Patent EP0534745A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0534745A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
High capacity, low profile disk drive system
Assignee: Teac Corp
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Filing: 1992-09-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-09-24
Abstract
Abstract A disk drive system provides a low height device by mounting a circuit board or boards containing the electronic circuitry in the same enclosure with the head-disk assembly (HDA). The drive actuator mechanism is positioned at one side of one end of the enclosure and the circuit board or boards are positioned at the other side of that end of the enclosure. A gasket seals the HDA from contaminants, while the enclosure protects the electronic circuitry and cables from physical damage, electrostatic charges and electromagnetic interference. The circuit board or boards can be removed from the enclosure without removing the entire disk drive from the using system, and the entire drive assembly can readily be removed from the using system for replacement or use in another system.
Inventors
- 👤 Steven L. Kaczeus
- 👤 William N. Thanos
- 👤 James D. Fahey
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 13:20
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B17/00; G11B17/02; G11B33/00; G11B33/12; G11B33/121; G06; G06F; G06F13/00; G06F13/38; G06F13/40; G06F13/4063; G06F13/4068; G06F13/4081; G11B25/00; G11B25/04; G11B25/043; G11B33/122; G11B33/14; G11B33/1446
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
A disk drive system comprising: at least one rigid disk, each rigid disk having two surfaces, each surface of each rigid disk having a plurality of concentric recording tracks thereon; means for rotatably supporting and rotating the at least one rigid disk; transducer means having at least a pair of read/write heads for reproducing information signals from and recording information signals on the surfaces of each rigid disk; actuator means for positioning the transducer means at different ones of the tracks of each of the disk surfaces; electronic circuitry means for controlling the actuator means for controlling the flow of the signals to and from the transducer means; and an enclosure for housing each disk, the supporting and rotating means, the transducer means, the actuator means and the electronic circuitry means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
24 words
A disk drive system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one rigid disk has a diameter no greater than approximately 3.5 inches.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
A disk drive system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the enclosure has one disk therein and the height of the enclosure is no more than approximately 0.34 inches.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
A disk drive system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the enclosure has two disks therein and the height of the enclosure is no more than approximately 0.50 inches.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
A disk drive system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the enclosure has four disks therein and the height of the enclosure is no more than approximately 0.75 inches.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
A disk drive system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enclosure has six disks therein and the height of the enclosure is no more than approximately 1.0 inches.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
55 words
A disk drive system according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one rigid disk, the means for rotatably supporting and rotating, the transducer means and the actuator means are located in a separate sealed compartment within the enclosure to prevent contaminants from depositing on a surface of the at least one rigid disk.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
A disk drive system according to any preceding claim, wherein the electronic circuitry means is removable from and insertable in the enclosure without disassembling the enclosure.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
A disk drive system according to any preceding claim, wherein the enclosure has ends and sides and the electronic circuitry means and the actuator means are located at the same end of the enclosure.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
A disk drive system according to claim 9, wherein the electronic circuitry means and the actuator means are located adjacent different sides at the same end of the enclosure.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
A disk drive system according to any preceding claim, including flexible cable means for connecting the electronic circuitry means to a using system, the flexible cable means being disposed entirely within the enclosure.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
A disk drive system according to claim 3, in which the electronic circuitry means is mounted on a circuit board, the board being disposed in substantially the same plane as the plane of the one disk.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
34 words
A disk drive system according to claim 4, in which the electronic circuitry means is mounted on a circuit board, the board being disposed in a plane between the planes of the two disks.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
A disk drive system according to claim 5, in which the electronic circuitry means is mounted on a circuit board, the board being disposed in a plane between the planes of the two of said disks.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
A disk drive system according to claim 3, in which the enclosure has a width of approximately 4 inches and a length of approximately 5.75 inches.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
A disk drive system according to claim 3, in which the disk has a storage capacity of at least 120 megabytes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
23 words
A disk drive system according to claim 4, in which the two disks have a combined storage capacity of at least 240 megabytes.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
23 words
A disk drive system according to claim 5, in which the four disks have a combined storage capacity of at least 480 megabytes.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
A disk drive system according to any preceding claim, in which the or each disk has a storage capacity of at least 120 megabytes.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
50 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: a disk drive enclosure; at least one disk disposed in the disk drive enclosure; an interface connector; and a multichip module disposed in the disk drive enclosure, the multichip module controlling a flow of data between the at least one disk and the interface connector.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
72 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: at least one disk; means for mounting multiple chips in a single integrated circuit package; and means for enclosing at least one disk and the means for mounting, at least one disk being contained in a first volume of the means for enclosing, the first volume being sealed from a second volume of the means for enclosing, the means for mounting being disposed within the second volume.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
131 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: a three dimensional enclosure having a lateral form factor area and a vertical thickness, the enclosure comprising a sealed volume and a circuit volume, the sealed volume being laterally displaced from the circuit volume by a wall of the enclosure; at least one disk disposed inside the sealed volume, the disk begin rotatable in a place; a read/write head actuator assembly disposed inside the sealed volume; an interface connector; a printed circuit board disposed in the circuit volume, outside the sealed volume, and in a plane substantially parallel to the plane in which said at least one disk is rotatable, the interface connector being coupled to the printed circuit board; and a multichip module mounted to the printed circuit board and disposed inside the circuit volume.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
46 words
A method, comprising the step of: using a multichip module to provide electronics inside an enclosure of a disk drive assembly, the electronics controlling a disk of the disk drive assembly, the electronics also controlling a flow of data between the disk and an interface connector.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
82 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: an enclosure; at least one disk disposed in the enclosure; an interface connector; electronics controlling the at least one disk and controlling a flow of data between the at least one disk and said interface connector; and a printed circuit board, the interface connector and the electronics being mounted to the printed circuit board, the printed circuit board being removable supported and insertable into the enclosure in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of the disk.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
63 words
The disk drive assembly according to claim 24, wherein the enclosure has a sealed volume and a circuit volume, the circuit volume being laterally displaced in relation to the sealed volume, said at least one disk being disposed in the sealed volume, the printed circuit board being removable from the circuit volume of the enclosure without breaking a seal of the sealed volume.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
121 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: at least one disk disposed in a plane; means for controlling said at least one disk and for controlling a flow of data between said at least one disk and an interface connector; means for enclosing said at least one disk and the means for controlling, the means for enclosing comprising a sealed volume containing the at least one disk; and removable means or sliding into and out of the means for enclosing without breaking a seal of the sealed volume, the means for sliding being positioned in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said at least one disk, at least part of the means for controlling being mounted to the means or sliding.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
39 words
A method, comprising the step of: providing electronics on a printed circuit board which is slidable into an enclosure of a disk drive assembly without breaking a seal of a sealed volume of the enclosure which contains a disk.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method according to claim 27, wherein the printed circuit board is slidable into the enclosure in a plane which is substantially parallel with a plane of said disk.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
101 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: a three dimensional enclosure having an end and a side, the end and the side forming a corner portion of the enclosure; at least one disk disposed inside the enclosure, the at least one disk being rotatable about an axis; and a read/write head actuator assembly, a coil of the read/write head actuator assembly being disposed substantially in the corner portion of the enclosure, a read/write head of the read/write head actuator assembly sweeping a path across a surface of said at least one disk, the path being disposed only between the axis and the side.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
90 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: at least one disk being rotatable about an axis; a read/write head actuator assembly having a coil portion and a read/write head portion, the read/write head portion sweeping a path over the at least one disk; and means for enclosing the read/write head actuator assembly and the at least one disk such that the coil portion is disposed adjacent a side of the means for enclosing and such that the path is entirely disposed between the axis and the side of the means for enclosing.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
68 words
A method, comprising the step of: disposing a read/write head actuator assembly in an enclosure of a disk drive assembly such that a coil of the read/write head is adjacent a side of the enclosure and such that a read/write head of the read/write assembly is only movable in a path between an axis of a disk of the disk drive assembly and the side of the enclosure.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
110 words
A disk drive assembly, comprising: an enclosure defining a sealed volume, an internal surface of the enclosure having a highest upper surface portion in a vertical dimension, the internal surface also having a lowest bottom surface portion in the vertical dimension; one or more disk drives disposed inside the sealed volume; and one or more printed circuit boards disposed outside the sealed volume and inside the enclosure, no part of the one or more printed circuit board extending above the highest upper surface portion in the vertical dimension, and no part of said one or more printed circuit boards extending below the lowest bottom surface portion in the vertical dimension.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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