JP3175249B2 - Flying head support mechanism and flying head device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flying head support mechanism for supporting a head for writing or reading information to or from a recording medium such as a hard disk, and a flying head device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a hard disk drive for writing or reading information to or from a hard disk or the like, an air flow generated on the surface of the disk when the disk rotates at a high speed in order to avoid abrasion damage due to contact between the magnetic head and the disk surface. A so-called floating magnetic head is used in which the head is caused to fly with a small gap from the disk surface.

The above flying magnetic head is generally constructed as follows. A slider on which a magnetic head is mounted is fixed to the tip of a flexible leaf spring-shaped gimbal, and the other end of the gimbal is fixed to the lower surface of a load beam which is also a leaf spring. To form a suspension. Further, the load beam is attached to an arm which moves parallel to the disk surface and radially by an actuator. The slider fixing portion of the gimbal is provided with dimples, which are projections for defining the flying distance of the slider on which the magnetic head is mounted from the disk surface.

Therefore, when the rotation of the disk is stopped, the slider on which the magnetic head is mounted is in contact with the disk surface, but when the disk rotates, the slider is mounted on the slider by an air flow generated by the rotation. The magnetic head flies. Although the gimbal fixed on the slider rises toward the load beam due to the floating, the dimple is disposed at the slider fixed portion of the gimbal as described above, so that the gimbal comes into contact with the load beam and stops. Therefore, in the flying magnetic head, the downward force from the suspension consisting of the load beam and the gimbal and the upward force from the slider levitated by air are balanced at the gimbal fixing portion on the slider upper surface, and the predetermined flying distance is reduced. While keeping the information, writing or reading of information to or from a predetermined track of the disk is performed.

[0005]

However, in recent years,
With the demand for faster writing or reading of information,
In the track access operation of the magnetic head, it is important to perform high-speed and accurate positioning as well as to maintain the flying height accurately.The speed at which the slider with the magnetic head moves on the inner and outer circumferences of the disk by the actuator is important. The so-called seek speed tends to increase year by year.

However, at the time of seeking, the stability of the slider when stopping at a target recording track on the disk has become a problem. For example, as described above, the slider is fixed to a load beam also having a leaf spring shape via a leaf spring-shaped gimbal, and at this time, the roll / pitch movement of the slider (disc circumferential direction) The gimbal is fixed at the upper surface of the slider, and the dimple is disposed at the slider fixing portion of the gimbal. Have been. Therefore, during the seek, the force in the seek direction is transmitted from the actuator to the suspension consisting of the load beam and the gimbal, but the force in the seek direction is transmitted to the slider as the dimple action point of the gimbal fixing part on the top of the slider, and directly to the center of gravity of the slider. Does not work, and the rigidity of the gimbal is low, so a moment is generated, and the slider has a vibration mode like a pendulum. Therefore, the stability when the slider stops at the target recording track on the disk at the time of seek is not good, and it is difficult for the magnetic head to write or read information quickly, stably and reliably.

Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and improves the stability of a slider at rest on a disk during a seek operation so that a magnetic head can write and read information quickly and stably. An object is to provide a flying head support mechanism and a flying head device that can be reliably performed.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a flying head support mechanism comprising a slider mounted with a head for writing or reading information and having a groove formed on a back side thereof, which is parallel to a recording surface of a recording medium. Floating to a load beam moved in a direction through a gimbal having a first fixing portion fixed to the load beam and a second fixing portion fixed to a groove on the back side of the slider. A head support mechanism, wherein the load beam is provided with a pressing portion, and a second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to a groove portion on the back side of the slider corresponds to a center of gravity of the slider. A portion to be pressed, which is engaged with the pressing portion, is provided at the portion, and the pressing portion is transmitted to the slider through a contact point at which the pressing portion and the pressed portion are engaged. A force point of action from Dobimu is characterized in that is substantially equal to the center of gravity of the slider.

A flying head device according to the present invention is provided with a head for writing or reading information, and is moved in a direction parallel to a recording surface of a recording medium, with a slider having a groove on the back side. The slider having a load beam, an actuator for driving the load beam, a first fixing portion fixed to the load beam, and a second fixing portion fixed to a groove on the back side of the slider; A gimbal attached to the load beam, wherein the load beam is provided with a pressing portion, and the second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to the groove on the back side of the slider includes the gimbal, A pressed portion that is engaged with the pressing portion is provided at a portion corresponding to the center of gravity of the slider, and the pressed portion and the pressed portion are engaged. The point of action of the force from the load beam which is transmitted to the slider via the point, is characterized in that is substantially equal to the center of gravity of the slider.

[0010]

In a flying head supporting mechanism for fixing a slider on which a head for writing or reading information is mounted to a load beam via a gimbal, a high-speed operation is required to write, read, and stably and reliably information. It is important to perform accurate positioning.
There is a tendency that the speed at which a slider equipped with a head for writing or reading information moves on the inner and outer circumferences of a disk (seek speed) increases. However, since the point of application of the suspension force on the slider does not substantially match the center of gravity of the slider, and the rigidity of the gimbal connecting the load beam and the slider is not very high, the slider can be used to seek the desired recording track on the disk. The stability at the time of stopping at has become a problem.

In the flying head supporting mechanism according to the present invention, the pressing portion provided on the load beam and the second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to the groove on the back side of the slider are located at positions corresponding to the center of gravity of the slider. Since the point of action of the force from the load beam transmitted to the slider via the contact point where the provided pressed part meshes with the slider substantially coincides with the center of gravity of the slider, the slider moves on the disk during seeking. Improves stability when stationary.

In the flying head device according to the present invention, similarly, the pressing portion provided on the load beam and the center of gravity of the slider of the second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to the groove on the back side of the slider are also provided. Since the point of application of the force from the load beam transmitted to the slider via the contact point where the pressed portion provided at the corresponding position is engaged with the slider substantially matches the center of gravity of the slider, Is more stable when stationary on a disk.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a specific embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 First, FIG. 1 shows a peripheral structure of a slider suspension. As shown in FIG. 1, the slider 1 is attached to a suspension 2 and attached to an arm actuator 3. When the magnetic disk 4 rotates in the direction of R1, the arm actuator 3 rotates in the direction of R2, causing the slider 1 attached to the suspension 2 to seek from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the magnetic disk 4 and move the slider 1 to an arbitrary position. Position.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a Watrous type flying magnetic head support mechanism to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, the present embodiment includes a slider 7 having a magnetic head 6 mounted on an end, a gimbal 12, and a load beam 13. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the flying magnetic head support mechanism of FIG. As shown in the figure, the slider 7 has a rail surface on one main surface, a groove 7a, and a bottom surface 7b serving as an air bearing surface.
The back side is also dug into a rail shape and has a groove 7c, and the magnetic head 6 is mounted on the end. Gimbal 12
This is a leaf spring having a notch 12a as a fixing portion of the slider 7 and is fixed to the bottom surface 7d of a groove 7c provided on the back side of the slider 7 at the notch 12a. A rectangular rim 12b which is a pressed portion is formed at a portion corresponding to the center of gravity of 7. The load beam 13 is a triangular leaf spring having both ends formed upright, and a V-shaped rim 13a serving as a pressing portion is formed at the tip, and is fixed to the gimbal 12 by a first fixing portion 12c. ing.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of this embodiment. As described above, in this embodiment, the slider 7 on which the magnetic head 6 is mounted, the cut 12a, the gimbal 12 having the rim 12b formed in the cut 12a, and the V-shaped rim 13a at the tip are provided at the end. Triangular leaf spring-shaped load beam 1 with
3 is comprised. Slider 7 and gimbal 12
Is fixed to the bottom surface 7d of the groove 7c and the cut portion 12a, and the gimbal 12 and the load beam 13 are fixed to each other.
c and a fixing portion 13b on the lower surface of the load beam 13. Therefore, the suspension 2 is formed by the gimbal 12 and the load beam 13 which are leaf springs.

When the rotation of the magnetic disk 4 is stopped, the slider 7 on which the magnetic head 6 is mounted is in contact with the surface of the magnetic disk 4.
The slider 7 is driven by the airflow generated by the rotation.
The magnetic head 6 mounted on the head floats. The gimbal 8 fixed on the slider 7 by the floating is pushed up toward the load beam 13. However, as described above, the rectangular rim 12 is inserted into the cut 12a of the gimbal 12.
b is formed, and the V-shaped rim 13a is formed at the tip of the load beam 13, so that the rim 12b enters into the V-shaped valley of the rim 13a, and both engage with each other,
The gimbal 12 comes into contact with the load beam 13 and stops floating. At this time, the load due to the load beam 13 is balanced as the downward force from the suspension 2 composed of the load beam 13 and the gimbal 12 with the upward force from the slider 7 levitated by air at the notch 12a on the upper surface of the slider 7. The slider 7 on which the magnetic head 6 is mounted writes or reads information to or from a predetermined track of the magnetic disk 4 while maintaining a predetermined flying distance from the magnetic disk 4.

When writing or reading information, the slider 7 with the magnetic head 6 mounted thereon is sought on the inner and outer circumferences of the magnetic disk 4 by the arm actuator 3 as shown in FIG. The disk is stopped on a predetermined track of the disk 4 to write or read information. During a seek, a force in the seek direction is inevitably transmitted from the load beam 13 to the gimbal 12 and transmitted to the slider 7. When a force is transmitted from the load beam 13 to the gimbal 12, it is naturally transmitted through these contacts. If the contact is a hemispherical dimple, if a force in the seek direction that is larger than the frictional force between the load beam 9 and the dimple is applied, a slip occurs between the load beam 9 and the dimple. . As a result, vibration occurs, and the slider 7 is vibrated.

In this embodiment, the rectangular rim 12b is formed at the cut portion 12a of the gimbal 12 and the V-shaped rim 13a is formed at the tip of the load beam 13 as described above. , B are not engaged with each other, and the above-mentioned slip does not occur, and no vibration is given to the slider 7. As in the case of the hemispherical dimples, the degree of freedom of the roll pitch movement (oscillation in the disk circumferential direction and in the radial direction) is ensured.

Therefore, the force in the seek direction transmitted from the suspension 2 including the load beam 13 and the gimbal 12 to the slider 7 as described above is applied to the rim 12b of the cut 12a, which is the gimbal fixing portion on the upper surface of the slider 7, with the point of action being the slider. Acts on 7. In this embodiment,
Since the groove 7c is provided at the mounting position of the gimbal 12 of the slider 7, the center of gravity of the slider 7 is in a direction approaching the rim 12b of the notch 12a, which is the point of application of the force of the suspension 2.

Therefore, even if a force in the seek direction is applied to the slider 7 from the suspension 2 during a seek, the point of action of the force of the suspension 2 substantially coincides with the center of gravity of the slider 7, so that the force in the seek direction is directly applied to the slider 7. Acts on the center of gravity. Therefore, the stability when the slider 7 stops at the target recording track on the magnetic disk 4 at the time of seeking is good, and the magnetic head 6 can write or read information quickly, stably and reliably.

Further, since the contact between the load beam 13 and the gimbal 12 is a rectangular rim 12b and a V-shaped rim 13a, no slip occurs between the load beam 13 and the gimbal 12, and vibration is applied to the slider 7. Not even. Therefore, the stability when the slider 7 stops at a target recording track on the magnetic disk 4 at the time of seeking is further improved, and the magnetic head 6 can write, read, or read information quickly, stably, and reliably.

Embodiment 2
Next, another embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. This embodiment is an example in which the shape of the slider is not changed unlike the first embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a Watrous type flying magnetic head support mechanism of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, this embodiment includes a slider 10, a gimbal 12, and a load beam 13. The slider 10 has a groove 10a formed on one main surface by railing, and the bottom surface 10b is formed by an air bearing.
It has a surface and a magnetic head 6 is mounted on the end.

Further, protrusions 11 are provided along both side edges on the back surface 10c of the slider 10, so that a load is applied. At this time, the protrusion 11 is provided to move the center of gravity of the slider 10 to the notch 8a which is the second fixing part of the slider 10 and the gimbal 8, and has a weight capable of moving the center of gravity. .

As described above, in the present embodiment, the protrusions 11 are arranged along both side edges on the back surface 10c of the slider 10 to substantially reduce the back surface 10c of the slider 10.
A groove is provided on the inner side from both side edges on the c side.

Also in this embodiment, the magnetic head 6 mounted on the slider 10 flies in the same manner as in the first embodiment to write or read information. When writing or reading information, the slider 10 with the magnetic head 6 mounted thereon is caused to seek the inner and outer circumferences of the magnetic disk 4 by the arm actuator 3 as shown in FIG. The disk is stopped on a predetermined track of the disk 4 to write or read information. At this time, a force in the seek direction is inevitably transmitted from the suspension 2 including the load beam 9 and the gimbal 8 to the slider 10, and the force in the seek direction is transmitted to the notch 12, which is a gimbal fixing portion on the upper surface 10 a of the slider 10.
The rim 12b of FIG. In the present embodiment, the upper surface 10a of the slider 10
By disposing the protrusion 11 on the top, the slider 1
The center of gravity of 0 is in the direction approaching the rim 12b of the cut portion 12a, which is the point of application of the force of the suspension 2.

Therefore, even if a force in the seek direction is applied to the slider 10 from the suspension 2 during a seek, the force in the seek direction directly acts on the center of gravity of the slider 10.
Therefore, when the slider 10 seeks, the magnetic disk 4
The stability at the time of stopping on the above-mentioned target recording track is good, and the magnetic head 6 can write, read, or read information quickly, stably and reliably.

[0028]

According to the present invention, the pressing portion provided on the load beam and the second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to the groove on the back side of the slider are provided at positions corresponding to the center of gravity of the slider. The point of action of the force from the load beam transmitted to the slider via the contact point where the pressed part is engaged with the slider substantially matches the center of gravity of the slider, so that when writing or reading information, When the slider on which the head is mounted is moved (seeked) on the recording medium by the actuator, the force in the seek direction directly acts on the center of gravity of the slider, and when the force in the seek direction is applied, the load is reduced. The occurrence of slippage between the beam and the gimbal is suppressed, and vibration of the slider is effectively prevented. Therefore, according to the present invention, the stability when the slider stops at the target recording track on the recording medium at the time of seek is improved, and the seek speed is improved, and the information of the information by the head mounted on the slider is improved. Writing or reading can be performed quickly, stably and reliably.

[0029]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration around a slider suspension.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a Watrous type flying magnetic head support mechanism to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the flying magnetic head support mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the flying magnetic head support mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of a Watrous type flying magnetic head support mechanism to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Slider 10 Slider 11 Load 12 Gimbal 12a Cut 12b Rim 13 Load beam 13a Rim

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 21/21 G11B 5/60

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A slider provided with a head for writing or reading information and having a groove on the back side,
For a load beam moved in a direction parallel to a recording surface of a recording medium, a first fixing portion fixed to the load beam and a second fixing portion fixed to a groove on the back side of the slider are provided. A floating head supporting mechanism fixed via a gimbal having a pressing portion provided on the load beam, and a second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to a groove on the back side of the slider. A pressed portion is provided at a position corresponding to the center of gravity of the slider and is engaged with the pressing portion, and is transmitted to the slider via a contact point at which the pressing portion and the pressed portion are engaged. A floating head supporting mechanism, wherein the point of action of the force from the load beam is substantially coincident with the center of gravity of the slider. 2. A slider on which a head for writing or reading information is mounted and a groove is provided on a back side, a load beam moved in a direction parallel to a recording surface of a recording medium, and a drive beam for driving the load beam. A gimbal having a first fixing portion fixed to the load beam, and a second fixing portion fixed to a groove on the back side of the slider, and attaching the slider to the load beam. The load beam is provided with a pressing portion, and a second fixing portion of the gimbal fixed to the groove on the back side of the slider is provided at a position corresponding to the center of gravity of the slider. And a pressed portion meshed with the pressing portion is provided, and transmitted to the slider via a contact point at which the pressing portion and the pressed portion are meshed. Wherein the point of action of the force from the load beam substantially coincides with the center of gravity of the slider.