Staggered heads for minimizing disk spacing in a disk drive

• US 4,937,693 A
• Filed: 10/20/1988
• Issued: 06/26/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Connolly, Richard P., Mastache, Mark D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tupper, Robert S.
• Application Number:
  US07/260,846
• Time in Patent Office: 614 Days
• Field of Search: 360/104, 360/106
• US Class Current: 360/246.8
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/4813 Mounting or aligning of arm assemblies, e.g. actuator arm supported by bearings, multiple arm assemblies, arm stacks or multiple heads on single arm G11B5/484 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/5521 across disk tracks spiral track following G11B5/596

Abstract

A disk drive is provided in which the arm/head structures of the armstack are mounted in circumferentially spaced pairs, on individual projections of a rotatable actuator. The mounted pairs of arm/head structures project between the confronting disk surfaces of adjacent disks with the heads displaced from one another in a direction longitudinally of the arms and with the active faces of the heads pointing in opposite directions and in confronting or yielding contact with an adjacent disk surface. The magnetic heads are at different radial locations on respective confronting surfaces of adjacent disks of the disk stack as the actuator rotates, in all radial track positions except one track position.

Claims

1. A disk memory drive, comprising:

a. a rotatable memory disk stack;

b. an actuator arm;

c. means rotatably mounting said actuator arm;

d. a comb having plates projecting from said actuator arm;

e. two flexures mounted in circumferentially spaced positions on each comb plate, and respectively projecting between adjacent pairs of disks; and

f. a magnetic head mounted on a free end of each flexure so that the magnetic heads are displaced longitudinally of said flexures from each other and circumferentially spaced from each other, the face of one magnetic head engaging the adjacent surface of one of the adjacent magnetic disks of the disk stack at a radial position which is different from the radial position in which the face of the other magnetic head engages the adjacent surface of the other of the adjacent magnetic disks, in all radial track positions of said magnetic heads except one track position.

2. The invention according to claim 1, in which:

a. said one track position is an outer track.