Integral Peripherals, Inc.

Conner Peripherals, Inc.

Prairietek Corporation

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Storage Technology Corporation

Mobile Storage Technology, Inc.

Integral Peripeherals, Inc.

John H Blagaila

James H Morehouse

Michael R Utenick

David M Furay

James F Hopper

Steven Bernard Volk

James A Dunckley

F Eugene Dion

Terry G Johnson

Scott A Shelstad

Jimmy L Woods

Thomas A Klein

Thomas L Andrews

H Ross Chessman

Bruce D Emo

Thomas L Andrews, Jr

David H Furay

Disclosed is a method to reduce external signal interference with signals in a computer disk storage system including a disk drive. An electrically conductive housing is provided for the disk drive to enclose and support within the housing analog circuitry, a motor for rotating media for the storage of information, and circuitry for converting analog signals to digital signals. Circuitry and conductors which carry analog signals are enclosed within the electrically conductive housing and signal conversion circuitry is provided within the housing to convert analog signals into digital signals before transmission to the exterior of the housing.

Method for reducing external signal interference with signals in a computer disk storage system

A disk drive apparatus is disclosed for primary use with portable, laptop or other information storage systems. The disk drive apparatus includes one or more about 2.5 inch hard disks. The disk drive apparatus also has electronics, including hardware and software, for detecting a lapse of first and second predetermined time intervals since a last disk access. The disk drive apparatus also includes power conservation means which power down a first portion of disk drive components after a first predetermined time interval has elapsed and for powering down a second portion of disk drive components after a second predetermined time interval has elapsed.

Disk drive apparatus with power conservation capability

A disk drive apparatus, by using an integrated base structure made up of a base portion and a printed circuit board, and an integrated cover structure made up of a cover casting and a printed circuit board, is able to achieve an overall thickness of 5 millimeters, so that such disk drive apparatus can meet the current PCMCIA card standard for Type II cards.

Disk drive apparatus

Disclosed is a rigid disk drive information storage device which includes a rigid disk having a diameter in the range of about 45-50 mm., with a housing having a footprint that includes a width of about 51 mm. and utilizing a rotary actuator for positioning read/write recording elements across the surface of the disk. The disk storage devices further includes a footprint with a length of about 70 mm., includes dynamic loading apparatus for loading the read/write recording elements into operative relationship with the disk and further includes an inertial latch for preventing rotation of the actuator when the drive is subjected to a rotational force.

Miniature hard disk drive with EMI protection and single permanent

The present invention provides a disk drive apparatus for use in computer systems and especially in computer systems where size and weight are of paramount concern, such as lap top computer systems. The preferred embodiment of the disk drive apparatus includes a 21/2' magnetic disk that preferably provides 20 to 40 megabytes of storage within a foot print area of approximately 2.8 inches by approximately 4.0 inches. Further, the disk drive apparatus possesses a height dimension of 0.630 inches or less. This height dimension is achieved, in part, by providing a low profile spin motor to rotate the magnetic disk. The low profile spin motor uses high energy magnets that are preferably made of a material that includes a rare earth, such as neodymium or samarium. The disk drive apparatus also employs a rotary actuator having a voice coil assembly of reduced height that is achieved by using the housing as a flux return path for magnet fields produced by the voice coil assembly. The present invention also provides an improved ambient filter that reduces the penetration of ambient water vapor into the housing of the disk drive apparatus. An improved desiccant located, at least in part, within the housing is also provided by the present invention. Additionally, the invention provides a flex circuit having a geometry that results in substantially zero torque applied to the rotary actuator. Also provided is a distributed frame apparatus that, besides connecting the housing to a printed circuit board, also provides side, top and/or bottom mounting capability and shock absorbing capability. The distributed frame also avoids the need for grounding.

An embedded servo system for a disk drive is disclosed. An asymmetrical position sub-field reduces the overhead of the disk position system. The sub-field includes at least two normal frame pairs and only one quadrature frame pair interleaved with one of the normal pairs to form the asymmetrical position sub-field. The prerecorded embedded servo information in each track of the disk includes a multiplicity of different length servo fields, i.e, each track includes at least two types of servo fields where the first type has a first length and the second type has a second length that is different from the first length. The length of a servo field refers to the number of prerecorded bytes in the servo field. The multiplicity of different length servo fields includes a first type having a full track address sub-field and a second type having a modulo track address sub-field in place of the full track address sub-field. In another embodiment, the multiplicity of different length servo fields includes the first and second types of servo fields and a third type of servo field. The third type of servo field includes only track following information and no track address information, i.e., the third type of servo field is a position only servo field. The servo fields of differing lengths are interleaved in each track of the disk. The servo fields are chosen to provide a high seek sampling rate in comparison to the required performance and a reduction in the servo overhead. Increased track following sampling is provided to make the read/write head less likely to move off track in response to external forces on the disk drive. Disk drives with different types of servo fields interleaved are particularly well-suited for small portable computers.

Disk drive embedded servo system having a servo field with an

Disclosed is a disk drive information storage device having a housing and a disk means for recording and reproducing information. The disk drive information storage device utilizes an actuator comprising a body portion supported by the housing for rotation about an axis, and a load beam connected to the body portion for rotation of a first end of the load beam in a plane substantially parallel to a surface of the disk means. The load beam includes an elongated lift tab having a free end which extends beyond the first end of the load beam, with the lift tab extending along an axis which is skewed from the centerline of the load beam. A slider body including a transducer for recording and reproducing information from the disk is supported by the load beam at a position intermediate the first end of the load beam and the axis of rotation of the body portion. A cam assembly is provided on the housing adjacent to the edge of the disk means, the cam assembly including a cam surface positioned in operative relationship with the lift tab. In one embodiment, the housing has a first external dimension of about 51 mm. In another embodiment, the disk means has a diameter in the range of from about 45 mm to about 50 mm.

Miniature disk drive with dynamic head loading with skewed lifting tab

Spin motor control system for a hard disk assembly

The present invention provides a disk drive apparatus for use in computer systems where size and weight are of paramount concern. The disk drive apparatus includes a 2.5 inch disk that provides between 20-40 megabytes of storage within a footprint area of approximately 2.8 inches by approximately 4.0 inches. Further, the disk drive has a height of 0.630 inch or less. The height dimension is achieved, in part, by providing a low profile spin motor to rotate the disk. The low profile spin motor uses high energy magnets made of rare earth materials. The disk drive also employs a rotary actuator having a voice coil assembly of reduced height by using the housing as a flux return path for the magnetic fields produced by the voice coil motor. Also provided is a three-tiered housing that contains the disk which, when connected to a printed circuit board, produces the low profile disk drive apparatus.

Low profile disk drive apparatus incorporating a three-tiered housing

In an embedded servo system for a disk drive, prerecorded servo information in each track of the disk includes a multiplicity of different length servo fields. Each track includes at least two types of servo fields where the first type and the second type have different lengths. The length of a servo field refers to the number of prerecorded bytes in the servo field. The multiplicity of different length servo fields includes a first type having a full track address sub-field and a second type having a modulo track address sub-field in place of the full track address sub-field. One embodiment includes the first and second types of servo fields and a third type of servo field. The third type of servo field includes only track following information and no track address information. The servo fields of differing lengths are interleaved in each track of the disk. The servo fields are chosen to provide a high seek sampling rate in comparison to the required performance and a reduction in the servo overhead. Increased track following sampling is provided to make the read/write head less likely to move off track in response to external forces on the disk drive. Disk drives with different types of servo fields interleaved are particularly well-suited for small portable computers.

Servo field scheme for high sampling rate and reduced overhead embedded

A computer having a hard disk drive includes a battery voltage monitor which establishes a shut down condition of the computer if the supply voltage falls below a chosen level V.sub.L. Upon start up of the hard disk drive motor, current through the motor is limited so that supply voltage of the battery to a computer does not fall below level V.sub.1, which level is greater than the level V.sub.L. Additionally during start up, current in the motor is controlled so that voltage supplied by the battery to the computer does not rise above a threshold level V.sub.2 which is greater than V.sub.1.

Disk drive power management system

Disclosed is a disk drive information storage device which includes a disk for recording and reproducing information, with the disk drive information storage device having a housing with a baseplate which includes a peripheral portion having a lip which extends circumferentially around the peripheral portion and the cover also includes a peripheral portion with a free edge at the periphery of the cover such that when the baseplate is engaged with the cover the overlap of the free edge of the baseplate and the free edge of the lip provides shielding to the internal components of the disk drive from electromagnetic interference, which my be present in the environment in which the disk drive is utilized. The disk utilized in the disk drive has a diameter in the range of from about 45 mm to about 50 mm. The housing of the disk drive has a first external dimension of about 51 mm and a second external dimension of about 70 mm.

Disk drive information storage device with baseplate and cover having

Disclosed is a disk drive information storage device having a housing and a disk means for recording and reproducing information. The disk drive information storage device utilizes a spin motor control system having a start-up control circuit which includes a counter and is programmable to accommodate for changing system parameters. The start-up control circuit does not require an external capacitor and provides stable generation of the start-up pulses. The spin motor control system also includes a BEMF commutation circuit which operates utilizing digital techniques. The BEMF commutation circuit includes first and second counters that are programmable to accommodate for changing system parameters. In one embodiment, the housing has a first external dimension of about 51 mm. In another embodiment, the disk means has a diameter in the range of from about 45 mm to about 50 mm.

Miniature disk drive with spin motor control system

Disclosed is a disk drive information storage device which, in one embodiment, includes a disk having a diameter in the range of about 45 to 50 min., with a housing and a spin motor. In another embodiment, the disk drive information storage device includes a disk, a housing having a first external dimension of about 51 mm., and a spin motor. The spin motor includes a rotor and a stator, with either the rotor or the stator having a plurality of winding structures associated therewith, and the other having a plurality of magnetic poles. Each winding structure is made up of two winding portions, with only one winding portion being used to drive the rotor relative to the stator upon drive currents being applied to the winding structure, but with both winding portions being used to generate back electromotive force when drive current is cut off from the winding structure. This generated electromotive force is used to actuate an actuator drive motor to unload the read/write heads from the disk surface. As an alternative, each winding is made of a single winding, and the winding structures are used successively to drive the motor relative to the stator, but with at least two winding portions generating back electromotive force when drive current is cut off. The housing of the disk drive information storage device, in one embodiment, further includes a second external dimension of about 70 mm. and a dynamic loading apparatus for loading the read/write recording elements into the operative relationship with the disk.

Miniature hard disk drive with spin motor for portable computer

The run length limited encoding/decoding system of this invention includes a clock swap logic circuit, a read reference clock multiplexer circuit, a write clock skip logic circuit, an encoder start logic circuit, an encoder circuit, a read clock skip logic circuit, a decoder start logic circuit, a decoder circuit, an input data buffer and a three-state output data buffer. The encoder circuit includes a deserializer for receiving serial data from a disk controller and blocking the data into m bit words. Each m bit data word is supplied directly to an encoding combinatorial logic circuit which in turn generates an n bit code word. The n bit code word is loaded in a serializer and serially transmitted out of the serializer. The decoder circuit includes a deserializer/serializer and a decoding combinatorial logic circuit. The deserializer/serializer receives a serial stream of encoded data and converts the data into n bit code words. Each n bit code word is loaded directly into the decoding combinatorial logic circuit which in turn generates an m bit data word. The m bit data word is loaded into the deserializer/serializer so that as the next n bit code word is serially loaded in the deserializer/serializer, the m bit data worded is serially moved out of the deserializer/serializer.

Growing community of inventors

Boulder, CO, United States of America

John H Blagaila