Patent ID: 7113365

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: (a) a disk; (b) a head actuated over a surface of the disk; (c) a spindle motor for rotating the disk, the spindle motor comprising: a base; a shaft coupled to the base; a ring-shaped stator having a planar alignment substantially parallel with the disk, wherein: the shaft is disposed axially through the ring-shaped stator; the ring-shaped stator comprises a plurality of stator teeth; a winding is wound around each stator tooth; and when the windings are energized, a voltage emanating from the windings being at least partially coupled to the surface of the disk; (d) a hub comprising a plurality of magnets for interacting with the stator teeth to rotate the hub about the shaft when the windings are energized, the hub comprising a first ring-shaped planar surface positioned over the windings defining a first vertical gap between the windings and the hub; and (e) a first ring-shaped shield disposed in the first vertical gap between the windings and the hub to reduce the voltage coupled to the surface of the disk, wherein the first ring-shaped shield is grounded to at least one of the base and the shaft to reduce the voltage coupled to the surface of the disk.