Hard disk drive latch which has a metal plate attached to the end face of a damping sleeve
US5812346A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 7, 1996 |
| Grant date | Sep 22, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 7, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B33/08
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A latch for an actuator arm of a hard disk drive. The latch includes a damping sleeve that is molded onto a steel plate. The sleeve has a pair of collars located at opposite ends of a neck portion. The neck portion is inserted into a plastic fantail portion of an actuator arm. The steel plate becomes attached to a magnetized member of the drive when the actuator arm is rotated to an unloaded position. The attachment of the plate, latches the position of the actuator arm and prevents the disk drive heads from moving onto the data sectors of the disk. The latch is located on the longitudinal center axis of the actuator arm so that the latch does not create a twisting vibrational mode on the arm. The steel plate is located away from the voice coil magnets of the disk drive so that the latch does not create a biasing force on the arm. The latch can be assembled to the actuator arm by merely pressing the damping sleeve into an aperture of a tab that extends from the fantail of the arm.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.