Seagate Technology Incorporated

Michael James Whittome

Robert Michael Pelstring

Jeffry Arnold LeBlanc

Michael David Kennedy

Donald James Macleod

Marten Fredrick Byl

Tan Hung Pham

Robert Alan Notingham

An apparatus and method are provided for sealing an outer surfaceof a shaftto an inner surfaceof a hubThe seal includes a magnetwith top and bottom pole piecesand a ferrofluidmagnetically held in a gapbetween the pole piecesand the hubor the shaftThe top pole piecehas a cross-section that is L-shaped, with a horizontal portionparallel to the magnetand a shorter vertical portionfacing the shaftIn one version, the vertical portionor the portion of the shaftfacing it is contoured to provide a flux gradient that axially concentrates the ferrofluidin the gapIn another aspect, a catcheris provided to reduce loss of ferrofluidwhen the ferrofluidic sealused to form an outside seal. In yet another aspect, a stationary ferrofluidic sealis provided for sealing a stationary shaftto a rotating hub

Apparatus and method for forming a rotatable ferrofluidic seal between a shaft and a hub

A conical hydrodynamic bearing gauging and seating system that enables the efficient seating of conical hydrodynamic bearings to a rotor shaft and hub while the rotor assembly remains in a pressing fixture. The invention provides a conical hydrodynamic bearing gauging and seating apparatus comprising a capacitive probe assembly disposed within a hollow pressing fixture in communication with a rotor shaft.

Conical hydrodynamic bearing gauging apparatus and method

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Scotts Valley, CA, United States of America

Michael James Whittome