Disk drive adjusting closed-loop fly height target based on change in open-loop fly height control signal

• US 9,183,864 B1
• Filed: 06/25/2013
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Haralson, Phillip S., Chia, Galvin T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Young, Wayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Habermehl, James L
• Application Number:
  US13/927,109
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/6011 Control of flying height
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/6029 Measurement using values derived from the data signal read from the disk
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/6076 Detecting head-disk contact

Abstract

A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, the head comprising a fly height actuator (FHA). A fly height of the head is measured, and a closed-loop fly height control signal is generated based on the measured fly height and a target fly height. The target fly height is adjusted based on a delta generated based on a change in an environmental condition, and an FHA control signal is applied to the FHA based on the closed-loop fly height control signal.

Claims

1. A disk drive comprising:

a disk;

a head actuated over the disk, the head comprising a fly height actuator (FHA); and

control circuitry operable to;

measure a fly height of the head;

generate a closed-loop fly height control signal based on the measured fly height and a target fly height;

adjust the target fly height based on a delta generated based on a change in an environmental condition; and

generate an FHA control signal applied to the FHA based on the closed-loop fly height control signal.

2. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is operable to:

generate an open-loop fly height control signal;

adjust the open-loop fly height control signal by the delta; and

generate the FHA control signal applied to the FHA based on the open-loop fly height control signal and the closed-loop fly height control signal.

3. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the environmental condition comprises at least one of a temperature, humidity, altitude, and shock.

4. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operable to generate an FHA actuation curve by measuring the fly height of the head for different values of the FHA control signal.

5. The disk drive as recited in claim 4, wherein the control circuitry is operable to initialize the target fly height based on a nominal value for the environmental condition and the FHA actuation curve.

6. The disk drive as recited in claim 4, wherein the control circuitry is operable to adjust the target fly height based on the delta and the FHA actuation curve.

7. The disk drive as recited in claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is operable to:

initialize the target fly height based on a nominal value for the environmental condition and a corresponding target value for the FHA control signal in the FHA actuation curve;

adjust the target value for the FHA control signal by the delta when the environmental condition changes; and

adjust the target fly height based on the adjusted target value for the FHA control signal in the FHA actuation curve.

8. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is operable to measure the fly height of the head by reading a periodic pattern from the disk.

9. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the head further comprises a fly height sensor and the control circuitry is operable to measure the fly height of the head based on the fly height sensor.

10. The disk drive as recited in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operable to:

measure a characteristic of the head; and

generate the delta based on the measured characteristic.

11. A method of operating a disk drive comprising a head actuated over a disk, the head comprising a fly height actuator (FHA), the method comprising:

measuring a fly height of the head;

generating a closed-loop fly height control signal based on the measured fly height and a target fly height;

adjusting the target fly height based on a delta generated based on a change in an environmental condition; and

generating an FHA control signal applied to the FHA based on the closed-loop fly height control signal.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

generating an open-loop fly height control signal;

adjusting the open-loop fly height control signal by the delta; and

generating the FHA control signal applied to the FHA based on the open-loop fly height control signal and the closed-loop fly height control signal.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the environmental condition comprises at least one of a temperature, humidity, altitude, and shock.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising generating an FHA actuation curve by measuring the fly height of the head for different values of the FHA control signal.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising initializing the target fly height based on a nominal value for the environmental condition and the FHA actuation curve.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising adjusting the target fly height based on the delta and the FHA actuation curve.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

initializing the target fly height based on a nominal value for the environmental condition and a corresponding target value for the FHA control signal in the FHA actuation curve;

adjusting the target value for the FHA control signal by the delta when the environmental condition changes; and

adjusting the target fly height based on the adjusted target value for the FHA control signal in the FHA actuation curve.

18. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising measuring the fly height of the head by reading a periodic pattern from the disk.

19. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the head further comprises a fly height sensor and the method further comprises measuring the fly height of the head based on the fly height sensor.

20. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

measuring a characteristic of the head; and

generating the delta based on the measured characteristic.