International Business Machines Corporation

Robert E Schopp

Townsend H Porter, Jr

Richard Greenberg

John R Reidenbach

Thomas W Glaser

Timothy Joseph Chainer

John Stewart Best

Robert A Scranton

Jerry Lee Neubauer

Nigel F Misso

Avijit Mukherjee

A high speed, small diameter disk storage system having a plurality of disk drive devices utilizing disks with a nominal 65 mm diameter rotated at a speed of approximately 10,000 RPM which can be optimally arranged in a four drive system to match the space geometry of the traditional half-high flexible disk drive used in a personal computer.

High speed, small diameter disk storage system

A structure and organization for a magnetic disk drive provides for optimizing the volumetric storage density within a device form factor by optimizing the number of disks. The spindle and dual rotary actuators are respectively supported at each side by a pair of support plates that are separated and supported by not only the spindle and actuator shafts, but also the voice coil motor core pieces and tie plates which carry shock mounts. This head-disk assembly is shock mounted in the lower part of a two part enclosure wherein the enclosure parts are aligned and separated by elastomer guides and the separation covered by a compliant tape to complete the enclosure. Both actuators use a common servo surface while one actuator carries upwardly facing transducers and the other downwardly facing transducers so that each arm extending between disks mounts, but a single suspension-transducer assembly to reduce interdisk spacing. The enclosure occupies the entire vertical height of the form factor and the head-disk assembly occupies the full available height of the enclosure interior to accommodate as many disks as possible. Electrical components are excluded from the axial sides of the stack of disks.

Rigid magnetic disk drive head disk assembly and enclosure structure

The head suspension assembly of a magnetic disk file is mounted to the disk file`s rigid actuator arm by means of an intermediate, arm-encircling, low profile, mounting band. A number of different mounting bands are disclosed for use in securing the head suspension assembly to the actuator arm. A head suspension assembly is permanently attached to the mounting band during a subassembly manufacturing procedure. The unitary mounting-band/head-suspension subassembly is then removably mounted on the end of the actuator arm by use of the mounting band.

Magnetic disk file head suspension assembly mounting means

A magnetic disk provided with different digital bytes inside and outside of the center line of a magnetic track on the disk, and transducer and recording mechanism for detecting the passage of the digital bytes across the transducer and recording these bytes as the disk rotates so as to determine the distance the center of the transducer is spaced from the center line of the magnetic track. The recorded digital information is used for stepping a transducer stepping motor a distance corresponding to the stored digital information to move the transducer to have its center in correspondence with the center of the track. In one embodiment, the digital information is stored in a circular reference track adjacent the edge of the disk, and in another embodiment the digital information is stored in spiral tracks extending toward the center of the disk.

Rotatable storage apparatus with digitally responsive circuitry for

A thin flexible magnetic disk rotatably disposed in a cartridge of rigid material and protected thereby. The disk is loosely mounted on a driving hub assembly and has an arrow shaped center hole surrounding a central round hub portion of the hub assembly. A drive pin is carried by the hub assembly and extends loosely through a corresponding hole located in the disk and spaced from the center of the hub assembly and located on a radial line preferably of about 90 degrees with respect to a radial line passing through the apex of the straight hole edges forming the arrow so that the disk is automatically centered on the hub assembly due to any restraint on the disk during its rotation.

Cartridge and flexible magnetic disk assembly

A machine for holding a tape cartridge and including propelling means for driving the tape through the cartridge in both directions. The machine has a cartridge receiving slot with a drive roll at the bottom of the slot disposed on a rotatable drive member carried by a swingable member. A pair of drive rolls are driven from an electric motor and are disposed with respect to the swingable member so that, when the swingable member is swung in opposite directions, the drive rolls drive the rotatable drive member in opposite directions for thereby driving the tape in opposite directions. A pair of swing arms are on opposite sides of and are both effective on the rotatable drive member in a neutral position of the swingable member for braking the drive roll at the bottom of the slot. The swing arms are moved out of braking engagement with the rotatable drive member when the swingable member is moved to bring the rotatable drive member into driven relationship with respect to said pair of drive rolls.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MN, United States of America

Robert E Schopp