All metal base plate having a hardened flange and soft hub for attaching a load beam assembly to a head actuator arm of a disk drive by swaging
US6191921A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 28, 2000 |
| Grant date | Feb 20, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 28, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S148/902
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A base plate for a suspension assembly in a hard disk drive wherein the base plate has a hardened flange and soft hub. The base plate is stamped in a progressive die in a sequence of forging and coining operations. The base plate is subsequently fully annealed to allow the material to yield at a low stress level so that the hub will create a press fit against the inner wall of an actuator arm boss hole. The base plate is passed through a secondary coining operation following the annealing step to work-harden the flange portion only. The result is a base plate with a flange portion that is hardened and a hub portion that is softer than the flange portion. The advantage is that the hardened flange is more resistant to deformation of a load beam welded thereto and the hub is more disposed to plastically deform and harden during swaging which is desirable for maintaining a press fit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.