Toshiba and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Assigned Twenty-Five Patents

Magnetic disk and write processing
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,910,013) developed by Kawabe, Takayuki, Sagamihara Kanagawa, Japan, Hara, Takeyori, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, and Maeto, Nobuhiro, Yokohama, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and write processing method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk including a first track including a first sector, a second sector, and a first parity sector, a head, and a controller configured to, when writing a second track adjacent to the first track in the first direction, even if, in a third sector of the second track adjacent to the first sector in the first direction, a first upper limit in a second direction opposite to the first direction, continue the processing of writing data to the third sector, and if, in a fourth sector adjacent to the second sector in the first direction, a second upper limit in the second direction, stop the processing of writing data to the fourth sector.”

The patent application was filed on February 28, 2020 (16/804,537).

Magnetic disk and method of controlling
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,910,012) developed by Kobayashi, Manabu, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, and Yamazaki, Akihiro, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and method of controlling the same.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a first decoding circuit calculates likelihood information by executing Viterbi decoding using a parameter for normalizing a branch metric on a signal sequence read from a magnetic disk. The second decoding circuit generates a first bit data sequence by iterative decoding using the likelihood information, and executes a check using a parity check matrix on the first bit data sequence. The control circuit causes the first decoding circuit and the second decoding circuit to repeatedly execute decoding, and updates the parameter in accordance with a check result obtained every time the decoding by the first decoding circuit and the second decoding circuit is executed. An acquisition circuit acquires numerical information corresponding to the number of bit errors included in the first bit data sequence obtained when the number of times of executions of the decoding is equal to a first value.”

The patent application was filed on February 28, 2020 (16/804,181).

Disk with gasket aligned with cover burrs
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,902,885) developed by Sato, Yuki, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan, for a “disk device with gasket aligned with cover burrs.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a housing including a base including a sidewall, and a first cover on a surface of the sidewall, and a discoidal recording medium in the housing. The first cover includes a first surface, a second surface on an opposite side to the first surface, and a side portion. The second surface includes a packing on a peripheral portion thereof. The side portion includes a burr on the second surface side and the packing is aligned to the burr.”

The patent application was filed on February 22, 2019 (16/282,437).

Magnetic disk and read error retry method for magnetic disk
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,885,939) developed by Chiba, Hiroyuki, Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and read error retry method for magnetic disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk, a read head for reading data from sectors and tracks of the magnetic disk, a read channel including a first circuit configured to process an output signal from the read head according to a value of a parameter, and processor. The processor is configured to, upon detection of a read error while the read head is reading data from an error sector of an error track, determine an error amount in each sector in the error track, select from the error track a plurality of sectors having an error amount that is within a predetermined range from an error amount of the error sector, perform a training read on the selected sectors, determine a new value of the parameter based on the training read, and set the new value of the parameter for the read channel.”

The patent application was filed on March 3, 2020 (16/808,241).

Actuator block having dual sensors for detecting vibration on magnetic disk drive
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,885,936) developed by Yoshikawa, Norio, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for an “actuator block having dual sensors for detecting the vibration on magnetic disk drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes an actuator assembly including an actuator block including a rotatable bearing unit, a plurality of heads movably supported by the actuator assembly, a first sensor provided to the actuator block, and a second sensor provided at a position different from the first sensor.”

The patent application was filed on January 16, 2020 (16/744,558).

Disk device with actuator assemblies
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,878,842) developed by Uehara, Manabu, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, and Sasaki, Yasutaka, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for a “disk device with actuator assemblies.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device comprises a plurality of rotatable magnetic disks, a first actuator assembly, and a second actuator assembly. A slit provided in each of arms of the first actuator assembly is provided to be offset in a direction spaced away from a border plane between actuator assemblies with respect to a center of the arm in its thickness direction. A connection end portion of a wiring member is partially located in the slit, such as to be offset in a direction spaced away from the border plane, and disposed on a wiring board, and joined to the wiring board.”

The patent application was filed on April 20, 2020 (16/853,059).

Disk device with base and cover
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,872,632) developed by Kato, Yasuhiko, Setagaya Tokyo, Japan, for a “disk device with base and cover.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a disk-shaped recording medium, a base accommodating the recording medium, the base including a bottom wall, a sidewall on a peripheral portion of the bottom wall, and a rib on a part of an upper surface of the sidewall, a first cover on a part of the upper surface of the sidewall, and a second cover on a first surface of the rib and above the first cover. The rib includes a first region with a first width, a second region with a second width less than the first width, and the first surface with a fixed width around an entire circumference of the rib. The first region and the second region are located corresponding to a side portion of the recording medium.”

The patent application was filed on April 22, 2020 (16/855,286).

Magnetic disk and servo read processing
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,872,631) developed by Tagami, Naoki, Hara, Takeyori, and Kawabe, Takayuki, Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and servo read processing method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk including a first servo sector including a first preamble, a first servo mark, a first gray code, and first burst data, a head including a write head which writes data to the disk and a read head which reads data from the disk, and a controller which stops write processing, based on a write mask gate different from a first servo gate executing read processing of the first servo sector and a write gate executing the write processing to the disk.”

The patent application was filed on February 25, 2020 (16/800,039).

Two-dimensional magnetic recording capable of positioning head based on reading of first and second readers
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,872,630) developed by Maeto, Nobuhiro, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, Hara, Takeyori, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, and Kawabe, Takayuki, Sagamihara Kanagawa, Japan, for a “two-dimensional magnetic recording device capable of positioning the head based on reading of first and second readers.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk including a plurality of servo data items, a head including a write head which writes data to the disk, and a first read head and a second read head which read data from the disk, and a controller configured to position the head based on a first signal in which write data positioned between the servo data items of the disk is read by the first read head, and a second signal in which the write data is read by the second read head separated from the first read head in a radial direction of the disk.”

The patent application was filed on September 4, 2019 (16/560,438).

Magnetic disk device and recording
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,872,040) developed by Shinbori, Takahiro, and Kumagai, Ryuta, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and recording method of the same.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes heads and a controller. The heads write data in a recording region of the magnetic disk. The controller divides in order, by a track group with a constant size, an entire region of the recording region where management regions indicating physical positions corresponding to the heads, respectively, creates the track groups so as to straddle the management regions at boundaries of the management regions, and controls writing of the data for each of the track groups. The controller assigns unique and logically consecutive numbers to the track groups and manages information on the management regions to which the track groups belong.”

The patent application was filed on February 6, 2020 (16/783,965).

Shingled magnetic recording device capable of recording position error on non-volatile memory
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,867,632) developed by Yamamoto, Yu, and Asakura, Makoto, Tokyo, Japan, for a “shingled magnetic recording device capable of recording position error on non-volatile memory.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk, a head that writes data to the disk and reads data from the disk, and a controller that overwrites a second track on a first track in a first track group, and records a maximum first positioning error in a first direction from the first track to the second track in the first track in a nonvolatile first recording area.”

The patent application was filed on September 12, 2019 (16/569,210).

Disk device having first and second actuator assemblies
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,861,488) developed by Hayasaka, Kenji, Shinagawa Tokyo, Japan, and Hasegawa, Hisashi, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for a “disk device having first and second actuator assemblies.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a first actuator assembly on a support shaft via a first bearing unit, and a second actuator assembly on the support shaft via a second bearing unit. The first bearing unit includes a first shaft on the support shaft, a first sleeve fixed to the first actuator block, and a bearing between the first shaft and the first sleeve. The second bearing unit includes a second shaft on the support shaft, separated from the first shaft, a second sleeve fixed to the second actuator block, and a bearing between the second shaft and the second sleeve. One axial end of the first shaft faces one axial end of the second shaft.”

The patent application was filed on August 6, 2019 (16/532,744).

Magnetic disk device and linearity error correction
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,854,238) developed by Tagami, Naoki, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, Asakura, Makoto, Tokyo, Japan, and Hara, Takeyori, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and linearity error correction method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk including a recording region including servo sectors, a head configured to write data to the disk and read data from the disk, and a controller configured to demodulate a plurality of pieces of demodulation data from servo data read from servo sectors, divide the demodulation data into a plurality of pieces of division data corresponding to division regions, perform linearity correction corresponding to a plurality of pieces of division data in each of the division regions.”

The patent application was filed on September 12, 2019 (16/568,946).

Magnetic disk device and write processing
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,847,183) developed by Tomoda, Yusuke, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and write processing method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A magnetic disk device includes a disk, a head comprising a main magnetic pole and a write shield, and configured to generate a magnetic field from the main magnetic pole to the write shield to write data onto the disk, an assist element configured to assist the writing by generating a magnetic field or heating a surface of the disk, and a controller configured to control the head to write the data according to either a first recording method using the assist element or a second recording method not using the assist element depending on a condition of the assist element.”

The patent application was filed on August 20, 2019 (16/546,190).

Magnetic disk
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,847,182) developed by Furuhashi, Takao, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk section and a control section. The magnetic disk section includes a magnetic disk, a magnetic head, and a preamplifier. The control section included a processing section configured to cause the preamplifier to execute processing of generating the recording current used by a write head to write data to the magnetic disk, and processing of receiving an output reproduced from the magnetic disk by a read head, and configured to control the magnetic disk section. In the preamplifier, processing of reading data from the magnetic disk is executed by the read head in parallel with processing of writing data transferred from the control section to the magnetic disk by means of the write head.”

The patent application was filed on September 11, 2019 (16/567,990).

Magnetic disk device and method of continued reading of sectors of magnetic disk device even after an error is detected in one of sectors
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,846,176) developed by Kondo, Yosuke, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan, for “magnetic disk device and method of continued reading of sectors of magnetic disk device even after an error is detected in one of the sectors.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk, which includes, in a track, a plurality of first sectors each recording user data and a second sector recording parity data for restoring the user data recorded in the first sectors, and a disk controller configured to read data from a plurality of sectors including the first sectors and the second sector based on an instruction from a host, and to detect whether there is an error in each of the first sectors when the user data is read from the first sectors. The disk controller continues reading the data recorded in the plurality of sectors even when an error is detected in one of the first sectors by the disk controller.”

The patent application was filed on March 4, 2019 (16/291,756).

Magnetic disk device having multiple independent moving actuators
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,839,840) developed byTakada, Kazuya, and Ichishima, Jun, Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device having multiple independent moving actuators.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk, a first magnetic head and a second magnetic head that are moved independently of each other, a first controller chip, a second controller chip, and a third memory. The first controller chip includes a first processor and a first memory, and controls the first magnetic head. The second controller chip includes a second processor and a second memory, and controls the second magnetic head. Management information is stored in the third memory. The first controller chip is connected to the third memory. The second controller chip is connected to the third memory via the first controller chip. The second controller chip saves the management information into the second memory.”

The patent application was filed on August 30, 2019 (16/556,305).

Disk device
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,832,709) developed by Mizuochi, Kenji, Kamakura Kanagawa, Japan, Hayashi, Takeo, and Toukairin, Kouichi, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, for a “disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a housing including a bottom wall including a protrusion with a first surface, a recording medium arranged in the housing, a printed circuit board attached to the bottom wall, an electronic component mounted on the printed circuit board and including a second surface facing the first surface, and a radiation sheet including a third surface which is contact with the first surface, and a fourth surface which is in contact with the second surface. An area of the first surface is less than an area of the third surface of the radiation sheet, or an area of the second surface is less than an area of the fourth surface of the radiation sheet.”

The patent application was filed on September 4, 2019 (16/560,338).

Magnetic disk
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,825,482) developed by Suzuki, Hirofumi, Toukairin, Kouichi, Hasegawa, Hisashi, Kanagawa, Japan, Kudo, Masaya, Kanagawa, Japan, Hayasaka, Kenji, Tokyo, Japan, and Nojima, Yusuke, Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A magnetic disk device includes a casing having a box-like base that has a bottom wall and a cover that has a first surface facing the bottom wall, a magnetic disk provided in the casing, a head configured to write data to the magnetic disk and to read data from the magnetic disk, an actuator assembly that supports the head in the casing, a conductive container on the first surface of the cover, and a conductive body in contact with the conductive container and the cover.”

The patent application was filed on September 2, 2019 (16/558,238).

Magnetic recording and method of controlling magnetic head
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,825,478) developed by Matsumoto, Takuya, Tokyo, Japan, for “magnetic recording apparatus and method of controlling magnetic head thereof.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording apparatus measures and stores recording signal quality of a disk at an initial stage, inspects the recording signal quality before data is recorded, determines whether or not the recording signal quality obtained in the inspection satisfies a standard when compared to the stored recording signal quality at the initial stage, adjusts, based on a result of the determination, light irradiation power of a light irradiation element so as to satisfy the standard, determines a read offset amount based on a result of the adjustment, and performs control so that a position of a read head is shifted based on the determined read offset amount.”

The patent application was filed on January 27, 2020 (16/773,032).

Magnetic disk
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,825,473) developed by Koizumi, Gaku, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk, a recording head and a controller. The recording head includes a high-frequency oscillator disposed in a write gap between a main magnetic pole and a return magnetic pole and configured to oscillate in accordance with a bias voltage, and a bias voltage supply circuit configured to supply the bias voltage to the high-frequency oscillator. The controller includes a bias voltage controller configured to control the bias voltage to be applied to the high-frequency oscillator in accordance with a sampling frequency of data when the data is recorded on the magnetic disk by the recording head.”

The patent application was filed on October 17, 2019 (16/656,196).

Magnetic disk drive including actuator assembly, flexible print circuit board and control circuit board
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,811,041) developed by Yoshikawa, Norio, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk drive including actuator assembly, flexible print circuit board and control circuit board.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a housing that includes a bottom wall, a magnetic disk contained in the housing, a first head and a second head configured to write data to the magnetic disk, and read data from the magnetic disk, a first actuator assembly including the first head, a second actuator assembly including the second head, a first flexible print circuit board including a first connector, a second flexible print circuit board including a second connector, and a control circuit board that is provided outside the housing, and includes a third connector electrically connected to the first connector and the second connector.”

The patent application was filed on September 5, 2019 (16/561,405).

Disk device
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,811,040) developed by Tokuda, Kota, Kawasaki, Japan, and Yamamoto, Nobuhiro, Yokohama, Japan, for a “disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a plurality of disk-shaped recording media, a first actuator assembly supported by a support shaft, a second actuator assembly supported by the support shaft and spaced from the first actuator assembly, a flexible printed wiring board includes a base portion, a first relay portion extending from the base portion and connected to the first actuator assembly, and a second relay portion extending from the base portion and connected to the second actuator assembly, a support member fixed to the base portion of the flexible printed wiring board, and a reinforcing member provided in the base portion in the vicinity of the first relay portion and the second relay portion.”

The patent application was filed on August 29, 2019 (16/555,463).

Magnetic disk
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,803,899) developed by Ishii, Koji, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A magnetic disk device includes a control circuit, and a disk unit including a plurality of magnetic disks, a plurality of magnetic heads configured to read or write data from or to the magnetic disks, a first actuator configured to move the magnetic heads, a plurality of second actuators each configured to move the corresponding magnetic head, and a switch circuit configured to connect the control circuit and one of the second actuators. The control circuit is configured to transmit to the disk unit an instruction in which one of the magnetic heads is specified, control one of the second actuators corresponding to the specified magnetic head to move the magnetic head via the switch circuit, and based on a signal from the one of the second actuators, determine whether an error occurs in the one of the second actuators.”

The patent application was filed on August 30, 2019 (16/557,035).

Magnetic disk controlling device capable of tracking different servo pattern frequencies
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, and Toshiba Electronic Devices and Storage Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,803,894) developed by Kuwahara, Satoshi, Kawasaki Kanagawa, Japan, and Ishii, Koji, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan, for a “magnetic disk controlling device capable of tracking different servo pattern frequencies.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk including at least one servo zone that includes a first data storage track with a first servo pattern having a first frequency and a second data storage track with a second servo pattern having a second frequency, wherein the first data storage track is located closer to an outer diameter of the magnetic disk than the first data storage track and the first frequency is greater than the second frequency, a magnetic head that faces the magnetic disk, and a zone servo switching unit that switches a servo pattern frequency employed to position the magnetic head in a radial direction based on a radial position of the magnetic head.”

The patent application was filed on August 22, 2018 (16/109,357).