Back to results
US 9,997,206 B2Granted
Disc drive actuator assembly with bearing cooling
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsRichard August Budde, Dipeshkumar J. Purani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward a disc drive actuator assembly including an e-block, a plurality of bearings, and one or more heat transfer components. The heat transfer component(s) operates to conductively draw heat from the plurality of bearings through the e-block, and convectively dissipate the heat into an atmosphere in contact therewith. The heat transfer component(s) mitigates temperature rise of the bearings during operation of a disc drive, thereby mitigating bearing lubricant outgassing from within the bearings.
Claims19
A disc drive actuator assembly comprising:
- an e-block including one or more actuator arms, and a voice coil mount on a first surface;
- a plurality of bearings configured and arranged to facilitate rotation of the e-block around a pivot shaft;
- and
- one or more heat transfer components including a thermoelectric cooler thermally coupled to a second surface of the e-block that is on a different side of the e-block relative to the first surface, the thermoelectric cooler being configured and arranged to mitigate temperature rise of the plurality of bearings during operation of a disc drive by conductively drawing heat from the plurality of bearings through the e-block, and by convectively dissipating the heat into an atmosphere in contact therewith.
1 more element
A disc drive actuator assembly comprising:
- an e-block including a base portion having a first surface, a second surface that is different than the first surface, and a third surface that is on a different side of the base portion relative to the first surface and the second surface;
- one or more actuator arms extending from the third surface;
- a plurality of bearings configured and arranged to facilitate rotation of the e-block around a pivot shaft;
- a voice coil mount that extends from the first surface in a first direction relative to the pivot shaft;
- and
- one or more heat transfer components including a thermoelectric cooler thermally coupled to the second surface and spaced apart from both the one or more actuator arms and the voice coil mount, the one or more heat transfer components being configured and arranged to mitigate temperature rise of the plurality of bearings during operation of a disc drive by conductively drawing heat from the plurality of bearings through the e-block, and by convectively dissipating the heat into an atmosphere in contact therewith.
3 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a base deck including a pivot shaft fixed relative to the base deck;
- a plurality of storage mediums;
- a disc drive actuator assembly including:
- a transducer configured and arranged to access data storage locations on one of the plurality of storage mediums,
- an e-block including a base portion having a first surface, a second surface that is different than the first surface, and a third surface that is on a different side of the base portion relative to the first surface and the second surface, the e-block being configured and arranged to facilitate read and write access of the plurality of storage mediums by the transducer by positioning the transducer over a portion of the plurality of storage mediums, the e-block having a voice coil mount on the first surface, and
- a plurality of bearings rotationally coupled to the pivot shaft of the base deck and the e-block, the plurality of bearings configured and arranged to facilitate rotation of the e-block around the pivot shaft;
- a heat transfer component including a thermoelectric cooler thermally coupled to the second surface of the e-block that is on a different side of the e-block relative to the first surface, the heat transfer component configured and arranged to conductively draw heat from the plurality of bearings through the e-block to the heat transfer component, and to dissipate the heat into an atmosphere in contact with the heat transfer component;
- and
- an actuator arm that supports the transducer and extends from the third surface.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.