A head positioner has a configuration employing a dual-stage actuator method,
wherein
positioning control is performed for a write/read according to cooperative operations
of a coarse actuator and a fine actuator, and the fine actuator is configured using
a piezoelectric device. A positioning control unit for controlling the coarse actuator
and the fine actuator is configured to include a coarse control system including
a coarse drive unit for driving the coarse actuator and coarse control unit for
controlling the coarse drive unit, a fine control system including a fine drive
unit for driving the fine actuator and a fine control unit for controlling the
fine drive unit. In addition, a driving-signal limiting unit is provided. The piezoelectric
device is prone to property deterioration because of erosion due to an electrochemical
reaction. The driving-signal limiting unit limits the level of a fine control signal
fed from the fine control unit to the fine drive unit to be below a threshold at
which property deterioration of the piezoelectric device is caused by an electrochemical
reaction. Further, as a median-value signal, a relative displacement signal ranked
in the center of a plurality of relative displacement signals sent from a plurality
of the individual fine actuators is selected. The coarse actuator is controlled
according to the selected median-value signal.