JPH08249848A - Magnetic disk unit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To realize a high-speed, large-capacity magnetic disk device by reducing positioning errors due to variations in slider flying height and head position deviation. A slider spacer 2 for holding a slider 1 having a magnetic head mounted thereon, a gimbal 3 fixed to the slider spacer by welding in a single region smaller than the region in contact with the slider spacer, and this gimbal In a magnetic disk device having a magnetic head supporting mechanism having a load arm which is held by the load arm and whose other end is connected to a guide arm, the fixing portion 4 by the welding is centered on the side of the slider spacer 2 that contacts the gimbal. And the concave portion 2b surrounding the periphery is formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention magnetically records and records information.
The present invention relates to a disk storage device such as a hard disk drive for reproduction, and more particularly, to a high-speed and large-capacity magnetic disk device in which the flying height of a slider is reduced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical example of a head supporting mechanism of a magnetic disk device which has been conventionally put to practical use is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-22.
No. 296 (hereinafter, referred to as a first conventional example). In the first conventional example, the slider on which the magnetic head is mounted has the entire area of contact of the tongue of the gimbal fixed with an adhesive or the like. The gimbal has a flexible structure in the direction perpendicular to the disk surface so that the slider can follow the disk surface. The gimbal is provided with a projection called a dimple, and the slider can freely rotate about the apex of the dimple as a fulcrum. The load arm is composed of a rigid portion that holds the gimbal and a spring portion that applies a necessary load to the slider via the dimple.

In an example of a magnetic head support mechanism for a floppy disk described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-43826 (hereinafter referred to as a second conventional example), a movable base rotatably supported by a fixed base is used. A gimbal is attached to the tip of the fixed base and the movable base, and the magnetic head is fixed to the center of the gimbal with an adhesive or the like. Further, a support pin for supporting the center of the back surface of the gimbal is provided to suppress the fluctuation of the magnetic head in the vertical direction of the disk surface and apply a necessary load to the magnetic head.

In the example described in JP-A-1-179287 (hereinafter referred to as the third embodiment), four arms radially formed constitute a gimbal. Among them, the head support mechanism is configured by fixing the tip ends of two arms that are not adjacent to each other to the slider and fixing the tip ends of the remaining two arms to the load arm. Further, the degree of freedom of the slider is secured by providing a spacer between the gimbal and the slider or forming a groove on the gimbal mounting surface of the slider.

[0005]

In the head support mechanism disclosed in the first conventional example, the slider is fixed with an adhesive or the like over the entire region where the tongue portion of the gimbal contacts. Therefore, the initial warp or twist of the tongue of the gimbal, or the warp or twist due to stress, load, or disturbance during bonding will cause the slider to deform, resulting in warp or twist of the slider air bearing surface, and It will be scattered. On the other hand, the initial warp / twist of the slider, the stress during bonding, and the warp / twist due to load or disturbance affect the gimbal tongue and cause variations in the slider initial posture angle. I will end up. If the flying height of the slider is lower than the design value, there is a risk that the slider and disk will come into contact with each other and the data may be damaged.Therefore, the flying height cannot be lowered enough to increase the recording density. As a result, a large-capacity magnetic disk device cannot be realized.

In the first conventional example, the slider is pressed against the disk surface by the load arm via the dimple. However, when the seek or runaway occurs, the gimbal deforms in the radial direction of the disk surface, causing slippage on the dimples, and the frictional force generated on the dimples holds the slips, resulting in misalignment between the slider and the tip of the load arm. is there. As a result, the heads of the multiple head support mechanisms are misaligned, the positioning accuracy deteriorates in the servo surface servo method, and it becomes necessary to reposition each head between multiple heads in the data surface servo method. There will be a time delay.

Also in the magnetic head support mechanism disclosed in the second conventional example, since the entire upper surface of the slider is fixed, the flying height variation occurs due to the mutual deformation of the gimbal and the slider warp / twist. However, a large-capacity magnetic disk device cannot be realized. Further, since the support pin and the gimbal are in contact with each other, when the gimbal is deformed, the head position shift occurs due to the frictional force as in the case of the first conventional example. For floppy disks,
Since there is only one disk and maximum two magnetic heads,
Even if the head position is deviated, it does not cause a large delay in access time, but a magnetic disk device in which a plurality of disks are mounted and 10 or more magnetic heads may be mounted, or heads of a plurality of heads are changed one after another. In a magnetic disk device having an operation of reading and writing data, delay of access time becomes a big problem.

In the head supporting mechanism disclosed in the third conventional example, as in the first and second conventional examples, in addition to the effects of warpage and torsion, the slider mounting surface of the gimbal is located at two places. Since the slider is divided, the slider mounting surface at two places is pulled due to the pressing load particularly on the slider, so that the slider air bearing surface is apt to warp. Further, the twist between the slider mounting surfaces tends to have a bad influence particularly on the stable flying of the slider. On the other hand, since there is no dimple in the sliding portion, the head position shift described above does not occur, but conversely, there is no damping due to friction, so the vibration amplitude becomes large and it is difficult to improve the positioning accuracy.

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose thereof is to prevent the flying height variation due to the warp / twist of the gimbal or slider. The reduction is to achieve a low flying height of the slider.

Another object of the present invention is to:
A high-speed, large-capacity magnetic disk device is realized by eliminating the head position deviation due to dimple friction and by giving an appropriate friction damping to improve the positioning accuracy, increase the recording density and shorten the access time. To do.

Another object of the present invention is to:
Eliminates convex warpage and twist of the slider spacer against the slider surface, secures a sufficient adhesive area between the slider spacer and slider, secures the slider flying posture and adhesive strength, and contacts and adheres to the slider disk. It is to avoid the crash due to peeling of the head that occurs due to insufficient strength and to ensure reliability.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a slider spacer for holding a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted, and a slider in a single area smaller than the area in contact with the slider spacer. A gimbal fixed to the spacer by welding, and a load arm that holds this gimbal at one end and connects the other end to a guide arm,
In a magnetic disk device having a magnetic head supporting mechanism including: a concave portion (for example, a shallow groove or a groove formed on the side of the slider spacer contacting the gimbal with the fixed portion formed by the welding as a center and surrounding the fixed portion). To form a depression).

[0013]

According to the present invention, since the slider spacer and the gimbal are fixed in a single area, which is smaller than the area where the slider spacer and the gimbal are in contact with each other, the area in which the deformation is transmitted to each other is larger than that in the above-mentioned conventional example. Therefore, the influence of warpage / twisting of the gimbal and slider can be reduced.
Further, since the fixing is carried out in one area, unlike the third conventional example, the slider mounting surface is not pulled by the load and the gimbal and the slider are not deformed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce variations in the flying height due to the warp / twist of the gimbal or slider.

Further, by providing the slider spacer, it is not necessary to provide the dimples of the first conventional example and the support pins of the second conventional example, so that the head position deviation due to the frictional force generated in the first and second conventional examples is eliminated. To be done. Furthermore, since a portion that is in contact with each other but not fixed is provided between the gimbal and the slider spacer, there is appropriate friction damping, and the vibration amplitude does not become excessively large unlike the third conventional example. . Therefore, the displacement of the head due to the friction of the dimples is eliminated, and appropriate damping is provided.
Positioning accuracy can be improved and access time can be shortened.

Therefore, the sled of the gimbal or slider
By eliminating the variation in the flying height due to torsion, the flying height of the slider can be reduced, the head position deviation due to the friction of the dimples can be eliminated, and an appropriate friction damping can be given to improve the positioning accuracy and the recording density. Since the cost is high and the access time is shortened, a high-speed and large-capacity magnetic disk device can be realized.

In addition, the slider spacer is fixed to the gimbal by welding by providing a portion (for example, a shallow groove or a recess) around the fixing portion on the side contacting the gimbal of the slider spacer and surrounding the fixing portion. As a result, shrinkage occurs on the slider-bonded side of the slider spacer due to the decrease in temperature after welding. As a result, a recess is formed only on the side of the slider spacer that is to be bonded to the slider, and there is a problem in fixing the slider spacer to the slider spacer by welding in this recess. It is possible to avoid convex deformation on the slider bonding surface side, and the slider bonding surface of the slider spacer can be made almost flat or slightly concave, and the slider can be bonded on a surface with a large area. And reliability can be increased.

[0017]

The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a plan view of a magnetic head supporting mechanism of a magnetic disk apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a magnetic head supporting mechanism of the magnetic disk apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of the mechanism, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the tip portion of FIG.

1 to 3, 1 is a slider, 2 is a slider spacer, 3 is a gimbal, 5 is a load arm,
6 is a spacer, 7 is a guide arm, and 8 is a disk (magnetic disk).

As shown in the figure, a slider 1 having a magnetic head mounted thereon is fixed to a slider spacer 2 by adhesion, and the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 are in contact with each other as shown in FIG. It is fixed by welding in a single fixing area 4 (area hatched in the lower right direction in FIG. 3) which is smaller than the area. The gimbal 3 includes an annular flexible portion 3a and a slider attachment portion 3b.
A load arm fixing part 3c, an inner arm part 3d connecting the annular flexible part 3a and the slider mounting part 3b, and an outer arm part 3e connecting the annular flexible part 3a and the load arm fixing part 3c. It is formed and configured, and is fixed to the load arm 5 by welding or the like. The load arm 5 is connected to the guide arm 7 via the spacer 6.

The magnetic head support mechanism of this example shown in the drawing is
The in-line access method is shown in which a predetermined track is accessed by rotating in the radial direction of the disk 8 around the base of the guide arm 7.

As described above, in the present invention, the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 are fixed in a limited small area (single fixing area 4) as compared with the prior art, so that the slider mounting portion of the gimbal 3 is fixed. The warp / twist of 3b does not easily affect the air bearing surface of the slider 1. Further, at the same time, the warp and twist of the slider 1 and the slider spacer 2 are less likely to affect the slider mounting portion 3b of the gimbal 3, and the variation in the initial posture angle of the gimbal 3 can be reduced. Therefore, variations in flatness of the air bearing surface of the slider 1 and variations in initial attitude angle of the gimbal 3 are reduced,
The flying height variation of the slider 1 can be reduced, and as a result, the flying height can be reduced and the recording density can be increased.

The smaller the fixing area between the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3, the more the deformation of the slider 1 and the gimbal 3 can be suppressed. However, if the fixing area is too small, the fixing strength may be insufficient. The area is preferably 0.07 mm ² to 0.2 mm ² .

Further, by fixing the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 in the independent fixing area 4, the pressing load on the slider 1 is prevented from being dispersed, and the two pressing areas are separated by the pressing load as in the third conventional example. The slider 1 and the gimbal 3 are less likely to be deformed without being pulled between them, and at the same time, the load point on the slider 1 becomes clear.
The flying height variation of the slider 1 can be further reduced. Furthermore, the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3
Although it is in contact with the slider mounting portion 3b of No. 3, but is in contact with and rubbed in the friction region 9 (the region hatched to the lower left in FIG. 3) which is not fixed, and when it vibrates due to disturbance or the like, Since there is a friction damping effect, the vibration amplitude does not become excessively large. This improves the positioning accuracy, shortens the access time, and realizes a high-speed, large-capacity magnetic disk device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part taken along the line AA of FIG. As shown in FIG.
A recess 2 a larger than the fixing region 4 is provided on the side of the surface of the slider 1 that is bonded to the slider 1. The slider spacer 2 and the slider 1 are joined by the adhesive 10. The slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 are welded by irradiating the bottom of the recess 2a with a laser or the like. Further, on the surface side of the slider spacer 2 which is in contact with the gimbal 3, the fixing region 4 is centered,
A substantially concentric ring groove 2b is provided which is slightly larger than the recess 2a and is arranged so as to surround the periphery thereof.

According to this structure, the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 are fixed by welding, so that the small fixing region 4 has a high strength as compared with the adhesive, is less likely to deteriorate over time, and is highly reliable. be able to. In addition, in the case of adhesion, there is a risk that the adhesive may flow out between the slider spacer 2 and the slider spacer attachment portion 3b and stick out to bridge the annular flexible portion 3a and the inner arm portion 3d. Can be avoided.

The recess 2a prevents the molten protrusion of the fixing region 4 from protruding from the slider bonding surface of the slider spacer 2. As a result, the protrusion of the molten protrusion is eliminated, and the adhesive 1 between the slider 1 and the slider spacer 2 is removed.
It is possible to reduce the variation in the thickness of the zero portion and reduce the variation in the deformation of the slider 1 due to the adhesion. However, when the recess 2a is provided, thermal stress is generated during laser welding, and shrinkage on the gimbal surface side of the slider spacer 2 increases during cooling,
A convex deformation may occur on the slider adhesive surface side of the slider spacer 2, which may hinder the reduction of the thickness variation of the adhesive 10 part. On the other hand, by providing the ring groove 2b, it is possible to mitigate the increase in shrinkage on the gimbal surface side of the slider spacer 2 due to the thermal stress generated at the time of welding, and to avoid the convex deformation on the slider bonding surface side of the slider spacer 2. The slider bonding surface side of the slider spacer 2 can be made substantially flat or slightly concave, and the slider 1 can be bonded on the surface having a large area, thereby increasing the slider bonding strength and ensuring the reliability. .

FIG. 5 shows the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the amount of deformation of the slider spacer 2 and the depth of depression and the depth of ring groove due to the welding of FIG. In the figure, the horizontal axis is the amount of the recess 2a depth h divided by the slider spacer plate thickness t, and the ring groove 2b depth h.
₁ represents the amount obtained by dividing the slider spacer plate thickness t, and the vertical axis represents the amount of change x in the warp of the slider spacer 2 before and after welding.

FIG. 5 shows the results with and without the depression 2a and the ring groove 2b, and the ring groove 2b.
The results with and only are shown respectively. If there is no ring groove 2b, a negative warp is generated and the depression 2a
The warp amount x increases as the depth h of the
When the ring groove 2b is also provided, it can be seen that the warp amount x can be made substantially zero by providing the ring groove 2b having a depth h ₁ similar to that of the depression 2a. Further, in the case of only the ring groove 2b, a positive warp occurs due to the increase of the groove depth h ₁ .

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the slider spacer 2 when this embodiment is applied to a 2 mm long slider, and FIG. 7 shows a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG. In this example, d1 = 0.2 on the adhesive surface of the slider spacer 2 to which the slider 1 is attached.
A recess 2a, which is slightly deeper than half the thickness of the slider spacer 2 at φ, is provided, and a ring groove 2b having the same depth as the recess 2a is provided on the side of the slider spacer 2 that contacts the gimbal 3. Further, the diameter d2 on the inner side of the ring groove 2b is
d2 = 2 × d1 = 0.4φ, the groove width is 0.1 mm, and the outer diameter d3 of the groove is d3 = 0.5φ. With this configuration, the deformation of the slider spacer 2 due to the welding of the slider spacer 2 and the gimbal 3 can be brought close to zero, and a flat adhesive surface can be achieved, and the adhesive 10 at the time of attaching the slider 1 and the slider spacer 2 can be achieved. It is possible to reduce the unevenness and variation in the thickness of the slider, suppress the variation in the deformation of the slider 1 due to the bonding, and reduce the variation in the flying height. This allows
The flying height can be reduced, and a large-capacity magnetic disk storage device can be realized.

Furthermore, the recess 2a of the slider spacer 2
The depth of the ring groove 2b and the ring groove 2b is set to be slightly deeper than half the plate thickness of the slider spacer 2, and the slider spacer 2 is processed by the same double-sided etching as in the conventional method. It can be processed in a single etching process, and the above-mentioned performance can be realized at low cost.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an example in which the depth of the ring groove 2b of the slider spacer 2 is set to half or less of the plate thickness of the slider spacer 2.

In this embodiment having such a structure, the ring groove 2
Although b is a separate processing, the number of processing steps increases, but it is possible to avoid a decrease in strength due to the thinning of the slider spacer 2 in cross section, and to suppress the deformation of the slider spacer 2 when the slider is bonded. Regarding the reduction of warpage during welding,
The effect is almost the same as that of the embodiment.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the depth of the ring groove 2b and the recess 2a of the slider spacer 2 is
This is an example in which the plate thickness of the slider spacer 2 is half or less.

In this embodiment having such a structure, the recess 2a and the ring groove 2b are processed separately, and the number of processing steps is increased. However, by reducing the processing depth of the recess 2a, thermal stress due to welding is reduced. The deformation due to can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to avoid a decrease in strength due to the thinning of the cross section of the slider spacer 2, and it is possible to suppress deformation of the slider spacer 2 when the slider is bonded. With regard to the reduction of warpage during welding, there are effects equal to or higher than those of the first embodiment.

<Fourth Embodiment> FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the tip of a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the slider spacer 2
In this example, only the ring groove 2b is provided on the gimbal side.

In the configuration of this embodiment, the slider spacer 2
However, if the protrusion amount of the fixed region 4 toward the slider 1 is eliminated or suppressed, the entire surface of the slider spacer 2 on the slider side can be used as an adhesive region. It becomes possible (a wide area can be used as an adhesive area), unevenness and variations in the thickness of the adhesive 10 at the time of adhering the slider spacer 2 and the slider 1 are reduced, adhesive strength is secured, and the slider Variations in deformation can be suppressed and variations in flying height can be reduced. As a result, the flying height can be reduced, and a large-capacity magnetic disk storage device can be realized.

<Fifth Embodiment> FIG. 11 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the surface of the slider spacer 2 in contact with the gimbal 3 is
This is an example in which a plurality of second depressions 2c are concentrically arranged so as to surround the depressions 2a provided on the slider bonding surface side of the slider spacer 2 as a center.

This embodiment having such a structure also has substantially the same effect as the first embodiment in reducing the warpage during welding.

<Sixth Embodiment> FIG. 12 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the surface of the slider spacer 2 in contact with the gimbal 3 is
This is an example in which a plurality of arc-shaped partial grooves 2d are concentrically arranged so as to surround the recess 2a provided on the slider bonding surface side of the slider spacer 2 as a center.

This embodiment having such a structure also has substantially the same effect as that of the first embodiment in reducing the warpage during welding.

<Seventh Embodiment> FIG. 13 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a rectangular recess 2e having the center thereof as a welding portion (fixed region) is provided on the surface of the slider spacer 2 to which the slider 1 is bonded, and the surface of the slider spacer 2 in contact with the gimbal 3 is described above. This is an example in which a rectangular groove 2f surrounding the rectangular recess 2e is provided, and it is possible to give anisotropy of warpage.

This embodiment having such a structure also has the same effect as that of the first embodiment in reducing the warpage during welding.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the illustrated embodiments, but it goes without saying that various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 2c, 2e and each groove 2b,
The shapes, dimensions, and positional relationships of 2d and 2f can be appropriately changed depending on the slider size, device usage conditions, and the like.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the variation in the flying height due to the warp / twist of the gimbal or the slider is eliminated, the flying height of the slider can be reduced and the head position due to the friction of the dimples can be reduced. Since the displacement is eliminated and the appropriate friction damping is provided, the positioning accuracy is improved, the recording density can be increased, and the access time can be shortened. Therefore, it is possible to realize a high-speed and large-capacity magnetic disk device. You can Further, since it is possible to suppress the deformation of the slider spacer due to the thermal stress when the slider spacer and the gimbal are welded, it is possible to reduce unevenness and variation in the thickness of the adhesive when the slider and the slider spacer are bonded, and to reduce the slider accompanying the bonding. The variation of the deformation can be suppressed, and the variation of the flying height can be reduced.
As a result, the flying height can be reduced, and a large-capacity magnetic disk storage device can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a magnetic head support mechanism of the magnetic disk device according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a tip portion of the magnetic head support mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of main parts taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a deformation amount due to welding of a slider spacer.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a slider spacer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a tip portion of a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a sixth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a slider spacer in a magnetic head support mechanism of a magnetic disk device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 slider 2 slider spacer 2a recess 2b ring groove 2c second recess 2d partial groove 2e rectangular recess 2f rectangular groove 3 gimbal 3a annular flexible part 3b slider mounting part 3c load arm fixing part 3d inner arm part 3e outer arm part 4 fixing area 5 Road Arm 6 Spacer 7 Guide Arm 8 Disc 9 Friction Area 10 Adhesive

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Komori Magoshi 2880, Kozu, Odawara, Kanagawa Stock Company Hitachi Storage Systems Division (72) Inventor Naoki Maeda 2880, Kozu, Odawara, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Storage System Division (72) Inventor Toshihiko Shimizu 2880 Kokuzu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Storage System Division (72) Inventor Shuichi Sugawara 2880, Kozu, Odawara, Kanagawa Hitachi Storage Systems Division (72) Inventor Hiromitsu Tokisue 2880, Kozu, Odawara City, Kanagawa Stock Company Hitachi Storage Systems Division

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slider spacer for holding a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted, a gimbal fixed to the slider spacer by welding in a single region smaller than the region in contact with the slider spacer, and this gimbal at one end. A load arm that holds and connects the other end to a guide arm,
In a magnetic disk device having a magnetic head support mechanism including: a concave portion formed around the fixed portion by welding and surrounding the fixed portion on the side of the slider spacer that contacts the gimbal. And a magnetic disk device.