Method and apparatus for recovering load/unload zone real estate on data storage media in data storage devices to increase a data storage capacity thereof
US6937419B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 10, 2003 |
| Grant date | Aug 30, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 14, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B21/22
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A hard disk drive utilizes hard disks that recover the historically unused read/write space or real estate located in the load/unload zone. Approximately one-half of the load/unload zone is recovered and available for reading and writing operations by forming a first or radially outermost read/write track beginning immediately adjacent to the inner radial edge of the load/unload zone and proceeding radially inward from there to the conventional location of first tracks in the prior art. In another version of the invention, almost the entire load/unload zone is recovered and available for reading and writing operations by aligning the first track with the center of the load/unload zone and proceeding radially inward from there as described above. Both of these versions make significant additional surface area on the disk available where, in the prior art, no data was stored, thereby increasing the efficiency and storage capacity of the hard disk drive.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.