Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure – With mechanism to place disc on a turntable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-06
2004-03-09
Klimowicz, William (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
With mechanism to place disc on a turntable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06704266
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk apparatus that performs the recording information on and reproducing information from a disk such as a CD and a DVD, and more particularly to a disk-loading mechanism that performs the loading and unloading of a disk as well as clamping and unclamping the disk with respect to the reproducing unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Construction
FIG. 9
is an exploded perspective view of a disk mechanism of a conventional disk apparatus.
FIGS. 11 and 12
are top views of the disk apparatus of FIG.
9
.
FIGS. 13A-13C
are illustrative diagrams, illustrating the operation of the apparatus.
Referring to
FIG. 9
, a loader base
21
includes sidewalls
21
c
and
21
d
opposing each other with a top table
21
a
disposed therebetween. A disk damper
21
b
is disposed at a predetermined position of the top table
21
a
. The sidewalls
21
c
and
21
d
have guide rails, not shown, on which a disk tray
22
is slidingly supported such that the disk tray
22
can move back and forth on a Y-axis. The disk tray
22
has a disk-shaped recess in which a disk
23
is received and an opening
22
b
through which a reproducing unit
30
upwardly faces the disk
23
.
FIG. 10
is a perspective view of a pertinent portion of the disk apparatus of FIG.
9
.
A slider cam holder
21
e
supports a slider cam
24
such that the slider cam
24
can slide back and forth on an X-axis. The slider cam
24
has an upright boss
24
a
, a gear assembly
26
, and a loading motor
25
. The gear assembly
26
includes a pinion gear
26
b
and a wheel gear
26
a
. The wheel gear
26
a
and the pinion gear
26
b
are rotatable about a Z-axis that passes through the wheel gear
26
a
and the pinion gear
26
b
. The wheel gear
26
a
is in mesh with a worm gear
25
a
connected to a shaft of the loading motor
25
, so that when the loading motor
25
runs, the worm gear
25
a
transmits the rotation of the loading motor to the wheel gear
26
a
. A worm-gear drive has a worm gear and a wheel gear in mesh with the worm gear. Many worm-gear drives are of the construction that rotation is transmitted from a worm gear to a wheel gear but not from the wheel gear to the worm gear. The term “self-lock” is used to cover this construction in this specification. Some worm-gear drives are of the construction that rotation is transmitted from a worm gear to a wheel gear and from the wheel gear to the worm gear. Whether a worm-gear drive is of a self-lock type depends on the combination of the lead angle and friction coefficient between the worm gear and the wheel gear. The worm gear
25
a
and wheel gear
26
a
form a non-self-lock type worm-gear drive, i.e., rotation can be transmitted bidirectionally between the worm gear
25
a
and the wheel gear
26
a
. The non-self-lock type worm-gear drive is employed so that the user place, for example, a CD into the tray at the tray-open position and then pushes the tray into the reproducing unit. The shaft of the loading motor
25
is free to rotate when the loading motor
25
is not switched on.
The slider cam
24
has a cam groove
27
formed in a side wall
24
b
that lies in a plane in which the X-axis and Z-axis lie. The cam groove
27
includes an upper horizontal groove
27
a
, a lower horizontal groove
27
b
, and an inclined groove
27
c
through which the upper horizontal groove
27
a
communicates with the lower horizontal groove
27
b.
A lift arm
28
(
FIG. 9
) has a pair of pins
28
a
and
28
b
that project from the lift arm
28
outward in opposite directions and is in line with each other. The pins
28
a
and
28
b
loosely extend into holes
21
g
and
21
f
formed in the wall
21
d
and
21
c
of the loader base
21
, respectively, so that the lift arm
28
is pivotal about the pins
28
a
and
28
b
. The lift arm
28
has a projection
28
c
that loosely fits into the cam groove
27
formed in the slider cam
24
.
Referring back to
FIG. 9
, the reproducing unit
30
has coupling portions or screws
30
a
,
30
b
, and
30
c
by which the reproducing unit
30
is assembled to the loader base
21
. The screw
30
a
supported on a support portion
21
h
of the loader base
21
through a damper
30
d
. The screws
30
b
and
30
c
are coupled to support portions
28
d
and
28
e
on the lift arm
28
through dampers
30
e
and
30
f
, respectively, such that the reproducing unit
30
is suspended from the lift arm
28
. The reproducing unit
30
has primarily a turntable
30
g
and an optical pickup
30
h
. The turntable
30
g
cooperates with the disk clamper
21
b
so that a disk is sandwiched between the disk damper
21
b
and the turntable
30
g.
FIG. 11
illustrates the disk apparatus as seen on the Z-axis toward the origin (i.e., when seen from above). Referring to
FIG. 11
, the disk apparatus illustrated in
FIG. 9
have been assembled such that the disk tray
22
is at a loading position and the reproducing unit
30
is at a later described reproducing position.
A rack gear
22
c
is formed on the underside of the disk tray
22
and includes three portions: a linear side portion
22
d
that extends on the Y-axis along the side of the disk tray, a linear front portion
22
e
, and a curved portion
22
f
that connects the linear side portion
22
d
and the linear front portion
22
e
. There is provided a guide groove
22
g
, which extends along the rack gear
22
c
and has a home portion
22
h
that is parallel to the linear front portion
22
e.
The slider cam
24
is held on the loader base
21
under the disk tray
22
and is slidable on the X-axis. The pinion gear
26
b
of the slider cam
24
is in mesh with the rack gear
22
c
, and the upright boss
24
a
extends into the guide groove
22
g
to slide along it.
Tray-ejecting Operation
A tray-ejecting operation is performed to eject the disk tray
22
both when a disk is loaded prior to the reproduction of information from the disk and when the disk is unloaded after the reproduction of information.
Referring to
FIG. 11
, the slider cam
24
has moved completely on the X-axis away from the origin so that the boss
24
a
is at the home portion
22
h.
FIG. 13A
illustrates the cam groove
27
formed in the slider cam
24
and the projection
28
c
of the lift arm
28
when they are seen on the Y-axis toward the origin.
Referring to
FIG. 13A
, the lift arm
28
is at a position where the projection
28
c
is in the upper horizontal grooves
27
a
. The turntable
30
g
of the reproducing unit
30
and the disk damper
21
b
cooperate to hold a disk sandwiched therebetween. In the specification, this state is referred to as a standby state of the disk apparatus.
When the loading motor
25
is switched on to drive the pinion gear
26
b
in a direction shown by arrow A (
FIG. 11
) about the Z-axis, the rotation of the pinion gear
26
b
causes the slider cam
24
to move on the X-axis toward the origin. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 13B
, the cam engagement between the projection
28
c
and groove
27
causes the projection
28
c
to move along the inclined groove
27
c
toward the lower horizontal groove
27
b
, so that the lift arm
28
slowly pivots in a direction shown by arrow C about the X-axis to depress the coupling sections
30
b
and
30
c
. Thus, the reproducing unit
30
is tilted downward. The inclination of the reproducing unit
30
causes the turntable
30
g
to tilt downward so that the turntable
30
g
leaves the disk damper
21
b
to release the disk from the sandwiched engagement with the turntable
30
and the damper
21
b.
The pinion gear
26
b
continues to rotate in the direction shown by arrow A, so that the slider cam
24
moves on the X-axis toward the origin and finally reaches a position shown in
FIG. 13C
where the projection
28
c
is in the lower horizontal groove
27
b
and therefore the reproducing unit
30
is at its maximum inclination. The reproducing unit
30
is supported at three dampers
30
d
,
30
e
, and
30
f
that allow the reproducing unit
30
to incline smoothly.
The pinion
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Klimowicz William
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
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