Hard drive suspension microactuator with restraining layer for control of bending
First Claim
1. A piezoelectric microactuator assembly having an active piezoelectric layer and having more than 50% of its top surface covered by unpoled piezoelectric material, and a bottom surface bonded to a hard disk drive suspension.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive has a restraining layer bonded on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer comprises a stiff and resilient material such as stainless steel. The restraining layer can cover all of the top of the PZT, or most of the top of the PZT with an electrical connection being made to the PZT where it is not covered by the restraining layer. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further.
85 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A piezoelectric microactuator assembly having an active piezoelectric layer and having more than 50% of its top surface covered by unpoled piezoelectric material, and a bottom surface bonded to a hard disk drive suspension.
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2. A dual-stage actuator suspension for a disk drive, the suspension having a microactuator assembly comprising:
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a thin film PZT material, the PZT material having a first side facing the suspension and bonded thereto, and a second side facing away from the suspension and having a stiff material bonded directly to the PZT material by epoxy adhesive, the stiff material covering at least 50% of the PZT material, wherein the PZT material has a first portion that is covered by the stiff material and a second portion that is not covered by the stiff material, and wherein the stiff material comprises an insulating material and the insulating material has an electrically conductive via therethrough. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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6. A dual stage actuated suspension for a disk drive, the suspension having:
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a piezoelectric microactuator having a piezoelectric material, the piezoelectric microactuator having opposite first and second faces, the piezoelectric microactuator having at least a portion of its first face bonded to the suspension at first and second ends thereof, the first and second ends spanning a gap between respective portions of the suspension, the piezoelectric microactuator and the suspension being configured so that actuation of the microactuator changes the distance of the gap to produce fine movements of a read/write head mounted to the suspension; and a restraining layer bonded to the second face of the piezoelectric microactuator, the restraining layer comprising the same material as said piezoelectric material but being unpoled, the restraining layer altering the bending behavior of the piezoelectric microactuator so as to increase the effective stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator compared to what the stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator would be in the absence of the restraining layer.
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7. A dual stage actuated suspension for a disk drive, the suspension having:
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a piezoelectric microactuator having a piezoelectric material, the piezoelectric microactuator having opposite first and second faces, the piezoelectric microactuator having at least a portion of its first face bonded to the suspension at first and second ends thereof, the first and second ends spanning a gap between respective portions of the suspension, the piezoelectric microactuator and the suspension being configured so that actuation of the microactuator changes the distance of the gap to produce fine movements of a read/write head mounted to the suspension; and a restraining layer having a Young'"'"'s modulus of greater than 50 GPa bonded to the second face of the piezoelectric microactuator by an adhesive without any additional layer therebetween having a stiffness that is substantially less than the stiffness of the restraining layer, the restraining layer altering the bending behavior of the piezoelectric microactuator so as to increase the effective stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator compared to what the stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator would be in the absence of the restraining layer. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dual stage actuated suspension for a disk drive, the suspension having:
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a linear piezoelectric element having a top face and a bottom face, at least a portion of the bottom face being bonded to the suspension, the piezoelectric element and the suspension being configured so that actuation of the piezoelectric element moves a transducer head mounted on the suspension; the top face of the piezoelectric element having a material having a Young'"'"'s modulus of greater than 50 GPA affixed thereto; wherein; when the piezoelectric element is actuated by a voltage that causes the piezoelectric element to expand, the piezoelectric element bends in a direction that causes the top face to become more concave; and when the piezoelectric element is actuated by a voltage that causes the piezoelectric element to contract, the piezoelectric element bends in a direction that causes the top face to become more convex. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A dual stage actuated suspension for a disk drive, the suspension having:
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a piezoelectric microactuator having a piezoelectric material, the piezoelectric microactuator having opposite first and second faces, the piezoelectric microactuator having at least a portion of its first face bonded to the suspension at first and second ends thereof, the first and second ends spanning a gap between respective portions of the suspension, the piezoelectric microactuator and the suspension being configured so that actuation of the microactuator changes the distance of the gap to produce fine movements of a read/write head mounted to the suspension; and a restraining layer bonded to the second face of the piezoelectric microactuator, the restraining layer being smaller than the second face leaving a portion of the second face uncovered by the restraining layer; wherein the restraining layer and its bonding comprises at least one of; a stainless steel layer bonded directly to the second face of the piezoelectric microactuator by epoxy adhesive; and an unactivated piezoelectric layer affixed to the piezoelectric material, the unactivated piezoelectric layer exhibiting less than 10% as much piezoelectric behavior as the piezoelectric material when the microactuator is activated by application of a voltage thereto; wherein the restraining layer alters the bending behavior of the piezoelectric microactuator so as to increase the effective stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator compared to what the stroke length of the piezoelectric microactuator would be in the absence of the restraining layer. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification