Patent ID: 7499243

Claim:
A data recording disk drive comprising: a housing; a spindle motor attached to the housing and having an axis of rotation; a plurality of axially-spaced disks mounted on and rotatable by the spindle motor about said axis of rotation, the disks experiencing axial vibration during rotation; a plurality of recording heads; a rotary actuator having a plurality of arms that support the heads and extend between the axially-spaced disks; a support structure attached to the housing; a plurality of air dams extending between the axially-spaced disks for diverting air flow induced by the rotating disks, the air dams being securely attached to said support structure so as to not experience any substantial vibration relative to the vibration of the rotating disks; and a plurality of capacitive sensors for sensing vibration of the disks, each sensor being attached to an associated air dam and comprising an electrically conductive plate having a planar surface facing a surface of an associated disk.