Patent · US Expired

Base plate for suspension assembly in hard disk drive with tapered inner barrel

US6033755A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
8References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 16, 1997
Grant dateMar 7, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 16, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T428/24273
  • WIPO fieldMachine tools
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A base plate wherein the inner barrel of the base plate hub is comprised of two distinct zones. The first zone is an inner diameter sized for use with standard tooling pins in an assembly process as a metric for size control. The second zone is a taper for distributing tension swage force and plastic strain toward the rear part of the hub by making the hub stiffer as the swage ball proceeds downward through the barrel, and for distributing compression swage force and plastic strain toward the rear of the hub by relieving stiffness as the swage ball proceeds upward. A back side slope is provided to prevent washed metal from creating added swage force and plastic strain during swaging in the compression direction. The base plate has a minimal counter bore, a lead-in chamfer which is shallower than typical, a second lead-in chamfer which is very steep and upon which the ball begins to swage, a small inner diameter region to allow for tooling during assembly, and a tapered backside to reduce unneeded material.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.