Machine vision assistance for flex cable-actuator comb manufacturing in hard disk drives

Abstract

The work presented in this paper suggests an automated manufacturing method for assembling of flexible printed circuit cable assembly onto actuator comb-like structure in high capacity hard disk drives. Apart from traditional alignment methods, robotic vision-guided method and assembling system are developed and discussed in this paper. Its capabilities of reaching micro-scale position and alignment accuracy are demonstrated in modern disk drive manufacturing lines along with proven significant lower drive-to-drive flex cable dynamic performance variation.