Abstract: Windage proximate to a spinning disk within a disk drive is directed through a plurality of apertures in a ramp situated near the outside diameter of the disk. A tab extending from a load beam that supports a slider rests on the ramp when the drive is not in use. When the drive is started the disk begins to spin and an actuator moves the load beam to bring the slider over the surface of the disk. As the load beam moves, the tab is guided along the ramp and cushioned by the air flow emerging from apertures in the ramp beneath it. When the drive is stopped the actuator brings the load beam back so that the tab engages the ramp. A cushion of air is again provided as the tab is moved along the ramp as the tab is returned to a parked position.

Abstract: A head gimbal assembly for a disk drive. The head gimbal assembly includes a load beam defining a longitudinal axis. The head gimbal assembly further includes a flexure with a portion of said flexure being attached to said load beam. The head gimbal assembly further includes a slider including a read/write head. The head gimbal assembly further includes a collocated microactuator which connects between said flexure and said slider for providing pure or nearly pure lateral movement to said slider in a plane of motion that includes the longitudinal axis. The collocated microactuator is a shear mode piezoelectric motor and disposed between the slider and the load beam along an axis disposed orthogonal to the longitudinal axis.

Abstract: Windage proximate to a spinning disk within a disk drive is directed through a plurality of apertures in a ramp situated near the outside diameter of the disk. A tab extending from a load beam that supports a slider rests on the ramp when the drive is not in use. When the drive is started the disk begins to spin and an actuator moves the load beam to bring the slider over the surface of the disk. As the load beam moves, the tab is guided along the ramp and cushioned by the air flow emerging from apertures in the ramp beneath it. When the drive is stopped the actuator brings the load beam back so that the tab engages the ramp. A cushion of air is again provided as the tab is moved along the ramp as the tab is returned to a parked position.

Abstract: Windage proximate to a spinning disk within a disk drive is directed through a plurality of apertures in a ramp situated near the outside diameter of the disk. A tab extending from a load beam that supports a slider rests on the ramp when the drive is not in use. When the drive is started the disk begins to spin and an actuator moves the load beam to bring the slider over the surface of the disk. As the load beam moves, the tab is guided along the ramp and cushioned by the air flow emerging from apertures in the ramp beneath it. When the drive is stopped the actuator brings the load beam back so that the tab engages the ramp. A cushion of air is again provided as the tab is moved along the ramp as the tab is returned to a parked position.

Abstract: An active, optical, piezoelectric actuated modulator allows switching between a reflecting state and an anti-reflecting state. The modulator, or switch, is based on the precise controlling of an air gap between a thin film membrane and a substrate. The thin film membrane is deformed by a miniaturized adaptive material, such as electrostrictive or piezoelectric (PZT) material. Maximum optical reflection is realized when the air gap is equal to a multiple of a quarter wavelength of an impinging optical beam, while anti-reflection is achieved when the thickness of the air gap is equal to zero or is different from a multiple of the quarter wavelength of the optical beam.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in an actuator arm which is mounted to a primary actuator. The primary actuator positions the actuator arm, with a read/write head mounted to the actuator arm, across a data storage disk. The actuator arm comprises an inboard portion, an outboard portion and a pair of bimorph actuators. The inboard portion has a longitudinal axis and is attached to the primary actuator. The outboard portion has the read/write head mounted onto it. The pair of bimorph actuators are deflectable together in a common direction and are connected between the inboard and the outboard portions. Upon deflection of the bimorph actuators in the same direction, the outboard portion is translated along an at least nearly straight line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the inboard portion.

Abstract: Windage proximate to a spinning disk within a disk drive is directed through a plurality of apertures in a ramp situated near the outside diameter of the disk. A tab extending from a load beam that supports a slider rests on the ramp when the drive is not in use. When the drive is started the disk begins to spin and an actuator moves the load beam to bring the slider over the surface of the disk. As the load beam moves, the tab is guided along the ramp and cushioned by the air flow emerging from apertures in the ramp beneath it. When the drive is stopped the actuator brings the load beam back so that the tab engages the ramp. A cushion of air is again provided as the tab is moved along the ramp as the tab is returned to a parked position.

Abstract: A head gimbal assembly (10) for a disk drive (1), having a load beam (28), a flexure (30), a portion of the flexure (30) being attached to the load beam (28), a slider (20) which includes a read/write head (22), and a collocated microactuator (24) which connects between the flexure (30) and the slider (20). The collocated microactuator (24) is a shear mode piezoelectric motor (25) for providing pure or nearly pure lateral movement to the slider (20), thus providing secondary actuation for the head gimbal assembly (10).

Abstract: Windage proximate to a spinning disk within a disk drive is directed through a plurality of apertures in a ramp situated near the outside diameter of the disk. A tab extending from a load beam that supports a slider rests on the ramp when the drive is not in use. When the drive is started the disk begins to spin and an actuator moves the load beam to bring the slider over the surface of the disk. As the load beam moves, the tab is guided along the ramp and cushioned by the air flow emerging from apertures in the ramp beneath it. When the drive is stopped the actuator brings the load beam back so that the tab engages the ramp. A cushion of air is again provided as the tab is moved along the ramp as the tab is returned to a parked position.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in an actuator arm which is mounted to a primary actuator. The primary actuator positions the actuator arm, with a read/write head mounted to the actuator arm, across a data storage disk. The actuator arm comprises an inboard portion, an outboard portion and a pair of bimorph actuators. The inboard portion has a longitudinal axis and is attached to the primary actuator. The outboard portion has the read/write head mounted onto it. The pair of bimorph actuators are deflectable together in a common direction and are connected between the inboard and the outboard portions. Upon deflection of the bimorph actuators in the same direction, the outboard portion is translated along an at least nearly straight line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the inboard portion.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in an actuator arm which is mounted to a primary actuator. The primary actuator positions the actuator arm, with a read/write head mounted to the actuator arm, across a data storage disk. The actuator arm comprises an inboard portion, an outboard portion and a pair of bimorph actuators. The inboard portion has a longitudinal axis and is attached to the primary actuator. The outboard portion has the read/write head mounted onto it. The pair of bimorph actuators are deflectable together in a common direction and are connected between the inboard and the outboard portions. Upon deflection of the bimorph actuators in the same direction, the outboard portion is translated along an at least nearly straight line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the inboard portion.

Abstract: A head gimbal assembly (10) for a disk drive (1), having a flexure (30) with a stationary portion (40) and at least one movable portion (42), a portion of the flexure (30) being attached to a load beam (28). A slider (20) containing a read/write head (22) is attached to one of the movable portions (40) of the flexure (30). The load beam (28) provides a center of rotation (54) for the slider (20) and one or more microactuators (24) connect between the stationary portion (40) of the flexure (30) and one of the movable portions (42, 44) for applying a moment which causes pure or nearly pure rotation of the slider (20) about the center of rotation (54). A disk drive (1) and an actuator arm (2) including the head gimbal assembly (10) are also disclosed.

Abstract: A system for loading a transducing head (22) to a flying elevation proximate a rotating surface of a disc (16) is disclosed. The system includes a piezoelectric device (40) that is selectively expanded and contracted to control a height of the head (22) on a flexure spring (14) from the surface of the disc (16). The system preferably includes control circuitry (50) for generating electrical control signals to manage the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric device (40) according to operating characteristics of the disc (16).

Abstract: The present invention provides passive and active damping systems for reducing or substantially eliminating undesirable vibrations from components of data storage and retrieval systems. The passive and active damping systems incorporate piezoelectric materials, and make use of an advantageous property of these materials, namely the ability to convert mechanical strains into electric potentials and vice versa. The passive systems of the present invention dissipate vibrational energy through an electrical shunt circuit. The active systems seek to cancel an existing vibration in a component by generating and applying an additional vibration to the same component, where the applied vibration is out of phase with the existing vibration and the two vibrations tend to add destructively. Active systems, in certain circumstances, may also be able to anticipate predictable vibrations and proactively cancel them, rather than merely reacting to vibrations after they arise.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in an actuator arm which is mounted to a primary actuator. The primary actuator positions the actuator arm, with a read/write head mounted to the actuator arm, across a data storage disk. The actuator arm comprises an inboard portion, an outboard portion and a pair of bimorph actuators. The inboard portion has a longitudinal axis and is attached to the primary actuator. The outboard portion has the read/write head mounted onto it. The pair of bimorph actuators are deflectable together in a common direction and are connected between the inboard and the outboard portions. Upon deflection of the bimorph actuators in the same direction, the outboard portion is translated along an at least nearly straight line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the inboard portion.

Abstract: A system for positioning a transducing head in a disc drive device over a selected track of a rotatable disc includes an actuator arm which is rotatable about an axis, a head suspension mechanism connected to the actuator arm, and a slider carrying a transducing head and supported by the head suspension mechanism. A low resolution motor moves the actuator arm about the axis to effect coarse movement of the head between tracks of the disc. A piezoelectric element is embedded in the actuator arm to distort the arm to effect fine positioning of the head. Control circuitry distributes electrical signals to the low resolution motor and the piezoelectric element to selectively control movement thereof. The piezoelectric element is embedded in the actuator arm by removing a predetermined amount of material from the actuator arm and bonding the piezoelectric element in the resulting space in the actuator arm.

Abstract: A dual-stage disc drive actuation system for positioning a transducing head over a selected track of a rotatable disc having a plurality of concentric tracks includes a low resolution actuator and a high resolution microactuator. An input circuit provides a signal corresponding to the selected track. The actuator and microactuator are then operated to position the head over the selected track. The dual-stage actuation system positions the head over the selected track without significant off-track error within about 0.5 milliseconds for a track density of at least about 12,000 tracks-per-inch.

Abstract: Noise effects in a disc drive having a disc on a rotating spindle in a housing are reduced by inducing vibrations in the housing of the disc drive that at least partially cancel a characteristic acoustic noise signal of the drive.

Abstract: A head flexure assembly for positioning a transducing head over a selected track of a rotatable disc in a disc drive system having an actulator arm and head suspension includes a bimorph piezoelectric microactuator having first and second ends. The first end of the microactuator is attached to the actuator arm, and a flexure is attached to the second end of the microactuator. A slider carrying the transducing head is attached to the flexure.

Abstract: A system for positioning a transducing head in a disc drive device over a selected track of a rotatable disc includes an actuator arm which is rotatable about an axis, a head suspension mechanism connected to the actuator arm, and a slider carrying a transducing head and supported by the head suspension mechanism. A low resolution motor moves the actuator arm about the axis to effect coarse movement of the head between tracks of the disc. A piezoelectric element is embedded in the actuator arm to distort the arm to effect fine positioning of the head. Control circuitry distributes electrical signals to the low resolution motor and the piezoelectric element to selectively control movement thereof. The piezoelectric element is embedded in the actuator arm by removing a predetermined amount of material from the actuator arm and bonding the piezoelectric element in the resulting space it the actuator arm.