Electrical generator or motor structure – Dynamoelectric – Rotary
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-06
2001-02-13
Mullins, Burton (Department: 2834)
Electrical generator or motor structure
Dynamoelectric
Rotary
C310S06700R, C310S043000, C310S089000, C360S099080
Reexamination Certificate
active
06188155
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a spindle motor for use as a rotational driving device for a hard disk or the like, and more particularly to a feeding construction for coils of a spindle motor.
2. Related art
A spindle motor for use as a rotational driving device (motor apparatus) for a recording disk such as a hard disk comprises a motor frame, a rotor supported via ball bearings or the like rotatably relative to the motor frame, a stator core held on the motor frame in such a manner as to confront a driving magnet of this rotor and coils wound around this stator core, and the rotor is used as a hub having a recording disk placed on an upper side thereof.
In the spindle motor constructed as described above, conventionally the motor frame is formed of a metal such as aluminum, and this motor frame is fixed to a chassis of a motor apparatus. Here, a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as an FPC board) or a connector is mounted on this motor frame on a side opposite (back side) to a side where the coils are disposed, and also a through-hole is formed in the motor frame for leading end portions of the coils therethrough out to the back side thereof. Thus, if the end portions of the coils are put through the through-hole so formed in the motor frame so as to be led to the back side thereof and are then electrically connected to an electrode portion of the FPC board or the connector, the coils can then be fed through this FPC board or the connector from the motor apparatus side.
In the conventional spindle motor, however, since the coils are constructed so as to be fed through a part such as the FPC board or the connector, there are caused such problems as below. In other words, in a case where a part such as the connector which is relatively thick in a height direction of the motor is fixed to a bottom portion of the motor frame, there is caused a problem that the motor is prevented from being thinned. In addition, there is a high possibility with a part such as the FPC board which protrudes to an exterior portion of the motor that it gets deformed or bent during a production process of the motor. If the FPC board is used, therefore, there are caused risks not only of a wiring pattern formed on the FPC board being disconnected but also of a terminal being deformed.
Moreover, with a notebook-sized personal computer, the more frequently it is carried by the user, the more it is subjected to a risk of being dropped, and therefore high impact resistance is required. If the conventional spindle motor is installed in the notebook-sized personal computer for driving a disk, however, there is caused a problem that the impact resistance required for the notebook-sized personal computer cannot be met due to a reason described below. Namely, as with the conventional spindle motor, if the aluminum motor frame is used, when the notebook-sized personal computer is dropped, an impact generated then is directly transmitted to the ball bearings via the motor frame and the ball bearings may thereby be deformed, and if this really happens, there are caused risks not only that noise and/or run-out is caused when the disk is rotated but also that the disk is prevented from being rotated.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In view of the aforesaid problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a spindle motor that can be thinned and improve the reliability in impact resistance.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spindle motor comprising:
a motor frame adapted to be mounted to a motor apparatus, said motor frame being formed by a resin molded piece;
a rotor supported rotatably relative to said motor frame;
a stator core held on said motor frame to confront a driving magnet of said rotor;
coils wound around said stator core;
a plurality of lead terminals embedded in said motor frame on a side thereof opposite to a side where said stator core is disposed in such a manner as to be partially exposed; and
a through-hole formed in said motor frame for leading ends of said coils therethrough out to said side opposite to said side where said stator core is disposed for connection to said lead terminals.
As has been described heretofore, with the spindle motor according to the present invention, since the lead terminals are embedded or inserted for fixation in the resin motor frame so that they get integral with the motor frame, there is no need to fix to the bottom portion of the motor frame a connector, a part which is relatively thick in a height direction of the motor. Therefore, the motor can be thinned. Also, being different from the case where the FPC board, which is easy to be deformed, is used, with the present invention, there is no risk of the wiring pattern being disconnected or the terminals being deformed, this serving to improve the reliability of the motor. Moreover, when the spindle motor adopting the present invention is installed in a notebook-sized personal computer for driving a disk, even if the personal computer is mistakenly dropped, an impact produced then can be absorbed and hence moderated by the resin molded motor frame, whereby there is caused no risk of noise and/or run-out attributed to the impact so produced being generated while the disk is rotating, and moreover the disk can be freed from a risk of being prevented from rotating by the impact produced. Furthermore, vibrations generated to the ball bearings and the armature while the motor is being driven can be absorbed by the motor frame, whereby noise can be reduced. Also, the lead terminals are exposed from the predetermined positions on the back side of the motor frame, whereby an electrical connection can be effected between the lead terminals and the feed portion of the motor apparatus only by placing the motor frame on the motor apparatus, whereby the assembling efficiency of the motor apparatus can be improved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4866324 (1989-09-01), Yuzawa et al.
patent: 5153470 (1992-10-01), Miyaji et al.
patent: 5333079 (1994-07-01), Takegami et al.
patent: 5815345 (1998-09-01), Pelstring et al.
patent: 5831355 (1998-11-01), Oku
patent: 5986365 (1999-11-01), Kuwer et al.
patent: 6-6950 (1994-01-01), None
Ishizuka Yutaka
Saichi Masayoshi
Yoko Yoshinari
Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho
Mullins Burton
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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