Patent ID: 7012788

Claim:
A disk drive, comprising: a housing; a spindle motor mounted to the housing; a media storage disk mounted to the spindle motor for rotation relative to the housing, the disk having an inner diameter and an outer diameter; a recess formed in the disk adjacent to the inner diameter; an actuator pivotally mounted to the housing for motion relative to the disk, and having a head for reading data from and writing data to the disk; a tab extending from the actuator for engaging the recess when the actuator is in a locked position to prevent the head from loading with respect to the disk and thereby reduce damage to the head and the disk during shock events, and disengaging the recess when the actuator is in an unlocked position such that the head is permitted to load with respect to the disk; and one of the tab and the recess is ferromagnetic, and further comprising a magnet on the other of the tab and the recess for engaging said one of the tab and the recess.