JP2002369446A - Disk drive - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bearing unit, having higher rigidity of bearing and ensuring low loss, higher impact resistance and moreover superior in mass productivity, and to provide a high reliability disk drive. SOLUTION: A plurality of radial bearings which include dynamic-pressure multiple arc bearing are engaged with a non-magnetic bearing housing, a rotary shaft is supported at higher accuracy with the dynamic-pressure multiple arc bearing via lubrication fluid between the rotary shaft and the radial bearings and the bearing surface having arc diameter, concentric with the bearing center is provided within the bearing unit. Thereby, the impact load to be applied to the disk drive from external side is received with a part which is in surface- contact with the rotary shaft.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a bearing unit and a disk drive suitable for precision and high-speed rotation, and more particularly to a disk drive for a magnetic disk drive and an optical disk drive.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the remarkable spread of personal computers, magnetic disk devices and optical disk devices (CD-ROM devices, DVD devices) have been increasing in recording density, capacity, size and speed. . The disk drive used for this is increasingly required to have high speed, high precision rotation and low cost. Conventionally, a ball bearing has been used as a bearing unit used in this type of small motor for a disk drive, and the rotation accuracy has been improved by improving the processing accuracy of the ball bearing, lubrication and the like.

[0003] Recently, the motor of a magnetic disk drive has been required to have higher speed and higher precision rotation. However, since conventional ball bearings cannot cope with this requirement, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-336696 has been proposed. As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-189525 (hereinafter referred to as Conventional Technology 2) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-189525 (hereinafter referred to as Conventional Technology 2), a driving device (motor, motor substrate, A drive device including the housing that is provided) has been proposed. In addition, sintered oil-impregnated plain bearings have begun to be used in motors of disk drive devices of CD-ROM devices in terms of cost.

[0004]

The drive unit of a magnetic disk or an optical disk has been widely used as a standard equipment of a desktop type or a notebook type personal computer, and has high speed, rotational accuracy, mass productivity, low cost, easy handling, and the like. In other words, impact resistance is required so that the disk drive device does not fall down on a desk or while being carried, thereby impairing the function as a disk drive device. In addition, a notebook-type personal computer requires a disk drive with low power consumption in terms of battery drive.

[0005] For high-speed, high-precision rotation, the prior art 1
A groove bearing in which a shaft is provided with a shallow groove for generating dynamic pressure as disclosed in U.S. Pat. However, although this groove bearing is excellent in characteristics such as high speed and shaft runout accuracy, it has a problem of high production cost and mass productivity. Further, the dynamic pressure three-arc bearing disclosed in the prior art 2 can provide high-speed and high-precision rotation equivalent to the above-mentioned groove bearing, and is excellent in mass productivity and cost. Is less than or equal to that of a groove bearing due to the specialness of the bearing shape, and when an impact force of several hundred G or more is applied, the bearing end may be deformed and the bearing characteristics may be impaired.

With respect to power consumption, in the disclosed bearing unit, the thrust bearing supporting the axial load is received at the bearing end face, so that the bearing loss is at least several times that of the ball bearing system, There is a limit to reducing power consumption. Furthermore, in the case of a hydrodynamic bearing unit, if the sealing property of the lubricating fluid and the supply to the bearing surface are not taken into consideration, the leakage of oil leads to the contamination of the desk, and the poor lubrication leads to a decrease in the rotational accuracy. There is a need.

In addition, sintered oil-impregnated plain bearings have begun to be used for the motor of a disk drive of a CD-ROM device in terms of cost. In particular, the motor of a disk drive device used for a CD-ROM device is Higher speeds, such as 4x to 24x speeds, have increased the centrifugal load due to unbalanced discs, and unavoidable abnormal wear of bearings and increased bearing losses. High rigidity and low loss of bearings are strongly required. Have been.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a bearing unit having high bearing rigidity, low loss, excellent impact resistance and excellent mass productivity, and a life and reliability using the same. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable disk drive.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a disk drive of the present invention comprises a disk as an information storage medium, a hub for fixing the disk, and a rotating shaft fixed to the hub. And a bearing unit that rotatably supports the rotating shaft, wherein the bearing unit includes a radial bearing that radially supports the rotating shaft and a thrust bearing that axially supports the rotating shaft. Having a lubricating fluid interposed between the sliding surfaces of the radial bearing and the thrust bearing portion, wherein the radial bearing
A concentric arc surface formed as a concentric arc surface, and the concentric arc surface is configured to include a non-concentric arc surface formed as a non-concentric arc surface, and an impact load externally applied on the concentric arc surface By using a large squeeze action for damping, the impact resistance is improved while maintaining precise rotation.

More specifically, the rotary shaft is accurately supported by the multi-arc bearing by combining the multi-arc bearing and the perfect circular bearing, and the impact load applied from the outside is received by the perfect circular bearing having the concentric arc with the bearing. Using a multi-arc bearing composed of a plurality of bearing surfaces composed of an arc surface concentric with the center of the bearing and a non-concentric arc surface, the above-mentioned rotating shaft is accurately supported, and an impact load applied from the outside. May be received. In this multi-arc bearing, a concentric arc portion of a bearing surface connected by a concentric arc radius and a non-concentric arc radius is 1/6 to 3 /
4 and the maximum value of the distance between the non-concentric arc portion and the shaft is used in the range of 1.5 to 3 times the distance between the concentric arc portion and the shaft, so that the rotation shaft can be more accurately positioned. It is good to support well and to be able to receive an external impact load.

Further, in the bearing unit of the disk drive device, in order to maintain precise rotation and reliable sealing of the lubricating fluid for a long period of time, the following means may be taken in addition to the above-described bearing configuration. That is, a non-magnetic bearing housing having one end closed and the other end open is provided with the above-described impact resistance, and a radial bearing excellent in dynamic pressure action and a thrust bearing disposed at a closed end of the bearing unit. A permanent magnet is sandwiched between two radial bearings to interpose a lubricating fluid between the rotating shaft and the bearing, and a magnetic fluid in which magnetic powder is dispersed in lubricating oil is sealed in the bearing housing. In addition, this magnetic fluid is used as a lubricating fluid for the bearing, and the magnetic fluid is magnetized by a permanent magnet to ensure sealing performance. Further, in the above-described bearing unit, in order to maintain precise rotation and a reliable seal of the lubricating fluid for a long period of time, a groove communicating with the end face of the radial bearing and the outer peripheral face of the bearing is provided, and between the two radial bearings described above. The magnetic fluid is supplied to the radial bearing surface by the magnetic attraction force of the sandwiched permanent magnet and the dynamic pressure action of the radial bearing, and the magnetic fluid overflowing from the radial bearing on the open end side of the bearing unit is transferred to the bearing end face and outer periphery. Through the groove communicating with the surface, the magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet draws in and ensures the sealing performance. By using a rare-earth permanent magnet to increase the magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet, a bearing unit with more precise rotation and high lubricating fluid sealing properties can be obtained. In these bearing units, the multi-arc bearing described above has an arc portion concentric with the center of the bearing, so that the oil film of the bearing has high rigidity. Further, the viscous friction loss is small since the bearing gap is wider than that of a perfect circular bearing or a groove bearing. Further, if one end of the rotating shaft is formed in a spherical shape to be a pivot thrust bearing, the bearing loss of the entire bearing unit can be further reduced. In addition, a sintered bearing that can be manufactured at low cost by precision molding can be used for the multi-arc bearing, so that the loss of the disk drive device, mass productivity, and cost can be reduced.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a magnetic disk drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention. Axis of rotation
The magnetic disks 14, 15 and the multi-pole magnetized motor rotor 9 are fixed to the hub 13 to which the 1 is fixed via the ring 16 by the clamper 18, and the rotating shaft 1 is connected to the radial bearings 2, 3, 2,
6 and a thrust bearing 8 rotatably supported. In the bearing unit, a cover 17, radial bearings 2, 3 and 26, a thrust bearing 8, and a stopper 7 are arranged in a non-magnetic bearing housing 5, and a lubricating fluid 6 is sealed in the bearing housing 5. And motor case 1
2, a motor stator 10 having the bearing unit and the motor coil 11 is fixed. The motor of this configuration
The hub 13 is driven by the rotating magnetic field generated when the coil 11 is energized by the DC brushless motor and the magnetic field of the multi-pole magnetized motor rotor 9. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the bearing unit. The non-magnetic bearing housing 5 includes a perfect circular bearing 26 having an arc concentric with the bearing, three dynamic pressure circular arc bearings 2, 3, and a spacer 4. A thrust bearing 8 is arranged so that the rotating shaft 1 having a spherical tip can be rotatably supported by these bearings. A lubricating fluid 6 is sealed in the non-magnetic bearing housing 5, and the rotating shaft 1 is supported in a non-contact manner by the perfect circular bearing 26 and the dynamic pressure three-arc bearings 2, 3 via the lubricating fluid 6. I have. In the bearing unit of the present embodiment, ordinary lubricating oil may be used as the lubricating fluid.
Rare earth permanent magnets are used, and the lubricating fluid 6 is a magnetic fluid in which ultrafine magnetic powder having a particle size of about 0.01 μm is dispersed in lubricating oil. With such a configuration of the bearing unit, the magnetic fluid 6 is attracted to the spacer 4 made of a permanent magnet, and the enclosed magnetic fluid 6 does not leak out of the bearing unit. Further, the rotating shaft 1 and the radial bearings 2, 3, 26
Since the gap between the sliding surfaces formed by the above is a narrow gap on the order of micrometers, the sliding surface is moistened with the magnetic fluid 6 by a capillary phenomenon at rest. Therefore, when the rotating shaft 1 is driven, the sliding surface of the bearing is lubricated with the magnetic fluid 6 from the beginning of rotation. In addition, the radial bearing 2 may be expanded due to volume expansion of the magnetic fluid 6 due to temperature rise or dynamic pressure action of the bearing.
Of the magnetic fluid 6 overflowing to the upper end surface of the radial bearings 2 and 3
Grooves 19, 20, 21 communicating with the bearing end surface and the bearing outer peripheral surface
Is provided, the magnetic fluid 6 is attracted to the permanent magnet spacer 4 through the grooves 19, 20, and 21, so that the magnetic fluid 6 does not leak out of the bearing unit.

FIG. 3 shows the shape of the radial bearing 26, which is a perfect circular bearing having an arc radius r. FIG. 4 shows the shape of the radial bearings 2 and 3, which is a hydrodynamic three-arc bearing having a bearing surface having an arc radius R that is not concentric with the center of the bearing. When an impact force is applied to the rotating body including the hub 13 by dropping the motor with this combination of the radial bearings, the radial bearing 26 and the rotating shaft 1 have substantially the same curvature, and thus come into surface contact. In this case, if the lubricating fluid is present on the bearing sliding surface, the damping due to the squeeze action effect is large, so that the rotating shaft 1 and the radial bearing 26 do not come into direct contact. During rotation, in addition to the above-described operation and effect of the perfect circular bearing 26, the rotary shaft 1 is supported in a non-contact manner by an oil film by the dynamic pressure action of the radial bearings 2 and 3, so that impact resistance is improved and the rotary shaft 1 is improved. Since 1 is supported with high rigidity by the oil film, precise rotation can always be maintained.

When the rotating shaft 1 is supported by the radial bearings 2 and 3 without the radial bearing 26, the bearing sliding surface has a larger curvature R than that of the rotating shaft 1; The contact form of the shaft 1 is a line contact, and even if lubricating fluid is present on the bearing sliding surface, damping by a large squeeze action like a perfect circular bearing cannot be expected. Therefore, especially when the motor is dropped at rest and an impact force is applied to the rotating body including the hub 13, the bearing comes into contact with the end face of the radial bearing and the bearing is deformed, so that sufficient bearing performance cannot be obtained, and precise rotation is maintained. You can't do that.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a structure in which impact resistance is provided without using a perfect circular bearing 26 is shown. FIG. 6 shows the bearing unit. The difference from the bearing unit shown in FIG. 2 is that the radial bearings 2 and 3 receive the above-described impact force without providing the radial bearing 26. The configurations of the motor and the bearing unit are substantially the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. However, in this configuration, the radial bearings 2 and 3 have a new shape as shown in FIG. Unlike the dynamic pressure three-arc bearing shown in FIG. 1, a part of the sliding surface of the bearing has a portion that comes into surface contact with the rotating shaft 1. That is, the radial bearings 2 and 3 have a bearing surface having a plurality of radii of curvature connected by a bearing surface having an arc radius r concentric with the bearing center and a bearing surface having an arc radius R non-concentric with the bearing center. .

In the dynamic pressure multi-arc bearings 2 and 3, the surface contact portion with the rotating shaft 1 is a portion θ, which is different from the dynamic pressure three-arc bearing described above, and has a surface contact portion having a large damping effect on the bearing surface. Therefore, direct contact with the rotating shaft 1 can be avoided even when an external impact force acts. Particularly, in this bearing, if the part of the bearing surface θ having a concentric arc radius r is designed appropriately, the oil film rigidity of the bearing increases to about 1.5 times that of a normal dynamic pressure three-arc bearing, so that more precise rotation accuracy Is obtained. The optimal dimension of the bearing surface θ determined by the bearing rigidity is 1
It is approximately 1/3 of the bearing surface. In order to improve the impact resistance, the oil film rigidity of the bearing slightly decreases, but it is preferable to set the dimension θ to a value of about ／ of one bearing surface. If it is larger than this, the oil film rigidity of the bearing becomes similar to that of a normal dynamic pressure three-arc bearing, so that the effect of the present bearing cannot be expected. The same result is obtained even when the dimension of θ is 1/6 or less of one bearing surface, and the value of θ is desirably set in the range of 1/6 to 3/4. Further, in this dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing, the maximum of the gap a formed by the non-concentric arc portion and the shaft is set to be 1.5 to 3 times the gap c formed by the concentric arc portion and the shaft. The rigidity of the oil film due to the dynamic pressure action increases. In addition, the rigidity of the oil film is highest in the gap a formed by the non-concentric arc portion and the shaft.
Is approximately 2.5 times the gap c formed by the concentric arc portion and the shaft. FIG. 8 shows the groove 19 on the bearing end face portion and the groove 20 on the outer peripheral surface provided in the radial bearings 2 and 3. The grooves are communicated with each other, and the magnetic attraction of the spacer 4 made of a permanent magnet as described above is performed. The magnetic fluid 6 that has overflowed to the bearing end face by force is collected.

FIG. 9 shows the shape of a hydrodynamic multi-arc bearing according to still another embodiment of the present invention. A radial bearing having a high dynamic pressure bearing effect is provided at a portion close to the groove 19. Here, the dynamic pressure action of the dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 will be described with reference to FIG. When the rotating shaft 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure, as shown in the figure, the bearing gap is gradually narrowed on the rotating shaft 1 and a part of the bearing surface, so that the oil film pressure Pa of the profile shown in the figure due to the wedge effect of the oil film.
And acts to keep the rotating shaft 1 at the center of the bearing.
Conversely, in the portion α, the gap formed by the rotating shaft 1 and the bearing surface is widened in the rotation direction, so that a negative oil film pressure Pb is generated, which acts to reduce the bearing rigidity. The negative oil film pressure Pb of the bearing is preferably small, but this negative pressure pulls the magnetic fluid of the bearing end face back to the bearing face. Therefore, since this negative pressure acts to draw the magnetic fluid into the bearing surface, setting the dimension of α to a value of about 1/10 of one bearing surface does not substantially reduce the bearing performance. Can be pulled back to the surface. FIG.
The bearing shown in (1) is a bearing suitable for reversible rotation because a portion of θ which is in surface contact with the rotating shaft 1 is provided in a part of the sliding surface of the bearing at the center of the bearing surface. The dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing shown in FIG. 9 is suitable for use. In the present embodiment, a three-arc bearing is shown as an example. However, not only a plurality of three or more arc bearings such as four or five arcs having the same number of bearing surfaces can provide the same operation and effect, but also the dynamic pressure bearing of the present invention. The higher the rotation speed of the arc bearing, the higher the bearing rigidity.
It is suitable for a magnetic disk drive device that can achieve high-precision rotation and particularly requires high rotation accuracy.

FIG. 11 shows a motor for driving an optical disk according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The rotary shaft 1 and the rotor case 24 are fitted to a turntable 22 for receiving an optical disk 23. It is driven by a DC brushless motor like a magnetic disk drive motor. The configuration of the bearing unit is the same as that shown in FIG. 6. In the case of the optical disk driving motor, the user can replace the optical disk 23 with the turntable 22. Is wide,
Since the disc is set in an eccentric state and the precision of the optical disc 23 itself is not good, the disc has a relatively large unbalance amount, and some discs have a non-balance amount of about 1 g · cm. Optical disc 2 having such a large unbalanced amount
If 3 is rotated at several thousand revolutions per minute or more, if the oil film stiffness of the bearing is low, the bearing will wear in several hundred hours, and rotation accuracy cannot be obtained. In the dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing of the present embodiment, the rotating shaft 1
As a result of a life test using a bearing having a diameter of 3 mm, it was found that the bearing had a life ten times or more that of a conventional perfect circular bearing. Furthermore, since the hydrodynamic multi-arc bearing of this embodiment has a surface contact portion and increases the oil film rigidity of the bearing as compared with the conventional three-arc bearing, the same life test was carried out. Was set to 2 mm, a life equivalent to that of a bearing having a diameter of 3 mm was obtained. This is because a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing having a diameter of 2 mm has a bearing loss as small as about 1/2 compared with a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing having a diameter of 3 mm, and is equivalent to the temperature and viscosity effects of the magnetic fluid. It was found that oil film rigidity was obtained and the bearing did not wear. The bearing unit using the dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing of the present embodiment shows that the optical disk drive can be used with the diameter of the rotating shaft 1 from 3 mm in the past to 2 mm in bearing loss equivalent to that of a ball bearing. Made it possible.

[0019]

According to the present invention, a large squeeze action can be used for damping against an impact load applied from the outside, so that the bearing has high rigidity even at rest and has high reliability in impact resistance. A high disk drive can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a magnetic disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a radial bearing according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a dynamic pressure three-arc bearing according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a magnetic disk drive according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a shape of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of an oil guide of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a shape of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a dynamic pressure action of a dynamic pressure multi-arc bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of an optical disk drive according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... shaft, 2, 3 ... radial bearing, 4 ... permanent magnet, 5 ... bearing housing, 6 ... magnetic fluid, 8 ... thrust bearing, 1
9, 20, 21 ... grooves, 26 ... radial bearings.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme court ゛ (Reference) H02K 7/09 H02K 7/09 (72) Inventor Naoshin Kanamaru 2520 Oji Takaba, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Pref. Hitachi, Ltd. Automotive Equipment Division (72) Inventor Noboru Kumasaka 1410 Inada, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. Video Information Media Division (72) Inventor Takashi Kawano 502, Kandachicho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. Inside the Machinery Research Laboratories (72) Inventor Yuichi Yanase 502 Kandate-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture Machinery Research Laboratories, Inc. F term (reference) 3J011 BA02 BA08 CA04 JA03 KA02 KA03 RA04 5D109 BB12 BB17 BB21 BB22 5H605 AA04 AA08 B B05 BB19 CC03 CC04 DD05 EB03 EB06 5H607 AA04 BB01 BB14 BB17 CC01 DD02 DD03 GG01 GG03 GG09 GG12 GG19 KK10

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A disk drive comprising a disk as an information storage medium, a hub for fixing the disk, a rotating shaft fixed to the hub, and a bearing unit for rotatably supporting the rotating shaft. The bearing unit has a radial bearing that radially supports the rotating shaft and a thrust bearing that axially supports the rotating shaft, and supplies a lubricating fluid between sliding surfaces of the radial bearing and the thrust bearing portion. The radial bearing is configured to include a concentric circular arc surface formed as a concentric circular arc surface, and a non-concentric circular arc surface formed as a non-concentric circular arc surface with the concentric circular arc surface. Characteristic disk drive. 2. The disk drive device according to claim 1, wherein said concentric arc surface and said non-concentric arc surface are arranged separately in said axial direction. 3. The disk drive according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said non-concentric circular arc surfaces are formed at intervals in a circumferential direction of said radial bearing, and said concentric circular arcs are provided between said plurality of non-concentric circular arc surfaces. A disk drive device having a surface formed. 4. The disk drive device according to claim 3, wherein 1/6 to 3/4 of the inner peripheral surface of said radial bearing is said concentric arc surface. 5. The disk drive according to claim 3, wherein the maximum value of the distance between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft and the non-concentric arc surface is the distance between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft and the concentric arc surface. The bearing unit is 1.5 to 3 times as large as the above.