Information processing apparatus and head evacuation processing method therefor

• US 8,804,271 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2011
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hirata, Kazushige
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, K.
• Application Number:
  US13/074,486
• Publication Number:
  US 20110261482A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 360/75
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/042 due to external shock or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/043 by detecting a free-fall condition
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 21/12 Raising and lowering; Back-spacing or forward-spacing along track; Returning to starting position otherwise than during transducing operation

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes a hard disk drive, an acceleration detection portion, and a controller. The hard disk drive has a protective function for moving a head from a recording area of a disk to an evacuation position. The acceleration detection portion is configured to detect, as a detection target acceleration, an acceleration in one of a vertical direction and an almost-vertical direction with respect to a gravity direction. The controller is configured to detect a movement based on the acceleration detected as the detection target acceleration and determine whether to activate the protective function of the hard disk drive based on the detected movement.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a hard disk drive that has a protective function for moving a head from a recording area of a disk to an evacuation position;

at least one sensor configured to

detect accelerations in triaxial directions orthogonal to one another,

judge, out of biaxial directions among the triaxial directions, an axial direction closest to a direction vertical to the gravity direction by comparing a first angle formed between a first direction and the gravity direction with a second angle formed between a second direction and the gravity direction, and

detect, as a detection target acceleration, accelerations in one of a vertical direction with respect to a gravity direction and the judged axial direction; and

circuitry configured to detect a movement of the information processing apparatus based on the acceleration detected as the detection target acceleration and determine whether to activate the protective function of the hard disk drive based on the detected movement.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry sets, regarding the detection target acceleration, that an acceleration larger than a preset value has continued for over a preset time as a condition of the movement for determining whether to activate the protective function.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry detects the acceleration in the vertical direction with respect to the gravity direction based on acceleration values in the triaxial directions being smaller than a predetermined threshold.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the circuitry detects the acceleration in the vertical direction with respect to the gravity direction based on a sum of the acceleration values being smaller than a predetermined threshold.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry detects the acceleration in the vertical direction with respect to the gravity direction based on the sum of the acceleration values in the triaxial directions being smaller than a predetermined threshold for a predetermined period of time.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor detects, as a detection target acceleration, accelerations in the judged axial direction.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the triaxial directions include the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis, and

the circuitry judges the axial direction closest to a direction vertical to the gravity direction by comparing the first angle formed between the X-axis and the gravity direction with the second angle formed between the Y-axis and the gravity direction.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biaxial directions are predetermined biaxial directions among the triaxial directions.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a memory configured to store a result of the judgment on the axial direction as an axial direction in which an acceleration is to be detected at least as a next detection target acceleration,

wherein the circuitry detects, regarding the axial direction stored by the memory, the movement based on the acceleration detected by the at least one sensor.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the hard disk drive includes the disk and a disk drive portion for driving the disk, and

wherein the circuitry outputs a control signal for putting a brake on the disk drive portion after activating the protective function.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one sensor detects

accelerations in triaxial directions orthogonal to one another, and

an acceleration component vertical to the gravity direction out of the biaxial directions among the triaxial directions as the detection target acceleration.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the biaxial directions are predetermined biaxial directions among the triaxial directions.

13. A head evacuation processing method for an information processing apparatus having a built-in hard disk drive that has a protective function for moving a head from a recording area of a disk to an evacuation position, the head evacuation processing method comprising:

detecting, at a least one sensor, accelerations in triaxial directions orthogonal to one another;

judging, at the at least one sensor and out of biaxial directions among the triaxial directions, an axial direction closest to a direction vertical to the gravity direction by comparing a first angle formed between a first direction and the gravity direction with a second angle formed between a second direction and the gravity direction, and

detecting, as a detection target acceleration, accelerations in one of a vertical direction with respect to a gravity direction;

detecting a movement of the information processing apparatus based on the acceleration detected as the detection target acceleration; and

determining, via a processor, whether to activate the protective function of the hard disk drive based on the detected movement.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer readable instructions thereon which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a head evacuation processing method for an information processing apparatus having a built-in hard disk drive that has a protective function for moving a head from a recording area of a disk to an evacuation position, the head evacuation processing method comprising:

detecting accelerations in triaxial directions orthogonal to one another;

judging, out of biaxial directions among the triaxial directions, an axial direction closest to a direction vertical to the gravity direction by comparing a first angle formed between a first direction and the gravity direction with a second angle formed between a second direction and the gravity direction, and

detecting, as a detection target acceleration, accelerations in one of a vertical direction with respect to a gravity direction;

detecting a movement of the information processing apparatus based on the acceleration detected as the detection target acceleration; and

determining whether to activate the protective function of the hard disk drive based on the detected movement.