Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
1994-01-03
2001-04-24
Arbes, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S832000, C174S050510, C360S097010, C360S097020, C439S065000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219909
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small, high capacity disk drive apparatus with low power consumption and a method of mounting the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As is disclosed in PCT/W089/08313, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,785 a related art small magnetic disk drive apparatus comprises one or more magnetic disks which are about 2.5 inches in size. A rotary actuator mechanism, a magnetic head positioning servo mechanism and power saving means are also mentioned therein.
Specifically, the rotary actuator mechanism includes an arm assembly having a cam follower for dynamically loading and unloading the magnetic head.
The servo mechanism enhances the accuracy of head positioning by reducing an external force applied upon the servo actuator and includes hardware and software for saving the consumed electric power.
The other prior art which is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-256295 relates to a light weight and inexpensive disk drive apparatus in which the circuit board functions as the dust cover.
In order to mount the disk drive apparatus within an information processing system, it is necessary to connect the disk drive apparatus with a unit mounted to a printed wiring board or to connect the disk drive apparatus with a power supply. In order to reduce the number of cables in this case, there has been utilized a printed wiring board which is provided with a connector electrically connected with the disk drive apparatus, for connecting to and from the printed wiring board electrical signals inputted and outputted to and from the disk drive apparatus.
The prior art will be described with reference to FIG.
26
.
A plurality of disk drive apparatuses
32
are secured to a printed wiring board
31
by screws and the like.
A connector
33
which electrically connects the printed wiring board
31
with a disk drive apparatus
32
is mounted upon the printed wiring board
31
in the vicinity of the disk drive apparatus
32
. A cable
36
having a connector from the disk drive apparatus
32
is connected to the connector
33
.
A connector
34
for external connection is mounted on the printed wiring board
31
at one end thereof.
The printed wiring board
31
has such an outer dimension that the board can be mounted upon a printed wiring board mounting unit
40
.
A connecting printed wiring board
41
is disposed at the rear side of the printed wiring board mounting unit
40
.
The connecting printed wiring board
41
is provided with circuits for a power supply and signal circuits and a connector
42
which will be connected with the connector
34
of the printed wiring board .
31
.
The printed wiring board mounting unit
40
is provided with guiding grooves
43
for guiding and positioning the printed wiring boards
31
so that the printed wiring boards
31
can be positively secured.
This mounts the printed wiring boards
31
to the printed wiring board mounting unit
40
simultaneously with the electrical connection with the connecting printed wiring board
41
.
Accordingly, the disk drive apparatus
32
is connected with an external device via the connector
34
and a printed circuit on the printed wiring board
31
. A cable which directly connects the external device with the disk drive apparatus
32
is thus not necessary.
Such a prior art is also described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-12586.
However, the disk drive apparatus in the prior art has not taken into consideration such developments as miniaturization to less than 2.5 inches in size, high density recording, rotational speed of the spindle motor, control method and power supply method. There have been problems in mounting space and power consumption of the disk drive apparatus and the performance of the associated electronic circuit.
The number of cables which connect a group of disk drive apparatuses on the printed wiring board
31
with an external device has been reduced by mounting a plurality of disk drive apparatuses
32
on the same printed wiring board
31
and by connecting each disk drive apparatus
32
with the external device via the connector
34
provided on the printed wiring board
31
.
Accordingly, the printed wiring board
31
is merely used for mounting mainly disk drive apparatuses
32
.
There is also a problem that the group of the disk drive apparatuses
32
is connected with the printed wiring board
31
via the cable
36
with a connector of the disk drive apparatus
32
and the connector
33
on the printed wiring board
31
.
In other words, the connector portion and cable connection occupies a greater area of the mounting board or the disk drive in the prior art even if the disk drive is miniaturized. The miniaturization of the disk drive has not been effective.
Mounting of the disk drive apparatus
32
and an information processing unit including a CPU and memory elements to the same board has not been considered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a small disk drive apparatus which is applicable to a small information processing system, such as a note book type personal computer or a palm top personal computer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a low power consumption small disk drive and a higher performance electronic circuit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a high capacity disk drive apparatus.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method of mounting a disk drive apparatus to a printed wiring board in the same manner as electronic components together with the other information processing unit so that the mounting area of the disk drive apparatus is reduced.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a disk drive apparatus which can be used like a memory card.
The present invention was made to accomplish the above mentioned objects. In an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of mounting a disk drive apparatus to a circuit board, comprising providing said disk drive apparatus with a connecting unit which is in contact with an external circuit and providing said circuit board with a terminal unit which corresponds to said connecting unit and is electrically connected with said external circuit, and directly connecting said connecting unit with said terminal unit to connect and secure said disk drive apparatus to said circuit board.
It is preferable that connection of the connecting unit with said terminal unit be achieved by a DIP, PLCC, QFP, PGA, microtribeam or multi-contact rotary connection mounting method.
It is preferable that a power supply terminal and a ground terminal which are formed in said connecting unit and said terminal unit be disposed in positions which are in a diagonally opposed relationship.
It is preferable that the connecting unit have a plurality of terminals, the spacing between the terminals being an integer multiple of 0.254 mm.
If the DIP package design is adopted, there is provided a method of mounting a disk drive apparatus in which said connection of said connecting unit with said terminal unit is performed by dual-in-line package mounting method and in which a plurality of disk drive apparatuses are stacked on top of each other by inserting said connecting unit of an upper disk drive apparatus into through-holes provided on the connecting unit of a lower disk drive.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk drive mounting socket comprising a socket portion for supporting a disk drive, a lead portion which is connected with said disk drive supported by said socket portion, and a terminal unit which is electrically contacted with said lead portion to connect with circuits on a board.
In this case, it is preferable that the socket have a vibration absorbing member at a portion which contacts with said disk drive apparatus.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk drive apparatus which is connected with an information processing unit, comprising
Honda Kiyoshi
Kawamura Satoshi
Ogawa Hitoshi
Ohi Fukashi
Saiki Eisaku
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Arbes Carl J.
Hitachi , Ltd.
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