The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 02, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1995
Ashok B Nayak, Glendora, CA (US);
Kurt A Buckland, Yorba Linda, CA (US);
Walter Fehlmann, Fountain Valley, CA (US);
James Mark Decot, Costa Mesa, CA (US);
Scott L Hanson, Costa Mesa, CA (US);
Seagate Technology, Inc., Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Abstract
A voice coil driven positioner is provided for positioning the magnetic head of a tape drive relative to the tape of a removable tape cartridge. The head positioner includes a low-mass carriage that supports the head on one end and the voice coil on an opposed second end. A low friction guide mechanism guides the carriage along a precision movement path that carries the head across tracks of a supplied multi-track tape and simultaneously carries the voice coil through a flux field generated by a stator. A movable portion of a position detector is attached to the carriage and located within the hollow of the voice coil for reciprocating into a hollow passageway of the stator together with reciprocation of the voice coil into another hollow of the stator. A fixed portion of the position detector is attached to the stator and located compactly within the hollow passageway of the stator. A programmable lookup table converts measurement signals output by the position detector into pre-calibrated, head-position indicating signals. A platform is provided on the carriage for mounting an interferometer prism used during calibration.