An apparatus and method for balancing a disk are described. A balance ring may be a circular band for placement along the inner diameter of a disk. On the outer diameter of the balance ring, one or more clamp structures may extend outward to attach the balance ring to the inner diameter of a disk. The inner diameter of the balance ring may have a number of protuberances that, when trimmed, establish a new rotational center of the disk/balance ring coincident with the mass center. The disk and balancing ring may be mounted on a disk balancing system to determine a mass center and trim the protuberances, accordingly, to establish adjust the rotational center of the disk/balance ring to be coincident with the mass center. The protuberances may be trimmed using, for example, laser energy.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a disk securing mechanism to secure a disk coupled with a balance ring, the balance ring having a plurality of protuberances;
a spindle to rotate the disk coupled with the balance ring;
a controller to determine a mass center of the rotated disk coupled with the balance ring; and
a trimmer operatively coupled with the controller to trim the plurality of protuberances of the balance ring based on the determined mass center to adjust the center of rotation to be coincident with the mass center.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trimmer comprises an optical trimmer.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the trimmer comprises a laser source.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trimmer comprises a mechanical grinder.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trimmer thermally ablates the protuberances on the balance ring.
6. An apparatus, comprising:
means for rotating a coupled disk and band, the disk having a mass center and a rotational center, the band comprising a plurality of protuberances;
means for identifying the mass center for the disk; and
means for trimming the plurality of protuberance of band to adjust the rotational center of the coupled disk and band to be coincident with the mass center of the disk.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the means for identifying comprises means for transmitting information about the mass center to a controller, and wherein the means for rotating is configured to rotate the disk to a horizontal azimuth with the mass center on the horizontal azimuth using the controller.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising means for securing the band to the disk to produce the coupled disk and band.