Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure – Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-03
2001-08-07
Ometz, David L. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
C369S075110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06272090
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive having a disk tray and, more particularly, to a disk drive having a push button for inserting/ejecting the disk tray.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Disk drives having disk trays therein are widely used in computer systems for driving optical disks or cartridge disks.
FIG. 1
shows a conventional optical disk drive in a front view thereof. The optical disk drive, generally designated by numeral
30
, includes a housing
31
for defining a slot therein, a disk tray (not shown) received in the slot for mounting thereon an optical disk, and an insertion/ejection mechanism (not shown) for the disk tray to insert/eject the optical disk into/from the slot. The insertion/ejection mechanism is driven by a drive motor not shown.
The optical disk drive
30
further includes a shutter or flap
32
disposed at the front entrance of the slot, the shutter
32
being closed when the disk tray is received in the slot and opened when at least a portion of the disk tray is outside the slot. The optical disk drive
30
further includes a push button
33
disposed on the front panel of the housing
31
, generally at a location below the right portion of the shutter
32
, for controlling the insertion/ejection of the disk tray.
It is generally difficult to depress the push button
33
when the disk tray is ejected from the slot because the push button
33
is located below the disk tray. To overcome the difficulty in depressing the push button
33
for insertion of the ejected disk tray, most conventional optical disk drives use a configuration wherein the insertion/ejection mechanism is controlled for insertion of the disk tray by a location sensor that detects the location of the disk tray being slightly deviated from the original ejected position of the disk tray due to a slight thrust force applied by the user to the front end of the disk tray toward the slot.
However, the thrust force applied to the front end of the disk tray also acts on the insertion/ejection mechanism. The thrust force is not generally controlled because the thrust force depends on control by the user, which may cause a malfunction or damage in the insertion/ejection mechanism due to an excess thrust force. Thus, the reliability of the optical disk drives is deteriorated, especially in an initial service period of the disk drive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk drive having a push button that allows control of insertion and/or ejection of the disk tray without difficulty for assuring the reliability of the disk drive.
The present invention provides a disk drive comprising a housing for defining a slot therein, a disk tray slidably mounted on the housing between an ejected position and an inserted position with respect to the slot, an insertion/ejection mechanism for moving the disk tray between the ejected position and the inserted position, and a first push button, mounted on a front end of the disk tray, for controlling the insertion/ejection mechanism to move the disk tray.
In accordance with the disk drive of the present invention, the first push button provided on the front end of the disk tray allows depression of the first push button without difficulty and without application of the thrust force to the insertion/ejection mechanism of the disk drive, thereby preventing a malfunction or damage of the insertion/ejection mechanism, which assures the reliability of the disk drive.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description, referring to the accompanying drawings.
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patent: 5963528 (1999-10-01), Fujimura et al.
patent: 5963529 (1999-10-01), Kabasawa
patent: 6111838 (2000-08-01), Akiba
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patent: 8-235717 (1996-09-01), None
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patent: 8-321151 (1996-12-01), None
Foley & Lardner
NEC Corporation
Ometz David L.
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