Machine Vision Assistance for Flex Cable-Actuator Comb Manufacturing in Hard Disk Drives

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.