Disk tray shifting device for an optical disk player

Details Disk tray shifting device for an optical disk player Disk tray shifting device for an optical disk player

2001-08-13

2002-09-10

Tupper, Robert S. (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

With mechanism to place disc on a turntable

Reexamination Certificate

active

06449233

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk loading device for an optical disk player, for example, a compact disk player or a digital video disk player. One embodiment particularly relates to a disk tray shifting device wherein a loading motor for shifting the disk tray is installed movably along the cross direction of a main base, so that the device becomes compact and the reliability of power transmission thereof is improved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional optical disk player includes a disk tray for accommodating a disk, and a pickup for reading data recorded on the disk. A conventional optical disk player also includes a disk loading device including, a loading motor for shifting the disk tray from the outside of the player body to the inside thereof or from the inside of the body to the outside thereof that is mounted on one end of the main base, and a pickup driving motor for sliding the pickup that is mounted on the other end of the main base.
In the conventional disk loading device as described above, generally, a rack portion is formed on the underside of the disk tray, and a pinion to be rotated by the driving force transmitted from the loading motor is engaged with the rack portion. By this engagement between the rack portion and the pinion, the relative motion of the disk toward a turntable mounted on the pickup base is performed, so that the loading operation or the unloading operation is accomplished. Hereinafter, the structure and the operation of the conventional disk tray shifting device will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
1
through
FIG. 3
of the appended drawings.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an optical disk player,
FIG. 2
is a schematic top view showing a disk tray shifting device of the player, and
FIG. 3
is a schematic front view of the disk tray shifting device. In the conventional disk tray shifting device as shown in FIG.
1
through
FIG. 3
, a loading motor
2
is mounted on one end of the front portion of a main base installed inside of a player body
20
, and the driving force of the motor
2
is transmitted to an idler gear
7
through a pulley
4
mounted on the upper end of the motor
2
, a belt
3
and a gear train. The gear train consists of a first gear
5
and a second gear
6
, and the idler gear
7
includes a pinion
7
a
on the upper portion thereof, wherein the pinion
7
a
is formed integrally with the idler gear
7
.
Referring to FIG.
2
and
FIG. 3
, an L-shaped arm
9
is inserted pivotably on the shaft
8
of the second gear
6
, the idler gear
7
is inserted rotatably on the shaft
9
a
formed on the first end portion
9
b
of the arm
9
, and a guide protrusion
10
is projected from the underside of the second end portion
9
c
. On the lower end of the shaft
8
, a cylindrical cam
11
having a cam groove
11
a
engraved on the surface thereof is fixedly mounted, and the lower end of the guide protrusion
10
is inserted into a dimple
11
d
formed on the upper surface of the cam
11
through a curved shape guide slit
12
. The guide slit
12
is formed on the main base
1
.
On the other hand, on the underside of a disk tray
13
, there is provided a rack portion
14
along the longitudinal direction of the tray
13
, and the rack portion
14
is engaged with the pinion
7
a
formed integrally with the idler gear
7
. The rack portion consists of a linear shaped rack portion
14
a
and a curved shape rack portion
14
b.
In
FIG. 3
, the reference number
15
indicates a protrusion, which is formed on the front end of an up-down pivoting base (not shown) and which is inserted into the cam groove
11
a
of the cam
11
. The up-down pivoting base is pivotably mounted on the main base
1
, and supports one side of the pickup base not shown in
FIGS. 1-3
.
Now the loading operation of the disk tray shifting device will be described.
Firstly, when the disk tray
13
is shifted outwards from the inside of the player, the disk D is placed on the tray
13
. Thereafter, if the loading signal is applied to the disk tray shifting device, the loading motor
2
is actuated so that the pulley
4
mounted on the shaft of the motor
2
is rotated clockwise. At this time, since the driving force of the motor
2
is transmitted to the pinion
7
a
through the belt
3
, the first gear
5
, the second gear
6
and the idler gear
7
, the pinion
7
a
engaged with the rack portion
14
is rotated clockwise, so that the disk tray
13
is shifted to the loading position. That is, when the pinion
7
a
is rotated clockwise by the driving force transmitted from the loading motor
2
, the disk tray
13
having the rack portion engaged with the pinion
7
a
is shifted along the arrow direction, as shown in FIG.
2
. Such shifting operation of the disk tray
13
is finished when the end portion of the linear shaped rack portion
14
a
reaches the pinion
7
a
. Thereafter, when the tray
13
is shifted, the operation for placing the disk D on the turntable is continued.
When the shift operation of the tray
13
is finished, if the pinion
7
a
continues to rotate, the arm
9
is rotated counterclockwise on the shaft
8
by the rotation of the pinion
7
a
, and the pinion
7
a
is moved along the curved shape rack portion
14
b
. Thus, the guide protrusion projected from the underside of the second end portion
9
c
of the arm
9
is also moved counterclockwise along the guide slit
12
.
At this time, the cam
11
is rotated on the shaft
8
because the lower end of the guide protrusion
10
is inserted into a dimple lid formed on the upper surface of the cam
11
. Accordingly, the protrusion
15
, which is formed on the front end of the up-down pivoting base and placed in the first position
11
b
of the cam groove
11
a
, is moved along the cam groove
11
a
towards the second position
11
c
of the cam groove
11
a
. Therefore, the pickup base is moved upwards, and the disk D placed on the tray
13
is loaded on the turntable of the spindle motor, not shown. Here, the first position
11
b
of the cam groove
11
a
indicates the position of the protrusion
15
when the center hole of the disk D is not inserted on the shaft of the turntable, and the second position
11
c
of the cam groove
11
a
indicates the position of the protrusion
15
when the center hole of the disk D is inserted on the shaft of the turntable.
The unloading operation of the disk tray shifting device is performed according to the reverse order of the loading operation.
However, since the loading motor is mounted fixedly on one side of the main base in the above described conventional disk tray shifting device, a large number of components are necessary in order to achieve power transmission from the loading motor to the pinion. And since the rotating radius of the idler gear and the space occupied with the belt are large, it is necessary to provide a large space for mounting the idler gear and the belt. Therefore, there are problems in miniaturization of the power transmission means and in the accuracy of the power transmission.
In addition, although not shown in
FIGS. 1-3
, it is necessary to provide a separate locking device in order to prevent the tray from moving freely after a loading operation in the conventional disk tray shifting device. However, the need for such a separate device also inhibits the miniaturization of the shifting device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel disk tray shifting device for the optical disk player in which a loading motor for shifting the disk tray with respect to a turntable is mounted movably in the cross direction of a main base in order to minimize the installation space of components.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk tray shifting device which can transmit the driving force of a loading motor to the disk tray by minimizing power transmission stages so as to control the shifting operation of the disk tray precisely.
A further object of the p

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