Patent ID: 8035925

Claim:
In a hard disk drive (HDD) having a base, a swing arm supported on the base so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a magnetic head supported by the swing arm, an actuator latch system comprising: a member constituting an integral part of a rear end of the swing arm and which member has a corner portion where first and second surfaces of said member meet at a point of inflection, the first surface delimiting a notch at the rear end of the swing arm; and a latch lever disposed adjacent the rear end of the swing arm when the swing arm is in a position at which the magnetic head is parked, the latch lever being mounted to the base so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, and the latch lever having a hook at one side thereof, the hook being C-shaped so as to define a slot therein, an inlet of the slot and the point of inflection facing in directions toward each other, whereby the corner portion enters the slot and the hook engages the first and second surfaces of said member when the HDD experiences a shock that causes the swing arm to rotate in one direction while the magnetic head is parked, so that the hook absorbs the shock transmitted by the swing arm, wherein the latch lever includes a latch arm extending at one side of the axis of rotation of the latch lever, and the hook has a first portion, a second portion extending from the latch arm, and a third portion extending between and connecting the first and second portions, inner surfaces of the first, second, and third portions delimit said slot, and the inlet of the slot has a width that is less than a width of the corner portion of the member constituting an integral part of a rear end of the swing arm as measured between said first and second surfaces, whereby the inner surface of the first portion of the hook contacts the first surface of said member constituting an integral part of a rear end of the swing arm, and the inner surface of the second portion of the hook contacts the second surface of said member when the HDD experiences the shock that causes the swing arm to rotate in said one direction while the magnetic head is parked, and wherein the second portion of the hook has a protrusion that contacts the second surface of said member constituting an integral part of a rear end of the swing arm when the hook is engaged with the first and second surfaces of said member.