System, method, and apparatus for an independent flexible cable damper for reducing flexible cable fatigue in a hard disk drive
View Patent ↗A hard disk drive has a flexible cable and a flexible cable damper positioned adjacent to but separate from the flexible cable. The damper is a thin film loop with a damper patch that is completely independent of the flexible cable. The damper strip is a non-signal carrying substrate and has the constraint layer attached to it opposite the flexible cable. Both the damper and flexible cable extend in an arcuate configuration from the base to an integrated lead suspension tail extending from the actuator.
1. A disk drive, comprising:
a base;
a disk rotatably mounted to the base and having media for storing data;
an actuator movably mounted to the base adjacent the disk, the actuator having a head for reading data from the disk;
a controller for controlling operations of the disk and the actuator;
a flexible cable extending from the base to the actuator for carrying signals from the controller to the head;
a damper mounted adjacent to and free of contact with the flexible cable for providing reducing random transient vibration of the flexible cable during operation of the actuator, the damper also extending from the base to the actuator and having no conductors; and
both the flexible cable and the damper are attached to the actuator via an integrated lead suspension tail extending from the actuator, the damper comprises a substrate and a constraint layer, and the constraint layer is free of contact with the integrated lead suspension tail.
2. A disk drive according to claim 1 , wherein the damper comprises a thin film loop having a damper patch affixed thereto.
3. A disk drive according to claim 1 , wherein the damper comprises a non-signal carrying substrate and has the constraint layer attached to it opposite the flexible cable.
4. A disk drive according to claim 3 , wherein the non-signal carrying substrate has a longer length and greater radial dimension than the constraint layer.
5. A disk drive according to claim 3 , wherein the constraint layer is symmetrically positioned on the non-signal carrying substrate at a midpoint thereof about an apex of the non-signal carrying substrate.
6. A disk drive according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible cable and the damper are attached to opposite sides of the integrated lead suspension tail, and are attached to the base via a mounting block such that base ends of the flexible cable and damper are axially spaced apart from each other.
7. A disk drive according to claim 1 , wherein both the flexible cable and the damper are configured in complementary arcuate shapes.
8. A disk drive according to claim 7 , wherein the flexible cable has a longer length and greater radial dimension than the damper.
9. A disk drive, comprising:
a base;
a disk rotatably mounted to the base and having media for storing data;
an actuator movably mounted to the base adjacent the disk, the actuator having a head for reading data from the disk;
a controller for controlling operations of the disk and the actuator;
a flexible cable extending from the base to the actuator for carrying signals from the controller to the head; and
a damper mounted adjacent to and free of contact with the flexible cable for providing reducing random transient vibration of the flexible cable during operation of the actuator, the damper also extending from the base to the actuator and having no conductors, and the damper comprising a non-signal carrying substrate having a constraint layer attached thereto opposite the flexible cable.
10. A disk drive according to claim 9 , wherein the non-signal carrying substrate has a longer length and greater radial dimension than the constraint layer.
11. A disk drive according to claim 10 , wherein the constraint layer is symmetrically positioned on the non-signal carrying substrate at a midpoint thereof about an apex of the non-signal carrying substrate.
12. A disk drive according to claim 9 , wherein both the flexible cable and the damper are attached to the actuator via an integrated lead suspension tail extending from the actuator.
13. A disk drive according to claim 12 , wherein the flexible cable and the damper are attached to opposite sides of the integrated lead suspension tail, and are attached to the base via a mounting block such that base ends of the flexible cable and damper are axially spaced apart from each other.
14. A disk drive according to claim 12 , wherein the constraint layer is free of contact with the integrated lead suspension tail.
15. A disk drive according to claim 9 , wherein both the flexible cable and the damper are configured in complementary arcuate shapes.
16. A disk drive according to claim 15 , wherein the flexible cable has a longer length and greater radial dimension than the damper.
17. A disk drive, comprising:
a base;
a disk rotatably mounted to the base and having media for storing data;
an actuator movably mounted to the base adjacent the disk, the actuator having a head for reading data from the disk;
a controller for controlling operations of the disk and the actuator;
a flexible cable extending from the base to the actuator for carrying signals from the controller to the head;
a damper mounted adjacent to and free of contact with the flexible cable for providing reducing random transient vibration of the flexible cable during operation of the actuator, the damper also extending from the base to the actuator and having no conductors; and
the flexible cable has a longer length and greater radial dimension than the damper.
18. A disk drive according to claim 17 , wherein the damper comprises a thin film loop having a damper patch affixed thereto.
19. A disk drive according to claim 17 , wherein the flexible cable and the damper are attached to opposite sides of an integrated lead suspension tail, and are attached to the base via a mounting block such that base ends of the flexible cable and damper are axially spaced apart from each other.
20. A disk drive according to claim 17 , wherein both the flexible cable and the damper are configured in complementary arcuate shapes.