Patent ID: 8162544

Claim:
A gas bearing spindle comprising: a rotation shaft; a sleeve having a sleeve through hole, which is a cylindrical through hole surrounding at least a portion of an outer circumferential surface of said rotation shaft; and a housing, surrounding said sleeve, for retaining said sleeve using an elastic member, said sleeve including a bearing portion having said sleeve through hole and formed of a nonmetallic sintered body, and a retaining ring, fit into an outer circumferential surface of said bearing portion and formed of a metal, for retaining said bearing portion relative to said housing using said elastic member, said retaining ring and said bearing portion being in contact with each other at a first fit surface, which is a boundary surface between the outer circumferential surface of said bearing portion and an inner circumferential surface of said retaining ring, as well as at a second fit surface, which is a boundary surface between the outer circumferential surface of said bearing portion and the inner circumferential surface of said retaining ring, is distant further away from a central axis of said sleeve through hole relative to said first fit surface, and is formed adjacent to a center of said sleeve through hole in a direction in which said sleeve through hole extends, when viewed from said first fit surface.