Liquid crystal material sealed housing
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsNeal F. Gunderson, Daniel D. Dittmer, Michael A. Mewes
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hermetically sealed housing having a base deck, a cover member and a seal assembly constructed of a liquid crystal material (LCM), the base deck and cover member forming an enclosure containing an inert gas atmosphere. Various embodiments have the LCM seal bonded to one or both of the base deck and cover member and bonded to seal the enclosure by molding, compression, adhesive bonding, thermoplastic welding or soldering, or a combination of such.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a housing having a base deck and a cover member;
- and
- a liquid crystal material (LCM) seal adjoining the base deck and the cover member to enclose an inert gas atmosphere, the LCM seal plated with a metal coating and bonded to at least one of the base deck and the cover member via a metal-to-metal seam.
An apparatus comprising a hermetically sealed housing which encloses an inert gas atmosphere, the housing comprising a base deck, a cover member, and a seal interposed therebetween, the seal comprising a liquid crystal material (LCM) plated with a layer of metal, said plated layer bonded to at least a selected one of the base deck or the cover member to provide a metal-to-metal seam.
A method of hermetically sealing a housing having a cover member and a base deck, the method comprising:
- placing a liquid crystal material (LCM) seal between the cover member and the base deck, the LCM seal having a metal coating layer;
- and
- bonding the metal coating layer of the LCM seal to the base deck and the cover member to form a metal-to-metal seal that retains an inert gas atmosphere within the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.