JPH08167225A - Information storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a storage and reproducing device having good operability. CONSTITUTION: A switch means 1 is provided in a wiring circuit from a motor control circuit 13 to a motor 4 in the device, and the switch means is turned on/off at an interval of 1msec-several tens sec. Moreover, the intervals for turning on/off the switch means is controlled by a switch control means 2 in accordance with the operating mode of the device. Consequently, the power consumption of the device under the recording and reproducing state can be lowered, and yet, average power consumption can be reduced without stopping the rotation of the motor, and also the lowering of a throughput is suppressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording / reproducing information by rotating a recording medium, and more particularly to an information storage apparatus suitable for a device driven by a battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of a conventional device. In a device that records and reproduces information by rotating a recording medium 20 typified by a magnetic disk device and an optical disk device, a motor that rotates the recording medium 20 when, for example, a state in which the recording medium 20 is not used for a certain period continues depending on the operating state of the device. 4 is stopped to reduce average power consumption. In the conventional device, for example, the power control unit 17 is provided, the interface signal is monitored, and when the command waiting state continues without input / output being performed for a set time, the power supply 31 of the unnecessary electronic circuit is supplied. To shift to the standby mode, and when input / output is not performed for more than the set time, a control signal is sent to the motor control unit 13 to stop the rotation of the motor 4 to enter the rest mode. A method of reducing the average power consumption is adopted.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional device,
Since the power consumption is reduced in the standby mode or the sleep mode in which recording / reproduction is not performed, it is not actually possible to expect a reduction in power consumption under usage conditions in which recording / reproduction is frequently performed. . Also, even if a recording or playback command is sent when the storage device is in the hibernate state, the device side receives the recording or playback command and starts the motor, the rotation of the motor rises to a certain range and the actual recording or playback operation is performed. It is necessary to wait a few seconds to a few dozen seconds until it becomes possible, and the throughput of the system deteriorates. After all, the user had no choice but to endure the deterioration of the throughput or to make a setting not to stop the motor and sacrifice the low power consumption.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption in the recording / reproducing state, solve the problem of the waiting time until the actual recording or reproducing operation is performed, and prevent the throughput from deteriorating. To provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the memory device of the present invention is provided with a switch means in the wiring from the motor drive circuit to the motor, and the switch means is provided at intervals of 1 millisecond to several tens of seconds. Configured to turn on and off.
Further, the switch control means controls the interval at which the switch means is turned on / off according to the operation mode of the storage device.

[0006]

When the switch means is turned off, the recording medium mounted on the rotary shaft of the motor continues to rotate by inertia, and the motor does not consume power during that time. By appropriately setting the interval at which the switch means is turned on and off by the switch control means, it is possible to reduce the power consumption while keeping the rotation of the recording medium within a range that does not interfere with information recording and reproduction. When the apparatus is in a state where recording / reproducing is not performed, the rotational speed accuracy of the recording medium is not required, so that the power consumption can be further reduced by setting the switch-off time longer. Therefore, it is not necessary to stop the rotation of the motor 4, and the throughput does not deteriorate.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a 2.5 inch type magnetic disk storage device. The present invention can be applied with the same configuration as this embodiment as long as it is a storage device configured to rotate a recording medium using a motor, such as an optical disk storage device and a floppy disk storage device as well as a magnetic disk storage device.

In FIG. 1, recording / reproducing of information with respect to the recording medium 20 is performed by the magnetic head 10, the recording / reproducing circuit section 11 and the data modulating / demodulating section 12, and the information with the host apparatus is transferred via the interface control section 15. Transmission and reception is performed. The recording medium 20 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 4, and the recording medium 20 is rotated by connecting the motor drive signal 16 from the motor control unit 13 to the motor 4. The power control unit 17 monitors the interface signal of the interface control unit 15, and when the input and output are not performed for a set time and the command waiting state continues, the power supply of unnecessary electronic circuits is stopped.

In this embodiment, a power supply 31 to the recording / reproducing system 30 is used.
To stop. These operations are similar to those of the conventional memory device and can be configured by the conventional semiconductor element.
The motor drive signal 16 from the motor controller 13 is connected to the motor 4 via the switch means 1, and the switch controller 2
Thus, the on / off of the switch means 1 is controlled. The switch means 1 is a semiconductor switch circuit,
Further, the switch control unit 2 can be configured by a conventionally known means such as a combination circuit of timer circuits.

The average power consumption of the motor 4 is the switching means 1
The power consumption of the motor 4 can be suppressed by increasing the ON / OFF cycle and shortening the ON time, which is related to the ON / OFF cycle and the ON time. However, if the rotation speed of the recording medium 20 is greatly reduced, the clock circuit of the data modulation / demodulation unit 12 malfunctions and causes a reproduction error.

Therefore, when determining the ON / OFF cycle of the switch means 1, it is necessary to consider the reproduction error occurrence rate. In this embodiment, the error rate was not affected as long as the decrease in rotation speed was within about 2%. In this embodiment, the ON / OFF cycle of the switch means 1 is 0.5 second,
The on-time was set to 0.1 seconds. At this time, the range of decrease in the rotation speed was about 2%, which did not affect the error occurrence rate. The results of measuring the power consumption in this example are shown in Table 1 in comparison with the conventional device.

[0012]

[Table 1]

The standby mode is a mode in which the supply of power to the recording / reproducing circuit section 11 and the data modulating / demodulating section 12, which are unnecessary for operation, is stopped after a state in which recording / reproducing is not performed. Further, the pause mode is a mode in which the rotation of the motor is stopped in the conventional apparatus when the standby mode continues for a certain period of time, and there is no mode corresponding to the pause mode in this embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the power consumption can be reduced by about 0.5 watt as compared with the conventional case during the actual recording / reproducing. Furthermore, even in the standby mode, the power consumption can be reduced by about 0.5 watts compared with the conventional one, so that the average power consumption can be reduced without stopping the rotation of the motor 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and a sleep mode is further set to further reduce power consumption. In the present embodiment, when the standby mode in which the recording / reproducing is not performed and the supply of the power source 31 to the unnecessary electronic circuit is cut off continues for a certain period of time or more, the power control unit 17 is operated by the conventional device. The signal connected to the motor control unit 13 and used to stop the rotation of the motor 4 and shift to the sleep mode was used, and the signal was connected to the switch control unit 2 as the sleep mode shift signal 3.

The switch control section 2 is constructed so as to change the on-time of the switch means 1 in response to the rest mode transition signal 3 so as to shorten the on-time in the rest mode. In the pause mode, there is no restriction on the fluctuation of the rotation speed of the recording medium 20. Therefore, the power consumption can be further reduced by shortening the on-time, but the rotation speed is greatly decreased and the pause mode is changed to the recording / reproducing mode. It is not preferable that it takes time until the number of rotations reaches a range where recording and reproduction are not hindered when shifting. Therefore, it is desirable to shorten the on-time of the switch means 1 within a range in which the desired rotation speed range is reached in a short time when the recording mode is changed from the pause mode.

In this embodiment, the on-time of the switch means 1 in the sleep mode is set to 0.05 seconds. The power consumption at this time was 0.26 watts, which could be reduced by about 20%. In addition, the decrease in the number of revolutions is about 7%, and the time required for recording and reproduction when the recording mode is changed from the pause mode to the recording and reproduction mode is about 100 msec. Compared to the time taken for about 1 second, it was significantly reduced. The same effect can be obtained by lengthening the period during which the switch means 1 is turned off in the sleep mode.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the cross section of the recording medium 20 used in the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the recording medium 20 in which the thickness 40 of the outer peripheral portion of the recording medium 20 is increased to obtain a larger inertia is attached to the apparatus having the same configuration as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the recording medium used in this embodiment, the outermost peripheral portion has a thickness 40 of 0.7 mm and the innermost peripheral portion has a thickness 41 of 0.4 mm. Since the inertia of the recording medium 20 is increased, the fluctuation of the rotation speed is suppressed and the off time of the switch means 1 can be extended. In this embodiment, the on / off cycle of the switch means 1 is 0.8. Second, the on time was set to 0.1 second, and the rotation speed could be reduced within about 2%, and the average power consumption in the recording / reproducing mode at this time could be reduced to about 1.57 watts.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the power consumption can be reduced in the recording / reproducing state. Furthermore, the average power consumption can be reduced without stopping the rotation of the motor, the reduction in throughput can be suppressed, and a storage / reproducing device with good usability can be constructed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a cross section of a substrate of a recording medium used in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Switch means, 2 ... Switch control part, 4 ... Motor,
10 ... Magnetic head, 11 ... Recording / reproducing circuit section, 12 ... Data modulation / demodulation section, 13 ... Motor control section, 15 ... Interface control section, 16 ... Motor drive signal, 17 ... Power control section, 20 ... Recording medium, 30 … Recording / playback system, 31… power supply.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information storage device for mounting a recording medium and rotating the recording medium to perform information recording / reproducing, comprising switch means for cutting off or supplying electric power to a means for rotating the recording medium, and the switch. An information storage device characterized in that the means supplies or cuts off power to the rotating means at the time of recording or reproducing information. 2. The switch means according to claim 1,
An information storage device that is set so that a cutoff period is longer than a period in which electric power is supplied to the rotating unit that rotates the recording medium. 3. The switch means according to claim 1,
When there is no transmission / reception of information to / from the host device after exceeding a predetermined time, the power supply period to the rotating means by the switch means is shortened or the power cutoff period to the rotating means by the switch means is set. Information storage device controlled to be long. 4. The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral portion of the recording medium has a greater thickness than the inner peripheral portion thereof. 5. An information storage device in which a recording medium is mounted and the recording medium is rotated to perform information recording / reproduction, wherein when the product of the diameter of the recording medium and the number of rotations is Q, recording or recording is performed on the recording medium. Power consumption P during playback
Is P <0.35.EXP (0.0002.Q) (where Q> 0), and is an information storage device. 6. An information storage device for mounting a recording medium and rotating the recording medium for information recording / reproduction, the information storage device having a standby mode which shifts when a predetermined condition is satisfied, When the product of the diameter of the recording medium and the number of rotations is Q, the power consumption P in the standby mode is P
<0.15 · EXP (0.0002 · Q) (where Q> 0), which is an information storage device. 7. An information storage device for mounting a recording medium and rotating the recording medium to perform information recording / reproduction, wherein the information storage device has a standby mode that shifts when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Assuming that the product of the diameter of the recording medium and the number of rotations is Q, the power consumption Pa during recording or reproduction on the recording medium is Pa <0.35.EXP (0.00
02.Q) (however, Q> 0), the power consumption Pb in the standby mode is Pb <0.15.EXP (0.0002.Q) (however Q> 0)
An information storage device characterized by: 8. An information storage device for mounting a recording medium and rotating the recording medium to perform information recording / reproduction, wherein a standby mode is entered when a predetermined first condition is satisfied,
Further, in the information storage device having a rest mode which shifts when a second predetermined condition is satisfied, the rotation of the recording medium is not stopped in the rest mode. 9. An information storage device for mounting a recording medium and rotating the recording medium to perform information recording / reproduction, wherein a standby mode is entered when a predetermined first condition is satisfied,
Furthermore, in an information storage device having a sleep mode that shifts when a second predetermined condition is satisfied, the time required to complete the shift from the sleep mode to the steady mode for recording and reproduction is 1 second or less. A characteristic information storage device.