Patent · US Expired

Disk drive power control circuit and method

US5412809A · kind A · utility

70Cited by
14References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 12, 1992
Grant dateMay 2, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 12, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02D10/00
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A disk drive control circuit and method controls electric power consumption in a disk drive so that a computer system such as a laptop computer can conserve power and as a result can dramatically reduce the effective life of batteries employed as a power source of the computer system. The disk drive control circuit and method is effective in reducing a power consumption for very small form factor disk drives. A technique is provided to allow the user to adopt the performance versus power consumption to meet the system requirements. The control circuit and method effectively controls transient currents associated with initiation of mechanical operation such as an actuator for actuating a magnetic head and a spindle motor for rotating a magnetic disk at high speed with optimum starting time. The disk drive control circuit and method includes a micro-controller for controlling a total operational procedure for reducing an electric power consumption programmed by a vendor or instructed by a user in addition to an overall operation of the disk drive. The disk drive control circuit also includes a memory for storing a set of programs for the operation of the disk drive. The memory includ…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.