Single motor data storage device utilizing centrifugal force and counteracting spring

Abstract

The present invention proposes a memory device comprising a fixed disc on the surface of which data may be stored, and rotating transducers or heads which may be positioned to access any location on the disc. The rotating heads are mounted on transducer arms which are designed in such a manner that the transducer seeks outward as it is rotated. That is, similar to a flywheel governor in a steam engine, centrifugal force would impart a radial force on the arm which is movable in a low friction system along with the transducer, the radial force causing the transducer to move outward together with the radial arm with increasing rotational speed of the spindle motor. A counteracting spring having a force in a direction opposite to the radial force would provide a radially inward force on the transducer arm, so that at any given speed the location of the transducer and the arm, and therefore the transducer's positional relationship to a desired track, is precisely determined by the balance of the inwardly acting spring force and the outwardly driving centrifugal force.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.