Voice Coil - Other Uses For The Term

Other Uses For The Term

The term voice coil has been generalized and refers to any galvanometer-like mechanism that uses a solenoid to move an object back-and-forth within a magnetic field. In particular, it is commonly used to refer to the coil of wire that moves the read-write heads in a moving-head disk drive. In this application, a very lightweight coil of wires is mounted within a very strong magnetic field produced by rare earth permanent magnets. The voice coil is the motor part of the servo system that positions the heads: an electric control signal drives the voice coil and the resulting force quickly and accurately positions the heads.