Abstract: In a suspension provided with a load beam and a flexure, a circular first reference hole is formed in a portion of the flexure nearer to one end thereof than the center, while an oval second reference hole is formed in a portion of the flexure nearer to the other end. The load beam is provided with first and second burred holes corresponding to the first and second reference holes, respectively, in position. Each burred hole has a flange portion on its inner peripheral portion, projecting above the surface of the load beam. The flange portion of the first burred hole is fitted into the first reference hole with the flexure put on top of the load beam in the thickness direction. The flange portion of the second burred hole is fitted into the second reference hole. By doing this, the relative positions of the load beam and the flexure are restricted.

Abstract: A disk drive includes a drive unit including a mechanical chassis, a spindle motor for rotating a turn table on which a recording medium disk is supported, and a pickup movable in the radial direction of the recording medium disk supported by the turn table for reproducing and/or recording signals from and/or in the recording medium disk; a base chassis for supporting the drive unit via an elastic body; a self-aligning mechanism including a holder rotatable together with a rotor portion of the spindle motor and a balance member movable in the holder; and a counter weight disposed at a position suitable to allow the center of gravity of the drive unit to be located in conformity to or in proximity to the rotational center of the spindle motor.

Abstract: A suspension assembly that supports a head adjacent to a rotating storage disk is provided for use within a single or multi-platter disk drive. The suspension assembly includes a generally elongated loadbeam that has an electrically grounded baseplate at a first end thereof and a gimbaled flexure portion for supporting the head over the rotating storage disk at a second end thereof. A power conductor electrically interconnected between a power source and the loadbeam enables the power source to heat a predetermined portion of the loadbeam to adjust the gramload of the suspension assembly for controlling the fly height of the head.

Abstract: A disk recording or playback device comprises as mounted on a chassis a support member for receiving a cartridge containing a disk, a pickup movable along a signal recording surface of the disk, and a drive mechanism for moving the pickup. The drive mechanism is accommodated in a bracket provided on the chassis. The bracket is removably at attached to the chassis, and the support member is formed integrally with the bracket and projects outward beyond the chassis.

Abstract: An air bearing slider designed for operation at ultra-low flying heights. The air bearing slider has an air bearing surface having portions which are constructed from a low-friction, high-wear-resistance material.

Abstract: A hard disk drive for a computer has a base containing a stack of rotatable disks and an actuator with a set of arms that is pivotable relative to the disks. At least one magnetic head is mounted to each arm for reading information from or writing information to a respective disk. The drive also has a stationary shock support member or comb located adjacent to the outer edges of the disks and the actuator. The teeth of the comb are interposed with the disks and arms throughout the range of pivotal motion of the arms. The teeth prevent incidental contact between the disks and arms in the event of mechanical shock to the hard disk drive.

Abstract: A cartridge engaging assembly for translating a cartridge is disclosed. The cartridge engaging assembly comprises a laterally extending thumb member adapted to abuttingly engage the cartridge. The assembly further comprises a floating finger assembly which is detached from the thumb member and is also adapted to engage the cartridge. The finger assembly comprises at least one floating finger member with a front portion, a rear portion, and a latch portion with a guide post attached thereto. The finger assembly may comprise recovery devices for recovering a displaced floating finger member. The assembly further comprises at least one guide sleeve with an elongate track adapted to receive the guide post, and a flexible gate assembly positioned within the elongate track at the forward end thereof. The assembly further comprises a get operating mode, a first retrieve operating mode, a first put operating mode, a second put operating mode, and a second retrieve operating mode.

Abstract: A disk player comprises a turntable for rotatably holding an optical disc; an optical pickup for recording information into and reading information from the optical disc, an elongated guide shaft arranged in a predetermined moving direction of the optical pickup for guiding the optical pickup to move in said predetermined direction, a pivotable chassis for mounting the turntable, the optical pickup and the elongated guide shaft, a cartridge holder for receiving and holding a cartridge containing the optical disc. In particular, an adjustment mechanism is provided on the pivotable chassis for adjusting a positional relationship between the optical pickup and the turntable by moving one end of t he elongated guide shaft in a plane which is generally parallel with a recording surface of the optical disc.

Abstract: An electronic apparatus for use in recording and/or playing back audio or video signals includes a six-sided housing of which at least a pair of opposite sides are arranged not parallel to each other, and a signal processor unit mounted in the housing and including at least a circuit board which has a degree of rigidity. The circuit board is arranged with its main side facing the non-parallelly arranged, paired opposite sides of the housing. This prevents the generation of resonance between the housing and the circuit board caused by a stress of vibration introduced to the housing and the circuit board, thus hardly allowing the audio or video signals to deteriorate their recording and/or playback properties.

Abstract: A cam member, having a cam groove on its outer surface, is slidably mounted on a rotating shaft to allow for movement of disk holders between a playback position and a stored position. In one embodiment, the cam groove is continuous about the cam member, making two complete rotations around the cam member. When a first disk holder is at the playback position, the cam groove engages the second disk holder at the stored position. When the second disk holder is selected to be played, rotation of the cam member causes the first disk holder to move to a stored position on an opposite end of the cam member while the second disk holder is in the playback position. The overall height required for such a disk holding device is constant, providing for a multiple disk playback device with minimal height requirements.

Abstract: A disk drive including a head disk assembly, a planar printed circuit board and a vibration damping system. The vibration damping system is fixed adjacent the outer surface of the printed circuit board and includes an external planar member of compressible foam composition and a substantially-planar rigid mass damper of like shape and extent and arranged so that the external planar member contacts both the outer surface of the printed circuit board and the upper major surface of the mass damper. The major surfaces of the mass damper include upwardly-convex bosses for receiving fastening screws to maintain a predetermined separation distance between the printed circuit board and the mass damper that is somewhat less than the unconstrained thickness of the external planar member of compressible foam composition.

Abstract: A thin film magnetic head which can suppress magnetic saturation at opposite ends of width of a narrow track width to reduce the amount of recording side-fringing onto a recording medium and which can assure a necessary recording magnetic field satisfactorily. Also a magnetic disk apparatus using the head. A second magnetic yoke has a magnetic gap depth over which the spacing of a magnetic gap keeps substantially equal toward a rear portion of the second magnetic yoke, starting at the tip of a second magnetic pole and the spacing between a first magnetic yoke and the second magnetic yoke is increased toward the rear portion, starting at a position corresponding to the magnetic gap depth. The second magnetic pole of the second magnetic yoke has in the track width direction a width for recording a signal on a track width of the recording medium.

Abstract: A magnetoresistive magnetic field sensor comprises a bilayer with a first soft magnetic layer and in direct contact therewith a second soft magnetic layer. The layers are exchange coupled to one another. The second soft magnetic layer is located below, on or in the first soft magnetic layer in a meandering, spiraling or suchlike structure. The electrical resistivity of the first soft magnetic layer is higher than that of the second soft magnetic layer, while the difference in electrical resistivity between both soft magnetic layers is at least a factor of 10, preferably a factor of 100. The magnetoresistive magnetic field sensor is applied in a magnetic read head device for a recording information system.

Abstract: A triple antiparallel (AP) coupled free layer structure is located between first and second pinned layer structures in a dual spin valve sensor. The triple AP coupled free layer structure includes first, second and third antiparallel (AP) coupled ferromagnetic free layers and nonmagnetic first and second antiparallel (AP) coupling layers. The first AP coupling layer is located between and interfaces the first and second AP coupled free layers and the second AP coupling layer is located between and interfaces the second and third AP coupled free layers. Magnetic moments of the first and third AP coupled free layers are parallel with respect to one another and, because of a strong antiparallel coupling, the second AP coupled free layer pins magnetic moments of the first and third AP coupled free layers antiparallel thereto.

Abstract: A thin film shielded magnetic read head device comprises an end face extending in a first direction, in which a magnetic information carrier is movable with respect to the magnetic head device, and in a second direction, perpendicular to said first direction. The magnetic head device further comprises shield forming flux guiding elements for magnetic cooperation with the information carrier, which elements extend in the second direction and in a third direction, perpendicular to the first and the second direction. A number of magnetoresistive elements each having a spin tunnel junction structure is provided, which number of magnetoresistive elements corresponds to with the number of magnetic channels of the magnetic head device. One of said shields forms a common contact lead for the current through said magnetoresistive elements. Thin film magnetic read head device is applied in a system for reading information from a magnetic information carrier.

Abstract: A cartridge picker for selectively engaging and disengaging a cartridge may comprise a thumb assembly mounted to the cartridge picker so that the thumb assembly is moveable along a first displacement path between an extended position and a retracted position. An automatically splaying picker finger having an engagement end and a mounting end is mounted to the thumb assembly at the mounting end and is moveable between a retracted position and a splayed position, so that the finger moves into the splayed position when the engagement end is moved against a cartridge. A cartridge picker positioning system is operatively associated with the cartridge picker to move the cartridge picker between a first position and a second position along a second displacement path that is substantially perpendicular to the first displacement path. The finger disengages the cartridge when the thumb assembly is in the extended position and the cartridge picker is moved to the second position.

Abstract: Provided is a large-capacity magnetic recording and reading device having a magnetic recording medium, a magnetic head and a circuit enable density to be increased even during recording in high data transfer rate at not less than 50 MB/s. The device has a high data transfer rate of not less than 50 MB/s, comprising a magnetic recording medium, a magnetic head and an R/W-IC. The magnetic recording medium has an absolute value of normalized noise coefficient per recording density of not more than 2.5×10−8 (&mgr;Vrms)(inch) (&mgr;m)0.5/(&mgr;Vpp). The magnetic head is given a total inductance reduced to not more than 65 nH because it has a magnetic path with a length of not more than 35 &mgr;m, because it is provided with a magnetic film with a resistivity exceeding 50 &mgr;&OHgr;cm or a multilayer film composed of a magnetic film and an insulating film in part of the magnetic path and because it is mounted on an integrated circuit suspension. The R-W-IC has a line width of not more than 0.

Abstract: The peak value of the higher resonant frequency vibration of a moveable part of an object lens actuator is reduced without requiring any additional mounting space, increasing the number of component parts or adding weight by appropriately adjusting the mounting arrangement for the mass balancer for placing the gravitational center of the moveable part at a desired position as well as the dimensions and shape of the mass balancer so that the mass balancer may have the same resonant frequency as the higher harmonic resonant frequency of the moveable part, and oscillate in the opposite phase. Therefore, the vibration of the moveable part can be favorably controlled, and the rotational speed of the disk and the head speed can be increased so that the access speed of the optical disk unit or the magneto-optical disk unit may be increased.

Abstract: In an optical recorder and/or player the lens system of the scanning device focuses the light beam into a scanning spot on the information carrier. The lens system includes a main or objective lens and an auxiliary or solid immersion lens to provide the large numerical aperture required for scanning information carriers with a high information density, such as high-density compact discs. At least one lens, in particular the main lens, is suspended in a housing in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens system by two elastically deformable mounting elements. When viewed parallel to the optical axis, the mounting elements are distal from each other, and each allow tilting movements of the lens about tilt axes perpendicular to the optical axis, and are substantially undeformable in directions perpendicular to the optical axis.

Abstract: Embodiments of this invention are directed to a disc drive assembly having a housing including a base section and a top section, wherein the base section and the top section mate to form an internal environment. The disc drive assembly further includes a hub assembly motor having a hub, wherein the hub is a cylindrical member having a first end and a second end and wherein the first end is tapered. The hub is further capable of supporting a storage data disc. Additionally, in preferred embodiments, at least one head capable of reading the data storage disc disposed within the internal environment of the housing.