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:
Aug. 12, 2008
Filed:
Feb. 15, 2005
Andre Sirilutporn, Milpitas, CA (US);
Jr-yi Shen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kunihiro Shida, San Jose, CA (US);
Andre Sirilutporn, Milpitas, CA (US);
Jr-Yi Shen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kunihiro Shida, San Jose, CA (US);
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands BV, Amsterdam, NL;
Abstract
A system for locating and determining the orientation of fasteners in hard disk drive spindle assemblies utilizes a sensor system that facilitates an automated rework process for the spindle assemblies. The screw locating system identifies the locations of the screws in a spindle and generates a signal for a screw driver system to align tool bits with the screws. The sensor is highly advantageous when reworking spindle motors with opaque labels that cover and/or block the fasteners. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of prior art techniques by using a screw locating system that is based on a selected capacitance probe without requiring the use of timing features.