Method and apparatus for forming a hard disk drive base plate with an extended height

• US 10,022,826 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2016
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cheung WOH Technologies Limited (Woh Seng Holdings Pte Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Cheung WOH Technologies Limited (Woh Seng Holdings Pte Ltd.)
• Inventors: Law, Kung Ying, Loh, Yut Chai
• Primary Examiner(s): STONER, KILEY SHAWN
• Application Number:
  US15/052,805
• Publication Number:
  US 20160167181A1
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• Field of Search: 228184
• CPC Class Codes: B21C 23/085 Making tubes B21C23/10 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B21J 5/002 Hybrid process, e.g. forging following casting
• CPC Class Codes: B21K 1/26 housings or supporting parts, e.g. axle housings, engine mountings
• CPC Class Codes: B21K 23/00 Making other articles
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2101/04 Tubular or hollow articles
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2103/10 Aluminium or alloys thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 31/02 relating to soldering or welding dip or wave soldering in the manufacture of printed circuits H05K3/34
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 37/04 for holding or positioning work
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/02 Seam welding; Backing means; Inserts
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 13/04 involving slicing of profiled material
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 15/00 Making specific metal objects by operations not covered by a single other subclass or a group in this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 17/04 characterised by the nature of the material involved or the kind of product independently of its shape
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 23/04 for both machining and other metal-working operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/181 Enclosures for portable computers G06F1/1613
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 25/043 using rotating discs

Abstract

A method for forming a hard disk drive base plate with an extended height is described. The method may include forming an initial hard disk drive base plate, forming a filler shim, and forming a shroud. The method may also include joining the initial hard disk drive base plate, the filler shim, and the shroud to extend a height of walls of the formed initial hard disk drive base plate, and to form the hard disk drive base plate with the extended height.

Claims

1. A production system for forming a hard disk drive base plate with an extended height, comprising:

a first stage of the production system to advance a blank cut from an extruded sheet through multiple stations of a transfer die assembly to forge and form an initial hard disk drive base plate;

a second stage of the production system to punch a filler shim from a sheet of metal;

a third stage of the production system to form a shroud, wherein the third stage of the production system further comprises a metal extruder to form a hollow bar with a cross-sectional shape that corresponds to a shape of a marrying surface of walls of the initial hard disk drive base plate, and a saw to cut a section from the hollow bar to form the shroud; and

a fourth stage of the production system to join the initial hard disk drive base plate, the filler shim, and the shroud to extend a height of walls of the formed initial hard disk drive base plate and to form the hard disk drive base plate with the extended height.

2. The production system of claim 1, wherein the third stage of the production system performs a sequence of forgings on an initial blank to form the shroud.

3. The production system of claim 1, wherein the fourth stage is a welding stage further comprising:

the welding stage to join the initial hard disk drive base plate, the filler shim, and the shroud, the welding stage to

align a marrying surface of the initial hard disk drive base plate with a first marrying surface of the filler shim,

align a marrying surface of the shroud with a second marrying surface of the filler shim, and

weld along an interior path and an exterior path of the aligned initial hard disk drive base plate, filler shim, and shroud.

4. The production system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first cleaning stage to clean the formed hard disk drive base plate with the extended height,

a surface treatment stage to apply a surface treatment to the cleaned hard disk drive base plate with the extended height, wherein the applied surface treatment is one of an Electroless Nickel plating, Electro-coating, or Bimetal Black Electroless Nickel plating,

a machining stage to perform one or more machining operations on the surface treated and cleaned hard disk drive base plate with the extended height to refine one or more parts of the surface treated and cleaned hard disk drive base plate with the extended height, and

a second cleaning stage to clean the machined hard disk drive base plate with the extended height to produce a finished hard disk drive base plate with an extended height.