JPH0249030Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic head used in a magnetic disk drive, and more particularly to a support device for supporting a floating head.

Generally, a floating head slider, which is a dynamic pressure type gas bearing, is used as a floating head for a magnetic disk device. The floating head slider floats above the surface of the recording medium with a very small gap, but in order to achieve constant and stable floating, the floating head slider floats above the surface of the recording medium as a mechanism to support the floating head. It consists of a soft gimbal spring section with an extremely small spring constant to hold the floating head slider without restricting the parallel, pitch, and roll movements that are performed while moving, and a load spring section that applies the load to the floating head slider. ing.

FIGS. 1a and 1b show a plan view and a front view, respectively, of a conventional floating head support device. In the figure, 1a is a load spring, 1b is a gimbal spring, 1c is a floating head slider, and 1d is a flange. A flange 1d having a uniform width is attached to the load spring 1a to increase its rigidity.

FIG. 1c shows a cross-sectional shape taken along the dashed line in FIG. 1b. By attaching the flange 1d, the bending stiffness and torsional stiffness of the entire load spring including the flange are increased compared to when only the load spring 1a is present as a beam element, and as a result, the natural frequency of the load spring is increased. has come to take on a large value. A high natural frequency is important for the dynamic characteristics of the load spring, and the load spring has the function of not only applying a load to the floating head slider but also supporting the floating head slider and gimbal spring. On the other hand, in the case of a normal movable head type magnetic disk device, the magnetic head performs an access movement to an arbitrary track on the surface of the recording medium by a linear or rotary actuator, and the load spring part generates an access movement due to the access movement. It is necessary to increase the rigidity and damping sufficiently so that resonance with vibration does not occur.

Furthermore, in recent magnetic disk devices, the flying height of the slider has reached the submicron range, so the head disk has a sealed structure in order to prevent even the slightest amount of dust from entering. Therefore, a high-speed airflow is generated in the sealed shroud as the disk rotates at high speed, but the load spring has a sufficiently high rigidity and Requires attenuation.

Considering the conventional floating head support device from the above points, in order to increase the rigidity, the load spring adopts a beam structure with a thin open cross section, which is a leaf spring with a constant thickness and a flange. The stiffness is not sufficiently large, and no special consideration is given to structural or viscous damping, and the mechanical excitation from the actuator to position the floating head on the desired track is not sufficient. The disadvantage was that the load spring vibrated greatly due to

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to eliminate the various disadvantages mentioned above, increase the stiffness and damping effect of the floating head support, and provide a floating head support with excellent dynamic characteristics.

According to the present invention, the rigidity of the load spring part is increased by making the load spring part a stacked leaf spring structure in which the thickness increases as it approaches the base part where the load spring is attached to the head arm, and the rigidity is increased. By sandwiching a cushioning material between the parts, the vibration damping effect is enhanced, and as a result, the dynamic characteristics of the entire floating head support system are improved, and it is designed to exhibit extremely good dynamic characteristics against mechanical vibrations. There is.

As described above, the floating head support device according to the present invention realizes stable floating of the floating head, and is extremely suitable for increasing the capacity and density of magnetic disk devices.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 2a, b, and c are views showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2a is a plan view of the embodiment, and Figure 2b is a plan view of the embodiment.
is a front view, and FIG. 2c is an enlarged sectional view showing the internal structure when cut along the dashed line shown in FIG. 2a. In the figure, 2a is a load spring, 2b is a gimbal spring, 2c is a floating head slider, 2d is a flange, 2P, 2Q, and 2R are load spring reinforcing plates, and 2S is a load spring 2a, and load spring reinforcing plates 2P, 2Q. , 2R.

The slider 2c floating above the surface of the recording medium is affected by surface wobbling and waviness of the medium surface, and complex coupled vibrations consisting of three degrees of freedom: parallel motion, pitching motion, and rolling motion occur. The gimbal spring 2b, which is a very flexible spring, absorbs the vibration by free movement, and is designed to maintain a constant minute gap between the floating head slider 2c and the medium surface.
In order for the gimbal spring 2b to move smoothly, the load spring 2a must have sufficient flexibility at the portion where the gimbal spring 2b is joined to the load spring 2a. In other words, the greater the rigidity of the joint, the stronger the restraint of the gimbal spring 2b at the joint, and the more rigid the load spring 2 becomes.
Gimbal spring 2b in the part not constrained by a
This interferes with the smooth vibration-absorbing movement of the Therefore, it is not a good idea to increase the rigidity of the load spring 2a at the joint. As a very simple measure, if the thickness of the entire load spring 2a is increased, the rigidity will increase significantly since the rigidity is proportional to the cube of the plate thickness, but in that case, the rigidity of the rigid contact portion will also increase. Therefore, this is not preferable as a structure that allows free movement of the gimbal spring 2b. However, in the floating head support device of the present invention, the thickness distribution of the load spring is designed to be thinner at the part where it is joined to the gimbal spring 2b and to become thicker smoothly as it approaches the root part. The torsional and bending stiffness of the entire load spring is increased without sacrificing stability. In addition, in this embodiment, between the load spring 2a and the load spring reinforcing plate 2P, and between the load spring reinforcing plate 2P and the same 2Q
In addition, the load spring reinforcement plate 2Q and the same 2R
A buffer material 2S is filled in between each of them to improve the damping performance of the load spring section, but this also lowers the vibration level of the load spring section and suppresses large-amplitude vibrations. Therefore, dynamic minute fluctuations in the floating amount of the floating head can be suppressed, making it possible to obtain good electromagnetic conversion characteristics. The buffer material 2S is acrylic resin, and the load spring 2a and load spring reinforcing plates 2P, 2Q,
It is applied over the entire contact surface of 2R. Other possible materials for the cushioning material include urethane, silicone resin, and various rubbers. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the portion where the rigidity of the load spring is increased does not extend to the portion 2e where the load spring 2a is subjected to tension bending in order to apply the load to the floating head slider 2c. The bending angle of can be left almost as before, and no special consideration is required.

As explained above in detail about the present invention, the load spring of the floating head support device has a stacked leaf spring structure made of laminated thin plates, and the space between the stacked leaf springs is filled with a cushioning material that enhances the vibration damping effect. , the drawbacks of the conventional floating head support device can be eliminated, and the purpose of the present invention can be fully achieved.

Note that any changes may be made without departing from the idea of the present invention; for example, the material of the cushioning material, etc. may be optimal for each case, and the above embodiments do not exceed the scope of the present invention. It is clear that this is not intended to be limiting in any way.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1A, 1B, and 1C are views showing the structure of a conventional floating head support device, and FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are views showing an embodiment of the floating head support device of the present invention. 1a and 2a are load springs, 1b and 2b are gimbal springs, 1c and 2c are floating head sliders, 1d is a flange, 2P, 2
Q and 2R are load spring reinforcing plates, and 2S is a buffer material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A floating head support device comprising a load spring that applies a load to the floating head and a gimbal spring that is connected to the load spring at one end and supports the floating head, wherein the load spring is attached to a head arm for a magnetic disk device. A floating head support device characterized in that the beam has thin plates joined together in multiple layers so that the thickness increases as the thickness approaches the side, and a cushioning material is filled between the thin plates and between the thin plates and the load spring.