JPS63237273A - Floating head slider supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remarkably improve the following property and reliability to a magnetic recording medium by providing a protrusion for an oscillating fulcrum on a load beam and fitting freely oscillatorily a floating head slider to the protrusion via a gimbal spring. CONSTITUTION:A flat discoid base plate part 12b of the gimbal spring 12 is brought into contact with the floating head slider 1, while the ends of a pair of swirl arm-lie parts 12c are fixed on a load beam 3, whereby the slider 1 is movable freely oscillatorily by an elastic deformation of the arm-like part 12c around an apex of a protrusion 3c of the beam 3 at a low moment. Consequently, this device is compact and also of a low gimbal supporting rigidity, and then the following property and reliability to the magnetic recording medium can hence be promoted higher.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a supporting device for a floating head slider used in a magnetic disk device that performs high-density magnetic recording.

<Prior Art> A magnetic disk drive introduces a viscous flow of gas (air) that is entrained by a high-speed rotating magnetic recording medium into a gap between a floating head slider and the recording medium, and then absorbs the fluid generated there. The magnetic head (F4 magnetic converter) mounted on the floating head slider balances the mechanical pressure (floating blade) and the pressing force applied to the floating head slider via the support mechanism.
is positioned on a magnetic recording medium via a submicron gas film to record and reproduce information. In order to improve the recording density of the magnetic recording medium and realize a compact, large-capacity magnetic disk device, the flying gap of the magnetic head relative to the magnetic recording medium must be made as small as possible, and this gap must be protected against external disturbances. It is necessary to maintain a stable floating gap.

By the way, actual magnetic recording media are scattered with undulations and minute protrusions, and magnetic recording media also suffer from swirling airflow due to its own high-speed rotation, the spindle drive system, the alignment mechanism of the magnetic head, etc. Under the influence of vibration, minute surface vibrations (flutter) are excited. The high-speed swirling airflow also excites the floating head slider support device, and the magnetic head positioning mechanism also excites the floating head slider support device. In order to ensure stable recording/playback operations and to prevent serious damage to the magnetic head or magnetic recording medium (head crash) due to contact between the floating head slider and the magnetic recording medium, it is necessary to It is also required that the floating head slider sufficiently follow the magnetic recording medium to maintain a stable flying state at all times.

In order to ensure the followability of the floating head slider to the magnetic recording medium and improve its reliability, the floating head slider support device must prevent the floating head slider from pitching, rolling, and in the out-of-plane direction of the magnetic recording medium. While achieving the lowest possible gimbal support rigidity so as not to impede translational movement, it also achieves the function of applying a predetermined load to the specified position of the floating head slider, and has high in-plane support rigidity that can withstand high-speed seek operations. It is a requirement to realize this. In addition, from the perspective of improving dynamic characteristics, it is necessary to make the supporting device for the floating head slider lighter and more rigid.In particular, the gimbal section that elastically supports the floating head slider so as to be able to swing freely, has flexibility. It is important to make the structure as compact as possible.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional floating head slider support device;
FIG. 6 is a side view thereof. As shown in the figure, a floating head slider 1 is attached to the tip of a load beam 3 via a gimbal spring 2, and is floated by a positioning mechanism (not shown) connected to a spacer section 3a at the base end of the load beam 3. The head slider 1 is positioned on a predetermined track of the magnetic recording medium 4. The spring portion 3 of the load beam 3 is applied against the floating edge generated on the floating head slider 1 due to the dynamic pressure effect of the viscous flow of air accompanying the rotation of the magnetic recording medium 4.
By applying a predetermined load to the floating head slider 1 from b to counteract the floating blade, the floating head slider 1
A magnetic head (not shown) mounted on the magnetic recording medium 4 is made to float above the magnetic recording medium 4 with a small gap therebetween.

The gimbal spring 2 is composed of a base plate part 2b having a spherical protrusion 2a formed in the center by press working, and a pair of arm-shaped parts 2c cut and raised from both sides of the base plate part 2b. The floating head slider 1 is connected to the portion 2b, while the arm-like portions 2c are connected to the tip of the load beam 3, and the protrusion 2a is in contact with the tip of the load beam 3. Therefore, the floating head slider 1 has an arm-shaped portion 2C.
Due to the elastic deformation of the protrusion 2n, it is possible to swing around the protrusion 2n as a fulcrum, thereby ensuring followability to the magnetic recording medium 4.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> In the conventional floating head slider support device, the width is approximately 2
nym, gimbal spring 2 about the size of about 4 yen in length
The gimbal spring 2 has a complicated shape because the protrusions 2a and the pair of arm-like portions 2C are formed in a concentrated manner, and furthermore, a part of the gimbal spring 2 is formed with fine steps. Since simply reducing the size of the gimbal spring 2 inevitably causes an increase in its gimbal support rigidity, it is necessary to reduce the plate thickness at the same time as reducing the size. However, it is quite difficult to intensively apply the above-mentioned protrusion processing and step processing to fine thin sheet materials, so there is a natural limit to miniaturization and weight reduction with a form that follows the conventional structure, and as described above. It has been difficult to meet the requirements for floating head sliders. In addition, in the conventional floating head slider support device, the floating head slider 1 is attached to the gimbal spring 2 on the back side (most part) of the protrusion 2a.
Since the bonding area is reduced as the floating head slider 1 and the gimbal spring 2 are made smaller, there is a problem in that the bonding strength decreases, leading to a decrease in reliability.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and supports a small floating head slider with high followability to a magnetic recording medium with low gimbal support rigidity and high in-plane rigidity, thereby achieving stable high-density recording and recording. An object of the present invention is to provide a slider support device under a floating spatula that realizes regeneration.

Means for Solving the Problems> The floating head slider support device of the present invention prevents floating blades generated on the floating head slider due to the dynamic pressure effect of the viscous flow of gas accompanying the rotation of the magnetic recording medium. By applying a predetermined load to the head slider to compete with the floating blade, the electromagnetic transducer mounted on the floating head slider floats above the magnetic recording medium with a minute gap, thereby recording information on the magnetic recording medium. - In a floating head slider support device that performs reproduction, a surface-recorded floating head slider is swingably attached via a gimbal spring to a load beam connected to a position synchronizing mechanism that positions the floating head slider on a predetermined track of a magnetic recording medium. In addition, the beam is characterized in that a protrusion is provided on the beam to serve as a pivot point for the floating head slider.

Embodiments The floating head slider support device of the present invention will be specifically described based on embodiments. Incidentally, the same parts as in the prior art are given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a floating head slider support device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device as seen from the back side.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view with the floating head slider removed, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the main parts of FIG. 3. As shown in the figure, a spherical protrusion 3C is provided at the tip of the load beam 3. On the other hand, a gimbal spring 12 interposed between the floating head slider 1 and the load beam 3 is connected to a flat disk-shaped base portion 12b. It is composed of a pair of arm-shaped portions 12c extending in a helical shape from the base plate portion 12b.

The floating head slider 1 is bonded to the substrate portion 12b, and the surface of the substrate portion 12b on the other side of the slider 1 is in contact with the apex of the protrusion 3c at its center. The tips of the arm-like portions 12c are each fixed to the load beam 3 by spot welding or the like, and the floating head slider 1 is attached to the projection 3c.
It is attached to the load beam 3 via a gimbal spring 12 so as to protrude by the height of and parallel to the magnetic recording medium 4,
The arm-shaped portion 12c is elastically deformed so as to be able to swing around the apex of the protrusion 3c. That is, the arm-shaped portion 12c plays the role of a spiral spring, allowing the base plate portion 12b (floating head slider 1) to swing with a low moment about the apex of the protrusion 3c as a fulcrum.

Here, whether the protrusion 3c is formed integrally by pressing the load beam 3 or formed by attaching a separate member to the load beam 3, there is a certain limit to miniaturization. be. However, in the present invention, since such protrusions are not provided on the gimbal spring 12, the small gimbal spring 12 can be easily manufactured by means such as chemical etching, and the small gimbal spring 12 can be easily manufactured with excellent followability to the magnetic recording medium 4. can realize floating head slider support. Even if the protrusion 3C is relatively large, the cymbal spring 12 is supported by the protrusion 3c at a point, so the rotational resistance is small, and the shape design of the arm portion 12c makes the gimbal support Mfl compact.
A support device with low llJ property can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the gimbal spring is composed of a disk-shaped base part and an arc-shaped arm part, but the base part can be made into an elliptical shape, the arm part can be made into a linear broken line shape, for example,
Furthermore, (two or more arm-like parts may be provided, and the shape of the gimbal spring is not particularly limited. In the shape of this cymbal spring, the arm-like parts may be formed in a spiral shape around the base plate part. This makes it possible to make the entire gimbal spring smaller and reduce the influence of disturbances caused by airflow caused by the rotation of the magnetic recording medium. However, in some cases, the gimbal spring 2 shown in FIGS. A gimbal spring having a shape in which 2a is removed can also be used.

Further, the shape of the protrusion 3C is not limited to a spherical shape, but can also be conical, as long as it can support the gimbal spring (or the floating head slider directly in some cases) at a point.

Furthermore, when the apex of the protrusion 3C and the center of the gimbal spring 12 are aligned, the load beam 3 is set parallel to the magnetic recording medium 4, but the shape and contact conditions of the gimbal spring 12 and the protrusion 3C are changed. Accordingly, the load beam 3 may be set at a certain angle with respect to the magnetic recording medium 4.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the floating head slider support device of the present invention, the rocking of the floating head slider is supported by the protrusion provided on the load beam side, so it is possible to achieve both compactness and low gimbal support rigidity. It is possible to support a small floating head slider with high followability to a magnetic recording medium, and achieve highly reliable high-density recording and reproduction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a floating head slider support device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device as seen from the back side.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the floating head slider with the floating head slider removed, Fig. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the main parts in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional floating head slider support device. , FIG. 6 is a side view thereof. In the drawing, 1 is a floating head slider, 3 is a load beam, 3c is a protrusion, 4 is a magnetic recording medium, and 12 is a gimbal spring. Patent application person: Japan': 4shin Telephone Co., Ltd. Agent

Claims (1)

[Claims] By applying a predetermined load to the floating head slider to counteract the floating force generated on the floating head slider due to the dynamic pressure effect of the viscous flow of gas accompanying the rotation of the magnetic recording medium, the floating head is In a floating head slider support device that allows an electromagnetic transducer mounted on a slider to float above the magnetic recording medium with a minute gap to record and reproduce information on the magnetic recording medium, the floating head slider is moved over a predetermined track of the magnetic recording medium. The floating head slider is swingably attached via a gimbal spring to a load beam connected to a positioning mechanism for positioning the floating head slider, and the beam is provided with a protrusion that serves as a swing fulcrum for the floating head slider. floating head slider support device.