Western Digital Assigned Twelve Patents

Disk drive adjusting estimated servo state to compensate
for transient when crossing a servo zone boundary
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,454,989) developed by Chang, Michael, San Jose, CA, Guo, Guoxiao, and Yu, Jie, Irvine, CA, for a “disk drive adjusting estimated servo state to compensate for transient when crossing a servo zone boundary.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk comprising a plurality of servo sectors defining a plurality of servo tracks. The servo tracks form a plurality of servo zones, where a servo data rate of servo sectors in a first servo zone is different than a servo data rate of servo sectors in a second servo zone. A servo control system servos a head over the disk. An estimated servo state of a servo control system is generated, and when the head crosses from a first servo zone to a second servo zone, the estimated servo state is adjusted to compensate for a transient in a circumferential distance between a servo sector in the first servo zone and a servo sector in the second servo zone.“

The patent application was filed on March 11, 2015 (14/644,415).

Disk drive having shroud wall that completely encircles disk outer periphery
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,449,649) developed by Rejae, Hamid R., San Carlos, CA, Lin, Joseph T., Cupertino, CA, Jacoby, Jon E., San Jose, CA, and Golgolab, Arman V., Los Altos, CA, for a “disk drive having a shroud wall that completely encircles a disk outer periphery.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A disk drive includes a disk that has a data side and an unread side. A first read head faces and is adjacent the data side. The disk drive also includes a cylindrical shroud wall that is substantially orthogonal to the unread side and that completely encircles the disk outer periphery. A radial spacing between the cylindrical shroud wall and the disk outer periphery nowhere exceeds 1 mm. The disk drive does not include any read head that faces and is disposed adjacent the unread side.“

The patent application was filed on June 3, 2010 (12/792,873).

Data storage device employing different frequency preambles in adjacent data
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,437,242) developed by Banh, Thao Hieu, Lake Forest, CA, Chan, Tom Sai-Cheung, San Marino, CA, and Tsai, Chun Sei, Tustin, CA, for a “data storage device employing different frequency preambles in adjacent data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage device is disclosed comprising a disk comprising a plurality of data tracks each comprising a plurality of data sectors, and a head actuated over the disk. A first frequency preamble is written to a first data sector of a first data track and a second frequency preamble is written to a second data sector of a second data track, wherein the first frequency is different from the second frequency and the first data track is adjacent to the second data track.“

The patent application was filed on September 14, 2015 (14/853,313).

Data storage device concurrently controlling
and sensing secondary actuator for actuating head over disk
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,437,231) developed by Ferris, Timothy A., Mission Viejo, CA, and Byoun, Jaesoo, Irvine, CA, for a “data storage device concurrently controlling and sensing a secondary actuator for actuating a head over a disk.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage device is disclosed comprising a voice coil motor, (VCM) and a secondary actuator configured to actuate a head over a disk. A control signal is applied to the secondary actuator while processing a sensor signal generated by the secondary actuator. A vibration signal is generated based on the sensor signal, wherein the vibration signal is a high-pass signal.“

The patent application was filed on September 25, 2015 (14/865,858).

Slider having shock and particle resistance
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,431,044) developed by Sun, Biao, Fremont, CA, and Sladek, Eric T., Pleasanton, CA, for a “slider having shock and particle resistance.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A slider for a hard disk includes a leading structure having a first air bearing surface portion, a trailing structure having a second air bearing surface portion, and a cavity between the leading structure and the trailing structure. The leading structure has one or more interior walls defining a pit therein. A hard disk drive includes a rotatable magnetic recording disk and the slider.“

The patent application was filed on June 17, 2014 (14/307,067).

Leakage test method for hermetically sealed disk drive enclosure
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,429,494) developed by Gustafson, John R., Los Gatos, CA, for a “leakage test method for a hermetically sealed disk drive enclosure.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method to test for leakage of an enclosure of a hermetically sealed disk drive is disclosed. The method includes filling the disk drive enclosure with a gas mixture that includes a tracer gas. The tracer gas may comprise helium gas or hydrogen gas, and constitute between 1% and 10% of the gas mixture. The method includes hermetically sealing the disk drive enclosure. The method also includes testing for the presence of the tracer gas outside of the disk drive enclosure.“

The patent application was filed on November 21, 2012 (13/684,004).

Disk drive correcting error in detected gray code
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,424,871) developed by Guo, Guoxiao, Irvine, CA, Brunnett, Donald, Pleasanton, CA, Zhou, Jianguo, Foothill Ranch, CA, and Wong, Wai Ee, Singapore, Singapore, for a “disk drive correcting an error in a detected gray code.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of tracks defined by a plurality of servo sectors. An estimated track ID is generated and a plurality of proximate track IDs is generated having values proximate the estimated track ID. A set of Gray codes is generated each corresponding to the estimated track ID and the proximate track IDs, wherein each Gray code in the set of Gray codes comprises N bits, and M bits out of a high order of the N bits comprise the same value. A recorded Gray code is detected in a first servo sector to generate a detected Gray code, and an error in the detected Gray code is corrected by inverting at least one bit in the detected Gray code comprising a value that is different from the value of the corresponding bit in the M bits.“

The patent application was filed on December 18, 2014 (14/576,063).

Data storage device employing spindle motor driving profile
during seek to improve power performance
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,424,868) developed by Nicholls, Michael Troy, Laguna Hills, CA, Xi, Wei, Mission Viejo, CA, Wan, Jie, Singapore, Singapore, Yu, Jie, Irvine, CA, Xu, Jun, Singapore, Singapore, and Kastler, Danny J., Longmont, CO, for a “data storage device employing spindle motor driving profile during seek to improve power performance.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage device is disclosed comprising a spindle motor configured to rotate a disk, wherein the spindle motor comprises a plurality of windings, and a head actuated over the disk. The windings of the spindle motor are commutated based on a commutation sequence while applying a periodic driving voltage to each winding. During a seek operation to seek the head a seek length, an amplitude of the periodic driving voltage is adjusted according to a driving profile corresponding to the seek length, wherein the driving profile compensates for a power disturbance during the seek operation.“

The patent application was filed on June 15, 2015 (14/740,098).

Minimizing contamination in hard disk drive assembly
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,418,709) developed by Methe, Joseph A., Petitclerc, Drew G., and, Flanigan, Charles D., San Jose, CA, for a “method for minimizing contamination in hard disk drive assembly.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A removable tool for reducing contamination in a cleanroom assembly environment during assembly of a hard disk drive may include a handle assembly and a positive locking assembly. The handle assembly may define a proximal and distal end such that, in use, the proximal end is further away from the hard disk drive being assembled than is the distal end. The positive locking assembly may be configured to lock onto a portion of an upper perimeter of a Motor Base Assembly, (MBA) of a hard disk drive and onto a corresponding portion of a lower perimeter of the MBA. The handle assembly and the positive locking assembly may be further configured to enable free access to an interior of the MBA during subsequent assembly steps. The positive locking assembly may be further configured to be selectively releasable without touching the MBA, to thereby enable the removal of the tool.“

The patent application was filed on January 15, 2014 (14/156,385).

Management of sequentially written data
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,418,699) developed by Gibbons, Kent William, Yorba Linda, CA, Tsai, Chun Sei, Tustin, CA, Ong, Choo-Bhin, Foothill Ranch, CA, and D’Souza, Kenneth J., Irvine, CA, for a “management of sequentially written data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A Data Storage Device, (DSD) includes a disk with a zone of tracks to be sequentially written. A sequential write pointer is maintained indicating a next physical location for writing data in the zone. When a write command is received to write data in a target region at a physical location behind the sequential write pointer, it is determined whether a write count for each of the target region and an adjacent region before the target region has reached a threshold number of writes. If it is determined that the write counts for both the target region and the adjacent region have not reached the threshold number of writes, the sequential write pointer for the zone is moved to the physical location and the data is written at the physical location to fulfill the write command.“

The patent application was filed on April 21, 2015 (14/692,635).

Data storage device generating operating seek time
profile as function of base seek time profile
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,418,689) developed by Lou, Mingji, Lake Forest, CA, Beker, Orhan, Dove Canyon, CA, and Feng, Lu, Foothill Ranch, CA, for a “data storage device generating an operating seek time profile as a function of a base seek time profile.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage device is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of tracks. An operating seek time profile is generated as a function of a base seek time profile, wherein the seek time profiles define a seek time to seek the head radially over the disk by a seek length. A seek operation is executed to seek the head by a target seek length by at least generating a target seek time based on the target seek length and the operating seek time profile, and seeking the head the target seek length based on the target seek time.“

The patent application was filed on May 7, 2015 (14/706,881).

Internal storage manager for RAID devices
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., Irvine, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,417,822) developed by Ballance, Gary E., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, for a “internal storage manager for RAID devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present invention is directed to systems and methods for the automatic management of volumes, such as creation, migration, and rebuilding for redundant array of independent disks, (RAID). The automated management is triggered upon the installation of a new drive in a network attached storage, NAS) device and proceeds according to a user-specified setting. The management is automatic in that user intervention would not be required or requested and would be triggered transparently upon the insertion of a new drive into the NAS device. The embodiments may be employed in other types of multi-drive devices, such as direct attached storage devices, storage area networks, external drives. In addition, the embodiments may be employed with different types of storage media, such as solid-state drives, hybrid drives, etc., in addition to hard disk drives.“

The patent application was filed on March 15, 2013 (13/837,586).