Head control method, control device, and storage device

1. A head control method for controlling a protruding flying height, which is a distance between a head having a storage element that is opposed to a storage medium and the storage medium, by applying an energization amount to a heater element in the head to thermally expand the head, the head control method comprising:

a resistance-value measuring step of measuring a resistance value of the storage element;

an energization-amount calculating step of calculating an energization amount applied to the heater element such that the resistance value measured in the resistance-value measuring step reaches a reference resistance value, which is a resistance value of the storage element in a state in which an energization amount necessary for setting the protruding flying height to a target value is applied to the heater element under specific environmental temperature; and

a heater control step of performing control to apply the energization amount calculated in the energization-amount calculating step to the heater element.

2. The head control method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the energization-amount calculating step, an energization amount applied to the heater element is calculated by using an energization/resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between the energization amount applied to the heater element and the resistance value of the storage element.

3. The head control method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the energization-amount calculating step, a reference resistance value corresponding to a position in a radial direction of the storage medium, from which the head reads out a signal and in which the head writes a signal, is acquired from reference-resistance-value storing means for storing the reference resistance value for each position in a radial direction of the head in the storage medium.

4. The head control method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an environmental-temperature calculating step of calculating environmental temperature of the head using the resistance value measured in the resistance-value measuring step and an environmental temperature/resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between and the environmental temperature of the head and the resistance value of the storage element; and

a storage-element control step of acquiring, from storage-element-energization-amount storing means for storing energization amounts applied to the storage element in association with respective environmental temperatures, an energization amount corresponding to the environmental temperature calculated in the environmental-temperature calculating step and performing control to apply the acquired energization amount to the storage element.

5. The head control method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the resistance-value measuring step, a resistance value of the storage element is measured after the head is moved to an unused area of the storage medium.

6. A control device that controls a protruding flying height, which is a distance between

a head having a storage element that is opposed to a storage medium and the storage medium, by applying an energization amount to a heater element in the head to thermally expand the head, the control device comprising: resistance-value measuring means for measuring a resistance value of the storage element;

a energization-amount calculating means for calculating an energization amount applied to the heater element such that the resistance value measured by the resistance-value measuring means reaches a reference resistance value, which is a resistance value of the storage element in a state in which an energization amount necessary for setting the protruding flying height to a target value is applied to the heater element under specific environmental temperature; and

a heater controlling means for performing control to apply the energization amount calculated by the energization-amount calculating means to the heater element.

7. The control device according to claim 6 , wherein the energization-amount calculating means calculates an energization amount applied to the heater element using an energization/resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between the energization amount applied to the heater element and the resistance value of the storage element.

8. The control device according to claim 6 , wherein the energization-amount calculating means acquires a reference resistance value corresponding to a position in a radial direction of the storage medium, from which the head reads out a signal and in which the head writes a signal, from reference-resistance-value storing means for storing the reference resistance value for each position in a radial direction of the head in the storage medium.

9. The control device according to claim 6 , further comprising:

environmental-temperature calculating means for calculating environmental temperature of the head using the resistance value measured by the resistance-value measuring means and an environmental temperature/resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between the environmental temperature of the head and the resistance value of the storage element; and

storage-element controlling means for acquiring, from storage-element-energization-amount storing means for storing energization amounts applied to the storage element in association with respective environmental temperatures, an energization amount corresponding to the environmental temperature calculated by the environmental-temperature calculating means and performing control to apply the acquired energization amount to the storage element.

10. The control device according to claim 6 , wherein the resistance-value measuring means measures a resistance value of the storage element after the head is moved to an unused area of the storage medium.

11. A storage device having a control device that controls a protruding flying height, which is a distance between a head having a storage element that is opposed to a storage medium and the storage medium, by applying an energization amount to a heater element in the head to thermally expand the head, the storage device comprising:

reference-resistance-value storing means for storing a reference resistance value, which is a resistance value of the storage element in a state in which an energization amount necessary for setting the protruding flying height to a target value is applied to the heater element under specific environmental temperature; resistance-value measuring means for measuring a resistance value of the storage element;

energization-amount calculating means for calculating an energization amount applied to the heater element such that the resistance value measured by the resistance-value measuring means reaches the reference resistance value stored in the reference-resistance-value storing means; and

heater controlling means for performing control to apply the energization amount calculated by the energization-amount calculating means to the heater element.

12. The storage device according to claim 11 , further comprising

energization/resistance-correlation-value storing means for storing an energization resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between the energization amount applied to the heater element and the resistance value of the storage element, wherein

the energization-amount calculating means calculates an energization amount applied to the heater element using the energization resistance correlation value stored in the energization/resistance-correlation-value storing means such that the resistance value measured by the resistance-value measuring means reaches the reference resistance value stored in the reference-resistance-value storing means.

13. The storage device according to claim 11 , wherein

the reference-resistance-value storing means stores the reference resistance value for each position in a radial direction of the head in the storage medium, and

the energization-amount calculating means acquires a reference resistance value corresponding to a position in a radial direction of the storage medium, from which the head reads out a signal and in which the head writes a signal, from the reference-resistance-value storing means.

14. The storage device according to claim 11 , further comprising:

environmental-temperature/resistance-correlation-value storing means for storing an environmental/temperature-resistance correlation value indicating a correlation between environmental temperature of the head and a resistance value of the storage element;

storage-element-energization-amount storing means for storing energization amounts applied to the storage element in association with respective environmental temperatures;

environmental-temperature calculating means for calculating environmental temperature of the head using the resistance value measured by the resistance-value measuring means and the environmental-temperature/resistance correlation value stored in the environmental-temperature/resistance-correlation-value storing means; and

storage-element controlling means for acquiring an energization amount corresponding to the environmental temperature calculated by the environmental-temperature calculating means from the storage-element-energization-amount storing means and performing control to apply the acquired energization amount to the storage element.

15. The storage device according to claim 11 , wherein the resistance-value measuring means determines a resistance value of the storage element after the head is moved to an unused area of the storage medium.