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145 results about "Hard disc drive" patented technology

A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk, is an electro-mechanical data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one or more rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material.

Method of operating hard disk drive, corresponding control circuit, hard disk drive and processing device

ActiveUS20250364012A1Disposition/mounting of recording headsDriving/moving recording headsHard disc driveDriving current
The disclosure relates to a voice coil motor (VCM) in a hard disk drive during a retract phase, wherein read-and-write heads of the hard disk drive are retracted by the VCM from a disk surface towards an end-of-travel parking condition with the heads climbing over a ramp starting from a ramp edge adjacent the disk surface. During the retract phase, the VCM is operated in a discontinuous mode comprising an alternation of on-times of duration TON and off-times of duration TOFF wherein supply of a drive current to the VCM is facilitated and countered, respectively. The duration TOFF of the off-times is varied to have a lower bound value at the ramp edge and to increase towards an upper bound value as the heads climb over the ramp towards the end-of-travel parking condition.
Owner:STMICROELECTRONICS INT NV

Measurement device and measurement method for measuring vibration characteristics of workpiece

PendingUS20260118212A1Arm with actuatorsVibration testingHard disc driveVibration measurement
A hard disk drive suspension includes first piezoelectric elements provided at a first position, and second piezoelectric elements provided at a second position. A conductor is connected to the first piezoelectric elements. Conductors are connected to the second piezoelectric elements, respectively. A measurement device includes a vibration signal generation unit which supplies vibration signals to the second piezoelectric elements, a vibration measurement unit which detects vibration generated at the suspension, and a ground connection unit. The conductor electrically connected to the first piezoelectric elements is connected to a ground via a resistor of a ground connection unit.
Owner:NHK SPRING CO LTD

Magnetic recording disk with high internal stress to reduce disk deflections from shock forces and methods for use with the disk

Disks for use in hard disk drives (HDD) or other magnetic recording apparatus. The disks are configured based on a finding that internal stress within a disk can make the disk more resistant to shock forces. In one example, a disk is provided that has a substrate with a thickness of no more than 0.5 millimeters and an internal stress no less than 300 megapascals. The relatively high internal stress within the substrate of the disk serves to reduce the magnitude of deflections caused by mechanical shocks to an HDD in which the disk is installed, as compared to other disks of equal thickness but with relatively less internal stress. Multi-platter stacks of the disks are described. Methods are also described for fabricating such disks and for rejecting disks that do not meet certain internal stress-based criteria. Substrates are also described.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Parabolic-shaped plasmonic waveguide blocker for thermally assisted recording head

To improve a thermal gradient of a near-field transducer (NFT) and increase an areal density capacity of a HAMR head.SOLUTION: An NFT includes a main pole (MP) 302, a two-layer transducer 304 positioned adjacent to the MP, a waveguide core 306, and a parabolic waveguide blocker 308 positioned adjacent to the waveguide core, wherein the parabolic waveguide blocker includes a parabolic shape having a surface exposed to an air-bearing surface (ABS) of a write head. The parabolic waveguide blocker reduces electromagnetic radiation from the waveguide core, recycles a scattering field emitted from the NFT to mitigate a thermal background in a recording medium, improves a thermal gradient, and increases an areal density capacity (ADC) of a hard disk drive write head.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3A
Owner:HEADWAY TECHNOLOGIES INC

Information processing device

This invention provides an information processing device that enables normal operation even when the ambient temperature is outside the operating temperature specifications of the electronic devices that constitute the information processing device. [Solution] The information processing device of this embodiment includes a hard disk drive storing an operating system. This information processing device includes a temperature sensor positioned to detect the ambient temperature around the hard disk drive, a temperature acquisition unit that acquires the temperature detected by the temperature sensor in response to power-on, and a temperature determination unit that determines whether the detected temperature is above a predetermined threshold, starts the operating system if the detected temperature is above the threshold, and does not start the operating system if the detected temperature is below the threshold, and repeats the determination at regular time intervals.
Owner:KK TOSHIBA

Shortening the bearing span by increasing the coil thickness to improve the structural dynamics of actuators in hard disk drives.

PendingJP2026076105AManufacture head surfaceCarrier constructional parts dispositionHard disc driveAcoustic transfer function
Improve non-repetitive runout (NRRO) associated with the system's structural dynamics and operating vibrations. [Solution] A data storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) includes a rotary pivot bearing assembly of a rotary actuator configured with a bearing span smaller than the maximum available bearing span, thereby reducing the rotary pivot tilt (PT) gain of the corresponding acoustic transfer function relative to the rotational pivot tilt (PT) gain of the original acoustic transfer function corresponding to the maximum available bearing span. To counteract the resulting decrease in coil torsion and rotational pivot tilt frequency, the voice coil is thickened vertically to increase the coil torsion (CT) frequency and rotational pivot tilt frequency, bringing them closer to their values ​​in the original acoustic transfer function. Combining a relatively short bearing span with a relatively thick voice coil ensures and improves performance by maintaining relatively high CT and PT frequencies while guaranteeing a relatively low PT gain.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Optimizing A Current Distribution In Write Heads For Efficient Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording

The present embodiments can generally provide a magnetic write head structure with optimized gap current distribution to maximize the current-assisted areal density capacity (ADC) gain in hard-disk-drive storage devices. In a first example embodiment, a non-dual-write-shield (nDWS) write head can include a main pole (MP), a trailing shield (TS), and a write gap (WG) disposed between the MP and the TS. The write head can also include a side shield (SS), a leading shield (LS), and a write shield (WS). The write head can include a side gap (SG) between the MP and the SS on both sides of the MP tip, and a leading gap (LG) between the MP and the LS. The write head can also include a coil wrapped around the MP through a PP3 shield that is configured to direct a time-dependent write current to saturate magnetization of the MP.
Owner:HEADWAY TECHNOLOGIES INC

Sealed hard disk drive base insert

A hard disk drive enclosure base includes a main base composed of a first material and having at least one bottom opening therethrough, a base insert composed of a second material having a higher Young's modulus than the first material and inserted into a corresponding opening of the main base, and a friction stir weld (FSW) coupling the base insert to the main base. The base may further include a thin film sealing material between a base insert flange and the main base, which is heated by way of the FSW process and further hermetically seals the interface between the base insert and the main base. Such a base insert may be used to support with additional stiffness the spindle motor assembly and / or the actuator assembly, and provides for increasing the number of disks while maintaining sufficient rigidity in a standard form factor drive while maintaining a hermetically-sealed enclosure.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Sector sliding in shingled magnetic recording hard disk drive

Controlling a shingled magnetic recording (SMR) hard drive involves attempting a sequential write to a first sector of a sequence of sectors and, responsive to encountering a write inhibit boundary corresponding to the first sector, continuing the write to the next available sector in the sequence of sectors for the write. Thus, instead of that write inhibit triggering a hard error, the data is adaptively written to the next down-track physical sector possible, i.e., “sliding” to the next sector. This does not require an additional disk revolution thus there is negligible performance penalty. The write may be continued to the next track if necessary, and may continue through the entire zone, to maintain all the data in sequential form for performance and large block protection purposes.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

LOADBEARING FINE ACTUATOR PROTECTION FEATURE

PendingDE102025124390A1Arm with actuatorsRecord information storageHard disc driveClassical mechanics
A gimbal head assembly (HGA), such as that used in a hard disk drive (HDD), comprises a load beam formed with proximal openings and a bend coupled to the load beam. The bend includes a tongue section to which a fine actuator is coupled, and the tongue section includes corner sections proximal to the fine actuator. Each opening of the load beam is shaped and positioned to overlap the corner section of the bend, preventing contact between the load beam and the corner section in response to shock events. This creates a gimbal clearance of the bend relative to the load beam, protecting the integrity of the piezoelectric fine actuator elements from, for example, non-operational shock events.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Information processing device

One aspect of an information processing device according to the present invention comprises: a hard disk drive; a processing device that accesses the hard disk drive; a plurality of fan devices that cool the processing device; and a control device that controls the plurality of fan devices. The control device acquires an error rate of the hard disk drive while changing the number of rotations of the plurality of fan devices under a condition in which the average air volume of the plurality of fan devices is a first air volume, and controls the number of rotations of the plurality of fan devices on the basis of a first combination which, among combinations of the number of rotations of the plurality of fan devices, makes the error rate equal to or less than a threshold value.
Owner:NIDEC CORP(JP)

System and method for recycling magnetic material and rare earth elements contained therein

Methods and systems for the extraction of magnetic material from magnet containing material, and for extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) from the magnetic material are disclosed. An exemplary system includes a milling / washing unit for magnet containing material such as end-of-life motors, hard drives, partially deconstructed motors, magnet-containing end-of-life product, or parts thereof, and outputting magnetic components by exploiting magnetic properties of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic materials in the presence and absence of electromagnetic fields in conjunction with other physical properties such as size and density. The system also includes a chemical processing unit for receiving the magnetic components to extract rare earth elements in the material. Chemical processes are disclosed for separating rare earth elements from magnetic components.
Owner:CYCLIC MATERIALS INC

REDUCTION OF DRUM CURVATURE IN A HARD DISC DRIVE

A hard disk drive comprises multiple disk media mounted on a spindle, with the outer diameter of each disk media offset relative to its inner diameter in the same direction along a rotational axis of the spindle, and a load / unload ramp positioned based on this offset to align with the outer diameters of the disk media. This mitigates the curvature of irregular disk media, such as that associated with increasingly thinner disks, by grouping similarly characterized irregular disks on a given spindle and compensating the ramp accordingly.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Storage system and data placement method

This invention provides a storage system and data placement method that can improve the performance of a storage system by efficiently operating multiple backend drives. [Solution] The storage system is constructed by having multiple storage nodes, each of which includes a storage control unit and is allocated multiple drives. The storage control unit reads and writes data to physical chunks in response to I / O requests from the host device. A drive has multiple physical chunks that are divided to store data. The storage control unit monitors the drive utilization rate for each of the multiple drives and, based on the drive utilization rates of the multiple drives, performs data relocation, moving data located in the physical chunks of the source drive to the physical chunks of the destination drive in order to equalize the drive utilization rates of the multiple drives.
Owner:HITACHI VANTARA LTD

Heat-assisted magnetic recording hard disk drive with a thermally processed top cover

ActiveUS12531090B1Reducing temperature influence on carrierApparatus for flat record carriersHard disc driveHeat-assisted magnetic recording
A hard disk drive includes a heat-assisted magnetic recording head and an enclosure. The enclosure is configured to contain the heat-assisted magnetic recording head and other components of the hard disk drive. The enclosure includes a base and a thermally processed top cover including a thermally oxidized interior surface. Preferably, a composition of the thermally oxidized surface of the thermally processed top cover comprises at least 5 percent oxygen. More preferably, an average oxidation depth of the thermally oxidized surface of the thermally processed top cover is at least 8 nanometers.
Owner:SEAGATE TECH LLC

Rack mount enclosures

A rack mountable enclosure may be suitable for mounting and enclosing electrical equipment, including electronic servers. The enclosure may include a locking bezel to cover and protect user accessible features from tampering. The enclosure may also include removeable hard-disk drive carriers and latching mechanisms.
Owner:UBIQUITI INC

Method and disk carrier for use in polishing glass substrate disks

A carrier for use in a polishing machine and a method for using the carrier during the polishing of glass substrate disks intended for use in the hard disk media of a hard disk drive. Grooves are provided in top and bottom surfaces of the carrier to, e.g., increase the flow of polishing slurry between the carrier and a pair of upper and lower polishing pads of the polishing machine during a polishing operation. Opposing grooves within the top and bottom surfaces of the carrier may be staggered or offset relative to one another. Slurry passage holes may be provided in the carrier that intersect with the grooves to allow for the passage of slurry into the grooves during polishing. Method and apparatus examples are described.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Hard disk drive gimbal design with high yaw mode

A trace gimbal is described herein. In some embodiments, the trace gimbal includes outer struts including a front outrigger at a distal end of the trace gimbal and a rear outrigger at a proximal end of the trace gimbal. The front outrigger includes a distal front outrigger and a proximal front outrigger, and the rear outrigger includes a distal rear outrigger and a proximal rear outrigger. The trace gimbal further includes a middle strut extending in a width direction of the trace gimbal and adjoining the proximal front outrigger to the rear outrigger, and an inner strut connecting the middle strut to a slider tongue. The inner strut includes a slot, and the inner strut and the middle strut adjoin the outer gimbal struts to the slider tongue.
Owner:MAGNECOMP CORP

REDUCING THE BEARING DISTANCE BY INCREASING THE COIL THICKNESS FOR IMPROVED ACTUATOR STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS IN HARD DISPLAY TURNTABLES

PendingDE102025126501A1Manufacture head surfaceCarrier constructional parts dispositionHard disc driveRotational axis
A data storage device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), incorporates a rotatable actuator-rotary bearing assembly with a rotary drive configured with a bearing spacing smaller than the maximum available bearing spacing. This reduces the pivot-tilt gain of a corresponding acoustic transfer function relative to the pivot-tilt gain (PT gain) of an original acoustic transfer function equal to the maximum available bearing spacing. To counteract the resulting reductions in the coil torsion and pivot frequencies, the voice coil is vertically thickened to increase the coil torsion frequency (CT frequency) and pivot frequency, bringing them closer to their values ​​in the original acoustic transfer function.By combining a relatively short bearing spacing with a relatively thick voice coil, relatively high CT and PT frequencies are maintained while ensuring a relatively low PT gain, thereby improving the structural dynamics of the system and the NRRO associated with operational vibrations.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Load beam fine actuator protection feature

A head gimbal assembly (HGA), such as for a hard disk drive (HDD), includes: a load beam formed to have a proximal opening therethrough; and a flexure coupled with the load beam, where the flexure includes a tongue portion to which a fine actuator is coupled, and the tongue portion includes a corner portion proximal to the fine actuator. Each opening of the load beam is shaped and positioned to cover the corner portion of the flexure to avoid contact between the load beam and the corner portion in response to an impact event. A flexure gimbal clearance relative to the load beam is thereby achieved to protect the integrity of the piezoelectric elements of the fine actuator from, for example, non-operational impact events.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

Differential Current-Mode Driver for Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording

The present disclosure describes aspects of a differential current-mode (iMode) driver for microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) application in hard-disk drives. In some aspects, an iMode driver circuitry employs a driver circuit coupled to power supply connections. The driver circuit is configured to provide a controlled differential bias current and includes separate source and sink output terminals. A MAMR sensor couples between the source and sink output terminals, through which the MAMR sensor receives the controlled differential bias current provided by the driver circuit. The MAMR sensor, which has a field-entry terminal and a field-exit terminal, generates microwave fields for the recording process. A common-mode feedback (CMFB) loop couples to the field-entry and field-exit terminals of the MAMR sensor, forming a feedback pathway with the driver circuit. This CMFB loop detects common-mode voltage (CMV) and adjusts the controlled differential bias current to maintain CMV regulation of the MAMR sensor.
Owner:MARVELL ASIA PTE LTD

Hard disk drive voice coil motor actuator with low-density wire coil and high-density coil stiffener

ActiveUS12475921B1Record information storageRecord carrier typesHard disc driveRotational axis
A voice coil motor assembly (VCMA), such as for a hard disk drive, includes a low-density voice coil and a high-density coil stiffener disposed inside the coil of wire. The low-density voice coil, utilizing copper-clad aluminum or aluminum wire, is configured to increase the second coil torsion mode frequency of the VCMA, thereby bringing it closer to the second torsion mode frequency of the actuator arms. In conjunction, the high-density stiffener, utilizing steel or copper or zinc, is configured to increase the mass of the VCMA to compensate for the lower-density wire in regard to the center of mass of the VCMA about its axis of rotation. In viewing under customer box vibration conditions and in terms of position error signals (PES), a non-trivial peak in the PES spectrum due to the second coil torsion mode is largely eliminated, and the power of PES is reduced to about half.
Owner:WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES INC

High impedance biasing circuit

PendingUS20260254427A1Hard disc driveResistive sensors
According to an embodiment, a biasing circuit includes a high impedance bias stage coupled to sensor pads connected to a resistive sensor for detecting fly height in a hard disk drive. The circuit employs dual operational transconductance amplifiers with different bandwidths working in conjunction with switching circuitry to establish and maintain bias conditions. A first operational transconductance amplifier with a higher bandwidth provides fast initial settling, while a second operational transconductance amplifier with a lower bandwidth optimizes continuous operation. The architecture supports multiple operating modes, including differential voltage, differential current, and common mode configurations, through various arrangements of transistors, compensation capacitors, and feedback paths.
Owner:STMICROELECTRONICS INT NV

Gimbal design for hard disk drive device

A head gimbal assembly includes a gimbal having a base portion and a tongue that are joined together by a neck portion, a circuit mounted on the gimbal, a slider mounted on the tongue and electrically connected to the circuit, a first PZT actuator having a proximal end mounted on a first bonding site of the circuit and a distal end mounted on a second bonding site of the circuit, and a second PZT actuator having a proximal end mounted on a third bonding site of the circuit and a distal end mounted on a fourth bonding site of the circuit. The first and third bonding sites do not overlap with and are not directly supported by the base portion. The second and fourth bonding sites overlap with and are directly supported by the tongue.
Owner:MAGNECOMP CORP

Dynamic hot backup method, apparatus, and device of server, and storage medium

A dynamic hot backup method, apparatus and device of a server, and a storage medium. Connection modes for connecting a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) link to a hard disk drive is determined by acquiring a bandwidth splitting condition of the PCI link of a device, and hot backup parameters in an advanced configuration and power management interface protocol are correspondingly set according to the connection modes.
Owner:LANGCHAO ELECTRONIC INFORMATION IND CO LTD

Hard disk drive with built-in electrostatic discharge device

The invention relates to a hard disk electrostatic discharge technology, and discloses a hard disk drive with a built-in electrostatic discharge device, which comprises a power management module, a control execution module, an environment monitoring module, an electrostatic discharge module and a hard disk module. The power management module takes power from a standby power supply of the computer; the environment monitoring module judges an environment risk through a humidity sensor; the electrostatic discharge module monitors the voltage to ground of the interface through an electrostatic sensor, and triggers release when the voltage exceeds a safety threshold value; a hard disk interface terminal is provided with a conductive sliding rod which is grounded in a pilot mode, and it is ensured that static electricity is released before interface contact in the installation process. According to the invention, automatic and non-inductive electrostatic protection of the hard disk before installation and starting is realized, and the safety of the hard disk in a dry high-risk environment is improved.
Owner:HUIJU ELECTRONICS (DONGGUAN) IND CO LTD

Reader with linearizing bias current

Disclosed are methods for linearizing the response of a non-linear magnetic reader, for example in the operation of a hard disk drive. Magnetic readers generally exhibit non-linearities in their response to an applied magnetic field, and those non-linearities may be particularly pronounced when the field strength is high. This deviation from linearity at larger field strengths can limit the useful range of field amplitudes. To expand the useful range of field amplitudes and thereby increase the available signal at the reader, the reader bias current may be varied in such a way to compensate for the natural non-linearity of the reader, thus making the reader output signal linear over a larger range of detected field strengths.
Owner:SEAGATE TECH LLC

Devices and methods for generating oxygen from residual humidity within sealed enclosures

ActiveUS12505865B1Apparatus for flat record carriersRecord information storageHard disc driveElectrolysis
Provided are devices, and methods for use with devices, that generate oxygen from residual humidity within a sealed enclosure that is filled primarily with an inert gas. A PEM electrolyzer that is configured to generate oxygen from residual humidity is situated within the sealed enclosure. The PEM electrolyzer includes a PE membrane disposed between an anode and a cathode, and further includes a hydrogen getter. The hydrogen getter helps the PEM electrolyzer to be a net producer of oxygen. Exemplary sealed enclosure devices include hard disk drives such as HAMR hard drives filled primarily with helium.
Owner:SEAGATE TECH LLC

Immersion cooling jacket and method for localized and targeted cooling of electronic devices

Described are cooling jackets, cooling jacket assemblies, and cooling jacket systems for localized and targeted immersion cooling of individual electronic devices. As such, individual devices may be immersed using individual device cooling units that are used to provide targeted cooling to those portions of the device that contribute most to heating. Localized immersion cooling jackets and assemblies may be used to replace current whole-system immersion cooling. For localized and targeted cooling of hard disk drives, cooling jackets may be provided that function to better concentrate the cooling action at the circuit board where the heat generating chips may be located. The cooling jackets may be configured to have interface adaptors to facilitate connecting the devices being cooled to system connectors.
Owner:SEAGATE TECH LLC

Rotating drive tray assembly

A drive tray assembly is disclosed for placing drives (e.g., hard disk drives) in a computer chassis in a rotated orientation and without the need for additional tools. The drive tray assembly includes an outer tray on a hinge capable of being rotated away from the computer chassis during drive changes. An inner tray, upon which a drive may be placed, is coupled to the outer tray. When the outer tray is moved to a closed position within the computer chassis, pressing on a handle can cause the inner tray to move from a disengaged position to an engaged position, thus connecting the drive to a drive backplane within the computer chassis.
Owner:QUANTA COMPUTER INC