Abstract: A rotating magnetic storage device is shown wherein the transducer and media are separated during operation by a thin film of low viscosity liquid lubricant that is recirculated from a reservoir within the head-media enclosure. Lubricant recirculation can be effected by capillary action using a wick, mechanical pumping and metering or distillation techniques. As compared to devices using air bearing separation, the transducer carrying slider has very small bearing surfaces which may be in the form of narrow rails or small depending foot elements. This enables fly heights of 2 microinches using a film of one micron thickness.

Abstract: Disclosed is a disk drive having an enclosure for housing one or more disks, an actuator arm and sliders attached to the actuator arm. The sliders include magnetic transducers for reading information related to data off the disk and for writing representations of data to the disk. In a disk drive with an in-hub, fixed spindle shaft motor, the disk or disks are attached to the hub which is rotatably mounted to the spindle shaft. The hub includes one or more fingers attached to the hub which touch the spindle shaft when the hub is stationary and when the hub is rotating. The spindle shaft may also be provided with a wear resistant layer and/or ring of conductive material to enhance the electrical pathway between the hub and the spindle shaft and provide for lower wear and a longer life.

Abstract: The vapor drain is a device that permits steady state control of the composition of the atmosphere within a substantially sealed enclosure. For any fabricated enclosure the will be sources of vapor phase molecules: molecules evaporating from a deliberately installed lubricant reservoir, molecules outgassed from components, and molecules diffusing in from the outside world. The purpose of the vapor drain is to minimize the second two classes of molecules in the composition of the enclosure atmosphere as they are considered to be contaminants. An example application is a rigid disk magnetic data storage device which requires a monomelecular layer of lubricant on the disk and slider surfaces. The vapor drains suppresses the contaminant population by capturing a portion of all three sources of molecules in the vapor phase.

Abstract: In a magnetic disk file having a plurality of disks and a source of organic lubricant mounted within a housing, an air flow stream recirculates within the housing. The vapor pressure of the lubricant source is controlled to provide vapor phase transport of lubricant molecules between the source and the disks' recording surfaces. The lubricant molecules bidirectionally transfer between the air stream and the source, and between the air stream and the surface of the disks, as is needed to maintain a mono-molecular lubricant film, in the range of about 3 to 15 angstroms, on the disks in accordance with the principle of Langmuir kinetics. The disks are rigid disks and their recording surface includes a carbon overcoat. This overcoat has an affinity for the airborne organic lubricant molecules.In a first embodiment, the vapor pressure of the lubricant is controlled by mounting the material at the coolest location within the housing.