Pivot-carriage having a center-bore with an integrated bearing-spacer portion

1. An integrated pivot-carriage for a hard-disk drive comprising:

a carriage having a center-bore with an integrated bearing-spacer portion;

a pivot-shaft configured to provide support for rotation of said carriage, said pivot-shaft disposed within said center-bore of said carriage;

at least one raceless ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft, said raceless ball-bearing disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage; and

a conventional ball-bearing with an inner race and an outer race, said conventional ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft and disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage;

wherein said conventional ball-bearing is disposed above said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

2. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 1 , wherein no sleeve is disposed in said center-bore between said carriage and said pivot-shaft.

3. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 1 , wherein said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage is produced by a machining process.

4. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 3 , wherein said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage has a smaller second inside diameter across said center-bore than a first inside diameter across said center-bore of a first portion of said carriage configured to receive a ball-bearing.

5. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 1 , wherein said at least one raceless ball-bearing comprises a first raceless ball-bearing disposed below said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

6. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a second raceless ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft, said second raceless ball-bearing disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage.

7. The integrated pivot-carriage recited in claim 6 , wherein said second raceless ball-bearing is disposed above said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

8. A hard-disk drive comprising:

a head-gimbal assembly comprising:

a magnetic-recording head; and

a load beam attached at a gimbal portion of said load beam to a slider including said magnetic-recording head;

a magnetic-recording disk rotatably mounted on a spindle;

an arm attached to said head-gimbal assembly; and

an integrated pivot-carriage attached to said arm comprising:

a carriage having a center-bore with an integrated bearing-spacer portion;

a pivot-shaft configured to provide support for rotation of said carriage, said pivot-shaft disposed within said center-bore of said carriage; and

at least one raceless ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft, said raceless ball-bearing disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage; and

a conventional ball-bearing with an inner race and an outer race, said conventional ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft and disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage;

wherein said conventional ball-bearing is disposed above said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

9. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 8 , wherein no sleeve is disposed in said center-bore between said carriage and said pivot-shaft.

10. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 8 , wherein said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage is produced by a machining process.

11. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 10 , wherein said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage has a smaller second inside diameter across said center-bore than a first inside diameter across said center-bore of a first portion of said carriage configured to receive a ball-bearing.

12. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 8 , wherein said at least one raceless ball-bearing comprises a first raceless ball-bearing disposed below said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

13. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 8 , further comprising:

a second raceless ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft, said second raceless ball-bearing disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage.

14. The hard-disk drive recited in claim 13 , wherein said second raceless ball-bearing is disposed above said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

15. A method for manufacturing an integrated pivot-carriage of a hard-disk drive, said method comprising:

providing a carriage having a center-bore with an integrated bearing-spacer portion;

placing balls of a raceless ball-bearing into said center-bore of said carriage;

configuring said balls to allow rotation of said carriage about a pivot-shaft;

separating said balls from one another with a retainer ring;

inserting said pivot-shaft such that said balls of said raceless ball-bearing are disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage;

configuring said pivot-shaft to provide support for rotation of said carriage;

inserting a second ball-bearing between said pivot-shaft and said carriage; and

configuring a conventional ball-bearing with an inner race and an outer race, said conventional ball-bearing configured to allow rotation of said carriage about said pivot-shaft and disposed between said pivot-shaft and said carriage;

wherein said conventional ball-bearing is disposed above said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said carriage.

16. The method recited in claim 15 , further comprising:

machining a first portion of said center-bore of said carriage configured to receive a ball-bearing with a first inside diameter greater than a second inside diameter of said integrated bearing-spacer portion of said center-bore of said carriage.