Patent ID: 6183135
Filing Date: 2001-02-06
Classification: F16C,G11B

Abstract:
In a motor including a shaft and a housing, said housing having a sleeve for receiving said shaft, said shaft and said sleeve defining a fluid filled gap there between having a first closed end and a second open end, a hydrodynamic bearing comprising at least one set of asymmetric grooves on said shaft or sleeve aligned to establish pressure gradients in a journal bearing gap between said shaft and said sleeve along said shaft, and a thrust plate coupled to said shaft at said first closed end thereof, said thrust plate having first and second surfaces defining first and second thrust bearing gaps, said surfaces having grooves thereon to establish pressure gradients over said surfaces and in said first and second gaps and one or more slots on an outer surface of the shaft coupling said second gap of said thrust plate to said journal bearing gap so that the fluid level in the gaps is balanced and said hydrodynamic fluid remains in the bearing.