Integrated Flexure-Bonding Pads for Disk Drive Head Slider Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for attaching a head slider to a suspension in disk drive devices are complex, time-consuming, and prone to errors, leading to variations in pitch and roll static attitudes, which degrade the flying performance and data reading/writing capabilities of the head slider.
Innovation Solution
A suspension design with front and rear flexure-bonding pads integrated with trace patterns, allowing for a single method of attachment without epoxy adhesive, ensuring consistent connection strength and position, and reducing alignment issues during fabrication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If epoxy adhesive is used to bond the head slider to the flexure, then mechanical connection strength is improved, but manufacturing complexity and time increase due to separate assembly processes and curing temperature requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the electrical bonding pads and mechanical attachment structures into a single integrated component. The flexure-bonding pads are formed as an integral part of the flexure structure, eliminating the need for separate epoxy adhesive bonding processes. This integration combines electrical connection and mechanical attachment into one unified structure, reducing assembly complexity while maintaining connection strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexure-bonding pads serve multiple functions simultaneously: they provide electrical connection between the head slider and suspension, mechanical attachment to secure the head slider, and structural support as part of the flexure. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components and processes, reducing overall device complexity.
2Reliability
If separate processes are used for electrical bonding and mechanical attachment, then connection reliability is improved through specialized bonding, but manufacturing time and labor increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines electrical bonding and mechanical attachment into a single integrated process. The flexure-bonding pads are formed as one piece with the flexure structure, allowing simultaneous electrical and mechanical connection in a single assembly step, thereby reducing manufacturing time while maintaining connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexure-bonding pads are pre-formed as an integral part of the flexure structure during fabrication, so that when the head slider is assembled, both electrical and mechanical connections are already prepared and aligned, eliminating the need for separate bonding processes and reducing assembly time.
3Strength
If epoxy adhesive bonding is used, then mechanical attachment is achieved, but temperature requirements for curing may damage the sensor in the head slider
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mechanical attachment function from the epoxy adhesive bonding process. By forming the flexure-bonding pads as an integral part of the flexure structure, the mechanical attachment is achieved through the structural design itself rather than through temperature-curing adhesive, thereby eliminating the thermal damage risk to the sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the thermal-chemical bonding mechanism of epoxy adhesive with a mechanical integration approach. The flexure-bonding pads are formed as a single piece with the flexure, providing mechanical attachment through structural integration rather than through temperature-curing chemistry, thus avoiding thermal damage to sensitive components.
4Reliability
If flexure-bonding pads are positioned separately from trace patterns, then electrical connection is achieved, but alignment precision deteriorates due to separate fabrication steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the flexure-bonding pads and trace patterns into a single integrated structure formed as one piece. This integration ensures precise alignment between the bonding pads and trace patterns since they are positioned relative to each other during a single fabrication process, eliminating alignment errors that would occur with separate steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexure-bonding pads and trace patterns are simultaneously formed and positioned during the initial fabrication process, establishing their relative positions before any assembly operations. This preliminary positioning ensures high alignment precision is built into the structure itself, eliminating subsequent alignment adjustments.
Data Source
AI summary
A suspension for supporting a head slider has a flexure, several trace patterns positioned on the flexure, front flexure-bonding pads disposed on the flexure at a position corresponding to a leading edge of the head slider and connected to the trace patterns, and rear flexure-bonding pads disposed on the flexure at a position corresponding to a trailing edge of the head slider and connected to the trace patterns. The front and the rear flexure-bonding pads and the trace patterns are integrally formed and disposed on the flexure at the same time, so the fabricating process is simplified and there is no alignment problem for bonding location. This can ensure the connection strength and position between the head slider and the suspension changeless and, in turns, ensure a good attitude of the head slider. The invention also discloses a HGA and a disk drive device with such suspension, and a fabricating method for the suspension.