KR100708095B1 - Head gimbal assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

Supporting a head for recording / reproducing information on the disc, the disc having a load beam supported at the end of the actuator arm and moving in the radial direction of the disc, and having a flexure and a head mounted at the end of the load beam to face the disc. A head gimbal assembly comprising a slider supported by a flexor, the flexim comprising: a plate-shaped support for supporting the slider against a disk; A plate-shaped base portion supported at an end of the load beam to surround the edge of the support portion; And a connecting portion for elastically connecting the edge of the support portion and the base portion so that the support portion is rotated relative to the base portion, respectively, about the longitudinal direction orthogonal to the radial direction in the radial direction and the longitudinal direction of the load beam. A head gimbal assembly is disclosed. The disclosed assembly can reduce disk damage due to the impact of the disk by reducing the deflection angle of the flexure.

Description

Head gimbal assembly

1 is a schematic front view of a typical head gimbal assembly.

2 is a schematic plan view of FIG.

3 and 4 are schematic front views showing the driving state of the flexure shown in FIG.

5 is a schematic plan view showing a head gimbal assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic front view of FIG. 5;

7 and 8 are side and front views showing the operation of the flexure shown in FIG.

9 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of FIG.

11 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.                 

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

Disk 11. Actuator Arm

13,23,33..Road Beam 15..Slider

17,17 '.. plexer 17a..support

17b, 17b ′ .. Base 17c .. Connection

19. pivot ball 23a.

33a..hole

The present invention relates to a head gimbal assembly, and more particularly, to a head gimbal assembly for supporting a head, which is a recording / reproducing apparatus of a disc drive.

Generally, a disk drive such as a hard disk drive includes a head (not shown) for recording / reproducing information on the disk 1, as shown in FIG. 1, to move the head in the radial direction of the disk 1. A head gimbal assembly 2 is provided that possibly supports it. The assembly 2 includes a load beam 4 supported at an end of the actuator arm 3 rotated by a voice coil motor (not shown), and a flexure installed at an end of the load beam 4; 5) and a slider 6 supported by the flexure 5 to face the disk 1 including the head. The load beam 4 and the flexure 5 may be elastically deformed as a thin plate structure. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the flexure 5 has a base portion 5a having a structure of a cantilever with one end supported by the load beam 4, and a central portion of the base portion 5a. A part is cut into a predetermined shape and divided into a supporting portion 5b for supporting the slider 6. In this structure, the pivot ball 7 protrudes from the upper surface of the support part 5b so as to contact the lower surface of the load beam 4 so that the slider 6 can be moved. Thus, the supporting portion 5b including the slider 6 maintains a predetermined angle with respect to the load beam 4 and the base portion 5a. In this state, when the disc 1 runs for recording / reproducing data, the disc 6 rises while the slider 6 rises from the disc 1 by the air pressure between the slider 6 and the disc 1. And are approximately horizontal.

However, in the head gimbal assembly having the above structure, the spindle motor for rotating the disk 1 or the disk 1 itself changes in shape or dimensions, and the ambient air flow caused by the actuator arm 3 and other components is irregular. Because of this change, the flexure 5 moves irregularly not only up and down, but also back and forth and left and right. In this case, there is a problem in that the PES failure occurs, for example, when the flexor 5 is out of ± 5% of the track pitch.

In addition, referring to FIG. 4, when an impact is applied to the assembly 2 from the outside, the edge of the slider 6 collides with the disc 1 at a predetermined angle while the flexure 5 which is weak to impact is elastically deformed. Therefore, the surface of the disk 1 may be damaged, resulting in loss of stored data.

In addition, when the external impact is large, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 5, the displacement of the support 5b of the flexure 5 may be widened at an angle of about 90 degrees or more with respect to the surface of the disk 10. At this time, a serious situation may arise in which the slider 6 is separated from the support portion 5b and the product itself cannot be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a head gimbal assembly having an improved structure to suppress a slider or a flexor from colliding with a disk.

A head gimbal assembly according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a support for a head for recording / reproducing information on a disk, the load beam is supported on the end of the actuator arm and moved in the radial direction of the disk, A head gimbal assembly comprising a flexor installed at an end of a load beam and a slider having the head and supported by the flexor to face the disk, wherein the flexor supports the slider against the disk. Plate-shaped support; A plate-shaped base portion supported at an end of the load beam to surround an edge of the support portion; And a connecting part configured to elastically connect the edge of the support part and the base part so that the support part is rotated relative to the base part about each of the longitudinal directions perpendicular to the radial direction in the radial direction and the longitudinal direction of the load beam. Characterized in that it comprises a.

Hereinafter, a head gimbal assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5 and 6, the head gimbal assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention is an actuator arm 11 employed in a hard disk drive (HDD), a DVD, a CD-ROM, or the like. A slider 15 having a load beam 13 supported at an end, a head 15 (not shown) for recording / reproducing data on the disk 1, and a flexuer provided at an end of the load beam 13 17).

The actuator arm 11 is rotatable in the radial direction X of the disk 1 by a voice coil motor (not shown) and may support the plurality of load beams 13.

One end of the load beam 13 is fixed in one cantilever form to one end of the actuator 11, and the other end has a plate structure that is elastically deformable as a free end. Further, at the end of the load beam 13, a stepped portion 13a which is extended upward by a predetermined height is provided. Here, when the load beam 13 is located below the disk 1, the stepped portion 13a may be formed to be stepped downward. As such, as the stepped portion 13a is provided, a predetermined space may be provided between the flexure 17 provided at the end of the load beam 13. In addition, a pivot ball 19 is formed in the stepped portion 13a to be in point contact with the flexure 17. The pivot ball 19 protrudes from the step portion 130a toward the flexor 17 at a position corresponding to approximately the center portion of the slider 15. This hinge ball 19 is a pivot point of which the support portion 17a to be described later pivots about the radial direction (X) and the longitudinal direction (Y) orthogonal to the radial direction (X) together with the slider (15). Play a role. In addition, the pivot ball 19 may be protruding from the support 17a.

The flexure 17 is installed in the load beam 13 to support the slider 15 to face one surface of the disk 1. The flexure 17 includes a support portion 17a for supporting the slider 15, a plate-shaped base portion 17b and a support portion fixed to an end of the load beam 13 so as to surround the edge portion of the support portion 17. The connection part 17c provided between 17a and the base part 17b is provided. The support portion 17a has a plate-like structure to have a larger area than the slider 15. One end of the base portion 17b is installed on the load beam 13, and the other end thereof is freely deformable and can be elastically deformed by external force.

The connecting portion 17c includes an edge portion of the supporting portion 17a such that the supporting portion 17a is rotatable with respect to the base portion 17b about each of the radial direction X and the longitudinal direction Y of the load beam 13. It is for connecting the base portion 17b. This connecting portion 17c is located between the supporting portion 17a and the base portion 17b and has a closed loop shape. In addition, the connecting portion 17c is a pair of first hinge portions h1 connected to the edge of the support portion 17a in the radial direction X, and a pair of the first portion h1 connected in the longitudinal direction Y to the base portion 17b. The second hinge portion h2 is provided. Therefore, the support part 17a and the slider 15 become rotatable independently in the radial direction X and the longitudinal direction Y by the elastic deformation of each hinge part h1 (h2). In addition, each of the support part 17a, the base part 17b, and the connection part 17c is preferably integrally formed.

Looking at the operation of the head gimbal assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration as follows.

When the disk 1 is rotated for recording / reproducing data, air flow is generated around the disk 1, the load beam 13, and the like. At this time, a difference in air pressure is generated between the slider 15 and the disk 1 so that the slider 15 is lifted away from the disk 1. This rise of the slider 15 is possible by the elastic deformation of the load beam (13). In this state, when the recording / reproducing operation is performed and the impact is applied to the disc 1 or the assembly due to an impact from the outside or an irregular change in the ambient air flow, the slider 15 may be finely rotated. At this time, while the base portion 17b remains almost fixed with respect to the load beam 13, only the support portion 17a is caused by the elastic deformation of each of the hinge portions h1 and h2. (Y) is finely rotated, or finely moved around the pivot ball (19). Therefore, unlike the related art, since the flexure 17 itself is not severely bent or elastically deformed, the slider 15 may collide with the disc 1 to prevent damage to data stored in the disc 1. In addition, no matter how severe the impact is transmitted, since the center of gravity of the support portion 17a does not greatly deviate from the rotation axis, deformation does not occur at a large angle with respect to the disk surface. In addition, although there is little possibility, even when a large force is applied directly to the slider 15, the rotation angles of the support part 17a and the slider 15 are the flexure 17 and the step part as shown in FIG. Since it is restrict | limited by the space | interval between 13a, it can suppress that the support part 17a is deformed more than 90 degree angle with respect to the disk 1 surface. Here, FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which the slider 15 is rotated about the longitudinal direction Y, and FIG. 8 illustrates a state in which the slider 15 is rotated about the radial direction X. FIG.

9 and 10 are schematic exploded perspective and partial cross-sectional views of a head gimbal assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those shown in FIG. 5.

9 and 10, the head gimbal assembly according to the second embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that a groove 23a is formed at an end of the load beam 23 for supporting the flexure 17. The groove portion 23a is formed to have a predetermined depth drawn from one surface of the end of the load beam 23 facing the flexure 17, and its shape and size have a shape corresponding to the support portion 17a and the connection portion 17c. In addition, a pivot ball 19 may be formed on the inner side of the groove part 23a to be in contact with the support part 17a. As the groove portion 23a is formed in the load beam 23 as described above, the support portion 17a including the slider 15 and the connecting portion 17c can rotate and swing in a space in the groove portion 23a. In the head gimbal assembly according to the second embodiment having such a configuration, since the rotation angle of the support portion 17a including the slider 15 is restricted by the space created by the groove portion 23a, the support portion 17a is excessively bent. To prevent damage to the disc 1.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 11, the head gimbal assembly according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention may have a structure in which the pivot ball 19 is not provided in the groove 23a formed in the load beam 23. In this case, at least both ends of the base portion 17b 'of the flexure 17' are fixed around the edge of the groove portion 23a by welding or the like. Therefore, the base portion 17b 'is not supported by the load beam 23 in the conventional cantilever structure. Therefore, the base portion 17b 'can stably support and support the support portion 17a with almost no elastic deformation against external impact. In FIG. 11, the same reference numerals as the reference numerals of the drawings illustrated in FIG. 9 denote the same members having the same functions.

In addition, referring to FIG. 12 showing the head gimbal assembly according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the hole 33a has a shape corresponding to the support portion 17a and the connection portion 17c at the end of the load beam 33. Can be formed. Also in this case, the base 17b is fixed around the edge of the hole 33a, and the movement of the support 17a and the connection part 17c becomes possible in the space created by the hole 33a.

According to the head gimbal assembly according to the present invention as described above, since the flexure or the connecting portion has a structure of at least the support of both ends, it is possible to significantly reduce the deformation angle to the disk to reduce the PES.

In addition, since the displacement of the slider due to the external impact can be finely restricted, it is possible to reduce the data loss caused by the impact of the slider and the disk to improve the reliability of the product.

Claims (9)

Supporting a head for recording / reproducing information on the disc, comprising a load beam supported at the end of the actuator arm and moved in the radial direction of the disc, and a flexer and the head installed at the end of the load beam; A head gimbal assembly comprising a slider supported by the flexor to face a disk, the head gimbal assembly comprising: The flexure includes: a plate-shaped support portion for supporting the slider to face the disk; A plate-shaped base portion supported at an end of the load beam to surround an edge of the support portion; And a connecting part configured to elastically connect the edge of the support part and the base part so that the support part is rotated relative to the base part about each of the longitudinal directions perpendicular to the radial direction in the radial direction and the longitudinal direction of the load beam. Including; A pair of first hinge parts having a closed loop shape and connected to the support part in the radial direction; And a pair of second hinge portions connected to the base portion in the longitudinal direction. delete The method of claim 1, The support portion, the base portion and the connecting portion each of the head gimbal assembly, characterized in that formed integrally. The method of claim 1, An end portion of the load beam has a stepped portion extending stepwise in one of the up and down directions, At least one surface of the support and the stepped portion facing each other, the head gimbal assembly, characterized in that the pivoting ball that serves as a pivot point for the movement of the support. The method of claim 4, wherein One end of the base portion is fixed to the load beam, the other end is spaced apart from the step portion, the head gimbal assembly, characterized in that the elastic deformation. The method of claim 1, And a groove portion having a shape corresponding to the support portion and the connection portion is formed at an end facing the flexor of the load beam, to enable movement of the support portion and the connection portion. The method of claim 6, And the base portion is fixed at least at both ends around the groove portion. The method of claim 1, And a hole having a shape corresponding to the support part and the connection part at an end of the load beam, to enable movement of the support part and the connection part. The method of claim 8, And the base portion has at least both ends fixed to an edge portion of the hole.

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