System for monitoring and dynamically adjusting head-to-disk spacing in a disk drive

US7310194B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• MAXTOR CORPORATION · US

Inventors

• Bruce Schardt · Tracy, US
• Erhard Schreck · San Jose, US
• Jingbo Yu · San Jose, US
• Michael Mallary · Sterling, US
• Scott Hughes · Cupertino, US
• Duc H. Banh · San Jose, US
• Kazuhiro Saito · Tokyo, JP
• Donald Brunnett · Pleasanton, US
• Tim R. Glassburn · Milpitas, US
• Chris Hawks · Saratoga, US
• Thao A. Nguyen · San Jose, US
• Andrew LeFebvre · Campbell, US
• Joerg Ferber · Angerstein, DE
• Richard Oswald · San Jose, US
• Brian D. Strom · Cupertino, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 7, 2005
• Grant date: Dec 18, 2007
• Expiry date: Apr 7, 2025

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G11B5/5534
• WIPO field: Audio-visual technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A disk drive includes a drive housing, a storage disk, a slider and a drive circuitry. The slider magnetically interacts with the storage disk, and includes a read/write head that is positioned to have an actual head-to-disk spacing greater than zero nanometers during rotation of the storage disk. The drive circuitry can determine and/or monitor the actual head-to-disk spacing at any time during the operation of the disk drive based on an amplitude or a change in the amplitude of a signal such as a variable gain amplifier signal. In one embodiment, the slider includes a slider mover that receives current via the drive circuitry and causes a deformation of a portion of the slider to change the head-to-disk spacing based on the amplitude of the signal. In another embodiment, the read/write head moves during substantially consistent rotational velocity of the storage disk from a first actual head-to-disk spacing equal to approximately zero nanometers, to a second actual head-to-disk spacing that is greater than zero nanometers based on a desired amplitude of the signal.