Nidec Corporation

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Kazuhiko Fukushima

Takehito Tamaoka

Kazuhiro Sato

Yoichi Sekii

Hiroyuki Abe

Kyoko Horise

Shinya Ishigami

Takahiro Nagai

Kiyoto Ida

Koji Hatanaka

Kouta Kabune

Tomohiro Yoneda

Masayoshi Saichi

Kazushi Miura

Teiichi Hirono

Jonathan M Garbarino

Tomohiro Hasegawa

Hiroaki Hirano

Katsuya Takahashi

Hironori Ando

Masashi Hirayama

Tomoyuki Tsukamoto

Shunji Matsumoto

Tatsuya Akase

Shinichiro Noda

Yoshiharu Ikegami

Seungsin Yoo

Robert N Lion

Naoki Matsuba

A motor includes a rotor rotatable about a center axis that extends vertically, a stator opposing the rotor in a radial direction, and a base portion opposing a lower surface of the stator in an axial direction. The base portion includes a lower lid portion extending in a direction orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to the center axis, a protruding portion protruding in the axial direction from an upper surface at a center of the lower lid portion, and a stator holding portion adjacent to the protruding portion in the axial direction and contactable with an inner circumferential surface of the stator. The protruding portion includes a first ventilation portion opening downward at the center of the lower lid portion and a second ventilation portion to cause the protruding portion to communicate with the first ventilation portion.

Motor and fan motor

A gas dynamic bearing includes a shaft extending along a central axis extending vertically, and a sleeve with a hole opening at least at one end of the sleeve in an axial direction, at least a portion of the shaft housed inside the hole. The sleeve includes dynamic pressure grooves in an inner peripheral surface of the hole. The shaft includes a core portion, and a protective portion that is disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the core portion and that includes at least a portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the hole in a radial direction. The protective portion includes a first protective portion and a second protective portion. The first protective portion is at least above or below the second protective portion in the axial direction, and includes at least a portion with a thickness in the radial direction more than a thickness of the second protective portion in the radial direction.

Gas dynamic bearing, motor, and blower apparatus

A centrifugal fan includes a motor, a support body, a rotating body, and a housing. The motor includes a rotor hub that rotates around a central axis extending up and down. The support body is fixed to the rotor hub and rotates together with the rotor hub. The rotating body is different from the support body in material. The rotating body is a continuous porous body. The housing accommodates the rotating body, the support body, and the motor. The housing includes an air inlet open in an axial direction and at least one air outlet open in a radial direction. A radially inner surface of the rotating body opposes a radially outer surface of the rotor hub with a gap interposed therebetween.

Centrifugal fan

A gas dynamic pressure bearing includes a shaft centered on a central axis extending in an up-down direction, and a sleeve that faces at least a portion of the shaft in a radial direction. The portion in which the sleeve and the shaft face each other in the radial direction includes a first dynamic pressure portion at each of both ends in the axial direction, and a second dynamic pressure portion between the first dynamic pressure portions. In the first dynamic pressure portion, one of the sleeve and the shaft includes dynamic pressure grooves arranged in a circumferential direction. A sum of center angles of groove widths of the dynamic pressure grooves in a cross-section cut along a plane orthogonal to the central axis is about 144&#xb0; or more and about 216&#xb0; or less.

Gas dynamic pressure bearing, motor, and blower

A motor includes a stationary unit and a rotary unit. The stationary unit includes a stator, a base portion having at least one hole extending in the up-down direction, and a flexible wiring substrate. The flexible wiring substrate reaches a position higher than a lower surface of the base portion through at least one hole and is arranged to supply electric power to the stator. The flexible wiring substrate includes a connection portion arranged higher than the lower surface of the base portion and connected to the stator. The connection portion includes a solder portion arranged on a lower surface thereof to cover a portion of a lead wire extending from a coil of the stator. At least a portion of the solder portion is positioned within the hole.

Motor and disk drive apparatus

A cooling apparatus includes an impeller, a motor, a base portion, and a motor circuit board. The impeller includes a plurality of blades and a blade support portion. Of the plurality of blades, at least one pair of circumferentially adjacent blades are arranged to have a channel defined therebetween, the channel extending from axially upper edges to axially lower edges of the blades, and being arranged to be open toward the upper surface of the base portion. The base portion includes a heat source contact portion with which a heat source is to be in contact. At least one of the blades includes a blade edge opposed portion having an axially lower edge arranged opposite to the upper surface of the base portion. An outermost edge portion of the motor circuit board is arranged radially inward of a radially inner end portion of the blade edge opposed portion.

Cooling apparatus

A blower fan includes a lower plate portion made of a material having a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W/(m&#xb7;K) or more, and a side wall portion made of a material having a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W/(m&#xb7;K) or more. An upper plate portion arranged to cover an upper side of the impeller includes an air inlet. The upper plate portion, the side wall portion, and the lower plate portion are arranged to together define an air outlet on the lateral side of the impeller. The blower fan further includes a heat source contact portion with which a heat source is to be in contact, the heat source contact portion being arranged in a surface of the blower fan which faces away from the impeller. The heat source contact portion and the tongue portion are arranged to at least partially overlap with each other in the plan view.

A fan includes a stationary portion; a bearing mechanism; and a rotating portion. The rotating portion includes an impeller including a plurality of blades and an annular impeller cup arranged to support the blades. The rotor portion includes a cover portion and a cylindrical portion. The impeller is fixed to an outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion of the rotor portion. The outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion and an inner circumferential surface of the impeller cup have a joining portion therebetween. At least one of the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion and the inner circumferential surface of the impeller cup includes a groove portion recessed radially from the joining portion. The groove portion includes an upward facing surface. An adhesive is arranged in the groove portion. At least a portion of the adhesive is arranged above the upward facing surface of the groove portion.

The fan includes an impeller, a motor, and a housing. The housing includes a side wall portion and a lower plate portion. at least one of the lower plate portion and an upper plate portion arranged to cover an upper side of the impeller includes an air inlet. The upper plate portion, the side wall portion, and the lower plate portion are arranged to together define an air outlet on a lateral side of the impeller. At or near an opposite end of the heat pipe, the heat pipe includes a contact portion arranged to be in contact with one of an upper surface of the lower plate portion and a lower surface of the upper plate portion. A longitudinal direction of at least a portion of the heat pipe extends at an angle with respect to the air outlet.

Heat module

A heat module includes a fan and a heat pipe. A flat portion of the heat pipe includes a recessed portion being recessed toward a center of the heat pipe in a cross section. A heat receiving portion arranged between the heat source and the heat pipe includes a heat source contact portion arranged to be in thermal contact with the heat pipe. In at least a portion of the heat pipe which extends between a portion of the heat pipe which is in thermal contact with the fan contact portion and a portion of the heat pipe which is in thermal contact with the heat source contact portion, a difference between a maximum axial height of the heat pipe and a minimum axial height of a portion of the heat pipe where the recessed portion is defined is smaller than a wall thickness of the recessed portion.

In a blower fan according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a side wall portion includes a tongue portion arranged to project between an air outlet and an impeller. A side surface of the tongue portion includes a tongue portion tip arranged to touch a first imaginary plane including a central axis; a first tongue portion side surface arranged to extend from the tongue portion tip along an outer envelope of the impeller; and a second tongue portion side surface arranged to extend from the tongue portion tip toward a side edge, the side edge being a line of intersection of the air outlet and the side wall portion. The second tongue portion side surface is arranged to cross a second imaginary plane including the central axis and touching the side edge.

Blower fan

A blower fan includes a lower plate portion made of a material having a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W/(m&#xb7;K) or more, and a side wall portion made of a material having a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W/(m&#xb7;K) or more. An upper plate portion arranged to cover an upper side of the impeller includes an air inlet. The upper plate portion, the side wall portion, and the lower plate portion are arranged to together define an air outlet on the lateral side of the impeller. The blower fan further includes a heat source contact portion with which a heat source is to be in contact, the heat source contact portion being arranged in a surface of the blower fan which faces away from the impeller. The heat source contact portion and the side wall portion are arranged to at least partially overlap with each other in a plan view.

In a bearing mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a seal portion in which a surface of a lubricating oil is located is defined in a seal gap defined between an outer circumferential surface of a first tubular portion and an inner circumferential surface of a second tubular portion. The first tubular portion includes, in an area where the outer circumferential surface of the first tubular portion is in contact with the lubricating oil, a maximum outside diameter portion at which the outside diameter of the first tubular portion is greatest, an annular shoulder portion including a surface facing toward the surface of the lubricating oil and at which the outside diameter is smaller than at the maximum outside diameter portion, and an inclined portion at which the outside diameter gradually decreases from the annular shoulder portion toward the surface of the lubricating oil.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Kazuhiko Fukushima