Double-sided disk storage using a single configuration of magnetoresistive head
US6650506B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 15, 1999 |
| Grant date | Nov 18, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 15, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B2005/0016
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetic data recording system and apparatus providing the flexibility of using a magnetoresistive read/write head in other than its standard orientation. The invention includes a plurality of magnetic recording disks supported on a spindle rotated by a motor. A plurality of arms, each mounted to a common actuator for arcuate motion, support at their distal ends the magnetoresistive read/write heads. The arms suspend the heads in close proximity to upper and lower surfaces of the disks so that the heads may record signals thereto and read signals therefrom. Generally such systems comprise two sets of such heads, a set of up-heads designed for facing upward to read the bottom surface of a disk and another set of down-heads designed to face downward to read an upper surface of a disk. The present invention provides circuitry allowing the up heads to be used in a downward direction and conversely allows a down head to be used in an upward direction, thereby eliminating the need to manufacture and store an equal number of two different configurations of heads.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.