JPH1166782A - Magnetic head supporting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic head supporting mechanism small in energization force to a magnetic head slider, little in fluctuation, low in out-of- plane rigidity for supporting the magnetic head slider and high in seeking direction vibration characteristics. SOLUTION: This magnetic head supporting mechanism is provided with a load beam, a flexure 12 provided to be integrated or connected to the tip of the load beam 11, and a magnetic head slider 13 supported by this flexure 12. In this case, the load beam has an elastic part for pressing a magnetic head arranged in the magnetic head slider 13 to a medium side, and in this elastic part, bending parts 14, 15 and 16 are formed in at least two spots.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a magnetic head support mechanism, and more particularly, to a magnetic head support mechanism used in a magnetic disk drive.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a magnetic disk drive, a magnetic head slider mounted with a magnetic head element for recording / reproducing information on / from a magnetic disk as a recording medium is attached to the tip of a support mechanism, and the magnetic head slider flies above the disk surface. Used in state. With the recent increase in capacity and recording density of magnetic disk drives, magnetic heads are required to have lower flying height and higher speed access.

FIGS. 8 and 9 schematically show a conventional support mechanism. FIG. 8 is a perspective view seen from obliquely above.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view seen from obliquely below.

The support mechanism shown in these figures has a load beam 101 whose base is fixed to a support mechanism fixing portion (arm) 100. A flexure 102 is integrally formed at the tip of the load beam 101,
The magnetic head slider 103 is fixed to a tongue 102a formed by cutting the center of the flexure 102. This magnetic head slider 103 includes:
Although not shown, information is recorded / recorded on the magnetic disk.
An element for reproduction (abbreviated as a recording / reproduction element) is mounted. In the conventional example shown in FIG. 8 and the like, the load beam and the flexure are integrated (so-called
However, as a conventional structure, there is a type in which these are separate bodies and a flexure is fixed to the tip of the load beam (so-called three-piece product).

[0005] The magnetic head supporting mechanism having such a structure is as follows.
It works as follows.

In recording and reproducing information, a magnetic head slider having a recording and reproducing element floats on the disk surface and relatively operates. At this time, the magnetic head support mechanism adjusts the urging force, that is, the load force and the load distribution, so that the magnetic head slider can maintain a stable posture. In addition, the load force is designed so that the magnetic head slider can cope with the force received from the disk surface via the air film and the force due to disturbance so that it can operate stably even when an external force such as vibration is applied. You.

[0007] In addition, the magnetic head support mechanism performs a seek operation from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disk. At this time, the magnetic head support mechanism becomes just like a cantilever, and has a fixed end to be vibrated. Since there is a free end to be swung, a high frequency response characteristic is required for performing a seek operation stably.

In recent years, a magnetic head slider has become smaller and smaller.
Along with the fact that the weight has been reduced, the magnetic head has become more stable and lower flying height, higher speed access, H
In order to improve the reliability of DI (Head-Disk-Interface), the magnetic head support mechanism includes:
The following characteristics are required.

That is, the force for urging the magnetic head slider toward the medium is small. The fluctuation of the force for urging the magnetic head slider toward the medium is small. Low rigidity outside the plane supporting the magnetic head slider (rotation in the pitching and rolling directions). And it must have high seek direction vibration characteristics for high-speed access. Characteristics are required.

However, it has heretofore been extremely difficult to satisfy all of the above requirements. For example, as a factor for determining the urging force / rigidity, the thickness of the support mechanism is dominant. To pursue low urging force / rigidity, it is necessary to reduce (thinner) the thickness of the plate. When the thickness is reduced, the overall rigidity of the support mechanism is reduced, so that the vibration characteristics are deteriorated.

Conversely, in order to ensure high vibration characteristics, it is generally necessary to increase the overall rigidity of the support mechanism, and the fluctuation in the urging force increases. In addition, since the rotational rigidity for supporting the magnetic head slider is also increased, it is difficult to ensure stable and low levitation.

[0012]

Actually, in the conventional support mechanism, the load beam and the flexure are formed as separate members, and the plate thickness is made different (for example, the load beam thickness is about 62 μm, and the flexure thickness is (Approximately 20 μm) to reduce the out-of-plane stiffness directly acting on the magnetic head slider while preventing the vibration characteristics of the support mechanism from deteriorating. However, this structure is insufficient.

As another means, a method of reducing the vibration amplitude by adding an absorbing material or the like to the load beam has been proposed. However, this proposal requires another additional member and is expensive to assemble. It demanded precision and affected costs.

That is, in any of the above means, in order to achieve high-speed access, the resonance point is raised while lowering the rotational rigidity of the flexure portion in order to secure the stability of the small slider at low flying height. It was difficult to imagine that sufficient characteristics could be secured in the future.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a magnetic head support mechanism having a small urging force on a magnetic head slider, a small fluctuation, a low out-of-plane rigidity for supporting the magnetic head slider, and a high seek direction vibration characteristic. The purpose is to do.

[0016]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described in the following (1) to (3). (1) In a magnetic head supporting apparatus including a load beam, a flexure provided integrally or connected to a tip of the load beam, and a magnetic head slider supported by the flexure, the load beam is a magnetic head slider. A magnetic head support mechanism, comprising: an elastic portion for urging the magnetic head disposed on the medium side toward the medium, and at least two bent portions are formed in the elastic portion. (2) The magnetic head according to (1), wherein the elastic portion is provided on a fixed end side of the load beam, and one of the bent portions is provided near a fixed end of the load beam of the elastic portion. Support mechanism. (3) The magnetic head supporting mechanism according to the above (1) or (2), wherein the load beam is substantially formed of a flat plate, and has a thickness of 20 μm or less.

[0017]

In the present invention, the elastic portion of the load beam is provided with at least two bent portions, so that the rigidity of the elastic portion in the seek direction can be increased without increasing the thickness or the like. In particular, the resonance amplitude ratio can be reduced. Thus, a high resonance point can be obtained while keeping the rotational rigidity of the flexure low.

This effect is particularly remarkable when an elastic portion is provided on the fixed end of the load beam, and one of the bent portions is provided near the fixed end of the load beam on the elastic portion. . This is because relatively low-frequency resonance occurs due to vibration of the elastic portion near the fixed end of the load beam.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, there is also a conventional structure in which a bent portion (indicated by reference numeral 104) is provided in the elastic portion 101b of the load beam, but the number is one. In this case, the effect of reducing the resonance in the seek direction and increasing the frequency was not sufficient. That is, the conventional bent portion 104 provided only at one position is for generating a load force on the slider, and has no object of improving rigidity. Improvement in rigidity is achieved only when there are two or more such bent portions.

[0020]

1 and 2 show an example of a magnetic head supporting mechanism according to the present invention. The support mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a so-called two-piece product in which the load beam and the flexure are integrated.

The basic structure of the support mechanism shown in these figures is the same as that of the above-mentioned conventional one, and the load beam 1 whose base is fixed to the support mechanism fixing part (arm) 10 is shown.
One. The support mechanism fixing part (arm) 10
Is the load beam 1 in the vertical direction of the disk surface.
1 is fixed to assist in generating a load weight (biasing force). Also, in the horizontal direction of the disk surface, it plays a role of transmitting a seek operation for positioning the magnetic head slider 13 from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disk to the load beam 11. A flexure 12 is integrally formed at the tip of the load beam 11, and a magnetic head slider 13 is fixed to a tongue 12a formed by cutting out the center of the flexure 12. Although not shown, an element for recording / reproducing information on / from a magnetic disk (abbreviated as a recording / reproducing element) is mounted on the magnetic head slider 13.

The above load beam 11 and flexure 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a single elastic metal plate, for example, a plate material such as a stainless steel plate. The thickness of the plate is preferably about 20 to 30 μm. Further, the Young's modulus of this plate material is 1000 to 30000 kgf / m
Those having a size of about m ² are preferred.

The load beam 11 has a rising portion 11a formed on both sides of a portion adjacent to the flexure 12 to provide a high rigidity portion. The rising portion is formed at a portion adjacent to the arm 10. Elastic part 11
b. Note that the flexure 12 is not formed with a rising portion but is entirely an elastic portion.

The elastic portion 11b of the load beam 11 is provided in the width direction of the load beam in order to adjust the urging force, ie, the load force, of the load beam on the magnetic head slider 13 and to increase the rigidity of the elastic portion in the seek direction. , Two bent portions, that is, bent portions 14 and 15 are formed. This bent portion may be provided at any number of places as long as it is at two or more places, but it is usually preferable to provide two or three places, and the form may be a bent state in addition to a normal bent state. . In some cases, the elastic portion 11b may be formed in a zigzag shape.

At least one of the bent portions (indicated by reference numeral 14 in the drawing) is located in the vicinity of the arm 10, specifically, in a range of about 0 to 5 mm from the end of the arm. It is preferable to provide the elastic portion at the position. When a high-rigidity portion is provided continuously to the arm and an elastic portion is provided adjacent to the high-rigidity portion, the elastic portion is located at a position within a range of about 0 to 5 mm from an end of the high-rigidity portion. Is preferably provided. The vibration of the fixed end of the load beam of the elastic portion 11b generates a relatively low frequency resonance. By providing the bent portion 14, it is possible to prevent the relatively low frequency resonance. it can.

The bent portions 14 and 15 provided on the load beam 11 as described above mainly function to generate an urging force (loading force) for urging the magnetic head slider in the disk direction, and Of the elastic portion in the seek direction.

The above-mentioned bent portion is preferably provided also at the portion of the flexure 12, and is generally formed at the base of the tongue-shaped portion 12a (reference numeral 16 in FIG. 1). Indicated). The bent portion 16 mainly has a function of adjusting the in-plane distribution state of the load. The above-mentioned bent portions 14, 15, and 16 mainly ensure the followability of the magnetic head slider to the disk surface. The bent portion provided on the flexure may be provided not on the base of the tongue-shaped portion but on the frame around the tongue-shaped portion as described above.

The bent portion is usually preferably bent downward for the above purpose, and the bending angle is adjusted by the thickness of the plate and the distance between the fixed end portion and the disk surface. Is preferably about 2 to 20 degrees.
The addition of two or more bent portions makes it possible to adjust the fluctuation of the load force itself and the fluctuation of the load distribution. However, if the bending angle at only one place is increased, the fluctuation of the load itself and the fluctuation of the load distribution may be increased.

The integrated bending angle (including the bending portion provided on the tongue portion of the flexure) of the two or more bending portions is
It is preferably about 10 to 30 degrees. If the bending angle is too small, a sufficient load force cannot be obtained, while if it is too large, handling during assembly becomes difficult.

Note that the bent portion is usually formed by press working.

According to the above structure, the present magnetic head supporting mechanism is the same as the above-mentioned magnetic head supporting mechanism.
3, a load point (biasing force) of about 0.3 to 1.5 gf is applied, and a high resonance point in the seek direction can be obtained while keeping the rotational rigidity of the flexure low. The magnetic head slider 13 is 1.25 mm ×
In the size of about 1.0mm ~ 0.8mm × 0.6mm,
Preferably, it has a weight of about 0.3-2.0 mg.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the load beam and the flexure have an integral structure (a so-called 2
Although the present invention has been described with reference to a piece product, the present invention may have a structure in which the load beam 21 and the flexure 22 are separately formed as shown in FIG. . This structure is generally 3
It is called a piece product. Also in this case, the load beam 21 is provided with an elastic portion 21b adjacent to the arm 10, and this portion is provided with two or more bent portions. FIG.
2 shows an example in which two bent portions 24 and 25 are provided.

In the magnetic head supporting mechanism shown in FIG. 3 of the present invention, the load beam 21 and the flexure 2
2 is formed of a thin plate material of about 20 to 76 μm, for example, a stainless steel plate. For example, in the present invention, the load beam 21 and the flexure 22 are both 20 μm.
m thickness. Conventionally, as described above, the flexure has the same thickness as the example of the present invention, but the load beam needs to be about 62 μm, which is about three times the thickness of the example of the present invention. Conversely, the load beam in this example of the present invention is approximately one-third the conventional one.
With this thickness, it is possible to obtain the required load and rigidity in the seek direction.

In this example, the flexure 22
A curved portion 26 is formed at the base of the tongue 22a by a pivot provided on the load beam. This curved portion 26
Can perform the same function as the bent portion 16 of the example shown in FIGS.

The magnetic head supporting mechanism shown in FIG. 3 preferably has the same angular characteristics as the magnetic head supporting mechanism shown in FIG. 0.5-4.0 gf A high resonance point can be obtained while applying a degree of load force (biasing force) and keeping the rotational rigidity of the flexure low.

[0036]

【Example】

Example 1 The structure of the magnetic head support mechanism was the structure shown in FIGS. A 20 μm-thick stainless steel plate was used as a plate material. The Young's modulus of this stainless steel plate was about 19,700 kgf / mm ² . The length including the load beam 11 and the flexure 12 was about 9 mm. The length of the elastic portion 11b is about 4.0
mm, the minimum width is about 2.0 mm, and the maximum width is about 3.
0 mm. The length including the rigid portion and the flexure was about 4.5 mm. Tongue 12 provided on flexure
The length of a was about 2 mm.

A first bent portion was provided at a position of 0.5 mm from the end of the arm 10 of the elastic portion 11b, and a second bent portion was provided at a position of 3 mm. The angle of the first bent portion is about 9 degrees, and the angle of the second bent portion is about 10 degrees.
Set to degree. A third bent portion is provided at the base of the tongue portion 12a of the flexure. The angle of the third bent portion was about 5 degrees. This was used as a sample of the magnetic head support mechanism of the present invention. The magnetic head slider is
The size was 1.2 mm x 1.0 mm x 0.3 mm, and the weight was about 1.6 mg.

On the other hand, the other conditions are the same, and the structure shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, that is, the structure in which only one bent portion is provided in the elastic portion of the load beam, is used as the magnetic head supporting mechanism of the comparative example. Sample. The bent portion was formed at a position 2 mm from the end of the arm 10.

When the above-mentioned biasing force (load force) was measured using the above sample of the magnetic head supporting mechanism, it was 0.45 gf in the sample of the present invention and 0.43 gf in the sample of the comparative example. In the measurement, the load force was measured when the distance between the load beam fixing surface of the arm portion and the disk surface was 0.584 mm.

The frequency response characteristics of the sample of the comparative example and the sample of the example were measured by measuring the amplitude ratio in the vibration direction of the slider portion when the fixed portion was vibrated while changing the frequency in the seek direction. Was. For measurement, fix the arm,
The vibration speed was measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer while the disk was being loaded on a rotating disk.

The results are shown in FIG. 4 (Comparative Example) and FIG. 5 (Example). From these figures, it can be seen that the frequency characteristic of the magnetic head supporting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention is about twice as high as the frequency characteristic of the conventional magnetic head supporting mechanism.

Example 2 The structure of the magnetic head support mechanism was the one shown in FIG. 3, that is, the load beam 21 and the flexure 22 were formed separately. The thickness of the plate material is 62 μm for the load beam and 20 μm for the flexure.
An m-thick stainless steel plate was used. Load beam 2
1 plus the flexure 22 was about 16 mm in length. The length of the elastic part 21b was about 2.5 mm, the minimum width was about 4.0 mm, the maximum width was about 5.0 mm, and the length including the rigid part and the flexure was about 13.5 mm.
The length of the tongue 22a provided on the flexure is about 1 m.
m.

The first bent portion is placed at a position of about 0.7 mm from the end of the arm 10 of the elastic portion 21b by about 1.7 mm.
Are provided with the second bent portions. The angles of the first and second bent portions were both set to about 2 degrees. A flexure is formed at the base of the tongue-shaped portion 22a of the flexure. This was used as a sample of the magnetic head support mechanism of the present invention. The same magnetic head slider as that used in the first embodiment was used.

On the other hand, the other conditions were the same, and a sample of the magnetic head support mechanism of the comparative example was one in which only one bent portion was provided in the elastic portion of the load beam. The bent portion was formed at a position about 1 mm from the end of the arm 10.

The above-mentioned biasing force (load force) was measured using the sample of the magnetic head supporting mechanism described above. As a result, 1.7 gf was obtained for the sample of the present invention, and 1.7 gf for the sample of the comparative example.
It was 1.6 gf. The measuring method was the same as above.

Further, with respect to the sample of the comparative example and the sample of the example, the frequency response characteristics were examined by measuring the amplitude ratio in the vibration direction of the slider portion when the vibration was performed while changing the frequency in the seek direction. The experimental conditions were the same as in Example 1 above.

The results are shown in FIG. 6 (Comparative Example) and FIG. 7 (Example). From these figures, it can be seen that the frequency characteristics of the magnetic head supporting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention are about twice as high as the frequency characteristics of the head supporting mechanism of the comparative example.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the thickness of the load beam is reduced and the rotational rigidity of the entire support mechanism is reduced, the rigidity of the elastic portion in the seek direction is increased, and the seek direction is increased. Can be shifted to a higher frequency side.

As a result, the slider can fly stably and low, the positioning accuracy of the magnetic head can be improved, and (1) the resonance amplitude ratio of the support mechanism can be reduced, so that the degree of freedom in design with respect to the shape is increased. . (2) Since the resonance amplitude ratio of the support mechanism can be reduced, it is not necessary to combine materials having different plate thicknesses or attach a vibration absorbing material as in the related art. (3) Since the rigidity in the seek direction can be ensured, a material having a smaller thickness than the conventional one can be used. (4) Since a thin plate thickness can be adopted, variation in weight can be reduced. (5) Since a thin plate thickness is used and the number of bent portions increases, the influence of angular accuracy on one bent portion can be reduced. (6) Since the number of bent portions increases, the angle of the slider fixing portion with respect to the entire support mechanism can be freely designed. This facilitates the design of the load distribution characteristics. The following effects can be obtained. (7) Since the influence of the bending position can be significantly reduced, the bending position tolerance is relaxed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example (two-piece product) of a magnetic head support mechanism of the present invention as viewed obliquely from above.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the magnetic head support mechanism of FIG. 1 as viewed obliquely from below.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another example (three-piece product) of the magnetic head supporting mechanism of the present invention as viewed from obliquely above.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating frequency response characteristics of a magnetic head using a magnetic head supporting mechanism of a sample of a comparative example with respect to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing frequency response characteristics of a magnetic head using the sample magnetic head support mechanism of Example 1.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing frequency response characteristics of a magnetic head using a magnetic head supporting mechanism of a sample of a comparative example with respect to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing frequency response characteristics of a magnetic head using the magnetic head supporting mechanism of the sample of Example 2.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional load beam / flexure integrated type (two-piece product) magnetic head support mechanism viewed from obliquely above.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the conventional magnetic head support mechanism shown in FIG. 8 as viewed obliquely from above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Support mechanism fixing part (arm) 11 Load beam 12 Flexure 13 Magnetic head slider 14 Bend part (bend part) 15 Bend part (bend part) 16 Bend part (bend part)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic head supporting apparatus comprising: a load beam, a flexure provided integrally or connected to a tip of the load beam, and a magnetic head slider supported by the flexure. A magnetic head support having an elastic portion for urging the magnetic head disposed on the head slider toward the medium, and having at least two bent portions formed in the elastic portion. mechanism. 2. The magnetic device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is provided on a fixed end side of the load beam, and one of the bent portions is provided near a fixed end of the load beam of the elastic portion. Head support mechanism. 3. The magnetic head supporting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the load beam is formed substantially as a flat plate, and has a plate thickness of 20 μm or less.