Patent · US Active

Hard disk drive suspension pad pre-solder formation and guiding

US11705153B1 · kind B1 · utility

1Cited by
14References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 23, 2022
Grant dateJul 18, 2023
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 23, 2042

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH05K2203/107
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A hard disk drive flexure assembly includes a metal substrate having a gap between a root side and a slider side, a base layer and a first conductive layer that each bridges the gap, and a plurality of electrical pads where the pads extend to the slider side of the flexure so as to positionally overlap with a slider end edge and corresponding slider electrical pads. Pre-solder bumps are formed on each pad. This configuration facilitates formation of a functional solder bridge between the flexure and the slider because the melted solder can readily spread on the extended flexure pad surface and reach the slider pad when the pre-solder bump is heated, as the pad material has higher solder wettability than that of a cover layer material. These techniques are especially relevant with narrow, high-density, small pitch electrical pads.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.