Read/write head positioning mechanism for flexible disk drive device

Claim 2

A disk drive device for reading and writing information on a disk, the device comprising: a frame; a carriage slidably mounted on the frame, the carriage having a first end and a second end; a read/write head coupled to the first end of the carriage for reading and writing information on the disk; a first E-shaped magnetic circuit having a first support frame, a first pair of magnets mounted to the first support frame, and a first central yoke; a second E-shaped magnetic circuit having a second support frame, a second pair of magnets mounted to the second support frame, and a second central yoke, the first and second E-shaped magnetic circuits being in spaced apart relationship, each magnetic circuit having an open end facing the disk; a coil bobbin coupled to the second end of the carriage; and a single voice coil coupled to the coil bobbin, the coil bobbin and the single voice coil surrounding the first and second yokes without surrounding the support frames.

Claim 3

A disk drive device for reading and writing information on a magnetic disk, the disk rotating in a first plane, the device comprising: a frame; a carriage slidably mounted on the frame, the carriage having a first end and a second end; a read/write head coupled to the first end of the carriage for reading and writing information on the disk; a first magnetic circuit having a first support frame, a first magnet, and a first yoke; a second magnetic circuit having a second support frame, a second magnet, and a second yoke, the first and second magnetic circuits being stacked along an axis which is perpendicular to the first plane, the first and second yokes extending in parallel to each other and to the first plane; first and second coil bobbins coupled to the second end of the carriage and spaced a distance from each other and aligned in the axis which is perpendicular to the first plane; and first and second voice coils, one mounted on each coil bobbin, the voice coils being in parallel with each other, each of the voice coils surrounding one of the yokes, the voice coils arranged to propel the carriage along one axis.

Claim 4

A disk drive device for reading and writing information on a magnetic disk, the disk rotating in a first plane, the device comprising: a frame; a carriage slidably mounted on the frame, the carriage having a first end and a second end; a read/write head coupled to the first end of the carriage for reading and writing information on the disk; a first magnetic circuit having a first support frame, a first magnet, and a first yoke; a second magnetic circuit having a second support frame, a second magnet, and a second yoke, the first and second magnetic circuits being stacked along an axis which is perpendicular to the first plane, the first and second yokes extending in parallel to each other and to the first plane; first and second coil bobbins coupled to the second end of the carriage and spaced a distance from each other and aligned in the axis which is perpendicular to the first plane; and first and second voice coils, one mounted on each coil bobbin, the voice coils being in parallel with each other, each of the voice coils surrounding one of the yokes, the voice coils arranged to propel the carriage along one axis.

Claim 5

The device of claim 2 wherein the carriage has a movable guide on the bottom of the carriage which is slidably coupled to the frame at the center of gravity of the carriage, the carriage being coupled to the frame only through the movable guide.

Claim 6

The device of claim 2 wherein each magnetic circuit is an E-shaped circuit, wherein the supports for each circuit are C-shaped having upper and lower extensions with the yokes for each circuit are intermediate the upper and lower extensions and in parallel with the extensions.

Claim 7

The device of claim 2 further comprising a third coil bobbin with a third voice coil coupled to the second end of the carriage and oriented in the axis perpendicular to the first plane.

Claim 8

A disk drive device for reading and writing information on a disk rotating in a first plane, the device comprising: a frame; a carriage slidably mounted on the frame for moving along one axis toward the disk, the carriage having a central portion, a first end, and a second end, the second end having two integral flared portions extending away from opposing sides of the central portion, the flared portions and central portion being in a plane parallel to the first plane; a read/write head centrally coupled to the first end of the carriage for reading and writing information on the disk; a first E-shaped magnetic circuit having a first support frame, a first pair of magnets mounted to the first support frame, and a first central yoke; a second E-shaped magnetic circuit having a second support frame, a second pair of magnets mounted to the second support frame, and a second central yoke, the first and second E-shaped magnetic circuits being in spaced apart relationship defining a gap between the magnetic circuits, the gap being at least as wide as the central portion of the carriage, each magnetic circuit being positioned having an open end facing the disk; a coil bobbin coupled to the flared portions of the second end of the carriage; and a single voice coil coupled to the coil bobbin, the coil bobbin and the single voice coil extending through each of the magnetic circuits and surrounding the first and second yokes.

Claim 9

A disk drive device for reading and writing information on a disk rotating in a first plane, the device comprising: a frame; a carriage slidably mounted on the frame for moving along one axis toward the disk, the carriage having a central portion, a first end, and a second end, the second end having two integral flared portions extending away from opposing sides of the central portion, the flared portions and central portion being in a plane parallel to the first plane; a read/write head centrally coupled to the first end of the carriage for reading and writing information on the disk; a first E-shaped magnetic circuit having a first support frame, a first pair of magnets mounted to the first support frame, and a first central yoke; a second E-shaped magnetic circuit having a second support frame, a second pair of magnets mounted to the second support frame, and a second central yoke, the first and second E-shaped magnetic circuits being in spaced apart relationship defining a gap between the magnetic circuits, the gap being at least as wide as the central portion of the carriage, each magnetic circuit being positioned having an open end facing the disk; a coil bobbin coupled to the flared portions of the second end of the carriage; and a single voice coil coupled to the coil bobbin, the coil bobbin and the single voice coil extending through each of the magnetic circuits and surrounding the first and second yokes.