Manufacturing assembly for manufacturing a disk drive

1. A manufacturing assembly for manufacturing a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a base, a disk, a ramp near an outer periphery of the disk, a head coupled to a distal end of an actuator arm, wherein the actuator arm comprises a lift tab and the actuator arm is rotatable about a pivot, the manufacturing assembly comprising:

a pre-merge arm comprising a contact surface for contacting the actuator arm; and

a first actuator operable to actuate the pre-merge arm, wherein:

when installing the actuator arm into the base of the disk drive, the actuator is operable to actuate the pre-merge arm in a first direction so that the contact surface biases the actuator arm rotationally about the pivot to bias the lift tab away from the ramp; and

after installing the actuator arm into the base of the disk drive, the first actuator is operable to actuate the pre-merge arm in a second direction opposite the first direction so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp.

2. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein the lift tab moves substantially in-plane with the plane of the disk.

3. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the pre-merge arm comprises a body and a detachable component coupled to the body; and

the detachable component comprises the contact surface.

4. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 3 , wherein the detachable component comprises a first metal.

5. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 4 , wherein the body comprises a second metal having a hardness less than a hardness of the first metal.

6. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein the disk drive further comprises a magnet operable to bias the actuator arm so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp after the first actuator actuates the pre-merge arm in the second direction opposite the first direction.

7. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 6 , wherein the magnet forms at least part of a voice coil motor operable to actuate the actuator arm.

8. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 6 , wherein the actuator arm comprises a magnetic slug operable to interact with the magnet.

9. The manufacturing assembly as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a gripper operable to grip the actuator arm, and a second actuator operable to actuate the gripper toward the base of the disk drive, wherein the second actuator actuates the gripper to press the actuator arm onto the base of the disk drive, and thereafter the first actuator actuates the pre-merge arm in the second direction opposite the first direction so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp, and thereafter the gripper releases the actuator arm, and thereafter the second actuator actuates the gripper away from the actuator arm.

10. A method of manufacturing a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a base, a disk, a ramp near an outer periphery of the disk, and a head coupled to a distal end of an actuator arm, wherein the actuator arm comprises a lift tab and the actuator arm is rotatable about a pivot, the method comprising:

when installing the actuator arm into the base of the disk drive, first biasing the actuator arm rotationally about the pivot to bias the lift tab away from the ramp; and

after installing the actuator arm into the base of the disk drive, removing the first biasing so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp.

11. The method of manufacturing a disk drive as recited in claim 10 , wherein the disk drive further comprises a magnet operable to bias the actuator arm so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp after removing the first biasing.

12. The method of manufacturing a disk drive as recited in claim 11 , wherein the magnet forms at least part of a voice coil motor operable to actuate the actuator arm.

13. The method of manufacturing a disk drive as recited in claim 11 , wherein the actuator arm comprises a magnetic slug operable to interact with the magnet.

14. A method of manufacturing a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a base, a disk, a ramp near an outer periphery of the disk, and a head coupled to a distal end of an actuator arm, wherein the actuator arm comprises a lift tab and the actuator arm is rotatable about a pivot, the method comprising:

gripping the actuator arm;

biasing the actuator arm rotationally about the pivot to bias the lift tab away from the ramp while moving the actuator arm toward the base of the disk drive;

after installing the actuator arm into the base of the disk drive, removing the biasing; and

ungripping the actuator arm so that the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp.

15. The method of manufacturing a disk drive as recited in claim 14 , further comprising sustaining a downward force on the actuator arm while the lift tab moves towards and contacts the ramp.

16. The method of manufacturing a disk drive as recited in claim 14 , wherein the lift tab moves substantially in-plane with the plane of the disk.