Apparatus and method for damping slider-gimbal coupled vibration of a hard disk drive

1. A method for damping slider-gimbal coupled vibration of a hard disk drive comprising:

providing a suspension for reaching over a disk;

providing a slider having a read/write head element on a trailing edge (TE) portion, said slider coupled with said suspension at a gimbal structure; and

providing a damping zone at a stress point on the gimbal structure, said damping zone located on the outboard sides of a nose limiter where said nose limiter couples with said gimbal structure, said damping zone having a damping material thereon, wherein the damping material at the stress point reduces vibration of said slider and the gimbal structure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said hard disk drive is a contact drive.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said hard disk drive is a load/unload drive.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said damping material is a portion of a cover layer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said damping material is an elastic material added to said damping zone.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said damping material is a constraint layer damper added to said damping zone.

7. A slider having a damping zone for damping slider-gimbal coupled vibration of a hard disk drive comprising:

a suspension for reaching over a disk;

a slider having a read/write head element on a trailing edge (TE) portion, said slider coupled with said suspension at a gimbal structure; and

a damping zone at a stress point on the gimbal structure, said damping zone located on the outboard sides of a nose limiter where said nose limiter couples with said gimbal structure, wherein a damping material at the stress point reduces vibration of said slider and the gimbal structure.

8. The slider of claim 7 wherein said hard disk drive is a contact drive.

9. The slider of claim 7 wherein said hard disk drive is a load/unload drive.

10. The slider of claim 7 wherein said damping material is a portion of a cover layer.

11. The slider of claim 7 wherein said damping material is an elastic material added to said damping zone.

12. The slider of claim 7 wherein said damping material is a constraint layer damper added to said damping zone.

13. A hard disk drive comprising:

a housing;

a disk pack mounted to the housing and having a plurality of disks that are rotatable relative to the housing, the disk pack defining an axis of rotation and a radial direction relative to the axis;

an actuator mounted to the housing and being movable relative to the disk pack, the actuator having a suspension for reaching over the disk, the suspension having a slider coupled therewith, said slider having a damping zone for damping vibration between said slider and a gimbal structure of a hard disk drive comprising:

a suspension for reaching over a disk;

a slider having a read/write head element on a trailing edge (TE) portion, said slider coupled with said suspension at a gimbal structure; and

a damping zone at a point of stress between said slider and said gimbal structure, said damping zone located on the outboard sides of a nose limiter where said nose limiter couples with said gimbal structure, said damping zone having a damping material thereon, wherein the damping material at said point of stress between said slider and said gimbal structure reduces vibration of said slider and the gimbal structure.

14. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein said hard disk drive is a contact drive.

15. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein said hard disk drive is a load/unload drive.

16. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein said damping material is a portion of a cover layer.

17. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein said damping material is an elastic material added to said damping zone.

18. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein said damping material is a constraint layer damper added to said damping zone.

19. A slider having a damping zone for damping vibration between said slider and a gimbal structure of a hard disk drive comprising:

a means for providing a suspension for reaching over a disk;

a means for providing a slider having a read/write head element on a trailing edge (TE) portion, said slider coupled with said suspension at a gimbal structure; and

a means for providing a damping zone at a point of stress between said slider and said gimbal structure, said damping zone located on the outboard sides of a nose limiter where said nose limiter couples with said gimbal structure, said damping zone having a damping material thereon, wherein the damping material at said point of stress between said slider and said gimbal structure reduces vibration of said slider and the gimbal structure.