1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording disk drive such as a hard disk drive (HDD). In particular, the invention relates to a recording disk drive comprising a recording disk and a ramp member located at a location outside the recording disk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A ramp member is often incorporated in a HDD, for example. The ramp member defines a guiding passage extending along a path of movement of a load tab. The load tab is usually attached to the tip end of a head actuator. When a magnetic recording disk stands still, the ramp member receives the load tab at an inoperative position on the guiding passage. The guiding passage includes a first flat surface parallel with the surface of the magnetic recording disk. An inclined surface extends from the outer end of the first flat surface, and is inclined towards the plane of the magnetic recording disk in the direction of the inoperative position. A second flat surface is connected to the outer end of the inclined surface. The inoperative position is defined on the second flat surface.
A so-called latch mechanism is often incorporated in the HDD. The latch mechanism includes a restriction member swinging around a predetermined support shaft. Here, assume that an impact acts on the enclosure of the HDD around a support shaft of the head actuator when the magnetic recording disk stands still. The head actuator is caused to swing around the support shaft. At the same time, the restriction member is caused to swing. The restriction member gets into the path of movement of the head actuator. When the load tab moves from the inoperative position to a restriction position on the guiding passage, the restriction member catches the head actuator. The load tab is thus held at the restriction position. Contact is prevented between the head slider and the surface of the magnetic recording disk.
In the aforementioned HDD, when the restriction member catches the head actuator, the load tab stays at the first flat surface. Since the first flat surface is located further from the surface of the magnetic recording disk than the second flat surface, the head suspension largely deforms as compared with the case where the load tab is held at the inoperative position. In other words, the head suspension suffers from a larger load. It is desirable to suppress the load on the head suspension as much as possible.