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...When G.G. Hubbard learned of his future son-in-law's invention, he called it "only a toy." His daughter was engaged to a young man named Alexander Graham Bell.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7848057 | Disk drive with air-actuated load/unload ramp Various air-actuated components of a disk drive are disclosed. For instance, an air-actuated load/unload ramp may be used by a disk drive and which is movable between a parked position and an operational position. An air-actuated ramp lock may be used by a disk driv... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7697238 | Magnetic disk drive with load/unload mechanism having first and second protrusions In one embodiment, a disk drive has a solenoid and spring for turning a ramp mechanism about a rotating shaft. When the drive operates, since the ramp mechanism moves out from the magnetic disk by the force of the solenoid, the outer peripheral edge of a magnetic he... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7453670 | Suspension holder pallet A pallet main body is provided with a block holding member which presses a positioning surface of an actuator block against a block reference surface formed in the pallet main body, and a movable arm. An insertion member, which can be inserted between a plurality of... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7365930 | Load/unload mechanism for magnetic disk drive Formation of wear powder caused by wear of a ramp which is attributable to mutual contact of a lift tab and the ramp is to be reduced in loading and unloading operations. In one embodiment, a spindle motor is turned on by application of power, then the temperature o... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7356908 | Method of assembling a disk drive unit via a ramp tool A disk drive unit includes a first cover having a first part of magnet component and a head stack assembly mounted on the first cover; and a second cover assembled with the first cover, which having a second part of magnet component, a spindle motor and at least one... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7355816 | Load/unload ramps and their compositions Compositions and materials for use in load/unload ramps in magnetic disk drive assemblies are disclosed, particularly compositions or materials to improve at least one of the desired characteristics of low wear, low cost, high mechanical stability and high moldabili... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7315436 | Suspension assembly with a shape memory actuator coupled to a gimbal A suspension assembly for use with a disk drive having a disk and a slider. The suspension assembly includes a gimbal for receiving the slider. The suspension assembly further includes a shape memory actuator coupled to the gimbal. The shape memory actuator is forme... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7310196 | Parking a transducer responsive to a park signal A disk drive includes a rotatable data storage disk, an interface, a transducer, a write buffer, an actuator, and a controller. The transducer is configured to read and write data on the disk. The interface is configured to receive data with associated write command... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7310223 | Electrical connector device for a disc drive An electrical connector device for an enclosure is provided. The electrical connector device includes an outer frame that is configured to at least partially surround an enclosure. The outer frame includes a plurality of mutually coupled sidewalls. The outer frame a... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7292407 | Disk drive with support structure for disk-vibration capacitive sensors A data recording disk drive has one or more capacitive sensors for sensing out-of-plane vibration of the disk or disks. The sensors are attached to a support structure that is attached to the disk drive housing. Each sensor is associated with a disk and faces a surf... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7275252 | Cell phone or other portable handset containing microminiature optical disc drive A microminiature optical disc drive is mounted in a cell phone or other handheld portable device to provide a large data source for playing games, movies and other digital content on the device. The optical disc drive is manufactured to an extremely small form facto... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7251096 | Shock induced cleaning for hard disk drives Embodiments of the present invention recite a method for removing particles from a magnetic head support assembly of a hard disk drive. In one embodiment, a load/unload operation of the magnetic head support assembly is initiated. Particles are dislodged from the ma... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7245456 | Head support device and disk drive using the same A head support device includes a slider with a head, a support arm having a leading end provided with the slider 1 via a flexure and being integral with, in the vicinity of its base end, a spring member along a centerline, and a base arm having two pivots con... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7236331 | System and method to provide a ramp having a location which is transitioning from a first grade to a second grade for removing a read/write head from a media Methods to provide a ramp to remove a read/write head connected with a suspension from a media in accordance with the present invention can comprise calculating a grade of one or more surfaces having a plurality of progressively shallower grades. A transition betwee... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7222411 | Method of interconnecting a load/unload ramp assembly with a base plate of a disk drive The present invention is directed to a load/unload ramp assembly which is interconnectable with a base plate of a dynamic load/unload-type disk drive. The load/unload ramp assembly generally includes a load/unload ramp and at least one base plate attachment cantilev... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7203019 | Latch apparatus for latching an actuator arm assembly in a disk drive A latch apparatus is configured to latch an actuator arm assembly that can position a read/write head relative to a data storage disk in a disk drive. The latch apparatus includes a latch arm, a coil, a permanent magnet, and a latch control circuit. The latch arm is... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7193819 | Method of assembling a disk drive including actuating a shipping comb to bend a suspension vertically to facilitate a merge tool A head stack assembly (HSA) is disclosed for use in a disk drive comprising a disk, wherein a merge tool is used to merge the HSA with the disk. The HSA comprises at least one actuator arm with a suspension connected to the distal end of the actuator arm. A multi-le... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7170717 | Head suspension assembly and disk drive using the same A head suspension assembly includes (a) a slider having a head for recording into/reproducing from a record medium, mounted thereon, (b) a load beam having (i) the slider disposed via a flexure at one end, and (ii) a leaf-spring-like resilient member integrally form... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7159299 | Spring assisted head stack assembly comb A head stack assembly comb (154) for maintaining the heads (44) of a head stack assembly (26) in spaced relation is disclosed. The head stack assembly comb (154) includes a comb body (158) and a latch (218). The comb body ( | 01/09/2007 |
| 7158349 | Ramp member assembly including flying slider in recording disk drive A ramp member is supported on a flying slider in a load/unload mechanism of a recording medium drive. The flying slider receives a lift at its air bearing surface based on airflow generated along the moving recording medium. The flying slider flies above the recordi... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7149044 | Methods, apparatus and computer program products for writing tracks on a disk based on an available stroke Track pitch for writing tracks on a disk is determined based on an available stroke across the disk. The available stroke is identified by searching across the disk for where information can be written and read. The track pitch is determined for writing tracks on th... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7133249 | Recording disk drive having rectifier plate and ramp member therefor A recording disk drive comprises a head actuator coupled to a support shaft for relative rotation so as to support a head slider at a tip end of the head actuator. A rectifier plate is located at a location outside an arc defined along a movement path of the tip end... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7089571 | Optical disc drive compatible with memory card slot A disc drive designed to hold a cartridge containing an optical data storage disk is compatible with a memory card slot in a host digital electronics device such as a PDA, for example a slot designed for a Type I CompactFlash card. The disc drive contains a body ass... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7058959 | Optical disc drive compatible with memory card slot A disc drive designed to hold a cartridge containing an optical data storage disk is compatible with a memory card slot in a host digital electronics device such as a PDA, for example a slot designed for a Type I CompactFlash card. The disc drive contains a body ass... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7046484 | Magnetic head supporting device having dummy weight used to coincide mass and swing movement centers An object of the present invention is to provide a hard disk drive or related apparatus in which a possibility of head crash can be reduced to minimum even if the apparatus receives an external impact during the operating state. To achieve the object, according to t... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7035052 | Magnetic head parking apparatus using deformable member A magnetic head parking apparatus of a hard disk drive for parking a magnetic head installed on an actuator includes a deformation member reversibly deformable in a direction in which the magnetic head is separated from a disk by pressing one side of the actuator, a... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7035054 | Magnetic head apparatus, magnetic head supporting mechanism and magnetic recording apparatus having an improved impact resistance A load beam is provided with a base plate and a slider. A magnetic head apparatus is fixed to a head arm via a base plate. In a mechanism or structure for supporting such a magnetic head supporting mechanism, an elastically deformable portion is provided between the... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7019932 | Disk unit having mechanism for loading and unloading head uniformly in circumferential direction of a disk A disk unit has a function of loading a head on a disk from a holding mechanism during a load operation and unloading the head from the disk during an unload operation. The disk unit includes a controller which controls a movement of the head so that the loading ope... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6973535 | Digital device configuration and method An electromechanical data storage arrangement is interfaced with a host. The interface may include a conductor that carries read and write gate signals. Another conductor carries both a servo sync mark and an error signal. The storage arrangement includes an externa... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6966107 | Merging a head stack assembly with a data storage medium Apparatus for merging a disc drive head disc assembly (HSA) with a disc stack. The HSA comprises a flexure which supports a data transducing head and the disc stack comprises a disc having a data storage surface. A merge assembly includes a shipping comb attached to... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6958891 | Actuator loading/unloading device for disc drive An actuator loading/unloading device includes a block unit disposed at a base of a disc drive to be positioned outside a disc, a lamp member positioned on the block unit so that the lamp member is lifted from or lowered down on the block unit, an actuator being park... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6952330 | Dynamic flying attitude control using augmented gimbal A head suspension mounts a head assembly in a disc drive. The head suspension includes controllable bending elements on the gimbal portion of the head suspension which allow dynamic control of the flying attitude of the head assemblies, and thus the flying height. I... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6943653 | Bistable electric switch and relay with a bi-stable electrical switch The invention relates to a bi-stable electric switch comprising a spring (101) that is configured as a bi-stable snap-action spring and carries contact elements (114, 116) on the carrier strip (104) of the spring and comprising at least one driv... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6941642 | Head stack load comb for controlled head loading Disclosed is a head stack load comb used in the controlled loading of a head of a head stack assembly (HSA) onto a disk during the assembly of a disk drive. The HSA includes an actuator arm, a head, and a loading surface. The load comb includes a base structure and ... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6903902 | Load/unload ramps and their compositions Compositions and materials for use in load/unload ramps in magnetic disk drive assemblies are disclosed, particularly compositions or materials to improve at least one of the desired characteristics of low wear, low cost, high mechanical stability and high moldabili... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6826018 | Disk drive with head supporting device A disk drive comprises a recording medium, spinning means, a head supporting device having a support arm disposed in a rotatable manner about a bearing unit in a radial direction as well as a perpendicular direction to a writing surface of the recording medium, and ... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6583963 | Apparatus to improve shock capability of disc drives A head loading ramp structure, located near the inner diameter of the discs of a disc drive, for increasing the load applied to the heads by the head suspension when the heads are moved to a park location near the inner diameter of the discs. In a first e... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6556373 | Disk apparatus, method of accessing head thereof to disk-like recording medium, and method of retracting the same A disk storage apparatus has a magnetic head (8) that is completely retracted outside of a disk cartridge, except upon a reading/writing operation. The magnetic head (8) is inserted into the disk cartridge (16) only upon the reading/writing operation. The... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6549377 | Magnetic disk drive with a movable ramp mechanism for relieving impact upon loading and unloading A magnetic disk drive having a disk for storing information, a spindle motor for rotating the disk, a head for recording information into the disk and reproducing information from said disk, a suspension supporting a slider provided with the head, a carri... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6515959 | Ramp motion mechanism A method and an apparatus for providing a highly repeatable loading/unloading pathway for a read/write head of a disk drive.... | 02/04/2003 |
