Donald Keith Ingalls

US Patent:

60697733, May 30, 2000

Filed:

Aug 3, 1998

Appl. No.:

9/128361

Inventors:

Norman Kermit Frater - San Jose CA
Thomas Mark Hoffmann - Santa Cruz CA
Donald Harold Ingalls - Gilroy CA
Bradley John Kriehn - San Jose CA

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G11B 548

US Classification:

360104

Abstract:

A uniquely configured flexure tongue of a head/gimbal assembly (HGA) provides for parallel positioning of a slider air bearing surface (ABS) during merge and a limitation of pitch of the slider during non-merge. A cantilevered end of the flexure tongue is provided with a finger extension which can be employed for merge operations and a remainder cantilevered end portion adjacent a base of the finger can be employed for limiting pitch of the slider. When a merge comb engages multiple flexure fingers of multiple suspensions in a head stack assembly the air bearing surfaces of the sliders are positioned parallel with respect to one another. This allows maximum disk stack density when a head stack assembly is merged with a head stack assembly. The flexure finger allows various arrangements to be employed for implementing a merge. The present invention also cooperates with a prior art roll limiter so that during merge a three point fixation normalizes a slider at zero pitch.

US Patent:

58385177, Nov 17, 1998

Filed:

Dec 1, 1995

Appl. No.:

8/566219

Inventors:

Norman Kermit Frater - San Jose CA
Thomas Mark Hoffmann - Santa Cruz CA
Donald Harold Ingalls - Gilroy CA
Bradley John Kriehn - San Jose CA

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G11B 548

US Classification:

360104

Abstract:

A uniquely configured flexure tongue of a head/gimbal assembly (HGA) provides for parallel positioning of a slider air bearing surface (ABS) during merge and a limitation of pitch of the slider during non-merge. A cantilevered end of the flexure tongue is provided with a finger extension which can be employed for merge operations and a remainder cantilevered end portion adjacent a base of the finger can be employed for limiting pitch of the slider. When a merge comb engages multiple flexure fingers of multiple suspensions in a head stack assembly the air bearing surfaces of the sliders are positioned parallel with respect to one another. This allows maximum disk stack density when a head stack assembly is merged with a head stack assembly. The flexure finger allows various arrangements to be employed for implementing a merge. The present invention also cooperates with a prior art roll limiter so that during merge a three point fixation normalizes a slider at zero pitch.