Suspension load beam rail-based gimbal limiter

Abstract

To provide a head gimbal assembly (HGA) that limits flexure displacement, thereby increasing resistance and admissibility of an HDD to mechanical shock events.SOLUTION: An HGA 300, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), includes a road beam 304 formed with a flat deck portion 304d and side rail portions 304r extending away from each lateral edge of the deck portion in a direction away from a corresponding flexure 302, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure 304l extending from the side rail in a direction toward the flexure, and the limiter structure includes a hooking portion that has a limiter gap g between the flexure and the load beam and is disposed on a distal side of the flexure for limiting the displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam. As an integral part of the load beam, the limiter structure does not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbal structures designed to enable high areal density HDDs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present invention may relate generally to hard disk drives and, more particularly, to a gimbal limiter for a load beam side rail of a suspension assembly. [Background technology]

[0002] A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that stores digitally encoded data on one or more circular disks that are housed in a protective enclosure and have magnetic surfaces. When an 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 disks using a read-write head (or "transducer") that is positioned over 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 works by generating a magnetic field using an electric current that flows through the coil of the write head. Electrical pulses are sent to the write head with different patterns of positive and negative currents. The electric current in the coil of the write head creates a localized magnetic field across the gap between the head and the magnetic disk, which then magnetizes small areas on the recording medium.

[0003] HDDs include at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA), which generally includes a slider housing a read / write transducer (or "head") and a suspension. Each slider is attached to the free end of a suspension, which is cantilevered from a rigid arm of an actuator. Several actuator arms can be combined to form a single movable unit, usually a head stack assembly (HSA) with a rotating pivot bearing system. A conventional HDD suspension typically includes a relatively rigid load beam with a mount plate at its base end, which is attached to an actuator arm, the free end of which carries a flexure (or "gimbal" or "gimbal flexure") that carries the slider and its read / write head. A "hinge" that is flexible in the vertical bending direction (perpendicular to the disk surface) is effectively located between the mount plate and the functional end of the load beam. The hinge allows the load beam to suspend and rest the slider and read / write head toward the rotating disk surface. The function of the flexure, in turn, is to provide gimbal support for the slider so that it can pitch (tilt back and forth) and roll (tilt side to side) to adjust its orientation. However, customer standards and / or common design and operational constraints include operational shock (or "op-shock") and non-operational shock (or "non-op shock") requirements, which generally relate to the resistance or tolerance of a HDD to mechanical shock events during operation and non-operation, respectively.

[0004] Any approach that may be described in this section is an approach that could be pursued, but not necessarily an approach that has been previously conceived or pursued, and thus, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the 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 by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers refer to similar elements and in which: [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing a hard disk drive according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly having a limiter outrigger structure. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail based limiter structure according to one embodiment. [Figure 3B] FIG. 3B is a perspective view illustrating a limiter structure for the suspension load beam rail base of FIG. 3A according to one embodiment. [Figure 3C] FIG. 3B is a top view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 3A according to one embodiment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail based limiter structure according to one embodiment. [Figure 4B] FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A according to one embodiment. [Figure 4C] FIG. 4B is a top view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A according to one embodiment. [Figure 4D] FIG. 4B is a side view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A in accordance with one embodiment. [Figure 5A] FIG. 13 is a top view illustrating a suspension load beam rail based limiter structure according to one embodiment. [Figure 5B] FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 5A according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing a head gimbal assembly, according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0006] Generally, an approach to a suspension load beam rail-based gimbal limiter for hard disk drives (HDDs) is described. In the following specification, 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 instances, 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.

[0007] introduction term References herein to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," and the like are intended to mean that the particular feature, structure, or characteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. However, instances of such phrases do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

[0008] It will be understood that the term "substantially" describes features that are largely or approximately structured, configured, dimensioned, etc., although manufacturing tolerances and the like may result in situations where in practice the structure, configuration, dimensions, etc. are not always or necessarily precisely as described. For example, if one were to describe a structure as being "substantially vertical," the term would be assigned its obvious meaning such that the sidewalls are for all practical purposes vertical, but may not be at exactly 90 degrees.

[0009] Terms such as "optimal," "optimize," "minimal," "minimize," "maximum," "maximize," and the like may not have a specific value associated with them, but when such terms are used herein, it is intended that one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that such terms include affecting values, parameters, metrics, and the like in a beneficial direction consistent with the entirety of this disclosure. For example, describing some value as a "minimum" does not require that the value actually be equal to a theoretical minimum (e.g., zero), but should be understood in a practical sense in that the corresponding goal would be to move the value in a beneficial direction toward the theoretical minimum.

[0010] context Increasing the storage capacity of hard disk drives (HDDs) is one of the ongoing goals of HDD technology evolution. In one form, this goal manifests itself in increasing the number of disks incorporated therein. However, in many cases, customer demands dictate maintaining a standard form factor as characterized in part by the z-height of the HDD. This inherently introduces challenges with fitting more disks into a given device. Recall that suspensions typically include a relatively stiff load beam that mounts at its free end a gimbaled flexure that carries a slider and its read / write head. Thus, it remains a goal to increase the number of disks while maintaining a standard form factor that reduces the distance between each disk in the disk stack, while ensuring that operational and non-operational shock requirements are met. For example, the non-operational shock requirements are typically several hundred times the force of gravity (g), while the flexure is purposefully movably / gimbally coupled to the load beam. Therefore, limiting flexure and slider displacement in response to a shock event while maintaining good gimbal dynamic performance presents a significant challenge.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a head gimbal assembly having a limiter outrigger structure. The head gimbal assembly (HGA) 200 includes a flexure 202 movably coupled to a load beam 204. The HGA 200, and in particular the flexure 202, includes a tongue 202t region to which a slider 206 is attached, and possibly a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not shown), and associated mechanisms. This region therefore has little or no room for a conventional gimbal limiter, such as a T-bar limiter, Z-limiter, or merged limiter, which would not be fully feasible without the resulting degradation of current gimbal dynamic performance. One approach then involves using a limiter outrigger structure, i.e., limiter 202l, with the flexure 202 (e.g., stainless steel) to increase stiffness. Thus, the limiter 202l acts as a displacement / slider trailing end pitching stiffener and helps limit the displacement / pitching of the tongue 202t as it may stretch during an impact event. However, even with the use of a limiter structure such as the polyimide limiter 202l, significant undesirable displacement of the slider 206 may still be observed, due at least in part to the flexibility of polyimide and the resulting plastic deformation under non-operational impact. Without the limiter 202l, the displacement of the slider 206 and the deformation of the flexure 202 would be even greater.

[0012] Load beam side rail based gimbal limiter FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure, FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a top view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 3A, all according to one embodiment.

[0013] The hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 300 includes a flexure 302 movably coupled to a load beam 304, which may collectively be referred to as a suspension. The HGA 300, and in particular the flexure 302, includes a tang 302t region to which a slider 306 is attached, and possibly a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not shown), and associated mechanisms. The load beam 304 includes a substantially planar deck portion 304d (or simply "deck") and side rail portions 304r (or simply "side rails") extending away from each edge of the deck portion 304d. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304 includes a limiter structure 304l (or simply "limiter 304l") extending from the side rail portion 304r in a direction toward the flexure 302, the limiter structure 304l having a hooking portion 304l-a (or "arm extension 304l-a") disposed distally of the flexure 302 to limit the displacement of the flexure 302 away from the load beam 304. According to one embodiment, the HGA 300 has a certain (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hooking portion 304l-a of the limiter 304l of the load beam 304 and the flexure 302. Thus, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum mechanically allowed displacement of the flexure 302 away from the load beam 304 because the limiter 304l hooks around a portion of the flexure 302, thereby physically and structurally limiting the relative motion between the flexure 302 (e.g., its plastic deformation) and the load beam 304 in this region.

[0014] In particular, the hooking portion 304l-a is disposed relative to the flexure 302 at a location outside the flexure tongue 302t, i.e., in a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 306 (as well as the microactuator (not shown) and associated mechanisms, if any) are attached. Furthermore, this location places the hooking portion 304l-a relative to the flexure 302 at a gimbaled portion of the flexure 302. Although not visible here, the load beam 304 further comprises gimbal dimples (see, e.g., gimbal dimples 404g, 504g in FIGS. 4B, 4D, 5A), whereby the flexure 302 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 304 via the dimples and has a degree of freedom of rotation about a corresponding dimple axis. Thus, the limiters 304l limit the displacement in the z-direction (e.g., commonly considered vertical) between the flexure 302 and the load beam 304 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 302 and corresponding slider 306 with respect to the load beam 304 for operational purposes. Furthermore, the hooking portion 304l-a of each limiter 304l is located substantially in line with / collinear with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., in line with / collinear with the dimple over which the flexure 302-slider 306 gimbals, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such limiters 304l. Furthermore, as an integral part of the load beam 304, the limiters 304l do not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbals designed to enable high areal density (a measure of the amount of information bits that can be stored in a given area of ​​the disk surface) HDDs.

[0015] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 304l comprises a proximal portion 304l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304 and a hooking portion 304l-a extending from the proximal portion 304l-p. According to one embodiment, referring to Figures 3A-3C, a majority of the proximal portion 304l-p extends substantially perpendicular to the deck portion 304d of the load beam 304, and the hooking portion 304l-a extends substantially parallel to the deck portion 304d.

[0016] It should be noted that the exact shape of the limiter structure 304l of the load beam 304 may vary from implementation to implementation based on, for example, mechanical configurations and constraints, various design goals, etc. Differently shaped limiter structures may be implemented to facilitate ease of manufacturing. For example, a limiter structure configured and / or curved in such a manner as to lift and / or bend a distal tip of a hooking portion of the limiter structure (see, for example, limiter structure 404l in FIGS. 4A-4D and limiter structure 504l in FIGS. 5A-5B) may allow for easier manufacturing assembly of the flexure with the load beam, for example, by making it easier to insert or slide the flexure under the hooking portion of the limiter structure on the load beam side rail.

[0017] FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure, FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A, FIG. 4C is a top view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4D is a side view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A, all according to one embodiment.

[0018] The hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 400 includes a flexure 402 movably coupled to a load beam 404, which may collectively be referred to as a suspension. The HGA 400, and in particular the flexure 402, includes a tongue 402t region to which a slider 406 is attached, and possibly a set of piezoelectric (PZT) microactuators (not shown), and associated mechanisms. The load beam 404 includes a substantially planar deck portion 404d (or simply "deck") and side rail portions 404r (or simply "side rails") extending away from the flexure 402 from each edge of the deck portion 404d. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404 includes a limiter structure 404l (or simply "limiter 404l") extending from the side rail portion 404r in a direction toward the flexure 402, the limiter structure 404l having a hooking portion 404l-a (or "arm extension 404l-a") disposed distally of the flexure 402 to limit the displacement of the flexure 402 away from the load beam 404. According to one embodiment, the HGA 400 has a certain (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hooking portion 404l-a of the limiter 404l of the load beam 404 and the flexure 402 (see, e.g., FIG. 4D). Thus, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum mechanically permitted displacement of the flexure 402 away from the load beam 404 because the limiter 404l hooks around a portion of the flexure 402, thereby physically and structurally limiting the relative motion between the flexure 402 (e.g., its plastic deformation) and the load beam 404 in this region.

[0019] In particular, again, the hooking portion 404l-a is located relative to the flexure 402 at a location outside the flexure tongue 402t, i.e., in a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 406 (as well as the microactuator (not shown) and associated mechanisms, if any) are attached. Furthermore, this location places the hooking portion 404l-a relative to the flexure 402 at a gimbaled portion of the flexure 402. The load beam 404 further comprises a gimbal dimple 404g, whereby the flexure 402 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 404 via the dimple 404g and has a degree of freedom of rotation about the corresponding dimple axis. Thus, the limiter 404l limits the displacement in the z-direction between the flexure 402 and the load beam 404 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 402 and the corresponding slider 406 relative to the load beam 404 for operational purposes. Additionally, the hooking portion 404l-a of each limiter 404l is substantially aligned / collinear with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., aligned / collinear with the dimple 404g on which the flexure 402-slider 406 is gimbaled, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such limiters 404l. Furthermore, as an integral part of the load beam 404, the limiters 404l do not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbals designed to enable high areal density (a measure of the amount of information bits that can be stored in a given area of ​​the disk surface) HDDs.

[0020] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 404l comprises a proximal portion 404l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404, and a hooking portion 404l-a extending from the proximal portion 404l-p. According to one embodiment, and referring to Figures 4A-4D, the proximal portion 404l-p initially extends from the corresponding side rail portion 404r in a direction in the plane of the side rail portion 404r along the long axis of the side rail portion 404r, with an adjacent substantially C-shaped section 404l-c (e.g., hooking portion) curving outwardly from the plane of the side rail portion 404r.

[0021] Figure 5A is a top view and Figure 5B is a perspective view of the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of Figure 5A, both according to one embodiment. The load beam 504 comprises a substantially planar deck portion 504d (or simply "deck") and a side rail portion 504r (or simply "side rail") extending away from each edge of the deck portion 504d and, in an assembled configuration, extending 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") extending from the side rail portion 504r in a direction opposite to that of the extension of each side rail portion 504r, i.e., toward the corresponding flexure, with the limiter structure 504l having a hooking portion 504l-a (or "arm extension 504l-a") located distal to the flexure to limit the displacement of the flexure away from the load beam 504 (see, e.g., similar scenarios in Figures 3A, 3C, 4A, 4C-4D). According to one embodiment, the HGA of which the load beam 504 is a part has a specific (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap between the hooking portion 504l-a of the limiter 504l of the load beam 504 and the corresponding flexure. Thus, the limiter gap actually defines the maximum mechanically permitted displacement of the flexure away from the load beam 504 because the limiter 504l hooks around a portion of the flexure, thereby physically and structurally limiting the relative motion between the flexure and the load beam 504 in this region. The load beam 504 further comprises gimbal dimples 504g, whereby the corresponding flexure is movably coupled (i.e., gimbaled) to the load beam 504 via the dimple 504g, and thus has a degree of freedom of rotation about the corresponding dimple axis. The limiter 504l thus limits the displacement in the z direction between the flexure and the load beam 504 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure and the corresponding slider with respect to the load beam 504 for operational purposes.Further, the hooking portion 504l-a of each limiter 504l is substantially aligned / collinear with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., aligned / collinear with the dimple 504g on which the flexure slider is gimbaled, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such limiter 504l.

[0022] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 504l comprises a proximal portion 504l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 and a hooking portion 504l-a extending from the proximal portion 504l-p. According to one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, a majority of the proximal portion 504l-p extends from the side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 at a skew angle (deviation from a straight line) laterally outward from the side rail portion 504r. More specifically, according to one embodiment, the proximal portion 504l-p initially extends from the corresponding side rail portion 504r in a direction toward the flexure within the plane of the side rail portion 504r, and an adjacent portion 504l-pa of the proximal portion 504l-p that connects to the hooking portion 504l-a extends at a skew angle laterally outward from the plane of the side rail portion 504r.

[0023] How to assemble the head gimbal assembly 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly, according to one embodiment. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) assembled, manufactured, or produced according to the method of FIG. 6 is designed, configured, and intended for installation into a hard disk drive (HDD) (see, e.g., FIG. 1).

[0024] At block 602, a load beam is formed with a substantially flat deck having an opening on each side. For example, load beam 304 (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404 (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504 (FIGS. 5A-5B) is formed including deck 304d (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404d (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504d (FIGS. 5A-5B) having opening 304o (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404o (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504o (FIGS. 5A-5B) on each side.

[0025] At block 604, a side rail portion is formed on each side of the deck, each side rail portion including a limiter structure including an arm extension that extends into an opening in the deck. For example, a side rail portion is formed on each side of deck 304d, 404d, 504d, each side rail portion including a limiter structure 304l (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404l (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504l (FIGS. 5A-5B) including an arm extension 304l-a (FIGS. 3B-3C), 404l-a (FIG. 4B), 504l-a (FIG. 5B) that extends into opening 304o, 404o, 504o of deck 304d, 404d, 504d.

[0026] At block 606, each side rail portion is bent to form a side rail extending in a first direction away from the deck and a limiter structure extending from the opening away from the corresponding side rail and in a second direction away from the deck. For example, each side rail portion is bent to form a side rail 304r (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404r (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504r (FIGS. 5A-5B) that extends in a first direction away from the deck 304d, 404d, 504d, and a limiter structure 304l, 404l, 504l extends in a second direction away from the deck 304d, 404d, 504d, away from the corresponding side rail 304r, 404r, 504r and the opening 304o, 404o, 504o. Therefore, for ease of manufacturing, each limiter 304l, 404l, 504l is formed in the desired location by a process of bending portions of the side rail to form the side rails 304r, 404r, 504r.

[0027] At block 608, the flexure is coupled to the second direction side of the load beam, which includes disposing an arm extension on a distal second direction side of the flexure to limit the flexure from displacing in the second direction away from the load beam. For example, the flexure 302 (FIGS. 3A, 3C), 402 (FIGS. 4A, 4C-4D) is coupled to the second direction side of the load beam 304, 404, 504, which includes disposing an arm extension 304l-a, 404l-a, 504l-a on a distal second direction side of the flexure 302, 402 to limit the flexure 302, 402 from displacing in the second direction away from the load beam 304, 404, 504.

[0028] Thus, considering the embodiments described herein, each limiter structure makes it possible to limit the z-displacement between the flexure and the load beam while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure and corresponding slider relative to the load beam for operational purposes.

[0029] Illustrative physical description of the operating context The 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, a plan view showing a conventional HDD 100 is shown in FIG. 1 to help explain how a conventional HDD typically operates.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a functional arrangement of components of a HDD 100, including a slider 110b that includes a magnetic read-write head 110a. Collectively, the slider 110b and the head 110a may be referred to as a head slider. The HDD 100 includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA) 110 that includes a head slider, a lead suspension 110c that is typically attached to the head slider via a flexure, and a load beam 110d that is attached to the lead suspension 110c. The HDD 100 also includes at least one recording medium 120 that is rotatably mounted on a spindle 124, and a drive motor (not shown) that is attached to the spindle 124 to rotate 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 secured to a spindle 124 with a disk clamp 128 .

[0031] The HDD 100 further includes an arm 132 mounted to the HGA 110, a carriage 134, and a voice coil motor (VCM) including an armature 136 including a voice coil 140 mounted to the carriage 134, and a stator 144 including a voice coil magnet (not shown). The VCM armature 136 is attached to the carriage 134 and is configured to move the arm 132 and HGA 110 to access portions of the media 120, all collectively mounted on a pivot shaft 148 with an intervening pivot bearing assembly 152. In a HDD with 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 interlocking arms that give the carriage the appearance of a comb.

[0032] An assembly comprising a head gimbal assembly (e.g., HGA 110), including 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, an HSA may include more or less components than those listed. For example, an HSA may refer to an assembly that further includes electrical interconnection components. In general, an HSA is an assembly configured to move a head slider to access portions of a medium 120 for read and write operations.

[0033] With further reference to FIG. 1 , electrical signals including write signals to and read signals from head 110a (e.g., current to the voice coil 140 of the VCM) are transmitted by a flexible cable assembly (FCA) 156 (or “flex cable,” or “flexible printed circuit” (FPC)). The interconnect between flex cable 156 and head 110a may include an arm-electronics (AE) module 160, which may have on-board preamplifiers for the read signal, as well as other read channel and write channel electronics. The AE module 160 may be mounted to the carriage 134 as shown. The flex cable 156 may be coupled to an electrical connector block 164, which in some configurations provides electrical communication through an electrical feedthrough provided by an HDD enclosure 168. The HDD housing 168 (or "enclosure base", or "base plate" or simply "base"), together with the HDD cover, provides a semi-sealed (or, in some configurations, hermetically sealed) protective enclosure for the information storage components of the HDD 100.

[0034] A disk controller including a digital-signal processor (DSP) and other electronic components including servo electronics provide electrical signals to the drive motor, the voice coil 140 of the VCM, and the head 110a of the HGA 110. The electrical signals provided to the drive motor enable the drive motor to rotate providing a torque to the spindle 124, which is then transferred to the medium 120 attached to the spindle 124. As a result, the medium 120 rotates in a direction 172. The rotating medium 120 forms a cushion of air 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 contacting the thin magnetic recording layer on which the information is recorded. Similarly, in HDDs where a lighter-than-air gas such as helium is utilized as a non-limiting example, the rotating medium 120 creates a cushion of gas that acts as a gas or fluid bearing on which the slider 110b rides.

[0035] An 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 information is to be recorded. Thus, the armature 136 of the VCM swings through an arc 180 to enable the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access various tracks on the medium 120. Information is stored on the medium 120 in a number of radially nested tracks arranged in sectors on the medium 120, such as sectors 184. Correspondingly, each track is made up of a number of sectorized track portions (or "track sectors"), such as sectorized track portion 188. Each sectorized track portion 188 may include the recorded information and a header that includes 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 the servo burst signal pattern, which provides a position-error-signal (PES) to the servo electronics, which enables head 110a to follow track 176 by controlling an electrical signal provided to the voice coil 140 of the VCM. Upon locating track 176 and identifying a particular sectored track portion 188, head 110a reads information from track 176 or writes information to track 176 in response to instructions received by a disk controller from an external agent, e.g., a microprocessor of a computer system.

[0036] The electronic architecture of an HDD includes numerous electronic components, such as a hard disk controller ("HDC"), an interface controller, an arm electronics module, a data channel, a motor driver, a servo processor, a buffer memory, and the like, each performing its own respective function for the operation of the HDD. Two or more of such components may be combined on a single integrated circuit board, referred to as a "system on a chip" ("SOC"). Some, but not all, of such electronic components are typically located on a printed circuit board that is coupled to the bottom side of the HDD, such as in the HDD housing 168.

[0037] References herein to hard disk drives, such as HDD 100 shown and described with reference to FIG. 1, may encompass information storage devices that may be referred to as "hybrid drives." A hybrid drive generally refers to a storage device that has the functionality of both a traditional HDD (see, e.g., 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 that is electrically erasable and programmable. Because the operation, management, and control of different types of storage media are typically different, the solid-state portion of the hybrid drive may include its own corresponding controller functions, or the controller functions may be integrated into a single controller along with the HDD functions. A hybrid drive may be designed and configured to operate and utilize the solid-state portion in several ways, such as by using the solid-state memory as a cache memory, as a non-limiting example, to store frequently accessed data, to store I / O intensive data, and the like. Additionally, a hybrid drive may be designed and configured essentially as two storage devices in a single enclosure, i.e., a traditional HDD and an SSD, either with one or more interfaces for host connection.

[0038] Augmentations and Alternatives In the foregoing description, the embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Accordingly, various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the embodiments. Thus, the sole and exclusive reference of what is, and what the applicants intend to be, the invention is the set of claims originating from this application, in the particular form in which such claims originate, including any subsequent amendments. The definitions expressly set forth herein for the terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of the terms as used in the claims. Hence, any limitations, elements, characteristics, features, advantages or attributes not expressly recited in the claims should in no way limit the scope of such claims. Hereby, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative and not restrictive sense.

[0039] Additionally, certain process steps may be described herein in a particular order, and alphabetic and alphanumeric symbols may be used to identify particular steps. Unless otherwise specified herein, embodiments are not necessarily limited to any particular order of performing such steps. In particular, symbols are used merely for convenient identification of steps, and are not intended to specify or require a particular order of performing such steps.

Claims

1. A load beam; Flexure and A head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising a suspension assembly comprising: The load beam is a deck section having an edge on each lateral side; and side rail portions extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure, each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure, the limiter structure including a hooking portion disposed distal to the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam.

2. 2. The HGA of claim 1, further comprising a limiter gap between the hooking portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of mechanically permitted displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

3. 2. The HGA of claim 1, wherein the hooking portion is disposed relative to the flexure at a position outside a flexure tang of the flexure configured to attach a head slider.

4. The HGA of claim 1 , wherein the hooking portion is disposed relative to the flexure at a gimbal support portion of the flexure.

5. Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam; the hooking portion extending from the proximal portion; The HGA of claim 1 .

6. a majority of the proximal portion extends substantially perpendicular to the deck portion of the load beam; The HGA of claim 5 , wherein said hooking portion extends substantially parallel to said deck section of said load beam.

7. The HGA of claim 5 , wherein a majority of said proximal portion extends at a laterally outward skew angle from said side rail portion of said load beam.

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

9. the proximal portion initially extends from the corresponding siderail portion in a direction within the plane of the siderail portion and along a longitudinal axis of the siderail portion; and The HGA of claim 5 , wherein adjacent substantially C-shaped sections curve outwardly from the plane of the side rail portions.

10. A hard disk drive comprising the HGA of claim 1.

11. A hard disk drive (HDD), A plurality of recording disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle; a head slider containing a read-write transducer configured to read from and write to the recording disk media of the plurality of recording disk media; means for moving the head slider to access portions of the recording disk medium; a head gimbal assembly (HGA) coupled to the means for moving, Flexure and A load beam to which the flexure is gimbaled, the load beam comprising: a deck section having edges on each side; and a head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising: a load beam comprising side rail portions extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure, each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure, the limiter structure including a hooking portion disposed distal to the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

12. 12. The HDD of claim 11, wherein the HGA further comprises a limiter gap between the hooking portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of displacement of the flexure that is mechanically permitted in a direction away from the load beam.

13. 12. The HDD according to claim 11, wherein the hooking portion of the limiter structure is disposed, with respect to the flexure, at an outer portion of a flexure tongue of the flexure to which the head slider is attached.

14. Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam; the hooking portion extending from the proximal portion; The HDD of claim 11 .

15. a majority of the proximal portion extends substantially perpendicular to the deck portion of the load beam; 15. The HDD of claim 14, wherein the hooking portion extends substantially parallel to the deck portion of the load beam.

16. 15. The HDD of claim 14, wherein a majority of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward skew angle from the side rail portion of the load beam.

17. the proximal portion initially extends from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure within the plane of the side rail portion; and an adjacent portion of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward angle from the plane of the side rail portion; The HDD of claim 14.

18. the proximal portion initially extends from the corresponding siderail portion in a direction within the plane of the siderail portion and along a longitudinal axis of the siderail portion; and 15. The HDD of claim 14, wherein adjacent substantially C-shaped sections curve outwardly from the plane of the side rail portions.

19. 1. A method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly (HGA), the method comprising: forming a load beam comprising a substantially flat deck having an opening on each side; forming a side rail portion on each side of the deck, each side rail portion including a limiter structure including an arm extension that extends into the opening in the deck; bending each side rail portion to form a side rail extending in a first direction away from the deck such that the limiter structure extends from the opening in a second direction away from the corresponding side rail and away from the deck; coupling a flexure to a second direction side of the load beam, the step including disposing the arm extension on a distal second direction side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure in the second direction away from the load beam.

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

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