Abstract: A disc drive including a dual disc clamp for clamping a number of hard discs within a disc drive is disclosed. The clamp is comprised of a top circular clamp member in contact with a bottom circular clamp member, with the clamp members having the same physical shape and area. The bottom clamp member has number of holes formed therein which reduce the disc distortion. The top clamp member has a concave upper surface, while the bottom clamp member has a convex upper surface. The clamp holds the discs in place through pressure provided by a plurality of screws which are passed through holes in the clamp members. The disc drive also includes a spindle motor to which the dual disc clamp is connected. The spindle motor provides a greater torque constant, thereby allowing lower start and run current.

Abstract: A latching mechanism for a disc drive actuator that makes use of a constant force to hold the latch in an unlatched position while the disc drive is in operational mode. The latching mechanism uses the power of the actuator to move the latching mechanism into a latched position under program control or upon the detection of a power loss. While in the latched position, the configuration of the latching mechanism components combined with the frictional contact between heads and discs serves to overcome the constant force and maintain the actuator in its park position, even in the presence of applied mechanical shock, until power is restored to the disc drive. Unlatching of the latching mechanism is accomplished by bringing the spindle motor up to a speed at which the heads begin to fly, eliminating the friction between the heads and discs and allowing the constant force to move the latching mechanism to it unlocked position.

Abstract: A disc clamp formed in a circular shape from planar material. The disc clamp includes a central mounting portion having screw holes through which screws are inserted and fastened to matching tapped holes in the hub of the spindle motor. A circular corrugation is formed closely adjacent the outer diameter of the clamp forming a circular contact surface facing in the direction of the uppermost disc in a vertical stack of discs. A stiffening bend is formed at a radius lying between the central mounting portion and the circular corrugation to distribute the clamping force evenly between adjacent pairs of the screws. In a second aspect of the invention, the central mounting portion of the clamp includes a central opening and that part of the central mounting portion between the central opening and the stiffening bend is formed out-of-plane in the direction of the discs so that the central mounting portion will be substantially flattened onto the top of the hub of the spindle motor when the screws are tightened.

Abstract: In a disc drive with an integrated casting comprising the housing for the stepper and spindle motors, the transducer is mounted on a normal bearing pivot assembly lightweight actuator arm and biasing strip spring. One end of the strip spring is mounted to a block and the effective force of the spring is aligned with the actuator arm running toward the stepper motor. The other, or head end of the actuator arm contains a gear sector having gear teeth on its face which mesh with a pinion on a motor shaft so rotation of the motor shaft across the face of the gear sector causes movement of the head mounting arm. The actuator arm is formed of a self-lubricating polymer or other lightweight self-lubricating material. This way, wear on the gear is reduced; and as the teeth are worn, the gear is still tightly biased against the pinion to maintain accurate movement of the actuator arm with rotation of the pinion.

Abstract: In a disc drive, the normal bearing pivot assembly is replaced with a combination of a lightweight actuator arm and biasing strip spring. One end of the strip spring is mounted to a block and the effective force of the spring is aligned with the actuator arm running toward the stepper motor. The other, or head end of the actuator arm contains a gear sector having gear teeth on its face which mesh with a pinion on a motor shaft so rotation of the motor shaft across the face of the gear sector causes movement of the head mounting arm.

Abstract: A disc drive is disclosed which includes a base casting, a spindle motor mounted for supporting one or more discs for continuous rotation, an actuator for selectively positioning the transducers relative to the disc, and a cover which is to be fastened to the base casting to provide a sealed head disc environment. In order to achieve the seal in a preferred form of the invention, several corners of the base casting and/or other points along the edges of the casting are cast with upright posts. In assembly of the drive, a seal is placed around the upstanding edge of the casting, with the post protruding through the seal. The cover, which has openings matching the posts, is pressed down against the seal with the post protruding up through the cover and seal or gasket.

Abstract: A removable hard disc memory cartridge for use with a drive mechanism including a spindle located within a drive housing.The drive housing interior is provided with stationary position registration members which cooperate with mating side edge portions of the cartridge to provide positive positioning when the cartridge is inserted into the drive housing. A disc lock carried by the cartridge maintains the internally mounted cartridge disc in a secured locked position when the cartridge is not in use, the lock mechanism cooperating with release posts carried by the drive housing to free the disc for rotation just prior to engagement by the drive spindle.