Patent ID: 7064921

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: a disk drive base; a spindle motor hub rotatably coupled to the disk drive base and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation; first and second disks disposed about the spindle motor hub; and a disk plate coupled to the disk drive base, the disk plate including: a plate body extending between the first and second disks for modifying air flow adjacent the first and second disks during operation of the disk drive, the plate body including a plate body thickness in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation; and an inner edge extending from the plate body and disposed towards the hub, the inner edge including an edge thickness in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation less than the plate body thickness for mitigating against contact between the inner edge and the first and second disks; wherein the disk plate includes an inner section, the inner section extends from the plate body towards the hub, the inner section includes the inner edge, and wherein the inner section is step-shaped in relation to the plate body.