Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

Donald P Roehling

Thomas Wayne Ives

Gary M Peter

Michael J Anderson

A disk drive enclosure system includes an enclosure, a cage configured to mount a plurality of disk drives, and foam between the cage and the enclosure. The foam is characterized by a compliance, and has a plurality of voids selectively formed therein. The voids can be selectively formed to thereby increase the compliance of the foam. The voids can be formed through the entire thickness of the foam, or through only a portion of the thickness. The voids can be configured to form cooling air passages for cooling air circulated in the disk drive enclosure system. The foam can be a foam system having foam components, and the voids can be formed only in selected ones of the foam components. The enclosure system can include a plurality of disk drives mounted to the cage, and the voids can be located near the disk drives.

Foam systems for protecting disk drives from mechanical disturbances

A disk drive array can be protected from mechanical disturbances by foam positioned between a disk drive/mounting cage assembly and an enclosure system. In some of the more preferred embodiments of this invention the individual disk drives will be rigidly mounted to their mounting cage.

A back cover assembly is provided for use in a device including a housing having a plurality of walls forming an enclosure. A blower mechanism is adapted to cause exhaust air to flow from an interior of the housing to an exterior of the housing. The back cover assembly is located in proximity with the blower mechanism, and includes an acoustical chamber adapted to permit exhaust air from the interior of the housing to pass therethrough. The acoustical chamber is adapted and constructed to reflect acoustical energy back into the blower mechanism. In an embodiment, at least one interior surface of the acoustical chamber is lined with a sound absorbing material such as polyurethane polyester foam. The acoustical chamber can include a front wall with at least one inlet open to blower mechanism, and a rear wall with at least one outlet. The outlet is in fluid communication with the at least one inlet on the front wall, and is open to the exterior of the housing. In order to provide the necessary acoustical reflectivity, the at least one inlet and the at least one outlet can be placed out of axial alignment with one another. For instance, where the at least one inlet is located at a top portion of the front wall, the at least one outlet may be located at a bottom portion of the rear wall. The at least one inlet and outlet can also be located at opposite sides of the chamber. Where there are a plurality of inlets and outlets, the plurality of inlets and outlets may be arranged to form respective inlet/outlet pairs. The acoustical chamber can be provided with at least one divider substantially spanning the space between the front and rear walls. The at least one dividers defines subchambers within the acoustical chamber, with each subchamber enclosing at least one inlet/outlet pair. The device with which the back cover assembly is associated may be provided as a disk array, such as a RAID system. Also disclosed is a method for reducing the amount of noise emitted by a device.

Noise reduction back cover for computer devices

To minimize unwanted motion in a hard disk assembly in a hard disk drive, an elastomeric support is employed to mount a hard disk pack for rotation by a motor rotor of a disk spindle motor. The hard disk pack includes a hard disk support ring which has opposite annular axial faces upon which the hard disks are securely mounted and axially spaced thereby. An elastomeric connection between the hard disk support ring and a cylindrical body of the motor rotor of the disk spindle motor, provides a soft, or compliant, support for the hard disk pack.

Compliant hard disk assembly for a recording/reproducing device

A low insertion force, low profile electrical connector employs the folded end of a planar flexible circuit as the electrical connector plug which is plugged into an electrical connector receptacle having a printed circuit board and printed circuit traces as a part of the electrical connector receptacle. Contact pads connected with flexible circuit traces on the electrical connector plug engage contacts connected to the printed circuit traces in the electrical connector receptacle.

Growing community of inventors

Eagle, ID, United States of America

Donald P Roehling