Magnetic storage declassification device
A media declassification device receives a media component such as a magnetic hard disk drive, and deletes data stored thereon by physical agitation and dismantling the media component. A cutting blade shears or grinds a perimeter region around a top of the hard disk drive (HDD drive, or simply drive) to a predetermined depth calculated to remove heads from screws and other fasteners securing a metal top panel. Inversion of the drive allows a magnetic media platter upon which data is stored to simply drop out. The magnetic platter is fed into a shredding device for obliteration to sufficiently small particles for declassification, while rare earth magnets are removed from the remaining drive chassis, and the now declassified chassis discarded into a recycling stream.
1 . A media declassification device for a hard disk drive (HDD), comprising:
an agitator having a plurality of cutting edges configured to dismantle rigid materials;
a guidance element configured to direct an enclosure of the HDD against the agitator; and
a processor configured to execute a computer program to cause the media declassification device to:
dispose, using the guidance element, the enclosure in communication with the agitator to engage a planar portion of the enclosure to dismantle the planar portion and liberating a magnetic platter from restraint by the enclosure;
invert, using the guidance element, the enclosure to release the magnetic platter from the enclosure thereby resulting in a released magnetic platter; and
dispose, using the guidance element, the released magnetic platter in communication with a fragmentation device, wherein the fragmentation device comprises rotating blades and a mesh screen, wherein the rotating blades are configured to fragment the magnetic platter, and wherein the mesh screen defines a predetermined passage size defining a maximum size of passed fragments.
2 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to direct the enclosure relative to the agitator such that the agitator is configured to shear fragments of the enclosure to disengage the enclosure and liberate the magnetic platter from restraint by the enclosure.
3 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the guidance element includes a robotic member configured to secure the enclosure and dispose the enclosure to engage with the agitator.
4 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the agitator further comprises a rotary member having edges, wherein the edges are configured to shear fragments of the enclosure.
5 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to identify a top of the enclosure, wherein the top of the enclosure comprises a planar panel longitudinally extending across the HDD and in a parallel adjacency with a plane in which the magnetic platter rotates.
6 . The media declassification device of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to remove, using the agitator, at least a portion of the enclosure defined by a fastener region of a top of the enclosure and having a fastener depth.
7 . The media declassification device of claim 3 wherein the guidance element further comprises a conveyor configured to transport the enclosure to proximity of the robotic member.
8 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the agitator is a rotating blade configured to cut to a limit defined by a plane, the plane based on a thickness of a top panel of the enclosure.
9 . The media declassification device of claim 1 wherein the agitator is a fluted bit having shear edges on each of a plurality of edges around an circumferential body.
10 . The media declassification device of claim 1 further comprising:
a mechanical gate configured to identify and denote the HDD as declassified using optical recognition.
11 . The media declassification device of claim 1 further comprising a heating element configured to heat and remove magnetic members of a read-write head of the HDD.