JPH0721649A - Method and apparatus for mounting disk - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To minimize the influence of a mounting method to be exerted on the geometrical structure of disks by providing the device with means for parting the disks from each other and generating radial force over approximately the overall length of the central openings of the disks. CONSTITUTION: One or more pieces of spacer rings 40 are arranged on a spindle 32. These rings 40 have first lower surfaces 42 and second upper surfaces or hand ring stoppers 44. Further, the rings 40 have shelf parts or reference surfaces 46. Rings 48 consisting of elastic materials are arranged on the shelf parts of the rings 40. The thickness of the elastic rings 48 is larger than the distances of the differences in level between the shelf parts and the upper surfaces 44. The disks 34 are also arranged in the shelf parts. The other spacer rings 40, elastic rings 48 and disks 34 are arranged at the peak parts of the first set in order to mount one set of the disks 34 to the spindle. This processing is repeated until the desired number of the disks 34 and the rings 40 and the elastic rings 48 to be disposed in combination therewith are arranged on the spindle 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The storage device is a key part of any computer. Storage devices are used in two ways in computers. Some items are stored for a very short time only, others are stored for a long period of time. A special part of the computer, called random access memory, is for storing things for a very short time. Computers use random access memory, much like math students use notepads. Mathematics students use notepads to "remember" one or more intermediate results needed to determine the final solution. Random access
The memory is a memo paper in a computer. Items stored in the random access memory are stored only for a very short time, and since the computer can perform a large number of calculations per second, the random access memory generally stores data temporarily. Even if it is, it is rarely remembered for a long time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Items stored for a long period of time are items such as employee information and text processing information. Accessing these matters does not require immediate and fast access as compared to the case where a computer needs intermediate results necessary to produce a final result for a problem. Items that are stored for long periods of time and that do not require immediate access are stored in another part of the computer. One of the common places to store such information is in computer disk drives. Disk drives are a stack of rigid dish-shaped members that can be magnetized in such a way as to represent the data stored in the disk drive. Other methods and locations for storing the above information include tape and floppy disks. However, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for mounting a rigid disk to a disk drive and test device, and therefore only disk drive type storage devices will be described.

There are some similarities between disc drives and record players. In a disk drive, an actuator arm and a magnetic transducer attached to it are provided on one side of a specific disk. The actuator arm is comparable to the tone arm of a record player and the magnetic transducer is comparable to the needle. The actuator arm positions the magnetic transducer at its end above the desired portion of the magnetic disk. The magnetic transducer can read the information on the desired portion of the disc, which is comparable to playing a record. Magnetic transducers can also record information on specific parts of the disk.

[0004]

The goal in manufacturing disk drives is always to be physically compact and to increase efficiency. One of the methods for downsizing a disk drive is to thin the disk itself. Traditionally, the disc is mounted to the shaft using suitable types of clamps on the top and bottom of the disc. Some typical fastening devices, such as bolts, extend through the clamp and the disc to hold the disc in place. The interaction between the clamp and the disk causes the disk to deform. The deformed shape of the disc may be different from the initial state before fixing. Conventionally, the disk has a sufficient thickness, and the flying height of the head is also set to a sufficient height, so that problems due to deformation do not occur. When the disc is made thin, the rigidity of the disc is reduced, so that the influence of the clamp on the shape of the disc is increased.

As an alternative method and device for mounting a disk to the shaft of a disk drive, or to a shaft provided in a testing device, a split tube type device may be used. To mount the disc, a split cylinder is placed through the central opening of the disc. Another rod is placed in such a way that it passes through the split tubular body, whereby
Press the individual tubular pieces into the center hole of the disc.
Even in this case, the individual pieces cause local stresses on the disk, which causes distortion of the disk.

A characteristic of the distortion of the disk is waveform deformation on the disk surface. This waveform distortion causes a number of problems in disk drives. Some of the problems associated with wavy disk deformations are related to disk drive actuators and axial transducers. In disk drives, unlike the needles of a record player, magnetic transducers actually fly over the surface of the disk. It is desirable to maintain a constant distance or flying height between the disk and the magnetic transducer for reading and writing data to and from the disk. If the surface of the disk is too wavy, the transducer will not be able to maintain a constant flying height with respect to the surface of the disk. The basic thing that happens to a disc when the waveform deformation is too large is that the transducer flight state becomes too low for the data located in the valleys of the waveform disc and too high at the top of the waveform disc. Sometimes. In some cases, the magnetic transducer may actually contact the surface of the disk.
Such contact is undesirable, and will result in the loss of magnetic information on the disk that represents the information stored on the disk.

As is apparent from the above description, a method and apparatus for mounting one or more disks to a disk drive shaft or a testing device shaft for disk testing, comprising the steps of: What is needed is a method and apparatus that can minimize or eliminate the effects of mounting methods exerted.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method and apparatus for mounting a disc on a shaft that minimizes or eliminates additional deformation due to the mounting method of the disc. . Basically, a cylinder or elastic ring with one longitudinal slot extending along its length is used to mount the disk to the disk drive or shaft of the test apparatus. The tubular or elastic ring produces a radial force over substantially the entire length of the central opening of the disc.

The elastic ring is placed near the central opening of the disc and then deformed in its elastic region,
Thereby, it is pressed against the inner surface of the central hole of the disc. This produces a radial force that acts evenly over the entire length of the inner edge of the central opening.

The diameter of the elastic member may be larger than the diameter of the central opening of the disc. In this case, a tensile force is exerted on the elastic member, and in that state, the disk is placed on the elastic member and then the tensile force is released. This allows the elastic member to grip the inner circumference of the disk when returning to the non-deformed state.

The tubular body has a longitudinal slit extending in its longitudinal direction. The disk is attached to a shaft or a cylindrical body that is a part of the shaft. To mount the disc, the tube is squeezed within its elastic range until both walls of the slot contact each other. Next, the tubular body
Placed inside the central opening of the disc and then released
As a result, the tubular body is pressed against the inner edge of the disc opening. This produces a generally radial force acting on the inner surface of the central bore. The generally radial force does not occur only in the portion of the slot.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention described herein is useful with any mechanically constructed disk drive or direct access storage device ("DASD"). FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the disk drive 10. Although a disk drive equipped with a rotary actuator is shown, the present invention is also applicable to a linear actuator. The disk drive 10 includes a housing 12 and a housing cover 14, the cover 14 being assembled to the frame 1
It is installed in 6. An actuator arm assembly 20 is rotatably attached to the actuator shaft 18 in the housing 12. At one end of the actuator / arm assembly 20, a comb-shaped structure 22 having a plurality of arms 23 is provided. A load spring 24 is attached to the separation arm 23 on the comb-shaped structure 22. A slider 26 is attached to the end of each load spring 24,
A slider 26 carries a magnetic transducer (not shown in FIG. 1). Actuator / arm assembly 2
A voice coil 28 is provided at the end opposite to the load spring 24 and the slider 26 of 0.

A pair of magnets 30 are mounted in the housing 12. The magnet 30 and voice coil 28 are the key to a voice coil motor, which exerts a force on the actuator assembly 20 causing it to rotate about the actuator shaft 18. A main shaft 32 is also attached to the housing 12. Spindle 3
A plurality of disks 34 are rotatably attached to the disk 2. The main shaft 32 of the disk drive may be rotatably attached or may be a non-rotatable shaft. With any shaft, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention operates equally. In FIG. 1, eight disks are attached to the main shaft 32. As shown in FIG.
Are attached to the main shaft 32 at a distance from each other.

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, one or more spacer rings 40 are located on the spindle 32. The inner diameter of the spacer ring 40 makes them
It is set so that it can be placed above. The spacer ring comprises a first lower surface 42 and a second upper surface or hard
It has a stopper 44. The height at the inner circumference of the spacer ring 40, ie the distance between the upper surface 44 and the lower surface 42, is equal to the desired spacing between the disks 34 of the disk drive 10. In addition, the spacer ring 40 has a ledge or reference surface 46. Shelf 46
, The distance between the lower surface 42 and the ledge 46 is less than the thickness of the spacer ring 40 at the inner circumference. Upper surface 4 of shelf 46 and spacer ring 40
The difference in the height direction with respect to 4 is equal to or more than the thickness of one disk 34. The ledge 46 forms an annular wall 45, the diameter of which is one disc 3
4 is smaller than the diameter of the central opening.

A ring 48 made of an elastic material is arranged on the shelf 46 of the spacer ring 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the thickness of elastic ring 48 is greater than the step distance between ledge 46 and upper surface 44. The disc 34 is also arranged on the shelf 46. The ledge 46 acts as a reference surface for the disc 34.

A separate spacer ring 40 and elastic ring 48 are provided for attaching the set of disks 34 to the spindle 32.
And a disk 34 is placed on top of the first set. This process is repeated until the desired number of disks 34, the spacer ring 40 and the elastic ring that are attached to the disks 34 are arranged on the main shaft 32. To form the disk drive shown in FIG. 1, for example, eight spacer rings 4 are used.
It is necessary to arrange 0 and 8 elastic rings 48 and 8 disks 34 on the main shaft 32. After placing the desired number of disks 34 on the spindle 32, the centerline 5 of the spindle 32
Exerts a force acting along zero. This force is exerted until the upper surface 44 of each spacer ring 40 contacts the lower surface of the spacer ring 40 adjacent to it on the spindle 32. By applying the axial force in this manner, the elastic ring 48 is deformed and the elastic ring 4 is
8 is pushed into the inner edge of the central hole of the disc 34.
The deformation of the elastic ring 48 absorbs the error of the disk 34. It is effective to press the elastic ring against the inner edge of the central hole of the disk 34 over the entire circumference of the disk 34. As a result, the disk is held in place using radial forces that act evenly on the inner edge of the central hole of the disk 34. By doing so, the distortion of the disk 34 due to the mounting of the disk can be minimized. This is especially important when mounting very thin discs or discs that are very fragile.

Another form of this embodiment is used in the test apparatus shown in FIGS. The manufactured disc 34 is mounted on the disc drive 10 after various tests. The test device 54 is a chuck 56.
And a disk 34 is temporarily mounted for testing on a disk positioning surface 58 provided on the chuck 56. The test device 54 includes a draw rod 60, a washer 62 attached to the draw rod, and a resilient ring 64 disposed between the washer 62 and the disk positioning surface 58 of the test device 54.

In the actuated state, the disk under test 34 is placed on the disk positioning surface 58 of the chuck 56.
The draw rod 60 is pulled into the chuck 56, and thereby the washer 62 is pulled toward the chuck 56. When the washer 62 is pulled toward the chuck 56 side, the elastic ring 64
Swells outward and is pressed against the entire inner circumference of the central hole of the disk 34. This results in a radial force continuously along the inner edge of the central hole of the disc 34.
The required test is carried out with the elastic ring 64 gripping the entire inner circumference of the central hole of the disk 34. When the test is completed, the rotation of the test device 54 is stopped. The draw rod 60 is extended away from the chuck 56, which causes the washer 62 to move away from the disc positioning surface 58. The elastic ring 64 then returns to its original shape and the disc is removed.

In any of the elastic structures described above, the elastic member is compressed and deformed to engage with the inner circumference of the disk. It is also conceivable to extend the elastic member, place the disc on the elastic member after extension and then release the extension force. In this case, the edge of the disk 34 comes into engagement when the diameter of the elastic member before expansion is larger than the diameter of the central opening of the disk.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this example, a tubular body 70 is used to mount the disc. The tubular body 70 may be a part of the main shaft 32 or may act as the main shaft 32. The tubular body also produces a radial acting force that acts over substantially the entire circumference of the central hole of the disc 34 when the disc is attached thereto.

As is apparent from FIG. 6, the tubular body 70 has a slit 72 extending over its entire length. The slit 72 is parallel to the center line 74 of the tubular body 70. The tubular body 70 also has a plurality of means for positioning the disc, i.e., a circumferential groove 76, which engages the disc 34 at the edge of the center hole of the disc 34. Short slots 78 are provided between the circumferential grooves 76 and on both sides of the slit 72. The short slot 78 extends laterally with respect to the axial slit 72 and is located between the plurality of circumferential grooves 76. Like the axial slit 72, the short slot 78 also has a cylindrical body 7.
It is formed to 0. In FIG. 6, the slits 72, slots 78 and circumferential grooves can be manufactured in various geometric shapes. For example, although the slit 72 is straight in the illustrated state, it may be zigzag-shaped instead, and the groove may be V-shaped or rectangular. Furthermore, the slot 78 does not necessarily have to be located near the slit 72. Even when the slot is provided at another position in the circumferential direction of the illustrated tubular body 70, the slot effectively acts. Furthermore, the tubular body 70 also need not be circular. For example, the tubular body 70
Can be formed with an elliptical cross-section. By changing the cross-sectional shape of the tubular body 70, the force generated by the tubular body 70 can be made more uniform along the edge of the disk 34. Furthermore, instead of the groove 76, another positioning means for positioning the disc can be used, for example the disc 3
It is also possible to provide three pairs of raised abutting portions on the outer circumference of 4.

Further explaining the embodiment of FIG. 6,
By providing the short slot 78, the tubular body 70 can be expanded in different states for each circumferential groove. As a result of the provision of the short slots, the tubular body 70 can absorb the dimensional errors of the various disks that will be mounted on the tubular body 70. For example, the central hole of a certain disk 34 is
If it is larger than the center hole of another disk attached to it, a short slot 78 near the disk 34 with the larger center hole will allow the tubular body near the circumferential groove 76 to engage the larger center hole. The portion can be expanded to a slightly larger size. Of course, the short slot 78 in the barrel 70 can also accommodate other geometric differences that may occur within tolerances for the disk center hole. In other words, the short slot 78 of the tubular body 70 allows the tubular body 70 to absorb the geometrical differences of the central hole that occur within the tolerance range for the central hole. Without the short slots 78, the various circumferential grooves 7 in the tubular body 70 may be
It is possible that 6 does not engage the center hole of some of the disks mounted on the tubular body 70.

The short slot 78 of the tubular body 70 allows the tubular body 70 to absorb various disc errors, so that the tubular body 70 can be made into an integral structure. The integral structure has several advantages in addition to the above. In particular, when compared with a disc mounting device composed of two or more parts, it is possible to prevent an increase due to the accumulation of errors. As another effect of the integrated structure, the manufacturability of the disc laminated body is improved.
This effect will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.

FIG. 7 shows several discs 34 with a cylindrical body 7.
It shows the state of being attached to 0. As shown in FIG. 7, the center hole of each disk 34 is fitted in the circumferential groove 76 of the tubular body 70. To mount the disc 34 in the circumferential groove 76, the tubular body 70 is compressed until it fits inside the opening of the disc 34. During the manufacturing operation, the disc 34 is held in a disc holder (not shown). The disk holder is adapted to hold a desired number of disks (e.g., eight) in the same spaced relationship as the assembled disk drive or disk stack in a direct access storage device. The tubular body 70 can be used to attach a plurality of disks 34 to the tubular body 70 in one quick and simple manufacturing operation. The compressed tubular body 70 is placed in the center hole of each disc 34 in the disc holder. The circumferential groove on the tubular body 70 has the same spacing as the disc 34 in the disc holder. The tubular body 70 is arranged such that the circumferential groove 76 is aligned with the edge of the disc in the disc holder. In the final step, the tubular body 70 is released from its compressed state, causing each groove to engage the edge of each central hole of the disc 34 in the disc holder (not shown). The use of the tubular body 70 has an effect that the multi-step work can be eliminated when assembling the disc laminated body.

The tubular body 70 can also be compressed until its diameter is smaller than the diameter of the central opening of the disc. Then, mount the disc on the tubular body 70,
Then release it.

The tubular body 70 includes one circumferential groove 7 for each desired number of disks in the disk drive.
Manufactured such that 6 is present. For example, if the desired number of disks in the disk drive is eight, then the tubular body 70 will be provided with eight circumferential grooves 76. Three disks 34 are attached to the tubular body shown in FIG.
For convenience of explanation, no disc is mounted in some of the circumferential grooves 76 shown in FIG. 7.

The width of the axial slit 72 depends on the degree to which the tubular body 70 is compressed. The cylindrical body 70 is provided with the slit 7
When compressing until the two edges engage, the slit 7
2 is set to a width such that the diameter of the compressed tubular body 70 is smaller than the diameter of the center hole of the disc in the disc holder. If the tubular body 70 is compressed so that one edge of the slit extends over the other edge of the slit, the width of the slit 72 is not critical.

As a result of the use of the tubular body 70, radially acting forces are exerted generally over the edges of the center hole of each disc 34 of the disc stack assembly. Of course, at the position of the slit 72 of the tubular body 70, a uniform force is not exerted on the disc.

The best embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
However, the above description is for the purpose of explanation, and means and techniques other than the above can be adopted without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a disc.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway side view showing a disk drive using a plurality of elastic rings before the elastic rings are deformed.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway side view showing a disk drive using a plurality of elastic rings in a state after the elastic rings are deformed.

FIG. 4 is a cutaway side view showing a test device using a plurality of elastic members in a state before the elastic ring is deformed.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway side view showing a test device using a plurality of elastic members in a state after the elastic ring is deformed.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of a tubular body.

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of a tubular body holding a plurality of disks.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Disk drive 32 ... Main shaft 34 ... Disk 40 ... Spacer ring 42 ... First surface 44 ... Second surface 45 ... Annular wall 46 ... Shelf 48 ... Elastic member

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 24, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a disc.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway side view showing a disk drive using a plurality of elastic rings before the elastic rings are deformed.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway side view showing a disk drive using a plurality of elastic rings in a state after the elastic rings are deformed.

FIG. 4 is a cutaway side view showing a test device using a plurality of elastic members in a state before the elastic ring is deformed.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway side view showing a test device using a plurality of elastic members in a state after the elastic ring is deformed.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of a tubular body.

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of a tubular body holding a plurality of disks.

[Explanation of Codes] 10 ... Disk Drive 32 ... Spindle 34 ... Disk 40 ... Spacer Ring 42 ... First Surface 44 ... Second Surface 45 ... Annular Wall 46 ... Shelf 48 ... Elastic Member

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor The Gierardo Daniel Maragrino, Juno, USA 2665, Forth Avenue North East, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for mounting a plurality of discs on a spindle to form a disc stack for a disc drive: providing means for separating the discs; a central opening of each disc of the disc stack. A disc mounting apparatus comprising means for exerting a generally radial force over substantially the entire edge of the disc defined by. 2. Means for exerting a uniform force: means for placing an elastic member adjacent an edge of the disk defined by a central opening of the disk; Means for engaging the member with the edge of the disk defined by the central opening of the disk.
The described device. 3. Means for exerting a generally radial force over substantially the entire edge of the disk defined by the central opening of each disk of the disk stack: a first surface and a second surface.
A spacer ring having a surface and a shelf is provided, the shelf forming an annular wall portion having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the center hole of the disc, the spacer ring fitting the spacer ring on the main shaft. A ring of elastic material disposed on the ledge to engage the annular wall, the disk disposed on the ledge and the elastic ring The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resilient ring is deformed to engage the disc. 4. A disk having a distance between the first surface and the second surface of the spacer ring of two or more disks.
An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the desired spacing between the disks of the drive is equal. 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the distance between the first surface and the ledge is equal to or greater than the disc thickness. 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the thickness of the elastic ring in the uncompressed state is greater than the distance between the first surface and the ledge. 7. The means for locating the elastic member adjacent to the edge of the disc defined by the central opening of the disc is a spacer ring, the ring comprising a first surface, a second surface and a ledge. And the ledge forms an annular wall with a diameter less than the diameter of the central opening of the disc, the spacer ring allowing the spacer ring to fit on the main shaft. 3. The device of claim 2 having a resilient member disposed on the shelf for engaging the annular wall. 8. The means for deforming an elastic member to engage a center hole of a disk arranges as many spacer rings on a main shaft as the desired number of disks of a disk stack of a disk drive. And each spacer ring has an elastic member arranged on the shelf, and by engaging the wall formed by the shelf to dispose the disk on the shelf, the elastic member Is located in the center hole of the disk and the first surface of each spacer ring between the end spacer rings contacts the second surface of the next spacer ring, which causes a compressive force to the elastic ring. 8. A compressive force is exerted on the spacer ring at both ends of the stack of spacer rings until it is exerted, thereby causing the elastic ring to engage the central hole of the disc. Apparatus. 9. An apparatus for mounting a plurality of discs on a spindle for applying a generally radial force over substantially the entire edge of the discs defined by the central opening of each disc of the disc stack. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means comprises a tubular body having an axial slit. 10. A housing is provided; a spindle is provided to which at least one disc is mounted using radial force, said radial force being directed outward over substantially the entire inner edge of the central opening of the disc. A disk drive having a spindle assembly rotatably mounted to the housing; and an actuator assembly including a transducer for reading and writing information representative of data on the disk. 11. A housing is provided; a main shaft having a cylindrical body with an axial slit extending in a longitudinal direction thereof is provided.
At least one disc is attached to the tubular body,
A disk drive in which the spindle is rotatably mounted to the housing; and an actuator assembly is provided that includes a transducer for reading and writing information representative of data on the disk. 12. A method for mounting at least one disc in a tubular body, comprising: applying a force to compress a tubular body having a slit until its diameter is smaller than the diameter of the central opening of the disc. Placing the tubular body inside the central opening of the disc; releasing the force exerted on the tubular body to engage the outer side of the tubular body with the inner edge of the central hole of the disc How to install the disc.