Patents Examined by Brian E. Miller
  • Patent number: 11615810
    Abstract: A hard disk drive enclosure base includes a non-uniform disk shroud surface extending from a top to a floor, the shroud surface including a first portion having a first radius and clearance along the circumference of the shroud surface and a second portion having a lesser second radius and clearance. The second portion of the shroud surface may be positioned at multiple locations where the drive form factor is especially constraining and in view of the need for a sufficient seal land surface for applying a gasket seal around the perimeter of the inner cavity of the base part. Widening the disk shroud clearance where possible can reduce the shear stress exerted at the disk edges thereby reducing the windage drag and associated disk spindle motor power consumption, especially in the context of helium-filled drives in which disk flutter is less of an issue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andre Chan, Yoshiyuki Hirono, Yuichi Arai
  • Patent number: 11615806
    Abstract: A magnetic head includes a main pole configured to serve as a first electrode, an upper pole containing a trailing magnetic shield configured to a serve as a second electrode, and an electrically conductive portion located in a trailing gap between the main pole and the trailing magnetic shield. The electrically conductive portion is not part of a spin torque oscillator stack, and the electrically conductive portion includes first and second electrically conductive, non-magnetic material layers. The spin torque oscillator stack is coupled to the first electrically conductive, non-magnetic material layer. The main pole and the trailing magnetic shield are electrically shorted by the electrically conductive portion across the trailing gap between the main pole and the trailing magnetic shield such that an electrically conductive path is present between the main pole and the trailing magnetic shield through the electrically conductive portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhigang Bai, Youfeng Zheng, Venkatesh Chembrolu, Supradeep Narayana, Yaguang Wei, Suping Song, Terence T. Lam, Kuok San Ho, Changqing Shi, Lijie Guan, Jian-Gang Zhu
  • Patent number: 11598120
    Abstract: An electronic lockbox includes a latching apparatus that uses a rotary actuator with multiple positions to achieve multiple locking states. Multiple positions of the actuator are detected, using optical sensors. The locking mechanism includes an outer sleeve and an inner cylindrical barrel that are coupled with torsion springs. The lockbox has a shackle and a key bin that include latch pins which are retained by the inner barrel when in the locked state, and the barrel can be rotated to either release the shackle or to release the key bin that typically holds a building's key. During insertion of a latch pin into the rotatable barrel, the maximum torque imparted on a first spur gear by the torsion spring, at a maximum rotation angle of the rotatable barrel, is sufficient to rotate the barrel back to its neutral position after the latch pin has been fully inserted into the barrel, and is less than or equal to a back drive torque limit of a prime mover of the rotary actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: SentriLock, LLC
    Inventors: Scott R. Fisher, Alan F. Deardoff, Nancy C. Griffiths, Daniel C. Cambron, Matthew K. Caskey
  • Patent number: 11594248
    Abstract: The disk device according to one embodiment includes magnetic disks, a magnetic head, a ramp, and a suspension. The suspension includes a sliding portion provided on a load beam. The suspension rotates about a second rotation axis between a load position and an unload position. The ramp includes a wall and a protrusion. The wall has a first support surface that supports the sliding portion when the suspension is located in the unload position. The protrusion includes a second support surface and an intermediate portion. The second support surface faces the magnetic head when the suspension is located in the unload position. The intermediate portion is located between the wall and the second support surface. The intermediate portion includes a first portion and a second portion. The second portion is located between the first portion and the first support surface in the radial direction of the second rotation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
    Inventor: Sinji Tukada
  • Patent number: 11594247
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are sliders with at least one notch-cut in the trailing pad, methods of making them, and data storage devices comprising them. In some embodiments, a slider comprises a leading-edge surface, a trailing-edge surface, and an air-bearing surface (ABS) that includes a trailing pad situated closer to the trailing-edge surface than to the leading-edge surface, wherein the trailing pad comprises at least one notch-cut (e.g., two notch-cuts) in a trailing side of the trailing pad. The at least one notch-cut provides higher pressure at the recording head situated in the trailing pad and higher thermal flight control efficiency without a commensurate increase in touch-down power. As a result, the temperature around the recording head is lower than without the at least one notch-cut, thereby improving the lifetime of the recording head and data storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Biao Sun, Weidong Huang
  • Patent number: 11594251
    Abstract: 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 and extending along an entire circumference 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yasuhiko Kato
  • Patent number: 11587584
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are sliders with deep holes, data storage devices including such sliders, and methods of manufacturing such sliders. The holes can be situated near the edges of the slider to improve the stability and/or damping of the slider. The holes may be created, for example, using ion milling. In some embodiments, a slider comprises a leading pad comprising a first medium-facing surface that includes at least a first hole and a second hole, a first side pad comprising a second medium-facing surface that includes at least a third hole, and a second side pad comprising a third medium-facing surface that includes at least a fourth hole. In some embodiments, a trailing pad of the slider comprises a fourth medium-facing surface that includes at least a fifth hole and a sixth hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Yong Hu
  • Patent number: 11587583
    Abstract: Described herein are sliders and data storage devices that promote particle mobility to improve particle robustness. In some embodiments, a data storage device includes a recording medium and a slider. A surface of the slider air-bearing surface near the leading edge includes at least one roughening feature that causes the surface to be rougher than other surfaces of the slider to promote particle mobility. The roughening feature may include a regular or irregular pattern, and it may be created using a photoresist mask during the manufacturing process so that the surface is deliberately made rougher (e.g., has a higher friction coefficient) than the surface of a leading pad of the slider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Yong Hu
  • Patent number: 11574656
    Abstract: One or more tape cartridge restraint brackets may be generated. At least one tape cartridge restraint bracket may be positioned in one or more deep slots in a rear portion of a tape library.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Shawn M. Nave, Andrew Stuart Green, Justin Melby
  • Patent number: 11562770
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a disk device includes a housing, recording medium, a magnetic head, an internal wireless communication device, and an internal component. The housing has an internal space. The internal wireless communication device generates at least either of: an electric signal representing information to be written to the recording medium, the electric signal corresponding to light, a magnetic field, or an electric field generated by an external wireless communication device; and light, a magnetic field, or an electric field toward the external wireless communication device, the light, the magnetic field, or the electric field corresponding to an electric signal representing information read from the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taichi Okano, Masahide Takazawa, Jai Liu, Nobuhiro Yamamoto, Kota Tokuda
  • Patent number: 11554825
    Abstract: To provide an attachment structure of a smart key unit for a motorcycle that can reduce a size of an attachment structure of a smart key unit around a head pipe. In an attachment structure of a smart key unit for a motorcycle that can cause an engine of a motorcycle to be in a startable state under a condition that an ID code transmitted from a smart key K that can be carried by a driver matches a normal ID code, the smart key unit is attached at a position in the rear of a head pipe included in a vehicle, and the smart key unit is arranged in a state in which a longitudinal direction M thereof is substantially orthogonal to a back and forth direction of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nabhayatra Pratuangman, Rungroj Saravichai, Wisarut Nunavarattanakul
  • Patent number: 11557318
    Abstract: An HGA includes a slider and a suspension for supporting the slider, wherein the suspension includes a flexure having a plurality of electrical traces formed thereon and a gimbal connection area supported and connected to the slider, a first surface of the gimbal connection area is provided with a first adhesive and a second adhesive respectively formed thereon and between the first surface and an opposite surface of an air bearing surface of the slider, an opposite surface of the first surface of the gimbal connection area is contacted with a dimple, and the dimple is located at a position between first adhesive and the second adhesive. The HGA can eliminate torsion and sway gain in frequency response function testing, and maintain AC stroke sensitivity and linearity of elements, thereby finally improving the performance of the disk drive unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: SAE MAGNETICS (H.K.) LTD.
    Inventor: Chi Wai Lo
  • Patent number: 11551715
    Abstract: A cartridge memory is a cartridge memory used in a recording medium cartridge and includes an antenna section that induces an induced voltage by means of electromagnetic induction, a load modulation section including a load whose magnitude is variable, and a control section that measures the induced voltage and controls the load modulation section on the basis of the measured induced voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Shinya Tochikubo, Takanobu Iwama, Eiji Nakashio, Kazuo Anno, Naohiro Adachi
  • Patent number: 11548442
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for detecting whether an object is approaching an autonomous vehicle when a passenger is about to exit the autonomous vehicle, determining a speed and type of the object that is approaching the autonomous vehicle, determining whether the object will enter an exit zone when the passenger enters the exit zone based on the speed and the type of the object that is approaching the autonomous vehicle, and preventing the passenger from exiting the autonomous vehicle based on the determining of whether the object will enter the exit zone when the passenger enters the exit zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC.
    Inventors: Mohamed Mostafa ElShenawy, Nathan Mandi
  • Patent number: 11545028
    Abstract: Dual channel wireless communication system for monitoring and/or control of a machine (112), such as a press brake, by a remote interface device (10, 12) that communicates data with a machine controller (18) over two channels CH1, CH2 in parallel. Also, a system and method to determine whether a remote interface device (10, 12) is within a range or zone of a machine (112) that the remote interface device wirelessly monitors and/or controls, uses an ultrasound transmitter-receiver arrangement (100, 102) and an electromagnetic (EM) transmitter-receiver arrangement (104, 106, 108, 110) to determine difference in ultrasound and EM time of flight and therefore whether or not the remote interface device is permitted to monitor and/or control the machine or is within range to monitor and/or control the machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Lazer Safe Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Robert Meredith Appleyard, Paul Andrew Gould, Ian Costley, Luke Zbigniew Wooldridge
  • Patent number: 11538505
    Abstract: Described are enclosures that include a friction stir weld, including electronic device enclosures, and precursors thereof that contain a metal base that includes a recess and a metal cover that in an assembled condition form a joint at which a friction stir weld can be produced, as well as methods for producing a friction stir weld at a joint of such an assembly; the base includes at least one bow wave reduction feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Jerome Thomas Coffey, David R. Lapp, Samuel Edward Severson
  • Patent number: 11527260
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium that can exhibit good traveling performance during use is provided. This magnetic recording medium is a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium, and includes a substrate including a polyester as a main component, a base layer disposed on the substrate, a magnetic layer disposed on the base layer, and a back layer disposed on a side of the substrate opposite to the base layer. A surface of the back layer opposite to the substrate has a kurtosis of 2.0 or more. On a surface of the magnetic layer, recesses having a depth of 20% or more of the average thickness of the magnetic layer are formed at a ratio of 10 or more and 200 or less per 1600 ?m2. A surface of the magnetic layer has arithmetic average roughness Ra of 2.5 nm or less. The entire magnetic recording medium has a BET specific surface area of 3.5 m2/g or more in a state where the lubricant has been removed from the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic recording medium has been dried.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: Sony Group Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Yamaga, Takanobu Iwama, Jun Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11527262
    Abstract: A disk device includes a plurality of magnetic disks, a plurality of magnetic heads, a first actuator assembly having a plurality of arms and a plurality of suspension assemblies for the magnetic heads and supported to be rotatable about a support shaft, a second actuator assembly having a plurality of arms and a plurality of suspension assemblies for the magnetic heads and supported to be rotatable about the support shaft, and a protective member formed from a material different from a material for the arms. The protective member is provided on a tip end portion of at least one of a first arm closest to the second actuator assembly among the of arms in the first actuator assembly and a second arm closest to the first actuator assembly among the arms in the second actuator assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Makoto Okamoto
  • Patent number: 11518341
    Abstract: A method for controlling at least one locking element of a vehicle is disclosed. A mobile identification transmitter is detected at a position in a certain access region around the vehicle. Furthermore, a user signal is output to a user carrying the mobile identification transmitter after the mobile identification transmitter has stayed at the position for a first predetermined duration. In addition, the at least one locking element is unlocked/opened after the mobile identification transmitter further stays at the position for a second predetermined duration after the user signal is output. For the targeted control of the automatic unlocking or opening of the vehicle door, the process of unlocking or opening is terminated if a termination signal from the user is detected within the second predetermined duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Alexander Heinrich
  • Patent number: 11514789
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing illumination-based object tracking information within a host vehicle. In some embodiments, the system may comprise a remote object detection module and an illumination display pattern within the vehicle comprising one or more light sources defining a pattern. The illumination display pattern may be configured to dynamically change in accordance with one or more objects being detected and/or tracked by the remote object detection module to convey visible information to vehicle occupants regarding such object(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Arriver Software LLC
    Inventors: Stefan Andersson, Annika Frida Linnea Larsson, Carl-Johan Palsson