Magnetic disk device

• US 20020039259A1
• Filed: 09/14/2001
• Published: 04/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Minebea Company Limited (MinebeaMitsumi Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Minebea Company Limited (MinebeaMitsumi Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsuchiya, Kunihiro, Koyama, Toshisada
• Application Number:
  US09/951,441
• Publication Number:
  US 20020039259A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 360/264.4
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/4813 Mounting or aligning of arm assemblies, e.g. actuator arm supported by bearings, multiple arm assemblies, arm stacks or multiple heads on single arm G11B5/484 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/5521 across disk tracks spiral track following G11B5/596

Abstract

A magnetic recording disk device achieving higher speed, larger capacity and higher reliability. The disk device includes two or more actuator blocks that are individually and rotatably supported, and a device driver that causes a magnetic head of each of the actuator blocks to access its associated magnetic disk to arbitrarily perform read/write operations. The device driver is provided with a logic for driving, at an arbitrary RAID level, the magnetic heads of the respective actuator blocks and the magnetic disks accessed by the magnetic heads. By handling the magnetic head of each actuator block and the magnetic disk accessed by the magnetic head as one unit to implement a necessary function, a single magnetic disk device can be used as a simplified version equivalent to a RAID system.

Claims

1. A magnetic disk device comprising:

magnetic disks stacked in a multi row configuration;

a head stack assembly equipped with a plurality of independently rotatable actuator blocks for supporting magnetic heads accessing the magnetic disks; and

a device driver that causes the magnetic head of each of the actuator blocks to access associated magnetic disks to arbitrarily perform read/write operations.

2. A magnetic disk device according to claim 1, wherein the device driver is equipped with a logic for driving, at an arbitrary RAID level, the magnetic heads of the respective actuator blocks and the magnetic disks accessed by said magnetic heads.

3. A magnetic disk device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the head stack assembly comprises a pivot assembly equipped with a plurality of pivots, the pivots supporting a plurality of actuator blocks being arranged so that they stand in line with the rotating shaft.