Abstract:
Assemblies in accordance with the present invention can access a data storage medium having one or more disks. One such assembly comprises a mounting block including a bore and at least one arm connected with the mounting block. A flexible member is connected with the at least one arm and a head is associated with the flexible member. The head is positioned over the surface of the disk. The arm is designed such that it can be disconnected from the mount without disassembling the bore. By having a removably fastened arm, the assembly can be built at a relatively low cost and without misalignment and deformation. This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
   This application claims priority to the following U.S. Provisional Patent Applications. 
   U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/436,741, entitled “Rotary Actuator Assembly for a rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed Dec. 27, 2002. 
   CROSS-REFERENCED CASES 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/366,235, entitled “Methods for Assembling or Reworking a Rotary Actuator Assembly for a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/366,074, entitled “Modular Rotary Actuator Assembly for a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/365,934, entitled “Methods for Assembling or Reworking a Modular Rotary Actuator Assembly for a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/365,912, entitled “Removable Bearing Assembly for a Rotary Actuator Assembly in a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/365,906, entitled “Methods for Seating a Removable Bearing Assembly in a Rotary Actuator Assembly for a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 
   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/366,237, entitled “Intermediate Power Down Mode for a Rotatable Media Data Storage Device,” filed herewith. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to rotatable media data storage devices, as for example magnetic or optical hard disk drive technology, and more specifically to actuator assemblies for positioning heads in hard disk drives. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Computer systems are fundamentally comprised of subsystems for storing and retrieving information, manipulating information, and displaying information. Nearly all computer systems today use optical, magnetic or magneto-optical storage media to store and retrieve the bulk of a computer system&#39;s data. Successive generations of ever more powerful microprocessors, and increasingly complex software applications that take advantage of these microprocessors, have driven the storage capacity needs of systems higher and have simultaneously driven read and write performance demands higher. Magnetic storage remains one of the few viable technologies for economically storing large amounts of information with acceptable read and write performance. 
   Market pressures place ever greater demands on hard disk drive manufacturers to reduce drive costs. In order to maintain market advantage, new hard disk drive designs typically incorporate greater efficiency in device operating tolerances or manufacturability. 
   There are basic components common to nearly all hard disk drives. A hard disk drive typically contains one or more disks clamped to a rotating spindle, a head for reading or writing information to the surface of each disk, and an actuator assembly utilizing linear or rotary motion for positioning the head for retrieving particular information or writing information to a particular location on the disk. A rotary actuator is a complex assembly that couples the head to a pivot point that sweeps the head across the surface of the rotating disk. The assembly typically couples the head to a flexible member called a suspension, which is then coupled to the pivotally mounted actuator assembly. 
   The current state of the art is to use one of two basic designs for attaching the suspensions with the actuator assembly: (1) the one-piece E-shaped block assembly (generally referred to as an E-block) or (2) the multi-piece assembly with unitary mounted suspension (generally referred to as Unamount). The E-block, typically made of aluminum or magnesium, is cast or extruded as a singular block element and machined to provide attachment points for suspensions (the attachment points form rigid arms). One or two suspensions are connected with each arm by swaging or staking through a machined bore in the arm which is aligned with a bore in the suspension. Swaging uses steel balls slightly larger in diameter than the machined bores to apply axial forces which deform and attach the suspensions to the arms. 
   Swaging applies force to the suspension and can deform a cantilevered portion of the suspension used to hold a slider on which a head is mounted. Deformation of the cantilevered portion of the suspension can lead to structural resonance variation and reduction in the reliability of ramp-based head loading and unloading. In order to control the amount of deforming force applied to the suspension with each impact, multiple steel balls with increasing diameters are often used in the swaging process. Damage can still result to the suspension. As data storage tracks are packed more tightly and as actuator arm block sizes shrink, requiring more precise performance of the actuator assembly, this problem will likely become acute, impacting future manufacturing yields. Further, it is difficult to maintain the preset spring rate and gram load of the suspensions during the swaging process, and suspension alignment and staking must be supervised and monitored, increasing the cost and decreasing the speed of assembly of the drives. 
   The Unamount assembly uses an actuator arm plate, typically stamped from a thin stainless steel sheet, that includes a circular bore that when coupled to spacer elements, forms a cylindrical bore designed to receive a bearing assembly. Each suspension is micro-spot welded to each actuator arm plate, which is then secured to the spacers and other such arm assemblies in a rigid manner to form the actuator assembly. The Unamount assembly has significant disadvantages including higher assembly cost, difficult assembly cleaning, potential for component damage during rework (the rigid assembly must be unfastened and the bearing assembly removed or exposed to detach a single arm plate), and less design flexibility due to the difficulty of structurally tuning the arm and suspension resonances at the same time. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     Further details of embodiments of the present invention are explained with the help of the attached drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1A  is an exploded view of a typical hard disk drive utilizing an actuator assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1B  is a close-up view of a head suspension assembly used in the hard disk drive of  FIG. 1A , showing head, slider and suspension. 
       FIG. 1C  is an illustration of the rotary motion of a head suspension assembly of  FIG. 1B  across the surface of a disk. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of an actuator assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a method for manufacturing an actuator assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a method for reworking an actuator assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1A  is an exploded view of a hard disk drive  100  utilizing an actuator assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The hard disk drive  100  has a housing  102  which is formed by a housing base  104  and a housing cover  106 . A single disk  120  is attached to the hub of a spindle motor  122 , with the spindle motor  122  mounted to the housing base  104 . The disk  120  can be made of a light aluminum alloy, ceramic/glass or other suitable substrate, with magnetic material deposited on one or both sides of the disk  120 . The magnetic layer has tiny domains of magnetization for storing data transferred through heads. The invention described herein is equally applicable to technologies using other media, as for example, optical media. Further, the invention described herein is equally applicable to devices having any number of disks attached to the hub of the spindle motor. The disks are connected to a rotating spindle  122  (for example by clamping), spaced apart to allow heads to access the surfaces of each disk, and rotated in unison at a constant or varying rate typically ranging from less than 3,600 RPM to over 15,000 RPM (speeds of 4,200 and 5,400 RPM are common in hard disk drives designed for mobile devices such as laptops). 
   The actuator assembly  130  is pivotally mounted to the housing base  104  by a bearing assembly  132  and sweeps an arc, as shown in  FIG. 1C , between at least an inner actuator addressable diameter of the disk  124   a  and an outer actuator addressable diameter of the disk  124   b . Attached to the housing  104  are upper and lower magnet return plates  110  and at least one magnet that together form the stationary portion of the voice coil motor assembly  112 . The voice coil  134  is mounted to the actuator assembly  130  and positioned in the air gap of the voice coil motor  112  which applies a force to the actuator assembly  130  to provide the pivoting motion about the bearing assembly  132 . The voice coil motor allows for precise positioning of the heads  146  along the surface of the disk  120 . The voice coil motor  112  is coupled with a servo system (not shown) to accurately position the head  146  over a specific track on the disk  120 . The servo system acts as a guidance system, using positioning code (for example grey code) read by the head  146  from the disk  120  to determine the position of the head  146  on tracks  124  on the disk  120 . The actuator assembly  130  is shown in  FIG. 1B  to have an overall wedge-shape, but could alternatively have a variety of shapes: for example, the actuator assembly could be rectangular or oblong, or shaped like an arrow. 
   The heads  146  ( FIG. 1B ) read and/or write data to the disks. Each side of a disk  120  can have an associated head  146 , and the heads  146  are collectively coupled to the actuator assembly  130  such that the heads  146  pivot in unison. When not in use, the heads  146  can rest on the stationary disk  120  (typically on an inner portion of the disk that does not contain data) or on a ramp  150  positioned either adjacent to a disk or just over the disk surface. 
     FIG. 1B  details a subassembly commonly referred to as ahead suspension assembly (HSA)  140 , comprising the head  146  attached to a slider  144 , which is further attached to a flexible suspension member (a suspension)  142 . The spinning of the disk  120  creates airpressure beneath the slider  144  that lifts the slider  144  and consequently the head  146  off of the surface of the disk  120 , creating a micro-gap of typically less than four micro-inches between the disk  120  and the head  146  in one embodiment. The suspension  142  is bent or shaped to act as a spring such that a load force is applied to the surface of the disk. The “air bearing” created by the spinning of the disk  120  resists the spring force applied by the suspension  142 , and the opposition of the spring force and the air bearing to one another allows the head  146  to trace the surface contour of the rotating disk surface, which is likely to have minute warpage, without “crashing” against the disk surface. When ahead “crashes”, the head collides with a surface such that the head is damaged. 
   The HSA  140  is connected to the actuator assembly by a rigid arm  136 . As described above, the suspension  142  is typically swaged to the rigid arm, or micro-spot welded to an arm plate which forms part of the bearing assembly bore.  FIG. 2  is an exploded view of one embodiment of the actuator assembly  130  contemplated in the present invention. The actuator assembly  130  comprises a mounting block  250  having a solid bore  252  for receiving a bearing assembly  132 . A spacer  254  is formed at a first end of the mounting block  250  (by casting, extruding or milling, for example). The spacer  254  is at least as thick as a disk  120  and has at least one, and preferably four threaded holes  256  extending through the width of the spacer  254  for engaging the threads of screws  268 . In alternative embodiments one or more threaded holes  256  through the top and bottom of the spacer only partially penetrate the spacer. In still other embodiments the spacer holes  256  are not threaded, but smooth for receipt of bolts or other fasteners. A voice coil holder  258  is mounted at a second end of the mounting block  250 , and retains a voice coil  134 . The voice coil holder  258  can be cast as part of a singular block element with the mounting block  250 , adhesively bonded or plastic over-molded onto the mounting block  250 , or alternatively welded or soldered to the mounting block  250 . One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different methods for fastening the voice coil holder  258  to the mounting block  250 . 
   Providing a solid bore  252  simplifies the cleaning process and allows flexibility in choosing the technique for journaling pivot bearings. The bearing assembly  132  can be comprised of a separate cartridge bearing which can be installed after head stack assembly cleaning, or alternatively can include discrete bearings positioned in the actuator bore  252 . 
   As indicated above, the HSA  140  is connected with the actuator assembly  130  by an arm  136 . The arm  136  can be stamped or milled and made from stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium, titanium or other suitable material. The arm  136  includes at least one, but preferably two holes  266  at the distal end for receiving screws  268 . In  FIG. 2 , the two holes  266  are shown offset so that the holes of a first arm  136   a  mounted to the top surface of the spacer  254  and the holes of a second arm  136   b  mounted to the bottom surface of the spacer  254  are aligned with different threaded holes  256  in the spacer. This arrangement prevents screws  268  which engage the threaded holes  256  from opposite surfaces of the spacer  254  from interfering with one another. This arrangement also allows an arm to cover threaded holes  256  which are not aligned with holes  266  in the arm  136  to reduce foreign material entering the threaded holes  256 . In one embodiment, the suspensions  142  are micro-spot welded to the proximal end of the arm  136 . In other embodiments, the suspensions  142  can be adhesively bonded to the arm  136 . In still other embodiments the suspensions  142  and the respective arms  136   a / 136   b  comprise single stamped pieces. 
   As indicated above, first arm  136   a  is removably fastened to the top surface of the spacer  254  by at least one, and preferably two screws  268  such that the suspension applies a load force against the top surface of a disk  120  mounted in the plane of the spacer  254 . Also as indicated above, the second arm  136   b  is removably fastened to the bottom surface of the spacer  254  by at least one, and preferably two screws  268  such that the suspension applies a load force against the bottom surface of the disk  120 . Thus, the disk  120  is positioned between the top and bottom arm  136   a  and  136   b . In other embodiments, the arms  136  are removably fastened to the spacer  254  using bolts. In still other embodiments, the arms  136  are removably fastened to the spacer  254  using pressure fittings. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different means for attaching the arms  136  to the spacer  254 . Actuator assemblies in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can be built at a relatively low cost and without the misalignment and deformation associated with the prior art assemblies. Further, arms  136  having different thicknesses or shapes can be easily substituted, thus allowing tuning of resonant frequencies according to the needs of the product while minimizing additional manufacturing costs. These needs maybe dictated by spindle speed, shock and vibration performance requirements or other parameters. 
   The invention described herein is equally applicable to technologies using other read/write devices, for example lasers. In such an alternative embodiment, the HSA  140  would be substituted with an alternative read/write device, for example a laser, which could be either removably or fixedly attached to an arm  136 , in a similar manner as described above (micro-spot welding, adhesives, single-piece stamping). The arm  136  is subsequently removably fastened to mounting block  250  in the manner described above. 
     FIG. 3  is a representation of a method for manufacturing the actuator assembly represented in  FIG. 2  As shown as the first step  300 , a mounting block  250  is provided, the mounting block having a central, cylindrical bore  252 . Further, the mounting block has a spacer  254  at a first end for attaching arms  136  and a voice coil holder  258  at a second end that retains a voice coil. A first pre-assembled HSA  140  is micro-spot welded, or alternately adhesively fastened, to a first arm  136   a  (step  304 )and similarly a second pre-assembled HSA  140  is micro-spot welded to a second arm  136   b  (step  308 ). In other embodiments, an arm and a suspension can be stamped as a single piece, wherein a head connected with a slider could be mounted to each arm/suspension prior to connecting each arm/suspension to the mounting block. 
   The first arm  136   a  is removably fastened to the top surface of the spacer (step  302 ) and the second arm  136   b  is removably fastened to the bottom surface of the spacer (step  306 ). The completed assembly, known as the head stack assembly, can then be cleaned (step  310 ) prior to mounting the bearing assembly  132 . The heads stack assembly is then mounted onto the bearing assembly  132  (step  312 ) such that the head stack assembly rotates freely about the bearing assembly. As described in regards to  FIGS. 1A and 2 , the bearing assembly  132  can comprise a cartridge bearing, or discrete bearings solidly attached in the actuator bore section. In other embodiment at least some of the HSAs can be mounted to the mounting block after the mounting block is positioned onto the bearing assembly. 
     FIG. 4  is a representation of a method for reworking an actuator assembly represented in  FIG. 2 . If the actuator assembly  130  is mounted within hard disk drive  100  (step  400 ), the actuator assembly is removed from the hard disk drive  100 . The arm requiring rework (step  402 ) is unfastened from the actuator assembly. The arm is then either replaced with a substitute HSA (steps  404 , 406 ) connected with an arm or the unfastened HSA connected with an arm is repaired (steps  404 , 408 ), and the arm is subsequently reattached to the actuator assembly  130  (step  410 ). The method represented in  FIG. 4  provides the significant advantage of fast rework without removing the bearing assembly  132 . 
   The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims and their equivalence.