Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure – Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-31
2001-07-03
Miller, Brian E. (Department: 2153)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256278
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc drive equipped with a disc tray, and in particular relates to an improved disc tray for a disc drive that is used for playing back or recording and playing back an optical disc such as a CD-ROM or a CD-R or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a disc drive
1
for an optical disc, such as a CD-ROM drive or the like, is basically constructed from a main body
2
and a disc tray
5
′ which moves backwards and forwards (horizontally) with respect to the main body
2
for conveying an optical disc
3
.
In this connection,
FIGS. 13 and 14
are cross-sectional views showing a structure of a prior art disc drive in a simplified manner. As shown in these drawings, the main body
2
includes a circuit substrate assembly
12
, a mechanism assembly
13
provided above the circuit substrate assembly
12
, and a casing
10
which houses the circuit substrate assembly
12
and the machine assembly
13
.
The casing
10
is constructed from thin metal plates and the like, with the front portion of the casing
10
being provided with a front panel
15
that includes an opening
15
a
, as shown in FIG.
1
. The disc tray
5
′ is designed to be ejectable out of and insertable into the main body
2
via this opening
15
a.
Further, as shown in
FIGS. 13 and 14
, the mechanism assembly
13
includes a chassis
40
and a mechanism unit
42
supported on the chassis
40
. The rear portion of the mechanism unit
42
basically includes a base member
44
which is pivotally supported to the chassis
40
in order to enable the front portion of the mechanism unit
42
to be displaced between a raised position (upper position; see
FIG. 13
) and a lowered position (lower position; see
FIG. 14
) which is below the raised position. This base member
44
is provided with a spindle motor
45
for rotating an optical disc
3
, a turntable
46
which is fixed to a rotation axle
45
a
of the spindle motor
45
for supporting the optical disc
3
, an optical pick-up
47
(including an actuator) for playing back or recording and playing back the optical disc
3
, and an optical pick-up moving mechanism (not shown in the drawing) for moving the optical pick-up
47
in the radial direction of the optical disc
3
.
Arranged above the chassis
40
, at a position which faces the turntable
46
when the base member
44
is displaced to the raised position, is a disc clamper
80
which is provided rotatably and movably in up and down. This disc clamper
80
is rotatably supported on a plate-shaped support member
81
having an aperture
81
a
formed in the center thereof.
The disc clamper
80
includes a flat-bottom, drum-shaped main body portion
80
a
which is inserted through the aperture
81
a
of the support member
81
, and a flange portion
80
b
formed around the periphery of the upper portion of the main body portion
80
a
so as to be supported by the upper surface of the support member
81
. Provided inside this main body portion
80
is an annular iron attraction member (not shown in the drawings) adapted to be attracted by a permanent magnet (not shown in the drawings) provided in the turntable
46
.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, the disc tray
5
′ includes a shallow concave disc supporting portion
5
a
. The optical disc
3
is placed into the disc supporting portion
5
a
of the disc tray
5
′ with being positioned with respect to the disc tray
5
′, the optical disc
3
is conveyed from a disc loading/unloading position (disc eject position) to a disc loaded position (disc playback position).
Further, the disc tray
5
′ includes an opening
20
, with the turntable
46
and the optical pick-up
47
being positioned below the opening
20
when the disc tray
5
′ is positioned at the disc loaded position.
In the disc drive described above, if the disc tray
5
′ on which the optical disc
3
is placed is moved from the disc loading/unloading position to the disc loaded position, then the base member
44
is moved from the lowered position (
FIG. 14
) to the raised position (FIG.
13
). On the other hand, at the time of ejection, first the base member
44
is moved from the raised position (
FIG. 13
) to the lowered position (FIG.
14
), and then the disc tray
5
′ is moved from the disc loaded position to the disc loading/unloading position.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, when the base member
44
is at the raised position, the turntable
46
is raised above the disc supporting portion
5
a
of the disc tray
5
′ through the opening
20
to hold up the disc
3
in a state that enables the disc
3
to be rotated, and in this state the disc clamper
80
is attracted to the magnet of the turntable
46
, whereby the disc
3
is held therebetween. At this time, as shown in
FIG. 13
, the flange portion
80
b
of the disc clamper
80
is separated from the upper surface of the support member
81
.
On the other hand, when the base member
44
is moved to the lowered position, as shown in
FIG. 14
, the turntable
46
is separated from the disc clamper
80
and the flange portion
80
b
of the disc clamper
80
is supported by the upper surface of the support member
81
. In this state that the base member
44
has been moved to the lowered position, the lower end of the main body portion
80
a
of the disc clamper
80
partly protrudes into the concave portion which forms the disc supporting portion
5
a
of the disc tray
5
′.
Consequently, in this prior art disc drive, in order to prevent the disc clamper
80
from obstructing the movement of the disc tray
5
′ when the disc tray
5
′ is moved from the disc loaded position to the disc loading/unloading position, a concave portion
21
′ for avoiding the disc clamper
80
is formed on a part of the disc tray
5
′ which passes a position where the lower end of the disc clamper
80
is being positioned when the disc tray
5
′ is moved, that is a part of the disc tray
5
′ which extends from the rear side of the opening
20
to the rear end of the disc tray
5
′.
However, in a case where such a concave portion
21
′ is formed on the part of the disc tray
5
′, the part must be formed into a thin plate-like part made from a resin material, so that the strength of that part is relatively low in comparison with the opposite sides of that part (concaved portion
21
′). In this regard, the opposite sides can be reinforced by forming reinforcement ribs on the back surfaces thereof to increase their strength, thereby preventing cambering (warpage) from being caused when hardening in cooling process. In contrast with this, it is not possible for the concave part
21
′ to provide such reinforcement ribs, that is it is simply formed from a thin plate-shaped resin material, there is a case that cambering is likely to be caused when hardening in cooling process. In the event that such a cambering is cased, the disc tray
5
′ is deformed, which results in a problem in that the deformed disc tray
5
′ can not be smoothly moved due to unfavorable contact with other parts.
Further, in order to avoid the disc clamper
80
, there may be such approach that the length of the aperture of the disc tray is extended close to the rear end of the disc tray. However, in this approach, because there is a restriction on the length of the disc tray due to the standardization of the entire length of the disc drive, the width of the remaining rear part of the disc tray
5
′ becomes extremely narrow, and this makes it impossible to provide the disc tray with sufficient strength.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the problem involved in the prior art disc drive. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a disc dirve equipped with a disc tray which has a sufficient strength so that cambering or warpage is difficult to be caused.
In order to achieve the object, a disc drive according t
Furukawa Ken'ichi
Manabe Satoru
Teranishi Kouji
Fields Kenneth W
Miller Brian E.
Mitsumi Electric Company
Patents + TMS
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