Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Peter G Robinson

Scott Edward Watson

Lidu Huang

John R Gustafson

Aaron D Little

Michael G Choy

A disk drive comprises a disk drive base, an actuator rotatably coupled to the disk drive base, a magnet disposed adjacent the actuator, and a latch. The latch is coupled to the disk drive base. The latch includes a latch body, a retention bore, a seating cavity, and a biasing ball. The retention bore extends into the latch body along a bore longitudinal axis. The retention bore includes a ball entrance defining a ball entrance diameter. The seating cavity extends from within the retention bore into the latch body. The seating cavity has an interior dimension perpendicular to the bore longitudinal axis greater than the ball entrance diameter. The biasing ball is disposed at least partially in the retention bore and at least partially within the seating cavity. The biasing ball comprises a magnetic material and has a ball diameter greater than the ball entrance diameter.

Disk drive with an actuator latch having a biasing ball at least partially within a seating cavity adjoining a retention bore

A disk drive includes a disk drive housing having a breather hole and a separate leak testing hole, both the breather hole and the leak testing hole being formed through the disk drive housing, and a drive sub-component attached to a surface of the disk drive housing so as to form an interface between the sub-component and the surface of the housing. The interface defines an interface outer perimeter and a sealed airflow testing channel in fluid communication only with the leak testing hole to enable a non-destructive detection of leaks at the interface. The airflow testing channel may be disposed within the interface outer perimeter.

Disk drive configured to enable non destructive leak detection at the interface between a drive sub-component and the disk drive housing

A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head, a spindle motor having a hub, the hub comprising a cylindrical shaft, the shaft defining a generally cylindrically-shaped outer surface, the outer surface defining a latching member extending around at least part of the circumference of the shaft. A disk is positioned on the spindle motor and an actuator moves the head radially over the disk. A disk clamp clamps the disk to the spindle motor. The disk clamp comprises a ring-shaped body comprising an outer ring-shaped surface abutting the disk, and an inner neck spaced-apart from the outer ring-shaped surface, the inner neck comprising a plurality of independently flexing teeth for contacting the latching member.

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Concord, CA, United States of America

Peter G Robinson