Patents by Inventor David Ronald Bain Farquhar

David Ronald Bain Farquhar has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8755177
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling the temperature of a disk drive during manufacture of the disk drive has a cell having a mounting arrangement to which a disk drive can be mounted and having walls defining a volume in which the disk drive is received when mounted to the mounting arrangement during manufacture of the disk drive. At least one wall of the cell adjacent said volume is heat conductive and is arranged such that a disk drive when received in the volume does not touch said at least one wall. An air-agitating device agitates air between the at least one wall and a disk drive when received in the volume to encourage heat transfer between said at least one wall and a disk drive when inserted into the volume. The air-agitating device is mounted so as to be vibrationally isolated from a said disk drive when mounted in the cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Xyratex Technology Limited
    Inventors: David Ronald Bain Farquhar, Matthew Roy Hill, Alexander Stephen Kay, David John Orriss
  • Publication number: 20120120524
    Abstract: A temperature control apparatus for a hard disk drive includes: a thermal chamber for receiving a hard disk drive; and an oscillatory air movement generator for generating air movement within a region between the thermal chamber and the hard disk drive when received in the thermal chamber, thereby to facilitate heat transfer between the thermal chamber and the hard disk drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2011
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: XYRATEX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
    Inventors: David Ronald Bain Farquhar, David John Orriss
  • Patent number: 8061155
    Abstract: A temperature control apparatus for a hard disk drive includes a thermal chamber for receiving the hard disk drive. The apparatus also includes an oscillatory air movement generator for generating air movement within a region between the thermal chamber and the hard disk drive when the hard disk is received in the thermal chamber, thereby to facilitate heat transfer between the thermal chamber and the hard disk drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Xyratex Technology Limited
    Inventors: David Ronald Bain Farquhar, David John Orris
  • Patent number: 7729107
    Abstract: A disk drive test apparatus has a plurality of bays each for receiving a respective disk drive to be tested. A plurality of card slots are provided each for receiving a test card via which a disk drive can be tested. Each of the test cards is either an environment test card or an interface test card. The card slots and the test cards are arranged such that each card slot (6) can selectively receive an environment test card or an interface test card. Other arrangements for disk drive test apparatus or disk drive mounting apparatus are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Xyratex Technology Limited
    Inventors: Andrew William Atkins, Steve Andrew Bailey, David Ronald Bain Farquhar, David John Orriss, Kevin Richardson
  • Patent number: 7612996
    Abstract: The invention provides a temperature control device for a disk drive unit, the temperature control device includes a housing for connection to a carrier for a disk drive unit; an air flow generator arranged in the housing for providing a flow of air to a disk drive unit in a connected carrier; and, an air flow control device arranged at the side of the air flow generator and selectively configurable to control the air flow path whereby the temperature of air flowing to the disk drive unit can be controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Assignee: Xyratex Technology Limited
    Inventors: Andrew William Atkins, David Ronald Bain Farquhar
  • Publication number: 20080112075
    Abstract: The invention provides a temperature control apparatus for a hard disk drive, the apparatus comprising: a thermal chamber for receiving a hard disk drive; and an oscillatory air movement generator for generating air movement within a region between the thermal chamber and a said hard disk drive when received in the thermal chamber, thereby to facilitate heat transfer between the thermal chamber and a said hard disk drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2005
    Publication date: May 15, 2008
    Applicant: XYRATEX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
    Inventors: David Ronald Bain Farquhar, David John Orris