Disk Drive Suspension Flexure With Dielectric Resonance Damping
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing suspension assemblies in disk drives face challenges in maintaining consistent head-to-disk spacing due to resonance and external disturbances, which affect data storage capacity and accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A suspension assembly with a flexure design incorporating a dielectric layer overlaying a spring metal layer, featuring a void with aligned apertures and slits, which enhances stiffness and damping properties to control resonant behavior.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the suspension is made flexible perpendicular to the disk plane to follow disk runout, then the suspension can accommodate disk wobble, but the suspension becomes more prone to resonance and external disturbances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the physical parameters of the flexure by incorporating a void with specific geometry (central opening with opposing ends, first and second channels extending from them) and overlaying dielectric material with controlled thickness. This changes the stiffness and damping characteristics of the flexure, allowing it to maintain flexibility for tracking disk runout while resisting resonance through enhanced structural damping.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexure is constructed as a composite structure combining spring metal material with dielectric material. The dielectric layer overlays portions of the spring metal layer, creating a composite structure that provides both the flexibility needed to follow disk motion and the damping properties to reduce resonance peaks and external disturbance sensitivity.
2Measurement precision
If the suspension is made rigid in the plane parallel to the disk for accurate track placement, then the transducer positioning accuracy improves, but the suspension cannot adequately follow out-of-plane disk motion
Solution Approach 1:
The flexure design implements local quality by creating regions of different stiffness through the void structure and dielectric overlay. The spring metal layer provides rigidity in the plane parallel to the disk for accurate track positioning, while the void and dielectric configuration provide flexibility perpendicular to the disk plane for following disk motion. This spatial variation in mechanical properties resolves the contradiction between rigidity and adaptability.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional flexure designs are used, then the suspension assembly is simple to manufacture, but resonance peaks reduce data storage capacity and accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The flexure is segmented into distinct functional regions: a spring metal layer providing structural support, a void with specific geometry (central opening and channels) for damping, and a dielectric layer overlaying portions of the spring metal. This segmentation allows each region to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining manufacturability through standard fabrication processes for multi-layer structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design improves mechanical properties, reducing resonance peaks and maintaining consistent head-to-disk spacing, thereby enhancing data storage capacity and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
The gimbal also includes a dielectric layer overlaying the spring metal layer
Implementation Method 2
The spring metal layer including a base portion, a tongue, and a pair of spring arms
Data Source
AI summary
A dielectric layer configured to overlay a spring metal layer in a suspension assembly is described. The dielectric layer includes a tongue portion including a proximate end and a distal end, trace portions extending from the tongue portion, and an aperture aligned with the void and defined by the tongue portion. The aperture includes an elongated opening with opposing ends partially aligning with the central opening of the void. The aperture further includes slits extending from the opposing ends of the elongated opening and at least partially aligned with slits of the void in the spring metal layer.