Maxtor Corporation

Gary Walker

James Fay Martin

Ashok Machcha

Travis Lee Hein

Edward George Acciardi

Roger Burhans

Shankar Subramaniam

Systems and apparatus are described for modifying fluid flow in a hard disk drive system to reduce cross-track motion. The systems and methods provide advantages because they include at least one flow modification element. In some embodiments, the flow modification system comprises a set of approximately parallel combs occupying a portion of the space present in between the disks in the hard disk drive system. The combs change the flow pattern of the fluid and act as a momentum channeling mechanism relative to the actuator assembly and suspension assemblies resulting in a considerable reduction in track misregistration error. Various embodiments of the invention include baffle-integrated combs, fixture-integrated combs, contoured enclosure surfaces, and enclosure attached combs.

Flow modification for reducing track misregistration in hard disk drives

A disk drive includes a drive housing, one or more rotating storage disks, each having a storage surface, and a fluid diffuser. The fluid diffuser includes one or more stationary diffuser wings, each having a wing surface positioned near the storage surface. One or more of the diffuser wings can extend between two of the storage disks. The diffuser wing includes a surface deviation that disrupts the fluid flow over the wing surface that is caused by the rotating storage disk. The surface deviation can include an indentation in the wing surface or can extend from the wing surface toward the storage surface. In still another embodiment, the surface deviation includes an aperture that extends through the diffuser wing. Further, the fluid diffuser can include a plurality of surface deviations that are positioned along the wing surface. Further, a portion of the surface deviation can form an angle with the wing surface that is greater than approximately 0 degrees and less than approximately 180 degrees. With this design, the fluid diffuser decreases fluid velocity near the data transducers and/or the rotating storage disks.

Diffuser for reducing fluid velocity near disk surfaces in a rotating storage device

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Sherborn, MA, United States of America

Gary Walker