Patents Assigned to Certance, LLC
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Patent number: 7729070Abstract: A method and device for detecting a peak which is substantially the same as the actual peak are disclosed. In one embodiment, the device includes a filter, a shift register, a controller and a digital interpolator. The filter is configured to receive a plurality of signal samples and the shift register, which is coupled with the filter, has multiple registers. The shift register is configured to receive the plurality of signal samples and to shift the plurality of signal samples through the registers. The controller is coupled with the shifter register and is configured to detect a zero-crossing event in the signal samples. The digital interpolator is coupled with the controller and configured to perform a binary search to identify a peak substantially the same as the actual peak.Type: GrantFiled: December 21, 2005Date of Patent: June 1, 2010Assignee: Certance LLCInventor: Marc Feller
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Patent number: 7536701Abstract: A cartridge carrier has a base with a recessed plate, a top surface, and a bottom surface. An locking ejection mechanism is coupled to the base. A guide may be coupled to the top surface of the base to receive the cartridge and an interposer board may be coupled to the guide.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2004Date of Patent: May 19, 2009Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Patrick Henry McCormack, John A. Hamming
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Patent number: 7518831Abstract: A dual layer flexible circuit for tape drives is provided that has a flexible substrate with first and second sides. A plurality of write trace pairs are provided on the substrate, with each write trace pair including a first write trace on the first side of the substrate and a second write trace on the second side of the substrate opposing the first write trace. Each first write trace has a width that is narrower than the width of each second write trace, thereby allowing for compensation of misalignment between the trace layers, avoiding variation in the capacitance and inductance of the full circuit.Type: GrantFiled: October 4, 2005Date of Patent: April 14, 2009Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: John Leland Moore, Matthew Clarke Barsotti
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Patent number: 7511916Abstract: A cartridge carrier has a base with a recessed plate, a top surface, and a bottom surface. An ejection mechanism may be coupled to the base. A guide may be coupled to the top surface of the base to receive the cartridge and an interposer board may be coupled to the guide.Type: GrantFiled: September 13, 2004Date of Patent: March 31, 2009Assignee: Certance LLCInventor: John Anthony Hamming
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Patent number: 7502196Abstract: A head actuator design for a low profile tape drive is configured with a damping system for a head suspension system having flexure springs to accommodate a half-high form factor. The damping system employs hall sensors, for example, mounted on the head carriage that moves with the head carriage to provide position signals that are differentiated to form velocity signals used by a servo loop control system to dampen suspension system resonance. A flexible circuit routing is provided that is manageable for half-high form factors by combining the fine positioner loop and course positioner loop into a single loop, and preventing the head flexible printed circuit from contacting a top cover in the routing to a printed circuit board near the top cover.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2008Date of Patent: March 10, 2009Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, James M. Decot
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Patent number: 7455254Abstract: A method and apparatus for preventing the detachment of an end of tape from a hub filler during movement of the hub filler along a guide rail during an unloading operation of a tape drive mechanism. Detachment is prevented by a retracting tape dragging the hub filler along the guide rail, so as to maintain adequate tension that prevents detachment of the tape from the hub filler. The hub filler, which is coupled to the tape, guide arm, and guide rail, provides adequate drag force to maintain tension in the tape and prevent damage to the tape or the tape drive mechanism.Type: GrantFiled: July 25, 2001Date of Patent: November 25, 2008Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Turguy Goker, John A. Hamming, Russell A. Bauer, Kempton W. Redhead
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Patent number: 7440235Abstract: A tape drive apparatus is provided with a base plate and tape path components on this base plate. The apparatus includes a bracket that is adjustably coupled to the base plate, the path components carrying a magnetic head for reading and writing to a tape transported by the path components. Pre-loaded jackscrews of the adjustment couplings are rotated to adjust and lock the azimuth and zenith settings for the magnetic head. A separate penetration screw independently controls the penetration of the magnetic tape.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 2006Date of Patent: October 21, 2008Assignee: Certance LLCInventor: Ashok B. Nayak
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Patent number: 7420781Abstract: A head actuator assembly includes a coarse positioner base assembly that is mounted on a guide shaft and an anti-rotation shaft and provides increased structural rigidity due to a four-point support and spring loading of the coarse positioner base against the anti-rotation shaft. A two-part head-carriage and voice coil holder system permits different materials to be used for the head-carriage and the voice coil holder, obviating structural problems of a single-structured head-carriage and coil-holder system. A flexible printed circuit bracket eases manufacture and allows flexible printed circuits to be slid into the bracket and retained in place without the need for locating tabs and screws.Type: GrantFiled: May 30, 2007Date of Patent: September 2, 2008Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, James M. Decot
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Patent number: 7382561Abstract: An asymmetry compensator for measuring and correcting of asymmetry in magnetic recording devices. The magnetic recording device includes a read head, an asymmetry compensator, a data decoder, and an analog-to-digital converter. The read head produces a read data signal that contains potential errors due to asymmetry. The read data signal is processed into a compensated data signal by the asymmetry compensator. The asymmetry compensator includes a power of two squaring device, a gamma amplifier, and a summing junction connected in a feed forward manner. The gamma amplifier uses an approach involving, for a positive isolated pulse, the amplitude of the positive pulse and the undershoot and, for a negative isolated pulse, the amplitude of the negative pulse and the overshoot. The approach further involves probabilities and weights in a weighted average to account for any variations with frequency. The approach may be performed in either the analog or digital domain.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2005Date of Patent: June 3, 2008Assignee: Certance LLCInventor: William C. Hung
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Patent number: 7379259Abstract: A head actuator design for a low profile tape drive is configured with a damping system for a head suspension system having flexure springs to accommodate a half-high form factor. The damping system employs hall sensors, for example, mounted on the head carriage that moves with the head carriage to provide position signals that are differentiated to form velocity signals used by a servo loop control system to dampen suspension system resonance. A flexible circuit routing is provided that is manageable for half-high form factors by combining the fine positioner loop and course positioner loop into a single loop, and preventing the head flexible printed circuit from contacting a top cover in the routing to a printed circuit board near the top cover.Type: GrantFiled: September 12, 2005Date of Patent: May 27, 2008Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, James M. Decot
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Patent number: 7342745Abstract: A cartridge carrier has a base having a recessed plate, a top surface, and a bottom surface, an interposer board coupled to the base at the top surface, a motorized eject mechanism coupled to the interposer board and the base, a slider plate coupled to the base at the bottom surface and the motorized eject mechanism, and a button bar coupled to the base at the bottom surface, the button bar having a switch tab to contact the motorized eject mechanism.Type: GrantFiled: May 25, 2005Date of Patent: March 11, 2008Assignee: Certance, LLCInventor: John Anthony Hamming
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Patent number: 7292410Abstract: A tape drive head cleaner has a brush that is driven to sweep over a write/read head in the direction of longitudinal grooves on the write/read head. Debris that are within the grooves are swept out of the grooves by the movement of the brush in the direction of the grooves. The brush is carried by a tape drive head cleaner mechanism that includes a lead screw driven by a stepper motor that engages the half nut attached to a brush carriage that carries the brush. The brush carriage is guided by fixed guide shafts so that the brush is precisely swept over the write/read head.Type: GrantFiled: October 31, 2003Date of Patent: November 6, 2007Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, Somsack Vilaysack
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Patent number: 7274528Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided to protect head elements on a head of a head guide assembly, having a magnetic tape, and a leader coupled to the magnetic tape at a first end, such that the height of the leader is less than the height of the magnetic tape.Type: GrantFiled: March 17, 2005Date of Patent: September 25, 2007Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: John Anthony Hamming, Robert Ralph Heinze, Umang Mehta
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Patent number: 7230788Abstract: A system and method for damping the motion of the head of a tape drive is disclosed. The method includes measuring the position of the head over time with a position sensor; damping the motion of the head based on the measured position of the head over time; and tuning the damping by varying a parameter of the position sensor.Type: GrantFiled: November 10, 2004Date of Patent: June 12, 2007Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Turguy Goker, Jerry Hodges, Patrick H. McCormack
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Patent number: 7227724Abstract: A head actuator assembly includes a coarse positioner base assembly that is mounted on a guide shaft and an anti-rotation shaft and provides increased structural rigidity due to a four-point support and spring loading of the coarse positioner base against the anti-rotation shaft. A two-part head-carriage and voice coil holder system permits different materials to be used for the head-carriage and the voice coil holder, obviating structural problems of a single-structured head-carriage and coil-holder system. A flexible printed circuit bracket eases manufacture and allows flexible printed circuits to be slid into the bracket and retained in place without the need for locating tabs and screws.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2004Date of Patent: June 5, 2007Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, James M. Decot
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Patent number: 7222289Abstract: A low-density parity check device can process data using a special low-density parity check matrix having a size of n-rows by m-columns. By styling the matrix such that the matrix is composed of p equal-size sqaure sub-matrices, only the first row of the first sub-matrix need be generated and stored. By then further constraining each of the sub-matrices to form various sub-portions, with each sub-portion constructed such that any two columns within the sub-portion will have no common location containing a non-zero entry, processing advantages are gained.Type: GrantFiled: September 30, 2003Date of Patent: May 22, 2007Assignee: Certance LLCInventor: William Ching-Chit Hung
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Patent number: 7203027Abstract: A sensor for measuring the position of the head of a tape drive is disclosed. The sensor includes a light emitter movably connected to the head; a light sensor movably connected to the head and rigidly connected to the light emitter and located to receive a beam of light from said light emitter; and, a light interrupter rigidly connected to the head and located for interrupting the light beam.Type: GrantFiled: November 10, 2004Date of Patent: April 10, 2007Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Patrick Henry McCormack, Turguy Goker, Harold O. Ellison, Mark Decot, Jerry Hodges
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Patent number: 7190544Abstract: A control system and method for operating a system comprising a host computer, a buffer, a tape drive and a tape is provided. The method includes writing data to the tape while the tape is traveling at a first speed; stopping the tape; determining a minimum distance to reposition the tape; and, thereafter repositioning the tape.Type: GrantFiled: November 10, 2004Date of Patent: March 13, 2007Assignee: Certance LLCInventors: Turguy Goker, Kempton W. Redhead
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Patent number: 7180708Abstract: A tape drive is provided having a pair of stationary guide assemblies disposed symmetrically about the magnetic read/write head. Each of the stationary guide assemblies has a mounting portion and a separate guide surface portion mounted on the mounting portion. The mounting portion may be made of a plastic and the guide surface portion of a ceramic, for example. A spring arrangement with pressure pads is mounted directly on the mounting portion, and applies pressure to a top edge of a tape during guiding of the tape.Type: GrantFiled: May 24, 2005Date of Patent: February 20, 2007Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Ashok B. Nayak, Ming-chih Weng
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Patent number: 7154695Abstract: A control system and method for operating a system comprising a host computer, a buffer, a tape drive and a tape is provided. The method includes writing data to the tape while the tape is traveling at a first speed; stopping the tape; determining an optimum second speed to drive the tape to travel; and, thereafter driving the tape to travel at the second speed while writing data to the tape.Type: GrantFiled: November 10, 2004Date of Patent: December 26, 2006Assignee: Certance, LLCInventors: Turguy Goker, Hoa Q. Le, Stephen C. Cooper