Seagate Technology Incorporated

Alan Thomas Nagl

Howard Irving Sohm, Jr

John Jay Freeman

An energy absorbing disc travel limiter which not only mechanically defines a limit to the extent to which a disc in a disc drive can be axially displaced in response to applied mechanical shocks, but which also acts to damp the shock-induced motion of the discs, thus preventing contact between the discs and the actuator head mounting arms. The amount of damping provided by the disc travel limiter is determined by selection of the material of the disc travel limiter and selection of certain dimensions of the disc travel limiter.

Energy absorbing disc travel limiter with multiple adjacent cantilevered arms to limit disc deflection

An apparatus for subjecting a disc drive to rotational vibration test profiles includes a mounting base, a disc drive mounting plate, and a rotary vibration motor assembly mounted between the mounting plate and the base in which the disc drive mounting plate may be vibrationally rotated about an axis through the base and plate. The motor assembly preferably includes a plurality of voice coil motors mounted and radially spaced about a tubular shaft supporting the disc drive mounting plate. The voice coil motors are connected and driven in series to impart the rotational vibrational profile to the disc drive mounted on the mounting plate. The method involves providing a support structure, a rotatable shaft carried by the support structure, a voice coil motor connected to the shaft for reciprocally rotating the shaft, mounting a device to be tested on the shaft, and applying a current to the voice coil motor to reciprocally rotate the shaft to vibrate the device.

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Longmont, CO, United States of America

Alan Thomas Nagl