Hard disk drive insertion type forge piece
By using plug-in forging bosses in hard drives, the problem of maintaining standard form factors and meeting operating impact requirements when increasing storage capacity is solved, and a higher forging connection retention torque is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202410584814.8
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-10-25
- Filing Date
- 2024-05-11
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-25
AI Technical Summary
Maintaining standard form factor and meeting operating shock requirements while increasing hard drive (HDD) storage capacity is a challenge, especially in terms of mechanical clearance of the head universal joint assembly (HGA).
Using an insertion forging boss, by forming an intermittent forging boss structure on the forging plate, the thickness of the carriage arm top and the total thickness of the stamped forging plate part are reduced, thereby reducing the holding torque requirement of the forging joint.
It realizes that while maintaining the standard form factor, the number of disks is increased and the operating impact requirements are met, and the retaining torque of the forged joint is improved.
Smart Images
Figure CN119889370A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] Embodiments of the present invention may generally relate to hard disk drives, and particularly to an insert swage boss. 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] An 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 "read-write head"). Each slider is attached to the free end of the suspension, which in turn cantilevers out from a rigid arm of an 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 a flexure mounted at its free end that carries the slider and its read-write head. Positioned between the mounting plate and the functional end of the load beam is a "hinge" that is compliant in the perpendicular flexure 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 the slider can pitch and roll to adjust its orientation.
[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 showing a hard disk drive according to one embodiment;
[0007] Figure 2A is a perspective view showing a swaged plate;
[0008] Figure 2B It is shown that the use Figure 2A a cross-sectional side view of a swaged suspension arm assembly of the swaged plate shown;
[0009] Figure 3 is an exploded perspective schematic diagram showing a conventional swaging boss;
[0010] Figure 4A is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an insert swaging boss according to one embodiment;
[0011] Figure 4B is an exploded perspective view showing another example of an insert swage boss according to one embodiment; and
[0012] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of assembling a head gimbal assembly according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Generally, a method of achieving a thinner carriage arm top by employing an insert swage boss in a hard disk drive (HDD) is described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention described herein. However, it will be apparent that the embodiments of the invention described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known structures and devices may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the invention described herein.
[0014] introduction
[0015] the term
[0016] 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.
[0017] 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.
[0018] 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.
[0019] Scenario
[0020] 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 implemented in a given HDD. However, customer requirements often require maintaining a standard form factor, such as being characterized in part by the z-axis height of the HDD. This certainly poses challenges related to fitting more disks into a given HDD, such as requiring a high-density mechanical structure in the z-axis height direction relative to the head gimbal assembly (HGA) inserted between adjacent disks. More specifically, customer specifications and / or common design and operating constraints include operating shock (or "operating vibration") requirements, which typically involve the operating resistance or operating tolerance of the HDD to mechanical shock events. The suspension of the HDD is typically comprised of a relatively rigid load beam having a mounting plate at its base end, the mounting plate being attached to an actuator arm, and having a flexure mounted at its free end, which carries the slider and its read-write head. Thus, it remains a challenge to increase the number of disks while maintaining a standard form factor, but this will reduce the distance between each disk in the stacked disk pack while also reliably meeting operational shock requirements. In particular, the limited mechanical clearance associated with the above-mentioned HGA, such as the mechanical clearance relative to the operational positioning of each suspension of the disk inserted in the stacked disk pack, poses a challenge to meeting such requirements. In other words, in the context of a commonly constructed HGA, smaller spacing between disks may logically lead to lower operational shock performance.
[0021] Figure 2A is a perspective view showing a swaged plate, and Figure 2B It is shown that the use Figure 2A 200 is a cross-sectional side view of a swaged suspension arm assembly of a swaged plate. The swaged plate 200 illustrates what may be considered a common swaged plate for coupling a suspension of an HDD to a corresponding actuator arm. The swaged plate 200 includes a body 202 having a swaged through hole 204 extending therethrough, the periphery of the swaged through hole being surrounded by a swaged boss 206. Typically, when swaging (or swaging coupling) a suspension to a corresponding actuator arm (such as a Figure 1Before being mounted on the arm 132 of the swage plate 200, or "slide arm 132", the swage plate 200 has a suspension (such as a Figure 1 110c of the wire suspension 110c). Swaging is a forging process well known in the industry, and is generally performed by passing a swaging ball 210 through the through hole 204 to deform or change the size of the swaging boss 206 (e.g., rotational swaging), thereby cold working the metal to form a bond or interconnection between the swaging plate 200 / suspension 110c subcomponent and the actuator arm 132 subcomponent. That is, the swaging boss 206 is inserted into the hole 132a (or "swaging hole 132a") in the actuator arm 132, and the swaging ball 210 having a diameter greater than the inner diameter of the swaging boss 206 is inserted into the swaging through hole 204 of the swaging boss 206 to swage the swaging boss 206 to the hole 132a by applying a compressive force to the inner surface of the swaging boss 206, so that the swaging boss 206 expands to fix the actuator arm 132 to the suspension 110c.
[0022] If through Figure 2B As shown, it can be understood that the distance (D) from the outer surface of the "upper" suspension (e.g., the upper suspension 110c that accommodates the "upper" (UP) head that interacts with the lower surface of the corresponding upper disk) to the outer surface of the "lower" suspension (e.g., the lower suspension 110c that accommodates the "lower" (DN) head that interacts with the upper surface of the corresponding lower disk) is an actuation dimension related to the size of the dimensional gap (C) provided between each suspension 110c and the corresponding disk surface on which the corresponding read-write sensor operates. Therefore, this gap C will cause any HGA (or component subassembly) to mechanically interact (e.g., "strike") with its corresponding disk surface due to an impact event, which can also affect the overall operational impact performance of the HDD. In view of the above description and the purpose of increasing the number of recording disks in a stacked disk group, a method of reducing the distance D between a pair of suspensions swaged onto a given actuator arm while maintaining the necessary gap C between the corresponding disk surfaces may be needed.
[0023] Methods to address the above-mentioned space issues may include, for example, reducing the thickness of the arm top within the constraints allowed by the swaging boss formation, reducing the overall thickness of the stamped swaging plate portion (but this may result in easy bending due to lower yield strength after annealing), and reducing the thickness of the media to allow for a larger gap between the media and the arm mounting surface.
[0024] Insertion of swaged bosses that allow the top of the carriage arm to be thinner
[0025] As mentioned, the current common method for HGA assembly involves swaging, whereby the UP / DN heads are swaged at the same hole of the carriage arm (or "actuator arm" or just "arm"), except for the end arm and the corresponding head. However, with the drive to increase the storage capacity of HDDs by introducing more disks therein, the arm top thickness tends to be thinner, and therefore the height of the swaged boss tends to be lower. This may result in a lower holding torque of the swaged connection, and there are also difficulties in manufacturing.
[0026] Figure 3 304 is an exploded perspective schematic diagram showing a conventional swaging boss. Each swaging plate 300 includes a base plate 302 and a swaging boss 304 extending from the base plate 302 around a through hole 305. When assembled, the swaging boss 304 of the lower swaging plate 300 (for a DN head) will extend upward to the arm 132 (see, for example, FIG. Figure 1 , Figure 2B The corresponding swaged hole of the arm 132) (see, for example, Figure 2B The swaging boss 304 of the upper swaging plate 300 (for the UP head) will extend downward into the corresponding swaging hole 132a of the arm 132. Since the arm 132 tends to have a thinner top end, i.e., a thinner portion including the swaging hole 132a, the corresponding suspension (e.g., see Figure 1 , Figure 2B The wire suspension 110c of the arm 132 is swaged onto the arm 132 via the swaging plate 300, so that the swaging boss 304 tends to become shorter. That is, because each swaging boss 304 occupies a portion of the height of the swaging hole 132a, the height h of each swaging boss 304 is limited by the thickness of the top end of the arm 132, and therefore by the equivalent height of the swaging hole 132a of the arm 132 (e.g., about 2h).
[0027] Figure 4A4 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an inserted swaging boss according to one embodiment. The first swaging plate 410a (for UP heads) according to the present embodiment includes a base plate 412 and a first series of discontinuous swaging boss structures 414a, 414b, 414c, for example, the first series of discontinuous swaging boss structures extending from the base plate 412 around the through hole 415 and separated by grooves. Similarly, the second swaging plate 410b (for DN heads) according to the present embodiment includes a base plate 412 and a second series of discontinuous swaging boss structures 414d, 414e, 414f, for example, the second series of discontinuous swaging boss structures extending from the base plate 412 around the through hole 415 and separated by grooves. It should be noted that the number of forging boss structures (e.g., 412a to 412c and 412d to 412f) corresponding to each corresponding first series and second series of discontinuous forging boss structures of each forging plate 412a, 412b, respectively, may vary depending on the implementation, and for illustrative purposes, three forging boss structures are shown for each forging plate (410a corresponds to 412a to 412c, and 410b corresponds to 412d to 412f).
[0028] When assembled, each of the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures 414a, 414b, 414c of the upper swage plate 410a will be displaced from the carriage arm 132 (see, e.g., Figure 1 , Figure 2B The first side of the arm 132 of the carriage arm 132 extends downwardly to a corresponding swaged hole in the carriage arm 132 (see, for example, Figure 2B The swaging holes 132a of the lower swaging plate 410b are formed by the first swaging plate 410a and the second swaging plate 410b (for DN heads) each of which extends upward from the second side of the carriage arm 132 into the corresponding swaging hole 132a. According to one embodiment, each of the first swaging plate 410a, 410b, 410c intermittent swaging plate structures is positioned between adjacent intermittent swaging plate structures in the second swaging plate 410d, 410e, 410f intermittent swaging plate structures, i.e., positioned in another series of corresponding grooves. The swaging plate 410a and the swaging plate 410b corresponding swaging plate structures are considered to be "interlocked" because the corresponding swaging plate structures are locked, adapted to interlock, and inserted into each other. Thus, the first swaging plate 410a swages the first suspension assembly (e.g., see FIG. 1 ) via a first series of discontinuous swaging boss structures 414a, 414b, 414c extending in one direction into the swaging hole 132a of the carriage arm 132. Figure 1The wire suspension 110c of the carriage arm 132 is connected to the first side of the carriage arm 132; and the second swaging plate 410b connects the second suspension component (e.g., see Figure 1 The wire hanger 110c) is connected to the opposite second side of the carriage arm 132 so that the first and second series of corresponding discontinuous swaging boss structures 414a to 414c, 414d to 414f do not interfere with each other.
[0029] Here, because the first and second series of interposed discontinuous swaging boss structures 414a to 414c, 414d to 414f effectively occupy the same height of the swaging hole 132a, the height H of each swaging boss 414a to 414f is 1 can effectively be equal to Figure 3 Approximately twice the height h, e.g., H 1 is approximately equal to 2h. Therefore, Figure 3 Compared with the configuration of the swaged plate 300, even based on the thinner arm top and the shorter corresponding swaged hole, the holding torque of the swaged connection can be higher. It should be noted that Figure 3 The height h of the swaging boss 304 of the swaging plate 300 and Figure 4A The height H of each swaging boss 414a to 414f is 1 It is not intended to be drawn accurately to scale, but rather to give an overall sense of height / size doubling. According to one embodiment, the height of the swaged boss structures in the first series of intermittent swaged boss structures 414a-414c extending into the swaged hole 132a of the carriage arm 132 in one direction is substantially equal to the height of the swaged boss structures in the second series of intermittent swaged boss structures 414d-414f extending into the swaged hole 132a of the carriage arm 132 in the opposite direction.
[0030] Taking into account other variations, according to one embodiment, the forging boss structures in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures 414a to 414c are equidistant from the forging boss structures in the second series of intermittent forging boss structures 414d to 414f, and according to an alternative embodiment, the forging boss structures in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures 414a to 414c, 414d to 414f are not equidistant. In addition, according to one embodiment, each of the first series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414a to 414c and / or each of the second series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414d to 414f has a substantially equal circumferential span, and according to an alternative embodiment, each of the first series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414a to 414c and / or each of the second series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414d to 414f has a substantially unequal circumferential span. Thus, the swaged plates 410a, 410b can be optimized for a particular design based on, for example, mechanical configurations and constraints, loads, design goals, etc.
[0031] As mentioned, the number of swaging boss structures (e.g., 412a to 412c and 412d to 412f) corresponding to each respective first series and second series of discontinuous swaging boss structures of each swaging plate 412a, 412b, respectively, can vary from implementation to implementation based on, for example, mechanical construction and constraints, loads, design objectives, etc. Figure 4B is an exploded perspective view showing another example of an inserted forging boss according to one embodiment. The first forging plate 420a (for UP heads) according to this embodiment includes a base plate 422 and a first series of discontinuous forging boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n separated by grooves, wherein n represents any number of discontinuous forging boss structures (here 8) extending from the base plate 422 around the through hole 425, and the number may vary depending on the implementation. Similarly, the second forging plate 420b (for DN heads) according to this embodiment includes a base plate 422 and a second series of discontinuous forging boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n separated by grooves, and the second series of discontinuous forging boss structures extend from the base plate 422 around the through hole 425.
[0032] When assembled, each of the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n of the upper swage plate 420a will be displaced from the carriage arm 132 (see, e.g., Figure 1 , Figure 2B The first side of the arm 132 of the carriage arm 132 extends downwardly to a corresponding swaged hole in the carriage arm 132 (see, for example, Figure 2B420a) and each of the second series of intermittent swaging boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n of the lower swaging plate 420b (for DN heads) will extend upward from the second side of the carriage arm 132 into the corresponding swaging hole 132a. According to one embodiment, here too, each of the intermittent swaging boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n in the first series of intermittent swaging boss structures is positioned between adjacent intermittent swaging boss structures in the second series of intermittent swaging boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n, i.e., positioned in another series of corresponding grooves. The swaging boss structures corresponding to the swaging plates 420a and 420b, respectively, are considered to be interlocked or "interlocked". Thus, the first swage plate 420a swages the first suspension assembly (e.g., see FIG. 1 ) via a first series of discontinuous swage boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n extending in one direction into the swage hole 132a of the carriage arm 132. Figure 1 The wire suspension 110c of the carriage arm 132 is connected to the first side of the carriage arm 132; and the second swaging plate 420b connects the second suspension component (e.g., see Figure 1 The wire hanger 110c) is connected to the opposite second side of the carriage arm 132 so that the corresponding first and second series of discontinuous swaging boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n to 424b-1 to 424b-n do not interfere with each other.
[0033] Here again, because the first and second series of interposed discontinuous swage boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n, 424b-1 to 424b-n effectively occupy the same height of the swage hole 132a, the height H of each swage boss 424a-1 to 424b-n is 2 can effectively be equal to Figure 3 Approximately twice the height h, e.g., H 2 is approximately equal to 2h. Therefore, Figure 3 Compared with the configuration of the swaged plate 300, even based on the thinner arm top and the shorter corresponding swaged hole, the holding torque of the swaged connection can be higher. It should be noted that Figure 3 The height h of the swaging boss 304 of the swaging plate 300 and Figure 4B The height H of each swaging boss 424a-1 to 424b-n is 2It is not intended to be drawn accurately to scale, but rather to give a sense of height / size doubling as a whole. According to one embodiment, the height of the swaged boss structures in the first series of intermittent swaged boss structures 424a-1 to 424a-n extending in one direction into the swaged hole 132a of the carriage arm 132 is substantially equal to the height of the swaged boss structures in the second series of intermittent swaged boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n extending in the opposite direction into the swaged hole 132a of the carriage arm 132.
[0034] according to Figure 4A , here also, refer to Figure 4B , and according to one embodiment, the forging boss structures in the first series of discontinuous forging boss structures 424a-1 to 424b-n are equidistant from the forging boss structures in the second series of discontinuous forging boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n, and according to an alternative embodiment, the forging boss structures in the first series of discontinuous forging boss structures 424a-1 to 424b-n, 424b-1 to 424b-n are not equidistant. In addition, according to one embodiment, each of the first series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 424a-1 to 424b-n and / or each of the second series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n has a substantially equal circumferential span, and according to an alternative embodiment, each of the first series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 424a-1 to 424b-n and / or each of the second series of discontinuous swaged boss structures 424b-1 to 424b-n has a substantially unequal circumferential span. Therefore, the swaged plates 420a, 420b can also be optimized for a specific design based on, for example, mechanical configurations and constraints, loads, design goals, etc.
[0035] Method for assembling magnetic head universal joint assembly
[0036] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of assembling a head gimbal assembly according to one embodiment. Figure 5 A method of assembling, manufacturing, producing a head gimbal assembly (HGA) designed, constructed, and intended to be implemented into a hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., see Figure 1 ).
[0037] In block 502, a first suspension bracket is swaged to a first side of an actuator arm via a first insert swage boss of a first swage plate, wherein the first insert swage boss comprises a first set of intermittent extended swage boss structures extending around a through hole on the first swage plate. Figure 4A )、420a( Figure 4B) of the first insertion swaging boss to the first suspension (for example, see Figure 1 The wire suspension 110c) is swaged to the actuator arm (see, for example, Figure 1 The first side of the arm 132) wherein the first insert forging boss includes a through hole 415 ( Figure 4A )、425( Figure 4B ) extends from a first group of discontinuous extended forging boss structures 414a, 414b, 414c ( Figure 4A )、424a-1 to 424a-n( Figure 4B According to one embodiment, the first suspension 110a is swaged to the first side of the actuator arm 132 so that each extended swaged boss structure 414a, 414b, 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n in the first set of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414a to 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n is positioned within the second set of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414d to 414f ( Figure 4A )、424b-1 to 424b-n( Figure 4B ) between adjacent extended forging boss structures.
[0038] In block 504, a second suspension bracket is swaged to an opposite second side of the actuator arm via a second insert swaging boss of a second swaging plate, wherein the second insert swaging boss comprises a second set of intermittent extended swaging boss structures extending around a through hole on the second swaging plate. Figure 4A )、420b( Figure 4B ) of the second insertion swaging boss to the second suspension (for example, see Figure 1 The wire suspension 110c of the actuator arm 132 is swaged to the second side opposite to the actuator arm 132, wherein the second insertion swaging boss includes a through hole 415 ( Figure 4A )、425( Figure 4B ) extends from a second set of discontinuous extended forging boss structures 414d, 414e, 414f ( Figure 4A )、424b-1 to 424b-n( Figure 4B ). Likewise, according to one embodiment, the second suspension 110a is swaged to the second side of the actuator arm 132 such that each extended swaged boss structure 414d, 414e, 414f, 424b-1 to 424b-n of the second set of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414d to 414f, 424b-1 to 424b-n is positioned between adjacent extended swaged boss structures of the first set of discontinuous swaged boss structures 414a to 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n.
[0039] As a result of executing blocks 502 and 504, swaging the first suspension (block 502) includes swaging a swaging hole 132a (e.g., see FIG. 1 ) extending from the first side (e.g., the upper side) to the actuator arm 132 in one direction (e.g., downward). Figure 2B ) in the first group of discontinuous extended forging boss structures 414a to 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n; and forging the second suspension (frame 504) includes: forging a second group of discontinuous extended forging boss structures 414d to 414f, 424b-1 to 424b-n extending in the opposite direction (e.g., upward) from the second side (e.g., the lower side) to the forging hole 132a of the actuator arm 132, so that the second group of discontinuous extended forging bosses 414d to 414f, 424b-1 to 424b-n do not substantially (e.g., mechanically, structurally) interfere with the first group of discontinuous extended forging bosses 414a to 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n. This is not to say that after swaging, there is absolutely no contact between the first interrupted swaged boss structures 414a, 414b, 414c, 424a-1 to 424a-n and any of the second interrupted swaged boss structures 414d, 414e, 414f, 424b-1 to 424b-n. Thus, such structures are cold worked to form an interconnection of the components. Rather, after swaging, there may be some contact, but such contact is not expected to interfere with the intended purpose of creating a viable swaged connection or joint. Therefore, with Figure 3 Compared to the configuration of the swaged plate 300, the holding torque of the swaged connection is expected to be higher even based on the thinner arm top and shorter corresponding swaged hole.
[0040] Physical Description of Exemplary Operational Scenarios
[0041] 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.
[0042] Figure 1The functional arrangement of components of the HDD 100 including a slider 110b including a magnetic read-write head 110a is shown. 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 having 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 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 respectively writing and reading information stored on the medium 120 of the HDD 100. The medium 120 or multiple disk media may be attached to the spindle 124 using a disk clamp 128.
[0043] 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.
[0044] The assembly including a head gimbal assembly (e.g., HGA110) having a flexure to which a head slider is coupled, an actuator arm (e.g., arm 132) and / or a load beam to which the flexure is coupled, and an actuator (e.g., VCM) to which the actuator arm is coupled 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.
[0045] 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.
[0046] 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.
[0047] 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.
[0048] 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.
[0049] Reference herein to hard disk drives, such as reference Figure 1The HDD 100 shown 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 functionality, which may be integrated into a single controller along with the HDD functionality. 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.
[0050] Extensions and replacements
[0051] 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.
[0052] 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 head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising: an arm including a swaged hole; a first suspension assembly; a first swage plate coupled to the first suspension assembly, the first swage plate coupling the first suspension assembly to a first side of the arm and including a first series of intermittent swage boss structures extending from the first base plate around a through hole in the first base plate; a second suspension assembly; and a second swage plate coupled to the second suspension assembly, the second swage plate coupling the second suspension assembly to an opposite second side of the arm and including a second series of intermittent swage boss structures extending from the second base plate around the through hole in the second base plate; Wherein each intermittent forging boss structure in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures is positioned between adjacent intermittent forging boss structures in the second series of intermittent forging boss structures.
2. The HGA of claim 1, wherein: the first swage plate coupling the first suspension assembly to the first side of the arm via the first series of intermittent swaged boss structures extending in one direction into the swaged hole of the arm; and The second forging plate connects the second suspension assembly to the second side of the arm via the second series of intermittent forging boss structures extending in the opposite direction into the forging hole of the arm so that the second series of intermittent forging boss structures do not interfere with the first series of intermittent forging boss structures.
3. The HGA of claim 1 , wherein a height of the forging boss structures in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures extending into the forging hole of the arm in one direction is substantially equal to a height of the forging boss structures in the second series of intermittent forging boss structures extending into the forging hole of the arm in an opposite direction.
4. The HGA of claim 1, wherein the swage boss structures in the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures are equidistant.
5. The HGA of claim 1, wherein the swage boss structures of the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures are not equidistant.
6. The HGA of claim 1, wherein each swage boss structure in the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures has a substantially equal circumferential span.
7. The HGA of claim 1, wherein at least two of the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures have unequal circumferential spans.
8. A hard disk drive comprising the HGA according to claim 1.
9. A hard disk drive (HDD), the hard disk drive (HDD) comprising: a plurality of recording disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle; means for writing to and reading from a first recording disk medium of the plurality of recording disk media; a voice coil actuator configured to move the means for writing and reading to access the first recording disk medium portion; as well as A head gimbal assembly (HGA) coupled to the voice coil actuator, the HGA comprising: a carriage arm including a swaged hole; a first suspension assembly comprising a load beam and a flexure; a first swage plate coupled to the first suspension assembly, the first swage plate coupling the first suspension assembly to a first side of the carriage arm and including a first series of intermittent swage boss structures extending from the first base plate around a through hole in the first base plate; a second suspension assembly including a load beam and a flexure; and a second swage plate coupled to the second suspension assembly, the second swage plate coupling the second suspension assembly to a second side of the carriage arm and including a second series of intermittent swage boss structures extending from the second base plate around the through hole in the second base plate; Wherein each intermittent forging boss structure in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures is positioned between adjacent intermittent forging boss structures in the second series of intermittent forging boss structures.
10. The HDD according to claim 9, wherein: the first swage plate of the HGA coupling the first suspension assembly to the first side of the carriage arm via the first series of intermittent swage boss structures extending in one direction into the swaged hole of the carriage arm; and The second forging plate of the HGA connects the second suspension assembly to the second side of the slide arm via the second series of intermittent forging boss structures extending in the opposite direction into the forging hole of the slide arm, so that the second series of intermittent forging boss structures do not interfere with the first series of intermittent forging boss structures.
11. The HDD of claim 9, wherein a height of the forging boss structure in the first series of intermittent forging boss structures extending into the forging hole of the slide arm in one direction is substantially equal to a height of the forging boss structure in the second series of intermittent forging boss structures extending into the forging hole of the slide arm in an opposite direction.
12. The HDD of claim 9, wherein the swage boss structures in the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures of the HGA are equidistant.
13. The HDD of claim 9, wherein the swage boss structures of the first series of discontinuous swage boss structures of the HGA are not equidistant.
14. A method of assembling a head gimbal assembly (HGA), the method comprising: swaging a first suspension bracket to a first side of an actuator arm via a first insert swaging boss of a first swaging plate, wherein the first insert swaging boss comprises a first set of intermittent extended swaging boss structures extending around a through hole in the first swaging plate; and A second suspension bracket is swaged to an opposite second side of the actuator arm via a second insert swaging boss of a second swaging plate, wherein the second insert swaging boss comprises a second set of intermittent extended swaging boss structures extending around the through hole in the second swaging plate.
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: Swaging the first suspension includes swaging via the first insertion swaging boss so that each of the first set of discontinuous extended swaging boss structures is positioned between adjacent swaging boss structures in the second set of discontinuous extended swaging boss structures.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein: Forging the second suspension includes: performing forging via the second insertion forging boss so that each of the second set of discontinuous extended forging boss structures is positioned between adjacent ones of the first set of discontinuous extended forging boss structures.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: Swaging the first suspension includes: swaging the first set of intermittent extended swaging boss structures extending in one direction from the first side into a swaging hole of the actuator arm; and Forging the second suspension includes: forging the second group of intermittent extended forging boss structures extending from the second side into the forging hole of the actuator arm in the opposite direction, so that the second group of intermittent extended forging boss structures do not interfere with the first group of intermittent extended forging boss structures.