Disk drive apparatus with power conservation capability
Filing Information
- Patent Number: US5872669
- Application Number: US8473726
- Filing date: 06/07/1995
- Issue date: 02/16/1999
- Predicted expiration date: 03/01/2008
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analyzing 100 million+ documents to uncover your network...- U.S. Classifications: 360/69 · 360/780.4 ·
- International Classifications: G11B 1518 ·
- International Classifications: 36069;75;74.1;73.03;71;78.04;77.02 ·
- Related U.S. Application Data:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/343,763, filed Nov. 21, 1994, now abandoned, which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/012,403, filed Feb. 2, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/571,558, filed Aug. 30, 1990, which has matured into U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,549, which is a continuation-in-part of PCT/US89/00785 filed Feb. 27, 1989 which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/162,799, filed Mar. 1, 1988, which has matured into U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,785. - View document at: (opens new window):
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Abstract
A disk drive apparatus is disclosed for primary use with portable, laptop or other information storage systems. The disk drive apparatus includes one or more about 2.5 inch hard disks. The disk drive apparatus also has electronics, including hardware and software, for detecting a lapse of first and second predetermined time intervals since a last disk access. The disk drive apparatus also includes power conservation means which power down a first portion of disk drive components after a first predetermined time interval has elapsed and for powering down a second portion of disk drive components after a second predetermined time interval has elapsed.References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| Document Number | Assignees | Inventors | Issue/Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US4458273 | Iomega Corporation | Johnson | Jul 1984 |
| US4530038 | Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. | Marita | Jul 1985 |
| US4635145 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Horie et al. | Jan 1987 |
| US4737867 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Ishikawa et al. | Apr 1988 |
| US5345347 | Western Digital Corporation | Hopkins et al. | Sep 1994 |
| US5402200 | CONNER PERIPHERALS INC | Shrinkle et al. | Mar 1995 |
Foreign Patent Documents
| Document Number | Assignees | Inventors | Issue/Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP6180657 | HEWLETT PACKARD CO | Sep 1984 |
Other Publications
| R. C. Schwartz. Method To Provide Low Power Standby Mode for Online Devices, Apr. 1987, vol. 29, No. 11. |
Referenced By
Patent Family
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Independent Claims | See all claims (21)
- 1. A disk drive apparatus, comprising:a hard disk;a rotary actuator means including a rotary actuator arm, an actuator pivot and actuator coil means, said rotary actuator arm being pivotal about said actuator pivot;means for housing said disk and said rotary actuator means;transducer means connected to said rotary actuator means for reading and writing information on said disk;circuit means connected to said rotary actuator means for transmitting information to and from said transducer means;spin motor means operatively connected to said disk for rotating said disk;timing means for detecting a lapse of each of a first predetermined time interval since a last disk access and a second predetermined time interval since said last disk access, wherein said second predetermined time interval is greater than said first predetermined time interval;electronic means including disk drive electronics for positioning said transducer means relative to said disk, said rotary actuator means, said transducer means, said circuit means, said spin motor means and said electronic means together defining a disk operation means for operating disk drive apparatus and wherein a first subset of said disk operation means has a first period of time to enable disk operation and a second subset of said disk operation means has a second period of time to enable disk operation, and wherein said first period of time is less than said second period of time;a printed circuit board connected to said means for housing on which said disk drive electronics is located; andpower conserving means for powering down said first subset of said disk operation means when said first predetermined time interval has elapsed, and for powering down said second subset of said disk operation means when said second predetermined time interval has elapsed.
- 11. A disk drive apparatus, comprising:a disk;spin motor means coupled to said disk for rotating said disk;rotary actuator means for positioning a transducer relative to said disk to enable the transfer of data to and from said disk;electronic means for controlling said transfer of data to and from said disk, said rotary actuator means and said spin motor means, said electronic means further including means for determining whether a first predetermined time interval has elapsed since a last disk access and a second predetermined time interval has elapsed since a last disk access, said electronic means further including first and second switches to transfer power to and from said electronic means; andpower control means, coupled to said electronic means, for controlling said first and second switches, said first switch to enable powering down of a first predetermined portion of said electronic means upon elapse of said first predetermined time interval and said second switch to enable powering down said spin motor means upon elapse of said second predetermined time interval.
- 15. A disk drive apparatus, comprising:a disk;spin motor means, operatively connected to said disk, for rotating said disk;rotary actuator means for positioning a transducer relative to said disk to enable the transfer of data to and from said disk;ramp means for holding said rotary actuator means in position when said transducer is unloaded;electronic means for controlling said transfer of data to and from said disk, said electronic means further including means for determining whether a first predetermined time has elapsed since a last disk access and for determining whether a second predetermined time has elapsed since a last disk access;power control means, coupled to said electronic means, for controlling first and second switches, said first switch enabling powering down a first predetermined portion of said electronic means upon elapse of said predetermined time, said second switch powering down said spin motor means upon elapse of said second predetermined time;means for housing said disk, said spin motor means, said rotary actuator means and said ramp means, said means for housing having a top portion and a bottom portion, said disk, said rotary actuator means and said ramp means being positioned into said bottom portion; anda printed circuit board, coupled to said means for housing, having said electronic means and said power control means mounted thereon, said means for housing and said printed circuit board together having a height no greater than about one inch (1").
- 16. A disk drive apparatus, comprising:a disk having a diameter of about 2.5 inches (2.5");spin motor means, operatively connected to said disk, for rotating said disk;rotary actuator means for positioning a transducer relative to said disk to enable the transfer of data to and from said disk;ramp means for locking said rotary actuator means in position during said transducer unloading;means for housing said disk, said spin motor means, said rotary actuator means and said ramp means, said means for housing having a width of about 2.8 inches (2.8"), said means for housing having a top portion and a bottom portion and each of said top and said bottom portions having a length greater than said width of about 2.8 inches (2.8"), said disk, said rotary actuator means and said ramp means being positioned into said bottom portion while said top potion is removed from said bottom portion;electronic means for controlling said transfer of data to and from said disk, said electronic means further including means for determining whether a first predetermined time has elapsed since a last disk access and for determining whether a second predetermined time has elapsed since a last disk access;power control means, coupled to said electronic means, for controlling first and second switches, said first switch enabling powering down a first predetermined portion of said electronic means upon elapse of said predetermined time, said second switch powering down said spin motor means upon elapse of said second predetermined time; anda printed circuit board having a first face and a second face, each of said first and second faces having said electronic means and said power control means mounted thereon, said means for housing and said printed circuit board together having a height no greater than about 1 inch (1").
- 17. A disk drive, comprising:a hard disk for storing information;a spin motor mounting the hard disk for rotation;a transducer for reading and writing information on the hard disk;an actuator mounting the transducer for controlled positioning at preselected locations relative to the hard disk;an electronic circuit coupled to the transducer to transmit information to and from the transducer;a timer detecting expiration of a first time period measured from a last disk access and a second time period measured from the last disk access, wherein the second time period is greater than the first time period;the transducer, electronic circuit, actuator and spin motor together providing a disk drive operation, wherein a first subset of the disk drive operation requires a first time to enable the disk drive operation and a second subset of the disk drive operation requires a second time to enable the disk drive operation, the first time being less than the second time; andan electric power source responsive to the timer to selectively control power application to power down the first subset of disk drive operation after the detection of the expiration of the first time period and to power down the second subset of disk drive operation after the detection of the expiration of the second time period.
- 19. A disk drive, comprising:a hard disk for storing information;a spin motor mounting the hard disk for rotation;a transducer for reading and writing information on the hard disk;an actuator mounting the transducer for controlled positioning at preselected locations relative to the hard disk;an electronic circuit coupled to the transducer to transmit information to and from the transducer;a timer detecting expiration of a first time period measured from a last disk access and a second time period measured from the last disk access, wherein the second time period is greater than the first time period; andan electric power source responsive to the timer to selectively control power application to power down at least a portion of the electronic circuit after the detection of the expiration of the first time period and to power down the spin motor after the detection of the expiration of the second time period.
- 21.21. A method for conserving power in the operation of a disk drive, the disk drive including a hard disk for storing information, a spin motor mounting the hard disk for rotation, a transducer for reading and writing information on the hard disk, an actuator mounting the transducer for controlled positioning at preselected locations relative to the hard disk, and an electronic circuit coupled to the transducer to transmit information to and from the transducer, the method comprising the steps of:providing power to the spin motor;providing power to the electronic circuit;detecting within the disk drive expiration of a first time period measured from a last disk access;detecting within the disk drive expiration of a second time period measured from the last disk access, wherein the second time period is greater than the first time period; andwithdrawing power from at least a portion of the electronic circuit after the detection of the expiration of the first time period and from the spin motor after the detection of the expiration of the second time period.
