International Business Machines Corporation

Darrell Eugene Bratvold

James M Rigotti

Jeffrey Fred Boigenzahn

Lyle R Tufty

Richard Edward Lagergren

Brian Lee Rappel

Gregory Allen Lyons

Michael Scott Good

Dale E Goodman

Dale C Goeke

Charles Allan Brown

John Beck

Herman Russell Wendt

Richard W Luoma

Luke A Cossette

Daniel C Stucky

A data storage disk drive is provided with a spindle which supports a plurality of disks having at least one magnetic disk surface to form a spindle assembly for rotation of the disk surfaces about a common axis and a rotary actuator which supports magnetic transducers for movement in unison about respective disk surfaces. The disk drive includes a disk drive enclosure having die-cast generated predetermined zero draft geometries for mounting the spindle motor shaft and the actuator bearing shaft. The enclosure includes a base casting and a cover casting, each casting including structure for locating and retaining electrical connectors used for connecting to a planar electronics card located outside the drive enclosure. The disk drive includes an effective and easily manufacturable electrical path from a flex circuit to an actuator comb. The disk drive includes a tubular chemical breather filter arranged with integral housing and diffusion channels formed in the cover casting.

Structure and enclosure assembly for a disk drive

A data storage disk drive is provided with a spindle which supports at least one disk having at least one magnetic disk surface to form a spindle assembly for rotation of the disk surfaces about a common axis and a rotary actuator which supports at least one magnetic tranducers for movement about respective disk surfaces. The enclosure includes a base casting and a cover casting. The base casting include predetermined registration surfaces for mounting the spindle and the rotary actuator and having a mating face. The cover casting has a mating face for engaging the base mating face to define the disk drive enclosure for enclosing the spindle, the at least one disk surface, the at least one magnetic transducer and the actuator. The mating faces extend along the length of the disk drive enclosure. The base casting including a locational and retention cast pocket structure for locating and retaining electrical connector and a flexible cable used for connecting to a planar electronics card located outside the drive enclosure.

Enclosure assembly for a disk with a locational and retention cast

A data storage disk drive is provided with a spindle which supports a plurality of disks having at least one magnetic disk surface to form a spindle assembly for rotation of the disk surfaces about a common axis and a rotary actuator which supports magnetic transducers for movement in unison about respective disk surfaces. The disk drive includes a voltage reference tab provided for quick assembly and removal from an actuator comb. The voltage reference tab maintains the magneto-resistive transducers and the magnetic disks at the same reference voltage potential thus minimizing electrical discharge from the transducer to the disk. The voltage reference tab is a copper tab having symmetrical slots about a fastening hole to facilitate the bending operation and to reduce the rate at which heat is conducted during the soldering process. The tab maintains the voltage reference potential between the head and disk through an extension of the flex cable attached to the actuator.

A fastening structure is provided to secure a shaft between parallel walls of a box shaped casting which will secure ans locate the shaft without inducing a distortion of the casting walls. One end of the shaft is secured to the adjacent wall and the other end of the shaft is secured through a wall opening using an annular slug and a deformable washer which is compressed by a bolt attached axially to the shaft end to cause the deformed washer to engage the surfaces defining the wall opening. The uniform axisymmetric expansion of the washer does not affect the position of the shaft and the radial fore secures the shaft end without influencing the structure of the casting.

Noninfluencing fastener for disk drives

An enclosure for a rigid disk data file is shown which includes a base casting and a cover that interface along planar surface that is not perpendicular to the axis of the spindle supporting the data disks. The base casting at one side extends axially along the disk stack and has the transducer positioning actuators mounted through openings therein. At the opposite side, the disk stack is fully exposed to permit easy access to the disk surface for procedures such as servo writing during manufacture of the drive. This structure makes possible concurrent operation of the product heads and servo writing heads.

Disk drive enclosure with an inclined parting surface

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MN, United States of America

Darrell Eugene Bratvold