Maxtor Corporation

Tim Glassburn

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Brian D Strom

Duc H Banh

Richard Oswald

Scott A Hughes

Kazuhiro Saito

Michael L Mallary

Lin Guo

Thao Anh Nguyen

Wei Guo

Donald Joseph Brunnett

John Edward Scura

Bruce C Schardt

Xiaokun L Chew

Mark A Nichols

Yunfeng Li

Mark Heimbaugh

Andrew LeFebvre

Jingbo Yu

Oliver W Northrup

Hai Chi Nguy

Chris Hawks

William Flynn

Bruce Lairson

Anthony R Hurtado

Joerg Ferber

A method for monitoring the operability of a slider of a disk drive includes the steps of providing a slider that includes a read/write head that magnetically interacts with a storage disk, and a slider mover that adjusts a head-to-disk spacing, controlling an electrical stimulus to the slider mover with a drive circuitry, measuring an actual electrical response from the slider mover with the drive circuitry, and comparing the actual electrical response to an expected electrical response to determine an operability status of the slider mover. Further, changes in the actual electrical response can be monitored and used to predict future failure of the slider mover.

Method of detecting changes in operability status of a slider mover in a disk drive

A system provided for protecting a disk drive from impact damages. More specifically, a disk drive is provided that includes an accelerometer interconnected to a printed circuit board that detects free fall of the disk drive. In addition, the velocity of spinning disks of the disk drive is also monitored to assess changes in velocity thereof that may indicate the presence of a tumbling condition. Furthermore, the change in acceleration measured by the accelerometer is monitored to prevent false indications of free fall due to common vibrations. Thus an enhanced system is provided that protects disk drives from the effect of free falls under a wide variety of conditions and allowing for drops from shorter distances to be identified.

Mobile hard disk drive free fall detection and protection

A disk drive includes a drive housing, a storage disk, a slider and a drive circuitry. The slider magnetically interacts with the storage disk, and includes a read/write head that is positioned to have an actual head-to-disk spacing greater than zero nanometers during rotation of the storage disk. The drive circuitry can determine and/or monitor the actual head-to-disk spacing at any time during the operation of the disk drive based on an amplitude or a change in the amplitude of a signal such as a variable gain amplifier signal. In one embodiment, the slider includes a slider mover that receives current via the drive circuitry and causes a deformation of a portion of the slider to change the head-to-disk spacing based on the amplitude of the signal. In another embodiment, the read/write head moves during substantially consistent rotational velocity of the storage disk from a first actual head-to-disk spacing equal to approximately zero nanometers, to a second actual head-to-disk spacing that is greater than zero nanometers based on a desired amplitude of the signal.

System for monitoring and dynamically adjusting head-to-disk spacing in a disk drive

A method for reducing flux concentrating capacity of a shield in a magnetic read/write head positioned to read perpendicular residual magnetic fields on a magnetic media. Permeability of the shield is reduced in a direction oriented perpendicular to the magnetic media by inducing a transverse magnetic bias field within the shield.

Transverse biased shields for perpendicular recording to reduce stray field sensitivity

Growing community of inventors

Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Tim Glassburn