Electrical Connection Detail Patents (Class 360/245.8)
  • Patent number: 8467638
    Abstract: A suspension board with circuit includes a circuit board including a metal supporting board, an insulating layer formed on the metal supporting board, a conductive layer formed on the insulating layer, and an optical waveguide disposed on the circuit board. The optical waveguide includes an under clad layer, a core layer formed on the under clad layer, and an over clad layer formed on the core layer and included in the core layer when projected in the thickness direction of the core layer. The optical waveguide is provided with a positioning portion to position the optical waveguide and a near-field light generating unit for generating near-field light by a light emitted from the optical waveguide, and a protective layer to cover the positioning portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
    Inventor: Hajime Nishio
  • Publication number: 20130128388
    Abstract: A suspension is configured to support a magnetic head slider having a recording head element for recording to a magnetic recording medium and a microwave generating element that applies a high-frequency magnetic field to the magnetic recording medium when recording is conducted by the recording head element. The suspension has a flexure that supports the magnetic head slider, a microwave signal transmission line and a recording signal transmission line. The microwave signal transmission line is connected to the microwave generating element and configured to transmit microwave signals for generating the high-frequency magnetic field. The microwave signal transmission line and the recording signal transmission line are supported between the main body part and the support part, a portion of which has a first lamination structure where a first ground layer is conductive and a first insulating layer supports the microwave signal transmission.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Publication date: May 23, 2013
    Applicant: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Eriko AJIOKA, Yoshikazu SOENO
  • Publication number: 20130088796
    Abstract: A method of measuring attitude angles of a tongue of a head suspension, the tongue including a fitting face on which a plurality of electrodes are arranged, emits a single collimated laser beam to an area of a fitting face containing at least two of electrodes, detects a reflected beam from the fitting face, extracts electrode reflective components corresponding to the electrodes from the reflected beam, and according to the electrode reflective components, measures the attitude angles of the tongue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Publication date: April 11, 2013
    Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akio Mashima, Kenichiro Nakano, Shinichi Gotoh, Yasushi Nasuno
  • Patent number: 8416536
    Abstract: A head suspension has a base, a piezoelectric element, a load beam, and a wiring member to supply electric power to the piezoelectric element so that the piezoelectric element deforms to move the load beam relative to the base. The wiring member has a conductive base layer, an insulating layer, and a wiring layer layered in this order. The wiring layer has a wiring electrode. The piezoelectric element has an element electrode. A through hole is formed through the conductive base layer and insulating layer, to expose the wiring electrode to the element electrode. A projection is formed on at least one of the wiring electrode and element electrode, to face the other electrode through the through hole. The projection brings the electrodes into contact with each other and a conductive adhesive joins the electrodes and together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Fuchino, Sachie Yamada
  • Patent number: 8395866
    Abstract: A disk drive suspension circuit has copper signal conductors connected by vias through an insulative layer to respective stainless steel flying leads. The stainless steel flying leads are activated and plated with one or more metals, with a final layer over the flying lead being a layer such as gold, suitable for bonding to form bond pads. The gold bond pads may be attached using thermosonic welding, solder ball bonding, or other suitable methods to an electrical component such as wires or a the disk drive's pre-amp circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher Schreiber, Christopher Dunn
  • Publication number: 20130021699
    Abstract: A suspension board with circuit includes an external slider on which a magnetic head is mounted and an external electronic element provided in its vicinity. The suspension board with circuit includes a metal supporting board, a first insulating layer laminated on a top surface thereof, a first conductive pattern including a first terminal and laminated on the top surface side of the first insulating layer, a second insulating layer laminated on a back surface of the metal supporting board, and a second conductive pattern including a second terminal and laminated on the back surface side of the second insulating layer. The suspension board with circuit is formed with a communication space extending therethrough in a top-back direction and respective end edges of the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer protrude into the communication space to positions inner than that of an end edge of the metal supporting board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tetsuya OHSAWA
  • Patent number: 8351160
    Abstract: First and second piezoelectric element overlapped portions of an insulating layer of a flexure part is formed with first and second connecting openings, respectively. There are provided on an upper surface of the insulating layer, first and second lower conductive adhesive agents that electrically connect lower electrode layers of first and second piezoelectric elements to a voltage supply wiring through the first and second connecting openings, and a surrounding insulative adhesive agent that is arranged so as to surround the first and second lower conductive adhesive agents in a plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Suncall Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuo Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 8350159
    Abstract: A base insulating layer is formed on a suspension body, and write wiring traces and read wiring traces are formed on the base insulating layer. The write wiring trace and the read wiring traces are formed on a body region of the base insulating layer, and the write wiring trace is formed on an auxiliary region of the base insulating layer. The base insulating layer is bent along a bend portion. This causes the write wiring trace to be positioned above the write wiring trace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya Oosawa, Naoyuki Tanaka, Mitsuru Honjo
  • Publication number: 20130003227
    Abstract: Compositions and methods for producing compositions comprising a monoamine-endcapped polyimide component. Based on a gas chromatography mass spectroscopy analysis of a surface rinse of the composition performed at room temperature, the composition can have at least one surface with less than or equal to 5 ppb releasable phosphorous residuals, and less than or equal to 5 ppb releasable volatile organic compound residuals. The composition can also comprise less than or equal to 10 ppb combined releasable residuals. Because of the very low levels of residual contamination, the compositions can be used to produce a variety of articles, including a disk drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Inventors: Daniel Francis Lowery, Jamuna Chakravarti, Aaron Royer
  • Patent number: 8339743
    Abstract: A main object of the present invention is to provide a substrate for suspension which is produced at low costs and can sufficiently attain the prevention of damage by electrostatic discharge and restraint of noises. To attain the object, the present invention provides a substrate for suspension, comprising: a metallic substrate, an insulating layer formed on the metallic formed in substrate and having an opening from which the metallic substrate is exposed, a grounding-wiring layer formed on the insulating layer and arranged near the opening, and a ground terminal formed in the opening and contacting the metallic substrate and the grounding-wiring layer, characterized in that the ground terminal is made of a metal having a melting point of 450° C. or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoichi Miura, Tooru Serizawa, Shinichiro Busujima
  • Patent number: 8339748
    Abstract: Disclosed is a suspension assembly for a disk drive that includes: a mounting plate having a top-side and a bottom-side; a microactuator mounting structure formed in the mounting plate; a microactuator mounted in the microactuator mounting structure in which the microactuator has a top-side and a bottom-side; and a flexure attached to the bottom-side of the of mounting plate and the microactuator. The flexure includes a pad layer and a through-hole, in which the through-hole extends through the pad layer. An epoxy on the pad layer bonds widely to the microactuator and extends through the through-hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Wing C. Shum, Yanning Liu, John E. Scura
  • Publication number: 20120307404
    Abstract: A spin-torque oscillator (STO) has a single free ferromagnetic layer that forms part of both a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) structure with a nonmagnetic conductive spacer layer and a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) structure with a tunnel barrier layer. The STO has three electrical terminals that connect to electrical circuitry that provides a spin-torque excitation current through the conductive spacer layer and a lesser sense current through the tunnel barrier layer. When the STO is used as a magnetic field sensor, the excitation current causes the magnetization of the free layer to oscillate at a fixed base frequency in the absence of an external magnetic field. A detector coupled to the sense current detects shifts in the free layer magnetization oscillation frequency from the base frequency in response to external magnetic fields.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2011
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Inventors: Patrick Mesquita Braganca, Bruce Alvin Gurney, Jordan Asher Katine
  • Patent number: 8320083
    Abstract: An electrical interconnect and a method of making an electrical interconnect in which a conductor has been substantially plated with a first protective metal shell, such as nickel, and a second outer metal shell, such as gold, before a covercoat has been applied. Such an electrical interconnect can be characterized as having an even-thickness outer shell on both its terminal pads and underneath the covercoat adjacent to the terminal pads, without overhangs or gaps near the bottom of the covercoat caused by surface etching during production.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher Dunn, Keith A. Vanderlee
  • Publication number: 20120287530
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a magnetic head slider includes a substrate, at least two elements (read element, write element, and/or heater element) positioned adjacent to the substrate, a resistance detection element positioned near the two elements, a pair of conductive terminals in an accessible position and coupled to each of the two elements, a protective film surrounding the two elements and the resistance detection element, a first and a second thin conductive wire extending from the resistance detection clement and terminating at an edge of the protective film, a third thin conductive wire extending from one of the pair of conductive terminals for a first of the two elements and terminating at an edge of the protective film, and a fourth thin conductive wire extending from one of the pair of conductive terminals for a second of the two elements and terminating at an edge of the protective film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2011
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Tomomitsu Inoue, Hideo Yamakura, Takateru Seki
  • Patent number: 8307538
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an head gimbal assembly (HGA) according to the present invention is comprised of: a step for preparing a thin film piezoelectric actuator including a first piezoelectric laminate having a first piezoelectric layer, and a second piezoelectric laminate having a second piezoelectric layer; a step for preparing a suspension; a fixing step for fixing the thin film piezoelectric actuator to the suspension; a first repolarization treatment step for performing repolarization treatment to the first piezoelectric layer after the fixing step; and a second repolarization treatment step for performing repolarization treatment to the second piezoelectric layer after the fixing step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignees: TDK Corporation, SAE Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd.
    Inventor: Kenjiro Hata
  • Patent number: 8300363
    Abstract: A wiring structure of a flexure includes wiring that includes a trace of first polarity and a trace of second polarity and transmits signals to and from a head that is supported with the flexure and writes and reads data to and from a recording medium and an interleaved section formed at least partly in the wiring where the traces are each divided into sub-traces, the sub-traces being alternated in a width direction of the wiring, the sub-traces of each trace being connected to each other on each side of the interleaved section, an outer one of the sub-traces of each trace being narrower than an inner one of the same. The wiring structure reduces partial dips in the frequency characteristic of signal transmission loss (loss-to-frequency characteristic) of the wiring at the interleaved section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hajime Arai, Kiyotaka Fukushima
  • Patent number: 8289651
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to control heat dissipation in hard-disk drives (HDDs) are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus comprises a semiconductor die, a ground bump positioned on the die, and a hard-disk drive writer head positioned on the die relative to the ground bump based on a thermal impedance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Ramlah Binte Abdul Razak
  • Patent number: 8284551
    Abstract: An apparatus includes an enclosure, a first interconnect card, a second interconnect card, and a connection circuit board. The enclosure receives a first data storage device and a second data storage device. The first interconnect card is connected to the first data storage device. The second interconnect card is connected to the second data storage device. The second interconnect card includes an external connector which is capable of connecting to a peripheral apparatus outside of the enclosure. The connection circuit board is connected to the first and the second interconnect cards. The first data storage device communicates with the external connector via the first interconnect card, the connection circuit board, and the second interconnect card. The second interconnect card communicates with the external connector via the second interconnect card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignees: Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wen-Tang Peng, Mo-Ming Yu, Lei Zheng
  • Publication number: 20120229934
    Abstract: Disclosed are various techniques for reduction of the magnitude of the residual stress in the HDD gimbal circuits, or more specifically, the residual plastic strain. Various trace structures of the gimbal circuits as well as stress suppressors are utilized to achieve the reduction of the residual stress in the circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2012
    Publication date: September 13, 2012
    Applicant: NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Martin John MCCASLIN, Visit THAVEEPRUNGSRIPORN, Alex Enriquez CAYABAN, Jason Aquinde GOMEZ
  • Publication number: 20120224281
    Abstract: A flexure has a metal base plate, an insulating layer formed on the metal base plate, a wiring pattern formed on the insulating layer, a read-write head connected to a first end of the wiring pattern, and terminals for external connection that are adjacent to each other and are connected to a second end of the wiring pattern. The flexure includes a hole formed through the insulating layer in the vicinity of respective one of the adjacent terminals and an exposed part being a part of the metal base plate that is exposed through the hole to the terminals. A distance between the respective one of the adjacent terminals and the exposed part exposed through the hole in the vicinity thereof is shorter than a distance between the adjacent terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2012
    Publication date: September 6, 2012
    Applicant: NHK Spring Co, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hajime ARAI
  • Publication number: 20120212858
    Abstract: A flexure is capable of securing strength of the flexure while surely preventing from deteriorating electric characteristic thereof. The flexure includes a metal substrate, an insulating layer formed on the metal substrate, and a wiring pattern arranged on the insulating layer and having a first end connected to the head and a second end that is provided with a terminal for external connection. The insulating layer extends a back of the terminal and a surrounding portion of the back. The metal substrate has an isolated portion that is on the back of the terminal through the insulating layer and is separated from the other portion of the metal substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hajime ARAI
  • Patent number: 8247700
    Abstract: A wired circuit board has a metal supporting board, an insulating layer formed on the metal supporting board, a conductive pattern formed on the insulating layer and having a pair of wires arranged in spaced-apart relation, and a semiconductive layer formed on the insulating layer and electrically connected to the metal supporting board and the conductive pattern. The conductive pattern has a first region in which a distance between the pair of wires is small and a second region in which the distance between the pair of wires is larger than that in the first region. The semiconductive layer is provided in the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
    Inventors: Jun Ishii, Yasunari Ooyabu, Visit Thaveeprungsriporn
  • Patent number: 8247699
    Abstract: A flex circuit comprises a base film, a first adhesive layer coupled with the base film, at least two signal traces coupled with the first adhesive layer, and at least one dummy trace positioned between the two signal traces and coupled with the first adhesive layer. The flex circuit comprises a second adhesive layer coupled with the signal traces, the dummy trace, and the first adhesive layer, and a cover film coupled with the second adhesive layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.
    Inventor: Jr-Yi Shen
  • Patent number: 8248734
    Abstract: A wiring connecting structure for a piezoelectric actuator includes a terminal 57-1, a through hole 67 formed through the terminal 57-1, a first liquid stopper 69-1 arranged around the through hole 67 in a gap between the terminal 57-1 and a common electrode 19 of a piezoelectric element 13 of the piezoelectric actuator, and a liquid trap 73 arranged adjacent to the first liquid stopper 69-1. The terminal 57-1 faces the common electrode 19 with an electric insulating layer 61 being on the piezoelectric element 13 side and the first liquid stopper 69-1 being in the gap between the common electrode 19 and the terminal 57-1. A liquid conductive adhesive 79 is filled in the through hole 67. If there is an excess of the liquid adhesive 79, the excess is guided into a trapping space 77 of the liquid trap 73, to prevent the excess from oozing out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hideki Fuchino
  • Patent number: 8248731
    Abstract: An electrical connecting structure for a piezoelectric element enables wiring to the piezoelectric element to be carried out without deteriorating the productivity and reliability of the piezoelectric element. The electrical connecting structure is formed by facing a common electrode of the piezoelectric element to a terminal that supplies power to the common electrode and by injecting a conductive adhesive into a through hole, which is formed substantially at the center of the piezoelectric element, from an opening of the through hole that is on the opposite side of the common electrode, thereby securing electrical connection between the terminal and the common electrode of the piezoelectric element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hideki Fuchino
  • Publication number: 20120162825
    Abstract: An interleaved conductor structure for electrically connecting the read/write electronics to a read/write head in a hard disk drive is provided. The interleaved conductor structure may allow for an increased characteristic-impedance range, greater interference shielding and a reduction of signal loss that is contributed by a lossy conductive substrate. The electrical traces may have different widths, be offset, or even wrap around each other at the via connections.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Inventors: JOHN T. CONTRERAS, Nobumasa Nishiyama, Edgar D. Rothenberg, Rehan A. Zakai, Yiduo Zhang
  • Patent number: 8205323
    Abstract: In a manufacturing method for a head gimbal assembly, before mounting a slider on a suspension, coating films each made of solder are formed on respective terminals of a plurality of leads to be connected to a plurality of electrode pads of the slider. After mounting the slider on the suspension, the coating films are heated with laser light to thereby melt the solder, with the respective terminals of the plurality of leads in contact with the corresponding electrode pads via the respective coating films, whereby the terminals are electrically and physically connected to the electrode pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: TDK Corporation
    Inventor: Hitoshi Iwama
  • Publication number: 20120140360
    Abstract: Approaches for integrated lead suspension that provides many benefits, such as enabling a dual stage actuator (DSA) to be used with a single layer flex with a reduced amount of crosstalk. An integrated lead suspension comprises a tail end having a plurality of conductive pads positioned thereat. The plurality of conductive pads includes a first and second dual stage actuator (DSA) pad. The first and second DSA pads are electrically coupled to a conductive member by way of conductive vias. The conductive member may be a stainless steel island. The first DSA pad conducts a signal to a first terminal at each of a plurality of dual stage actuators, while a second terminal at each of the plurality of dual stage actuators is connected to ground.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Inventors: John Contreras, Nobumasa Nishiyama, Bijan Rafizadeh, Eiji Soga, Hiroyasu Tsuchida, Yiduo Zhang
  • Patent number: 8194355
    Abstract: A novel head stack assembly (HSA) includes a flex cable with a first side and an opposing second side, and having a hole therethrough. The HSA also includes a head gimbal assembly (HGA) having a load beam, a laminated flexure attached to the load beam, and a head attached to the laminated flexure. The laminated flexure includes a flexure tail with a snap-through feature. The snap-through feature has a plurality of windows in the flexure tail, a snap-through feature central portion that is centric to the plurality of windows, and a plurality of lobes. Each lobe extends out from the snap-through feature central portion radially into one of the plurality of windows. The laminated flexure overlies and contacts the flex cable on its first side, but the snap-through feature is disposed through the hole so that each of the plurality of lobes contacts the flex cable on its second side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tzong-Shii Pan, Ali Hosseinzadeh
  • Publication number: 20120134047
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a head gimbal assembly includes a suspension, a head, and a conductor trace on the suspension, including one end portion electrically connected to the head and the other end portion includes a terminal area. The conductor trace includes a thin metal plate, a base insulating layer on the thin metal plate, a trace pattern on the base insulating layer, including a plurality of conductors and a plurality of first and second connection terminals continuous with the conductors, and a cover insulating layer on the base insulating layer, configured to cover the trace pattern. The terminal area includes an opening including two opposite side edges, the first connection terminals extend into the opening from one of the side edges thereof, and the second connection terminals extend into the opening from the other side edge thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2011
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Takafumi KIKUCHI, Yasutaka SASAKI
  • Patent number: 8184404
    Abstract: A suspension board with circuit includes a board main body portion, an auxiliary portion folded back with respect to the board main body portion, a slider disposed close to the board main body portion, and mounting thereon a magnetic head, and a light emitting element disposed close to the auxiliary portion. The conductive pattern includes a first conductive pattern including a first terminal, and a second terminal connected to the magnetic head, and a second conductive pattern including a third terminal and a fourth terminal connected to the light emitting element. The first, second and third terminals are disposed on the board main body portion. The fourth terminal is disposed on the auxiliary portion. The back surface of the board main body portion is formed with a main-body-side interfitting portion. A back surface of the auxiliary portion is formed with an auxiliary-portion-side interfitting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: NITTO DENKO Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya Ohsawa, Toshiki Naito
  • Publication number: 20120113547
    Abstract: A suspension board with circuit includes a metal supporting board; an insulating layer formed on the metal supporting board having an opening penetrating in the thickness direction formed therein; and a conductive pattern formed on the insulating layer including an external-side terminal electrically connected to an external board. The external-side terminal is filled in the opening of the insulating layer. In the metal supporting board, a support terminal electrically insulated from the surrounding metal supporting board and electrically connected to the external-side terminal is provided. The suspension board with circuit includes a metal plating layer formed below the support terminal and an electrically-conductive layer interposed between the support terminal and the metal plating layer having a thickness of 10 nm or more to 200 nm or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Nitto Denko Corporation
    Inventor: Yuu Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 8174796
    Abstract: An actuator and associated method is provided, the actuator having an arm defining an aperture, an electrical circuit supported by the arm and terminating at a contact, a flexure assembly defining a boss and supporting a second electrical circuit terminating at a second contact, wherein the contacts are resultingly positioned in operable mating engagement with each other placing the electrical circuit in electrical communication with the second electrical circuit when the boss is operably disposed within the aperture and there affixed to the arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Seagate Technology, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Toffle, Wayne Allen Bonin, Vincent John Reis, Brent Marvin Weichelt, Jason Paul Zimmerman
  • Publication number: 20120081815
    Abstract: A wiring structure of a flexure includes wiring that includes a trace of first polarity and a trace of second polarity and transmits signals to and from a head that is supported with the flexure and writes and reads data to and from a recording medium and an interleaved section formed at least partly in the wiring where the traces are each divided into sub-traces, the sub-traces being alternated in a width direction of the wiring, the sub-traces of each trace being connected to each other on each side of the interleaved section, an outer one of the sub-traces of each trace being narrower than an inner one of the same. The wiring structure reduces partial dips in the frequency characteristic of signal transmission loss (loss-to-frequency characteristic) of the wiring at the interleaved section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2011
    Publication date: April 5, 2012
    Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hajime ARAI, Kiyotaka Fukushima
  • Patent number: 8149542
    Abstract: A wiring connecting structure for a piezoelectric element is capable of performing wiring to the piezoelectric element without deteriorating the quality and reliability of the piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric element is arranged between a base and head of an object, to minutely move the head in a sway direction according to deformation that occurs on the piezoelectric element in response to a voltage applied from a terminal to an electrode of the piezoelectric element. The wiring connecting structure includes first and second liquid stoppers arranged between the terminal and the electrode, the second liquid stopper being arranged outside the first liquid stopper. The wiring connecting structure also includes an adhesive part to connect the electrode to the terminal. The adhesive part has a conductive adhesive part defined by the first liquid stopper and a sealing adhesive part defined by the second liquid stopper. The sealing adhesive part seals the first liquid stopper and conductive adhesive part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Toshiki Ando
  • Patent number: 8134078
    Abstract: A plurality of first output terminals is provided along one side of a circuit element, and a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of second output terminals are provided adjacently along the other opposite side thereof. Leads include a first output lead extending from the first output terminal to an output connection electrode, and a second output lead extending from the second output terminal to the output connection electrode. The second output lead is extended from the other side of the circuit element to one side of the circuit element through a surface of a flexible wiring cable opposite the circuit element and further extended in parallel with the first output lead and connected to the output connection electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tomoyuki Kubo
  • Patent number: 8125734
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a magnetic slider of which terminals have a sufficiently large process margin for the laser condition in the SBB process. According to one embodiment, a magnetic slider comprises: a read element and a write element; plural wiring lines which are connected to the read element and the write element; a protective film which covers the read element, the write element and the plural-wiring lines; plural slider pads formed on the protective film; and plural studs which respectively connect the slider pads and the wiring lines and are covered by the protective film, wherein each of the slider pads comprises a chromium film, a nickel iron film and a gold film, the nickel iron film is formed between the chromium film and the gold film, and the chromium film is formed between the nickel iron film and one of the studs and is in contact with the protective film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Umezaki, Seiji Nakagawa, Yuhsuke Matsumoto, Yoshihisa Takeo, Gen Oikawa, Hiroshi Kamio
  • Patent number: 8120877
    Abstract: This application discloses a hard disk drive, a head stack assembly, and a printed circuit board configured to include impedance patches on the flex ground plane, the flex power plane, the printed circuit ground plane and/or the printed circuit power plane over or under a connector site in the disk base that conveys access read and write differential signals for the sliders' access of rotating disk surfaces. These impedance patches minimize impedance discontinuities in the read and/or write differential signals through the connector site, which may improve the ability of the hard disk drive to transmit these signals at higher frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Inventor: Eun Kyu Jang
  • Publication number: 20120008233
    Abstract: A system according to one embodiment includes a slider adapted for use in a hard disk drive; and a laser coupled to a slider, wherein electrical contacts of the laser are positioned towards or face the slider, wherein light from the laser is emitted towards the slider, wherein the slider acts as a heat sink for the laser.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2011
    Publication date: January 12, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Toshiki Hirano, Fu-Ying Huang, Jia-Yang Juang, Barry Cushing Stipe
  • Patent number: 8085506
    Abstract: A gimbal, a disk drive suspension that includes the gimbal, and a related method of manufacture, wherein the gimbal is configured to be coupled between a disk drive slider and a disk drive load beam. The gimbal includes a strut having a buss and a projection that is coupled to the buss. A combination of the projection and the buss define a gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Magnecomp Corporation
    Inventors: Kuen Chee Ee, Christopher Gene Dunn, Keith Allan Vanderlee, Peter Sung Hahn
  • Publication number: 20110292549
    Abstract: A wiring structure for a head suspension is provided. The head suspension has a head to write and read information to and from a recording medium, a load beam to apply load onto the head, a device arranged on the head and operating on low-frequency signals to achieve a function other than the information write/read function at the head, and a flexure attached to the load beam and supporting the head, the flexure including a base material made of a conductive thin plate and a base insulating layer formed on the base material. The wiring structure has a write wiring and a read wiring formed on the base insulating layer and connected to the head, a device wiring formed on the base insulating layer and connected to the device, an intermediate insulating layer on the base insulating layer. The device wiring is formed wider than the read wiring and includes positive/negative wires that are laid one on another with the intermediate insulating layer interposed between the positive/negative wires.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hajime ARAI
  • Patent number: 8068313
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to approaches to effectively let noise on a head slider bonded to a silicon substrate of a microactuator, escape to the ground. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a microactuator bonded to a gimbal tongue. The microactuator comprises a piezoelectric element and a movable part for moving in response to expansion or contraction of the piezoelectric element. The motion of the movable part causes a head slider to slightly move. The microactuator further comprises a conductive path including an impurity-containing silicon layer formed on the silicon substrate. The conductive path transmits electric charge of the head slider to a suspension. The conductivity of the impurity-containing silicon layer is lower than the one of the silicon substrate so that the noise charge of the head slider may escape to the suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Nobumasa Nishiyama, Ryo Yoshida, Haruhide Takahashi, Shinobu Hagiya, Toshiki Hirano
  • Patent number: 8064168
    Abstract: A novel head stack assembly (HSA), and method for HSA assembly, are disclosed and claimed. A first flexure tail has a long axis approximately parallel to a side of the actuator arm. The actuator arm includes a slot in the side having a slot end. The first flexure tail is disposed partially within the slot. The first flexure tail includes a first raised region in contact with the slot adjacent the slot end. The first raised region includes an out-of-plane bend with cross-sectional curvature along the long axis. The first raised region may be squeezed while inserting the first flexure tail partially within the side slot, with the first raised region adjacent the slot end, and then allowed to expand into contact with the slot adjacent the slot end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yiduo Zhang, Tzong-Shii Pan, Yih-Jen D. Chen
  • Patent number: 8051553
    Abstract: Apparatus for adjusting the static attitude of a head suspension having a gimbal with at least one gimbal arm. One embodiment of the invention includes a pair of first contacting members contacting a first side of the gimbal arm at a pair of spaced apart locations, and a second contacting member contacting a second side of the gimbal arm at an intermediate location between the spaced apart locations. The first and second contacting members move together relative to each other, plastically deforming the gimbal arm by the relative movement between the second and first contacting members while the spaced apart location between the first contacting members is maintained during the plastic deformation such that at least one of a pitch and roll parameter of the gimbal is adjusted to a desired amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventors: Thomas H. Wick, Mark S. Hedeen, Jeremy J. Stroschein, John L. Schumann, Justin M. Eggert
  • Patent number: 8049984
    Abstract: In a method of biasing a slider, a bias voltage is generated for biasing a slider. The bias voltage is integratedly coupled to a conductive body of the slider via an existing signal path of the slider such that the slider is biased with the bias voltage. The existing signal path is primarily used for conveying another signal to or from the slider but at least sometimes conveys the bias voltage to the conductive body in an integral fashion along with another signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: John Contreras, Luiz Franca-Neto, Bernhard Knigge
  • Patent number: 8045296
    Abstract: An integrated lead flexure having a spring metal layer, a dielectric insulating layer on a side of the spring metal layer, a conductor layer on the side of the insulating layer opposite the spring metal layer and a coverlay on the side of the conductor layer opposite the insulating layer. The flexure further includes base region, a gimbal region extending from the base region, and a tail region extending from the base region opposite the gimbal region. The conductor layer includes terminal pads at the tail region and head bond pads at the gimbal region. Traces in the conductor layer extend between the terminal pads and the head bond pads across the tail, base and gimbal regions. One or more spring metal windows in the spring metal layer at the tail region are adjacent to substantial portions of at least some of the traces. One or more coverlay windows in the coverlay at the tail region are adjacent to substantial portions of the tail region spring metal windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Hutchinson Technology Incorporated
    Inventor: Michael E. Roen
  • Patent number: 8045295
    Abstract: Method and apparatus are presented for electrically coupling a slider to ground. In one embodiment, a bonding pad is provided on a side of the slider body separate from the bonding pad(s) used for read/write signals. This separate bonding pad is electrically coupled within the slider body to components that are to be coupled to ground. A separate conductor provided on the suspension (e.g., a trace, a flex circuit, etc.) may be electrically coupled to the separate bonding pad via gold ball bonding. The conductor is also coupled to ground in the hard-disk drive device (e.g., via the preamplifier). The use of the separated bonding pad and trace may negate the need to use a conductive adhesive to electrically ground the slider via its attachment to the tongue of a slider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: SAE Magnetics (HK) Ltd.
    Inventors: Yen Fu, Ellis T. Cha, Po-Kang Wang, Hong Tian, Manuel Hernandez, Yaw-Shing Tang, Ben Hu
  • Patent number: 8040635
    Abstract: A substrate for suspension which is produced at low costs and can sufficiently attain the prevention of damage by electrostatic discharge and restraint of noises. The substrate for suspension includes: a metallic substrate, an insulating layer formed on the metallic substrate and having an opening from which the metallic substrate is exposed, a grounding-wiring layer formed on the insulating layer and arranged near the opening, and a ground terminal formed in the opening and contacting the metallic substrate and the grounding-wiring layer. The ground terminal is made of a metal having a melting point of 450° C. or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoichi Miura, Tooru Serizawa, Shinichiro Busujima
  • Patent number: 8040634
    Abstract: A magnetic head suspension having a thin metallic plate as a substrate which is caused to have a new function besides a function as a spring. The magnetic head suspension plural lines for connecting a magnetic head and a control circuit board to each other are formed over a thin metallic plate having a spring property through an insulating layer, and are integrated with the thin metallic plate A metallic pad made of a same metal layer as the plural lines is formed independently of the lines, an opening is made in a portion of the metallic pad to penetrate the insulating layer and then to reach the thin metallic plate, and an electroconductive region is formed into the opening by metal plating, thereby connecting the metallic pad and the thin metallic plate electrically to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Miyazawa, Terutoshi Momose, Yoichi Hitomi, Tsuyoshi Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 8035923
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention help to provide a sealed hard disk drive (HDD) with high reliability. According to one embodiment, a HDD is a hermetically sealed HDD. A base has an opening of a through-hole on its bottom; a feedthrough is provided so as to close the opening. A flange of the feedthrough has a larger outline than the opening, and its rim is joined to the base with solder at the solder joint. The solder at the solder joint is mainly composed of Sn and contains 15 atomic percent to 27 atomic percent of indium. This solder reaches the ? phase from ?150° C. to 120° C. Accordingly, even if the HDD has been exposed at low temperature for a long time, the solder joint is not broken so that helium gas does not leak.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Suzuki, Teruhiro Nakamiya, Takashi Kouno