Patents by Inventor Michael Konrad

Michael Konrad has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9530445
    Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording medium has a heat-sink layer, a chemically-ordered FePt alloy magnetic layer and a perovskite oxide intermediate layer between the heat-sink layer and the magnetic layer. The perovskite oxide intermediate layer may function as both a seed layer for the magnetic layer and a thermal barrier layer, as just a seed layer for the magnetic layer, or as just a thermal barrier layer. The intermediate layer is formed of a material selected from a ABO3 perovskite oxide (where A is selected from one or more of Ba, Sr and Ca and B is selected from one or more of Zr, Ce, Hf, Sn, Ir, and Nb), and a A2REBO6 rare earth double perovskite oxide (where RE is a rare earth element, A is selected from Ba, Sr and Ca, and B is selected from Nb and Ta).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Olav Hellwig, Bruce David Terris, Sung Hun Wee
  • Publication number: 20160011253
    Abstract: A method for testing a workpiece (3), in particular a circuit board, by a test pin (2) arranged on a holder (1), the test pin (2) approaching a predetermined position on or in the workpiece (3), a position of the test pin (2) with respect to the holder (1) is intended to be changed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2013
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Applicant: KONRAD GMBH
    Inventors: Michael Konrad, Stefan Werner
  • Patent number: 9147423
    Abstract: A method for making a bit-patterned-media magnetic recording disk with discrete magnetic islands includes annealing the data islands after they have been formed by an etching process. A hard mask, such as a layer of silicon nitride or carbon, may be first formed on the recording layer and a patterned resist formed on the hard mask. The resist pattern is then transferred into the hard mask, which is used as the etch mask to etch the recording layer and form the discrete data islands. After the data islands are formed by the etching process, the patterned recording layer is annealed. The annealing may be done in a vacuum, or in an inert gas, like helium or argon, or in a forming gas such as a reducing atmosphere of argon plus hydrogen. The annealing improves the coercivity, the effective saturation magnetization and the thermal stability of the patterned media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Olav Hellwig, Ernesto E. Marinero, Andrew Thomas McCallum, Dieter K. Weller
  • Publication number: 20150254973
    Abstract: In an arrangement (1) comprising at least one field device (2), at least one sensor, or signal, registering unit (3,3a,3b,3c) associated or associable therewith and at least one function block (10,10a,10n), at least one mobile computer unit (4) is provided for performing calculations and/or evaluations. The at least one sensor, or signal, registering unit (3,3a,3b,3c) and the at least one mobile computer unit (4) comprise for wireless communication with one another, in each case, at least one system (7,7a,7b,7c,40) for wireless sending and receiving of data and/or signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Inventors: Dietmar Fruhauf, Michael Konrad, Marc Baret
  • Publication number: 20150128408
    Abstract: In a device for producing and/or processing a workpiece, in particular circuit boards (1), in a work station (2), in particular for printing a corresponding blank or for checking finished circuit boards (1), at least one mark (15) is provided on the workpiece. In this arrangement, at least one reference (14), which can be brought into alignment with the mark (15), is provided in the work station (2).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2013
    Publication date: May 14, 2015
    Inventors: Michael Konrad, Stefan Werner
  • Patent number: 8824075
    Abstract: A system and method for recording data to a perpendicular magnetic recording media having a highly ordered granular structure. The method includes the synchronization of write frequency and write phase to the granular structure of the magnetic media optimize performance of the magnetic data recording system by minimizing bit error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: HSGT Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred E. Schabes
  • Patent number: 8786972
    Abstract: A magnetic recording disk drive determines the locations of defective bits in a failed data sector, and allows for the error correction code (ECC) to correctly decode the data from the sector. After a sector has failed decoding, the digitized waveform and the read channel state from the failed sector are stored in memory. A nondata pattern is written to the failed sector and read back to determine the locations of the defective data bits in the failed sector, which are then used to update the read channel state. The data pattern from the failed sector, with the identified bit error locations, is attempted to be decoded. If the decoding is successful then the sector is marked as bad and the correctly decoded data pattern is written to a different region of the disk, for example physical sectors specifically intended for use as spare sectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Kurt Allan Rubin
  • Publication number: 20140168807
    Abstract: A system and method for recording data to a perpendicular magnetic recording media having a highly ordered granular structure. The method includes the synchronization of write frequency and write phase to the granular structure of the magnetic media optimize performance of the magnetic data recording system by minimizing bit error rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: HGST NETHERLANDS B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred E. Schabes
  • Patent number: 8755142
    Abstract: A hard disk drive (HDD) has a high track misregistration (TMR) mode of writing data. If the position error signal (PES) from the servo positioning information exceeds a first write inhibit threshold (WI-1), writing is not inhibited but a high TMR mode of operation is enabled. In high TMR mode, prior to writing data to the target track, the data on the adjacent tracks is read and stored in a buffer. The data to be written to the target track is also stored in the buffer, and is flagged to indicate that the data needs to be written. The data is then written to the target track. However, if during writing the PES exceeds a second threshold (WI-2), then the data from the adjacent encroached track in the buffer is flagged for writing and the process repeated with the encroached track set as the target track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred Ernst Schabes
  • Patent number: 8737002
    Abstract: A magnetic recording disk has nondata regions that contain a group of first nondata islands with one area and a magnetization in one perpendicular direction, and a group of second nondata islands with a smaller area and a magnetization in the opposite direction. To magnetize the nondata islands with the proper magnetization directions, a DC magnetic field much greater than the coercive field of the magnetic recording layer is applied in one direction to the entire disk to magnetize all of the nondata islands in the same direction. Then the disk is heated to a predetermined temperature, and while the disk is at this temperature, a second DC magnetic field less than the first DC magnetic field is applied for a predetermined time in the opposite direction to the entire disk. This reverses the magnetization direction of the smaller islands without switching the magnetization of the larger islands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Abhishek Dhanda, Michael Konrad Grobis, Toshiki Hirano, Tetsuo Semba
  • Publication number: 20140139942
    Abstract: A magnetic recording disk drive determines the locations of defective bits in a failed data sector, and allows for the error correction code (ECC) to correctly decode the data from the sector. After a sector has failed decoding, the digitized waveform and the read channel state from the failed sector are stored in memory. A nondata pattern is written to the failed sector and read back to determine the locations of the defective data bits in the failed sector, which are then used to update the read channel state. The data pattern from the failed sector, with the identified bit error locations, is attempted to be decoded. If the decoding is successful then the sector is marked as bad and the correctly decoded data pattern is written to a different region of the disk, for example physical sectors specifically intended for use as spare sectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2012
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: HGST NETHERLANDS B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Kurt Allan Rubin
  • Patent number: 8699162
    Abstract: A shingled magnetic recording disk drive with sector error correction code (ECC) has the disk recording surface divided into multiple zones. Each zone is assigned a sector-ECC strength, i.e., a unique number of ECC sectors associated with a block of data sectors. The zone in which data is to be written is determined from the time average of the position-error signal (PES), which is an indication of the track misregistration (TMR) and thus the current environmental condition to which the HDD is subjected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred Ernst Schabes
  • Patent number: 8625229
    Abstract: A patterned-media magnetic recording disk drive has head positioning servo sectors on the disk that do not contain special patterns but merely use the same type of dots that are used for data. The “data” dots in angularly spaced sectors of the data tracks function as the servo sectors and are denoted as D-servo regions. The D-servo regions extend across an annular band of the disk, which may be a bootstrap band for self-servowriting. The dots in the annular band are randomly magnetized so that each track in each D-servo region provides a generally random readback signal at the data frequency. The precise radial and circumferential position of the read/write head within a D-servo region is determined by comparing the readback signal with a set of reference signal waveforms from a look-up reference table and finding the reference signal waveform that matches the readback signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Thomas R. Albrecht, Michael Konrad Grobis
  • Publication number: 20130342931
    Abstract: A hard disk drive (HDD) has a high track misregistration (TMR) mode of writing data. If the position error signal (PES) from the servo positioning information exceeds a first write inhibit threshold (WI-1), writing is not inhibited but a high TMR mode of operation is enabled. In high TMR mode, prior to writing data to the target track, the data on the adjacent tracks is read and stored in a buffer. The data to be written to the target track is also stored in the buffer, and is flagged to indicate that the data needs to be written. The data is then written to the target track. However, if during writing the PES exceeds a second threshold (WI-2), then the data from the adjacent encroached track in the buffer is flagged for writing and the process repeated with the encroached track set as the target track.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred Ernst Schabes
  • Publication number: 20130329315
    Abstract: A patterned-media magnetic recording disk drive has head positioning servo sectors on the disk that do not contain special patterns but merely use the same type of dots that are used for data. The “data” dots in angularly spaced sectors of the data tracks function as the servo sectors and are denoted as D-servo regions. The D-servo regions extend across an annular band of the disk, which may be a bootstrap band for self-servowriting. The dots in the annular band are randomly magnetized so that each track in each D-servo region provides a generally random readback signal at the data frequency. The precise radial and circumferential position of the read/write head within a D-servo region is determined by comparing the readback signal with a set of reference signal waveforms from a look-up reference table and finding the reference signal waveform that matches the readback signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2012
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Inventors: Thomas R. Albrecht, Michael Konrad Grobis
  • Publication number: 20130270221
    Abstract: A method for making a bit-patterned-media magnetic recording disk with discrete magnetic islands includes annealing the data islands after they have been formed by an etching process. A hard mask, such as a layer of silicon nitride or carbon, may be first formed on the recording layer and a patterned resist formed on the hard mask. The resist pattern is then transferred into the hard mask, which is used as the etch mask to etch the recording layer and form the discrete data islands. After the data islands are formed by the etching process, the patterned recording layer is annealed. The annealing may be done in a vacuum, or in an inert gas, like helium or argon, or in a forming gas such as a reducing atmosphere of argon plus hydrogen. The annealing improves the coercivity, the effective saturation magnetization and the thermal stability of the patterned media.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Olav Hellwig, Ernesto E. Marinero, Andrew Thomas McCallum, Dieter K. Weller
  • Patent number: 8514672
    Abstract: A near-field transducer (NFT) has a primary tip that concentrates the oscillating charge of the NFT onto a substrate, such as magnetic recording medium, to heat regions of the medium, and a secondary tip. The secondary tip is located close to a temperature sensor, such as an electrical conductor whose resistance varies with temperature. The temperature sensor senses heat from the secondary tip and thus properties of the substrate like surface topography and the presence or absence of metallic material. The NFT can be part of a bit-patterned media (BPM) thermally-assisted recording (TAR) disk drive. The temperature sensor output is used to control the write pulses from the disk drive's write head so the magnetic write field is synchronized with the location of the magnetic data islands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: HGST Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Barry Cushing Stipe
  • Publication number: 20130187790
    Abstract: A measurement transmitter having an interface for transmission of measured values via a fieldbus, wherein communication via the fieldbus occurs according to a fieldbus protocol, wherein the number of measured values provided by the measurement transmitter exceeds the number of measured values retrievable by means of a basic command of the fieldbus protocol, wherein the measurement transmitter has a plurality of fieldbus addresses, and wherein a logic unit is provided, which serves so to distribute the measured values among the plurality of fieldbus addresses of the measurement transmitter that the measured values are retrievable via the plurality of fieldbus addresses of the measurement transmitter by means of the basic command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2011
    Publication date: July 25, 2013
    Inventors: Michael Konrad, Stephan Konrad, Michael Korn
  • Publication number: 20130079519
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of making pyrimidines of formula (III) wherein X1, X2, R1 and R2 have the meanings as defined herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Inventors: Adil DURAN, Stefan GOEPPER, Joerg HALMER, Michael KONRAD
  • Patent number: 8355300
    Abstract: A thermally-assisted recording (TAR) bit-patterned-media (BPM) magnetic recording disk drive uses optical detection of synchronization fields for write synchronization and optical detection of servo sectors for read/write head positioning. The synchronization fields and servo sectors extend generally radially across the data tracks and are patterned into discrete nondata blocks separated by gaps in the along-the-track direction. A near-field transducer (NFT) directs laser radiation to the disk and generates a power absorption profile on the disk that has a characteristic along-the-track spot size less than the along-the-track length of the gaps between the nondata blocks in the synchronization fields and servo sectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Michael Konrad Grobis, Manfred Ernst Schabes, Barry Cushing Stipe