Audible noise reduction in a disc drive

Abstract

A spindle motor for a disc drive data storage device in which the stator is isolated from the stationary portion of the motor used to attach the spindle motor to the disc drive housing by use of resilient members interposed between the stator and the stationary portion of the motor. In a preferred embodiment, the resilient members comprise a plurality of toroidal rings, or O-rings, and, in a first aspect of the invention, these rings are interposed radially between the stator and the stationary portion of the spindle motor and are axially constrained in relationship to the motor by a corresponding number of annular grooves formed in the stationary portion of the motor. In a second aspect of the invention, metal-to-metal contact between the stator and the stationary portion of the motor in the axial direction is eliminated through the use of a non-metallic washer at one end of the stator and an axial O-ring at the other end of the stator. Circumferential movement of the stator relative to the stationary portion of the motor is prevented by the use of a stator lock ring.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.