Seagate Technology Incorporated

Conner Peripherals, Inc.

Seagate Technologies, Inc.

Wallis Allen Dague

Frederick Mark Stefansky

Virat Thantrakul

Khosrow Mohajerani

Steven R Speckmann

John P Squires

Rishi Kant

Kurt M Anderson

Kenneth J Altshuler

Virat Thantrakuh

The present invention is directed to a disk drive that includes a head disk assembly on a base plate, a cover sealably attached to the base plate to enclose the head disk assembly, and a printed circuit board fastened beneath the head disk assembly. The printed circuit board has a port connector at one end of the board opposite an end having power and signal connectors.

Disc drive having a printed circuit board port connector

A low height disk drive having an overall height of approximately one inch (1&Prime;). The drive includes a head disk assembly, including a base plate, two disks rotatably supported on the base plate, a motor for rotating the disks, at least two heads for reading information from and writing information on respective ones of the disks; an actuator, supported on the base plate and responsive to control signals, for selectively positioning the heads with respect to the disks, and a cover sealably attached to the base plate to enclose the storage device, the head, and the actuator. The disk drive also includes control circuitry for generating control signals, and for providing information signals to and receiving information signals from the heads. The head disk assembly and the control circuitry have a combined height of approximately one inch or less.

Disc drive magnetic latch mechanism

A low height disk drive having an overall height of approximately one inch (1&Prime;). The drive includes a head disk assembly, including a base plate, two disks rotatably supported on the base plate, a motor for rotating the disks, at least two heads for reading information from and writing information on respective ones of the disks; an actuator, supported on said base plate and responsive to control signals, for selectively positioning the heads with respect to the disks, and a cover sealably attached to the base plate to enclose the storage means, the head, and the actuator. The disk drive also includes control circuitry for generating control signals, and for providing information signals to and receiving information signals from the heads. The head disk assembly and the control circuitry have a combined height of approximately one inch or less.

Actuator assembly retaining clip

Disk drive pass-through connector

A disc drive and method of making a disc drive, including a voice coil magnet assembly. The voice coil magnet assembly includes a top magnetic return plate, a bottom magnetic return plate and at least one pair of magnets affixed to at least one of the plates. The voice coil magnet assembly is pre-assembled prior to attachment to a base plate. The pre-assembled voice coil magnet assembly is then structurally coupled to the base plate at a boss or attachment point, and is done so in a rotatable manner at the boss or attachment point, such that the voice coil of an actuator assembly is sandwiched by the rotation of the pre-assembled unit about the structural attachment point or boss.

Pre-assembled voice coil magnetic assembly and rotatable attachment structure/method to base plate for disc drive

Apparatus for sealing the internal spindle motor bearing structure from the surrounding environment in a hard disc memory device. The motor includes a single low-cost part that seals both airflow paths, including both the bearings of the motor and around the wires. This single part acts as the electrical connector for the spindle motor as well as the seal. The invention consists of a single injection molded plastic connector with electrical contact members contained therein. Wires from the internal windings of the spindle motor pass through a hole provided in the connector housing and are terminated to the electrical contact members located within the connector. This hole is in turn sealed with a single drop of adhesive that is cured under the application of ultraviolet light. In a preferred embodiment, the spindle motor housing and connector are designed to form a press fit between the outer diameter of the circularly shaped connector housing and a groove in the motor housing provided for this purpose.

Spindle motor for a hard disc drive with a combination seal and electrical connector

An apparatus and method of manufacturing a low cost disc drive base plate that incorporates a platform portion and one or more over-molded disc drive structural components. The platform portion of the base plate is stamped or fine blanked from sheet metal and defines a centrally located depression for receiving over-molded structural components of the disc drive. The structural components of the disc drive are over-molded using a polymer or plastic insert molding process to the platform portion of the base plate. The use of a stamped platform portion having over-molded structural components significantly reduces conventional manufacturing costs and allows for the design of a disc drive having greater positional accuracy then that obtained with current disc drive technology.

Over-molded base plate and method of manufacture of over-molded base plate for a disc drive

An apparatus and method for minimizing the risk of damage to a disc surface caused by contact between a disc and a slider in a head disc assembly of a disc drive. The apparatus includes a flexure and slider which are biased away from the disc when the disc is stationary and one or more aerodynamic airfoils attached to the flexure. The airfoils are attached to the flexure and extend from the flexure at an angle relative to the disc so as to interact with an air flow caused when the disc spins to force the flexure and the attached slider to move toward the disc during operation of the disc drive.

Non contact head load/unload apparatus and method for disc drives

An apparatus and method for reducing the effects of disc flutter or noise in a disc drive incorporates damping material or rings that are clamped or sandwiched against mounted information storage disc at a distance from a hub portion of a spindle assembly. The damping rings are positioned between a disc clamp and a bottom annular flange of the hub portion so as to engage and reduce vibrations in the mounted information storage disc or discs. The damping rings can be retained in grooves defined in the disc clamp, bottom annular flange and top and bottom surfaces of an annular disc spacer. Alternatively, the damping rings can be reatined on tubular sidewalls defined on the disc clamp, bottom annular flange of the hub portion and annular disc spacer. The arrangement of damping rings absorbs energy transmitted by vibrations in information storage disc and thus minimizes the effects of disc flutter in a disc drive.

Apparatus and method for reducing disc flutter and disc vibration effects in a disc drive

A mechanism is provided to position a transducing bead with respect to a selected radial track of a rotatable recording disc in a disc drive including an actuator arm and a suspension load beam connected to the actuator arm. A plate is hingedly attached to the load beam, and a flexure is attached to the plate. A slider supporting the transducing head is attached to the flexure. A microactuator is attached to the plate and is operable in response to electrical control signals to move the plate relative to the load beam in the general plane of the load beam to selectively position the transducing head proximate to the selected radial track on the rotatable recording disc.

Flexure microactuator

A jacket for holding and retaining a disk drive unit in a computer device bay. The jacket protects the disk drive unit from damage during handling, use and storage. The configuration of the jacket permits electrical and electrical ground coupling of the disk drive unit to a computer device bay. The configuration of the jacket also permits engagement with a retaining mechanism in the computer device bay, and permits ejection from the computer device bay without imparting an excessive shock load to the disk drive unit.

Disk drive jacket

Female electrical connector

A parking device for an actuator in a storage device which includes a voice coil motor having a magnet, providing a magnetic field including a magnetic flux, and a coil coupled to the actuator. The parking device includes a magnetically permeable capture structure forming a path for the magnetic flux and generating a capture region, the capture region being a region of magnetic flux adjacent to the capture structure; and a capture member, having a face plate, coupled to the actuator such that the capture member enters the capture region to park the actuator when the actuator is in a park position. In a further aspect, the parking device includes a magnet structure supporting the magnet, having a top plate and a bottom plate, wherein the capture structure is positioned between the top and bottom plates and forms a magnetic circuit path for the magnetic flux with the magnet, and the top and bottom plates. In yet another aspect, the magnet structure comprises a support post member including an air gap to generate a fringe effect in the magnetic flux to provide the capture region and includes cavities such that the circuit path formed by the structure channels the magnetic flux to the gap.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, CO, United States of America

Wallis Allen Dague