Laterally constrained and damped mount for a hard disk drive

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A laterally constrained and damped mount for securing a spindle shaft and/or an actuator shaft to the enclosure of a hard disk drive is described.
Among the advantages of the present invention include the ability to absorb external shock and vibrational loads without shearing or otherwise damaging the coupling between the enclosure and the spindle and/or actuator shafts.
The dampening properties of the mount also drastically reduces the transmission of acoustic noise from the drive to the enclosure.
Since the present invention obviates the need for screws to secure the spindle and actuator shafts to the drive's housing, the attendant lateral distortions associated with using screws are also eliminated.
Abolishing the use of screws for securing the spindle and/or actuator shafts to the enclosure also reduces the number of openings which must be drilled through the enclosure; thus greatly diminishing the amount of environmental debris introduced into the interior of the drive assembly.
Additionally, manufacturing costs are reduced since the invention obviates the need for exact machining tolerances at the cover/shaft interfaces.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a disk drive assembly with a cover that is attached to a baseplate.
Extending from the baseplate is a spindle shaft which is coupled to a motor and also to an annular magnetic disk.
An actuator assembly that includes an actuator motor, a shaft, and at least one pivotal actuator arm, is also mounted to the baseplate.
Holes are provided through the center of the spindle and actuator shafts.
The enclosing cover of the drive includes recessed regions centered above the spindle and actuator shafts.
The elastomeric mounts are fitted into the holes of the spindle and actuator shafts with a portion of the mount protruding outward therefrom.
The protruding portions are forcibly pressed into the cover recesses when the cover is secured to the baseplate.
In this manner, the elastomeric mounts are compressed so as to fixedly mount the ends of the spindle and actuator shafts to the inside of the enclosure