Inventor · Santa Cruz, CA, US

John C. Dunfield

46Patents
22h-index
18Co-inventors
78Inventor score

Filing activity: Jun 21, 1990 → Feb 4, 2000

Most-cited inventions

PatentTitleAreaCited byStatus
US5028852A Position detection for a brushless DC motor without hall effect devices using a time differential method Electricity 113 Expired
US5254914A Position detection for a brushless DC motor without Hall effect devices using a mutual inductance detection method Electricity 113 Expired
US5694268A Spindle motor having overmolded stator Physics 68 Expired
US5841252A Detection of starting motor position in a brushless DC motor Electricity 53 Expired
US5569990A Detection of starting motor position in a brushless DC motor Electricity 52 Expired
US5579188A Ironless spindle motor for disc drive Electricity 50 Expired
US6538836B1 Microactuator for fine positioning in a disc drive Physics 48 Expired
US5619083A Passive magnetic bearings for a spindle motor Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating 47 Expired
US5598048A Integrated passive magnetic bearing system and spindle magnet for use in an axial magnet spindle motor Electricity 44 Expired
US5587617A Integrated passive magnetic bearing system and spindle magnet for use in an axial magnet spindle motor Electricity 40 Expired
US5619389A Stator isolation for spindle motor Physics 40 Expired
US5729404A Disc drive spindle motor with rotor isolation and controlled resistance electrical pathway from disc to ground Electricity 33 Expired
US5548458A Support flange having electrical contacts to provide electrical continuity upon spindle motor mounting to base Electricity 32 Expired
US5541460A Passive magnetic bearings for a spindle motor Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating 29 Expired
US5598071A Method for starting and commutating a permanent-magnet direct current motor having a single phase winding Electricity 27 Expired
US5949613A Disk drive spindle motor assembly with stator having a resilient covering with a routing means, an attaching means and a connecting means to operatively connect stator to a base Electricity 27 Expired
US5633568A Method and apparatus for dynamic low voltage spindle motor operation Physics 27 Expired
US5581424A Magnetic crash stop and latch in a disc drive Physics 26 Expired
US5956204A Magnetic disc drive having magnetic particle trap for hydrodynamic bearing Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating 24 Expired
US5844748A Disc drive spindle motor with controlled resistance pathway from disc to ground Electricity 23 Expired
US5454724A Floating electrical contact for spindle motor Electricity 23 Expired
US5610463A Passive magnetic bearings for a spindle motor Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating 22 Expired
US5850318A Slotless spindle motor for disc drive Electricity 21 Expired
US5561335A Integrated passive magnetic bearing system and spindle permanent magnet for use in a spindle motor Electricity 19 Expired
US5485331A High resistivity bearing balls for spindle motor isolation Electricity 18 Expired

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Inventor disambiguation is heuristic; counts are objective bibliographic measures.