Suspension for protecting a component from mechanical shock
View Patent ↗Approaches for protecting a component when a hard-disk drive (HDD) experiences a mechanical shock. An HDD includes a suspension comprising a load beam, a gimbal, and a flexure tongue. A component, such as a microactuator, is mounted on the suspension. The flexure tongue extends to at least the edge of the microactuator that is furthest from the gimbal. The flexure tongue prevents the microactuator from contacting the load beam when the HDD receives a mechanical shock. Alternately, the flexure tongue may comprise a tip portion that extends beyond the edge of the microactuator that is furthest from the gimbal, and the tip portion of the flexure tongue may deform to act as shock absorber when the HDD receives a mechanical shock. Alternately or additionally, a padding material may be used to prevent the microactuator or the flexure tongue from contacting the load beam when the HDD receives a mechanical shock.
1. A hard-disk drive (HDD), comprising:
an enclosure;
a magnetic-recording head coupled to a slider;
a microactuator coupled to the slider;
a magnetic-recording disk rotatably mounted on a spindle;
a drive motor having a motor shaft attached to said spindle for rotating said magnetic-recording disk;
a voice-coil motor configured to move said magnetic-recording head to access portions of said magnetic-recording disk; and
a suspension that comprises a load beam, a gimbal, and a flexure tongue, wherein the microactuator is mounted on the suspension, wherein the flexure tongue extends to at least the edge of the microactuator that is furthest from the gimbal, and wherein the flexure tongue prevents the microactuator from contacting the load beam when the hard-disk drive (HDD) receives a mechanical shock,
wherein the flexure tongue comprises a tip portion that extends beyond the edge of the microactuator that is furthest from the gimbal, and wherein the flexure tongue prevents the microactuator from contacting the load beam when the hard-disk drive (HDD) receives a mechanical shock.
2. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 1 , wherein the flexure tongue is stainless steel.
3. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 1 , wherein a padding material is affixed (a) on a face of the flexure tongue which opposes the load beam, and (b) at or near the edge of the flexure tongue that is furthest from the gimbal, and wherein the padding material prevents the flexure tongue from making contact with the load beam when the hard-disk drive (HDD) receives a mechanical shock.
4. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 3 , wherein the padding material comprises rubber, polyimide, epoxy, or a metal.
5. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 1 , wherein the flexure tongue covers that entire surface area of a face of the microactuator which is coupled to the flexure tongue.
6. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 1 , wherein a padding material is affixed to the load beam in a location where the padding material makes physical contact with the flexure tongue when the flexure tongue moves in response to the hard-disk drive (HDD) receiving the mechanical shock.
7. The hard-disk drive (HDD) of claim 1 , wherein tip portion of the flexure tongue deforms to act as shock absorber when the hard-disk drive (HDD) receives a mechanical shock.
8. A suspension, comprising:
a load beam;
a microactuator mounted on the suspension;
a gimbal; and
a flexure tongue;
wherein the flexure tongue has a length that extends to at least the edge of the microactuator which is furthest from the gimbal, wherein the flexure tongue prevents the microactuator, from contacting the load beam when the suspension receives a mechanical shock, and wherein the flexure tongue comprises a tip portion that extends beyond the edge of the microactuator that is furthest from the gimbal.
9. The suspension of claim 8 , wherein the flexure tongue is stainless steel.
10. The suspension of claim 8 , wherein a padding material is affixed (a) on a face of the flexure tongue which opposes the load beam, and (b) at or near the edge of the flexure tongue that is furthest from the gimbal, and wherein the padding material prevents the flexure tongue from making contact with the load beam when the suspension receives a mechanical shock.
11. The suspension of claim 10 , wherein the padding material comprises rubber, polyimide, epoxy, or a metal.