阅读说明：本技术 间隔件和硬盘驱动器装置 (Spacer and hard disk drive device ) 是由 高野正夫 于 2018-08-31 设计创作，主要内容包括：在硬盘驱动器装置的装配时、根据需要在将磁盘和间隔件从硬盘驱动器装置中抽出时,为了抑制由把持夹具所致的间隔件的抽出的失败,使间隔件的外周端面的表面粗糙度Rz为1.5μm以上。(When the disk and the spacer are extracted from the hard disk drive device as needed during assembly of the hard disk drive device, the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face of the spacer is set to 1.5 μm or more in order to suppress failure of extraction of the spacer by the holding jig.)

1. A spacer which is an annular spacer provided in a hard disk drive device so as to be in contact with a magnetic disk,

the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end surface of the spacer is 1.5 [ mu ] m or more.

2. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face is 20 μm or less.

3. The spacer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a groove extending along an outer periphery of the spacer is formed at the outer peripheral end face.

4. The spacer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the degree of skewness of the outer peripheral end surface is 1.2 or less.

5. The spacer of any of claims 1-4, wherein the spacer is comprised of glass.

6. The spacer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a conductive film is formed on a surface of the spacer.

7. A hard disk drive device comprising the spacer of any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The hard disk drive device according to claim 7, wherein 8 or more magnetic disks are mounted.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an annular spacer provided in a hard disk drive device for magnetic recording so as to be in contact with a magnetic disk, and a hard disk device using the spacer.

Background

With the recent rise of cloud computing, many hard disk drive devices (hereinafter, referred to as HDD devices) have been used in data centers for cloud computing to increase the storage capacity. Accordingly, it is desired that each HDD device have a larger storage capacity than ever before.

In a conventional magnetic disk, the flying distance of a magnetic head with respect to the magnetic disk is extremely small, and many magnetic disks are mounted on an HDD device. Therefore, it is considered to increase the number of magnetic disks mounted in the HDD device.

In the HDD device, an annular spacer for holding the magnetic disks apart from each other is provided between the magnetic disks in the HDD device. The spacer has a function of disposing the disks at predetermined positions with high accuracy without bringing the disks into contact with each other. On the other hand, since the spacer is in contact with the disk, foreign matter such as particles may be generated from the spacer due to friction between the disk and the spacer in the contact. In this case, the long-term reliability of the HDD device is easily lost due to the action of the generated particles. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the generation of particles at the interface of the disk and the spacer.

As such a spacer, a spacer in which a surface of the spacer is etched with an etching solution and then a conductive coating film is formed on the surface of the spacer is known (patent document 1).

It is said that the generation of fine particles can be greatly reduced thereby.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

When such a spacer and a magnetic disk are assembled in an HDD device, inner holes of the magnetic disk and the spacer are alternately inserted into a spindle of the HDD device, the magnetic disk and the spacer are stacked, and then the magnetic disk and the spacer are pressed from the spindle direction and assembled in the HDD device. In addition, in order to extract a specific magnetic disk found to have a defect in a performance test or the like from the assembled HDD device, the stacked magnetic disks and the spacer are sequentially extracted. At this time, the disk and the spacer are gripped by a gripping jig of the assembling apparatus, and are assembled or extracted.

In the HDD device to be mounted, since the disk and the spacer are pressed strongly in the spindle direction to be in close contact with each other, when the spacer in close contact with the disk is extracted, it may be difficult for the gripping jig of the mounting device to grip the outer peripheral end face of the spacer and extract the spacer. That is, the spacer that adheres to the disk may be difficult to peel off from the disk (hereinafter, this non-peeling case is simply referred to as a pull-out failure).

In addition, when the spacer is not extracted by the gripping jig, friction is generated between the outer peripheral end surface of the spacer and the gripping jig, and therefore foreign matter such as fine particles (granules) may be generated due to the friction.

In particular, when an attempt is made to increase the number of disks to be mounted on the HDD device, the number of spacers between the disks also increases. Therefore, since the number of extracted spacers is increased and the number of spacers that adhere to the disk is also increased, when attempting to extract the spacers by using the gripping jig, the extraction failure of the spacers is more likely to occur, and the generation of particles that cause a reduction in the long-term reliability of the HDD device is likely to occur.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a spacer and an HDD device that can suppress a failure in extracting the spacer by a gripping jig when a disk and the spacer are extracted from the HDD device as needed in the assembly of the HDD device.

Means for solving the problems

One aspect of the present invention is a spacer which is an annular spacer provided in a hard disk drive device so as to be in contact with a magnetic disk.

The surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end surface of the spacer is 1.5 [ mu ] m or more.

The surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end surface is preferably 20 μm or less.

Preferably, the outer peripheral end surface is formed with a groove extending along the outer periphery of the spacer.

The skewness of the outer peripheral end surface is preferably 1.2 or less.

The skewness is more preferably 0.5 or less, and still more preferably 0 or less.

The spacer is preferably made of glass.

Preferably, a conductive film is formed on at least a main surface of the spacer in contact with the magnetic disk.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a hard disk drive device including the above spacer.

In this case, the hard disk drive device preferably mounts 8 or more magnetic disks.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the spacer and the HDD device described above, when the magnetic disk and the spacer are extracted from the HDD device as needed, the extraction failure of the spacer by the gripping jig can be suppressed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a spacer according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the spacer and the magnetic disk according to one embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a main sectional view illustrating an example of the structure of the HDD device with a spacer incorporated therein according to the embodiment.

Detailed Description

The spacer of the present invention will be described in detail below.

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a spacer 1 according to an embodiment, and fig. 2 is a view illustrating the arrangement of the spacer 1 and a magnetic disk 5. Fig. 3 is a principal part sectional view for explaining an example of the structure of the HDD device in which the spacer 1 is incorporated.

As for the spacer 1, as shown in fig. 2, the magnetic disk 5 and the spacer 1 are alternately overlapped and assembled into the HDD device. As shown in fig. 3, a plurality of magnetic disks 5 are inserted through a spacer 1 into a spindle 14 connected to a motor 12 and rotated, and are fixed thereto by screws via an upper end chuck 16, thereby being assembled at predetermined intervals.

As shown in fig. 2, the spacers 1 and the magnetic disks 5 are alternately arranged so that the spacers 1 are positioned between the 2 magnetic disks 5, and the gap between the adjacent magnetic disks 5 is maintained at a predetermined distance. The spacer 1 described in the following embodiments is intended to be a spacer provided between 2 disks 5 so as to be in contact with the disks 5, but the spacer intended for the present invention includes a spacer in contact with only the disk 5 of the uppermost layer or the lowermost layer. Depending on the specification of the HDD device, the spacer 1 may not be provided to contact only the uppermost or lowermost magnetic disk 5.

The spacer 1 is formed in a ring shape and includes an outer peripheral end face 2, an inner peripheral end face 3, and main surfaces 4 facing each other.

The inner peripheral end surface 3 is a surface contacting the main shaft 14, and is a wall surface surrounding a hole having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the main shaft 14.

The main surface 4 is 2 surfaces parallel to each other and in contact with the magnetic disk 5. Since the spacer 1 is in close contact with the disk 5 and fixes the disk 5 by friction, the higher the surface smoothness is, the larger the contact area is, and the higher the friction force is. From this point of view, the surface roughness Ra of the main surface 4 is, for example, 1.0 μm or less. The surface roughness Ra is preferably 0.5 μm or less. The smaller the surface roughness Ra of the main surface 4 of the spacer 1, the greater the adhesion force with the magnetic disk 5. In this case, the spacer 1 is particularly effective.

Here, Ra, Rz, skewness, which will be described as surface roughness parameters hereinafter, are in accordance with JIS B0601-2001. Ra is arithmetic mean roughness and Rz is maximum height. The surface roughness is calculated from data measured by a stylus surface roughness meter using a stylus, for example. Note that a stylus having a tip radius of curvature of 2 μm and a cone angle of 60 ° may be used as the stylus. As for other measurement/calculation parameters, the measurement length may be 80 μm, the measurement resolution (pitch) may be 0.1 μm, the scanning speed may be 0.1 mm/sec, the sampling length value (Ls) of the low-pass filter may be 2.5 μm, and the sampling length value (Lc) of the high-pass filter may be 80 μm.

In the case of measuring the surface roughness parameter using a stylus, the stylus scans in the thickness direction of the spacer 1 to measure the surface roughness. By doing so, even in the case where a plurality of fine grooves in the circumferential direction are formed over the entire end face of the spacer 1, the surface roughness can be accurately evaluated. When the stylus scans and measures the surface in the circumferential direction in which the groove extends, the stylus scans along the groove, and thus the unevenness of the groove may not be evaluated. That is, when a groove extending in one direction is formed on the surface of the measurement target, the stylus scans in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the groove.

As the value of the surface roughness parameter, for example, 5 measurements may be performed on the surface of the portion to be evaluated, and the average value of the obtained 5 values may be used.

The outer peripheral end surface 2 is an end surface which is not in contact with the magnetic disk 5 and the spindle 14. The surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end surface 2, that is, the maximum height Rz is 1.5 μm or more. The surface roughness Rz is preferably 20 μm or less.

The reason why the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face 2 is made 1.5 μm or more is that when the specific magnetic disk 5 is taken out from the HDD device 10 in which the magnetic disk 5 and the spacer 1 are assembled by stacking the magnetic disk 5 and the spacer 1 as shown in fig. 2 and inserting the stacked magnetic disk and spacer 1 into the spindle 14 of the HDD device 10, the gripping jig of the assembly device can be easily gripped and pulled out to take out the spacer 1. In other words, the gripping jig is less likely to slip when the outer peripheral end face 2 of the spacer 1 is gripped and removed from the spindle 14. Since the disk 5 and the spacer 1 are fixed by being pressed by the upper end chuck 16, the spacer 1 is likely to come into close contact with the disk 5, and a failure in extraction by a gripping jig of the assembling apparatus is likely to occur. When the surface roughness Rz is made smaller than 1.5 μm, the failure of extraction increases rapidly.

When the surface roughness Rz is larger than 20 μm, the surface of the holding jig is ground by the surface irregularities of the outer peripheral end face 2 when the holding jig holds the spacer, and the possibility of generating foreign matter such as particles is increased. From this point of view, the surface roughness Rz is preferably 20 μm or less. In order to further reduce the possibility of generation of foreign matter such as particles, the surface roughness Rz is more preferably 10 μm or less.

When the surface roughness Rz is less than 2.0 μm, even if the drawing fails, particles may be generated due to strong friction during drawing. Therefore, Rz is more preferably 2.0 μm or more.

According to one embodiment, the outer peripheral end face 2 is preferably formed with a groove (streak) extending along the outer periphery of the spacer 1. In other words, the groove is preferably a groove formed in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral end surface 2 of the spacer 1. The groove is more preferably formed over the entire peripheral end face 2. In the case of having the chamfered surface, the groove may not be formed on the surface of the chamfered surface. Such a groove can increase the friction force between the holding jig of the mounting apparatus and the outer peripheral end face 2, and thus can further reduce the failure of extraction. Such grooves can be confirmed by laser light microscope, SEM, or the like.

The groove width is preferably 10 μm or more on average in terms of ensuring a friction force so that no failure in extraction occurs. On the other hand, if the groove is too large, burrs are likely to be generated on the convex ridge lines between the grooves. As described in detail later, when the burr is present, particles are likely to be generated during the holding. Therefore, the groove width is preferably 300 μm or less on average. The average value of the groove width can be roughly calculated from the number of grooves in a range of a predetermined length in the thickness direction of the outer peripheral end face 2. The depth of the grooves is preferably 20 μm or less, more preferably 10 μm or less on average.

For the purpose of preventing the disk 5 from being deflected during assembly, about 1 to 3 concave structures may be provided on the outer peripheral end surface of the spacer in the circumferential direction. The depth of the concave structure is usually 100 μm or more, is significantly larger than the groove (streak), can be easily recognized by visual observation, and is different from the groove (streak). The concave structure may be used in combination with the groove (streak). In this case, the groove (streak) may be provided at least on the outer peripheral end surface other than the concave structure.

According to one embodiment, the skewness Sk, which is a parameter for determining the shape of the surface irregularities of the outer peripheral end surface 2, is preferably 1.2 or less. When the skewness Sk is larger than 1.2, the formed surface shape has relatively sparse sharp projection shapes, and therefore, when the spacer 1 is gripped, the sharp projection shapes are broken, the surface of the gripping jig is ground, and the possibility of generating foreign matter such as particles is increased. The lower limit of the skewness Sk is not particularly limited, and is, for example, -2. That is, the skewness Sk is more preferably in the range of-2 to + 1.2. The skewness Sk is more preferably 0.5 or less, and still more preferably 0 or less, from the viewpoint of reducing the sharp projection shape.

When the groove (streak) is formed on the outer peripheral end surface 2, if a large burr is present in the convex shape between the grooves, the skewness Sk tends to exceed 1.2. From this viewpoint too, the skewness Sk is preferably 1.2 or less.

The skewness Sk is a parameter obtained by dividing the cubic average of the measurement data of the surface roughness by the cube of the root-mean-square height of the measurement data of the surface roughness and performing dimensionless transformation. The skewness Sk is evaluated for the target of the projection shape and the valley shape of the surface roughness, and has a positive value and a negative value, and a positive value of the skewness Sk indicates a surface irregularity in which the steeper projection shape is larger and the shallower valley shape is larger, and a negative value of the skewness Sk indicates a surface irregularity in which the steeper valley shape is larger and the smoother projection shape is larger.

By providing the surface irregularities having the skewness and the surface roughness Rz within the predetermined ranges, the frictional force between the gripping jig of the mounting apparatus and the outer peripheral end face 2 can be increased, and the occurrence of foreign matter such as particles can be suppressed while suppressing the failure of the extraction of the spacer 1.

According to one embodiment, a conductive film such as a metal film is preferably formed on the surface of the spacer 1. In particular, when the spacer 1 is made of glass, static electricity is likely to accumulate in the magnetic disk 5 or the spacer 1 because the spacer 1 is an insulator. If the magnetic disk 5 or the spacer 1 is charged, foreign matters or particles are easily adsorbed, and in addition to this, the accumulated static electricity is discharged to the magnetic head, which is not preferable because the recording element or the reproducing element of the magnetic head is destroyed. Therefore, it is preferable to form a conductive film on the surface of the magnetic disk 5 by imparting electrical conductivity to the spacer 1 in order to remove static electricity. The conductive film is formed by an immersion method, an evaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like used for a plating process such as electroless plating. The conductive film may be composed of, for example, chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, an alloy containing these metals, or a nickel alloy such as NiP (nickel phosphorus) or NiW (nickel tungsten). The nickel alloy is preferably non-magnetic.

When the conductive film is formed on the spacer 1, the conductive film is usually formed on the entire surface of the spacer 1, but if static electricity can escape to the outside through the spindle 14 (see fig. 3), the conductive film need not be provided on the entire spacer 1. If the spacer 1 is formed on the upper and lower main surfaces 4 in contact with the disk 5, the outer peripheral end surface 2 and the inner peripheral end surface 3 may be formed only on the inner peripheral end surface 3 so that the conductive films on the upper and lower main surfaces 4 can be electrically connected. When the spacer 1 is made of metal, conductive glass, or ceramic, static electricity charged on the magnetic disk 5 can be discharged to the outside directly through the spacer 1, and therefore, the conductive film need not be provided.

The thickness of the conductive film is preferably such that the conductive film has an electrical conductivity that allows static electricity to escape to the outside, and is, for example, 0.01 to 10 μm. When such a conductive film is formed on the outer peripheral end surface 2, the thickness of the conductive film is thin, and therefore the numerical ranges of the surface roughness Rz and the skewness Sk of the conductive film on the outer peripheral end surface 2 are also within the above ranges.

Such a spacer 1 is suitable for an HDD device on which 8 or more magnetic disks 5 are mounted. When more than 8 or more magnetic disks 5 than the usual 6 are mounted on the HDD device, the magnetic disks 5 and the spacer 1 need to be pressed (sandwiched) more firmly by the upper end cartridge 16, and the pressing pressure applied by the upper end cartridge 16 needs to be increased. This increases the adhesion force between the spacer 1 and the magnetic disk 5 incorporated in the HDD device, and therefore, when the spacer 1 is removed from the magnetic disk 5, the failure of removal is likely to increase. In this case, the spacer 1 capable of suppressing the failure of extraction is suitable. For the same reason, the spacer 1 of the embodiment is more suitable for an HDD device on which 9 or more magnetic disks 5 are mounted, and is further suitable for an HDD device on which 10 or more magnetic disks 5 are mounted.

The spacer 1 may be made of glass, ceramic, or metal, but is preferably made of the same material as the substrate used for the magnetic disk 5. When the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the spacer 1 and the magnetic disk 5 is large, the difference in thermal expansion amount between the two increases when the temperature inside the HDD device changes, and the magnetic disk 5 warps or the fixed position shifts in the radial direction, which may cause a read error of the recording signal. Regarding the difference in thermal expansion coefficient, for example, the value of { (thermal expansion coefficient of spacer material)/(thermal expansion coefficient of disk substrate material) } is preferably in the range of 0.8 to 1.2, and more preferably 0.9 to 1.1. In the case of using a glass substrate as the substrate of the magnetic disk, the spacer 1 is preferably made of glass.

In this case, it is preferable to use glass having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially equal to that of the glass substrate of the magnetic disk 5 for the spacer 1. The material of the spacer made of glass is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include aluminosilicate glass, soda lime glass, soda aluminosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, borosilicate glass, quartz glass, and crystallized glass. When the spacer 1 is made of amorphous aluminosilicate glass, for example, silicon dioxide (SiO) can be used₂): 59 to 63 mass% of alumina (Al)₂O₃): 5 to 16 mass% of lithium oxide (Li)₂O): 2 to 10 mass% of sodium oxide (Na)₂O): 2 to 12 mass% of zirconium oxide (ZrO)₂): 0 to 5 mass% of glass as a component. This glass has high rigidity and a low thermal expansion coefficient, and is suitable for the spacer 1 in this respect. Soda-lime glass can be used, for example, as SiO₂: 65-75 mass% of Al₂O₃: 1-6 mass%, CaO: 2 to 7 mass% of Na₂O: 5 to 17 mass% of ZrO₂: 0 to 5 mass% of an amorphous glass as a component. This glass is relatively soft and easy to grind and polish, and therefore has high surface smoothness, and is suitable for the spacer 1 in this respect. When the spacer 1 is made of metal, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy (including simple substance), stainless steel, or the like can be used.

The raw material of the spacer 1 made of glass may be a material obtained by any one of the following methods: a material obtained by cutting a plate-shaped glass produced by a float method, a down-draw method, or the like into a ring shape: a material obtained by molding molten glass by a pressing method; a material obtained by slicing a glass tube produced by a tube drawing method into a suitable length; and so on. The end face (outer peripheral end face or inner peripheral end face) or the main surface of the thus molded ring-shaped glass is ground and/or polished to obtain the spacer 1 made of glass.

The method of grinding and/or polishing the end face is not particularly limited, and grinding or polishing can be performed using, for example, a shaped grindstone (Gross-shaped grindstone) containing diamond abrasive grains of #80 to # 1000.

The diamond abrasive grains may be fixed to the grindstone using metal or resin. The end face polishing may be performed using a polishing brush provided with a bristle material such as nylon. These end face processing can be performed by bringing the ring-shaped glass as a workpiece before the spacer 1 is formed into contact with both a mold grindstone or a grinding brush as a tool while rotating, similarly to the processing of the end face portion of the glass substrate for a magnetic disk. Here, the above-described circumferential grooves can be formed on the surface of the end face by rotating the ring glass about its central axis.

When the groove in the circumferential direction is formed, burrs may be generated on the ridge line of the projection between the grooves. In particular, the roughness increases with the formation of larger grooves, and burrs are more likely to be generated. In the grinding process using the formed grindstone, the time for which the pressing force of the grindstone is zero is set at the final stage of the process, and the pressing force is reduced or the time for which the pressing force is applied is shortened in the brush polishing, or a soft brush is used, whereby the burrs can be removed appropriately while maintaining the overall groove shape. In the case of forming the groove, it is preferable that the groove is roughly formed by grinding with a mold grindstone, and then the groove shape is finely finished by end face grinding. However, if the end face grinding is excessively performed, the grooves may be ground off, and thus care is required. Note that the degree of flash has a strong correlation with the skewness Sk in the surface roughness parameter. The larger the size of the burr and the higher the frequency of occurrence of the burr, the more the skewness Sk tends to increase. Thus, the skewness Sk can be controlled by optimizing grinding and polishing while observing the value of the skewness Sk.

In addition, chemical polishing may also be performed using an etching solution containing hydrofluoric acid or fluorosilicic acid.

By appropriately combining these grinding methods and polishing methods, an outer peripheral end face having a desired surface shape can be formed.

After grinding and/or polishing the outer circumferential end face 2 and the inner circumferential end face 3 of the spacer 1, the main surface 4 is subsequently ground and/or polished.

The size of the spacer 1 may be appropriately changed according to the specification of the HDD to be mounted, and when the spacer is used in a nominal 3.5 inch HDD device, the outer diameter (the diameter of the outer peripheral end surface 2) is, for example, 31 to 33mm, the inner diameter (the diameter of the inner peripheral end surface 3) is, for example, 25mm, and the thickness is, for example, 1 to 4 mm. The chamfered surface may be provided by appropriately chamfering the inner peripheral side or the outer peripheral side end portion of the main surface 4.

(Experimental example)

In order to confirm the effect of the spacer 1 of the embodiment, spacers (samples 1 to 26) were produced in which the surface irregularities of the outer peripheral end face 2 were variously modified. First, an outer peripheral end portion and an inner peripheral end portion of a material obtained by cutting a plate-shaped glass into a ring shape are ground using a forming grindstone to form an outer peripheral end face 2, an inner peripheral end face 3, and a chamfered face. Next, polishing treatment with free abrasive grains containing alumina particles, polishing treatment with free abrasive grains containing ceria particles, and cleaning treatment were performed on main surface 4. The spacer thus produced had an inner diameter of 25mm, an outer diameter of 32mm and a thickness of 2 mm. The angle of the chamfer was 45 degrees, the width of the chamfer in the radial direction was 150 μm, and the specifications of the chamfers were all the same.

The abrasive grain size of the formed grindstone was changed in order to produce various surface irregularities on the outer peripheral end surface 2. In samples 1 to 11 described later, the time during which the pressing force of the grinding wheel is set to zero at the final stage of the grinding process is set so that the skewness Sk of the outer peripheral end surface is in the range of 0 to-0.5. In samples 12 to 26 described later, the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face 2 was set to 20 μm, 10 μm and 2 μm, and the skewness Sk was adjusted. The adjustment of the skewness Sk is performed by adjusting the time for which the sample is pressed against the mold grinding wheel to be zero at the final stage of the grinding process when the sample is ground using the mold grinding wheel. The surface roughness Rz of the inner peripheral end face 3 was uniform at 5 μm and the surface roughness Ra of the main surface 4 was 0.1 μm for all samples. Here, samples 3 to 26 are examples, and samples 1 and 2 are comparative examples.

The spacers of samples 1 to 11 thus produced were assembled in a test apparatus simulating an HDD apparatus using 3 disks and 4 spacers as shown in fig. 3, and after assembling the disks by pressing them with the upper end chuck 16, they were left for 3 minutes and then again removed by being loosened. The assembly and removal of the disk and the spacer were performed as 1 operation. Each operation is performed by gripping the outer peripheral end face of the spacer with a gripping jig simulating a test apparatus of a predetermined mounting apparatus. This operation was repeated 10 times, and the case where the spacer was not extracted at all (the case of "no" in table 1) was regarded as a pass, while the case where the spacer was extracted 1 time without failure (the case of "presence" in table 1) was regarded as a fail in assembly or removal. The magnetic disk used was a magnetic disk formed by forming a magnetic film or the like on a glass substrate for magnetic disk of 3.5 inches in nominal size having an outer diameter of 95mm, an inner diameter of 25mm and a plate thickness of 0.635 mm.

The specification of Rz of the outer peripheral end face of the spacer made of glass and the evaluation results thereof are shown in table 1 below.

In addition, after 10 assembly and removal operations, particles adhering to all disk surfaces were counted by visual observation using a spotlight in a dark room. 4 grades of grade 1-4 were evaluated according to the number of particles. The smaller the grade, the smaller the particle count. Although the level 4 has no practical problem, the lower the level, the more preferable the level is from the viewpoint of long-term reliability of the HDD device. The evaluations were graded according to the number of particle counts.

Grade 1: the number of particles is 0-5

Grade 2: the number of the particles is 6-10

Grade 3: the number of the particles is 11-15

Grade 4: the number of the particles is more than 16

The specification of Rz of the outer peripheral end face of the spacer made of glass and the evaluation results thereof are shown in table 2 below.

[ Table 1]

	Rz [ mu ] m of peripheral end face]	Presence or absence of drawing failure
			Sample
1	1	Is provided with
			Sample 2	1.2	Is provided with
Sample 3	1.5	Is free of
			Sample No. 4	2.0	Is free of
Sample No. 5	2.5	Is free of
			Sample No. 6	5	Is free of
Sample 7	10	Is free of
			Sample 8	15	Is free of
Sample 9	20	Is free of
			Sample 10	25	Is free of
Sample 11	30	Is free of

[ Table 2]

	Rz [ mu ] m of peripheral end face]	Number of particles
			Sample
3	1.5	Class 2
			Sample No. 4	2.0	Class 1
Sample No. 5	2.5	Class 1
			Sample No. 6	5	Class 1
Sample 7	10	Class 1
			Sample 8	15	Class 3
Sample 9	20	Class 3
			Sample 10	25	Class 4
Sample 11	30	Class 4

The manufactured spacers of samples 12 to 26 were assembled in a test apparatus simulating an HDD apparatus using 8 disks and 9 spacers, and after assembling the disks by pressing with an upper end chuck, the disks were left for 30 minutes and then the disk and the spacers were taken out again in a scattered manner. The assembly and removal of the disk and the spacer were performed as 1 operation, and the outer peripheral end face of the spacer was gripped by a gripping jig of a test apparatus simulating a predetermined mounting apparatus. This operation was repeated 10 times. The magnetic disk used was a magnetic disk formed by forming a magnetic film or the like on a glass substrate for magnetic disk of 3.5 inches in nominal size having an outer diameter of 95mm, an inner diameter of 25mm and a plate thickness of 0.635 mm.

The main surfaces of the magnetic disks before the start and after the completion of 10 operations were scanned by a laser type surface defect analyzing apparatus, and the particles increased by taking the difference were counted. For groups (sample 12 to 16, sample 17 to 21, and sample 22 to 26) in which the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face has the same value, an index of the number of particle counts of each sample is calculated based on the number of particle counts of the sample having an skewness Sk of 0 (100%), and the evaluation is performed on the grades a to C based on the calculated index. Samples 12 to 26 had no index exceeding 130%.

Grade A: the index is 100% or less.

Grade B: the index is more than 100-110%.

Grade C: the index is more than 110-130%.

Note that, even in the level C, the level can be used without any problem in practical use.

Table 3 shows the specifications of Rz and skewness Sk on the outer peripheral end face of the spacer and the evaluation results thereof.

[ Table 3]

	Rz [ mu ] m of peripheral end face]	Skewness Sk	Grade
				Sample
12	20	1.5	C
				Sample 13	20	1.2	B
Sample
	14	20	0.5	B
Sample 15					20	0.0	(Standard)
	Sample 16	20	-1.0	A
Sample 17					10	1.5	C
	Sample 18	10	1.2	B
Sample 19					10	0.5	B
	Sample 20	10	0.0	(Standard)
Sample 21					10	-1.0	A
	Sample 22	2.0	1.5	C
Sample 23					2.0	1.2	B
	Sample 24	2.0	0.5	B
Sample 25					2.0	0.0	(Standard)
	Sample 26	2.0	-1.0	A

As is clear from table 1, the spacer can be reliably extracted by setting the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face to 1.5 μm or more.

As is clear from table 2, it is preferable to reduce the number of particles by setting the surface roughness Rz of the outer peripheral end face to 20 μm or less, from the viewpoint of securing the long-term reliability of the HDD device.

As is clear from table 3, it is preferable to reduce the number of particles by setting the skewness Sk to 1.2 or less, from the viewpoint of ensuring the long-term reliability of the HDD device. It is also found that the skewness Sk is more preferably 0 or less.

In sample 5, a uniform conductive film having a thickness of 1 μm, specifically, a conductive film of an Ni — P alloy (P: 10 mass%, balance Ni) was formed on the outer peripheral end face 2, the inner peripheral end face 3, and the main surface 4 of the spacer 1 by electroless plating. The spacer 1 with the conductive film formed thereon is assembled into the HDD device 10 shown in fig. 3. At this time, the conduction with the spindle 14 is confirmed by the tester for all the disks 5 and the spacers 1. That is, by forming the conductive film on the spacer 1, static electricity is less likely to accumulate on the magnetic disk 5 and the spacer 1, and effects such as reduction in adsorption of foreign substances and particles to the magnetic disk 5 and the spacer 1 can be said to be obtained.

Although the spacer and the hard disk drive device of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and it is needless to say that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Description of the symbols

1 spacer

2 peripheral end face

3 inner peripheral end face

4 major surface

5 magnetic disk

10 hard disk drive device

12 electric machine

14 spindle

16 upper end chuck