Patent ID: 7564154

Claim:
A disk storage device comprising: a housing that encloses a clean chamber; at least one hard magnetic storage disk provided in the clean chamber for rotation about an axis, the at least one disk having a central opening; at least one data head mounted in the clean chamber for movement in operative relation to the at least one hard magnetic storage disk; and a brushless DC motor which is adapted to rotate the at least one disk about the axis, the brushless DC motor including a shaft and a bearing assembly aligned on the axis, a stator carrying coil windings both of which are arranged substantially coaxially relative to the axis, the coil windings being adapted to be energized in accordance with commutation signals that are generated by one or more software routines that are stored in a processing unit of a host device of which the disk storage device is a component part, a magnet having a generally cylindrical surface that is radially spaced apart from a generally cylindrical surface of the stator to form a generally cylindrical air gap, the magnet and the coil winding being displaced away from a plane of the at least one disk in a direction along the axis such that a diameter of the central opening of the at least one disk is smaller than at least one of an inner diameter of the magnet and the outer diameter of the magnet, an axially deepened, tank-form flange that forms a part of the housing, the entirety of an axial length of the magnet being received within a recess defined within the axially deepened, tank form flange, wherein the bearing assembly comprises a first race that comprises first and second conical members that are concentrically disposed about the axis of the shaft, the bearing assembly further comprising a second race that is concentric with the shaft and the first and second conical members of the first race, and wherein first and second lubricant passageways are defined between adjacent surfaces of the first race and the first and second conical members of the second race, the first and second lubricant passageways extending from a location adjacent a radial end of the bearing assembly towards an central portion of the bearing assembly, the first and second lubricant passageways not being parallel or perpendicular to the axis of the shaft, but rather being disposed at first and second angles thereto, respectively, to generally enlarge the surface area of the first and second lubricant passageways between the first and second races.