Disk-loading apparatus

Details Disk-loading apparatus Disk-loading apparatus

2002-03-21

2003-12-16

Cao, Allen (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

With mechanism to place disc on a turntable

Reexamination Certificate

active

06665254

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk-loading apparatus for loading a CD and a DVD to their reproducing positions, and more particularly to a disk-loading apparatus in which a single motor is used to move a disk-carrying tray and to rotate a drive chassis that carries a recording-and-reproducing unit having a pick-up.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 10
is a top view of a conventional disk-loading apparatus when a tray is at a disk-discharging position.
Referring to
FIG. 10
, a main chassis
2
supports a tray
3
thereon such that when the tray
3
is driven to move between a disk-loading position (
FIG. 13
) and a disk-discharging position (FIG.
10
), guides
2
a
-
2
f
guide the tray
3
to slide on the main chassis
2
. The tray
3
has a disk-carrying surface
3
d
on which a disk, not shown, is placed. The tray
3
moves into the disk-loading apparatus for loading the disk and out of the disk-loading apparatus for discharging the disk. The tray
3
has a rack
3
a
formed in an underside on one side of the tray
3
. The tray
3
also has generally L-shaped guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
formed in the underside thereof, the guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
guiding bosses
50
a
and
50
b
of a cam slider
50
, respectively. The main chassis
2
is mounted to a disk-player chassis, not shown, by means of rubber dampers
80
,
81
, and
82
.
FIG. 11
is a perspective view of a pertinent portion of a rotation-transmitting mechanism of a loading motor
122
of FIG.
10
.
Referring to
FIGS. 10 and 11
, the drive gear
120
includes a small gear (pinion)
120
a
and a large gear
120
b
. The drive gear
120
is mounted to the main chassis
2
so that the drive gear
120
is rotatable about an axis parallel to a Z-axis and the small gear
120
a
is in mesh with the rack
3
a
formed in the tray
3
. Likewise, an intermediate drive gear
121
is mounted to the main chassis
2
so that the intermediate gear
121
is rotatable about an axis parallel to a Z-axis. The intermediate drive gear
121
includes a small gear
121
a
and a disk
121
b
, the small gear
121
a
being in mesh with the large gear
120
b
and the disk
121
b
having a conical surface
121
c.
The loading motor
122
has a friction wheel
123
attached to a shaft thereof, the friction wheel
123
being in the shape of a truncated cone. The shaft of the loading motor
122
extends parallel to the main chassis
2
so that the conical surface
121
c
of the friction wheel
123
is in pressure contact with the conical surface
121
of the disk
121
b
. Thus, the rotation of the loading motor
122
is transmitted to the gear
121
through friction engagement of the friction wheel
123
with the disk
121
.
The loading motor
122
is mounted on a generally L-shaped mounting member
124
by means of a screw
101
. The mounting member
124
is firmly mounted on the main chassis
2
by means of screws
102
.
FIG. 12
is a top view of the conventional disk-loading apparatus
1
when the tray is at the disk-loading position.
FIG. 13
is a perspective view that corresponds to FIG.
10
.
FIG. 14
is a perspective view that corresponds to FIG.
12
.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, a cam slider
50
is generally L-shaped, and is supported on the main chassis
2
so that the cam slider
50
can slide on a Y-axis. The cam slider
50
has a rack
50
c
formed in its side portion and bosses
50
a
and
50
b
that project upwardly from a top surface of the cam slider
50
. The bosses
50
a
and
50
b
engage the guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
formed in the underside of the tray
3
.
As shown in
FIG. 14
, the cam slider
50
has a flat portion parallel to a Z-Y plane. Formed in this flat portion is the cam slider
50
having a cam groove
50
d
along which a later described projection
70
a
of a drive chassis
70
is guided to move. The cam groove
50
d
includes a lower end
101
b
, an upper end
110
a
, and an inclined portion
101
c
that connects the lower and upper ends
101
b
and
101
a.
The drive chassis
70
has a pair of bosses
70
b
and
70
c
(also see
FIG. 15
) that are in line with each other and project from opposite sides of the drive chassis
70
. The drive chassis
70
is supported at the bosses
70
b
and
70
c
on the main chassis
2
and is rotatable about an axis
115
parallel to the Y-axis. The drive chassis
70
has a projection
70
a
that projects in a direction perpendicular to the axis
115
.
The projection
70
a
loosely extends through the cam groove
50
d
formed in the cam slider
50
. Therefore, when the cam slider
50
moves back and forth along the Y-axis, the drive chassis
70
rotates about the axis
115
in directions shown by arrows A and B. The drive chassis
70
carries a reproducing mechanism that includes an optical pick-up
76
and a turntable
77
.
In the disk-loading operation, the tray
3
moves from the position (i.e., disk-discharging position) shown in
FIG. 10
to the position (i.e., disk-loading position) shown in
FIG. 12
where the optical pick-up
76
reproduces information from the disk.
When the loading motor
122
of
FIG. 11
rotates in a direction shown by arrow C, the drive gear
120
rotates about an X-axis in a direction shown by arrow E. The rotation of the drive gear
120
in the E direction is transmitted through the small gear
120
a
and rack
3
a
to the tray
3
. Thus, the tray
3
moves on the X-axis from the disk-discharging position of
FIG. 10
toward the disk-loading position (i.e., toward the origin
0
of X-axis). In other words, the rotation of the loading motor
122
in the C direction causes the tray
3
to slide along the guides
2
a
-
2
e
, thereby initiating a disk-loading operation.
FIG. 15
illustrates the conventional tray immediately before it reaches the disk-loading position.
When the tray
3
reaches a location very close to the disk-loading position, the bosses
50
a
and
50
b
move into engagement with the curved portions of the L-shaped guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
to move the cam slider
50
on the Y-axis in a direction away from the origin O. The movement of the cam slider
50
on the Y-axis causes the rack
50
c
to move into meshing engagement with the small gear
20
a
of the drive gear
20
. At this time, the rack
3
a
formed in the underside of the tray
3
is still in mesh with the small gear
20
a
of the drive gear
20
. When the tray
3
has reached the disk-loading position shown in
FIG. 12
, the rack
3
a
disengages from the small gear
20
a.
The cam slider
50
continues to move on the Y-axis since the rack
50
c
remains in mesh with the drive gear
20
until the bosses
50
a
and
50
b
reach the ends of the guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
of the tray
3
, respectively, as shown in FIG.
12
. When the bosses reach the ends of the guide grooves
3
b
and
3
c
, the cam slider
50
stops moving and the tray
3
completes the disk-loading operation.
The disk-loading operation will be described in more detail with reference to
FIGS. 13 and 15
.
The projection
70
a
remains in engagement with the lower end
101
b
of the cam groove
101
to maintain its inclined position with respect to the disk-carrying surface
3
d
until the bosses
50
a
and
50
b
start moving on the Y-axis in the direction away from the origin O. At this moment, the turn table
77
disposed on the drive chassis
70
has moved downward away from the disk-carrying surface
3
d.
Then, as soon as the tray
3
arrives at a location (
FIG. 15
) near the disk-loading position, the cam slider
50
starts moving on the Y-axis away from the origin O. Thus, the projection
70
a
of the drive chassis
70
starts engaging the inclined portion
101
c
of the cam groove
101
formed in the cam slider
50
. Thus, the drive chassis
70
rotates about the Y-axis in the direction shown by arrow A. The drive gear
120
continues to rotate in the direction shown by arrow E, so that the rack
50
c
formed in the cam slider
50
moves into meshing engagement with the small gear
120
a
of the drive gear
120
. Thus,

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