Patent ID: 7654742
Filing Date: 2010-02-02
Classification: F16C

Abstract:
1. A hydrodynamic bearing device, comprising: a shaft; a sleeve attached so as to be capable of relative rotation with respect to the shaft; a bearing component including a lubricant that fills the space between the shaft and the sleeve, and a dynamic pressure generation groove that is formed around the outer peripheral face of the shaft or the inner peripheral face of the sleeve and that supports the sleeve rotatably with respect to the shaft; a bearing seal that is constituted between the sleeve and the shaft, is provided near the two axial ends of the shaft, and seals the lubricant in the bearing component; an annular protrusion that protrudes farther in the axial direction than the bearing seal, and that is fixed to or integrally machined on at least one end of the sleeve; and a communication mechanism having an opening extending between a radial outer surface and a radial inner surface of the annular protrusion, for communicating between the radial outer space and the radial inner space that are separated by the annular protrusion.