Granted Patent B2

US 7,230,788 · App. 10/985,434 · Granted Jun 12, 2007

Abstract

Claims (17)

1. A method for damping the motion of the head of a tape drive comprising:

measuring the position of the head over time with a position sensor;

damping the motion of the head based on the measured position of the head over time;

tuning the damping by varying a parameter of the position sensor.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of tuning comprises filtering the measured position of the head.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the step of filtering the measured position of the head comprises applying a lead-lag filter.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of measuring the position of the head over time comprises using an optical position sensor.

5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising calibrating the damping.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said step of calibrating comprises applying a signal to the head and measuring the response of the head to the signal.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the step of measuring the response of the head is accomplished by using a position error signal of the tape.

8. A system for damping the motion of the head of a tape drive comprising:

a position sensor for measuring the position of the head over time;

feedback means connected to the position sensor for damping the motion of the head based on the measured position of the head over time;

tuning means for tuning the damping by varying a parameter of the position sensor.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein said position sensor is an optical position sensor.

10. A system according to claim 9 wherein said optical position sensor comprises a light emitting diode and said parameter is the current applied to the light emitting diode.

11. A system according to claim 7 further comprising a damping tuning means for applying a signal to the head and measuring the response of the head to the signal.

Assignments (10)