Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Dynamic mechanism subsystem – Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-29
2003-11-04
Burgess, Glenton B. (Department: 2153)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Dynamic mechanism subsystem
Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
active
06643250
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a disk playback device that elastically supports an optical mechanism using a vibration-preventing member.
Various kinds of changer-type disk playback devices (hereinafter referred to as changers) conforming to the DIN standard (ISO 7736) dashboard cavity size (182 mm wide, 53 mm high) for audio devices have been proposed.
Referring to
FIGS. 4-6
, a changer previously proposed by the present applicant includes a changer having an optical mechanism
10
, a holder
20
, and transferring means
22
. These elements are disposed inside a chassis
25
conforming to the DIN standard dashboard cavity size. Disks held in a holder
20
can be selectively played back.
A base
3
serves as a base for optical mechanism
10
. Optical mechanism
10
includes optical reading means such as a turntable
8
and an optical pickup
1
. Base
3
is attached to a moving base
9
via vibration-preventing members
15
. Moving base
9
is driven by a moving mechanism M
1
to move between a playback position P
1
shown in
FIG. 4 and a
recessed position P
2
shown in FIG.
5
. When moving base
9
is at playback position P
1
, moving mechanism M
1
moves optical mechanism
10
up and down between an upper, mount position where a disk is mounted, and a lower recessed position. Holder
20
can hold a plurality of disks D coaxially and is moved along four vertical shafts
21
. Holder
20
is driven by a moving mechanism M
2
to transfer the stored disks to appropriate heights. Transferring means
22
drives the edges of a disk using a belt (not shown) to transfer the disk between an insertion/removal position Da, a playback position Dp, and a holding position Ds.
In the above described changer, a disk that is currently in a playback position being played back is transferred to a holding position while a selected disk is retrieved from another holding position and transferred to the playback position. The transfer is performed as follows:
(
1
) optical mechanism
10
is moved downward away from a disk in a disk playback position Dp;
(
2
) transferring means
22
moves the disk in the disk playback position Dp to a disk holding position Ds in a holder
20
;
(
3
) optical mechanism
10
is moved back to the recessed position where there is no overlap with the stored disks;
(
4
) holder
20
is moved vertically to provide alignment with a selected disk;
(
5
) transferring means
22
moves the selected disk from disk holding position Ds in the holder
20
to the disk playback position Dp;
(
6
) optical mechanism
10
is transferred to a playback position (a disk mount position) where there is overlap with the stored disks;
(
7
) optical mechanism
10
is raised and the clamped disk is played back.
The detailed structures of the mechanism and operations performed can be found in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-105135 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/057,209, Attorney Docket No. M1653-119), filed by the present applicant, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In order to accommodate the DIN standard dashboard size, many design considerations must be contemplated. The above discussed changer was designed such that the optical mechanism
10
must be movable between a playback position that overlaps with the stored disks and a recessed position where there is no overlap. Since the changer requires these two positions of the optical mechanism
10
, the size of the changer is determined roughly by (diameter of the disk)+(size of the optical mechanism). Although it is possible to make optical mechanism
10
more compact, the size of optical mechanism
10
is determined by the diameter of turntable
8
and the required range of motion for optical pickup
1
. Thus, optical mechanism
10
often tends to be formed with a long shape parallel to the direction of motion of optical pickup
1
.
When a changer is installed in a vehicle, external vibrations such as vibrations from the vehicle can lead to frequent read errors during playback of a disk. To prevent the external vibrations from causing read errors, it would be desirable to provide floating support of optical mechanism
10
to the chassis using vibration-preventing members such as dampers or coil springs.
Referring now to FIG.
7
and
FIG. 8
, vibration-preventing members
15
are disposed at the four corners of the optical mechanism
10
. When a vibration affects the changer, the vibration-preventing members may compress or expand in unequal amounts. Along the long axis A
1
of optical mechanism
10
a small slope S
1
is formed between the base
3
and the moving base
9
due to such external vibration. However, along the short axis A
2
of optical mechanism
10
a large slope S
2
is formed between the base
3
and the moving base
9
. The large spacing of the vibration-preventing members
15
along the long axis A
1
and the close spacing along the short axis A
2
accounts for the difference in the respective slopes.
As a consequence of the large slope S
2
, the dimensions of the changer must be altered. It is possible that a vibration may cause contact between the playback disk and the stored disk resulting from the slope S
2
along the short axis A
2
of optical mechanism
10
. The clearance between the playback disk and the stored disks (shown as L
1
and
12
in
FIG. 6
) must be increased to account for slope S
2
. Similarly, the number of disks stored in the changer must be reduced to prevent damaging the disks.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a disk playback device which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art. In particular, an object of the invention is to provide a compact size disk changer with improved stability of operation.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a disk playback device capable of being mounted in a standard DIN dimension dashboard cavity.
It is another object of the invention to provide a disk playback device of a reduced overall size.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved disk playback device which dampens the effect of vibrations to enhance the quality of data recovery from a disk.
It is yet another object of the present invention is to provide a disk playback device which does not damage surfaces of disks while damping the effect of external vibrations on the disk.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a disk playback device which prevents contact between disks stored in a holder and a disk in a playback position.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a disk playback device which reduces the effects of external vibrations on a disk in a playback position by supporting the disk on a vibrationally damped member.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk playback device which reduces the effects of vibrations on a disk being read by an optical mechanism and prevents contact between the disk and stored disks in a holder by supporting the disk with a vibrationally damped member which elastically restricts sloping of the optical mechanism in a direction effected by the vibrations.
Briefly stated, the present invention provides that resilient members absorb vibrations to limit transmission of vibrations from a chassis to a base of a disk record/playback device. A restricting device limits transverse movement of the base on the resilient members. The restricting device limits sloping of a disk mounted on the record/playback device, and thereby prevents interference of the mounted disk with other disks in a storage device. By minimizing the sloping of the disk, the minimum required clearance from the disk mounted on the turntable is reduced and the available vertical space for use in storing disks is maximized. A compact design is possible permitting conformity to constrained dimensions such as standard DIN dimensions in vehicles.
In accordance with these and other objects of the invention, there is provided a disk playback device comprising: a turntable for mounting a d
Burgess Glenton B.
Darby & Darby
Kupstas Tod
Nakamichi Corporation
LandOfFree
Disk playback device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Disk playback device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disk playback device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3169543