US 6,215,616 B1Granted

Disk drive spindle motor with wire guide insert

AssigneeWestern Digital Corporation

InventorsBang Phan, Joseph H. Sassine

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

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Abstract

A spindle motor for a disk drive includes a shaft, an upper bearing, a lower bearing, a stator, a hub and wire guide body. The upper bearing surrounds the shaft. The lower bearing surrounds the shaft, is spaced-apart from the upper bearing, and includes an inner race. The stator surrounds the shaft between the upper bearing and the lower bearing, and includes a stator wire extending from a stator core. The hub is concentrically positioned about the stator. The wire guide body is secured between the shaft and the lower bearing, and includes a generally cylindrically shaped surface and a channel. The channel is sized to receive the stator wire and is formed adjacent to the cylindrically shaped surface such that the channel opens into at least one of the shaft and the inner race.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A spindle motor for a disk drive, the spindle motor comprising:

a stationary shaft defining a longitudinal axis;
an upper bearing surrounding the shaft;
a lower bearing surrounding the shaft and being spaced-apart from the upper bearing in a direction along the longitudinal axis, the lower bearing having an inner race and defining a bottom surface;
a stator surrounding the shaft between the upper bearing and the lower bearing, the stator including a stator wire and a stator core, the stator wire having a leading portion, the stator wire being wound around the stator core such that the leading portion extends from the stator core;
a hub concentrically positioned about the stator;
and
a wire guide body secured between the shaft and the lower bearing such that a bottom end of the wire guide body is contiguous with the bottom surface of the lower bearing, the wire guide body including:
a generally cylindrically shaped surface, and
a channel sized to receive the leading portion, the channel being formed adjacent to the cylindrically shaped surface such that the channel is adjacent to at least one of the shaft and the inner race.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/225,161Filed 4 Jan 1999
Granted: 10 Apr 2001
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G11B 33/121
Disposition of constructional parts in the apparatus, e.g. of power supply, of modules: the apparatus comprising a single recording/reproducing device
G11B 19/2009
Driving; Starting; Stopping; Control thereof: turntables, hubs and motors for disk drives; Mounting of motors in the drive
G11B 25/043
Using flat record carriers, e.g. disc, card: using rotating discs
H02K 5/1737
Using bearings with rolling contact, e.g. ball bearings: radially supporting the rotor around a fixed spindle; radially supporting the rotor directly