Hutchinson Assigned Two Patents

Damped dual stage actuation HDD suspensions
Hutchinson Technology, Inc., Hutchinson, MN, has been assigned a patent (8,861,141) developed by Jacob D. Bjorstrom, Hutchinson, MN, and Zachary A. Pokornowski, Cokato, MN, for the “damped dual stage actuation disk drive suspensions.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Various embodiments concern a DSA suspension of a disk drive. The DSA suspension comprises a support configured to attach to the disk drive, the support comprising a proximal portion, a distal portion, and a linkage portion therebetween. The DSA head suspension system further comprises at least one motor mounted on the support, each motor positioned between the proximal portion and the distal portion. The DSA suspension further comprises a damper attached to some or all of the proximal portion, the motor(s), the distal portion, and the linkage portion. The damper can be a single layer or multilayered. The damper can comprise viscoelastic material. The damper can be adhesive. The damper may only be attached to the support and the motors and not to other components of the DSA suspension.“

The patent application was filed on July 31, 2013 (13/955,204).

Balanced multi-trace transmission in HDD flexure
Hutchinson Technology, Hutchinson, MN, has been assigned a patent (8,867,173) developed by Michael E. Roen, Hutchinson, MN, for the “balanced multi-trace transmission in a HDD drive flexure.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Various embodiments concern a flexure comprising a base metal layer. The base metal layer can have a void between a first lateral side and a second lateral side. The flexure can further comprise a plurality of traces in an array. The plurality of traces can extend over the void and between the first and second lateral sides. The plurality of traces can comprise a pair of outer traces respectively located on lateral ends of the array and at least one inner trace between the pair of outer traces. The plurality of traces and the first and second lateral sides can be spaced relative to each other such that adjacent traces of the plurality of traces capacitively couple to each other and the pair of outer traces capacitively couple with each other through the first and second lateral sides.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 3, 2014 (14/146,760).