Head suspension assembly having parallel-coupled load/gimbal springs

摘要

A magnetic head suspension assembly and method are designed to include a substantially inflexible support arm (32) mounted at one end to an actuator motor in a data storage disk drive system. At the opposite end of the support arm is a gimbal (52, 54; 64; 70, 72). An air bearing slider (38) having at least one read/write head is connected to the gimbal. The gimbal is adapted to accommodate pitch and roll motion and is compliant in the direction perpendicular to a surface of the data storage medium (56) to be read. The gimbal is parallel-coupled with a load spring (24; 58) that is connected to the support arm to apply a load force. This arrangement improves the shock-resistance characteristics of the suspension assembly, since the support arm does not add to the inertial force caused by accelerations from shock events. In a preferred embodiment, the electrical connection to the read/write head is via electrical traces (40, 42) that are printed onto the support arm and gimbal. Traces are also formed on the gimbal springs to extend to a solder-reflow location at an interface to the slider. <IMAGE>