Patent ID: 7117582

Claim:
A method of mounting a spindle motor to a base of a hard disk drive, comprising: (a) providing a spindle motor with a hub, a first tooling feature, and fastener holes, an assembly fixture with a receptacle and a second tooling feature, and a base with a motor opening and fastener holes; (b) placing the hub of the spindle motor in the receptacle of the assembly fixture such that the first and second tooling features engage each other to position the spindle motor in a desired orientation and prevent rotation of the spindle motor relative to the assembly fixture; (c) moving the assembly fixture toward the base; (d) installing the spindle motor in the motor opening of the base with the assembly fixture such that the fastener holes of the spindle motor and of the base align, and a cable of the spindle motor is located on an exterior side of the base and the hub is located on an interior side of the base; and then (e) securing the spindle motor to the base with fasteners and removing the hub of the spindle motor from the receptacle in the assembly fixture.