Patent ID: 6236532
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A magnetic disk drive comprising at least two magnetic disks mounted on a shaft and arranged for rotation with said shaft, a liquid lubricant covering top and bottom surfaces of said magnetic disks, a magnetic head associated with each said magnetic disk for writing and reading data on each said magnetic disk, a vessel in which the magnetic disks and magnetic heads are hermetically sealed, the vessel having inner top and bottom wall surfaces, said vessel being filled with a gas selected from the group consisting of air, an inert gas, and a mixture thereof, and clearance distances between adjacent magnetic disks and between the magnetic disks and surfaces opposite to said magnetic disks oriented parallel thereto when the magnetic disks are operatively rotating being equal to: ##EQU3##wherein m.sub.n is the mole percentage of gas n and t.sub.n is a clearance coefficient of the gas n, with t being not larger than 1.0 for air, 1.1 for helium, 1.7 for neon, 1.2 for argon, 1.4 for krypton, and 1.2 for xenon, wherein said clearance distances between adjacent magnetic disks and between the magnetic disks and said surfaces opposite to said magnetic disks are greater than 0.1 mm and less than or equal to 1 mm such that the associated magnetic heads do not touch the magnetic disks and the flow of gas in a radially outward direction of the magnetic disks is prevented, and scattering of said liquid lubricant is minimized, and wherein clearance distances between adjacent magnetic disks is greater than clearance distances between the magnetic disks and said vessel inner top and bottom wall surfaces.