Heater control method and storage apparatus

1. A head IC configured to process a signal supplied to a head which has a built-in heater and a signal output from the head, comprising:

a terminal part having terminals configured to receive data indicating a read operation time and a write operation time of the head; and

a circuit part configured to turn the heater ON during a write operation time, and during a read operation time other than an other read operation time which occurs immediately after the write operation time, and to turn the heater OFF during said other read operation time, in response to the data.

2. The head IC as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

a circuit part configured to prohibit the ON/OFF control of the heater during a time that is sufficiently short such that a shape of the head does not follow a change in a wattage of the heater.

3. The head IC as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

a setting part configured to set an upper limit of a wattage of the heater at a time when a contact between the head and a recording medium is detected.

4. The head IC as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the setting part detects the contact between the head and the recording medium by detecting a modulation in a read waveform that is read from the recording medium by the head.

5. The head IC as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

a setting part configured to set an upper limit of a wattage of the heater at a time when a saturation state of the circuit is detected.

6. The head IC as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:

the data received by the terminals of the terminal part further indicate a read wattage and a write wattage of the head; and

the circuit part turns the heater ON with the read wattage during the read operation time other than said other read operation time, and turns the heater ON with the write wattage during the write operation time.

7. A head IC configured to process a signal supplied to a head which has a built-in heater and a signal output from the head, comprising:

a driver part configured to supply power to the heater depending on an ON/OFF control of the heater; and

a circuit part configured to prohibit the ON/OFF control of the heater during a time that is sufficiently short such that a shape of the head does not follow a change in a wattage of the heater.

8. A head IC configured to process a signal supplied to a head which has a built-in heater and a signal output from the head, comprising:

a driver part configured to supply power to the heater depending on an ON/OFF control of the heater; and

a circuit part configured to set an upper limit of a wattage of the heater at a time when a contact between the head and a recording medium is detected.

9. A head IC configured to process a signal supplied to a head which has a built-in heater and a signal output from the head, comprising:

a driver part configured to supply power to the heater depending on an ON/OFF control of the heater; and

a circuit part configured to set an upper limit of a wattage of the heater at a time when a saturation state of a heater driving circuit that drives the heater is detected.

10. A head IC configured to process a signal supplied to a head which has a built-in heater and a signal output from the head, comprising:

a driver part configured to supply power to the heater depending on an ON/OFF control of the heater; and

a circuit part configured to set a wattage of the heater by switching from a value for normal operation to an upper limit value at a predetermined timing.

11. The head IC as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising:

a heater driving circuit configured to drive the heater via the driver part,

wherein the predetermined timing is a time when a contact between the head and a recording medium is detected or, a time when a saturation of the heater driving circuit is detected.