Patents Examined by Carlos E Garcia
  • Slider cavity feature for gimbal attachment
    Patent number: 9196274
    Abstract: Disclosed is an embodiment of a suspension for a disk drive having a slider configured for bonding with a gimbal using an adhesive. Embodiments of the slider include one or more cavities in a portion of a slider mounting surface of the slider. The one or more cavities are configured for increasing a volume of the adhesive between the slider mounting surface and the gimbal. A method of forming the one or more cavities on the slider mounting surface, and bonding together the gimbal and the slider is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Joseph Michael Stephan, Gordon Merle Jones, Douglas Hampton Cole, Christopher Unger
  • Magnetic recording medium and method for producing the same
    Patent number: 9190092
    Abstract: A patterned magnetic recording medium, accessible by a magnetic recording head, including a plurality of tracks, a width direction of each track and that of the magnetic recording head being of a skew angle. The patterned magnetic recording medium includes a plurality of magnetic dots, each corresponding to a recording bit, formed on a non-magnetic material. The plurality of magnetic dots are arranged in a plurality of arrays, each array corresponding to one of the tracks. Every N adjacent magnetic dots of the array define a polygon, one side thereof being parallel to the corresponding track, and another side thereof being parallel to a direction determined by the skew angle of the corresponding track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji Uchida
  • Hard disk drive suspension dimple
    Patent number: 9183861
    Abstract: Approaches to a suspension for a hard disk drive (HDD) include a non-hemispherical dimple for movably coupling a flexure with a load beam, where the length of the non-hemispherical dimple exceeds the width. Therefore, in the context of a microactuator system, piezo actuating devices may be installed closer together to improve the microactuator stroke performance in moving the slider over the disk surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Hiroyasu Tsuchida, Haruhide Takahashi, Shinobu Hagiya
  • Magnetic disk drive device, magnetic disk assembly and methods of forming the same
    Patent number: 9177595
    Abstract: A magnetic disk drive device for rotary driving a magnetic disk may be provided. The magnetic disk drive device may include a drive motor for rotary driving the magnetic disk. The drive motor may include a motor hub which has motor hub support portion with a screw-type motor hub engaging portion, and a motor hub support surface for supporting the magnetic disk. The magnetic disk drive device may also include a clamp disk including a clamp disk support portion with a screw-type clamp disk engaging portion complementary to the motor hub engaging portion, and a clamp disk support surface for supporting the magnetic disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Marvell International LTD.
    Inventors: Yin Qian Yu, Chao Bi, Quan Jiang
  • Magnetic flux barrier
    Patent number: 9171555
    Abstract: Data storage systems having barriers that may reduce erasure flux and increase write-ability are provided. Data storage systems include a writing element. The writing element has a write pole with a flare region. A magnetic flux barrier is located along the write pole flare region. The magnetic flux barrier is illustratively made from an in-plane magnetically anisotropic material that has an easy plane of magnetization. In another embodiment, a data storage system includes a writing element having an air bearing surface and a shield at the air bearing surface. The shield has a magnetic permeability of approximately zero. The shield illustratively includes alternating layers of positive and negative permeabilities. The shield optionally includes a plurality of shields that may include top, bottom, and side shields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Eric Meloche, Bin Lu, Lixin Jia, Jianhua Xue, John David Westwood, Mark Anthony Gubbins, Alexandru Cazacu
  • Buckling mechanism for a tape drive loader
    Patent number: 9171566
    Abstract: Embodiments include systems and methods for buckling in a loader assembly of a tape storage drive. Some implementations translate driving forces of an elevator of the loader assembly into driving forces that act on a pusher plate of a buckling mechanism in both buckling and unbuckling directions. For example, a plate interface can couple the pusher plate with the elevator in a manner that translates rotational motion of the elevator's drive gear into a lateral driving force that drives the pusher plate between its home and buckling positions. Certain implementations also include a home holding mechanism for removably securing the pusher plate in the home position when the elevator is in its unloaded position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: William Joseph Vanderheyden, Joshua Adrian Hursh, Jonathan Zeller Oster, Frederick Patton Mondale, Daniel Mark Baiada, Benjamin Joseph Krempasky, William Jacob Derryberry
  • Electronic device
    Patent number: 9165606
    Abstract: An electronic device includes a housing with a carrier therein. The carrier includes a recess with a restricting portion therein. An access unit is disposed in the recess. An elastic member is connected to the access unit and engaged with the restricting portion to restrict the access unit in the recess. A fixed member is connected to the access unit. A movable member is movably disposed on the carrier, including a first contact portion and a second contact portion. When an external force is exerted on the movable member along a first direction, the first contact portion pushes the elastic member along the first direction to deform and separate from the restricting portion, and the second contact portion pushes the fixed member to move along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, such that the access unit can be removed from the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Wistron Corp.
    Inventors: Kuang Wen Chen, Rong-Fan Tan
  • Spindle motor and disk drive apparatus
    Patent number: 9165594
    Abstract: A spindle motor includes a stationary portion with a shaft, a circular plate portion, a wall portion, and a plate portion. The plate portion has a flat plate portion and an annular convex portion. The sleeve includes an annular portion, an outer side cylindrical portion, and an inner side cylindrical portion. The inner side cylindrical portion and an upper radial dynamic pressure groove array are superimposed in a radial direction. The upper radial dynamic pressure groove array includes a plurality of upper spiral grooves that is inclined in one direction with respect to an axial direction and a plurality of lower spiral grooves that is inclined in another direction opposite to the one direction. A lower end of the upper spiral grooves is positioned farther on an upper side than an upper surface of the annular portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Nidec Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Yawata, Hirotoshi Uchibori, Toshihiro Akiyama
  • Disk drive head suspension tail with stiffened edge alignment features
    Patent number: 9165580
    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 includes a widened region of a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical traces in a conductive layer, and a discontinuous bond pad backing island in a structural layer that overlaps the widened region. The flexure tail terminal region also includes a plurality of discontinuous edge stiffener islands in the structural layer that do not overlap the widened region of any flexure bond pad, and that are disposed no more than 50 microns from one of the two opposing longitudinal outer edges of the flexure tail terminal region. At least one of the plurality of discontinuous bond pad backing islands is disposed no more than 50 microns from one of the two opposing longitudinal outer edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yih-Jen D. Chen, Tzong-Shii Pan
  • Microwave-assisted magnetic head, head gimbal assembly, and magnetic recording and reproducing device
    Patent number: 9153274
    Abstract: A microwave-assisted magnetic head provides a high-reliability microwave-assisted magnetic head that reduces effective coercivity by giving microwave energy to a magnetic recording medium in an auxiliary manner and writes a data signal, a head gimbal assembly, and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus. A microwave magnetic field generating element is arranged on a trailing shield side or a reproducing head element side with respect to a main magnetic pole that generates a recording magnetic field for writing a data signal into a magnetic recording medium, the microwave magnetic field generating element having a coil configuration in which a plurality of microwave magnetic field generating lines and a return line are formed by a continuous single line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventor: Eriko Ajioka
  • Write pole with corrosion barriers
    Patent number: 9147406
    Abstract: A write pole of a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write head includes a high moment magnetic material that extends from the write head toward an air barrier surface (ABS) of the write head. At least one stop layer is provided on or within the high moment magnetic material. The stop layer is situated at or near the ABS and is of a corrosion-resistant material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventor: James Gary Wessel
  • Reader with at least two-spin detectors
    Patent number: 9123361
    Abstract: A later spin valve multi-reader includes at least two spin detectors, a spin injector and a spin diffusion medium. The spin diffusion medium bridges the spin detectors and the spin injector. Each of the spin detectors detects a unique spin accumulation signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Mark Thomas Kief, Dimitar Velikov Dimitrov, Javier Ignacio Guzman
  • Connection tray unit for portable terminal
    Patent number: 9117490
    Abstract: In a CD player, a connection tray is mounted in a cabinet in a shiftable manner among a retracted position, a first projected position, and a second projected position. The connection tray has an upper tray and a lower tray. The upper tray has a first connector, a second connector, and a stopper. The lower tray has an unlock button, a movable plate, and a lock plate. A lock bracket is formed with a lock depression into which a lock boss is inserted to lock the connection tray in the first projected position, in shifting the connection tray forward from the retracted position. In a front surface of the lock bracket, a lock projection is formed. The lock projection receives the lock boss to lock the connection tray in the second projected position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: TEAC Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuki Ida
  • Hard drive suspension microactuator with restraining layer for control of bending
    Patent number: 9117468
    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 all of the top of the PZT, or most 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: MAGNECOMP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Long Zhang, Peter Hahn, Kuen Chee Ee
  • Gimbal based DSA suspension with microactuator attached from load beam side of flexure
    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
  • Write transducer having a magnetic buffer layer spaced between a side shield and a write pole by non-magnetic layers
    Patent number: 9111550
    Abstract: A write transducer for a disk drive magnetic head includes a ferromagnetic write yoke having a write pole protruding towards an air bearing surface. The write transducer also includes a ferromagnetic side shield, and a ferromagnetic buffer layer disposed between the write yoke and the side shield. A first non-magnetic layer is disposed between the side shield and the ferromagnetic buffer layer. A second non-magnetic layer is disposed between the ferromagnetic buffer layer and the write yoke. The ferromagnetic buffer layer extends in a direction normal to the air bearing surface by a buffer layer throat height in the range of 10 nm to 500 nm. In certain embodiments, such a write transducer may advantageously reduce undesired wide area track erasure, without unacceptably degrading write field rise time for acceptable on-track writing data rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital (Fremont), LLC
    Inventors: Feng Liu, Zhanjie Li
  • Asperity and head-media contact detection using multi-stage temperature coefficient of resistance sensor
    Patent number: 9111572
    Abstract: A multi-stage sensor is situated on the head transducer and configured to interact with a magnetic recording medium. A first sensor stage of the multi-stage sensor has a temperature coefficient of resistance. A second sensor stage of the multi-stage sensor is coupled to the first sensor and has a temperature coefficient of resistance. The first sensor stage is configured to preferentially sense asperities of the media relative to the second sensor stage, and the second sensor stage configured to preferentially sense proximity to, and contact with, a surface of the media relative to the first sensor stage. The first and second sensor stages may be connected in series or in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Gary Joseph Kunkel, John L. Brand
  • Heat assisted magnetic recording head employing noble metal alloy as diffusion barrier layer
    Patent number: 9099111
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to a HAMR head. An insulating layer isolates the NFT from the magnetic lip of the magnetic pole. A noble metal alloy diffusion barrier layer is present between the insulating layer and the magnetic lip to prevent diffusion from the insulating layer into the magnetic lip. The noble metal alloy has a melting point of greater than about 1065 degrees Celsius, and the noble metals may be selected from Au, Pt, Ir, Re and Ru. The alloying elements comprise less than 10 percent of the alloy. The alloying elements can include Rh, W, Mo, Ni, Pt, Co, B, Ru and combinations thereof. The diffusion barrier layer may surround the magnetic lip, may surround the insulating layer, or may simply be at the interface of the insulating layer and the magnetic lip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: HGST NETHERLANDS B.V.
    Inventors: Hamid Balamane, Vijay Prakash Singh Rawat, Matteo Staffaroni, Barry C. Stipe
  • Magnetic read sensor using spin hall effect
    Patent number: 9099119
    Abstract: A magnetic sensor utilizing the spin Hall effect to polarize electrons for use in measuring a magnetic field. The sensor eliminates the need for a pinned layer structure or antiferromagnetic layer (AFM layer), thereby reducing gap thickness for increased data density. The sensor includes a non-magnetic, electrically conductive layer that is configured to accumulate electrons predominantly of one spin at a side thereof when a current flows there-through. A magnetic free layer is located adjacent to the side of the non-magnetic, electrically conductive layer. A change in the direction of magnetization in the free layer relative to the orientation of the spin polarized electrons causes a change in voltage output of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Goran Mihajlovic, Petrus A. Van Der Heijden
  • Dual magnetic sensor for multi-input magnetic recording
    Patent number: 9099127
    Abstract: A magnetic read head and associated circuitry for reducing side track noise and decreasing read width, thereby providing increased data density. The magnetic read head includes first and second sensor elements that are aligned with one another in a data track direction, with the first sensor element being wider than the second sensor element. Electrical circuitry is connected with the read head in such a manner as to read a first signal from the first sensor element and a second signal from a second sensor element. Because the second sensor element is wider than the first sensor element, it will read more side signal noise from adjacent data tracks than will the second sensor element. The circuitry connected with the first and second sensor element detects and distinguishes the side signal noise and separates it out from the data signal, based sensor width difference and location difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Taku Shintani, Yohji Maruyama, Kouichi Nishioka, Masafumi Mochizuki