Abstract: One aspect of the invention relates to an apparatus and method for retaining a disc drive head disk assembly (HDA) during a servo track writing procedure. The HDA includes a base, a disc stack coupled to a spindle rotatably attached to the base by a spindle shaft, and an actuator assembly pivotally attached to the base at a pivot shaft. Attached to one end of the actuator assembly proximal the disc stack is one or more transducers for reading/writing information from/to the discs. In one embodiment, the method includes restraining the ends of the spindle shaft and pivot shaft during servo track writing so that relative deflection therebetween is minimized. That is, all but rotational motion of the components is substantially eliminated. An apparatus for restraining the ends of the spindle shaft and pivot shaft is also provided.

Abstract: A servo writer support assembly supports a disc drive storage device relative to an orthogonal coordinate system comprising X, Y and Z axes during servo writing. The support assembly includes a support body, a yaw registration feature, a pitch registration feature and a locating post. The yaw registration feature is engageable with the disc drive storage device for limiting rotation of the disc drive storage device about the Z axis. The pitch registration feature is engageable with the disc drive storage device for limiting rotation of the disc drive storage device about the X and Y axes. The locating post extends from the support body parallel to the Z axis and includes a registration surface having a tangent that is oblique to the Z axis. The registration surface is engageable with the disc drive storage device for limiting translational movement of the disc drive storage device along the X, Y and Z axes.

Abstract: A lock mechanism for restraining a head of a head/arm assembly is disclosed. The head/arm assembly has a rigid arm and flexible support means supporting the head and mounted to the rigid arm. The flexible support means normally biases the head to an operating position. The lock mechanism comprises a lock arm having a length, the lock arm arranged to move parallel with the length of the lock arm between a first lock arm position wherein a forward edge of the lock arm engages the flexible support means to restrain the flexible support means from biasing the head to its operating position and a second lock arm position wherein the lock arm is free of the flexible support means. Actuator means moves the lock arm parallel with the length of the lock arm between the first and second lock arm position.

Abstract: A receiver assembly is provided for releasably mounting a head/arm assembly to a movable arm of a disc drive. The head/arm assembly has a rigid arm having at least two mutually exclusive predetermined defined edges and a flex arm mounted to the rigid arm supporting the transducing head in a predetermined relation to the predetermined edges of the rigid arm. The receiver assembly includes a base member having a surface receiving the rigid arm of the head/arm assembly. At least two positioning pins are mounted to the base member adjacent the receiving surface, and an actuator provides a predetermined bias against the rigid arm so that the defined edges of the rigid arm bear against the positioning pins. A clamp assembly is mounted to the base member to releasably clamp the rigid arm of the head/arm assembly to the receiving surface of the base. The base member is fixedly mountable to the movable arm of the disc drive to position the positioning pins in a predetermined relation to the arm.

Abstract: A disk for testing the sliders and their supports used in rigid magnetic disk drives has at least one asperity formed of a fluorocarbon resin. Such a test disk when mounted on a spindle and rotated allows testing the mechanical performance of the sliders carrying the data transducing heads in a disk memory by flying the sliders to be tested on the test disk and observing their performance when flying over the resin asperity. A method for producing the asperity involves depositing a drop of a fluorocarbon resin solution on the area of the disk wherever an asperity is desired, drying the solution to leave a small mound of the resin where the drop was deposited, and the no curing the resin by baking. The height of an asperity can be varied by machining or by varying the concentration of the fluorocarbon resin in the solution.