JP2003036624A - Recording operation evaluation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording operation evaluating device wherein the posture angle of a head is properly adjusted and reproducibility is high. SOLUTION: This recording operation evaluating device is provided with a head part for recording/reproducing information in a recording medium having a layer for recording information on a substrate, and an arm part for moving the head part in the radial direction of the recording medium. The head part is attached to the arm part by a posture adjusting means for adjusting the posture angle of the head part with respect to the recording medium.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording operation evaluation apparatus which performs the same operation as a recording / reproduction apparatus for recording / reproducing information by magnetic or optical means and evaluates the performance of a magnetic disk or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
The recording / reproducing apparatus such as e) is widely used as an external recording apparatus of a typical computer. The recording apparatus includes a rotating magnetic recording medium and a magnetic head that floats with a minute gap by an air flow generated by the rotation of the medium and magnetically records information on the medium. Conventionally, a method of starting and stopping the recording apparatus has employed a method in which the head is floated by rotating the medium while the head is stopped / contacted on the medium. This method uses CSS (Contact)
Although it is called the "Start Stop" method, it has the following problems in consideration of improving reliability and increasing recording density. That is, since this method involves sliding contact, there is a problem of reliability due to wear and particle generation. In addition, since it is necessary to provide unevenness called a texture to reduce the adsorption / friction force at startup, the head flying height cannot be set below the height of the same texture, and the head flying height is narrowed and high recording density is achieved. It becomes a barrier when trying to realize

On the other hand, L / UL (Load / Un1
In the load method, that is, in the method of retracting the head from the surface of the medium at the time of starting and stopping and loading the head onto the medium when the medium rotates and floats at the time of startup (Load), it is Since it is not accompanied by contact, it is possible to reduce the head flying height because it is not necessary to provide a texture, and it is possible to cope with higher recording density.
FIG. 1 shows an L / UL mechanism 1 in an HDD. The head portion 2 is provided with a tab 21.
Provides guidance for the head section. That is, the tab 21 moves toward the recording medium 4 along the ramp 3 serving as the introduction path, so that the head portion 2 is introduced into the recording medium 4, that is, Lo.
Also, when the tab 21 is moved in the opposite direction along the ramp 3, the head unit 2 retracts from the recording medium 4, that is, Un1oad.

In the same system, the head and the medium are in non-contact with each other and Lo
Designed to allow ad, Un1oad, especially Loa
At the time of d, the pressure generated between the minute gap surfaces called the squeeze pressure between the head and the medium surface is used to receive the inertia of the head and load it without making contact. However, the posture angle fluctuation of the head, the shake of the medium,
If there is an influence of external vibration, Load or Un1
At the time of oading, contact or impact may occur between the medium and the head. Therefore, in the L / UL system, the Load
It is necessary to secure the reliability of the medium and the head against the shock generated at the time of unloading and Un1 load, and the reliability evaluation is very important in the development stage.
For the reliability evaluation of the medium and the head, a recording operation evaluation device called a spin stand capable of performing the same operation as the HDD is used to evaluate the damage of the medium and the head due to the repeated operation of L / UL. FIG. 2 shows an example of a spin stand, which is composed of a head unit 2, a medium 4, a lamp 3, an arm unit 6 for fixing the head unit 2, and a drive mechanism 5. The drive mechanism 5 drives the head unit 2 in the same manner as an actual HDD. Repeated from lamp 3 L /
The UL operation is performed to evaluate the reliability of the head unit 2 and the medium 4.

[0005]

However, when the reliability of L / UL is evaluated by the conventional recording operation evaluation apparatus, there are the following problems.

FIG. 3 is a view showing how the head portion 2 is loaded on the medium 4 as seen from the tip side of the arm portion of the head portion 2. The head portion 2 is composed of a slider 22, a load beam 23 that supports the slider at one end, and a tab 21 that projects from the tip of the slider. The slider 22 is loaded via a soft spring (not shown) called a flexure. It is fixed to the beam 23. The head portion 2 is loaded on the surface of the medium 4 after the tab 21 descends along the ramp surface 31. At this time, if the attitude of the slider is not horizontal with respect to the medium surface, sufficient squeeze pressure is not generated between the slider and the medium surface as described above, and contact and impact occur. In the example of FIG. 3, an angle around the longitudinal axis of the head with respect to the medium surface, that is, a roll angle α is attached, and the head and the medium are in contact with each other.

The allowable range of posture angle for preventing contact is very narrow, for example, about ± 0.5 degrees with respect to horizontal 0 degrees. The conventional CSS system does not require such strict angle accuracy, and it is quite possible that the spin stand itself does not have such accuracy. Further, the posture angle slightly changes depending on how the head portion 2 is fixed to the arm portion 6 or how the fixing screw is tightened. Because of this, it is difficult to set an appropriate posture angle, and contact / unnecessary contact
There was a side where an impact occurred and proper L / UL reliability evaluation could not be performed.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a recording operation evaluation apparatus which appropriately adjusts the attitude angle of the head and is excellent in reproducibility.

The present invention is applicable to both CSS and L / UL HDDs, but is suitable for evaluating the recording operation of L / UL HDDs.

[0010]

A recording operation evaluation apparatus according to the present invention comprises a head section for recording and reproducing information on and from a recording medium having a layer for recording information on a substrate, and the recording medium for the head section. In a recording operation evaluation apparatus having an arm part that moves in the radial direction of the head part, the head part is attached to the arm part via an attitude adjusting means for adjusting an attitude angle of the head part with respect to the recording medium. It is characterized by

Further, the recording operation evaluation apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the posture adjusting means is composed of one or a plurality of rotating means.

Further, in the recording operation evaluation apparatus of the present invention, a sensor unit for detecting contact between the recording medium and the head unit is provided on the arm side base of the head unit, and the attitude adjusting means includes the sensor unit. The attitude angle of the head unit is adjusted based on the information of (1).

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following is only one embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the portion from the head portion 2 to the arm portion 6 of the recording operation evaluation apparatus according to the present invention as seen from the front (the tip end side of the arm), and FIG. 5 is also a schematic diagram as seen from the side. . The head unit 2 has a structure similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and one end of the slider 22 including a portion for recording / reproducing information of the recording medium 4 by magnetic, optical or other suitable means is loaded. It is supported by the beam 23. Further, the load beam 23 is fixed to the sensor joint 8 by, for example, a screw, and the sensor joint 8 has a sensor for detecting information such as friction and vibration due to contact between the head portion 2 and the recording medium 4. include. Here, the sensor is, for example, a strain gauge or an AE.
It may be configured by an (Acoustic Emission) sensor or the like. The sensor joint 8 is the head unit 2.
Along with the arm portion 6, it is attached to the tip of the arm portion 6 via a rotary stage 7 as a rotating means so that the rotary stage 7 can rotate with respect to the arm portion 6.
Is driven to rotate. Further, the arm portion 6 can be moved in the radial direction of the medium 4 by a driving mechanism as shown in FIG.

In the conventional recording operation evaluation device, since the sensor joint 8 is directly fixed to the arm portion 6, the delicate posture angle of the head portion 2 with respect to the medium 4 cannot be adjusted, and as described above. There was a problem. On the other hand, in the present invention configured as described above, since the sensor joint 8 is fixed via the rotary stage 7 which is the attitude adjusting means, for example, by contact between the head portion obtained from the sensor and the recording medium. The posture angle of the head unit 2 can be optimally (horizontally) adjusted based on the information on friction and vibration, and appropriate L / UL reliability evaluation can be performed with good reproducibility. In addition, by appropriately setting the attitude angle of the head (for example, by intentionally bringing the head into contact with the medium), it is possible to perform L / UL reliability evaluation in various situations.

In the present embodiment, the rotary stage 7 is set so that the direction of the arrow R in FIG. 4, that is, the roll posture angle can be adjusted. It is also possible to adjust the direction of the arrow P, that is, the pitch attitude angle. Further, if a rotary stage similar to the rotary stage 7 is attached so that the rotation axes thereof are orthogonal to each other, the posture angles of both the roll and the pitch can be adjusted simultaneously.

[0017]

According to the present invention, by providing means for adjusting the posture of the head portion with respect to the recording medium between the head portion and the arm portion, the posture angle of the head portion can be appropriately adjusted and reproduced. Highly reliable L / UL reliability evaluation is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an L / UL mechanism in an HDD.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a recording operation evaluation apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing how the head is loaded on the surface of the medium.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a recording operation evaluation apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a recording operation evaluation apparatus according to the present invention viewed from a side surface.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 L / UL mechanism in HDD 2 head 21 tabs 22 Slider 23 Road Beam 3 lamps 4 recording media 5 Drive mechanism 6 arm part 7 rotation stage 8 sensor joints 9 Drive R rotation direction P rotation direction

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording operation for a recording medium having a layer for recording information on a substrate, having a head portion for recording and reproducing information, and an arm portion for moving the head portion in a radial direction of the recording medium. In the evaluation device, the recording operation evaluation device, wherein the head part is attached to the arm part via an attitude adjusting means for adjusting an attitude angle of the head part with respect to the recording medium. 2. The recording operation evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attitude adjusting unit is composed of one or a plurality of rotating units. 3. A sensor section for detecting contact between the recording medium and the head section is provided on the arm-side base section of the head section, and the attitude adjusting means uses the head section based on information from the sensor section. The recording operation evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the posture angle of the recording medium is adjusted.