Computer disk drives are common to personal computers, laptop computers and other computing devices. As with most products, computer disk drives must be shipped from a manufacturer or distributor to another location where the disk drives may be sold or used. As understood by those skilled in the art, computer disk drives are precision electromechanical devices that electronically store data and allow data to be manipulated in accordance with the functioning of the computing devices in which the disk drives are installed. A disk drive includes one or more disks, and at least one read/write component known as the “head” which reads and writes data to and from its corresponding disk. In general, packages or containers for disk drives must provide the proper amount of and support to prevent damage to the drives if the container is dropped or inadvertently contacted by a foreign object. During shipment, a disk drive is shipped with its head in the “landing zone”. The landing zone is an area on the disk where the head is positioned when the disk drive is not in use. Refinement in the construction of some disk drives has resulted in fewer and/or smaller heads being used. Accordingly, for these newer types of disk drives, there is oftentimes not enough friction between the smaller heads and the landing zone to prevent the disk from rotating due to vibration or shock during shipment. Vibrations experienced by these types of disk drives during shipment can cause the disks to partially rotate in repetitive back and forth motions. These small, partial rotations of the disks cause the lubrication to be displaced or separated from the ball bearings and bearing races within the spindle motors that drive the disks. The separation of the lubricant from the bearings and races can result in bearing/race damage due to the lack of proper lubrication. This damage is called “motor fret”. When a disk drive is installed in a computer, the existence of motor fret may be significant enough to cause increased motor noise. Motor noise is a defect that can make the disk drive unsuitable for sale to a consumer.
The vast majority of disk drives are shipped from a manufacturer in multi-pack boxes, that is, those boxes/containers that hold at least twenty disk drives. These multi-pack containers are then palletized wherein many containers are packed together and strapped to a pallet.
Existing multi-pack containers typically include a corrugated outer carton and inner protective inserts that isolate each of the disk drives within the container. Typically, two inserts are used, namely, a top cover and a main insert. The pair of inserts work together as a pair to protect the drive from shock on all axes. One common insert material used is expanded polypropylene, also known as EPP foam. EPP foam is relatively low in cost and durable, as well as resilient enough to provide good shock and vibration protection. The inserts are molded in a desired configuration to hold the set number of disk drives to be packaged within the container. Most multi-pack containers arrange the disk drives on edge and orient them transversely with respect to a long axis of the container. In this arrangement, every disk drive is visible when the upper insert or top cover is removed. Accordingly, each drive can be accessed individually without having to remove other drives. Individual drive access allows bar code scanning, software loading, etc., while minimizing handling of the drives.
Some structural characteristics common to most if not all inserts include the use of a flat, horizontal plate or floorboard, peripheral vertical side walls that surround the plate or floorboard, and a plurality of partitions or dividers arranged in the space between the vertical sidewalls, gaps or spaces between the dividers forming compartments that receive the disk drives. The purpose of the dividers is to separate each drive from its neighbor so that the drives do not contact one another during shipment. The partitions can be either full or partial height, that is, the partitions can fully cover the drives, or only partially cover the drives thus there being some gap between the inserts. The peripheral edges of the inserts as well as the exposed upper and lower surfaces of the inserts may include a plurality of shock pads or ribs that extend from the floorboard exterior surfaces and contact the inner surfaces of the outer carton that receives the inserts.
When properly designed, the ribs function by compressing to absorb impact energy, and then rebound to essentially their original size and shape. The floorboard itself only serves as secondary cushioning, while primary cushioning is achieved by the externally extending cushioning ribs.
One example of a prior art container for multiple disk drives is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,595. The container of this invention includes three major components, namely, a main insert, a top cover, and a cardboard shell. The main insert is constructed of expanded polypropylene material molded to include a plurality of compartments to receive disk drives loaded therein. The compartments are arranged in one or more rows extending longitudinally along the length of the package. The top cover is placed over the insert and contacts the upper surfaces of the disk drives. A stabilizing member in the form of a central rib communicates with the top cover and extends longitudinally along the row(s) of the disk drives to partially constrain the disk drives during lateral or transverse movement within their respective compartments. This invention has been proven to greatly reduce or eliminate motor fret.
In addition to providing shock and vibration protection for the disk drives, it is also desirable to provide a container that may be easily shipped and stored according to international shipping standards. More particularly, one key restriction for palletized loads that may be shipped by air is that the loads must fit into an internationally accepted “cube” size. Typically, the cube is 40 inches×48 inches in length and width, and approximately 45 inches maximum in height. Many multi-pack boxes are designed to fit precisely on pallets to minimize wasted space; however, a need still exists for shipping additional disk drives per pallet in order to further minimize shipping and storage costs. However, effective shock and vibration protection should be maintained if a multi-pack box is modified to accommodate the more cost effective shipping and storage.