Head support mechanism for a magnetic disk drive with a slider that has a head element

1. A head support mechanism comprising:

a slider that has a head element;

a slider support plate that supports the slider;

a load beam that holds the slider support plate;

a fulcrum protrusion that is provided around a front end part of the load beam, and rotatably supports the slider support plate;

drive means that is configured to pivotally move the slider support plate centering on the fulcrum protrusion; and

a drive means support portion that is provided to overlap the drive means, and supports the drive means,

wherein the drive means support portion has a narrow part and at least one wide part provided on at least one of a front end part side and a rear end part side of the load beam with respect to the narrow part, and

wherein the drive means support portion is disposed at a position overlapping the fulcrum protrusion in a projection plane in a direction perpendicular to a main surface of the slider.

2. The head support mechanism according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a flexure that is configured to form a wiring board,

wherein the flexure has at least a flexure board formed of a metal substrate, and

wherein the narrow part and the at least one wide part configure a part of the flexure board.

3. The head support mechanism according to claim 2 ,

wherein the flexure has a flexure board formed of a metal substrate, and an insulating layer laminated on the metal substrate,

wherein the drive means support portion forms a part of the flexure board formed of the metal substrate in the flexure, and

wherein the drive means is attached to a surface of the insulating layer on an opposite side to the metal substrate.

4. The head support mechanism according to claim 1 ,

wherein the drive means support portion has a narrow part and a pair of wide parts provided on both of the front end part side and the rear end part side of the load beam with respect to the narrow part,

wherein the narrow part and the pair of wide parts have an outer edge shape along a hyperbola (x 2 /a 2 −y 2 /b 2 =1) on an X-Y plane in which a width direction of the drive means support portion is set to an X direction, and a direction directed toward the front end part side from the rear end part side of the load beam is set to a Y direction, and

wherein an intersection of two asymptotes present in the hyperbola is located further toward the head element side than the fulcrum protrusion.

5. The head support mechanism according to claim 2 ,

wherein the drive means support portion has a narrow part and a pair of wide parts provided on both of the front end part side and the rear end part side of the load beam with respect to the narrow part,

wherein the narrow part and the pair of wide parts have an outer edge shape along a hyperbola (x 2 /a 2 −y 2 /b 2 =1) on an X-Y plane in which a width direction of the drive means support portion is set to an X direction, and a direction directed toward the front end part side from the rear end part side of the load beam is set to a Y direction, and

wherein an intersection of two asymptotes present in the hyperbola is located further toward the head element side than the fulcrum protrusion.

6. The head support mechanism according to claim 1 ,

wherein, in the projection plane in the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the slider, the drive means support portion is disposed at a position included in the drive means, and the drive means is disposed at a position overlapping the slider.

7. The head support mechanism according to claim 2 ,

wherein, in the projection plane in the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the slider, the drive means support portion is disposed at a position included in the drive means, and the drive means is disposed at a position overlapping the slider.

8. The head support mechanism according to claim 2 ,

wherein the flexure board has

a first end part located further toward the front end part side of the load beam than the drive means, and

a second end part located further toward the rear end part side of the load beam than the drive means,

wherein the slider is fixed to the first end part, and

wherein the first end part is connected to the second end part via the drive means support portion.

9. The head support mechanism according to claim 3 ,

wherein the flexure board has

a first end part located further toward the front end part side of the load beam than the drive means, and

a second end part located further toward the rear end part side of the load beam than the drive means,

wherein the slider is fixed to the first end part, and

wherein the first end part is connected to the second end part via the drive means support portion.

10. The head support mechanism according to claim 1 ,

wherein the drive means is a piezoelectric element having a single piezoelectric material or a laminated structure in which a plurality of piezoelectric materials are laminated.

11. The head support mechanism according to claim 10 ,

wherein the drive means has

a single piezoelectric layer, and

a first electrode film and a second electrode film provided in the piezoelectric layer, and a third electrode film and a fourth electrode film disposed to respectively oppose the first electrode film and the second electrode film.

12. The head support mechanism according to claim 10 ,

wherein the drive means has

a first piezoelectric layer and a second piezoelectric layer,

a first electrode film and a second electrode film provided in the first piezoelectric layer, a third electrode film provided between the first piezoelectric layer and the second piezoelectric layer, and a fourth electrode film and a fifth electrode film disposed to respectively oppose the first electrode film and the second electrode film on a side of the second piezoelectric layer opposite to the third electrode film, and

a first pad coupled to the first electrode film and the fourth electrode film, a second pad coupled to the second electrode film and the fifth electrode film, and a third pad provided on the third electrode film.

13. The head support mechanism according to claim 12 ,

wherein, in a plan view of the drive means, the third pad is disposed between the first electrode film and the second electrode film.