JPS5927987B2 - magnetic head support - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic head support, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic head support, and more particularly, a plurality of integrally formed elastic deformable parts of a cantilever support structure that elastically deform in relation to each other, each of which has a terminal end elastic deformable part that performs recording and reproduction. By supporting the head assembly having a magnetic head for use in the magnetic head, the head assembly is easily deformed against external forces perpendicular to the surface, and has sufficient rigidity against external forces in the horizontal direction, allowing the head to be moved at high speed between tracks. Furthermore, by setting the mounting position of the head assembly at a predetermined position, the contact of the head with the recording medium is always maintained in a well-balanced and stable manner, thereby effectively preventing damage to the recording medium and the head during recording and reproduction. An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head support configured to prevent such problems.

The so-called floating type is conventionally used in magnetic disk memory devices, etc., in which the head core slightly floats due to the levitation force exerted by the airflow generated on the disk surface when the disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter referred to as the disk) rotates at high speed, and performs floating scanning. The support mechanism for the head assembly is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 1, a head assembly 1 comprising a magnetic head core, a dummy head core, etc. arranged on a head base has one end attached to the tip side of a pressure spring 3 fixed to a head housing 2. The chip surface of each head core is in contact with the surface of the disk 4. Here, disk 4
When the head assembly 1 rotates at high speed in the direction of the arrow with surface runout, the head assembly 1 does not swing by itself but is displaced according to the curvature of the pressure spring 3, so that the contact force of each head core against the disk surface is uneven. This resulted in the disadvantage that stable floating running was not possible and accidents could occur that could damage the mirror-polished recording surface of the disk 4, the magnetic head core, etc. Further, the above-mentioned accident also occurred when there was an error in the height direction in the mounting position of the head housing 2. FIG. 2 shows a conventional example in which the above-mentioned drawbacks have been eliminated, in which a head assembly 6 having the same structure as the head assembly shown in FIG. 1 is attached to one end of a sheet-shaped and sufficiently flexible support member 5, and Head the end
- It is connected to the housing 7 and configured to apply a contact force to the disk 9 to the head assembly 6 by means of a pressure spring 8.

According to this mechanism, the head assembly 6 itself can swing freely, so the above-mentioned disadvantages do not occur.However, the structure is complicated and expensive, and the mechanical properties of the support member 5 cause the head assembly 6 to The disadvantage was that high-speed feeding (movement between tracks) in the disk radial direction was impossible. Furthermore, in a mechanism in which the head assembly is supported by a support with a gimbal structure, such as that described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4,630,766, the pressing force of the head assembly against the disk surface is obtained by the extension of the leaf spring. Therefore, the amount of displacement in the direction perpendicular to the disk surface is small, and it is difficult to set a low spring constant.If the spring constant becomes unavoidably high, the head assembly will not be able to follow the disk surface runout, etc. This has the disadvantage that the disk surface and head core surface may be damaged.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and each embodiment thereof will be described below with reference to the drawings. 3 and 4 show a plan view and a front view, respectively, of a first embodiment of the magnetic head support according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows its state in the recording/reproducing mode. In FIGS. 3 and 4, 10 is a thin plate spring (supporting body) which is a main part of the present invention, and the A side is fixed to the lower surface of the head housing (setting member) 11, and the B side is fixed to the lower surface of the head housing (setting member) 11. It is designed to be freely displaceable in the directions of arrows C and D.

The U-shaped kerfs 12 and 13 are formed by extending their arm portions in the A-B direction. In particular, the kerf 13 is located inside the kerf 12 and is relative to the center line 1 of the leaf spring 10. It is formed symmetrically. Due to the grooves 12 and 13, the leaf spring 10 has first elastically deformable parts 14a and 14b with the A side as the base and the B side as the deformable free end side, and the first elastically deformable parts 14a and 1
The second elastic deformation portions 15a and 15b are divided by a U-shaped groove 12 with the deformation free end side (B side) of 4b as the base and the A side as the deformation free end side, and second elastic deformation. Part 1
The deformed free end side (A side) of 5a and 15b is the base and B
It is divided into a third elastically deformable portion 16 surrounded by a U-shaped kerf 13 whose side is the deformable free end.

As a result, when an external force is applied to the third elastic deformation portion 16 in the leaf spring 10 in a direction perpendicular to the third elastic deformation portion 16 (in the direction of arrows C and D),
The first, second, and third elastically deformable portions are elastically deformed independently and in relation to each other, and the leaf spring 10 is very easily deformed, for example, in a zigzag shape as shown in FIG. Further, the leaf spring 10 exhibits considerable rigidity and is not easily deformed against an external force (for example, a feeding force from a driving source) applied to the third elastic deformation portion 16 in a direction parallel to this plane. This property enables high-speed feeding of the head in the radial direction of the disk, which will be described later. Here, when the point of application of the external force is moved along the center line 1 in the third elastic deformation section 16, it is found that when the external force in the direction of arrow C is applied to the appropriate position X, the third elastic deformation section 16
It can be seen that it is displaced horizontally without tilting.

This position X is hereinafter referred to as the load midpoint. The spring constant of the leaf spring 10 exhibits the highest value at the load midpoint X among the points along the center line 1. Note that the spring constant decreases relatively rapidly as the point of action deviates from the load midpoint X toward positions A and B. The head assembly 20 includes a pair of magnetic head cores 21 and 22 and a dummy head core 23, which are arranged at respective vertices of a virtual triangle and attached to the lower surface of a head base 24 made of ceramic material, for example.

During recording and reproduction, floating blades (buoyant force) due to the air flow on the disk surface act on the respective chip surfaces of the head cores 21, 22, and 23, and the resultant force of these floating blades is the line m in the head assembly 20 (hereinafter referred to as the floating force). It can be regarded as acting in the extending direction of the line of action). The head assembly 20 is fixed to the lower surface of the third elastically deformable portion 16 of the leaf spring 10 so that the line of action m of the levitation force coincides with the midpoint X of the load. Next, the operation of the magnetic head retaining member having the above structure during setting and recording/reproducing will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, in order to attach the magnetic head support to a magnetic disk memory device or the like, the head housing 11 is set at a position spaced apart from the disk 25 by a predetermined distance D.

At this time, the head assembly 20 comes into contact with the disk 25, and the first and second elastic deformation parts 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, which are supported in a cantilevered state in the leaf spring 10, are bent relative to each other in a substantially S-shape. move upwards. Here, since the head assembly 20 is considered to apply an external force to the mid-load point X of the third elastically deformable portion 16, the third elastically deformable portion 16 naturally displaces in a horizontal state, and The contact forces of the cores 21, 22, and 23 against the disk 25 are the same and balanced. Furthermore, even if there is an error in the set position of the head housing 11, the contact forces of the head cores 21 to 23 against the disk 25 are kept balanced. In addition,
By moving the head housing 11 in the vertical direction and finely adjusting the dimension D, each head core 21, 22,
The contact force of 23 against the recording surface of the disk 25 is easily set to a desired relatively small value (for example, 2.5 gr).

Further, during recording and reproduction, the disk 25 rotates at high speed in the direction of arrow Z, and the head assembly 20 rotates between each head core 21 to 2.
A floating blade is applied to the chip surface of No. 3 by the air flow on the disk surface, and the chip is held in a slightly floating state above the disk surface.

Here, since the head assembly 20 is installed so that the line of action m of the resultant force of the floating blades acting on the chip surface of each of the head cores 21 to 23 respectively coincides with the load midpoint Even when the head assembly 20 moves up and down in accordance with the surface runout, the third elastically deformable portion 16 in the leaf spring 10 naturally moves up and down while remaining in a horizontal state, so that the contact with each head core 21 to 23 is reduced. Contact force is maintained uniformly. Further, as described above, the spring constant of the third elastic deformation portion 16 is maximum at the load midpoint As the head assembly 20 is subjected to a considerably weak load, the load decreases as the head deflects.
It can easily swing around point X in the directions of arrows G and G.

Therefore, even if the disk 25 undergoes complicated surface wobbling during recording and playback, or even if the surface of the disk 25 is uneven, the head assembly 20 can still oscillate faithfully in accordance with the surface of the disk 25. However, the contact force of each head core 21 to 23 is not uneven enough to damage the surface of the disk 25, and the head cores 21 to 23 scan the disk 25 relatively floatingly. Furthermore, since the plate spring 10 has a sufficiently high rigidity against an external force in the feeding direction (radial direction of the disk 25) shown by arrow R in FIG. Therefore, the head assembly 20 can be stably supported by the leaf spring 10 and can be moved (tracked) over the disk 25 at high speed.

In addition, although the leaf spring 10 is elastically deformed due to vibrations in response to disk surface runout, etc., the deflection of the leaf spring 10 is very small, so there is almost no fatigue of the material, and the contact force of the nagihe is resistant to change over time. is held constant over a long period of time. FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second view of the magnetic head support according to the present invention.
An example is shown. The head support of this embodiment is constructed to have sufficient rigidity also in the direction of rotation of the disk. 6 and 7 respectively show the pre-setting state and the setting state of the magnetic head support for the device, and in each figure, the third
Components that are the same as those shown in FIGS. 5 through 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted. The leaf spring (support body) 30 is the third
As shown in the figure, a pair of U-shaped grooves are formed, and furthermore, the first elastic deformation part 31 and the second elastic deformation part 32 are bent in advance in a downward zigzag shape.

The first and second elastically deformable portions 31 and 32 are bent in a substantially S-shape similar to the bent state shown in FIG. The third elastically deformable portion 33 remains in a horizontal state without being bent, and the head assembly 20 aligns the line of action m of the resulting floating force with the load midpoint X of the elastically deformable portion 33, and It is installed on. Note that the head assembly 20 has a third elastically deformable portion 3.
The head base 24 is fixed on the top surface of the head core 21.
. Good too.

When the head housing 11 is set at a position spaced apart from the disk 25 by a predetermined distance D' in order to attach the magnetic head support to a predetermined device, the first and second cantilevered portions of the leaf spring 30 are bent and cantilevered. The elastic deformation parts 31 and 32 of the third elastic deformation part 3 are elastically deformed horizontally, and the third elastic deformation part 3
3 is displaced while remaining horizontal. As a result, the head assembly 20 moves upward relative to the X-head housing 11 while the contact force of each head core 21 to 23 against the disk 25 is made uniform. Further, as in the case of the first embodiment, the third elastic deformation portion 33 has a maximum spring constant at the load midpoint X that coincides with the line of action m of the resultant flying force of the head assembly 20, As the displacement increases, the head assembly 20 can easily swing in the direction of the arrow H and in the direction of the shore, as in the case described above.

Therefore, according to the above magnetic head support, as in the first embodiment, even when there is a setting error in the device and when surface runout occurs due to high speed rotation of the disk 25 during recording and reproduction, etc. , the head assembly 20 has a leaf spring 3
In the state shown in FIG. 7 of 0, each of the elastic deformation parts 31 to 33 is displaced with elastic deformation, and the contact force of each head core 21 to 23 to the disk 25 is maintained in a balanced state. be scanned in relative flight without any damage to its surface. Also, during recording and playback, the leaf spring 30
As shown in FIG. 7, each elastic deformation portion 31, 32, 3
3 are located in the same horizontal plane parallel to the disk surface, the rigidity is sufficiently large against external force in the feeding direction of the head assembly and furthermore in the rotational direction of the disk 25 (direction of arrow Z). becomes.

Therefore, the head assembly 20 is stably supported during high-speed transfer of the leaf spring 30 in the disk radial direction, and the head assembly 20 is also stabilized against external forces exerted by high-speed floating scanning on the disk 25. support. In particular, the stable support of the head assembly 20 in the disk rotational direction is effective in preventing instability of the playback screen when recording and playing back FM modulated video signals and phase shifts in write pulses in the case of digital recording. can be prevented. In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the leaf springs 10 and 30
In the elastically deformed state shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, respectively, the elastic forces of the plurality of elastically deformable portions in the cantilevered state act in a complex manner on the head assembly 20, causing the disk 25 to deform on the head assembly 20. Since a pressing force is applied to the plate springs 10 and 30, the structure of the leaf springs 10 and 30 can be called a cantilever supported composite pressing structure.

In addition, in each of the above embodiments, by bending the deformable free ends of the leaf springs 10 and 30 as shown by the two-dot chain lines in FIGS. 4 to 7, the leaf springs 10 and 30 are bent in the head feeding direction The rigidity becomes even greater. This results in
The leaf springs 10 and 30 are prevented from being unnecessarily deformed in the head feeding direction. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the head assembly 20 is of a three-point support configuration type, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to apply a head assembly having one or more head cores. It is. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the leaf springs (support bodies) 10 and 30 are each composed of three elastic deformable parts in a cantilever supported state that deform in relation to each other, but the invention is not limited to this. Instead, there are two, four, five leaf springs 10 and 30...
... It is also possible to have a configuration consisting of N elastic deformation parts.

In particular, in the first embodiment, in order to divide the leaf spring 10 into the first to third elastically deformable parts, the U-shaped grooves 12, 1
3 is formed, but the shape of the kerf is not limited to the U-shape, but may be U-shape, for example. Furthermore, the portion of the leaf spring 10 that supports the head assembly 20 may have a gimbal structure. Furthermore, in each of the embodiments described above, the leaf springs 10 and 30 are configured to have grooves formed therein to form a plurality of divided elastic deformation parts, but each elastic deformation part is separately formed. A predetermined support body can also be constructed by forming the elastic deformation portion into a cantilever supported state.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the head assembly 20 has its center of gravity located at the third elastic deformation portion 16 of the leaf springs 10, 30.
It is desirable to mount it in alignment with the plane of 33 for stable support.

In addition, the shape, thickness, etc. of the head support (plate springs 10, 30) are adjusted appropriately so that the spring constant is a predetermined value, regardless of the number of grooves, that is, the number of cantilever elastic deformation parts. It has been selected. As mentioned above, according to the magnetic head support according to the present invention, the terminal end of the plate-like elastic member is composed of a plurality of integrally continuous elastic deformable parts that are sequentially surrounded in a cantilevered manner on one central axis. Since the head assembly is attached and supported at a predetermined position of the elastically deformable portion, the plate-like elastic member easily deforms elastically in response to an external force perpendicular to the elastically deformable portion, and the elastically deformable portion It has considerably high rigidity against external force in the in-plane direction, and as a result, the head assembly can be moved stably and at high speed in the radial direction of the recording medium while it is brought into contact with the recording medium under light pressure. , or furthermore, when an external force in the vertical direction is applied to the surface of the elastic deformation section at the end of the head assembly, the elastic deformation section is displaced in a horizontal state at a point of application where the spring constant is maximum. Since the head assembly is mounted and supported with the line of action of the levitation force aligned, it can be used even if there is an error in the settings for the device or if the recording medium rotates unstably with surface wobbling etc. during recording and playback. too,
The balance of the contact force of the head against the recording medium is maintained stably. The recording medium and the head can be swung freely, thereby preventing damage to the recording medium and the head, and significantly extending the life of the head.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing the structure of a conventional magnetic head support, respectively, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively the state of the magnetic head support according to the present invention before setting for the device K of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the head support state during recording and reproduction of the magnetic head support shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a front view showing the head support in the second embodiment of the device κ before setting and in the recording/reproducing mode; 10, 30... leaf spring (support body), 11...
...Head housing, 12, 13... U-shaped kerf, 14a, 14b, 31... First elastic deformation part, 15a, 15b, 32... Second elastic deformation part, 16, 33...Third elastic deformation part, 2
0... Head assembly, 21, 22...
Magnetic head core, 23...Dummy head core,
24...Head base, 25...Disc, X...Load midpoint, m...Line of action of levitation resultant force.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. On one central axis, one side is used as a deformable free end, the other side is used as a base, and the base of one elastically deformable part is sequentially surrounded so that it becomes the deformable free end of another elastically deformable part. 1st to Nth
(N is an integer of 2 or more) cantilevered elastically deformable parts are integrally and continuously formed, and the base of the first cantilevered elastically deformable part is fixed to a setting member. A magnetic head characterized in that a magnetic head assembly having at least one recording/reproducing magnetic head that scans over a recording medium during reproduction is attached at a predetermined position in a cantilevered elastic deformation portion at the end of the plate-like elastic member. support. 2 On one central axis, one side is a deformable free end and the other side is a base, and the base of one elastically deformable part becomes the deformable free end of another elastically deformable part, and the first to N
(N is an integer of 2 or more) cantilevered elastically deformable parts are integrally and continuously formed, and the base of the first cantilevered elastically deformable part is fixed to a setting member. A magnetic head assembly having at least one recording/reproducing magnetic head to which a floating force is applied by scanning over a recording medium during reproduction is mounted in a cantilevered elastic deformation section at the end of the plate-like elastic member in a direction perpendicular to its surface. When an external force is applied to the magnetic head assembly, the cantilevered elastic deformation portion at the end is displaced in a horizontal state, and the magnetic head assembly is installed so that the line of action of the resulting levitation force coincides with the point of action where the spring constant is maximum. A magnetic head support featuring: