Did You Know...
...that two musicians were responsible for the invention of color print film? Fascinated by photography, Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes worked together to produce an easy-to-use, practical color film. They worked full time as music teachers and gave concerts while experimenting during their off hours in Mannes' kitchen. Their success earned them full-time, well-paying jobs at Kodak and their efforts resulted in Kodachrome film, which was introduced in 1935.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7375928 | Disk drive actuator latch apparatus and method An actuator latch apparatus for a disk drive. The latch apparatus includes a metal piece disposed at one end of the swing arm, an attracting part protruded from an edge of the yoke, for attracting the metal piece by a magnetic force of the magnet, a hole formed at a... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7369346 | Method for retracting head upon interruption of power, and disk drive employing the method A charge and discharge controller causes an capacitor to be charged by a power supply to a disk drive, and causes the capacitor to discharge when a power supply monitor detects the interruption of power to the disk drive. Upon detection of the interruption of power,... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7277253 | Storage device A storage device configured to load and unload a head against a storage medium, includes a latch mechanism configured to latch the unloaded head, a head moving mechanism configured to move the head, a measuring part configured to measure an unlatch force necessary f... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7259938 | Actuator latch for disk drive An actuator latch for a disk drive comprises at least one damping structure disposed at a wall within a recess of a latch body. Such a damping structure absorbs impact force between the latch body and a distal end of the actuator to minimize noise at a transducer on... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7248440 | Single lever type actuator latch system of disk drive An actuator latch system of a disk drive to lock an actuator having a swing arm installed at a base member, a voice coil motor coil joined to an end portion of the swing arm, and a magnet facing the voice coil motor coil, including a first and a second latch portion... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7218480 | Magnetic detent for transducer positioning mechanism In a tape data storage arrangement, a magnetic detent is provided to maintain a tape read/write head in selected positions with respect to the tape, during data transfer. The tape is mounted on a carriage movable between first and second positions, with respect to a... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7203034 | Using eddy-currents for releasing actuator suspension assembly of rotary disk storage device A mechanism is provided for restraining and releasing an actuator suspension assembly in a magnetic disk device which is in a retracted position. In a magnetic disk device, according to one embodiment, a magnetic disk 4a is formed of an electrically co... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7161757 | Method and apparatus for controlling a disk drive under a power loss condition A method for controlling a motorized data-storage device, including extracting energy from a spindle motor to drive a positioning motor of the data-storage device and other components, such as circuitry. In normal operation of one embodiment, a disk is rotated at a ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7150094 | Method of stiffening an actuator comb and coil assembly A voice coil and actuator yoke assembly is fabricated by deforming the coil to exactly fit the inner perimeter and thickness of the yoke. The comb is placed in a tool that registers the comb with the yoke against the same flat surfaces that will squash the coil. The... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7149058 | Actuator latch with variable retention force Apparatus for latching an actuator, such as used in a data storage device. A moveable electrical coil is disposed adjacent a magnetically permeable structure. The coil is latched by magnetic flux passing across a gap extending into the structure which establishes a ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7116508 | Apparatus for locking a moveable part of a magnetic disk apparatus A magnetic disk apparatus has: a magnetic disk having a magnetic film formed on a substrate; a spindle motor for rotating the magnetic disk; a magnetic head for writing/reading information on/from the magnetic disk; a supporting member for supporting the magnetic he... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7085105 | Actuator latch apparatus for data storage device An actuator latch apparatus for a data storage device includes a latch lever installed on a base plate of the data storage device capable of pivoting and having a first latch portion provided at one end portion of the latch lever, a spring connected to the other end... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7085106 | Actuator latch apparatus for data storage device An actuator latch apparatus for a data storage device includes a latch lever installed on a base plate of the data storage device capable of pivoting and having a first latch portion provided at one end portion of the latch lever, a spring connected to the other end... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7072147 | Hard drive actuator arm with reduced skew variation A rotary actuator system includes an actuator block, a head mounting block, and a linkage arm connecting the actuator block and the head mounting block. The system further includes an actuator motor operatively connected to the actuator block for rotating a link. Th... | 07/04/2006 |
| 6963472 | Flexural pivot for rotary disc drive actuator The present invention provides for a flexural pivot that can be fitted within a cavity of an actuator. The pivot includes a first member that can be coupled to the wall defining the cavity and a second member that can be mounted to the disc drive housing component o... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6958891 | Actuator loading/unloading device for disc drive An actuator loading/unloading device includes a block unit disposed at a base of a disc drive to be positioned outside a disc, a lamp member positioned on the block unit so that the lamp member is lifted from or lowered down on the block unit, an actuator being park... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6922300 | Actuator latch device of hard disk drive In an actuator latch device of a hard disk drive for locking an actuator to hold a magnetic head parked in a parking area, the actuator latch device includes a locking protrusion provided on an end portion of the actuator, a stopping guard having left and right side... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6917496 | Spacer ring for disk drive spindle with load/unload feature, latch feature, and tribological overcoat A hard disk drive utilizes a spacer ring at its inner diameter to load and unload the read/write heads. During relatively small shock events, the actuator is retained relative to the disk through a circumferential groove in the spacer ring. A complementary protrusio... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6917497 | Disk drive actuator arm latch assembly An actuator arm latch assembly for a disk drive is disclosed which restrains movement of a disk drive actuator arm assembly during exposure of the disk drive to a shock event. In one embodiment, the actuator arm latch assembly is activated by the disk drive being ex... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6822835 | Actuator latch of hard disk drive An actuator latch of a hard disk drive. The actuator latch includes a locking protrusion installed at the actuator and a latch member rotatably installed on the basis of a predetermined rotation axis. The latch member rotates with the rotation of the actuator when t... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6751067 | Actuator latch of hard disk drive An actuator latch of a hard disk drive to lock an actuator so that the actuator does not rotate when a magnetic head installed at the actuator driven by a voice coil motor is positioned on a parking region. The actuator latch has: a locking protrusion installed at t... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6501624 | Multiple zone data storage system and method A data storage system has a disk having a first, second and third zone. The first zone has rough texturing to prevent stiction between a slider at rest and the disk. The second zone has intermediate texturing to prevent stiction when a moving slider is in... | 12/31/2002 |
| 6473269 | Piezoelectric disk latch A latch for locking a drive arm of a disk drive in a parking position comprising: a latch stop having a baffle moveable between an open position and a closed position; and a piezoelectric motor operable to move the baffle between the open and closed posit... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6356415 | Disk drive head carriage lock having solenoid within frame of lock member A head carriage lock mechanism for a magnetic disk drive has a lock member, a lifter, a link member and a solenoid. The lock member is shaped in the form of a quadrilateral frame, with arms extending perpendicularly from a front panel and a rear panel so ... | 03/12/2002 |
| 6317296 | Magnetic parking device for disk drive A magnetic parking device for retaining an actuator in a disk drive over a landing zone. A magnetically permeable capture member is provided on the drive actuator and a magnetic parking member for capturing and magnetically retaining the capture member to... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6275357 | Latching apparatus of hard disk drive using bimetal A latching apparatus of a hard disk drive using a bimetal which includes a locking/releasing device for selectively locking/releasing an actuator for protecting a magnetic disk from being damaged by a magnetic head. A bimetal member operates the locking/r... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6243238 | Shock-resistant recording/reproducing device A head carriage supports a head. A locking member is movable between an engagement position at which the locking member engages with an engagement portion of the head carriage and a disengagement position at which the locking member disengages with the en... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6222696 | Head unlatch controlling method and arrangement in magnetic disk drive In a head unlatch controlling method and arrangement in a hard disk drive head unlatch controlling method, a head unlatch operation is performed in an open loop mode, using a predetermined current profile. A determination is made as to whether servo infor... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6198604 | Method of and apparatus for unlocking an actuator in a disk storage apparatus In the present invention, a disk storage apparatus 1 is previously given acceleration current Ia and acceleration time Ta which is supplied to an actuator 6 for releasing the actuator from a permanent magnet 12, and deceleration current Id and deceleratio... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6147841 | Data storage system having a positive actuator latching assembly A multiple disk drive storage system includes a latch assembly for positively latching a head positioning actuator arm when the head is positioned on a load/unload mechanism at the outer perimeter of the disks. Latching and unlatching cycles of the latch ... | 11/14/2000 |
| 6061207 | Magnetic head transferring device of hard disk drive In a magnetic head transferring device, of a hard disk drive, a locking member is provided to lock a rotor after the magnetic head is moved to a parking zone formed on a hard disk. The locking member includes a bimetal member which reversibly deforms when... | 05/09/2000 |
| 5982586 | Compact hard disk drive head positioner latch A new and improved latching method and assembly for positively latching a positioner carrying a read/write head of a hard disk drive in a drive landing zone during non-power conditions. The assembly includes a vertically movable latching pin which is mova... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5812345 | Monostable active latch for a disk drive actuator A monostable active latch apparatus is disclosed for use in a hard disk drive which has a housing, a rotating data storage disk and an actuator mounted in the housing. The actuator controllably positions a read/write head over a predetermined portion of t... | 09/22/1998 |
| 5796557 | Disk drive architecture including a current-induced latching device A half-height, 31/2-inch form factor disk drive architecture. The architecture includes at least six storage disks for storing data and a plurality of interactive read/write heads, two per disk, for reading information from and writing information on the ... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5712750 | Actuator fixing device of hard disk drive An actuator fixing device of a hard disk drive includes an actuator having a permanent magnet; a solenoid latch composed of a damper for buffering an impact resulting from contact with the permanent magnet, a coil for applying an electrical current, and a... | 01/27/1998 |
| 5694271 | Space efficient magnetic toggle latch assembly for a disc drive actuator A latch assembly used for latching an actuator in a disc drive. The latch assembly comprises a coil assembly for selectively generating magnetic fields of alternating polarity in a pair of magnetically permeable plates. The plates are separated by a verti... | 12/02/1997 |
| 5671104 | System and method for locking a disk actuator in vertical and horizontal directions A disk drive comprises a disk recording medium; an actuator traveling on the surface of the disk recording medium; a lock device vertically movable for locking the actuator when located upward or for releasing the actuator when located downward, composed ... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5568333 | Actuator latching device of hard disk drive An actuator latching device in a hard disk drive maintains the actuator of the hard disk drive in a parking zone while the actuator is not in operation. The hard disk drive includes: a disk that rotates at a high speed via a spindle motor, an actuator rot... | 10/22/1996 |
| 5523910 | Recording/reproducing device having a bypassing pole electromagnetic actuator latch of low power requirement A disk drive having an electromagnetically actuated latch mechanism for latching and unlatching the movable actuator of the disk drive. The electromagnetically actuated latch has a magnetic circuit structure including a two legged yoke which mounts a coil... | 06/04/1996 |
| 5495376 | Power loss actuated magnetic latch system for head-arm assembly A latch mechanism, especially for use in a disk drive, includes a locking arm that rotates about a pivot and engages a slot on the moving member that is to be locked, such as a head-arm. In a fixed coil embodiment, a permanent magnet is attached to an inb... | 02/27/1996 |
