Granted Patent B1

US 7,088,545 · App. 11/168,274 · Granted Aug 8, 2006

Abstract

Claims (89)

1. A disk drive comprising:

(a) a disk comprising a plurality of tracks, wherein each track comprises a plurality of servo sectors;

(b) a head actuated over the disk; and

(c) control circuitry operable to:

heat the head in order to reduce a fly-height of the head;

compute a target servo sector to begin a preheat period;

decrease the heat so that the fly-height is increased during at least part of a seek operation to seek the head from a first track to a second track; and

when the head reaches the target servo sector, increase the heat to decrease the fly-height during the preheat period.

2. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the control circuitry is operable to decrease the heat prior to the acceleration time of the seek operation.

3. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the control circuitry is operable to decrease the heat during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

4. The disk drive as recited in claim 3 , wherein:

(a) the acceleration time includes a first acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a first acceleration;

(b) the acceleration time includes a second acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a second acceleration greater than the first acceleration; and

(c) the control circuitry is operable to decrease the heat during at least part of the first acceleration time of the seek operation.

5. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the control circuitry is operable to increase the heat during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

6. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a deceleration time when the head decelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the control circuitry is operable to increase the heat during at least part of the deceleration time of the seek operation.

7. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a settle time when the head settles on the second track; and

(b) the control circuitry is operable to increase the heat during at least part of the settle time of the seek operation.

8. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

(a) each track comprises a plurality of data sectors;

(b) the second track comprises at least one data sector associated with an access command; and

(c) the target servo sector is computed relative to the at least one data sector associated with the access command.

9. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein the target servo sector is computed relative to a reference servo sector associated with the end of the seek operation.

10. A method of operating a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a disk having a plurality of tracks each comprising a plurality of servo sectors, and a head actuated over the disk, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) heating the head in order to reduce a fly-height of the head;

(b) computing a target servo sector to begin a preheat period;

(c) decreasing the heat so that the fly-height is increased during at least part of a seek operation to seek the head from a first track to a second track; and

(d) when the head reaches the target servo sector, increasing the heat to decrease the fly-height during the preheat period.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is decreased prior to the acceleration time of the seek operation.

12. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is decreased during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein:

(a) the acceleration time includes a first acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a first acceleration;

(b) the acceleration time includes a second acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a second acceleration greater than the first acceleration; and

(c) the heat is decreased during at least part of the first acceleration time of the seek operation.

14. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

15. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a deceleration time when the head decelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the deceleration time of the seek operation.

16. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a settle time when the head settles on the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the settle time of the seek operation.

17. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein:

(a) each track comprises a plurality of data sectors;

(b) the second track comprises at least one data sector associated with an access command; and

(c) the target servo sector is computed relative to the at least one data sector associated with the access command.

18. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the target servo sector is computed relative to a reference servo sector associated with the end of the seek operation.

19. A method of operating a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a disk having a plurality of tracks, and a head actuated over the disk, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) heating the head in order to reduce a fly-height of the head;

(b) estimating a seek time to move the head from a first track to a second track during a seek operation; and

(c) if the seek time is greater than a predetermined threshold, controlling the heating of the head so that the fly-height is adjusted during at least part of the seek operation.

20. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is decreased prior to the acceleration time of the seek operation.

21. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is decreased during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

22. The method as recited in claim 21 , wherein:

(a) the acceleration time includes a first acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a first acceleration;

(b) the acceleration time includes a second acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track at a second acceleration greater than the first acceleration; and

(c) the heat is decreased during at least part of the first acceleration time of the seek operation.

23. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes an acceleration time when the head accelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the acceleration time of the seek operation.

24. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a deceleration time when the head decelerates toward the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the deceleration time of the seek operation.

25. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) the seek operation includes a settle time when the head settles on the second track; and

(b) the heat is increased during at least part of the settle time of the seek operation.

26. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein:

(a) each track comprises a plurality of data sectors;

(b) the second track comprises at least one data sector associated with an access command; and

(c) the target servo sector is computed relative to the at least one data sector associated with the access command.

27. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the target servo sector is computed relative to a reference servo sector associated with the end of the seek operation.

Assignments (8)