Seagate Technology Incorporated

William C Bright

John W Elsing

William J Kostecka

A spindle motor for a disc drive data storage device in which the stator is isolated from the stationary portion of the motor used to attach the spindle motor to the disc drive housing by use of resilient members interposed between the stator and the stationary portion of the motor. In a preferred embodiment, the resilient members comprise a plurality of toroidal rings, or O-rings, and, in a first aspect of the invention, these rings are interposed radially between the stator and the stationary portion of the spindle motor and are axially constrained in relationship to the motor by a corresponding number of annular grooves formed in the stationary portion of the motor. In a second aspect of the invention, metal-to-metal contact between the stator and the stationary portion of the motor in the axial direction is eliminated through the use of a non-metallic washer at one end of the stator and an axial O-ring at the other end of the stator. Circumferential movement of the stator relative to the stationary portion of the motor is prevented by the use of a stator lock ring.

Audible noise reduction in a disc drive

A disk drive assembly includes a disk pack with an axially retractable spindle assembly, along with a rotary actuator, mounted within a unitary deck and precision aligned by bores through spaced apart upper and lower support walls of the deck. Bushings, mounted to opposite ends of a spindle shaft through bearings, are aligned with the bores by inserting the retracted spindle assembly into the deck, with a spring biasing the spindle assembly into the retracted position. Fasteners through the opposed support walls draw the bushing sleeves axially outward against the spring force to preload the bearings as the shaft is aligned and secured, without employing a jig or any other alignment tooling. Upwardly converging flutes in the hub, in combination with openings through annular spacers that separate adjacent disks in the disk pack, provide a purging and cooling air flow, while interacting pairs of annular flanges and annular grooves, in the hub and bushings, control radial passage of air from the center of the spindle assembly into the region of the disks.

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Eden Prairie, MN, United States of America

William C Bright