Patents Examined by Carlos E Garcia
  • Hard disk drive low profile disk clamp to tied-shaft motor assembly
    Patent number: 9343101
    Abstract: A hard disk drive is described, including a low-profile disk clamp to tied-shaft spindle/spindle motor assembly, in which a clamping nut is threaded onto a threaded spindle sleeve and a stationary shaft screw, or tied-shaft, penetrates through the HDD cover and into a shaft. The disk clamp may include a central opening for centering about the sleeve by way of the outer diameter of the clamping nut mating with the outer diameter of the clamp opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Takao Suzuki, Masakazu Sasaki, Eriko Iwase, Yasuhiro Sakata
  • Extended spin torque oscillator
    Patent number: 9336797
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a high-frequency oscillator for use in a recording device having a microwave-assisted magnetic recording head. The microwave-assisted magnetic recording head achieves a large assist effect by using an extended spin torque oscillator disposed between a main magnetic pole and a pole opposite the main magnetic pole. The spin torque oscillator obtains a strong high-frequency magnetic field and comprises a first non-magnetic spin scatterer, a reference layer, a first non-magnetic spin transfer layer, a first magnetic field generating layer, a second non-magnetic spin transfer layer, a second magnetic field generating layer, and a second non-magnetic spin scatterer. The spin torque oscillator has a drive current flowing though in the direction from the first magnetic field generating layer to the reference layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: HGST NETHERLANDS B.V.
    Inventors: Masukazu Igarashi, Masato Matsubara, Keiichi Nagasaka, Yo Sato, Masato Shiimoto, Masashige Sato
  • HDD microactuator having reverse poling and active restraining layer
    Patent number: 9330694
    Abstract: A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive is a multi-layer PZT in which a first layer of PZT material that is disposed away from the side of the microactuator that is bonded to the suspension, responds to an actuation voltage differently than does a second layer of PZT material that is closer to the suspension, thus acting as a constraining layer and thus increasing stroke sensitivity of the microactuator. The first layer of PZT material can be made to respond differently than the second layer by not being activated, by being thicker that the second layer, or by being reverse poled as compared to the second layer. The effective stroke length of the microactuator is increased by the presence and effect of constraining layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang
  • Piezoelectric actuator with wrap-around electrode on inactive constraining layer
    Patent number: 9330699
    Abstract: A piezoelectric actuator such as for a hard disk drive or other application has a restraining layer on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer is a stiff material. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. For simplicity of construction and assembly to the suspension, the PZT actuator may be a multi-layer PZT with the top layer being unpoled or otherwise inactive PZT material, and having a wrap-around electrode so that the actuator can be mechanically and electrically bonded to the suspension or other environment using a single adhesive dispense and cure step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Christopher Dunn
  • Disk drive head suspension tail with a noble metal layer disposed on a plurality of structural backing islands
    Patent number: 9330695
    Abstract: A head suspension assembly for a disk drive includes a load beam and a laminated flexure that comprises a stainless steel layer, a copper trace layer, and a dielectric layer between the stainless steel layer and the copper trace layer. The laminated flexure includes a flexure tail that extends away from the load beam to a flexure tail terminal region. The copper trace layer includes a plurality of flexure bond pads in the flexure tail terminal region. The stainless steel layer includes a plurality of backing islands in the flexure tail terminal region. Each of the plurality of backing islands is aligned with a corresponding one of the plurality of flexure bond pads. A noble metal layer is disposed on the plurality of backing islands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yih-Jen Dennis Chen, Yanning Liu, Kia Moh Teo
  • DSA suspension having multi-layer PZT microactuator with active PZT constraining layers
    Patent number: 9330698
    Abstract: A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive has a restraining layer bonded on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer comprises a stiff and resilient material such as stainless steel. The restraining layer can cover most or all of the top of the PZT, with an electrical connection being made to the PZT where it is not covered by the restraining layer. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. The restraining layer can be one or more active layers of PZT material that act in the opposite direction as the main PZT layer. The restraining layer(s) may be thinner than the main PZT layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang
  • Suspension circuit trace employing stacked traces and windowed stainless steel layer
    Patent number: 9330693
    Abstract: An electrical circuit for a disk drive suspension has a first signal trace above a grounded support layer which is typically stainless steel, and a second signal trace below the support layer, the two signal traces typically being opposite polarities of a differential signal pair. The support layer between the two signal traces is windowed, and the two traces are physically separated by a distance that equals the nominal thickness of the support layer plus the thicknesses of the top and bottom dielectric layers that separate the signal traces from the support layer. The physical separation combined with the windowing reduces the impedance and increases the bandwidth of the differential pair. The impedance can be controlled by the percentage of windowing in the support layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Benjapa Tanampee, Jatuporn Nakarpha, Christopher G. Dunn
  • Bearing device
    Patent number: 9330711
    Abstract: In order to prevent leaking of lubricant, the bearing device includes a rolling bearing having an outer ring and an inner ring, a shaft fixed to the inner ring, and a sleeve fixed to the outer ring. A flange part is formed on at least one end part of the shaft. The flange part includes a disk part extending from the shaft toward an outside in a radial direction and a cylindrical part extending from the disk part along an axial direction. The cylindrical part is disposed at an outside of the outer ring, and a labyrinth gap which bends at two places is formed by gaps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MINEBEA CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kunihiro Tsuchiya
  • DSA suspension having PZT with overhanging constraint layer and electrical connection thereto
    Patent number: 9330696
    Abstract: A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive has a restraining layer bonded on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer comprises a stiff and resilient material such as stainless steel. The restraining layer can cover most or all of the top of the PZT, with an electrical connection being made to the PZT where it is not covered by the restraining layer. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. The restraining layer may extend beyond the edge of the PZT to define an overhang, with the electrical connection being made by bonding to the underside of the overhang thus reducing and controlling the height of the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee
  • Suspension assembly and disk drive with the same
    Patent number: 9324345
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a suspension assembly includes a base plate having a securing plate portion protruding outwardly from a side edge of the base plate, a load beam secured on a first surface of the base plate and extending from the base plate, and a wiring member. The wiring member includes a distal side portion attached to the load beam and the first surface of the base plate, and a proximal side portion extending outwardly from the side edge of the base plate and extending in a direction opposite to the load beam along the support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kasiha Toshiba
    Inventor: Shigeru Juman
  • Disk drive head suspension tail with ground pad outside of bonding region
    Patent number: 9324344
    Abstract: A head gimbal assembly for a disk drive includes a flexure tail terminal region having flexure bond pads in electrical communication with the head. Each of the flexure bond pads is aligned with one of a plurality of flexible printed circuit (FPC) bond pads. An anisotropic conductive film is disposed between the FPC and the flexure tail terminal region. The flexure tail terminal region overlaps the anisotropic conductive film in a bonding area. Each of the flexure bond pads is bonded to one of the plurality of FPC bond pads by the anisotropic conductive film in a bonding area. A conductive layer of the flexure tail terminal region includes an exposed conductive ground pad that is disposed outside of the bonding area, and/or disposed outside of an application area of a thermode tool that is pressed against the flexure tail terminal region during the bonding process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yih-Jen Dennis Chen, Yanning Liu, Kia Moh Teo
  • Magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording including a heater
    Patent number: 9324341
    Abstract: A magnetic head includes a main pole, an expansion member, and a heater. The main pole has an end face located in a medium facing surface. The expansion member is located farther from the medium facing surface than is the main pole and adjacent to the main pole in a direction perpendicular to the medium facing surface. The heater heats the expansion member. The expansion member has a linear expansion coefficient higher than that of the main pole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignees: HEADWAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC., SAE MAGNETICS (H.K.) LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Sasaki, Hiroyuki Ito, Shigeki Tanemura, Kazuki Sato, Tatsuya Shimizu
  • Dual stage actuated suspension having adhesive overflow control channels
    Patent number: 9311938
    Abstract: A dual stage actuated suspension has microactuators that are adhered to the suspension by adhesive such as epoxy. The epoxy is contained within an adhesive containment vessel defined by walls of an insulating material such as polyimide. Adhesive overflow channels are formed within the polyimide to receive and channel any excess epoxy that overflows over the polyimide wall. The channels may have increasing width to help draw the excess epoxy toward a centrally located reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, Peter Hahn, Long Zhang, Markus Erwin Mangold
  • Actuator pivot assembly including a bonding adhesive barrier configured to reduce contamination
    Patent number: 9263070
    Abstract: One aspect of an actuator assembly configured for use in a disk drive includes an actuator body including a bore, an adhesive inlet port, and an adhesive vent, a pivot bearing disposed at least partially within the bore of the actuator body, an adhesive disposed between the pivot bearing and the actuator body, and a barrier coupled to the actuator body and positioned over the adhesive vent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel T. Nguyen, Kevin R. Sill
  • Library apparatus and method of reading information of recording medium
    Patent number: 9218842
    Abstract: A library apparatus, includes: a plurality of cells in each of which a cartridge-type recording medium is attachably and detachably accommodated; a robot including a hand configured to handle the recording medium; and an information reading unit which is attachably and detachably accommodated in the cells and includes a plurality of readers configured to read information of the recording medium, wherein when the information reading unit is pulled into a portion of the hand, the plurality of readers project to be capable of reading the information of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Kazunori Ishiyama
  • Magnetic recording read transducer having a laminated free layer
    Patent number: 9214169
    Abstract: A method and system provide a magnetic transducer including a first shield, a read sensor, and a second shield. The read sensor is between the first shield and the second shield. The read sensor includes a pinned layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer and a free layer. The nonmagnetic spacer layer is between the pinned layer and the free layer. The free layer includes a plurality of ferromagnetic layers interleaved with and sandwiching a plurality of nonmagnetic layers. The plurality of ferromagnetic layers are ferromagnetically aligned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital (Fremont), LLC
    Inventors: Christian Kaiser, Yuankai Zheng, Xin Jiang, Zhitao Diao, Qunwen Leng
  • Magnetic head separator fin material to prevent particulate contamination on slider
    Patent number: 9196275
    Abstract: An apparatus for a magnetic storage drive includes a magnetic head assembly having a first slider and a second slider arranged with a gap between the first and second sliders, the first slider comprising a first magnetic head and the second slider comprising a second magnetic head. The apparatus includes a ramp constructed of a first material, the ramp being configured to guide and hold the magnetic head assembly in place when parked; and a fin constructed of a second material different than the first material, the fin arranged with the ramp to protect the first slider from contacting the second slider when the magnetic head assembly is parked on the ramp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Marc Davidson, David K. Myers, Terrance J. Willis
  • Apparatus with repulsive force between stationary and rotatable components
    Patent number: 9196294
    Abstract: Provided herein, is an apparatus that includes a fluid dynamic bearing, a hub, and an induction housing. The fluid dynamic bearing is defined by a stationary component and a rotatable component. The hub is configured to rotate relative to the stationary component. A current is induced within the induction housing resulting from the relative rotation. The induced current creates a repulsive force between the stationary component and the hub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventor: Hans Leuthold
  • Spindle motor and disk drive apparatus
    Patent number: 9194434
    Abstract: A spindle motor is configured to rotate a disk in a case defined by a base plate and a top cover arranged to cover an upper side of the base plate. The spindle motor includes a fluid dynamic bearing including a lubricant oil. A rotating portion body of the spindle motor includes an air hole. An upper opening of the air hole is in communication with an annular space between the top cover and the rotating portion body. A lower opening of the air hole is in communication with a gap between a stator and a magnet. Accordingly, even if a gas including the lubricant oil vaporized through a liquid surface of the lubricant oil leaks into the annular space, at least a portion of the gas including the lubricant oil flows into the air hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Nidec Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Shiraishi, Tsuchitsugu Watanabe, Yoichi Sekii
  • Disk to motor hub swage attachment
    Patent number: 9196295
    Abstract: A disk drive includes a disk defining an opening, and a motor hub coupled to the disk. The motor hub further defines a swage ring extending at least partially into the opening of the disk, the swage ring swaged radially outwards into contact with the disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith R. Berding, David J. Bagaoisan, Yao-Hsin Huang