Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Maxtor Corporation

William Flynn

Jifang Tian

Hongqi Li

Wei Guo

Shawn E Casey

Yunfeng Li

Mark Heimbaugh

Tegan Campbell

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Lin Guo

Xiaoping Hu

Alain Chahwan

John Edward Scura

Xiaokun L Chew

Oliver W Northrup

Tim Glassburn

Francisco Obregon

A vibration testing apparatus comprises a first mooring bar coupled to the base; a second mooring bar coupled to the base such that the second mooring bar is disposed away from and faces the first mooring bar to define a space between the first and second mooring bars; a first strap comprising a first end secured to the first mooring bar, and a second strap comprising a first end secured to the first mooring bar. A second end of each of the first and second straps may be secured to the second mooring bar such that the first and second straps span the space between the first and second mooring bars and such that a tension on at least one of the first and second strap is controllable.

Devices and methods for system-level disk drive vibration and shock testing

A novel information storage device is disclosed and claimed. The information storage device includes a device housing with a generally rectangular bay to accommodate a disk drive. The generally rectangular bay includes a base portion and a plurality of side portions. The information storage device further includes a damping insert sheet disposed between the disk drive and the base portion. The damping insert sheet has a plurality of elastomeric cushions, for example with a cushion thickness in the range 0.5 mm to 10 mm, and a spanning sheet, for example having a sheet thickness in the range 0.02 mm to 0.35 mm. Each of the plurality of elastomeric cushions is attached to the spanning sheet. Each of the plurality of elastomeric cushions contacts and is compressed between the generally rectangular bay and the disk drive.

Information storage device with a damping insert sheet between a housing bay and a disk drive

A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk, a head, an actuator for actuating the head over the disk, and control circuitry comprising a servo control system for controlling the actuator. A compensation value is generated based on a speaker driver signal, and the actuator is controlled using the compensation value.

Disk drive generating feed-forward actuator compensation based on a speaker driver signal

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 method is provided for identifying offsets of accelerometers integrated into hard disk drives. More specifically, often, disk drives employ accelerometers that constantly monitor the acceleration felt by the disk drive. Once the accelerations are less than a predetermined threshold, a free fall event is identified and an actuator arm that is generally positioned above the disk is placed in a safe location prior to impact. Accelerometers must be calibrated prior to use such that their inherent errors are identified and factored into the algorithm that identifies free fall. The method provided herein allows for the 0 g offset to be monitored without having to reorient the device being tested, thus saving time and money.

Zero-g offset identification of an accelerometer employed in a hard disk drive

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

William Flynn