Appeal No. 2002-1216
Application No. 09/034,466
portion and a spring portion that is attached to an actuator.
The junctions of the spring portion and the beam portion at the
load beam perimeter has a specific shape for distributing the
stress of bending the load beam.
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. A unitary load beam for a disk drive suspension, said
load beam having a spring portion providing predetermined gram
force properties to said load beam, said spring portion being
normally bent beyond its nominal range in the course of its
installation into a disk drive with adverse effect on said spring
portion and a lessening of the gram force properties exerted
thereby, said load beam having a perimeter and comprising a base
portion unitary with the proximate end of said spring portion,
and an elongated beam portion extending in a plane and wider than
and unitary with the distal end of said spring portion, said beam
portion having left and right edge rails, said base portion being
adapted to provide a mounting surface for mounting the load beam
to an actuator, the left and right junctions of said spring
portion and said beam portion at said load beam perimeter having
a straight portion normal to said left and right edge rails,
respectively, and a radiused portion inward of said straight
portion, said straight portion having a lateral extent in the
plane of said beam portion that is greater than the lateral
extent of said radiused portion in said plane, said radiused
portion subtending an oblique angle between said beam portion and
said spring portion, whereby the stress of bending said load beam
spring portion beyond its nominal range is distributed such that
the peak value of the stress force is less than that at which
plastic deformation of the load beam spring portion occurs.
The prior art reference of record relied upon by the
Examiner in rejecting the appealed claims is:
Budde H1424 Apr. 4, 1995
Claims 9 and 10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second
paragraph, for being indefinite.
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