JP2950141B2 - Head carriage - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head carriage for a magnetic head incorporated in a magnetic disk drive.
The present invention relates to a head carriage of a magnetic head capable of maintaining lubrication of a positioning shaft of a magnetic head transport device, eliminating oil shortage, and extremely reducing noise during sliding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A magnetic disk drive is configured to perform magnetic recording / reproducing while moving a head carriage holding a magnetic head in a radial direction of a magnetic disk.

FIG. 8 shows a head carriage 1 of a magnetic head of a conventional magnetic disk drive. The magnetic head carriage 1 is a double-sided head type assembly incorporated in a magnetic disk drive (not shown) for use. It is done.

The magnetic head carriage 1 has a head carriage main body 2, an upper arm 4 rotatably attached to the head carriage main body 2, and a support portion 5 for holding the upper arm 4 to the head carriage main body 2.
An engaging portion (not shown) which is screwed with a screw rod 11 provided in the magnetic disk device is provided on a side of the support portion 5, and the screw rod 1 is driven by a stepping motor.
1 rotates the magnetic head carriage 1 in the AB direction in the figure.

The head carriage body 2 has a bearing portion 10 in which a guide hole 20 through which the guide shaft 3 for guiding the movement of the head carriage 1 is inserted is formed. The movement of the head carriage 1 is reliably guided by sliding on the shaft 3.

[0006] A gimbal plate 6 is attached to the tip of the head carriage main body 2, and a lower magnetic head 7 is fixed to the center of the gimbal plate 6.
A gimbal plate 8 is provided at the tip of the upper arm 4.
And an upper magnetic head 9 attached thereto.

[0007]

By the way, in the head carriage having the above structure, the head carriage 1
The guide shaft 3 penetrates through the guide hole 20 of the bearing portion 10 of the first embodiment, and the guide hole 20 slides on the guide shaft when the magnetic disk drive is operating. Lubricating oil is applied on the guide shaft 3. And conventionally, as shown in FIG.
The guide hole 20 is formed as a square hole having a quadrangular cross section, and a gap s between the four corners formed between the guide shaft 3 and the guide hole 20 is used as an oil reservoir for storing lubricating oil. It was so that holds.

In the conventional structure in which the guide hole is a square hole as described above, the oil pool is formed, thereby improving the slidability and thereby reducing the noise. However, some lubricating oil gradually comes out of the guide hole 20 and slides out of the bearing portion 10 as the bearing portion 10 slides, and does not return to the oil pool. In such a case, there is a problem in that a state of running out of oil occurs, and adverse effects such as an increase in noise occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a guide hole in a bearing portion of a head carriage which has a structure capable of always holding lubricating oil, thereby eliminating oil shortage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a head carriage that can smoothly slide a magnetic head carriage and prevent generation of noise.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head carriage main body which moves in a radial direction of a disk, a head mounted on the head carriage main body, and a head unit provided on the head carriage main body and provided with a disk drive. In a head carriage of a disk drive having a guide hole through which a guide rod disposed in a disk radial direction is inserted, an enlarged diameter portion including a tapered portion whose inner diameter increases toward an outer end surface at an outer end of the guide hole. Characterized by forming an oil reservoir consisting of:

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the oil reservoir for holding the lubricating oil is formed by the enlarged diameter portion formed on the end surface of the guide hole of the head carriage, and the lubricating oil accumulated in the oil reservoir is formed into the guide hole and the guide hole. Oil enters the minute gap between the shafts by capillary action and slides in contact with the guide hole, so that oil always adheres and lubrication is maintained. Excess oil adhering to the guide shaft is lifted up by the guide hole when the head carriage is moved, and the pumped up oil is collected in an oil pool formed by the step portion or the tapered portion. Thus, a predetermined amount of lubricating oil can always be held. This prevents the head carriage from running out of oil.

Further, the enlarged diameter portion serving as the oil reservoir can be formed by forming a step at the outer end of the guide hole.

[0015] Further, since the enlarged diameter portion serving as the oil reservoir is tapered, the lubricating oil held in the oil reservoir is smoothly supplied to the guide shaft.

[0016]

1 to 4 show a bearing portion 10 of a head carriage according to an embodiment of the present invention. The other components of the head carriage are the same as those shown in FIG. 8, and only the configuration of the bearing is shown.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bearing portion 10 of the head carriage has side plates 10a at both ends and has a U-shaped cross section, and the guide shaft 3 is inserted into each of the side plates 10a. A guide hole 21 is formed. Guide hole 2
1 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the guide shaft 3, and when the guide shaft 3 is inserted and the head carriage moves, the guide hole 21 of the bearing 10 slides on the guide shaft 3 and moves. By doing so, the movement of the head carriage 10 is guided.

At the outer end of the guide hole 21, a step portion 21a is formed to form an enlarged diameter portion having a diameter larger than the diameter of the guide hole 21.
Are formed. As shown in FIG. 2, a void is formed between the guide shaft 3 and the end face of the side plate 10a by the stepped portion 21a. It is provided to fulfill the function as an oil reservoir.

When the magnetic head carriage 1 is mounted on the magnetic disk drive by inserting the guide shaft 3 into the guide hole 10a of the bearing portion 10 of the head carriage having the above-described structure, the magnetic head carriage 1 is formed by the step portion 21a prior to use. Lubricating oil is supplied to the oil sump to be removed. As shown in FIG. 3, a minute gap d is generated between the guide shaft 3 and the guide hole 21, and the lubricating oil supplied to the oil sump of the stepped portion 21 a fills the gap d by the capillary action. It penetrates and adheres to the guide shaft 3. Thus, even when the apparatus is not operated for a long time and is left unattended, the state in which oil is constantly adhered to the guide shaft 3 is maintained, and a smooth movement of the head carriage is ensured even when the apparatus is restarted.

When the magnetic disk drive is in operation, the head carriage 1 moves in the AB direction shown in FIG. 3, and at this time, the head carriage 1 is moved between the head carriage 1 and the fixed guide shaft 3. Has a relative speed difference. Now, assuming that the head carriage 1 is moving in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 4, which is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, the oil held in the oil sump of the step portion 21a has the viscosity of oil as shown in FIG. As a result, the oil that has previously entered the gap d is drawn into the guide hole 21, whereby the lubrication of the bearing 10 is maintained.

When the bearing 10 slides on the guide shaft 3, excess oil adhering to the guide shaft 3 is lifted up by the guide holes 21 of the bearing 10, and the excess oil is removed from the step 21 a. It is captured and collected by the oil sump and held. FIG. 5 shows a state in which oil is scraped up. Assuming that the bearing unit 10 is moving in the direction of arrow A with respect to the guide shaft 3, the oil adhering on the guide shaft 3 is: Boundary part 21b of guide hole 21 with step part 21a
The oil is removed from the guide shaft 3 so as to be lifted up by the portion, and the removed oil is accumulated in the oil sump of the step portion 21a. A certain amount of oil accumulated in the oil reservoir is held by the surface tension.

As described above, in this embodiment, the entire periphery of the guide shaft 3 is surrounded by forming the step 21a having an enlarged diameter at the end of the guide hole 21 of the bearing 10 of the head carriage. As a result, an empty space serving as an oil reservoir is formed. Then, the oil held in the oil reservoir is supplied over the entire circumference of the guide shaft 3, and there is no occurrence of a portion where the oil runs out. Further, with the sliding movement of the bearing portion 10 on the guide shaft 3, the oil held in the oil reservoir enters the gap between the guide hole 21 and the guide shaft 3, and Is always lubricated. Further, the excess oil adhering to the guide shaft 3 is captured by the scraping effect of the guide hole, and the captured oil is held in the oil pool of the step portion 21a, and the oil flows out of the bearing portion 10. It is possible to keep a state where a predetermined amount of lubricating oil is always secured without escaping.

FIG. 6 shows a bearing 10 of a head carriage according to another embodiment of the present invention.

A guide hole 22 through which the guide shaft 3 is inserted is formed in the side plate 10a constituting the bearing portion 10 as in the above embodiment. In this embodiment, a tapered portion 22 a whose inner diameter increases outward is formed at the outer end of the guide hole 22.

When the guide shaft 3 is inserted into the guide hole 22 of the bearing portion 10 having the above structure, a space is formed around the guide shaft 3 in the tapered portion 22a, and this space is formed in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Functions as an oil sump.

The oil accumulated in the oil reservoir of the tapered portion 22a enters the gap between the guide shaft 3 and the guide hole 22 by capillary action, as in the previous embodiment. Due to the relative speed difference between the ten guide holes 22 and the guide shaft 3, the oil in the oil reservoir is drawn into the oil that has previously entered the gap due to the viscosity of the oil, and the lubrication of the guide shaft 3 is always maintained.

Excess oil adhering to the guide shaft 3 is scooped up by a boundary portion 22b between the guide hole 22 and the tapered portion 22a, and is captured and held in an oil pool of the tapered portion 22a. In this embodiment, since the oil reservoir formed at the end of the guide hole has a tapered shape, the oil in the oil reservoir is smoothly supplied into the minute gap between the guide hole 22 and the guide shaft 3. .

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, an enlarged diameter portion is formed at an end of a guide hole through which a guide shaft of a head carriage of a magnetic disk device is inserted, and the enlarged diameter portion serves as an oil reservoir. As a result, a predetermined amount of lubricating oil can be always held, and oil is constantly supplied to the entire circumference of the guide shaft, so that noise is generated during operation of the magnetic disk drive. This can be prevented from occurring.

Further, the enlarged diameter portion serving as the oil reservoir can be formed by a simple structure in which a step portion having an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the guide hole is formed at the outer end of the guide hole.

Further, by making the enlarged diameter portion that becomes the oil reservoir a tapered hole, the oil can be smoothly supplied from the oil reservoir to the guide shaft.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a bearing of a head carriage according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an oil pool.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state where a guide shaft is inserted into a guide hole.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state where oil is supplied to a guide shaft from an oil reservoir.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state where surplus oil on a guide shaft is scraped up.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a bearing portion of a head carriage according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state where surplus oil on a guide shaft is scraped up.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the overall structure of a head carriage.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a cross-sectional structure of a bearing portion of a conventional head carriage.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head carriage 2 Head carriage main body 3 Guide shaft 4 Upper arm 5 Support part 6, 8 Gimbal plate 7, 9 Magnetic head 10 Bearing part 11 Screw rod 20, 21, 22 Guide hole 21a, 22a Oil pool

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A head carriage body which moves in the radial direction of the disk, and a head attached to the head carriage body, provided in the head carriage body, de
A head carriage of a disk device having a guide hole through which a guide rod disposed in a disk radial direction of the disk device is inserted, the guide hole comprising an outer end portion having a tapered portion whose inner diameter increases toward an outer end surface. A head carriage having an oil reservoir formed of an enlarged diameter portion.