Stmicroelectronics S.r.l.

Gianluca Ventura

Andrea Merello

Roberto Peritore

Alberto Salina

Lorenzo Papillo

Alessandra Schenone

Francesco Vavala

Fabio Ramaioli

Luca Anostini

A disk drive system is described which includes a disk having a magnetic surface and a motor for rotating the disk, a magnetic head being movable relative to said magnetic surface. The motor generates a back electromotive force voltage having different phases and the system comprising a plurality of switches for switching the back electromotive force voltage, a control circuit to control the plurality of switches to supply the back electromotive force voltage to direct the head to a parking position. The system also comprises a comparator adapted to compare a single phase of the back electromotive force voltage with the sum of the other phases of the back electromotive force voltage. The comparator generates an output signal representative of the comparation and the system comprises a logic block controlled by the output signal of the comparator. The logic block is adapted to determine time periods and a control sequence of the switches which is associated to the time periods. The control sequence is supplied to the control circuit so that the last generates control signals to control the plurality of switches.

Disk drive system and method for operating same

A system for controlling and driving an electromagnetic actuator includes a unique operational amplifier in the regulation loop for driving the electromagnetic actuator and for monitoring, during different phases of operation, the current in the actuator and the back electromotive force. The new architecture allows for a considerable reduction of the area of integration of the system as a whole.

Control and drive system for a single winding electromagnetic actuator employing a single multifunction operational amplifier

The present invention relates to the positioning of the read/write transducer heads of an hard disk (HD) in a designated landing zone when requested or when the electrical power is removed from the drive. In particularly it relates to the detection of the back electromotive force (BEMF) of the motor involved in the positioning of the read/write transducer heads. According to an embodiment of the present invention a BEMF detection circuit for a voice-coil motor operative to continually generate a signal proportionally to the velocity of said voice-coil motor comprises a algebraic summing node producing at its output the BEMF of the voice-coil motor and receiving: a first voltage proportional to the voltage across the voice-coil motor; a second voltage representing the product of a first multiplier factor and a voltage proportional to the current in the coil; a third voltage representing the product of a prefixed bias voltage Vref and a second multiplier factor; said third voltage is calibrated by a single calibration circuitry operative to calibrate said second multiplier factor in response to a calibration control signal, in order to cancel said second voltage.

Calibration technique of a BEMF detector

A method for controlling an electromagnetic actuator having an arm connected thereto uses a circuit that temporarily places in a high impedance state output nodes connected to a winding of the electromagnetic actuator. A detected BEMF is compared with a lower threshold and an upper threshold. Current in the electromagnetic actuator is monitored and controlled. A current pulse is provided to the electromagnetic actuator based upon the comparison of the detected BEMF with the lower and upper thresholds. The respective amplitudes of successively provided current pulses having a same polarity are progressively increased, and an amplitude of a provided current pulse having a polarity opposite a polarity of a preceding current pulse is decreased. The amplitude of the driving current pulses provided to the winding of the electromagnetic actuator advantageously adapts automatically to varying frictional conditions, or to any other cause of variation of the mechanical load of the actuator. These conditions occur when the arm moved by the electromagnetic actuator starts to slide up or flies off the parking ramp.

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Cinisello Balsamo, Italy

Gianluca Ventura