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Apparatus for providing nominally laminar flow of air currents in a disc drive. An actuator supports a head adjacent a rotatable disc and includes a rigid actuator arm with opposing planar top and bottom surfaces and a pair of opposing tapered surfaces which taper to a trailing edge. The top, bottom

Apparatus for providing nominally laminar flow of air currents in a disc drive. An actuator supports a head adjacent a rotatable disc and includes a rigid actuator arm with opposing planar top and bottom surfaces and a pair of opposing tapered surfaces which taper to a trailing edge. The top, bottom and tapered surfaces define a cross-sectional enclosure to provide nominally laminar flow of air currents adjacent the actuator arm induced by rotation of the disc. A channel is formed in the enclosure by a plurality of adjoining recessed surfaces to at least partially recess a head conductor along the length of the actuator arm within the enclosure to prevent obstruction of the air currents by the conductor. The conductor is preferably a flex circuit with a semi-flexible dielectric layer which supports a plurality of conductive traces.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An actuator configured for use in a disc drive having a rotatable disc surface, the actuator comprising:an actuator body pivotable about an axis; a head configured to transduce data from the disc surface; a conductor configured to transmit electrical signals to the head; and a rigid actuator arm

1. An actuator configured for use in a disc drive having a rotatable disc surface, the actuator comprising:an actuator body pivotable about an axis; a head configured to transduce data from the disc surface; a conductor configured to transmit electrical signals to the head; and a rigid actuator arm which projects from the actuator body to support the head over the disc surface and having opposing planar top and bottom surfaces and a pair of opposing tapered surfaces respectively extending from the top and bottom surfaces to taper to a trailing edge to provide substantially laminar flow of air currents past the actuator arm, wherein the top, bottom and tapered surfaces cooperatively define a cross-sectional enclosure into which a plurality of adjoining recessed surfaces extend to form a channel which extends along a length of the actuator arm, the channel receiving the conductor at least partially within the enclosure so that the conductor generates a reduced drag.