Abstract

A hermetically sealed disc drive comprising at least one aluminum alloy housing component manufactured with a thermally directed die casting press subassembly is disclosed. In one embodiment, the thermally directed die casting press subassembly comprises a thermally directed funnel gate that is skewed to sample molten material from an off-center portion of the shot sleeve. Disc drive housing components can be manufactured by injecting an aluminum alloy slurry from the shot sleeve through the thermally directed funnel gate and the injection nozzle into the die cavity. The aluminum alloy slurry may be a thixotropic slurry comprising a uniform primary aluminum particle size in the range of approximately 50 to 80 microns. The primary aluminum particles of cast products produced according to the methodology of the present disclosure, with the aforementioned particle size distribution, are free of encapsulated eutectic at the micron scale.

IPC Classes  ?

• B22D 17/30 - Accessories for supplying molten metal, e.g. in rations
• B22D 17/20 - AccessoriesPressure die casting or injection die casting, i.e. casting in which the metal is forced into a mould under high pressure Details
• B22D 17/22 - DiesDie platesDie supportsCooling equipment for diesAccessories for loosening and ejecting castings from dies
• B22D 17/12 - Cold chamber machines, i.e. with unheated press chamber into which molten metal is ladled with vertical press motion
• G11B 33/02 - CabinetsCasesStandsDisposition of apparatus therein or thereon
• G11B 25/04 - Apparatus characterised by the shape of record carrier employed but not specific to the method of recording or reproducing using flat record carriers, e.g. disc, card