Patent Document ID: 5510939
Application ID: 07915104
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A disk drive storage system utilizing adaptive head positioning comprising: one or more storage disks; at least one of said storage disks including servo control information encoded thereon: means including a plurality of heads for performing input and output operations on said storage disks; means for mounting one of said heads to read said servo control information; means for mounting and positioning said heads with respect to said disks; control circuitry coupled to said means for mounting and positioning said heads for regulating a movement of said heads with respect to said storage disks; a compliant suspension system supporting said storage disks and said means for mounting and positioning said heads, said compliant suspension system allowing a deflection of the disk drive storage system during the movement; means for measuring a radial displacement of said heads relative to a desired position, known as a position tracking error, the radial displacement and the desired position being relative to said disks, the radial displacement after a control input to said control circuitry has substantially subsided being measured to provide a correction factor; means for predicting position tracking errors resulting from an acceleration of said heads across said disks and a resultant deflection of the disk drive storage system as a result of said compliant suspension system, the acceleration being caused by an application of the control input to said control circuitry, said means for predicting including a continuous transfer function receiving as inputs the control input and the correction factor; and means for dynamically adapting a positioning of said heads to oppose the position tracking error and to maintain said heads substantially on a track despite the position tracking error which otherwise would have occurred; said means for predicting position tracking errors comprising: means for detecting the position tracking error using servo pulse signals; means for determining when a magnitude of the position tracking error exceeds a predetermined threshold; means for modelling the position tracking error as a dynamic response of a damped system of at least a second order, according to a transfer function with variable parameters; means for applying supplemental signals generated using said means for modelling to said control circuitry; and means for modifying said variable parameters to minimize a time required for said heads to settle on the track with subsequent position tracking errors remaining below the pre-determined threshold.