Air dams positioned between spinning disks for reducing the vibration in a data storage device
US6097568A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 4, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 1, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 4, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B33/148
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A vibration-reduction device for a disk drive includes providing air dams that regulate air intake and air expulsion relative to gaps between adjacent data disks of a disk stack. In the preferred embodiment, the dams are formed by a number of arrays of fingers, with each gap between adjacent data disks receiving a finger from each of the arrays. The fingers within a gap are spaced apart to partition the gap into air flow cells. The fingers cleave circulating air from the gap before the air has sufficient rotational velocity to expel itself as a result of centrifugal force. Thus, the air is expelled in a controlled manner that retards aerodynamic forces having sufficient energy to induce vibration of the disks. In another embodiment, each finger of an array has a configuration that defines nonuniform clearances between the finger and each data disk on the opposite sides of the finger. For example, each finger may have a cross section in which the dimension of the leading edge is greater than the dimension of the trailing edge, with the leading edge being forward of the trailing edge with respect to the direction of disk rotation. This geometry reduces the likelihood that local turbu…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.