Abstract:
A flexure for a rotary actuated load arm for use in a data storage system is disclosed. The flexure attaches a slider to the load arm. The slider carries a transducer over a track on a disk. The disclosed flexure has a high enough radial stiffness to prevent the slider from sliding and sticking in a position where the transducer cannot read or write data on the desired track.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In magnetic storage devices a slider is flown over a magnetic disk. The slider contains transducers which write or read the data as the transducer is flown over one of the tracks in the disk. 
     The flying height of the slider is kept as uniform as possible to minimize read and write errors. Magnetic disks have imperfections. Among the imperfections are variations in the height both along particular tracks and from the inside of the disk to the outside of the disk. In order to maintain a uniform flying height the slider must pitch and roll to accommodate the height variations on the disk. The slider is mounted to an actuator by a gimbal spring or flexure which allows the pitching and rolling motions. 
     Actuators position sliders over a particular track in one of two ways. Linear actuators move the magnetic head assembly along a radial line from the center of the disk. Rotary actuators swing the magnetic head assembly into position over the track. One advantage a rotary actuator has over a linear actuator is reduced inertia that allows the slider to be positioned over a track more quickly thereby lessening the time necessary to access data. However, the added speed of rotary actuators produces larger accelerations and decelerations as it rotates the slider from position to position. The larger accelerations subject the rotary actuator to larger forces. 
     Presently, the same flexure used in linear actuators is also used in rotary actuators. Subjecting the same flexure to larger forces produces a problem for rotary actuators. Briefly, the presently used flexure includes a tongue having a gimbal dimple therein. The gimbal dimple is a protrusion extending and contacting the load arm. The gimbal dimple provides a contact point about which the slider can pitch and roll to accomodate variations in the topography of the disk. 
     The problem with the presently used flexure relates to the radial stiffness or resistance to motion about the radius through which the load arm swings. The radial stiffness is not great enough to prevent the gimbal dimple from sliding to a point on the load arm where the transducer, carried by the slider, is in an off track position where read errors occur. The radial stiffness is also not great enough to overcome the friction force between the load arm and the gimbal dimple when the slider is positioned such that the transducer is off track. Thus, the gimbal dimple slides along the load arm in a radial direction and sticks in an off track position where read errors occur. Hence, the problem is referred to as the stick slip problem. 
     The flexure presently used is mounted to the load arm in the same manner in both the rotary and the liner actuators. The sliders used are also the same. However, the slider in the rotary actuator is rotated ninety degrees relative to the mounting of the slider to the flexure in the linear actuator. The forces from rotation act along an axis ninety degrees away from the comparable forces in a linear actuator. In addition, these forces are larger due to the quick starts and stops of the rotary actuator. These larger forces combined with switching to a different axis are among the causes of the slip and stick problem. Additional width can be allocated to the track to accommodate the slip and stick problem, however, the data capacity of the disk drops. If the track width is not increased, the number of read errors increases. 
     Thus, there is a need for a magnetic head assembly for a rotary actuator having a radial stiffness large enough to eliminate the stick slip problem. Rotary actuators could then be used to access data more quickly than linear actuators without increased read errors or sacrificing additional storage space. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A magnetic head assembly for rotary actuators having a flexure with a radial stiffness high enough to prevent the slider from sticking off track is disclosed. The flexure, made of a thin metal of uniform thickness, has two U-shaped slots therein. The base of the first U-shaped slot is located on one side of the load arm and is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the load arm. The legs of the first U-shaped slot are both perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the load arm. The second U-shaped slot is located inside the area defined by the first U-shaped slot. The base of the second U-shaped slot is located on the outer side of the load arm and is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the load arm. The legs of the second slot are parallel to the legs of the first U-shaped slot and extend toward the base of the first U-shaped slot. The slider is attached to the area defined by the second U-shaped slot. The flexure is attached to the load arm at each end of the flexure. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a rotary actuated magnetic arm assembly positioned over a magnetic disk. 
     FIG. 2 shows a presently used flexure mounted to a rotary actuated magnetic arm assembly. A slider is shown in phantom. 
     FIG. 3 shows the flexure of the invention mounted to a rotary actuated magnetic arm assembly. 
     FIG. 4 shows a generalized cross sectional view of a flexure mounted to a magnetic arm assembly. 
     FIG. 5 is a force diagram which shows the forces which act at the point of contact between the load arm and the gimbal dimple. 
     FIG. 6 is a plan view of the inventive flexure. 
     FIG. 7 is a graph of the ratio of the amplitude output to the amplitude input as a function of frequency for both the current flexure and the disclosed inventive flexure. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a magnetic arm assembly 10 positioned over a magnetic disk 12. A rotary actuator swings the magnetic arm assembly 10 into a position over the disk 12. The magnetic arm assembly includes a fixed base portion 14 and a load arm 16. The load arm has a longitudinal axis 17. 
     A gimbal spring or flexure 24 connects the slider 18 to the load arm 16. The flexure 24 is spot welded to the load arm 16 and the slider 18 is attached via adhesive to the flexure 24. The slider 18 includes at least one transducer (not shown) which enter reads data from a track or writes data onto a track on the disk 12. When necessary, the magnetic arm assembly 10 rotates to reposition the slider 18 over another track. 
     FIG. 2 shows the presently used, prior art flexure 20 which connects the slider 18 to the load arm 16. FIG. 3 shows a magnetic arm assembly 10 including a new inventive flexure 24. The new inventive flexure 24 is substituted for the flexure 20. Both flexure 20 and flexure 24 allow the sliders to pitch and roll to accommodate the variations in topography across the disk 12. Both flexure 20 and flexure 24 include a gimbal dimple 22 which contacts the load arm 16 at a contact point 23 (shown in FIG. 4). The slider 18 pivots about the contact point 23 as it pitches and rolls. 
     THE STICK SLIP PROBLEM 
     The stick slip problem is associated with the prior art flexure 20 when it is used wtih a rotary actuator. The quick starts and stops made by a rotary actuator as the load arm 16 rotates to reposition the slider 18, increase the forces on the slider 18 and cause the gimbal dimple 22 to slide with respect to the load arm 16. The radial stiffness of the presently used flexure 20, mounted as shown in FIG. 2, is not large enough to prevent this sliding. The slider 18 carries a transducer (not shown) which flies over the center of a track when properly positioned. Sliding of the gimbal dimple 22 causes the transducer (not shown) carried by the slider 18 to fly over the edge of a track or over another track on the disk 12. The transducer reads and writes information onto the disk. When the transducer is out of position read errors result. 
     FIG. 5 shows one example of the forces which act after the gimbal dimple 22 slides with respect to the load arm 16. In FIG. 5, the gimbal dimple 22 and slider 18 have moved to the right. If the gimbal dimple 22 slides left, the forces F f  and F R  would be reversed in FIG. 5. The gimbal dimple 22 remains off center or sticks when the force of friction, F f , is greater than the force of restoration, F R . To produce the force F R  the flexure 20 acts as a spring having a spring constant called the radial stiffness. The radial stiffness is the force produced per unit of angular displacement of the flexure in a direction corresponding to the radius about which the load arm 16 swings. The force, F R , produced is directly related to the radial stiffness as follows: ##EQU1## 
     The load arm 16 produces the normal force, F N , which equals the force, F A , produced by air pressure on the bottom surface of the slider 18. The friction force, F f , between the gimbal dimple 22 and the load arm 16 is directly related to F N  as follows: 
     
         F.sub.f =μF.sub.N                                       Equation 2 
    
     where 
     μ=coefficient of friction between the gimbal dimple and the load arm. 
     The value of μ, which is approximately equal to 0.5, is substantially constant since the materials making up the load arm 16 and the gimbal dimple 22 stay the same. F N  may vary, thus the maximum friction force would be as follows: 
     
         F.sub.fmax =μF.sub.Nmax                                 Equation 3 
    
     In practice, the gimble dimple 22 will slide on the load arm 16. To prevent data loss or other errors, the radial stiffness of the flexure used must be high enough so that when the gimbal dimple 22 slides with respect to the load arm 16, the transducer (not shown) remains over the desired track in a position where reading and writing can be accomplished without producing read errors. The problem with flexure 20 is that the radial stiffness of flexure 20 allows the gimbal dimple 22 to slide to the edge of the desired track or to an off track position where read errors result. 
     The maximum distance the gimbal dimple 22 can slide with respect to the load arm 16 and stick is where R R  equals F fmax . Setting Equation 1 equal to Equation 3 and solving for distance yields the following: ##EQU2## 
     Thus, to cure the stick slip problem either the quick starts and stops which cause the slider to slip must be eliminated or the radial stiffness of the flexure must be increased so the gimbal dimple can slide, slip and stick while keeping the transducer on track. 
     Since eliminating the quick starts and stops of the arm assembly 10 would undo one of the main advantages of the rotary actuator, an inventive flexure for a rotary actuator with a higher radial stiffness has been developed. The inventive flexure 24 and its advantages will now be described. 
     THE INVENTIVE FLEXURE--THE STICK SLIP SOLUTION 
     The higher stiffness flexure 24 for a rotary actuator is shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6. As seen in FIG. 3, the inventive flexure 24 is a thin piece of metal having both ends attached to the load arm 16. One end of the flexure 24 is attached near the end of the load arm 16 and the other end is attached in board from the end of the load arm 16. 
     Now turning to FIG. 6, the flexure 24 has a first U-shaped slot 26 and a second U-shaped slot 28. The first U-shaped slot 26 has a base portion 30 and two leg portions 32 and 34. The base 30 is essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis 17 of the load arm 16 and is located on one side of the load arm 16. The legs 32 and 34 are parallel to one another and both are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 17 of the load arm 16. 
     The second U-shaped slot 28 is located within the U-shaped area defined by the first U-shaped slot 26. The second U-shaped slot 28 includes a base 36 and two legs, 38 and 40. The base 36 is parallel with the base 30 and is located on the other side of the load arm 16. The legs 38 and 40 are perpendicular to the base 36 and terminate before reaching the base 30 of the first U-shaped slot 26. 
     The U-shaped slot 28 defines within it a tongue 42. The slider 18 is attached to the tongue 42. The tongue 42 includes the gimbal dimple 22 which is a protrusion which contracts the arm 16 and serves as a point of rotation for the pitch and the roll axes of the slider 18. 
     The two U-shaped slots, 26 and 28, also form beams, which surround the tongue 42. Between the leg 32 and the leg 38, a cross beam 46 is formed. Similarly, between leg 34 and leg 40 another cross beam 48 is formed. Cross beams 46 and 48 are both perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 17 of the load arm. When the load arm 16 is started or stopped, the cross beams 46 and 48 are placed either in tension or compression due to the resultant angular acceleration. 
     A beam 50 connects the cross beam 46 and the cross beam 48. The beam 50 is located between the base 30 and the tongue 42. The beam 50 and cross beams 46 and 48 flex to allow the slider to pitch and roll to accommodate the variation in the topography of the disk 12. These components also provide the stiffness in several directions and about the several axes. A support beam 52 and a support beam 54 connect the two ends of the flexure and support the two U-shaped slots. 
     The various axes about whch stiffness is measured are shown in FIG. 1. These axes are the same regardless of the flexure used. Table 1 below compares the various stiffnesses of the current flexure 20 with the various stiffness of the inventive flexure 24. 
     
                       TABLE 1______________________________________COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS*OF THE DISCLOSED, INVENTIVE FLEXUREAND THE CURRENT FLEXURE     Current Flexure                  Inventive Flexure______________________________________Pitch stiffness       1.55 in-gm/rad 3.99 in-gm/radRoll stiffness       2.27 in-gm/rad 2.31 in-gm/radYaw stiffness       5.14 in-lb/rad 4.54 in-lb/radRadial stiffness       226 lb/in      6045 lb/inTiming stiffness       11450 lb/in    324 lb/in______________________________________ *The various stiffnesses are defined as shown in FIG. 1. 
    
     COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS 
     The comparison of the radial stiffness for each flexure about the radius through which the load arm 16 swings shows that the inventive flexure 24 has a larger radial stiffness than the flexure 20 mounted as shown in FIG. 2. A pair of beams 44, shown in FIG. 2, bend in flexure 20 to provide the radial stiffness when the gimbal dimple 22 slides off center. The cross beams 46 and 48 of the inventive flexure 24 are placed in either tension or comparison rather than bending when the load arm 16 swings to position the slider 18. By placing the cross beams in tension or compression the radial stiffness of the inventive flexure 24 is higher than the radial stiffness of the flexure 20. 
     For each flexure 20 and 24, the roll stiffness and the yaw stiffness are nearly the same. The timing stiffness of the inventive flexure drops in comparison to the flexure 20. The reduction in timing stiffness is not critical. The timing stiffness represents the resistance to motion along the track and changes in position of the slider 18 along a track will not cause read errors or other problems. 
     Table 1 also shows an increase in pitch stiffness. The increase in pitch stiffness, which is the stiffness about the pitch axis is not desirable. However, this increase in pitch stiffness does not prevent the slider 18 attached to inventive flexure 24 from adapting to variations in topography as it flies over the disk 12. 
     STACKING ERROR SENSITIVITY 
     Advantageously, the inventive flexure 24 is less sensitive to stacking error in the disk drive than the flexure 20. Stacking errors are variations in the distance between adjacent disks in the disk drive. Ideally, the distances between the adjacent disks in the disk drive should be equal and correspond to the distances between adjacent load arms in a disk drive. The ideal situation rarely occurs. The resultant stacking errors cause the load arms 16 in the disk pack to be deflected more or less than originally designed. This causes a greater or lesser normal force, F N  (see FIG. 5), on the slider 18 since the load arm 16 is deflected more or less than originally designed. The change in the normal force, F N , exerted on the slider produces a difference in the flying height during the operation of the disk drive. 
     The sensitivity to stacking error is determined by dividing the change in flying height in microinches by the change in the stack up distance in mils (0.001&#34;). As shown in Table 2, a disk pack (not shown) using load arms with the inventive flexure 24 has a sensitivity value about one third the flying height sensitivity value of a load arm having the current flexure 20. The specific values are given in the following table. 
     
                       TABLE 2______________________________________COMPARISON OF SENSITIVITIES OF A DISK DRIVEUSING THE INVENTIVE FLEXURE WITHA 5-1/4&#34; DISK AND A DISK DRIVEUSING CURRENT FLEXURE WITH A 5-1/4&#34; DISKSensitivities (Partial Derivatives)    Flying Height Sensitivity               (Microinches/ThousandthRadius     Gimbal   of an Inch)______________________________________1.4        Current  .034681.4        Inventive               .022102.0        Current  .036172.0        Inventive               .011772.4        Current  .055582.4        Inventive               .03942______________________________________ 
    
     VIBRATION ISOLATION 
     Advantageously, the new flexure 24 is essentially isolated from two modes of vibration. FIG. 7 relates the ratio of the amplitude of the output to the amplitude of the input as it varies with respect to frequency for both the current flexure 20 and the inventive flexure 24. The ratio of the amplitude of the output to the input as a function of frequency for the current flexure 20 is shown as response curve 60. Response curve 62 shows the ratio of the amplitude of the output to the input as a function of frequency for the inventive flexure 24. A ratio of output amplitude to input amplitude of approximately 1.0 indicates rigid body movement; that is, the amplitude of the output equals the amplitude of the input. 
     Amplitude ratios greater than 1.0 indicate amplification and amplitude ratios less than 1.0 indicate attenuation. Resonance is indicated by maximums or peaks in the response curves 60 and 62. Amplification makes positioning the transducer in the slider 18 difficult due to excessive motion of the transducer. Attenuation makes the slider unresponsive. Rigid body motion is preferred over amplification or attenuation; consequently, a response curve near 1.0 is desirable. 
     FIG. 7 includes the response curve 60 for the current flexure 20 and the response curve 62 for the inventive flexure 24. By looking at FIG. 7, the resonance characteristics of the inventive flexure 24 and the current flexure 20 are easily compared. The current flexure 20, depicted by response curve 60, has three significant resonances. The ratio of the amplitude output to the amplitude of the input at the resonance frequencies has a value well above 1.0. By contrast, the inventive flexure 24 also has three resonances, however, only one is significant, that is only one resonance is well above the value of 1.0 for the ratio of the amplitude of output to the input. 
     A slight disadvantage is associated with inventive flexure 24 since the significant resonance occurs at a slightly lower frequency than the resonance having the largest amplitude in current flexure 20. This slight disadvantage is outweighed by the reduction in the number of significant resonances associated with the inventive flexure 24. 
     OTHER ADVANTAGES OF INVENTIVE FLEXURE 
     The inventive flexure 24 also has several less quantifiable advantages. The slider 18 is bonded to the tongue 42. The tongue 42 of the inventive flexure 24 straddles the load arm 16 making the bonding area much easier to inspect when compared to the current flexure 20. With the current flexure 20, the area to which the slider 18 is bonded is shielded by the load arm 16 making inspection more difficult. 
     The present invention and the best mode of practicing it have been described. It is to be understood that the foregoing description is illustrative only and that other means and techniques can be employed without departing from the full scope of the invention as described in the appended claims.