Patents by Inventor Steven Craig Knoche

Steven Craig Knoche 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: 5801902
    Abstract: Bearings in a motor or bearing cartridge are positioned relative to the shaft and an outer sleeve, and a bearing retainer is then pressed against the outer races of one of the bearings in order to hold the bearings in position and preload the bearings in a desired orientation. The bearing retainer is chilled to a temperature significantly different than the sleeve with which it cooperates; shrinking the retainer to a size where it may be slip fit within a sleeve or other means for supporting the bearings in place. The retainer is then pressed against the outer races of the bearings, and held in place while it returns to the temperature of the sleeve within which it is fit. In this way, the preload is defined and maintained for the long term, as the retainer is pressed tightly against the outer race of the bearings; and the retainer is held within the sleeve as it returns to the same temperature being chilled is eliminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1998
    Assignee: Seagate Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Klaus Dieter Koeppel, Robert Michael Pelstring, Alan Lyndon Grantz, Steven Craig Knoche
  • Patent number: 5774974
    Abstract: A disc drive includes a disc drive motor for rotating a storage disc. The motor includes a motor base which carries a wiring assembly having a plurality of electrical contacts. A rotor hub is rotatably coupled to the base and rotatably carries a storage disc. The rotor hub includes a permanent magnet. A stator assembly includes a plurality of stator windings adapted for operation with the permanent magnet of the rotor hub. A wire guide coupled to the stator assembly positions wires of the stator windings adjacent the electrical contacts of the wiring assembly. The wires are soldered to the contacts after which the wiring guide can be removed. The stator assembly can be "potted" in an adhesive to reduce problems associated with resonant frequency of the disc drive motor. The wire guide acts as a retainer for the adhesive preventing the adhesive from interfering with rotation of the rotatable hub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1998
    Assignee: Seagate Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John Charles Dunfield, Steven Craig Knoche, Klaus Dieter Kloeppel