The stepper motor in a floppy disk drive.
Used to advance the position of the read/write head
Note the slotted optical switch to detect track zero.
The control board of a floppy disk drive.
Note the four wires for the stepper motor.
The control electronics of a hard disk drive.
The read/write head head and disk platter surface.
Note how flat and reflective the platter surface is.
The voice coil motor used to control the position of the read/write head.
The connections to the stepper motor which rotates the hard disk platter.
The hard disk cartridge from an ICL 1900 computer (C1975)
The hard disk cartridge had a total capacity of about 600MB.
A view through the platters of the hard disk cartridge.
A 5.25" floppy disk drive, (C. 1980)
In high density mode, each disk could store 800MB.
A 5.25" floppy disk drive, (C1980s)
Note the stroboscope marks on the drive motor
for setting the speed accurately.
The read/write head from an early 3½inch disk drive. (c.1990)
The read/write head from an later 3½inch disk drive. (c. 2000)
The drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 2000)
The inside of the drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 2000)
Note the internal coils and the circular magnet in the lid
of the motor to the side of the coils.
The outer cover of the drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 1990)
The outer cover removed from the drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 1990)
The inside of the drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 1990)
The permanent magnet rotor has been removed revealing the drive coils.
The inside of the drive motor from a 3½inch disk drive. (c. 1990)
Note the scale of the motor.
The linear head positioning motor from a zip drive. (c. 2000)
The permanent magnets from above the coils have been removed
to slow the coils of the motor.
The coils slide along the lower permanent magnets
which can be seen in the picture.
750MB Zip disk and drive. (c. 1990)
The head drive motor of a 750MB Zip Drive. (c. 1990)
Inside a hard disk drive
The voice coil motor of a hard disk drive.
Note the coil inbetween the neodymium magnets.
Voice coil motor and head pivot
of a hard disk drive.
The read/write head of a hard disk drive.
Voice coil and head pivot
of a hard disk drive.
The read/write head of a hard disk drive.