988-12-01), Ainslie et al.
patent: 5712747 (1998-01-01), Voldman et al.
patent: 4047511 (1992-02-01), None
patent: 10124839 (1998-05-01), None

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Integrated circuit chip supporting and electrically... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2967881