Reduced mass/inertia suspension

Abstract

An improved head suspension assembly (HSA) for use in dynamic storage devices and rigid disk drives provides improved shock, resonance and access time performance of disk drives, while maintaining needed lateral stiffness of the HSA. The mass and inertia of the HSA as a whole is improved, by providing an area of reduced mass constituted by an area of partial etching and/or through holes on any one or more of the constituent members, that is, the load beams flexure and/or constraint. The HSA may alternatively comprise a one-piece unitary load beam and flexure structure provided with such an area of reduced mass.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfaces of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising a load beam element joined to a proximal end of the arm, the improvement comprising that the load beam element is provided with an area of reduced mass constituted by a repeating geometric pattern of through holes in an area of reduced thickness of the load beam surface. 
     
     
       2. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfaces of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising, in combination: (a) a load beam element joined to a proximal end of the arm; and   (b) a flexure portion at a distal end of the load beam element;   the improvement comprising that the flexure portion is provided with an area of reduced mass constituted by a repeating geometric pattern of through holes in an area of reduced thickness of the flexure portion proximal to flexible arms of the flexure.   
     
     
       3. A head suspension according to claim 2, further comprising a constraint portion provided with an area of reduced mass constituted by a repeating geometric pattern of through holes in an area of reduced thickness of the constraint portion. 
     
     
       4. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfacs of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising a unitary one-piece structure of: a load beam portion joined to a proximal end of the arm, and a gimballing flexible portion at a distal end of the load beam element;   the improvement comprising that the load beam portion is provided with an area of reduced arms constituted by a repeating geometric pattern of through holes in an area of reduced thickness of the load beam surface.   
     
     
       5. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfaces of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising a load beam joined to a proximal end of the arm, the improvement comprising that the load beam is provided with a conjoined grid structure at least partially surrounding apertures through the load beam, said grid structure having a thickness less than a thickness of the load beam. 
     
     
       6. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfaces of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising, in combination: (a) a load beam element joined to a proximal end of the arm; and   (b) a gimballing flexure portion at a distal end of the load beam element;   the improvement comprising that the flexure portion, proximal of flexure arms, has a first thickness and is provided with zones of a second thickness relatively less than the first thickness and a conjoined grille structure of a third thickness relatively greater than the second thickness and relatively less than the first thickness, the grille structure at least partially surrounding at least some of said zones.   
     
     
       7. In a disk drive for positioning transducer heads at selected locations on respective surfaces of axially mounted rotatable disk media, a head suspension for attachment to a rigid actuator arm of said disk drive, said head suspension comprising a unitary one-piece structure of: a load beam portion joined to a proximal end of the arm, and a gimballing flexure portion at a distal end of the load beam element;   the improvement comprising that the load beam portion is provided with a conjoined grid structure at least partially surrounding openings through the load beam, said conjoined grid structure having a thickness less than a thickness of the load beam portion.