Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record transport with head stationary during transducing – Disk record
Reissue Patent
1998-11-30
2002-07-16
Denion, Thomas E. (Department: 3748)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record transport with head stationary during transducing
Disk record
C360S099120
Reissue Patent
active
RE037791
ABSTRACT:
This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,102 entitled Disk Drive Apparatus Having Head Guard, to Tomoe Aruga et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,104 entitled Disk Drive Apparatus Having Carriage Driving Mechanism to Tomoe Aruga et al. These applications and patents are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disk drive apparatus for recording and reproducing information in and out of a floppy disk or the like, and more particularly, to a disk driving motor and chucking mechanism for a disk drive apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A disk driving motor assembly generally includes a disk chucking mechanism, and rotates a disk (held on a rotary member of the motor assembly by the chucking mechanism) together with the rotary member. Disk chucking mechanisms have been proposed in various forms. See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model No. 61-52351.
FIGS. 11-14
show one such conventional disk driving motor assembly including a chucking mechanism.
FIG. 11
is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a conventional disk driving motor assembly including a chucking mechanism.
FIG. 12
is an overhead plan view showing the disk chucking mechanism.
FIG. 13
is a bottom view of the disk chucking mechanism.
FIG. 14
is a schematic sectional view showing a drive pin section of the disk chucking mechanism.
In these drawings,
501
is a disk,
502
is a disk hub, and
503
is a spindle of the disk driving motor. A chucking lever
508
is pivotally attached, via a support point
516
, to a rotary member
504
, which is rotatable together with the spindle
503
. A spring
514
is provided at support point
506
516
to urge a drive pin
505
attached to the chucking lever
508
in the axial direction of the drive pin. Another spring
515
(see
FIG. 12
) is provided between rotary member
504
and chucking lever
508
to exert an urging force on lever
508
in the circumferential direction of the motor.
When the disk hub
502
is to be chucked (e.g., when it is initially set in place), the chucking lever
508
is pivoted at the support point
516
because one end of it is pushed downwardly by the disk hub
502
as shown in
FIG. 14
with the result being that the chucking lever
508
deflects in the direction of the arrow r. Once spindle
503
(and thus rotary member
504
and chucking lever
506
) are rotated, disk hub
502
continues to press the one end of lever
508
downward until a drive hole
502
b formed in the disk hub
502
(in offset relation to the center thereof) comes into alignment with the drive pin
505
(see FIG.
11
).
When a rotor
511
of a spindle motor
510
, which is attached to one end of the spindle
503
(as shown in
FIG. 11
) begins rotating, the drive pin
505
also rotates together with the spindle
503
. When the drive hole
502
b comes into alignment with the drive pin
505
, the drive pin
505
is urged into the drive hole
502
b in disk hub
502
by virtue of the pushing force of spring
514
.
Consequently, because of the positional relationship between the drive pin
505
and the support point
516
, rotation of spindle
503
causes drive pin
505
to exert a force in the direction of the arrow s as shown in
FIG. 12
to cause rotation of disk hub
502
. Among these forces, the force in the direction of the arrow s acts to press two points along the inner edge of a central hole
502
a of the disk hub
502
against the spindle
503
, so that the disk hub
502
is rotated while also being centered.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, a first magnetic head
512
for recording and reproducing an information signal into and out of the disk
501
is disposed on a first carriage
517
between a frame
513
of the spindle motor
510
and the disk
501
. A second magnetic head
507
is also provided to engage an opposite side of disk
501
.
In the foregoing conventional configuration, however, it is difficult to decrease the thickness of the overall disk drive apparatus because its thickness is determined by the rotor
511
of the spindle motor
510
, first carriage
517
, first magnetic head
512
, the space required for the disk chucking mechanism, etc.
One limitation in reducing the thickness of the disk drive apparatus is caused by the need to provide sufficient space below the drive pin
505
so that the drive pin
505
may retract in the direction of the arrow r as shown in
FIG. 14
when the drive pin
505
is pushed by the disk hub
502
(before the disk hub
502
is chucked).
Further, to attach the rotary member of the rotor of the disk driving motor to the spindle, conventionally, as shown in
FIG. 11
, the rotary member
504
is tightly fitted to the spindle
503
using a bushing
518
. Additionally, the rotor
511
is press-fitted to the spindle
503
by forming a cylindrical boss portion
511
a integrally with the rotor. As another alternative, shown in
FIG. 15
, a rotor
521
is fitted to a bushing
522
which is in turn press-fitted to a spindle
523
. In
FIG. 15
,
524
is a drive magnet,
525
is a drive coil,
526
is a motor base,
527
is a circuit board, and
528
is a bearing fitted to the motor base
526
.
In the foregoing conventional configurations, however, in order to reduce the swinging (wobble) of the rotary member, or of the rotor relative to the spindle, the fitting section between the spindle and the boss portion
511
a or the bushing
518
or
522
must have a certain axial length, this also making it difficult to decrease the thickness of the disk drive apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,216 to Tsukahara discloses a disk drive apparatus in which a yoke plate and a turntable form a two-piece rotary member. A ring plate, which forms a disk chucking mechanism and includes a drive pin, is located between opposed surfaces of the turntable and the yoke plate, and is pivotally attached to the yoke plate. A magnet plate
36
is provided over the yoke plate for attracting the metal hub of a disk. The opposed surfaces of the turntable and the yoke plate prevent the ring plate from moving in an axial direction of a motor shaft, which is attached to the yoke plate and causes the turntable and yoke plate to rotate. However, this structure is bulky because the turntable and the yoke plate both cover the entirety of both surfaces of the ring plate so as to clamp the ring plate between the turntable and the yoke plate, in order to prevent the ring plate from moving in the axial direction of the motor shaft.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the configuration of a disk driving motor assembly which includes a disk chucking mechanism, and to decrease the thickness of the disk driving motor assembly as much as possible, thereby making a disk drive apparatus thinner.
To accomplish the foregoing and other objects, and to overcome the shortcomings set forth above, the present invention provides a disk drive apparatus that comprises a spindle for engagement with a central hole of a disk hub made of metal or the like which is provided in a central portion of a disk accommodated in a cartridge. A rotary member such as, for example, a rotor is fixed to the spindle. A chucking magnet is provided on the rotary member for magnetically attracting the disk hub. A chucking lever is pivotally provided on the rotary member, which has a drive pin near one end that comes into engagement with a drive hole (generally of substantially quadrangular shape formed in the disk hub in offset relation to the center thereof) to engage and rotate the disk. When the chucking lever is not chucking the disk, the chucking lever is pivotal about a support point within a given angle in the radial direction of the motor, spindle and disk, but its shifting in the axial direction of the spindle is restricted (prevented). A support point section of the chucking lever is provided with a disengagement preventive mechanism that acts in relaxation to the rotary member to prevent disengagement of the chucking lever from the rotary member.
As will be ap
Denion Thomas E.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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