US 7,265,929 B2Granted

Method of controlling an actuator, and disk apparatus using the same method

AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

InventorsMakoto Umeda, Yoshihiro Ueno, Toshio Inaji, Hideki Kuwajima

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Abstract

A disk apparatus includes (a) an actuator having a head supporting arm with a tab formed on the arm and a voice coil fixed to the arm, which arm is rotatable on a horizontal rotary shaft as well as on a vertical rotary shaft, (b) a voice coil motor having an upper yoke with a magnet fixed to the upper yoke and a lower yoke sandwiching and confronting the voice coil, and (c) a ramp section guiding and holding the tab at a refuge place. When the actuator at the refuge place starts loading with a starter command, a pulsed driving current is applied to the voice coil temporarily for urging the tab against a tab-holding plane of the ramp section, thereby making use of repulsion force generated on the actuator, so that the tab can leave the refuge place efficiently for carrying out the loading operation.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A disk apparatus comprising:

(a) a head supporting arm having a tab at a tip of a first end of the arm and a head slider at the first end, which head slider has a signal converting element for recording and reproducing a signal on and from a recording medium, and a voice coil at a second end of the arm;
(b) an actuator supporting the head supporting arm rotatably around a horizontal rotating shaft for rotating in parallel with a surface of the recording medium and around a vertical rotating shaft for rotating vertically with respect to the surface of the recording medium, and supported by a resilient member placed around the vertical shaft, which the resilient member energizes the actuator vertically toward the recording medium;
(c) a voice coil motor including;
(c-1) a pair of yokes placed sandwiching the voice coil vertically and confronting the voice coil;
(c-2) a magnet fixed to at least one of the yokes,
(d) a ramp block including;
a ramp section and a refuge place both on which the tab of the head supporting arm slides;
and
(e) an actuator control circuit which applies a driving current to the voice coil so that the tab held at the refuge place is urged against a second plane of the refuge place in the ramp block, then applies another driving current to the voice coil so that the tab can leave the second plane, thereby moving the head slider disposed to the actuator from the ramp block toward the recording medium.

6 more elements

A method of controlling an actuator of a disk apparatus that comprises:

(a) the actuator including:
a head supporting arm having a tab on a first end of the arm;
a head slider having a head which records and reproduces a signal on and from a recording medium;
and
a voice coil,
wherein the actuator supports the head supporting arm rotatably around a horizontal rotating shaft for rotating in parallel with a surface of the recording medium and around a vertical rotating shaft for rotating vertically with respect to the surface of the recording medium, and is supported by a resilient member placed around the vertical shaft, which member energizes the actuator vertically toward the recording medium,
(b) a voice coil motor;
(b-1) a pair of yokes placed sandwiching the voice coil vertically and confronting the voice coil;
(b-2) a magnet fixed to at least one of the yokes,
(c) a ramp block including;
(c-1) a ramp section on which the tab of the head supporting arm touches and slides;
(c-2) a refuge place,
the method of controlling the actuator at starting loading operation of the disk apparatus, and the method comprising the steps of:
(1) outputting a current command such that a driving current applied to the voice coil urges the tab of the actuator against a plane of the refuge place provided to the ramp block for the tab, then outputting another current command such that another driving current flowing reversal to the urging driving current is applied to the voice coil;
(2) detecting a back electromotive voltage generated by the voice coil, and outputting a back electromotive voltage signal;
(3) finding a speed difference between an actual moving speed, which is obtained from the back electromotive voltage, of the actuator and a given target speed, then calculating a current command in response to the speed difference, and outputting the current command calculated;
and
(4) determining a position of the head slider whether the head slider stays above the recording medium or on the ramp section of the ramp block.

15 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/451,803Filed 13 Jun 2006
Priority: JP 2005-17336714 Jun 2005
Published: US 2006/0279872 A114 Dec 2006
Granted: 4 Sep 2007
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G11B 21/12
Driving or moving of heads: raising and lowering; Back-spacing or forward-spacing along track; Returning to starting position otherwise than…
G11B 5/54
Disposition or mounting of heads or head supports relative to record carriers ; arrangements of heads, e.g. for scanning the record carrier to…:…
G11B 21/22
Supporting the heads; Supporting the sockets for plug-in heads: while the head is out of operative position
G11B
Information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer