Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Information location or remote operator actuated control – Selective addressing of storage medium
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-05
2001-07-17
Ometz, David L. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Information location or remote operator actuated control
Selective addressing of storage medium
Reexamination Certificate
active
06262952
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk apparatus which selects a desired disk from a disk magazine accommodating therein a plurality of disks for playback and/or recording. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk apparatus which performs disk selecting and playback and/or recording with a disk magazine divided into upper and lower sections, thereby allowing components thereof to be arranged adjacent to each other so as to allow a reduction in size of the overall apparatus, and to a disk magazine used therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, disk apparatuses, such as CD players and MD players, using disks as a medium, have become very popular. In particular, an auto-changer-type disk apparatus has been developed wherein a desired disk is selected from a disk magazine accommodating therein a plurality of disks for playback. The auto-changer-type disk apparatus is particularly convenient as a disk apparatus for use in a vehicle because there is no need to load and unload disks one by one each time the disks to be played are exchanged.
In the disk apparatus of the type described above using a disk magazine, a disk playback section is arranged adjacent to a magazine accommodation section. In a large number of such disk apparatuses, a desired disk in a magazine is pulled out and transported by a transporting mechanism to the disk playback section to be set thereat, and then a disk playback is performed. With this arrangement, however, a certain distance must be provided between the disk playback section and the magazine accommodation section in order to conserve space for setting the disk to the disk playback section for playback. Accordingly, the overall disk apparatus must be of increased size, and the disk apparatus is disadvantageous as an in-vehicle apparatus in which a mounting space is restricted.
For example, in a recent in-vehicle audio apparatus, the size of the opening for accommodating the equipment in vehicles has been standardized to 180 mm by 50 mm, called a “DIN size”, or 180 mm by 100 mm, called a “double-DIN size”. In addition, the depth of the opening is only about 160 mm at present, so that audio device-mounting space in a vehicle is restricted.
Since compact disks are 120 mm in diameter, 240 mm (=120 mm×2) in the longest width direction is required for the above disk apparatus. Accordingly, the device cannot be accommodated in the opening located beside the driver's seat.
In view of the foregoing circumstances, a conventional CD auto-changer is accommodated in the trunk of a vehicle, or near the foot of the driver's seat. In the former case, however, the trunk space is reduced, the trunk must be opened each time disks are exchanging, and a long line connecting the trunk and an operating section is required. In the latter case, there is a risk that foot space will be reduced, resulting in breakage of the auto-changer when accidentally impacted by the driver's foot.
In order to cope with the above problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-203519 discloses a disk apparatus in which a disk magazine is divided into upper and lower sections, and disk playback is performed with a disk playback section transferred therebetween. In such a disk apparatus, a disk accommodation position overlaps a disk playback position, so that a horizontal dimension can be reduced.
The disk magazine is usually divided by a magazine holder provided on a chassis unit to be movable in the vertical direction. That is, the arrangement is such that a pin fixed to the magazine holder is inserted into a stepwise cam formed on a cam plate, and the cam plate is slidably moved back and forth, thereby moving the magazine holder upward together with the pin moving within the stepwise cam. Then, an upper disk magazine is held by the magazine holder, and the magazine holder is moved upward, whereby the upper disk magazine is lifted together with an internal tray to be divided from a lower disk magazine.
The disk apparatus using the above divided disk magazine has the following drawbacks which must be overcome. When the divided upper and lower disk magazines are reunited, the shift of the disk magazines makes the reuniting impossible and causes operation failure. This problem may be overcome by employing a solid holding mechanism, or by increasing positioning accuracy. However, a complicated mechanism and expensive components are required, so that the size cannot be decreased or the cost is disadvantageously increased.
In order to smoothly move the magazine holder up and down by the cam plate as described above, it is necessary to provide two cam plates at opposite positions, such as left and right or front and back, of the magazine holder. However, when the disk playback section is transferred into a space between the divided disk magazines, it is necessary to allow a transferring disk playback section to stand by at either left or right position of the magazine holder. Thus, in a compact disk apparatus such as within the DIN size, it is difficult for the cam plate provided on the standby side of the disk playback section to ensure a longitudinal stroke. In addition, since the front of the magazine holder must be opened as a magazine insertion opening, it is impractical to provide the cam plates in front and back of the magazine holder.
In the in-vehicle disk apparatus, a vibration-proof mechanism using a damper, etc., is provided on the disk playback section in order to reduce effects of external vibrations. The disk playback section is, however, definitely provided with an optical pickup that moves in a radial direction of the disk. For this reason, the damper must be provided outside the movement range of the optical pickup so as not to disturb the movement of the optical pickup. Accordingly, an additional area for the damper is required for the disk playback section, so that overall size of the disk apparatus is increased.
The disk playback section is usually provided on a swing unit that rotates about a rotation shaft. Thus, when the swing unit is transferred into a space between the vertically divided disk magazines, the disk playback section is supported only by a rotation support of the swing unit, and is easily affected by vibrations. Accordingly, the disk apparatus is disadvantageous as the in-vehicle disk apparatus.
When a disk signal surface is directly touched by hands, fingerprints are left thereon, resulting in poor playback. Thus, extreme care must be taken in moving the disk into and out of the disk magazine. The disk magazine has a structure such that the disk is moved into and out of a space formed between trays that partition the inside of the disk magazine into multiple stages. Accordingly, when the disk is inserted into the disk magazine, the disk is grasped at its outer periphery, inserted into the disk magazine, and then pressed at its rear end, whereby the disk can be easily inserted without being touched by hands at the signalencoding surface thereof. When taking the disk out of the disk magazine, however, it is necessary to eject the disk, and to pick up the disk while the disk partly protrudes from the disk magazine. Thus, fingerprints might be left on the signal-encoding surface.
This might be avoided by a configuration such that the outside shape of the disk magazine is reduced and the disk is exposed to some extent in advance. By this configuration, the amount of protrusion of the disk when it is removed from the disk magazine can be increased, and the disk can be easily taken out of the disk magazine without being touched by hands at its signal-encoding surface. In this case, however, the exposed part of the disk might be scratched when the disk magazine is inserted into and ejected from the disk apparatus or when transporting the disk magazine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk apparatus which can realize an advantageous operation by preventing a shift caused in dividing a d
Clarion Co., Ltd
Ometz David L.
Price and Gess
Tianjie Chen
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