Patent ID: 6388983
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A clamp mechanism for a disk drive comprising a turntable disposed so as to be vertically movable, a clamper facing said turntable, said clamper being mounted on a support member so as to be movable in a direction towards or away from said turntable, and a holding arm that can be engaged with and released from said clamper,wherein said turntable and said clamper are made to be attracted to each other by a magnetic force, wherein said clamper is movably disposed through an opening in said support member, said clamper being provided with a clamping part that underlies said support member and a flange part that overlies said support member, wherein said holding arm is provided with a slanted part that is slanted upwardly, said slanted part being configured to engage said flange member so as to raise said clamper into a lifted-up state when said holding arm is engaged with said clamper, said clamping part being pressed against said support member when said clamper is in the lifted-up state, and wherein said holding arm releases said clamper from the lifted-up state when said turntable is raised, a disk is clamped between said turntable and said clamper by the magnetic force, the disk is released from being clamped when said turntable is lowered, and said holding arm lifts up said clamper to maintain the lifted-up state of said clamper.