Disk device

Details Disk device Disk device

2000-01-07

2001-06-12

Ometz, David L. (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

With mechanism to place disc on a turntable

Reexamination Certificate

active

06246654

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of a disk device optimum for use in, e.g., an optical disk device wherein a disk-shaped recording medium, such as an optical disk, is loaded and unloaded with a disk tray.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk device of the above type previously proposed in a prior application filed by the assignee of this application will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 1
to
14
. As shown in
FIG. 1
, an optical disk
1
as a disk-shaped recording medium is horizontally placed in a recess
3
formed on an upper surface of a tray body
2
A of a disk tray
2
. After that, when a tray front panel
2
B of the disk tray
2
is lightly pushed in a direction of arrow a, a loading switch (not shown) is turned on. In response to the turning-on of the loading switch, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a loading mechanism (described later) is operated to withdraw the disk tray
2
horizontally through a tray entrance/exit opening
4
into a disk device body
6
of an optical disk device
5
in the direction of arrow a, i.e., in the loading direction, so that the optical disk
1
is automatically horizontally loaded on a disk table coupled to a spindle motor as described later.
After the loading, in response to, e.g., a recording and/or reproducing command signal from a host computer, the optical disk
1
is driven by the spindle motor to rotate at a high speed, and data is recorded on and/or reproduced from the optical disk
1
through an optical pickup. Upon receiving, e.g., an eject command signal from the host computer after the optical disk
1
has been subjected to recording and/or reproducing, the disk tray
2
is automatically unloaded through the tray entrance/exit opening
4
out of the disk device body
6
in a direction of arrow a′, i.e., in the unloading direction, as shown in FIG.
1
.
Next, as shown in
FIGS. 3
to
9
, the horizontal tray body
2
A of the disk tray
2
and the vertical tray front panel
2
B thereof lying perpendicularly to the directions of arrows a and a′ are each formed of, e.g., a synthetic resin. An elongate bottom opening
8
is formed in the tray body
2
A to extend from a central portion of the recess
3
to the side of a rear end portion (toward an end of the tray body
2
A in the direction of arrow a) along a tray center line P
1
parallel to the directions of arrows a and a′, i.e., to the loading and unloading directions. Also, a pair of right and left horizontal guide rails
9
are integrally formed along both right and left side edges of the tray body
2
A parallel to the tray center line P
1
. A rack
10
and a guide groove
11
, which are substantially J-shaped and parallel to each other, are integrally formed in a bottom surface of the tray body
2
A on one side thereof. The rack
10
and the guide groove
11
have linear portions
10
a
,
11
a
extending parallel to the tray center line P
1
, and arc-shaped portions
10
b
,
11
b
formed in an end portion of the tray body
2
A on the same side as the front panel
2
B.
A substantially box-shaped and shallow chassis
14
formed of, e.g., a synthetic resin, is provided inside the disk device body
6
. The chassis
14
slides horizontally in the directions of arrows a and a′ while the pair of right and left guide rails
9
on the disk tray
2
are guided by a plurality of guide ribs
15
A,
15
B,
15
C integrally formed on inner surfaces of both right and left side plates
14
a
and a bottom portion
14
b
of the chassis
14
. A vertically rotatable frame
16
formed of, e.g., a synthetic resin or metal plate, is attached onto the bottom portion
14
b
of the chassis
14
. Insulator attachment portions
17
,
18
are integrally formed in the vertically rotatable frame
16
at three positions; i.e., two in a rear end portion
16
a
on both right and left sides and one in a front end portion
16
b
at the center thereof. Three insulators
19
,
20
serving as dampers, which are formed of elastic members of rubber, for example, are attached to the insulator attachment portions
17
,
18
.
The pair of right and left rubber-made insulators
19
attached to the rear end portion
16
a
of the vertically rotatable frame
16
are fastened onto the bottom portion
14
b
of the chassis
14
by set screws
21
which are inserted through the centers of the insulators
19
, and one insulator
20
attached to the front end portion
16
b
of the vertically rotatable frame
16
is fastened onto a tip end of a vertically rotatable driving lever
23
by a set screw
22
which is inserted through the center of the insulator
20
. The driving lever
23
is arranged perpendicularly to the tray center line P
1
and is attached at its base end onto the bottom portion
14
b
of the chassis
14
by a pair of right and left horizontal pivot pins
24
to be rotatable in directions of arrows b and b′, i.e., in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the driving lever
23
allows the vertically rotatable frame
16
to move up or down in directions of arrows c and c′ upon its rotation in the vertical direction about the pair of right and left insulators
19
on the side of the rear end portion
16
a
which serve as fulcrums of the rotation. Additionally, a shallow recess
25
is formed in an upper surface of the vertically rotatable frame
16
.
A loading mechanism
27
is attached to the bottom portion
14
b
of the chassis
14
on one side of the front end portion
16
b
of the vertically rotatable frame
16
. The loading mechanism
27
comprises a loading motor
28
, a pinion
29
driven by the loading motor
28
to rotate forward and backward, a pinion lever
31
causing a central shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
to oscillate in a horizontal plane about a vertical pivot shaft
30
in directions of arrows d and d′, a cam lever
34
driven by the pinion lever
31
through a pair of partial gears
32
to rotate in a horizontal plane about a vertical pivot shaft
33
in directions of arrows e and e′, an arc-shaped cam groove
35
formed around the pivot shaft
33
of the cam lever
34
and having a level difference in the vertical direction, and a cam follower pin
36
integrally provided at a tip end of the driving lever
23
on one side thereof and loosely fitted in the cam groove
35
. The pinion
29
is meshed with the rack
10
of the disk tray
2
, and the central shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
is loosely fitted in the guide groove
11
.
The loading mechanism
27
operates such that the central shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
is guided by the substantially J-shaped guide groove
11
of the disk tray
2
, causing the pinion
29
to follow the substantially J-shaped rack
10
of the disk tray
2
. More specifically, when loading the disk tray
2
, the pinion
29
driven by the loading motor
28
to rotate forward is meshed with the linear portion
10
a
of the rack
10
from the side of the rear end portion of the disk tray
2
toward the side of the front end portion of the front panel
2
B thereof in a linearly driving manner. The disk tray
2
is thereby withdrawn into the optical disk device
5
horizontally in the direction of arrow a. With continued forward rotation of the pinion
29
driven by the loading motor
28
, the pinion
29
is oscillated in the direction of arrow d along the arc-shaped portion
10
b
of the rack
10
. Corresponding to the oscillation of the pinion
29
, the pinion lever
31
drives the cam lever
34
to rotate in the direction of arrow e through the pair of partial gears
32
.
The cam follower pin
36
of the driving lever
23
is pushed upward by the cam groove
35
of the cam lever
34
in the direction of arrow b, whereupon the driving lever
23
drives the vertically rotatable frame
16
through the insulator
20
to rotate upward about the pair of right and left insulators
19
in the direction of arrow c from a descended position where the vertically rotatable frame
16
is inclined downwardly as shown in
FIG. 7
to an ascended position where t

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