INFORMATION RECORDING APPARATUS
An information recording apparatus includes a recording medium and a flying head for writing/reading information on the recording medium, arranged in a housing, in which a mass sensor is arranged in a path of an air flow inside the housing due to spinning of the recording medium. The output of the mass sensor is monitored by a monitoring circuit.
1 . An information recording apparatus comprising:
a housing,
at least one spinning recording medium and a head facing the recording medium and writing/reading information on the recording medium arranged inside the housing,
at least one mass sensor detecting particles arranged in a path of an air flow flowing inside the housing along with spinning of the recording medium, and
a monitoring circuit monitoring output from the mass sensor.
2 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the mass sensor is arranged at an inside wall corner of the housing.
3 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the mass sensor is arranged sticking out from an inside wall of the housing.
4 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of recording media are supported at intervals on a coaxial rotary shaft, and mass sensors are mounted on members arranged between the recording media.
5 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the mass sensor is mounted on an actuator supporting the writing/reading head.
6 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the monitoring circuit issues an alarm when an amount of change of output of the mass sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
7 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the monitoring circuit further makes the writing/reading head retract from a data region of the recording medium.
8 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a nonvolatile memory, wherein an output of the mass sensor is recorded at least one of the nonvolatile memory and the recording medium.
9 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a circuit applying a bias voltage of a predetermined polarity to the mass sensor.
10 . The information recording apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the mass sensor includes a covering layer formed by a material with a high donor acceptability.