Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-15
2004-02-17
Letscher, George J. (Department: 2653)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06693868
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUD OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc drive, and more particularly relates to a disc drive for reproducing or reproducing and recording a disc-shaped recording medium such as an optical disc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Disc drives are apparatuses for at least reproducing information recorded in a disc-shaped recording medium such as a compact disc and CD-ROM and the like. In these recording mediums, information is recorded on a signal recording surface (information recording surface) of the disc through a number of pits spirally formed on the information recording surface. By emitting a laser beam onto the surface, the information is reproduced through changes in the magnitude of the light of the reflected beam. Examples of such a disc drive include CD players, CD-ROM drives, DVD drives and the like.
One example of such disc drives is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 10-293932 which was filed by the assignee of this application.
FIG. 27
is a perspective view of the conventional disc drive and
FIG. 28
is an exploded perspective view thereof.
As shown in these drawings, the disc drive
1
B comprises a casing
10
having a bottom cover and an outer cover
10
b
, a main printed circuit board
11
of which width and length are substantially the same as those of the bottom cover
10
a
of the casing
10
, and a chassis provided above the printed circuit board
11
. The chassis
40
is formed into a roughly rectangular container-shape having substantially the same width and length as those of the bottom cover
10
a
. These components are housed within the casing
10
constructed from the bottom cover
10
b
and the outer cover
10
a
. The chassis
40
has a bottom portion
40
a
in which a rectangular shaped opening
41
is formed. In the opening
41
, a mechanism unit
42
on which a turntable
46
for rotating a disc
3
, a spindle motor for rotating the turntable
46
, and an optical pick-up
30
for reproducing or reproducing and recording the disc
3
and the like are provided.
Further, a disc tray
5
for transporting the disc
3
from the outside of the casing into the casing
10
is provided on the chassis so as to be slidably movable with respect to the chassis
40
in the forward and rearward directions.
As described above, the main printed circuit board
11
used in the disc drive
1
B has substantially the same width and length as those of the bottom cover
10
a
of the casing
10
, so that the entire surface of the bottom cover
11
a
of the casing
10
is covered by the printed circuit board
11
. When such a printed circuit board
11
is used, it is necessary to form openings
11
a
and
11
b
in the printed circuit board
11
as shown in
FIG. 28
for connecting the optical pick-up
30
to a connector
45
e
provided on the under surface of the printed circuit board
11
using a flat cable
30
a
and for connecting the spindle motor
45
to a connector
45
d
using a flat cable
45
c
. This results in the complicated shape of the printed circuit board
11
.
Further, as described above, since the printed circuit board
11
used in the conventional disc drive
1
b
has substantially the same shape as that of the bottom cover
10
a
of the casing
10
, that is a large size printed circuit board is used, many screws are necessary to mount the printed circuit board to the chassis
40
, which results in increased assembling steps.
Furthermore, in the conventional disc drive
1
B, in order to mount the printed circuit board
11
to the chassis
40
, it is necessary to reverse the chassis
40
two or more times when assembling the disc drive, which also results in complicated assembling process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the problems in the conventional disc drive, the present invention is directed to a disc drive, comprising: a disc tray on which an optical disc is to be placed, the disc tray being movable between a disc ejecting position and a disc reproducing position in front and rear direction; a loading chassis which supports and guides the disc tray during the movement thereof; a feed chassis on which a turntable for rotating the disc and an pick-up at least for reproducing the optical disc are provided, said feed chassis having a rotation axis and a forward portion which is a front side of the rotation axis and on which the turntable and pick-up are arranged, and the front forward portion of the feed chassis being displaceable between a raised position and a lowered position about the rotation axis; a main circuit board having various electrical elements for controlling the turntable and the pick-up arranged on the feed chassis; a casing composed of a bottom cover and an outer cover for housing these elements, the bottom cover having left and right sides; and a pair of feed chassis supporting members respectively provided at the left and right sides of the bottom cover, in which the feed chassis is pivotally supported by the feed chassis supporting members and at least a part of the main circuit is supported by the feed chassis supporting member.
According to the disc drive having the above structure, it is possible to provided a disc dive in which a main circuit board can be easily mounted, thus leading to easy assembling operation.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the bottom cover has a roughly front-half part and a roughly rear-half part, and the loading chassis is arranged on the front-half part and the main circuit board is arranged on the rear-half part, respectively, in such a manner that they are separated from each other. According to this structure, both the loading chassis and the main circuit board cam be directly mounted to the bottom cover of the casing, and this leading to easier assembling operation.
Further, in the present invention, it is preferred that one of the feed chassis supporting members is formed with a positioning means for positioning the main circuit board. In this case, it is also preferred that the positioning means includes a rib which is formed with the feed chassis supporting member and a notch formed in the main circuit boar so as to be engageable with the rib. This also makes it easier to assemble the components of the disc drive.
Furthermore, it is also preferred that one of the feed chassis supporting members is formed with a recess to which the main circuit board is fitted. This also makes it easier to assemble the components of the disc drive.
Moreover, it is also preferred that bottom cover has a pair of upwardly protruding circuit board mounting portions which are located along one of the orthogonal lines of the main circuit board, and the main circuit board is mounted onto the circuit board mounting portions via screws. In this case, it is preferred that one of the circuit board mounting portions is used for grounding the main circuit board.
Moreover, it is also preferred that the electrical parts on the main circuit board includes heat generating electrical parts which are mounted on the under surface of the main circuit board, and heat dissipation sheets are provided between the electrical parts and the bottom cover for transmitting heat generated in the electrical parts to the casing.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a disc drive, comprising: a casing having a bottom cover and an outer cover which is joined to the bottom to form a substantially box-shape, the bottom cover having a roughly front-half part and a roughly rear-half part; a disc tray on which an optical disc is to be placed, the disc tray being movable with respect to the casing between a disc ejecting position and a disc reproducing position in front and rear directions; a loading chassis provided within the casing for supporting and guiding the disc tray, the loading chassis being designed so that it is arranged on the front-half part of the bottom cover of the casing; a feed chassis which is provided within the casing and on which a turntable for rotating the disc and an pick-up at least for reproducing the disc are provided,
Beacham C. R.
Letscher George J.
Mitsumi Electric Company Ltd.
Patents + TMS P.C.
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