Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record transport with head stationary during transducing – Disk record
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-27
2004-12-28
Watko, Julie Anne (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record transport with head stationary during transducing
Disk record
C360S266000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06836387
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a hard disk drive unit and, more particularly, to a 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit using a hard disk having a diameter of 3.5 inches.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1
is a cross-sectional view of a conventional 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
. The hard disk drive unit
10
has a mechanism part
11
and an electronic circuit part
30
.
The mechanism part
11
comprises: a base
12
; a motor
13
fixed to the base
12
for rotating a hard disk
14
having a diameter of 3.5 inches and fixed to the motor
13
; a carriage arm
16
having a head slider
15
at an extreme end thereof; a magnetic circuit
17
for reciprocally moving the carriage arm
16
; and a cover
18
covering the hard disk
14
, the carriage arm
16
and the magnetic circuit
17
. In
FIG. 1
, although only one hard disk
14
is shown, a storage capacity can be increased by increasing the number of hard disks. Manufacturers of hard disk drive units provide versatile apparatus lineups by changing the number of hard disks in this way using the common parts as much as possible.
A hard disk drive unit
10
further comprises a printed circuit board unit
20
containing a printed circuit board
21
. A plurality of electronic parts are mounted on a surface of a printed circuit board
21
, and the connector
22
is mounted in the end of a printed circuit board
21
. The printed circuit board
20
is fixed to an undersurface of a base
12
, and a connector
22
is exposed at an end surface of the hard disk drive unit
10
. The height H
1
of the hard disk drive unit
10
is 1 inch. The printed circuit board unit
20
constitutes an electronic circuit part
30
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the electronic circuit part
30
comprises an interface part
31
, which interfaces with a higher order system
40
, and a control part
32
, which controls an operation of the mechanism part
101
and data reading and the writing operations. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the printed circuit board unit
20
comprises: a hard disk controller (HDC)
51
; a RAM
52
as a buffer for temporarily storing data; a ROM for storing programs for controlling an MPU
54
; a read channel
55
; a servo controller (SVC)
56
; and drivers
57
and
58
.
The interface part
31
comprises a hard disk controller (HDC)
51
for a 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit, and a connector
22
for a 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit. A control part
32
consists of the MPU
54
and the ROM
53
. The hard disk
14
is rotated by the motor
13
at a high speed. The carriage arm
16
is reciprocally rotatable by the magnetic circuit
17
. The head slider
15
is moved in a radial direction of the hard disk
14
while being floated above the surface of the hard disk
14
so as to scan a target track to carry out information writing and reading. The read reproduction signal is supplied to a head IC
19
so as to be amplified, and, thereafter, the amplified signal is supplied to a read channel
55
.
The 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
having the above-mentioned composition has a feature that a storage capacity is large since the diameter of the hard disk
14
is as large as 3.5 inches. Moreover, the 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
is operated by an input power supply voltage of 12V.
The 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
has a space having a height of 1 inch, and also has a connector into which the connector
22
for 3.5-inch hard disk drive units fits so as to be incorporated into an apparatus such as a personal computer which can supply an input power supply voltage of 12V. Moreover, for example, the 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
is used by being incorporated into a digital television set or a digital audio apparatus.
Although the above-mentioned 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit
10
has a large storage capacity as compared with a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit, there is a problem in that a size is large and a power consumption is also large. On the contrary, although a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit has a smaller size and less power consumption than the 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit, there is a problem in that a storage capacity is small.
Furthermore, the same housing is used for both a hard disk drive unit having a single hard disk and a hard disk drive unit having a plurality of hard disks. Therefore, there is a large empty space in the housing of the hard disk drive unit having a single hard disk. Moreover, in order to balance a rotation of a carriage arm, a dummy head is provided, which causes a problem that there is an unnecessary part cost.
Moreover, the above-mentioned problem has been closed-up since a sufficiently large storage capacity can be obtained with less number of hard disks and the demand for a hard disk drive unit of a single 3.5-inch hard disk has been increased in association with the high density recording in recent years.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved and useful hard disk drive unit in which the above-mentioned problems are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit which has a small power consumption and can be incorporated into a small space.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, there is provided according to one aspect of the present invention a hard disk drive apparatus comprising: a mechanism part provided in a housing, the mechanism part comprising a hard disk having a diameter of 3.5 inches, a motor for rotating the hard disk, a carriage arm having a head slider mounted on an end thereof and a magnetic circuit reciprocally rotates the carriage arm; and an electronic circuit part controlling the mechanism part, the electronic circuit part having an interface part, which is prepared for a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit, so as to interface with an upper order system.
According to the above-mentioned invention, the hard disc drive unit has a storage capacity larger than that of a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit. Additionally, a power consumption of the hard disk drive unit is less than a conventional 3.5-inch hard disk unit. Further the hard disk drive unit having a 3.5-inch disk can be connected to a higher order system of a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit.
Additionally, there is provided according to another aspect of the present invention a hard disk drive unit comprising: a housing having a height of about ½ inch; and a mechanism part provided in the housing, the mechanism part comprising a hard disk having a diameter of 3.5inches, a motor for rotating the hard disk, a carriage arm having a head slider mounted on an end thereof and a magnetic circuit reciprocally rotates the carriage arm.
According to the above-mentioned invention, the hard disk drive unit having a 3.5-inch hard disk can be incorporated into a space having a height of ½ inch. Thus, the hard disk drive unit according to the present invention can replace a 2.5-inch hard disk drive unit.
Additionally, there is provided according to another aspect of the present invention a hard disk drive unit comprising: a housing having a substantially rectangular horizontal cross section; a mechanism part provided in the housing, the mechanism part comprising a hard disk having a diameter of 3.5 inches, a motor for rotating the hard disk, a carriage arm having a head slider mounted on an end thereof and a magnetic circuit reciprocally rotates the carriage arm; an electronic circuit part provided in the housing so as to control the mechanism part; and a connector exposed on a side surface of the housing corresponding to a long side of the rectangular shape so as to connect the electronic circuit part to an external device.
According to the above-mentioned invention, two kinds of 3.5-inch hard disk units can be provided, one being the 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit having a connector exposed on the short side and the other being the 3.5-inch hard disk drive unit having a connector exposed on the long side. Therefore, the restrictions in the arrangement of
Bitoh Takayuki
Hachiya Toshiyuki
Kamezawa Hideaki
Myokan Kenichi
Ohba Koichiro
Greer Burns & Crain Ltd.
Watko Julie Anne
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