Embedded-Metal Base Plate for Helium Leak-Resistant Disk Drives

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional base plates in disk driving devices are prone to blow holes when thickened for increased strength, leading to helium gas leakage.

Innovation Solution

A base plate with a metal member embedded in the peripheral wall part through insert molding, ensuring strength is maintained while reducing blow hole occurrence and gas leakage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If the peripheral wall part is thickened in the radial direction to increase the strength, then the strength is improved, but blow holes may occur easily causing helium gas leakage

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestrength of peripheral wall partVSAvoidblow hole occurrence leading to gas leakage

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The invention uses a composite structure consisting of the base plate material and embedded metal members (such as steel balls or cylindrical members). The metal members are embedded in the peripheral wall part to provide localized reinforcement without requiring the entire wall to be thickened. This composite approach maintains strength while reducing the risk of blow holes that occur when uniformly thickening the wall.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of uniformly thickening the peripheral wall part throughout, the invention applies reinforcement locally by embedding metal members at specific positions where strength is needed. This localized reinforcement approach maintains overall wall thickness at a level that avoids blow hole formation while providing sufficient strength at critical locations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If the peripheral wall part is thickened to prevent gas leakage, then reliability is improved, but the complexity of the casting process increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegas tightnessVSAvoidcasting process complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The metal members are prepared and positioned in advance before the casting process. The insert molding step places the metal members into the mold cavities at predetermined positions before the base plate material is poured. This preliminary preparation simplifies the overall casting process by avoiding the need for complex post-casting operations to add reinforcement elements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention combines the reinforcement function and the structural wall function into a single integrated component. The metal members are embedded directly into the peripheral wall part during the casting process, merging the reinforcement elements with the wall structure itself. This eliminates the need for separate reinforcement components and simplifies the overall device structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS12361976B2Base plate with metal member embedded in the peripheral wall part, motor, and disk driving device having the same

Publication Date: 2025.07.15 NIDEC CORP(JP)

AI summary

A base plate is a portion of a housing of a disk driving device having a disk rotating with a rotation axis as a center, and is a cast product. The base plate has a bottom plate part and a peripheral wall part. The bottom plate part has a rectangular shape when viewed in an axial direction. The peripheral wall part extends from an outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate part toward a side of the axial direction to surround the periphery of the bottom plate part. A metal member embedded in the peripheral wall part is provided.