Plastic clamp with hub and platter for use in disc drive

A disc assembly for reading and recording digital information comprising:

• a platter having a substantially planar bottom surface and a substantially planar top surface, and defining a center aperture;
• a hub, disposed proximate the center aperture, including a sidewall that forms a receptacle therein and a center hollow for receiving a spindle motor;
• and
• a clamp, coupled to the platter and opposing said hub, including a self-aligning contact surface engaged to the platter and a protruding member disposed at least partially within said receptacle to securely couple the clamp to the hub without mechanical fasteners, said protruding member radially abutting the platter, said clamp including a flange member axially abutting the platter.

A disc assembly for reading and recording digital information comprising:

• a platter having a substantially planar bottom surface and a substantially planar top surface, and defining a center aperture;
• a hub, disposed proximate the center aperture, including a sidewall forming a center hollow for receiving a spindle motor, a hub flange coupled to the bottom surface, and a top plate coupled to the hub flange;
• the top plate forming a receptacle void therein;
• and
• a clamp, coupled to the platter and opposing said hub, including a contact portion engaged to the platter and a protruding member disposed at least partially within said receptacle void to securely couple the clamp to the hub without mechanical fasteners, said protruding member comprising a heat-deformed stake.

A disc drive for reading and recording digital information comprising:

• a disc assembly including (i) a platter having a substantially planar bottom surface and a substantially planar top surface, and defining a center aperture, (ii) a hub, disposed proximate the center aperture, including a sidewall forming a receptacle and a center hollow, formed by the sidewall, for receiving a spindle motor, and (iii) a clamp, coupled to the platter and opposing said hub, including a self-aligning contact portion engaged to the platter top surface, and a protruding member disposed at least partially within said receptacle and fastenerlessly securely coupled to said sidewall, said protruding member being disposed in said annular channel in a press fit;
• a spindle motor disposed at least partially within said center hollow of the platter;
• a transducer capable of reading and recording digital information stored on the disc assembly;
• and
• an actuator capable of positioning the transducer.

A disc drive for reading and recording digital information comprising:

• a disc assembly including (i) a platter having a substantially planar bottom surface and a substantially planar top surface, and defining a center aperture, (ii) a hub, disposed proximate the center aperture, including a hub flange coupled to the bottom surface;
• a top plate, coupled to said hub flange, having a void formed therein;
• and a center hollow formed in the hub for receiving a spindle motor, and (iii) a clamp, coupled to the platter and opposing said hub, including a contact surface engaged to said platter top surface and a protruding member disposed at least partially within the void and securely coupled to said top plate without mechanical fasteners, said protruding member comprising a heat-deformed stake;
• a spindle motor disposed at least partially within said center hollow of the platter;
• a transducer capable of reading and recording digital information stored on the disc assembly;
• and
• an actuator capable of positioning the transducer.

A method of forming a disc assembly for storing digital information on a platter having a substantially planar top surface, a substantially planar bottom surface, and a center aperture, comprising the steps of:

• aligning a receptacle of a hub with the center aperture proximate the bottom surface;
• aligning a stake that depends downwardly from a top portion of a clamp with the void formed in a top plate of the hub;
• and
• inserting the stake into the void from a top surface side of the platter to clamp the platter between the clamp and the hub without mechanical fasteners, and deforming the stake to affix the clamp to the hub.