The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 12, 2002
Filed:
May. 22, 2000
Walter L. Prater, San Jose, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A damped tolerance ring assembly has an outer tolerance ring, an inner tolerance ring, and an elastomeric layer bonded therebetween. The tolerance rings are metal, spring-like split rings. Each tolerance ring has corrugations for additional strength. The elastomeric layer contours to the shape of both the inner and outer rings and their corrugations. The damped tolerance ring assembly is press fit between a cylindrical pivot assembly and a cylindrical hole in the actuator body of a disk drive. The friction at the interfaces of the tolerance rings due to compressive forces hold the pivot securely in the actuator body such that they all rotate together relative to a pivot shaft. The tolerance rings are formed from steel and provide a stiff outer shell for the ring assembly to resist axial rocking of the actuator body relative to the pivot, especially during structural resonance modes. The thin layer of elastomer provides the damping and isolation to absorb vibration energy of the bearing reaction force. The vibration energy is not transferred to the read/write heads of the drive. Thus, track misregistration is reduced and performance is improved.