JPS63251960A - Double-face head supporting mechanism of magnetic disk drive - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cause a double-face head to surely follow the undulation of the surface of a magnetic disk so as to suppress the off-track to the minimum, by fixing one end of a common supporting spring between the upper and lower arms of an arm supporting body and fixing the other end to a carriage by extending the end toward the head. CONSTITUTION:A carriage 18 is formed in such a way that the carriage 18 can make reciprocating movement in the radial direction of a magnetic disk. One end of a common supporting spring 20 is fixed between the upper and lower arms 12 and 14 of an arm supporting body 16 and the other end extended towards heads 22 and 24 from the end fixed to the supporting body 16 is fixed to the carriage 18. The spring 20 is formed to have an almost T shape and both swing sections of the spring 20 are fixed to the carriage 18 over the arm. The leg section of the common supporting spring 20 is fixed to the arm supporting body 16. The upper and lower arms 12 and 14 are respectively supported by the arm supporting body 16 in an one body state and both of the upper and lower heads 22 and 24 are united to one body and follow the undulation of the magnetic disk. Therefore, the off-track quantity become uniform in the upward and downward directions and the off-track quantity in both sides can easily be suppressed within a prescribed range.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a double-sided head support mechanism for a magnetic disk drive;
In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in a double-sided head support mechanism that swingably supports an arm support relative to a carriage.

[Prior Art] Various magnetic disks are used as external storage elements of computers, and are put into practical use as hard disks or floppy disks.

Information is magnetically recorded concentrically on the surface of these magnetic disks, and information can be read at random at will.In order to perform such read/write, magnetic disk drives are equipped with magnetic disks that are magnetically recorded in the radial direction of the rotating magnetic disk. A head support and feeding mechanism is provided for moving and positioning the read/write head to a predetermined track along the track.

Usually, the hard disk is rotatably fixed in a sealed state inside the disk drive body, while the floppy disk can be inserted into the disk drive at will, but in either case, the read/write head is attached to the surface of the disk. The head support mechanism must be reliably maintained at a predetermined minute interval or closely, and this type of head support mechanism has a large effect on read/write characteristics.

In particular, floppy disks in recent years have rapidly become smaller from the conventional 8-inch type to 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch types, and their information recording density has increased significantly. Correct positioning in contact is extremely important.

On the other hand, magnetic disk drives are also required to be miniaturized, and portable or transportable small, high-density magnetic disk drives always provide stable read/write performance.
The head support mechanism plays an extremely important role in maintaining the light characteristics.

That is, if a so-called off-track occurs, in which the read/write head deviates from a predetermined track in the radial direction of the magnetic disk, sufficient reading output cannot be obtained.
There is a problem that read/write is easily caused.

Such off-track is caused not only by the timing of the read/write head assembly, but also by the inclination of the head to follow the vertical waviness that occurs when the magnetic disk rotates. Various types of head support mechanisms have been proposed to suppress such off-track.

The first conventional method is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4. 151. 573
No. (Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-15866), in order to bring the head into close contact with both sides of the floppy disk, the lower head is immovably fixed to the carriage, and the sumo wrestler's head is gimballed to the arm. .

According to this first conventional method, since the lower head is fixed to the carriage, its read/write surface provides a reading reference surface for the floppy disk, and the flexible floppy disk is connected to the rope 4 provided by the upper head. It has the feature of being forced to the lower head surface by pressure, thereby removing the waviness of the floppy disk.

The second conventional method is a method in which double-sided heads follow the magnetic disk surface, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4 and 3.
As shown in No. 55,339 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-98746), both heads are rotatably supported with respect to a carriage, so that both heads independently follow the vertical undulation deviation of the magnetic disk. It has a configuration.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Problems of the Prior Art However, in the first method, the floppy disk always follows this reference surface so that the lower head provides a fixed reference surface. There was a problem in that the disk was forced to deviate and the wear on the lower head and disk surface was particularly large.

Further, when a floppy disk is inserted into a drive, the height of the disk has non-negligible variations due to manufacturing or assembly errors. For this reason, in the first conventional method, floppy disks with such vertical variations are brought to a common single reference surface, so that the lower head of each floppy disk is prevented from digging into the disk surface, which is usually known as penetration. This forced deformation of the disk not only causes the above-mentioned wear, but also has a large negative impact on the reading quality, resulting in a relatively large amount of off-track for each magnetic disk. Ta.

In addition, in the second conventional method, although the followability of the magnetic disk is improved, since the swing arm is integrally supported in a cantilever manner with respect to the carriage, the swing arm is There was a problem in that the bearing of its own weight caused a non-negligible difference in posture, and the cantilever support reduced earthquake resistance.

In other words, in the second conventional method, when the magnetic disk drive is placed vertically (the disk runs along a vertical surface), the swinging arm does not support the head and its own weight; When the disk is placed along a horizontal plane), the head position will sink to some extent due to the weight of both swinging arms, and the position of contact between the head and the disk will change depending on the orientation of each magnetic disk drive. As a result, read/write quality may be affected.

In addition, conventional cantilever swing arm pairs are easily affected by vibrations, and even a small acceleration generates a large couple force from the cantilever fulcrum, which adversely affects read/write operations or in severe cases. However, there was a problem in that the equipment could be damaged.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to make a double-sided head follow the vertical waviness deviation of a magnetic disk, minimize the amount of off-track, and further reduce the wobble. To provide a double-sided head support mechanism with excellent durability and capable of effectively suppressing weight imbalance due to cantilever support of an arm.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, the present invention includes upper and lower arms, an arm support, a carriage, and a common support spring.

The upper and lower arms respectively support upper and lower heads that sandwich the magnetic disk at opposing positions from both sides.

The arm support supports the upper and lower arms at their tail ends so as to be relatively swingable.

The carriage is formed to be able to reciprocate along the radial direction of the magnetic disk.

Furthermore, the common support spring has one end above the arm support.
It is fixed between the lower arms, and the other end extending toward the head from the support fixed end is fixed to the carriage. and,
The common support spring is formed into a substantially T-shape, both wing parts of the support spring are fixed to the carriage across the arm, and the ζ leg parts are fixed to the arm support.

[Function] As described above, in the double-sided head support mechanism of the magnetic disk drive according to the present invention, the upper and lower arms are each integrally supported by the arm support, and the upper and lower heads are each integrally supported by the magnetic disk drive. It is possible to follow the vertical waviness deviation of That is, the arm body made up of the upper and lower arms and the arm support moves in correspondence with the magnetic disk via the upper and lower heads, and as a result, the amount of off-track becomes uniform on the upper and lower sides. Therefore, unlike the conventional separately supported arms, it is possible to easily suppress the amount of off-track on both sides within a predetermined value.

Further, according to the present invention, the common support spring that supports the arm support extends from the arm support fixing position toward the head and is fixed to the carriage, so that the substantial fulcrum of the arm body and the center of gravity are aligned. Alternatively, it is possible to make them close to each other, and it is possible to significantly improve the occurrence of posture differences and earthquake resistance, which are disadvantages of conventional cantilever arm bodies.

Further, the common support spring is formed in a substantially T-shape, and both wings of the support spring are fixed to the carriage across the arm.
There is no need to make the arm partially thin or provide an opening, and the strength and durability of the arm can be greatly improved.

In addition, since the arm support body is supported by the carriage by a single common support spring, the common support spring can be placed on the same plane as the disk surface, and the upper and lower head surfaces are The fulcrum coincides with the disk surface, making it possible to minimize head tilt.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, as described above, the arm support body itself swings to follow the vertical undulation deviation of the disk, so the head on the blade side can be fixed to the arm, which saves structure and assembly work. It can be simplified. Also, unlike conventional devices, this type of fixed head does not provide any fixed reference surface for vertical waviness deviation of the disk.
For example, unnecessary penetration is not applied, and off-track etc. due to media (disk) wear or forced deviation of the disk do not occur.

As explained above, according to the present invention, while making the double-sided head follow the vertical undulation deviation of the magnetic disk, the off-track amount and weight imbalance can be effectively suppressed, and furthermore, the arm strength and durability are not affected in any way. Never give up.

[Example] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a double-sided head support mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a top view of the double-sided head support mechanism.

In this embodiment, a mechanism suitable for a magnetic disk drive that reads/writes a micro-floppy disk (3.5 inches) is exemplified.

As is clear from the figure, the double-sided head support mechanism 10 is
It includes an upper arm 12, a lower arm 14, an arm support 16, a carriage 18, and a common support spring 20.

An upper head 22 is provided on the lower surface of the tip of the upper arm 12.
However, there is also a lower head 24 on the top surface of the tip of the lower arm 14.
each is placed.

A floppy disk 100, indicated by a chain line in FIG. 1, is removably attached between the upper and lower heads 22, 24, and is driven to rotate for reading/writing by a drive motor (not shown). The floppy disk 100 is housed in a cartridge 102 made of plastic or the like, and the upper and lower heads 22 and 24 can come into contact with the floppy disk 100 through openings formed at corresponding positions in the cartridge 102, respectively.

The arm support 16 swingably supports the upper arm 12 and positions and fixes the lower arm 14 at a predetermined position. That is, the upper arm 12 is elastically supported by a temporary spring 26 and further elastically biased downward, that is, in the direction of the lower arm 14 by a loading spring 28.

Note that a balancer 30 is arranged behind the arm support 16, and connects the joint point with the common support spring 20 and the upper and lower arms 12.
．． 14 and the arm support 16 (arm body) are sufficiently close to or coincident with the center of gravity of the assembly (arm body).

The carriage 18 is supported so as to be able to reciprocate by a guide rail (not shown), and is positioned at a predetermined position by, for example, a stepping motor.

Support legs 34 for fixing the common support spring 20 with fixing screws 32 are provided on both sides of the carriage 18, and the entire carriage is preferably formed by injection molding of plastic.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that the common support spring is formed into a substantially T-shape, and both wing portions of the support spring are fixed to the carriage across the arm, and the common support spring 20 according to this embodiment is also formed in a T-shape, and its respective wing portions 20a, 2
0b are fixed to support legs 34a, 34b projecting from the sides of the carriage 18, respectively, by fixing screws 32a, 32b.

The leg portions 20c of the common support spring 20 are integrally molded with the arm support 16 by injection molding by a well-known insert molding method.

The double-sided head support mechanism according to this embodiment is roughly constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next.

First, when the floppy disk 100 has a waviness deviation in the vertical direction, the arm support 16 moves toward the carriage 18.
shows the deflection due to the deflection of the common support spring 20,
The head 22.24 easily swings to follow the displacement of the floppy disk 100 via the arm 12.14.

In this embodiment, the gap between the mounting surface of the support spring 20 of the arm support 16 and the support leg 34 of the carriage 18 is extremely small, for example, set to 1!111. As a result, since the common support spring 20 has a strong rigidity, the arm support 1 can also be supported by the support spring 20.
6 does not move up and down due to the deformation of the spring 20, but only performs a simple rocking motion due to the limited slight deflection of the spring 20, and can always return to a predetermined position.

On the other hand, while the gap between the arm support 16 and the carriage 18 is extremely small, each head 22.
The distance to 4 is long enough, so floppy disk 10
Even with a slight bending force at the time of zero vertical waviness deviation, both heads 22, 24 can reliably follow this deviation.

Further, according to this embodiment, the common support spring 20 extends from the arm support 16 in the direction of the head 22.24, and the other end is fixed to the carriage 18.
．． Unlike the conventional cantilever support structure, the overall center of gravity of the arm support 14 and the arm support 16 is set close to the actual fulcrum of the arm support 16, and the unbalance of the arm support 16 can be eliminated, thereby eliminating posture differences. Alternatively, it is extremely useful for improving earthquake resistance.

Further, according to this embodiment, the common support spring 20 is formed in a substantially T-shape, and both wing portions 20a and 20b thereof are connected to the lower arm 14.
Since the lower arm 14 is fixed to the support leg 34 of the carriage 18 with screws, there is no need to partially make the lower arm 14 thinner or provide an opening for the fixing screw 32 to pass through the lower arm 14. The strength and durability of the lower arm 14 are greatly improved.

3 to 6 show details of the main components of the double-sided head support mechanism according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows the detailed structure of the upper arm 12 according to this embodiment.

As is clear from the figure, the upper head 22 is supported on the distal end side of the upper arm 12 via a gimbal spring 40, and a leaf spring 26 is fixed approximately at the center of the upper arm 12.

Therefore, the upper head 22 can be tilted in any direction, and good contact with the floppy disk is always maintained.

Note that the detection signal detected by the upper head 22 is extracted by a lead wire attached to the lead body 42.
It is supplied to a processing section (not shown).

In addition, semicircular recesses 44 and 46 are formed on both sides of the upper arm 12, slightly toward the distal end of the center thereof. The recess 44
, 46 are fitted with a jig to accurately position the upper head 12 when assembling the floppy disk drive.

FIG. 4 shows the detailed structure of the lower arm 14 used in the double-sided head support mechanism according to this embodiment.

As is clear from the figure, the lower arm 14 has a substantially flat plate shape, and the lower head 24 is firmly positioned and fixed at the tip of the lower arm 14 with an adhesive or the like.

In addition, screw holes 48.50 for screw fastening are formed on both sides near the tail end of the lower arm 14, and the lower arm 14 is securely positioned and fixed to the bottom surface of the arm support 16 by screws (not shown). .

Furthermore, semicircular four portions 56 and 58 are formed protruding from both sides of the center of the lower arm 14, slightly toward the tail end thereof. When the double-sided head support mechanism is assembled, the recesses 56 and 58 are connected to the center recesses 60 and 6 of the upper arm 12, as shown in FIG.
2, by fitting a jig (not shown) into the recesses 56 and 58 when the support mechanism 10 is roughly assembled, the lower arm 14, that is, the lower head 24, can be accurately positioned and fixed.

Note that the detection signal of the lower head 24 is extracted to the outside by a lead body 66 to which a lead wire 64 is attached.

FIG. 5 shows the detailed structure of the arm support 16 used in the double-sided head support mechanism according to this embodiment, with (A) being a top view and (B) being a longitudinal sectional view.

As is clear from the figure, both wing portions 20a and 20b of the common support spring 20 protrude in the head direction of the arm support 16. The other end of the common support spring 20 is shown in FIG.
), the arm support 16 is integrally formed into an insert during plastic injection molding.

Further, an opening 68 is formed at the rear end of the arm support 16, and the balancer 30 is fitted into the opening 68.

A press-fitting hole 70 for a screw seat is formed in the front part of the arm support 16, and the downward protrusion of the screw seat 72 press-fitted into the press-fitting hole 70 passes through the screw hole 48, 50 of the lower arm 14.

Here, the screw hole 48.50 is formed larger than the outer diameter of the screw seat 72, and the lower arm 14 is connected to the arm support 16.
The relative position of can be changed. After accurately positioning the relative positions of the two, a lower arm holding plate (not shown) having an opening having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the screw seat is attached, and a screw is screwed into the screw seat 72. As a result, the lower arm 14 is firmly positioned and fixed to the arm support 16 via the lower arm presser plate.

FIG. 6 shows the detailed structure of the carriage 18 used in the double-sided head support mechanism according to the present invention.
) is a top view, and (B) is a side view.

As is clear from the figure, support legs 34a, 34b are formed close to the head installation end of the carriage 18, and screw seats 74a, 7 are provided in the openings provided in the support legs 34.
4b are press-fitted respectively.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the screw holes 76a and 76b provided in the wing parts 20a and 20b of the common support spring 20 are positioned correspondingly to the support leg 34, and the fixing screw 3
2 will be firmly fixed.

Further, a slide groove is formed on one side of the carriage 18, and a guide rail 78 is slidably inserted into the slide groove.

The carriage 18 can be slid along the guide rail 78 by a stepping motor (not shown).

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, one end of the common support spring is fixed between the upper and lower arms of the arm support, and the other end is extended toward the head and fixed to the carriage. It reliably follows the vertical waviness deviation of the magnetic disk,
Good road/ride behavior is achieved, and off-track can also be minimized.

Further, according to the present invention, the support spring is formed into a substantially T-shape and both wing portions of the support spring are fixed to the carriage across the arm, so there is no need to provide a thin part or an opening in the arm, and the arm It is possible to significantly improve the strength and durability of

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a double-sided head support mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view of the support mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top view of the support mechanism shown in FIG. 1. 4 is a detailed illustration of the lower arm used in the support mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an arm support used in the support mechanism shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a detailed explanatory diagram of a carriage used in the support mechanism shown in FIG. 1. 10...Double-sided head support mechanism 12...Upper arm 14...Lower arm 16...Arm support 18...Carriage 20...Common support spring 22...Upper head 24...Lower Head 100...floppy disk.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Holding the magnetic disk in opposing positions from both sides.
an upper arm and a lower arm each carrying a lower head; an arm support that supports the upper and lower arms so that they can swing relative to each other on their tail end sides; and an arm support that can reciprocate along the radial direction of the magnetic disk. a carriage, one end of which is fixed between the upper and lower arms of the arm support,
a common support spring extending from the support fixing position toward the head and having the other end fixed to the carriage; the support spring is formed into a substantially T-shape, and both wing portions of the support spring straddle the arm; A double-sided head support mechanism for a magnetic disk drive, characterized in that the head is fixed to a carriage, and the legs are fixed to an arm support.