Breather vent assembly formed in a sealed disk drive housing

Abstract

An improved disk drive breather vent for communicating air between the interior and the exterior of a sealed disk drive housing, comprising a vent passageway extending through the housing, a long, narrow groove disposed in an interior surface of the housing, and a sealing member adhesively bonded over the long, narrow groove to provide a long, narrow air passage which reduces diffusion of water vapor to and from the sealed disk drive housing as pressure equalization to ambient occurs.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A breather vent assembly for communicating air between an interior and an exterior of a disk drive housing wherein the disk drive housing includes a housing wall adapted to support the breather vent assembly so that air communication is provided between the interior and the exterior of the disk drive housing while reducing communication of water vapor between the interior and the exterior of the disk housing, the breather vent assembly comprising: vent means for providing air communications between the interior and the exterior of the disk drive housing, the vent means comprising at least one vent passageway extending through the housing wall; and   air passage means supported by the housing wall for reducing communication of water vapor through the vent passageway and into the interior of the disk drive housing, the air passage means comprising: a long, narrow groove formed within one surface of the housing wall, the groove having a first end and a second end, the first end openly communicating with the vent passageway and the second end openly communicating with the interior of the disk drive housing;   sealant means supported by the housing wall for covering a portion of the groove and thereby form a long, narrow air passage communicating with the vent means and the interior of the disk drive housing, the air passageway having a length and minimum cross section sufficient to provide air-pressure equalization and reduced water vapor communication between the interior and the exterior of the housing, the minimum cross section of the air passage determined by the length of the air passage and a predetermined minimum pressure differential across the air passage at a predetermined air flow rate where laminar flow is essentially effected.     
     
     
       2. The breather vent assembly of claim 1 wherein the sealant means is an adhesive tape member is adhered to the housing wall and disposed to cover the long, narrow groove over substantially its full length, including the first end thereof communicating with the vent passageway, so that air communicating between the interior and the exterior of the housing is passed through the long, narrow air passage. 
     
     
       3. The breather vent assembly of claim 2 further comprising: filter means supported by the housing wall for filtering air communicated between the interior and the exterior of the housing.   
     
     
       4. The breather vent assembly of claim 3 wherein the housing wall has a filter support recess disposed on an interior surface, wherein the long, narrow groove is disposed along the interior surface of the housing wall so that the second end of the long, narrow groove in communication with the interior of the housing communicates with the filter support recess, and wherein the filter means comprises: a substantially planar filter member supported in the filter support recess.   
     
     
       5. The breather vent assembly of claim 4 wherein the adhesive tape member has an air communication window, and wherein the adhesive tape member is adhesively bonded to the filter member to dispose the filter member across the air communication window, the filter member being secured in the filter support recess by the adhesive tape member. 
     
     
       6. The breather vent assembly of claim 5 wherein the housing wall has a filter support post disposed in the filter support recess, the filter support post contacting the filter member so that the filter member is maintained across the air communication window of the adhesive tape member. 
     
     
       7. The breather vent assembly of claim 6 wherein the long, narrow groove includes at least one bend along its length so that the long, narrow groove doubles back on itself. 
     
     
       8. A breather vent assembly for communicating air between an interior and an exterior of a sealed disk drive housing wherein the disk drive housing includes a housing wall, the housing wall and the breather vent assembly cooperating to provide air communication between the interior and the exterior of the disk drive housing while reducing communications of water vapor therebetween, the breather vent assembly comprising: vent means for defining at least one vent passageway in the housing wall;   a long narrow groove formed within one surface of the housing wall, the groove having a first end and a second end, the first end communicating with the vent passageway defined by the vent means;   sealant means connected to the housing wall for covering a portion of the groove and forming an air passage between the first end and the second end of the groove, the air passage having a minimum cross section determined by a length of the air passage so that a predetermined minimum pressure differential can be maintained across the air passage at a predetermined airflow rate to maintain essentially laminar flow through the air passage.   
     
     
       9. The breather vent assembly of claim 8 wherein the sealant means is an adhesive tape member adhered to an interior surface of the housing and disposed to cover a length of the long, narrow groove including only the first end thereof. 
     
     
       10. The breather vent assembly of claim 9 further comprising: filter means supported over the second end of the long, narrow groove for filtering air communicated through the air passage to the sealed disk drive housing.   
     
     
       11. The breather vent assembly of claim 10 wherein the interior surface of the housing wall has a filter support recess in communication with the second end of the long, narrow groove, and wherein the filter means comprises a filter member supported in the filter support recess. 
     
     
       12. The breather vent assembly of claim 11 wherein the housing wall has a filter support post disposed in the filter support recess, the filter support post disposed to supportingly contact the filter member, and wherein the adhesive tape member has an air communication window, the adhesive tape member adhesively bonded to the filter member so that the filter member extends across the air communication window and is secured by the adhesive tape member in the filter support recess over the filter support post. 
     
     
       13. A breather vent assembly for a sealed disk drive apparatus in which a disk drive is supported in a sealed disk drive housing, the sealed disk drive housing having a housing wall, the housing wall supporting the breather vent assembly so that air communication is established between an interior and an exterior of the housing while reducing communication of water vapor therebetween, the breather vent assembly comprising: a filter support recess formed in one surface of the housing wall;   at least one vent passageway extending through the housing wall and communicating between the exterior and the interior of the housing;   a long, narrow groove disposed in the surface of the housing wall, the groove having a first end and a second end, the first end communicating with the vent passageway, the second end communicating with the filter support recess;   a filter member supported in the filter support recess so as to be disposed in a covering position over the second end of the groove; and   an adhesive member adhesively engaged with the housing wall so as to be disposed in a covering position relative to the groove and forming an air passage between the vent passageway and the filter support recess, the adhesive member having an air communication window formed in a portion thereof disposed over the filter member, the air passage having a minimum cross section determined by a length of the air passage and a predetermined minimum pressure differential between the interior and the exterior of the sealed disk drive housing at a predetermined laminar airflow rate.   
     
     
       14. The breather vent assembly of claim 13 wherein the housing wall has a filter support post disposed in the filter support recess, the filter support post contacting the filter member so that the filter member is maintained across the air communication window of the adhesive member. 
     
     
       15. The breather vent assembly of claim 14 wherein the long, narrow groove includes at least one bend along its length so that the air passage doubles back on itself.