Hydrodynamic bearing system
AssigneeMinebea Co., Ltd.
InventorsAndreas Kull, Roland Beckers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hydrodynamic bearing system, in particular for a spindle motor, preferably for driving magnetic disks in disk drives, having at least one journal bearing formed by a shaft rotatably borne in a bearing sleeve. The hydrodynamic bearing system further includes at least one thrust bearing formed by a thrust plate, rotatably received in a recess of the sleeve and securely joined to the shaft, and a counter-bearing associated with the thrust plate that is in the form of a cover plate. The cover plate rests on and is attached to one end face of the sleeve. This reduces assembly-induced flexure in the cover plate.
Claims4
A hydrodynamic bearing system for a spindle motor, comprising:
- a shaft;
- a bearing sleeve;
- at least one journal bearing formed between said shaft and said bearing sleeve;
- a thrust plate fixedly mounted on said shaft;
- a cover plate positioned in an opposing counter-bearing relationship with said thrust plate;
- and
- at least one thrust bearing formed between said thrust plate and said cover plate,
- wherein said cover plate rests against and is affixed to an end face of said bearing sleeve and
- wherein an exterior diameter of said cover plate is essentially equal to an exterior diameter of said bearing sleeve.
A spindle motor having a hydrodynamic bearing system, said hydrodynamic bearing system comprising:
- a shaft;
- a bearing sleeve;
- at least one journal bearing formed between said shaft and said bearing sleeve;
- a thrust plate fixedly mounted on said shaft;
- a cover plate positioned in an opposing counter-bearing relationship with said thrust plate;
- and
- at least one thrust bearing formed between said thrust plate and said cover plate,
- wherein said cover plate rests against and is affixed to an end face of said bearing sleeve and
- wherein an exterior diameter of said cover plate is essentially equal to an exterior diameter of said bearing sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.