Claims
- 1. A device for curing a photosetting substance in an assembly, such as a pivot assembly or a disk drive motor, having a housing with an interior and an opening to the interior, a shaft mounted inside the interior of the housing such that one of the shaft and the housing is rotatable relative to the other, wherein the photosetting substance is located at interfaces between the housing and the shaft, comprising:
a UV light source for emitting UV light; a conduit for concentrating light from the light source and directing the light into the opening in the housing to cure the photosetting substance located inside the assembly; and a beam splitter in the conduit for distributing the light inside the housing.
- 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the beam splitter is a prism-shaped mirror that reflects an original beam of the light into multiple beams that are essentially orthogonal to the original beam.
- 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the beam splitter is located at a distal tip of the conduit.
- 4. A device for curing a photosetting substance, comprising in combination:
an assembly having a housing with an interior and an opening to the interior, a shaft mounted inside the interior of the housing such that one of the shaft and the housing is rotatable relative to the other, and a photosetting substance located at interfaces between the housing and the shaft; a UV light source for emitting light; and a conduit for concentrating light from the light source and directing the light into the opening in the housing to cure the photosetting substance located inside the assembly.
- 5. The device of claim 4, further comprising a beam splitter in the conduit for distributing the light inside the housing.
- 6. The device of claim 5 wherein the beam splitter is a prism-shaped mirror that reflects an original beam of the light into multiple beams that are essentially orthogonal to the original beam.
- 7. The device of claim 5 wherein the beam splitter is located at a distal tip of the conduit.
- 8. The device of claim 4 wherein the opening is a mounting hole in a side of the housing.
- 9. The device of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of openings in the housing for accepting a plurality of conduits, each of which directs light from the light source into the assembly.
- 10. The device of claim 4 wherein the interior of the housing and an outer surface of the shaft are smooth polished metal to further enhance the intensity of the light incident on the photosetting substance.
- 11. A method for curing a photosetting substance located within an assembly, such as a pivot assembly or a disk drive motor, the method comprising:
(a) providing an assembly having a first component with an interior, a second component mounted inside the interior of the first component, an opening in the first component, and a photosetting substance located within the assembly at an interface between the first and second components; (b)) inserting a conduit into the opening; (c) concentrating and directing light through the conduit into the opening to cure the photosetting substance; and then (d) removing the conduit from the assembly.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein step (c) comprises distributing the light with a beam splitter located at a tip of the conduit.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein step (c) comprises reflecting the light with a prism-like mirror located in the conduit.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/350,080, which was filed on Jul. 8, 1999, and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09350080 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Child |
09910991 |
Jul 2001 |
US |