Heating a head disk assembly for a time interval prior to writing spiral servo tracks to the disk
View Patent ↗A method of writing spiral servo tracks to a disk of a disk drive is disclosed. The disk is heated by applying a heating power to a heater for a time interval. After the time interval, the heating power is reduced, and the spiral servo tracks are written to the disk. In one embodiment, an external spiral servo writer comprises a heat lamp for heating an exterior surface of a head disk assembly (HDA) prior to writing spiral servo tracks to the disk.
1. A method of writing spiral servo tracks to a disk of a disk drive, the method comprising:
heating the disk by applying a heating power to a heater for a time interval;
reducing the heating power after the time interval; and
writing the spiral servo tracks to the disk after the time interval.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the heater comprises a lamp.
3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the lamp comprises a halogen lamp.
4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the halogen lamp comprises a reflector.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein reducing the heating power comprises turning the heating power off.
6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein heating the disk comprises heating a head disk assembly (HDA) housing the disk.
7. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein heating the disk comprises radiating energy onto an external surface of the HDA.
8. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising adjusting the time interval based on a number of disks housed in the HDA.
9. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising adjusting the time interval based on a size of the disk.
10. An apparatus for writing spiral servo tracks to a disk of a disk drive, the apparatus comprising:
a heater; and
control circuitry operable to:
heat the disk by applying a heating power to the heater for a time interval;
reduce the heating power after the time interval; and
write the spiral servo tracks to the disk after the time interval.
11. The apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein the heater comprises a lamp.
12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 , wherein the lamp comprises a halogen lamp.
13. The apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the halogen lamp comprises a reflector.
14. The apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein reducing the heating power comprises turning the heating power off.
15. The apparatus as recited in claim 10 , further comprising a nest for receiving a head disk assembly (HDA) housing the disk.
16. The apparatus as recited in claim 15 , wherein heating the disk comprises heating the HDA.
17. The apparatus as recited in claim 15 , wherein heating the disk comprises radiating energy onto an external surface of the HDA.
18. The apparatus as recited in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to adjust the time interval based on a number of disks housed in the HDA.
19. The apparatus as recited in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to adjust the time interval based on a size of the disk.