Universal joint limiter based on suspension load beam track

Abstract

A head gimbal assembly (HGA), such as for a hard disk drive (HDD), includes a load beam formed with a platform and a side rail extending away from each lateral edge of the platform in a direction away from a corresponding flexure, where each side rail portion includes a limiter structure, and a limiter structure extending from the side rail in a direction toward the flexure, the limiter structure including a hooking portion positioned on a distal side of the flexure for limiting displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam. As a component of the load beam, the limiter does not adversely affect the dynamic performance of an existing universal joint designed to achieve high surface density (HDD).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention may generally relate to a hard disk drive, and more particularly to a gimbal limiter for a load beam side rail of a suspension assembly. Background Art

[0002] A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that is housed in a protective housing and stores digitally encoded data on one or more disks with magnetic surfaces. When the HDD is in operation, each magnetic recording disk is rapidly rotated by a spindle system. Data is read from and written to the magnetic recording disk using a read-write head (or "transducer") positioned above a specific location on the disk by an actuator. The read-write head uses a magnetic field to write data to and read data from the surface of the magnetic recording disk. The write head operates using an electric current flowing through its coil, thereby generating a magnetic field. Electrical pulses are sent to the write head in different patterns of positive and negative currents. The current in the coil of the write head generates a local magnetic field in the gap between the head and the disk, which in turn magnetizes a small area on the recording medium.

[0003] The HDD includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA) and a suspension, the HGA typically including a slider that houses a read-write transducer (or "head"). Each slider is attached to the free end of the suspension, which in turn is cantilevered relative to the rigid arm of the actuator. Several actuator arms can be combined to form a single movable unit, a head stack assembly (HSA), which typically has a rotating pivot bearing system. The suspension of a conventional HDD typically includes a relatively rigid load beam having a mounting plate at its base end, the mounting plate being attached to the actuator arm, and having a flexure (or "gimbal" or "gimbal flexure") mounted at its free end, which carries the slider and its read-write head. Positioned between the mounting plate and the functional end of the load beam is actually a "hinge" that is compliant in the vertical bending direction (perpendicular to the disk surface). The hinge enables the load beam to suspend and load the slider and read-write head toward the rotating disk surface. The function of the flexure is then to provide gimbal support for the slider so that it can pitch and roll to adjust its orientation. However, customer specifications and / or common design and operating constraints include operational shock and non-operational shock requirements, which typically relate to the resistance or tolerance of the HDD to mechanical shock events when operating and when not operating, respectively.

[0004] Any approaches that may be described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

[0006] Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a hard disk drive according to an embodiment;

[0007] Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a limiter outrigger structure;

[0008] Figure 3A is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail based limiter structure according to one embodiment;

[0009] Figure 3B is an example according to one embodiment Figure 3A A perspective view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track;

[0010] Figure 3C is an example according to one embodiment Figure 3A A top view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track;

[0011] Figure 4A is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail based limiter structure according to one embodiment;

[0012] Figure 4B is an example according to one embodiment Figure 4A A perspective view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track;

[0013] Figure 4C is an example according to one embodiment Figure 4A A top view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track;

[0014] Figure 4D is an example according to one embodiment Figure 4A A side view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track;

[0015] Figure 5A is a top view illustrating a suspension load beam rail based restraint structure according to one embodiment;

[0016] Figure 5B is an example according to one embodiment Figure 5A A perspective view of a restraint structure based on a suspension load beam track; and

[0017] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Generally speaking, a method for a gimbal limiter based on a suspension load beam track for a hard disk drive (HDD) is described. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, many specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present invention described herein. However, it will be apparent that the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known structures and devices may be shown in the form of block diagrams in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the present invention described herein.

[0019] introduction

[0020] the term

[0021] Reference herein to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," etc., is intended to mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. However, instances of such phrases are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0022] The term "substantially" should be understood to describe a feature that is mostly or nearly structured, constructed, dimensioned, etc., but in practice manufacturing tolerances, etc. cause the structure, configuration, dimensions, etc. not always or necessarily to be exactly as described. For example, describing a structure as "substantially vertical" would give the term its ordinary meaning, such that the sidewalls are vertical for all practical purposes, but may not be exactly at 90 degrees throughout.

[0023] While terms such as "best," "optimize," "minimum," "minimize," "maximum," "maximize," etc. may not have certain values ​​associated with them, if such terms are used herein, it is intended that one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that such terms will include affecting values, parameters, metrics, etc. in beneficial directions consistent with the present disclosure as a whole. For example, describing a value of something as "minimum" does not require that the value actually equal some theoretical minimum value (e.g., zero), but should be understood in a practical sense that the corresponding goal is to move the value in a beneficial direction toward the theoretical minimum value.

[0024] Context

[0025] Increasing the storage capacity of hard disk drives (HDDs) is one of the ongoing goals of HDD technology evolution. In one form, this goal is manifested as increasing the number of disks incorporated into the hard disk drive. However, customer demand often requires maintaining a standard form factor, as characterized in part by the z-height of the HDD. This essentially provides a challenge about fitting more disks into a given device. Recall that the suspension typically includes a relatively rigid load beam, the free end of which is mounted with a universal joint flexure, which carries the slider and its read-write head. Therefore, the goal remains to maintain a standard form factor while increasing the number of disks, which reduces the distance between each disk of the disk stack while also reliably meeting operational shock and non-operational shock requirements. For example, the non-operational shock requirement is typically hundreds of times the gravity (g), and the flexure is intentionally movably / universally connected to the load beam. Therefore, limiting the displacement of the flexure and the slider in response to an impact event while maintaining excellent universal joint dynamic performance presents an important challenge.

[0026] Figure 2 2 is a perspective view of a head gimbal assembly with a limiter outrigger structure. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) 200 includes a flexure 202 movably coupled to a load beam 204. The HGA 200 (particularly the flexure 202) includes a tongue 202t region on which a slider 206 is mounted, and may include a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not visible) and associated features. Therefore, there is almost no room for conventional gimbal limiters (such as T-bars, Z-shaped or combined limiters) in this region, and conventional limiters are not fully feasible without subsequently reducing the current gimbal dynamic performance. Thus, one approach involves using a limiter outrigger structure (i.e., limiter 202l) with a flexure 202 (e.g., stainless steel) for reinforcement purposes. In this way, the limiter 202l acts as a displacement / slider rear end pitch reinforcement and helps limit the displacement / pitch of the tongue when the tongue 202t may stretch during an impact event. However, even with the use of a limiter structure such as the polyimide limiter 2021, significant undesirable displacement of the slider 206 may still be observed, due at least in part to the flexibility of the polyimide and the resulting plastic deformation under non-operational shocks. Without the limiter 2021, the displacement of the slider 206 and the deformation of the flexure 202 would be even higher.

[0027] Universal joint limiter based on load beam side rails

[0028] Figure 3A is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a limiter structure based on a suspension load beam track, Figure 3B is an example Figure 3A A perspective view of the restraint structure based on the suspension load beam track, and Figure 3C is an example Figure 3A A top view of a suspension load beam track based limiter structure, all of which are according to one embodiment.

[0029] A hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 300 includes a flexure 302 movably coupled to a load beam 304, wherein the load beam 304 and the flexure 302 may be collectively referred to as a suspension. The HGA 300 (particularly the flexure 302) includes a tongue 302t region on which a slider 306 is mounted, and may include a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not visible) and associated coupling features. The load beam 304 includes a substantially planar platform portion 304d (or simply "platform") and side rail portions 304r (or simply "side rails") extending away from each edge of the platform portion 304d in a direction away from the flexure 302. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304 includes a limiter structure 304l (or simply referred to as “limiter 304l”) extending from the side rail portion 304r in a direction toward the flexure 302 and having a hook portion 304l-a (or “arm extension 304l-a”) positioned on a distal side of the flexure 302 for limiting the displacement of the flexure 302 in a direction away from the load beam 304. According to one embodiment, the HGA 300 has a specific (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hook portion 304l-a of the limiter 304l of the load beam 304 and the flexure 302. Therefore, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum mechanically permissible displacement of the flexure 302 in a direction away from the load beam 304 because the limiter 3041 hooks around a portion of the flexure 302 and thereby physically and structurally limits the relative movement between the flexure 302 and the load beam 304 in this area (e.g., plastic deformation of the flexure).

[0030] It is noteworthy that the hook portion 3041-a is positioned relative to the flexure 302 at a location external to the flexure tongue 302t, i.e., at a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 306 (and the microactuator (not visible) and associated coupling features, if any) are mounted. In addition, this arrangement places the hook portion 3041-a relative to the flexure 302 at the gimbal portion of the flexure 302. Although not visible here, the load beam 304 also includes a gimbal recess (see, e.g., Figure 4B , Figure 4D , Figure 5AThe limiters 3041 are provided with gimbaled recesses 404g, 504g, whereby the flexure 302 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 304 via the recesses and has a rotational degree of freedom about the corresponding recess axis. Thus, the limiters 3041 limit displacement between the flexure 302 and the load beam 304 in the z-direction (e.g., generally considered to be the vertical direction) while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 302 and the corresponding slider 306 relative to the load beam 304 for operational purposes. In addition, the hooking portion 3041-a of each limiter 3041 is positioned to be substantially consistent / co-linear with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., consistent / co-linear with the recess to which the flexure 302-slider 306 is gimbaled, thereby providing an optimal effect of such limiters 3041. Further, as an integral part of the load beam 304, the limiter 3041 does not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbals designed to achieve high areal density (a measure of the number of information bits that can be stored on a given area of ​​the disk surface) HDDs.

[0031] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 304l includes a proximal portion 304l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304 and a hook portion 304l-a extending from the proximal portion 304l-p. According to one embodiment and with reference to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C , a majority of the proximal portion 3041 - p extends substantially perpendicular to the platform portion 304 d of the load beam 304 , and the hook portion 3041 - a extends substantially parallel to the platform portion 304 d .

[0032] Note that the exact shape of the limiter structure 3041 of the load beam 304 may vary from implementation to implementation based on, for example, mechanical configurations and constraints, various design goals, etc. For ease of manufacturing, different shapes of the limiter structure may be implemented. For example, a limiter structure that is raised and / or bent away from the limiter structure (e.g., see FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D The limiter structure 4041, FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B A limiter structure 5041) having a distal tip of the hooking portion configured and / or bent in a manner that allows for simpler manufacturing of the assembly of the flexure with the load beam, for example, so as to make it easier to insert or slide the flexure under the hooking portion of the limiter structure of the load beam side rail.

[0033] Figure 4A is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a limiter structure based on a suspension load beam track, Figure 4B is an example Figure 4A Perspective view of the restraint structure based on the suspension load beam track, Figure 4C is an example Figure 4A A top view of the restraint structure based on the suspension load beam track, and Figure 4Dis an example Figure 4A A side view of a suspension load beam track based limiter structure, all of which are according to one embodiment.

[0034] A hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 400 includes a flexure 402 movably coupled to a load beam 404, wherein the load beam 404 and the flexure 402 may be collectively referred to as a suspension. The HGA 400 (particularly the flexure 402) includes a tongue 402t region on which a slider 406 is mounted, and may include a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not visible) and associated features. The load beam 404 includes a substantially planar platform portion 404d (or simply "platform") and side rail portions 404r (or simply "side rails") extending away from each edge of the platform portion 404d in a direction away from the flexure 402. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404 includes a limiter structure 404l (or simply referred to as "limiter 404l"), which extends from the side rail portion 404r in a direction toward the flexure 402 and has a hook portion 404l-a (or "arm extension 404l-a"), which is positioned on the distal side of the flexure 402 for limiting the displacement of the flexure 402 in a direction away from the load beam 404. According to one embodiment, the HGA 400 has a specific (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hook portion 404l-a of the limiter 404l of the load beam 404 and the flexure 402 (see, e.g., Figure 4D ). Therefore, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum displacement of the flexure 402 that is mechanically allowed in the direction away from the load beam 404, because the limiter 4041 hooks around a portion of the flexure 402 and thereby physically and structurally limits the relative movement between the flexure 402 and the load beam 404 in this area (e.g., plastic deformation of the flexure).

[0035] It is noteworthy that the hook portion 4041-a is also positioned relative to the flexure 402 at a position outside the flexure tongue 402t, that is, at a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 406 (and the microactuator (not visible) and associated features, if any) are mounted. In addition, this arrangement places the hook portion 4041-a at the gimbal portion of the flexure 402 relative to the flexure 402. The load beam 404 also includes a gimbal recess 404g, whereby the flexure 402 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 404 via the recess 404g and has a rotational degree of freedom around the corresponding recess axis. Therefore, the limiter 4041 limits the displacement between the flexure 402 and the load beam 404 in the z-direction, while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 402 and the corresponding slider 406 relative to the load beam 404 for operational purposes. In addition, the hook portion 4041-a of each limiter 4041 is positioned to be substantially coincident / collinear with the center of mass of the slider, for example, coincident / collinear with the recess 404g to which the flexure 402-slider 406 is gimbaled, thereby providing the best effect of such limiter 4041. Further, as an integral part of the load beam 404, the limiter 4041 does not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbals designed to achieve high areal density (a measure of the number of information bits that can be stored on a given area of ​​the disk surface) HDDs.

[0036] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 404l includes a proximal portion 404l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404 and a hook portion 404l-a extending from the proximal portion 404l-p. According to one embodiment and with reference to FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D , the proximal portion 404l-p initially extends from the corresponding side rail portion 404r in the plane of the side rail portion 404r in a direction along the long axis of the side rail portion 404r, and the adjacent substantially C-shaped section 404l-c (e.g., the hook portion) is bent outward from the plane of the side rail portion 404r.

[0037] Figure 5A is a top view illustrating a structure of a limiter based on a suspension load beam rail, and Figure 5B is an example Figure 5A, both figures are according to one embodiment. The load beam 504 includes a substantially planar platform portion 504d (or simply "platform") and a side rail portion 504r (or simply "side rail") that extends away from each edge of the platform portion 504d and in an assembled form in a direction away from the corresponding flexure. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 includes a limiter structure 504l (or simply "limiter 504l") that extends from the side rail portion 504r in a direction opposite to the direction in which each side rail portion 504r extends (i.e., toward the corresponding flexure) and has a hook portion 504l-a (or "arm extension 504l-a") that is positioned on the distal side of the flexure for limiting the displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam 504 (see, e.g. Figure 3A , Figure 3C , Figure 4A , FIG. 4C to FIG. 4D ). According to one embodiment, the HGA with the load beam 504 as a part will have a specific (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap between the hook portion 5041-a of the limiter 5041 of the load beam 504 and the corresponding flexure. Therefore, the limiter gap will actually limit the maximum displacement of the flexure mechanically allowed in the direction away from the load beam 504, because the limiter 5041 will hook around a portion of the flexure and thereby physically structurally limit the relative movement between the flexure and the load beam 504 in this area. The load beam 504 also includes a gimbal socket 504g, whereby the corresponding flexure will be movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 504 via the socket 504g and will therefore have a rotational degree of freedom about the corresponding socket axis. Therefore, the limiter 5041 will limit the displacement between the flexure and the load beam 504 in the z-direction, while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure and the corresponding slider relative to the load beam 504 for operational purposes. Furthermore, the hooking portion 5041-a of each limiter 5041 is positioned substantially in line with the center of mass of the slider, for example, in line with the recess 504g on which the flexure-slider is universally coupled, thereby providing an optimal effect of such limiter 5041.

[0038] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 504l includes a proximal portion 504l-p extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 and a hook portion 504l-a extending from the proximal portion 504l-p. According to one embodiment and with reference to FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B, the majority of the proximal portions 504l-p extend at a laterally outwardly inclined angle (deviation from a straight line) from the track side portion 504r of the load beam 504. More specifically, and according to one embodiment, the proximal portions 504l-p initially extend from the corresponding side rail portion 504r in the plane of the side rail portion 504r in a direction toward the flexure, and an adjacent portion 504l-pa of the proximal portion 504l-p leading to the hook portion 504l-a extends from the plane of the track side portion 504r at a laterally outward angle.

[0039] Method for assembling magnetic head universal joint assembly

[0040] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly according to one embodiment. Figure 6 A method of assembling, manufacturing, producing a head gimbal assembly (HGA) designed, configured, intended for implementation into a hard disk drive (HDD) (see e.g. Figure 1 )middle.

[0041] At block 602, a load beam is formed that includes a substantially planar platform having an opening on each side. For example, load beam 304 ( FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C )、404( FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D )、504( FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B ) is formed to include an opening 304o ( FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C )、404o( FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D )、504o( FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B ) platform 304d( FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C )、404d( FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D )、504d( FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B ).

[0042] At block 604, side rail portions are formed on each side of the platform, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure including an arm extension extending into an opening of the platform. For example, side rail portions are formed on each side of platforms 304d, 404d, 504d, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure 304l ( FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C )、404l( FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D )、504l( FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B ), the limiter structure includes an arm extension 304l-a ( FIG. 3B to FIG. 3C )、404l-a( Figure 4B )、504l-a( Figure 5B ), extending into the openings 304o, 404o, 504o of the platforms 304d, 404d, 504d.

[0043] At block 606, each side rail portion is bent to form a side rail extending in a first direction away from the platform so that the restrictor structure extends away from the corresponding side rail and away from the opening in a second direction away from the platform. For example, each side rail portion is bent to form a side rail 304r extending in a first direction away from the platform 304d, 404d, 504d. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C )、404r( FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D )、504r( FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B ), so that the limiter structure 3041, 4041, 5041 extends away from the corresponding side rail 304r, 404r, 504r and away from the opening 304o, 404o, 504o in a second direction away from the platform 304d, 404d, 504d. Therefore, for ease of manufacturing, each limiter 3041, 4041, 5041 is formed into a desired position by a process of bending a side rail portion to form the side rail 304r, 404r, 504r.

[0044] At block 608, coupling the flexure to the second direction side of the load beam includes positioning the arm extension on the distal second direction side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam in the second direction. Figure 3A , Figure 3C )、402( Figure 4A , FIG. 4C to FIG. 4D ) is connected to the second direction side of the load beam 304, 404, 504, including positioning the arm extension 304l-a, 404l-a, 504l-a on the distal second direction side of the flexure 302, 402 to limit the displacement of the flexure 302, 402 away from the load beam 304, 404, 504 in the second direction.

[0045] Thus, in view of the embodiments described herein, each limiter structure enables limiting the displacement between the flexure and the load beam in the z-direction while maintaining the necessary gimbal functionality of the flexure and corresponding slider relative to the load beam for operational purposes.

[0046] Physical Description of Illustrative Operational Scenarios

[0047] Embodiments may be used in the context of a digital data storage device (DSD) such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Thus, according to one embodiment, Figure 1 A plan view illustrating a conventional HDD 100 is shown to help describe how a conventional HDD generally operates.

[0048] Figure 1The functional arrangement of components of the HDD 100 including a slider 110b is illustrated, the slider including a magnetic read-write head 110a. The slider 110b and the head 110a may be collectively referred to as a head slider. The HDD 100 includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA) 110, the at least one head gimbal assembly including a head slider, a lead suspension 110c attached to the head slider typically via a flexure, and a load beam 110d attached to the lead suspension 110c. The HDD 100 also includes at least one recording medium 120 that can be rotatably mounted on a spindle 124 and a drive motor (not visible) attached to the spindle 124 for rotating the medium 120. The read-write head 110a (which may also be referred to as a transducer) includes a write element and a read element for writing and reading information stored on the medium 120 of the HDD 100, respectively. The medium 120 or multiple disk media may be attached to the spindle 124 using a disk clamp 128.

[0049] The HDD 100 also includes an arm 132 attached to the HGA 110, a carriage 134, a voice coil motor (VCM) including an armature 136 including a voice coil 140 attached to the carriage 134, and a stator 144 including a voice coil magnet (not visible). The armature 136 of the VCM is attached to the carriage 134 and is configured to move the arm 132 and the HGA 110 to access the portion of the media 120, which are collectively mounted on a pivot shaft 148 with an interposed pivot bearing assembly 152. In the case of an HDD having multiple disks, the carriage 134 may be referred to as an "E-block" or comb because the carriage is arranged to carry an array of linked arms, giving it the appearance of comb teeth.

[0050] The assembly including a head gimbal assembly (e.g., HGA 110) having a flexure coupled to a head slider, an actuator arm (e.g., arm 132) and / or a load beam coupled to the flexure, and an actuator (e.g., VCM) coupled to the actuator arm may be collectively referred to as a head stack assembly (HSA). However, the HSA may include more or fewer components than those described. For example, the HSA may refer to an assembly that also includes an electrical interconnect component. Generally speaking, the HSA is an assembly that is configured to move a head slider to access portions of the medium 120 for read and write operations.

[0051] Further references Figure 1, electrical signals including write signals to the head 110a and read signals from the head (e.g., current to the voice coil 140 of the VCM) are transmitted by a flexible cable assembly (FCA) 156 (or "flexible cable", or "flexible printed circuit" (FPC)). The interconnect between the flexible cable 156 and the head 110a may include an arm electronics (AE) module 160, which may have an onboard preamplifier for the read signal and other read channel and write channel electronic components. The AE module 160 may be attached to the carriage 134, as shown. The flexible cable 156 may be coupled to an electrical connector block 164, which in some configurations provides electrical connectivity through an electrical feed-through provided by the HDD housing 168. The HDD housing 168 (or "housing base" or "substrate" or simply "base") together with the HDD cover provides a semi-sealed (or hermetically sealed, in some configurations) protective housing for the information storage components of the HDD 100.

[0052] Other electronic components, including a disk controller and servo electronics including a digital signal processor (DSP), provide electrical signals to the drive motor, the voice coil 140 of the VCM, and the head 110a of the HGA 110. The electrical signal provided to the drive motor causes the drive motor to rotate, thereby providing torque to the spindle 124, which in turn is transmitted to the medium 120 attached to the spindle 124. As a result, the medium 120 rotates in the direction 172. The rotating medium 120 forms an air cushion that acts as an air bearing on which the air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider 110b rides, so that the slider 110b flies above the surface of the medium 120 without making contact with the thin magnetic recording layer that records information. Similarly, in an HDD that utilizes a lighter-than-air gas (such as helium for non-limiting example), the rotating medium 120 forms an air cushion that acts as a gas or fluid bearing on which the slider 110b rides.

[0053] The electrical signal provided to the voice coil 140 of the VCM enables the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access the track 176 on which the information is recorded. As a result, the armature 136 of the VCM swings through the arc 180, which enables the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access the individual tracks on the medium 120. The information is stored in a plurality of radially nested tracks on the medium 120, which are arranged in sectors (such as sector 184) on the medium 120. Accordingly, each track is composed of a plurality of sectorized track portions (or "track sectors") such as sectorized track portion 188. Each sectorized track portion 188 may include recorded information and a data header containing error correction code information and a servo burst signal pattern, such as an ABCD-servo burst signal pattern (which is information identifying the track 176). When accessing track 176, a read element of head 110a of HGA 110 reads a servo burst signal pattern which provides a position error signal (PES) to the servo electronics, which in turn controls an electrical signal provided to the voice coil 140 of the VCM, thereby enabling head 110a to follow track 176. Upon finding track 176 and identifying a particular sectorized track portion 188, head 110a either reads information from track 176 or writes information to track 176 in accordance with instructions received by the disk controller from an external agent, such as a microprocessor of a computer system.

[0054] The electronic architecture of the HDD includes multiple electronic components for performing their respective HDD operating functions, such as a hard disk controller ("HDC"), an interface controller, an arm electronic module, a data channel, a motor driver, a servo processor, a buffer memory, etc. Two or more such components may be combined on a single integrated circuit board called a "system on a chip" ("SOC"). Several, if not all, of such electronic components are typically arranged on a printed circuit board that is coupled to the bottom side of the HDD, such as to the HDD housing 168.

[0055] Reference herein to hard disk drives, such as reference Figure 1The HDD 100 illustrated and described may include an information storage device sometimes referred to as a "hybrid drive." A hybrid drive generally refers to a storage device that has the functionality of a conventional HDD (see, for example, HDD 100) combined with a solid-state storage device (SSD) that uses non-volatile memory, such as flash memory or other solid-state (e.g., integrated circuit) memory, which is electrically erasable and programmable. Because the operation, management, and control of different types of storage media are generally different, the solid-state portion of the hybrid drive may include its own corresponding controller function, which may be integrated into a single controller along with the HDD function. The hybrid drive may be constructed and configured to operate and utilize the solid-state portion in a variety of ways, such as, as a non-limiting example, using the solid-state memory as a cache memory, for storing frequently accessed data, for storing I / O intensive data, and the like. In addition, the hybrid drive may be constructed and configured to be essentially two storage devices in a single housing, namely a conventional HDD and an SSD, with one or more interfaces for host connection.

[0056] Extensions and replacements

[0057] In the foregoing description, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to a large number of specific details, which may vary according to different specific implementations. Therefore, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broader essence and scope of the embodiments. Therefore, the present invention and the applicant's sole and exclusive indicator of the present invention are a set of claims issued by this patent application in the specific form in which such claims are issued, including any subsequent corrections. Any definition of the terms contained in these claims explicitly set forth herein should determine the meaning of these terms used in the claims. Thus, limitations, elements, characteristics, features, advantages or attributes that are not explicitly cited in the claims should not limit the scope of this claim in any way. Therefore, this specification and the drawings are considered to be illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0058] Additionally, in this description, certain process steps may be shown in a particular order, and letters and alphanumeric labels may be used to identify certain steps. Unless expressly indicated in the specification, the embodiments are not necessarily limited to any particular order of performing such steps. In particular, these labels are used only to facilitate identification of the steps and are not intended to specify or require a particular order of performing such steps.

Claims

1. A head gimbal assembly (HGA), the HGA comprising: A suspension assembly, the suspension assembly comprising: load beam, and flexure; The load beam comprises: a platform portion including an edge on each side, and a side rail portion extending away from each edge of the platform portion in a direction away from the flexure, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure, the limiter structure including a hook portion positioned on a distal side of the flexure for limiting displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam.

2. The HGA of claim 1 , further comprising a limiter gap between the hook portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, wherein the limiter gap defines an amount of mechanically permitted displacement of the flexure in the direction away from the load beam. 3 . The HGA of claim 1 , wherein the hook portion is positioned relative to the flexure at a position of the flexure outside a flexure tongue, the flexure tongue being configured to mount a head slider. 4 . The HGA of claim 1 , wherein the hook portion is positioned relative to the flexure at a gimbal portion of the flexure.

5. The HGA of claim 1 , wherein each limiter structure comprises: a proximal portion extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion of the load beam; and A hook portion extends from the proximal portion.

6. The HGA of claim 5, wherein: A majority of the proximal portion extends substantially perpendicular to the platform portion of the load beam; and The hook portion extends substantially parallel to the platform portion of the load beam.

7. The HGA of claim 5, wherein: A majority of the proximal portion extends from a track side portion of the load beam at an angle that slopes laterally outward.

8. The HGA of claim 5, wherein: The proximal portion initially extends from a corresponding side rail portion in a plane of the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; and An abutment of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward angle from the plane of the track side portion.

9. The HGA of claim 5, wherein: The proximal portion extends initially in the plane of the side rail portion from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction along the long axis of the side rail portion; and Adjoining substantially c-shaped sections curve outwardly from the plane of the side rail portion.

10. A hard disk drive comprising the HGA according to claim 1.

11. A hard disk drive (HDD), the HDD comprising: a plurality of recording disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle; a head slider accommodating a read-write transducer configured to read from and write to a recording disk medium among the plurality of recording disk media; means for moving said head slider to access a portion of said recording disk medium; and a head gimbal assembly (HGA), the HGA coupled to the means for moving, the HGA comprising: flexure, and a load beam to which the flexure is universally coupled, the load beam comprising: a platform portion including an edge on each side, and a side rail portion extending away from each edge of the platform portion in a direction away from the flexure, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure, the limiter structure including a hook portion, The hook portion is positioned on a distal side of the flexure for limiting displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam.

12. The HDD of claim 11, wherein the HGA further comprises a limiter gap between the hook portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of mechanically permitted displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam. 13 . The HDD of claim 11 , wherein the hook portion of the limiter structure is positioned relative to the flexure at a portion of the flexure outside a flexure tongue at which the head slider is mounted.

14. The HDD of claim 11 , wherein each limiter structure comprises: a proximal portion extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion of the load beam; and A hook portion extends from the proximal portion.

15. The HDD according to claim 14, wherein: A majority of the proximal portion extends substantially perpendicular to the platform portion of the load beam; and The hook portion extends substantially parallel to the platform portion of the load beam.

16. The HDD according to claim 14, wherein: A majority of the proximal portion extends from the track side portion of the load beam at an angle that slopes laterally outward.

17. The HDD according to claim 14, wherein: The proximal portion initially extends from a corresponding side rail portion in a plane of the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; and An abutment of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward angle from the plane of the track side portion.

18. The HDD according to claim 14, wherein: The proximal portion extends initially in the plane of the side rail portion from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction along the long axis of the side rail portion; and Adjoining substantially c-shaped sections curve outwardly from the plane of the side rail portion.

19. A method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly (HGA), the method comprising: forming a load beam comprising a substantially planar platform having an opening at each side; forming side rail portions on each side of the platform, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure including an arm extension extending into the opening of the platform; bending each side rail portion to form a side rail extending in a first direction away from the platform so that the restrictor structure extends away from the corresponding side rail and away from the opening in a second direction away from the platform; as well as Coupling the flexure to the second direction side of the load beam includes positioning the arm extension on a distal second direction side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam in the second direction.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein coupling the flexure to the load beam comprises creating a limiter gap between the arm extension of the limiter structure and the distal side of the flexure such that the limiter gap limits an amount of available displacement of the flexure from the load beam in the second direction.

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