Piezoelectric Adjuster Patents (Class 360/294.4)
  • Patent number: 11984144
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a magnetic head, a piezoelectric element and a flexure. The piezoelectric element includes two electrodes. The flexure includes a first part and a second part that swings. The first part has a first surface to which a first electrode is joined. The second part has a second surface to which the magnetic head is joined. The magnetic head has a third surface facing the first surface and the second surface. The first electrode is spaced apart from a second electrode in a first direction. The first surface and an end of the third surface face each other. The second surface and another end of the third surface face each other. A distance between the first surface and the one end of the third surface is longer than a distance between the second surface and the other end of the third surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
    Inventor: Yusuke Nojima
  • Patent number: 11664046
    Abstract: A baseplate for a disk drive suspension is provided. The baseplate includes a receiving space at a distal end configured to mate with a spring of a load beam. The receiving space partially extends a length of the baseplate. The baseplate also includes a swage hub at a proximal end and an indented surface surrounding the swage hub. The proximal end is opposite the distal end. The indented surface is at least partially defined by a baseplate support section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, David Glaess
  • Patent number: 11602928
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a disk drive suspension includes applying an adhesive to an actuator mounting portion, increasing viscosity of the adhesive by emitting light to the adhesive applied to the actuator mounting portion, arranging the piezoelectric element on the adhesive having the increased viscosity, detecting a height of the piezoelectric element arranged on the actuator mounting portion, and correcting an irradiation condition of the light in accordance with the detected height of the piezoelectric element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kenichiro Nakano
  • Patent number: 11563166
    Abstract: An array of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs) has a layer of piezoelectric material that requires poling during fabrication in order to properly align the piezoelectric dipoles to create a desired ultrasonic signal. The PMUT may have an interconnected set of lower electrodes that are fabricated between a processing layer of the PMUT and the piezoelectric layer. An upper electrode is fabricated overlaying the piezoelectric layer, and a poling voltage is applied between the upper electrode and the interconnected set of lower electrodes. After poling is complete, portions of the interconnected set of lower electrodes are removed to permanently isolate permanent lower electrodes from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: INVENSENSE, INC.
    Inventor: Chienliu Chang
  • Patent number: 11501797
    Abstract: A suspension is described. The suspension includes a base plate and a load beam coupled to the base plate. The base plate includes a distal elongated element and a proximal elongated element. The distal elongated element includes at least one non-straight baseplate edge and the proximal elongated element includes at least one non-straight baseplate edge. The load beam includes a first mounting shelf and a second mounting shelf. The load beam is coupled to the base plate such that the first mounting shelf is exposed adjacent to the distal elongated element, and the second mounting shelf is exposed adjacent to the proximal elongated element. The first and second mounting shelves are configured to receive an actuator, such that an edge of the actuator and the at least one non-straight baseplate edge forms a gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, Ekaratch Pankaew, Preecha Sudachun
  • Patent number: 11393496
    Abstract: A head stack assembly for a hard disk drive includes a head gimbal assembly. The head gimbal assembly includes a slider, a plurality of microactuators, and a microactuator controller. The slider includes active components which are configured to perform drive operations in response to receiving control signals from a drive controller. The microactuators are configured to adjust the position of the slider relative to a magnetic disk during drive operations. The microactuator controller is configured to selectively couple the microactuators to a microactuator power source based on the control signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Hassene Atitallah, Razman Zambri
  • Patent number: 11380356
    Abstract: The technology disclosed herein provides a method for generating an on-cylinder limit (OCLIM), the method including performing servo certification of a plurality of drives in a storage device to generate servo adaptive parameters (SAPs) by heads, generating a plurality of read adjust parameters (RAPs) by heads for the plurality of drives, generating an interim OCLIM value based on the SAPs by heads and RAPs by zones, and operating a disc drive write element using the interim OCLIM value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Phan Linh Nguyen, Chi Sern Georgie Tan, Qiang Bi, Joshua W. Christensen, Song Wee Teo, Wei Chen Lau, Heather Lee Mallett, Renee Depew, David Allan Thorsvik, Tze Pin Chin, Jose Mari Toribio
  • Patent number: 11348609
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a head suspension assembly includes a support plate, a wiring member on the support plate, a head, and a piezoelectric element on the wiring member. The wiring member includes a metal plate and a multilayered member including a first insulating layer, a conducting layer, a second insulating layer, and connection pads formed from the conducting layer. Each of the connection pads is overlaid on a recess formed in the first insulating layer, so as to form a recessed portion along the recess, and the second insulating layer includes an opening opposing each of the connection pads. The piezoelectric element is connected to the connection pads by a conductive adhesive filled in the openings and the recessed portions of the connection pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hirofumi Nesori
  • Patent number: 11223007
    Abstract: A piezoelectric element includes a first electrode provided at a base body, a piezoelectric layer provided at the first electrode and containing a composite oxide that contains potassium, sodium, and niobium and that has a perovskite structure, and a second electrode provided at the piezoelectric layer, wherein the first electrode is a platinum layer, the first electrode is preferentially oriented to (111), and the first electrode has an average crystal grain diameter of 200 nm or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Inventors: Kazuya Kitada, Katsutomo Tsukahara
  • Patent number: 11145804
    Abstract: An input device includes a substrate structure, a conductive adhesive layer, and a piezoelectric structure. The conductive adhesive layer is disposed over the substrate structure. The conductive adhesive layer includes an adhesive portion and a plurality of metal particles, and the plurality of metal particles are substantially aligned in a first direction. The piezoelectric structure is disposed over the conductive adhesive layer. The piezoelectric structure extends in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignees: Interface Technology (ChengDu) Co., Ltd., Interface Optoelectronics (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd., General Interface Solution Limited
    Inventor: Yu-Chieh Tu
  • Patent number: 11133454
    Abstract: A piezoelectric element includes: a first electrode provided on a base; a second electrode; and a piezoelectric layer that is provided between the first electrode and the second electrode and that contains a complex oxide having a perovskite structure and including potassium, sodium, and niobium, where: a surface of the piezoelectric layer on a side of the second electrode is composed of faces of first grains and faces of second grains; a roughness height on the faces of the first grains is larger than a roughness height on the faces of the second grains; and an area occupied by the faces of the first grains is 10.0% or less on the surface of the piezoelectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takayuki Yonemura, Hidemichi Furihata, Yasuto Kakemura
  • Patent number: 11056138
    Abstract: A tri-stage actuated disk drive suspension is described. The tri-stage actuated disk drive suspension including a beam and a gimbal attached to the beam. The gimbal is configured to receive a first actuator to mount on a first surface of the suspension near a first lateral side of the suspension and is configured to receive a second actuator to mount on the first surface of the gimbal near a second lateral side of the suspension. The gimbal is configured to receive a head slider to mount on the first surface of the suspension. And, the tri-stage actuated disk drive suspension including a baseplate having the beam attached thereto. The baseplate configured to receive a third actuator from the first surface of the suspension to mount on a pair of shelves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, David Glaess, Kuen Chee Ee
  • Patent number: 10997996
    Abstract: The technology disclosed herein provides a method for generating an on-cylinder limit (OCLIM), the method including performing servo certification of a plurality of drives in a storage device to generate servo adaptive parameters (SAPs) by heads, generating a plurality of read adjust parameters (RAPs) by heads for the plurality of drives, generating an interim OCLIM value based on the SAPs by heads and RAPs by zones, and operating a disc drive write element using the interim OCLIM value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Phan Linh Nguyen, Chi Sern Georgie Tan, Qiang Bi, Joshua W. Christensen, Song Wee Teo, Wei Chen Lau, Heather Lee Mallett, Renee Depew, David Allan Thorsvik, Tze Pin Chin, Jose Mari Toribio
  • Patent number: 10991390
    Abstract: A storage device comprises tape reel(s) holding tape media for storing data, a head assembly, motor(s) configured to actuate the head assembly, a sealed casing, and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) configured to control operations of the motor(s). The head assembly comprises a support structure, a head bar with read head(s) and write head(s), and a suspension system connecting the head bar to the support structure. The sealed casing encloses in its interior the tape reel(s), the head assembly, and the motor(s). Meanwhile, the PCBA is mounted on an external surface of the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Masahito Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 10957350
    Abstract: A head gimbal assembly for supporting a disk drive includes a slider, a load beam, a ring gimbal affixed to the load beam, a plurality of microactuators, and a flexure. The flexure includes a first end extending along the load beam through a center region of a longitudinal axis of the head gimbal assembly and second end that includes a plurality of bond pads electrically coupled to the slider. The flexure includes a plurality of support features. Each support feature of the plurality of support features spans a respective microactuator of the plurality of microactuators. Each support feature includes a support protrusion and a support base. Each support protrusion is coupled to the ring gimbal at a distal side of the respective microactuator and each support base is coupled to the flex circuit on a proximal side of the respective microactuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Rohit Deokar, Razman Zambri, Gary Berscheit
  • Patent number: 10937452
    Abstract: A suspension assembly is described. The suspension assembly includes a load beam, the load beam includes a first set of spring extensions connecting a rigid region and a mounting region of the load beam. The suspension assembly also includes a base plate coupled to the mounting region of the load beam. The base plate includes two hinge members, each of the hinge members includes a second spring extension connected to the first set of spring extensions and coupling the load beam and the base plate. The base plate also includes a bender on a first side of the load beam connected to one of the two hinge members predisposing the rigid region to move from a first position to a second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventor: Kuen Chee Ee
  • Patent number: 10866284
    Abstract: One embodiment describes a method that includes determining, using a control circuitry, temperature of a switching device before a make operation by applying a measurement current to an operating coil of the switching device, wherein the measurement current is insufficient to make the switching device; and determining voltage at the operating coil when the measurement current is applied, in which the voltage at the operating coil is directly related to the temperature. The method further includes determining, using the control circuitry, when to apply a pull-in current to the operating coil to close the switching device based at least in part on the voltage at the operating coil, such that the switching device makes at a desired time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher H. Bock, Christopher J. Wieloch, James J. Kinsella, Stefan T. Dziekonski
  • Patent number: 10629232
    Abstract: Various embodiments concern a dual stage actuation flexure. The dual stage actuation flexure comprises a flexure having a gimbal. The gimbal comprising a pair of spring arms, a tongue between the spring arms, and a pair of linkages respectively connecting the pair of spring arms to the tongue. The dual stage actuation flexure further comprises a pair of motors mounted on the gimbal and a pair of stiffeners respectively mounted on the motors. The dual stage actuation flexure further comprises a slider mounting. Electrical activation of the motors bends the pair of linkages to move the slider mounting about a tracking axis while the stiffeners limit the degree of bending of the motors during the electrical activation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Mark A. Miller, Yasushi Sakamoto
  • Patent number: 10594297
    Abstract: A piezoelectric device includes a first piezoelectric substrate, a second piezoelectric substrate and an adhesive layer. First conductor patterns are provided on a front surface of the first piezoelectric substrate. A first piezoelectric element is defined by the first conductor patterns. Second conductor patterns are provided on a front surface of the second piezoelectric substrate. A second piezoelectric element is provided of these patterns. The adhesive layer adheres a rear surface of the first piezoelectric substrate and a rear surface of the second piezoelectric substrate to each other. The adhesive layer adheres the first and second substrates to each other such that a compressive stress is applied to the first and second piezoelectric substrates in a bonded state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takashi Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 10566016
    Abstract: A flexure includes a metal base, a circuit member, and an actuator. The circuit member includes a base insulating layer, a conductor layer, and a cover insulating layer. The conductor layer includes a second pad, and a reference hole, which is an example of a portion to be protected, in a tongue portion. A second end portion of the actuator is fixed to the second pad via an adhesive. The circuit member includes a wall portion. The wall portion is formed between the second pad and the reference hole. A height of the wall portion is greater than a height of the second pad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yukie Yamada, Tetsuya Ueda
  • Patent number: 10109305
    Abstract: A suspension having a DSA structure on a gimbaled flexure includes a loadbeam and a flexure attached to the loadbeam. The flexure includes a metal layer with a pair of spring arms, a tongue including a slider mounting surface, and a pair of struts connecting the pair of spring arms to the tongue. The suspension further includes a pair of traces including one or more insulated conductors and being routed around opposite sides of the slider mounting surface, over the pair of struts to a set of terminal contacts on a distal portion of the tongue. The suspension also includes a motor mounted on the flexure, the motor having opposite lateral ends, the motor orientated laterally across the flexure such that the opposite lateral ends of the motor are on opposite lateral sides of the flexure. Electrical activation of the motor rotates the slider mounting surface relative to the loadbeam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Zachary A. Pokornowski, Joseph C. Wheatley
  • Patent number: 10068595
    Abstract: A dual stage actuated suspension has a first piezoelectric microactuator on the trace gimbal assembly (TGA), and a pseudo feature located laterally opposite the microactuator. The pseudo feature is formed integrally with the TGA from at least one of the base metal layer, the insulative layer, and the conductive layer that make up the TGA. The pseudo feature helps to balance the suspension. The suspension can optionally have a second microactuator located proximal of the first microactuator in order to perform coarser positioning than the first microactuator, such that the suspension is a tri-stage actuated suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang, David Glaess
  • Patent number: 9911913
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric microactuator having a wrap-around electrode includes forming a piezoelectric element having a large central electrode on a top face, and having a wrap-around electrode that includes the bottom face, two opposing ends of the device, and two opposing end portions of the top face. The device is then cut through the middle, separating the device into two separate piezoelectric microactuators each having a wrap-around electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang
  • Patent number: 9905252
    Abstract: A head suspension includes a base to be attached to a carriage, a load beam having a rigid part and a resilient part that connects the rigid part to the base, the load beam applying load onto a read/write head, a flexure attached to the load beam and supporting the head, an actuator attaching part located between the base and the head, and a piezoelectric element being deformable in response to a voltage applied thereto to move the head in a sway direction relative to the base. For the head suspension, it bonds the piezoelectric element with a bonding tape to the actuator attaching part and applies an adhesive to fix the piezoelectric element to the actuator attaching part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Mikio Arai
  • Patent number: 9892748
    Abstract: In a gimbal dual stage actuated (GSA) suspension for a disk drive, a viscoelastic damper is disposed between and adhered to the suspension's PZT microactuator and the flexure trace gimbal. The damper is dispensed in fluid form onto the trace gimbal during assembly of the suspension, the PZT is placed onto the damper, and the damper is then hardened leaving it adhered to both the PZT and the trace gimbal. The damper reduces peaks in the frequency response of the PZT actuation, thus allowing higher bandwidth of the servo control loop and increasing the effective read and write speeds for the suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang, Keith A. Vanderlee
  • Patent number: 9875759
    Abstract: A dual stage actuated (DSA) suspension uses two shear-mode PZT microactuators to finely position the head slider. The bottom surfaces of the PZTs are affixed to the flexure, and the PZT top surfaces move forward and backward, respectively, in push-pull fashion when the PZTs are activated. Flexible connector arms attach the tops surfaces of the PZTs to the gimbal tongue such that activating the PZTs causes the gimbal tongue to rotate, with the connector arms acting as levers to magnify the motion such that a relatively small shear movement of the PZTs results in a significantly larger lateral movement of the head slider across the data disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventor: Kuen Chee Ee
  • Patent number: 9830938
    Abstract: A suspension assembly includes a support plate, a wiring member, and a driving element. The wiring member includes a metal plate, an insulating layer, and a conductive layer. The metal plate includes a base end plate, a support portion on a projection portion formed on the support plate, and a pair of link portions which connect the base endplate to the support portion. The insulating layer includes a first end portion on the support portion, and a pair of bridge portions which are respectively provided in parallel with the link portions and extend from a second end portion that is on the base end plate to the first end portion. The driving element deforms in response to a voltage applied thereto to move the support portion. Each link portion includes a bent portion at a location of a straight line passing through a central region of the driving element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenichiro Aoki, Masaya Kudo
  • Patent number: 9755134
    Abstract: In a piezoelectric device, an identification pattern provided on a main face of a piezoelectric body is covered with an electrode, so as to inhibit the identification pattern from generating particles, while the identification pattern makes the polarity of the piezoelectric device discernible by the appearance thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryuta Motani, Kazuo Nagata, Mitsunao Homma
  • Patent number: 9679593
    Abstract: Disk drives including head suspensions within dual stage actuation systems have improved electrical connectivity between electrical connection pads from flexible circuits as are applied to head suspension assemblies with piezoelectric microactuators as also provided to head suspension assemblies. A more robust electrical connection provides for better control of microactuator actuation for fine movements and positioning of magnetic read/write heads relative to disk data tracks as part of dual stage actuated suspension systems. Electrical connections utilize conductive epoxy for physically and electrically connecting electrically conductive trace connection pads with one or more surfaces of piezoelectric microactuators. Electrical connections include better conductivity by utilizing plural surface portions of electrical connection pads. The result is a more robust and predictable performance for high data resolution within disk drives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Gary Berscheit, Jackson Brandts
  • Patent number: 9646638
    Abstract: A suspension having a DSA structure on a gimbaled flexure includes a loadbeam and a flexure attached to the loadbeam. The flexure includes a metal layer with a pair of spring arms, a tongue including a slider mounting surface, and a pair of struts connecting the pair of spring arms to the tongue. The suspension further includes a pair of traces including one or more insulated conductors and being routed around opposite sides of the slider mounting surface, over the pair of struts to a set of terminal contacts on a distal portion of the tongue. The suspension also includes a motor mounted on the flexure, the motor having opposite lateral ends, the motor orientated laterally across the flexure such that the opposite lateral ends of the motor are on opposite lateral sides of the flexure. Electrical activation of the motor rotates the slider mounting surface relative to the loadbeam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Zachary A. Pokornowski, Joseph C. Wheatley
  • Patent number: 9348183
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosed technology relate to a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel comprising: a color filter substrate and a thin film transistor array substrate facing each other, and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween; and an electrostatic discharge circuit, wherein the color filter substrate comprises: a base substrate and a color filter film which has a first surface attached to the base substrate; a conductive layer attached to a second surface of the color filter film and electrically connected to the electrostatic discharge circuit to release charges on the conductive layer. The embodiments of the disclosed technology also provide a color filter substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Weiyun Huang, Minghua Xuan, Youngyik Ko
  • Patent number: 9348415
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a control device (1) with haptic feedback; comprising a sensitive control surface (3) on which an actuator (9) is fixed, said control surface (3) being connected to a support (5) in the area of at least two connection zones (7), each connection zone (7) comprising at least one damper (70) placed between the control surface (3) and the support (5), said connection zones (7) defining a proximal suspension of said control surface (3) with respect to said support (5) in the area of a connection zone (7) near the actuator (9) and a distal suspension of said control surface (3) with respect to the support (5) in the area of a connection zone (7) distant from the actuator, the stiffness of the proximal suspension being less than the stillness of the distal suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: DAV
    Inventor: Anthony Aubry
  • Patent number: 9338888
    Abstract: A wired circuit board includes a wire and a terminal formed continuously to the wire and electrically connected to an electronic element at one surface thereof in a thickness direction. The terminal includes a first contact portion, and a second contact portion provided around the first contact portion to protrude more than the first contact portion toward one side in the thickness direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Saori Kanezaki, Hitoki Kanagawa, Yoshito Fujimura
  • 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
  • Patent number: 9318136
    Abstract: Various embodiments concern a gimbaled flexure having a dual stage actuation structure. The flexure comprises a gimbal on which a motor is mounted. The motor comprises a first and second terminals and a plurality of actuator layers formed from a piezoelectric material. The plurality of actuator layers comprise serially stacked first, second, and third actuator layers. The plurality of actuator layers are respectively poled and connected to the first and second terminals such that both of the first and second actuator layers expand while the third actuator layer contracts in response to application of a signal across the first and second terminals. The differential motion of the plurality of layers in the motor cause the motor to curl about the contracting third actuator layer. The curling motion causes a portion of the flexure to preferentially curl.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Ryan N. Ruzicka, Joseph C. Wheatley
  • Patent number: 9312511
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a first product is provided. The first product may include a substrate, a device having a device footprint disposed over the substrate, and a barrier film disposed over the substrate and substantially along a side of the device footprint. The barrier film may comprise a mixture of a polymeric material and non-polymeric material. The barrier film may have a perpendicular length that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm from the side of the device footprint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: UNIVERSAL DISPLAY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Prashant Mandlik, Ruiqing Ma, Julia J. Brown
  • Patent number: 9286923
    Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein address the foregoing problems by providing a suspension assembly used in a storage device to support a transducer head, wherein the suspension assembly comprises a base plate for attaching to an actuator arm and a moving portion movably attached to the base plate. The base plate is fixed and/or clamped to the actuator arm and the moving portion adapted to rotate about a center of rotation. The moving portion is adapted to have a center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation. In one implementation, a counter-weight is attached to the moving portion to move the center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation to minimize inertial loads to the system during suspension actuation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventor: Paul Y. Chua
  • Patent number: 9245555
    Abstract: Stable, low resistance conductive adhesive ground connections between motor contacts and a gold-plated contact area on a stainless steel component of a dual stage actuated suspension. The stainless steel component can be a baseplate, load beam, hinge, motor plate, add-on feature or flexure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Jeffry S. Bennin, Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Shawn P. Bopp, Reed T. Hentges, Michael T. Hofflander, Richard R. Jenneke, Craig A. Leabch, Mark S. Lewandowski, Zachary A. Pokornowski, Brian D. Schafer, Brian J. Stepien, John A. Theget, John E. Theisen, John L. Wagner
  • Patent number: 9245557
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a head gimbal assembly includes a support plate, a wiring member including a thin metallic plate, an insulating layer and a conductive layer, the wiring member including a tongue portion located on a convex portion of the support plate, a proximal end portion fixed onto the support plate, and a bridge portion bridged between the tongue portion and the proximal end portion and including a inflection point with respect to a height direction of warping, a magnetic head attached to the tongue portion, and a piezoelectric element bonded to the bridge portion at a section between the proximal end portion and the inflection point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Masaya Kudo, Yasutaka Sasaki, Takuma Kido
  • Patent number: 9196277
    Abstract: A terminal includes a terminal wiring part extending from a flexure and having an insulating layer and a wiring layer formed on the insulating layer, a terminal main part formed at a front end of the terminal wiring part and connected to a piezoelectric element arranged to face the terminal main part, and a terminal bender that is made of a supportive metal layer, is arranged along a part of the terminal wiring part in an extending direction thereof, and is plastically deformed to form a bend in the part of the terminal wiring part so as to bring the terminal main part closer to the piezoelectric element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Omachi
  • Patent number: 9147413
    Abstract: Various embodiments concern a suspension having a DSA structure on a gimbaled flexure comprising a loadbeam having a load point dimple and a flexure attached to the loadbeam. The flexure comprising a metal layer having a pair of spring arms, a tongue located between the spring arms, and a pair of struts. The struts connect the pair of spring arms to the tongue. One of the struts is located distal of the other strut. The pair of struts has a midline centered between the pair of struts. The suspension further comprises a motor mounted on the flexure. Electrical activation of the motor bends the pair of struts to rotate the tongue about an axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is aligned with the dimple. The midline is offset distally or proximally with respect to the axis of rotation. The offset counters a mass in imbalance of the tongue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Mark A. Miller, Joseph C. Wheatley, Nole D. German
  • Patent number: 9111559
    Abstract: A gimbal dual stage actuated suspension has a microactuator attached at its distal end to the gimbal in order to effect fine movements of the head slider. The microactuator is mounted on the side of the flexure that is opposite the disk platter and the head slider, and extends in height through an aperture in the load beam. The driving voltage for the microactuator is provided through an aperture in the insulating layer of the flexure to a signal conducting layer in the flexure's electrical circuit. The electrical connection from the signal conducting layer to the microactuator can comprise an electrically conductive adhesive, or an electrically conductive adhesive that contacts an isolated island of the stainless steel support layer in the flexure which is in electrical contact with the conducting layer, which is plated all the way to the stainless steel layer or which is otherwise extended thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Long Zhang
  • Patent number: 9070394
    Abstract: A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive 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 microactuator 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 microactuator can be mechanically and electrically bonded to the suspension using a single adhesive dispense and cure step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee, Christopher Dunn
  • Patent number: 9070392
    Abstract: Various embodiments concern a gimbaled flexure having a dual stage actuation structure. The flexure comprises a gimbal on which a motor is mounted. The motor comprises a first terminal, one or more layers of piezoelectric material, and a metal stiffener disposed directly on the first terminal. The stiffener comprises a layer of metal defining a majority of a top side of the motor. The first terminal can be gold sputtered on the piezoelectric material while the stiffener can be nickel plated on the gold. The stiffener can cause the motor, and the flexure on which it is mounted, to curl upon electrical activation of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventor: Jacob D. Bjorstrom
  • Patent number: 9064510
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a suspension assembly includes a support plate including a distal end portion, a trace member attached to the support plate, an elastic supporting member made from a distal end portion of the trace member and configured to support a head, and an actuation element expandable/contractible in the longitudinal direction of the trace member, at least a part of a bottom of which is adhered to a seating surface formed from a cover insulating layer of the trace member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takafumi Kikuchi, Yasutaka Sasaki, Takuma Kido, Kenichiro Aoki, Masaya Kudo
  • Patent number: 9064516
    Abstract: A flexure tail is provided in a flexure including a metal base and a conductive circuit portion. The flexure tail includes a tail pad portion. In the tail pad portion, tail electrodes to are arranged. At the tail pad portion, a stub which remains after a test pad portion is cut off is formed. The stub includes conductors to which are left uncut. The conductors to which are left uncut are electrically connected to the tail electrodes to, respectively. The stub includes a bent portion. The bent portion is formed by bending a frame portion of the tail pad portion, and forms an angle of 30° or more with respect to a circuit board. The tail electrodes to are joined to terminals to of the circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hajime Arai, Futa Sasaki
  • Patent number: 9042056
    Abstract: A slider and microactuator elements are disposed on a gimbal portion of a flexure. A tongue of the gimbal portion has a first tongue portion, a second tongue portion, and a hinge portion. A leading-side portion of the slider is movably disposed on the first tongue portion. A trailing-side portion of the slider is secured to the second tongue portion. The hinge portion is formed between the first tongue portion and the second tongue portion. The gimbal portion is provided with a damper member includes a viscoelastic material layer and a constrained plate. The damper member comprises a first damper and a second damper. The hinge portion is exposed between the first damper and the second damper. A dimple on a load beam contacts the hinge portion at a point of contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masao Hanya, Kenichi Takikawa, Toshiki Ando
  • Patent number: 9036302
    Abstract: Various embodiments concern a DSA suspension of a disk drive. The DSA suspension comprises a support configured to attach to the disk drive, the support comprising a proximal portion, a distal portion, and a linkage portion therebetween. The DSA head suspension system further comprises at least one motor mounted on the support, each motor positioned between the proximal portion and the distal portion. The DSA suspension further comprises a damper attached to some or all of the proximal portion, the motor(s), the distal portion, and the linkage portion. The damper can be a single layer or multilayered. The damper can comprise viscoelastic material. The damper can be adhesive. The damper may only be attached to the support and the motors and not to other components of the DSA suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Zachary A. Pokornowski
  • Patent number: 9025285
    Abstract: A stainless steel suspension component such as a mount plate is chemically activated by exposure to an activating solution. Gold is then spot plated onto the mount plate in the activated area using an elastomeric mask that is clamped over the mount plate. A component may then be bonded to the gold bond pads. The component may include a PZT microactuator bonded to the gold bond pads using a conductive adhesive such as silver epoxy. The gold acts as an interface metal that provides to a low resistance and environmentally robust ground path for the microactuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Marcos Lazatin, Brett Holaway
  • Patent number: 9013835
    Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein address the foregoing problems by providing a suspension assembly used in a storage device to support a transducer head, wherein the suspension assembly comprises a base plate for attaching to an actuator arm and a moving portion movably attached to the base plate. The base plate is fixed and/or clamped to the actuator arm and the moving portion adapted to rotate about a center of rotation. The moving portion is adapted to have a center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation. In one implementation, a counter-weight is attached to the moving portion to move the center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation to minimize inertial loads to the system during suspension actuation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventor: Paul Y. Chua