Abstract: A disc drive includes a sealed head/disc assembly that has airtight electrical connections. The head/disc assembly has a first flexible circuit having one end that has electrical contacts which provide power to a spindle motor and another end which is terminated at a first connecter that is mounted to the base of a casing. A second flexible circuit routes electrical signals to a pivotally mounted actuator. The actuator carries read/write transducer heads and an actuator coil. One end of the second flexible circuit is coupled to the actuator and another end of the second flexible circuit is coupled to a second connector that is mounted to the base of the casing. A circuit board is mounted exterior to and along the base of the HDA casing. The circuit board includes third and fourth connectors which couple directly to the first and second connectors, respectively, when the board is mounted to the HDA.

Abstract: A disk drive assembly includes a disk pack with an axially retractable spindle assembly, along with a rotary actuator, mounted within a unitary deck and precision aligned by bores through spaced apart upper and lower support walls of the deck. Bushings, mounted to opposite ends of a spindle shaft through bearings, are aligned with the bores by inserting the retracted spindle assembly into the deck, with a spring biasing the spindle assembly into the retracted position. Fasteners through the opposed support walls draw the bushing sleeves axially outward against the spring force to preload the bearings as the shaft is aligned and secured, without employing a jig or any other alignment tooling.

Abstract: A disk drive assembly includes a disk pack with an axially retractable spindle assembly, along with a rotary actuator, mounted within a unitary deck and precision aligned by bores through spaced apart upper and lower support walls of the deck. Bushings, mounted to opposite ends of a spindle shaft through bearings, are aligned with the bores by inserting the retracted spindle assembly into the deck, with a spring biasing the spindle assembly into the retracted position. Fasteners through the opposed support walls draw the bushing sleeves axially outward against the spring force to preload the bearings as the shaft is aligned and secured, without employing a jig or any other alignment tooling.

Abstract: In a magnetic disc drive, an apparatus for eliminating electrical charge. The apparatus includes a preloaded coil compression spring and a contact button nested in a bored hole in the spindle shaft. The contact button is forced against a fixed arm by the coiled compression spring. The compression spring, contact button and fixed arm provide a low noise electrical pathway for discharge of electrical charge from the spindle. Alternatively, the coil spring and contact button are carried by the fixed arm, and the contact button is urges against the center of the end of the spindle shaft.