Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for parking and releasing a magnetic head

US6624979B1 · kind B1 · utility

3Cited by
134References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 9, 2000
Grant dateSep 23, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 9, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B25/043
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An information storage device (10, 510, 610, 710) includes a cradle (12, 512, 612, 712) which can removably receive a cartridge (11, 411, 511, 611, 711). The cartridge has a sealed housing (59) which contains a rotatably supported disk (91, 326-327), and a pivotal actuator arm (101) that supports a magnetic head (107, 331-334) for movement adjacent the disk. When the cartridge is removed from the cradle, the head is moved to a parked position with respect to the disk, in which a magnetically permeable part (116) on the actuator arm is in close proximity to a magnetic arrangement (141) disposed within the housing. The magnetic arrangement exerts a strong magnetic force that resists movement of the arm and head away from the parked position. The cradle has a shunt (142) which, when the cartridge is removably inserted, interacts with the magnetic field through a wall of the sealed housing, in a manner which reduces the effective magnetic force that tends to retain the arm and head in the parked position.

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