Patents by Inventor Hoa-Binh Thi Tu

Hoa-Binh Thi Tu has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Etched/lubricated swage balls for use in DASD suspension-arm
    Patent number: 6035681
    Abstract: An etched, lubricated swage ball for use in swaging a head gimbal assembly to an actuator arm in a magnetic disk drive, and a method for making the same. The present invention discloses a lubricating system for swage balls used in a disk drive system which is free from transferrable aluminum oxide, other hard materials or excess solid lubricant which could be deposited on the clean disk surface during operation. The swage balls are first pretreated by cleaning and then etching to remove residual alumina from the surface of the swage balls. The cleaned, etched swage balls are then lubricated in a fluorocarbon lubricating system, thereby producing an etched, lubricated swage ball which is cleaner than that found in the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gwendolyn Jones Chung, Ramamurthy Nagarajan, Stephen Arnold Fletcher Olson, Robert Bruce Prime, Dennis Frederick Ramos, Hoa-Binh Thi Tu
  • Etched/lubricated swage balls for use in DASD suspension-arm attachment
    Patent number: 5879578
    Abstract: An etched, lubricated swage ball for use in swaging a head gimbal assembly to an actuator arm in a magnetic disk drive, and a method for making the same. The present invention discloses a lubricating system for swage balls used in a disk drive system which is free from transferrable aluminum oxide, other hard materials or excess solid lubricant which could be deposited on the clean disk surface during operation. The swage balls are first pretreated by cleaning and then etching to remove residual alumina from the surface of the swage balls. The cleaned, etched swage balls are then lubricated in a fluorocarbon lubricating system, thereby producing an etched, lubricated swage ball which is cleaner than that found in the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 9, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gwendolyn Jones Chung, Ramamurthy Nagarajan, Stephen Arnold Fletcher Olson, Robert Bruce Prime, Dennis Frederick Ramos, Hoa-Binh Thi Tu