Abstract: A disk drive includes a drive housing, a storage disk, a head suspension assembly, an actuator assembly and a controller. The storage disk has a disk surface including a data region that stores data. In one embodiment, the head suspension assembly includes a slider and an attitude adjuster. The slider has an inner side edge, an outer side edge and a data transducer. The attitude adjuster can adjust a roll attitude and/or a pitch attitude of the slider relative to the disk surface. The slider moves between a first position wherein the data transducer is not positioned directly over the data region and a second position wherein the data transducer is positioned directly over the data region during one of a load operation and an unload operation. The controller controls an electrical signal to the attitude adjuster during one of the load operation and the unload operation to dynamically adjust the attitude of the slider.

Abstract: A method for the encapsulation of contaminant particles on the surface of a component. The method includes encapsulating the contaminant particles with an organic coating such that the contaminant particles are immobilized. The coating enables the immobilization of particles having a particle size of less than 0.5 ?m. The method is particularly useful in the manufacture of precision devices, such as disk drives.

Abstract: The present invention relates to preformed seals used in the manufacture of low density gas filled disk drives. The seals may be preformed to facilitate positioning in the disk drive and eliminate the need for manually applied or semi-automatically applied epoxies, thereby reducing manual labor costs, non-uniform seals, waste and inefficiencies due to equipment malfunction. The epoxy seals may soften and seal after being positioned, thereby forming an in-place hermetic or substantially hermetic seal.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for sealing disk drive housing castings and the resulting housings. A housing component of a data storage device is placed in an environment of decreased pressure where a first tank that is an autoclave is pressurized at a selected pressure and the environment is a first tank that encloses the housing component. A second tank that is an autoclave is pressurized at substantially the same pressure as the first tank while the second tank is fluidically coupled to the first tank and encloses a sealant. The sealant is applied to a surface of the component when it is under decreased pressure by transferring the sealant from the first tank to the second tank. A pressure of at least one atmosphere is further applied so that a portion of the sealant contactingly permeates voids in the housing component before the sealant is subsequently cured.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for applying thermal energy to a sealing member. Electrical current is applied to a heating assembly to generate thermal energy, and a heat conductor transfers the generated thermal energy to a seal member adjacent a housing. The heating assembly is configured to substantially prevent a magnetic field generated by the applied electrical current from extending to the housing.

Abstract: An internal support interface which provides vibration and acoustic isolation. A stationary shaft has a medial portion about which a rotatable member rotates. An end portion of the shaft has an annular base surface surrounding a stub shaft projection. A substantially planar housing member has a support post which extends from an annular interior surface in adjacent, non-contacting proximity to the stub shaft projection to form a gap therebetween. An annular damping member mutually contactingly surrounds the stub shaft projection and the support post while being compressed between the base surface of the shaft and the interior surface of the housing member.

Abstract: A load arm for a disk drive may include a base section that has an opening for receiving a spindle of a voice coil motor. The base section may have hinge arms that extend from the base section and terminate in tab portions. An arm section may be affixed to the tabs of the hinge arms of the base section such as by spot welding. A head suspension assembly may be affixed to a distal end of the arm section such as by spot welding. A sensor may be provided on a hinge arm of the base section. The sensor may comprise a piezoelectric polymer sensing element and an electrode formed over the piezoelectric polymer sensing element.

Abstract: A flow control plate (152) for a disk drive is disclosed. The flow control plate (152) includes both a diffuser section (156) and an air displacement section (168). The diffuser section (156) is contained within a pocket (160) having a plurality of spaced protuberances or ridges (164). The air displacement section (168) may be located upstream of the diffuser section (156) and includes a pair of flat primary surfaces (172) that are disposed in opposing and parallel relation. In one embodiment, the flow control plate (152) is an integral structure and is fabricated from a resinous material.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compensating for repeatable runout using wide embedded runout correction fields is provided. In one embodiment, a disk surface is provided with a write head associated therewith. The disk surface has a data track having a width. An embedded runout correction (ERC) field is written onto the disk surface, wherein the ERC field has a width that is greater than the width of the data track.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of sealing disk drive housing castings and the resulting housings. More specifically, as sealant is transferred between a sealant storage tank and an autoclave, the sealant is filtered to remove debris or other impurities from the sealant. By filtering a sealant, multiple casting treatment cycles can be performed using the same sealant without the quality of the sealant suffering.

Abstract: A method for the encapsulation of contaminant particles on the surface of a component. The method includes encapsulating the contaminant particles with an organic coating such that the contaminant particles are immobilized. The coating enables the immobilization of particles having a particle size of less than 0.5 ?m. The method is particularly useful in the manufacture of precision devices, such as disk drives.

Abstract: A base plate for magnetic disk drives is provided that includes a hooked protrusion integrated therein between adjacent spindle motor coils. The cross-over wires that span between adjacent coils are secured by the hooked protrusions, thereby optimizing coil height and reducing manufacturing steps. The hook-like protrusions of one embodiment of the present invention are preferably stamped into the base plate.

Abstract: A hermetic seal is provided for sealing discrete openings in a disk drive, such as an opening made in a base plate of the drive for a spindle motor shaft and openings made in the base plate for spindle motor lead wires. The hermetic seal for the spindle motor shaft comprises an undercut made in the portion of the spindle shaft that is secured to the base plate, and an epoxy material fills the gap between the surface defining the opening and the undercut made in the spindle motor shaft. Epoxy is also used to seal the openings made for the motor lead wires. The invention also comprises the method by which the base plate casting may be sealed by a two-time resin impregnation process which fills exposed pores on the surfaces of the castings.

Abstract: A disk drive includes a drive circuitry, a storage disk, a suspension and a slider. The slider is supported by the suspension and receives electrical current from the drive circuitry. The slider includes a flying side that generally faces the storage disk, a read/write head, and a slider deformer that is electrically decoupled from the drive circuitry. In one embodiment, the slider deformer is formed from a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of other portions of the slider. In this embodiment, the slider deformer causes a deformation of a portion of the flying side when the temperature of the slider deformer changes. Thus, when the read/write head expands or contracts due to a change in temperature of the slider, the slider deformer at least partially offsets the expansion and/or contraction of the read/write head to maintain a substantially consistent head-to-disk spacing of the disk drive.

Abstract: A disk drive includes a drive circuitry, a suspension, a slider assembly that includes a read/write head, and a pressure compensator. The pressure compensator is electrically decoupled from the drive circuitry. A portion of the pressure compensator has a volume that passively changes when an ambient pressure near the pressure compensator changes. The pressure compensator at least partially offsets a change in a head-to-disk spacing that occurs when an ambient pressure near the pressure compensator changes. The pressure compensator can exert a force on the slider assembly to change a pivot angle between the suspension and the slider assembly, and/or to change a pitch angle between the slider assembly and the storage disk. In alternate embodiments, the pressure compensator can include a piston that moves or a resilient membranous material that changes shape based on changes in ambient pressure.

Abstract: A disk drive includes a storage disk having a data surface, a head suspension assembly, an actuator assembly and an E-block. The actuator assembly moves the E-block relative to the storage disk. The E-block includes a first actuator arm and a second actuator arm. The first actuator arm supports the head suspension assembly while the second actuator arm supports no head suspension assemblies. The first actuator arm has a first upper surface having a first configuration. The second actuator arm has a second upper surface having a second configuration that is different than the first configuration and is tuned to decrease off-track displacement of the data transducer. In non-exclusive alternative embodiments, the actuator arms have substantially similar thicknesses, but have different perimeters, shapes, volumes and/or other properties.

Abstract: A disk drive base plate (150) that incorporates a plurality of cooling ribs (170) on its bottom (154) is disclosed. In the illustrated embodiment, all of these cooling ribs (170) are disposed in parallel relation, and are oriented parallel to an airflow past the disk drive base plate (150). An exposed primary surface (184) of a printed circuit board (182) is coplanar with base sections (178) associated with the cooling ribs (170).

Abstract: A lubricant is applied to swage contact surfaces in a disk drive of the type including a suspension arm connected to an actuator arm by a swaging process. A preferred thin film lubricant may be applied to the contact surfaces by immersion and draining, immersion and raising the part out of the solution, localized spraying, or various deposition processes. Application of the lubricant reduces chipping during de-swaging, particularly with nickel plated metal components. Application of the lubricant has also shown to improve gram load uniformity, reduce adverse distortion to the actuator assembly and reduces torque out retention values. Improved gram load uniformity enhances overall disk drive functioning, reduced distortion preserves intended attitude and flatness of the actions for assembly and reduced torque out retention values improves reworkability of the disk drive.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for performing a self-servo write operation in a disk drive. In one embodiment, the disk drive includes a disk surface having a read head and a write head associated therewith. Spiral servo information is written onto the disk surface in a closed-loop fashion through use of a servo track writer. The read head reads the spiral servo information and is used to position the write head, which writes final servo information onto the disk surface. The final servo information may be embedded servo information. The final servo information that has been written onto the disk surface looks substantially identical to a disk surface that has had its final servo patterns written using a servo track writer.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for servo writing are disclosed. The method includes writing of first servo data to a medium, detecting a velocity integrated position of the first servo data, and writing second servo data in relation to the detected position of the first servo data.