Rotating Ramp Assembly for Disk Drive Head Parking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ramp designs in hard disk drives obstruct a significant portion of the magnetic disk surface, limiting data storage capacity and complicating disk loading/unloading due to overhanging structures, and prior retractable ramp designs are not compact enough for modern drive housings.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable ramp assembly that extends tangentially from the outer diameter of the disk, allowing for compact design and reduced actuation forces, with an arcuate parking surface to support the head assembly during movement between engaged and disengaged positions, enabling disk merge operations without obstructing the disk surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the ramp overhangs the outer diameter of the rotating data storage disks, then the head assembly can be moved away from the disks to a park location, but a significant portion of the magnetic disk surface is obstructed, limiting data storage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp is made rotatable about a ramp assembly axis, transitioning between an engaged position (overhanging the disk outer diameter for head parking) and a disengaged position (retracted to clear the disk surface). This dynamic reconfiguration allows the same structure to serve dual purposes: facilitating head assembly movement during parking operations while clearing the disk surface during data storage operations to maximize accessible surface area and storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ramp assembly utilizes rotational movement about a vertical axis (adding a rotational dimension) rather than only linear movement. This allows the ramp to sweep through different angular positions, enabling it to both overhang the disk for head parking and retract clear of the disk for data storage, effectively using dimensional movement to resolve the spatial conflict between head access and storage capacity.
2Quantity of substance
If the ramp is designed to retract from an overhung relationship to the magnetic disk, then data storage capacity is improved, but the design is not compact enough to allow for packaging within a housing of a disk drive
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp extension can be positioned within the outer diameter of the data storage disk when in the disengaged position, effectively nesting the ramp structure within the disk's circular boundary. This nesting approach minimizes the volume occupied by the ramp assembly within the drive housing while still providing the full range of motion needed for both head parking and data storage operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable ramp assembly uses rotational movement about a compact axis to achieve retraction, which requires less linear space than linear retraction mechanisms. The rotational path allows the ramp to clear the disk surface within a smaller volumetric envelope, enabling more compact packaging within the drive housing while maintaining full functionality.
3Ease of operation
If the ramp overhangs the outer diameter of the rotating data storage disks, then the head assembly can be parked away from the disks, but the obstructed surface area at the outer portion of the disk is relatively high where data tracks are the longest
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp is configured to rotate between an engaged position where it overhangs the disk outer diameter (enabling head parking) and a disengaged position where it retracts clear of the disk surface (maximizing accessible surface area). This dynamic reconfiguration ensures that the ramp only obstructs the disk surface when absolutely necessary for head parking operations, thereby minimizing the loss of accessible surface area and preserving data tracks in the outer high-capacity region.
Solution Approach 2:
The ramp extension is designed to be extractable from the overhung position during data storage operations. By retracting the ramp extension to a position within the disk outer diameter, the obstruction to the disk surface is removed, allowing full access to the high-value outer data tracks while the ramp remains available for head parking when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A data storage system include a disk drive having a rotating ramp assembly that may be moved between an engaged and disengaged position. The rotating ramp assembly may include a ramp extension that is not disposed in overlapping relation to a data storage disk location in the drive when in the disengaged position. However, in the engaged position, the ramp extension may overhang a portion of the data storage disk location. In turn, the head extension may include a ramp surface that allows a head assembly to move to a head parking surface when the rotating ramp assembly is in the engaged position. IN turn, the rotating ramp assembly may be rotated while maintaining the head assembly on the head parking surface, which may be arcuate and extend about at least a portion of the rotating ramp assembly.