Disk drive cover having a see-through insert including an electrically conductive material
View Patent ↗A disk drive includes an opaque cover secured to a base, where the opaque cover has an opening. A see-through insert, which includes an electrically conductive material, is affixed to the opaque cover over the opening. The electrically conductive material may be a coating applied to the see-through insert which, in one embodiment is a polymer coating having a certain surface resistivity. Alternatively, the coating's ESD-dissipative properties may be due to the presence of sputtered gold, sputtered indium tin oxide or a metal film. The electrically conductive material may alternatively be embedded in the see-through insert.
1. A disk drive comprising:
a base;
a spindle motor attached to the base;
a disk mounted to the spindle motor, and having an axis of rotation about said spindle motor;
an actuator attached to the base and having a pivot, said actuator having a head attached thereto for reading data from said disk;
an opaque cover secured to the base, the opaque cover including an opening; and
a see-through insert including an electrically conductive material, and being affixed to the opaque cover over the opening.
2. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said opaque cover has a first thermal expansion coefficient that is substantially the same as a second thermal expansion coefficient for said see-through insert.
3. The disk drive of claim 2 , further comprising a conductive label affixed to the see-through insert with a conductive adhesive.
4. The disk drive of claim 2 , wherein said see-through insert is rigidly affixed to the opaque cover over the opening with a conductive adhesive.
5. The disk drive of claim 4 , wherein the see-through insert overlays at least the spindle motor, and wherein said spindle motor is secured to the see-through insert.
6. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the opaque cover has a first thermal expansion coefficient that is substantially different than a second thermal expansion coefficient of said see-through insert.
7. The disk drive of claim 6 , wherein the see-through insert is affixed to the opaque cover with a compliant adhesive.
8. The disk drive of claim 7 , wherein the compliant adhesive is a compliant conductive adhesive.
9. The disk drive of claim 6 , further comprising a conductive label affixed to the see-through insert with a conductive adhesive.
10. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the see-through insert has a foam gasket fixedly in contact with the opaque cover.
11. The disk drive of claim 6 , wherein said spindle motor is cantilevered, and said see-through insert overlays at least said cantilevered spindle motor.
12. The disk drive of claim 6 , wherein the spindle motor is affixed to the opaque cover and the see-through insert partially overlays the disk.
13. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said opaque cover overlays said actuator pivot.
14. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said see-through insert is manufactured from a material selected from the list consisting of: polycarbonate, glass, acrylic, ceramic and quartz.
15. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said electrically conductive material is a polymer coating having a surface resistivity of between about 0.1 to about 30 Mega-Ohms.
16. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said electrically conductive material is a coating.
17. The disk drive of claim 16 , wherein the coating includes a material selected from the list consisting of sputtered gold, sputtered indium tin oxide, and metal film.
18. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said electrically conductive material is embedded in the see-through insert.
19. The disk drive of claim 18 , wherein said electrically conductive material includes a material selected from the list consisting of carbon nanotubes and a metallic material.