Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Dynamic mechanism subsystem – Having power driven transducer assembly
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-04
2003-09-23
Ometz, David L. (Department: 2653)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Dynamic mechanism subsystem
Having power driven transducer assembly
C369S077110, C369S077210, C369S075110, C369S075210, C369S219100, C369S222000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06625104
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive-force transmitting mechanism that is used for switching operation modes of apparatus such as a compact disk (CD) play-back apparatus and a VTR, and more particularly to a drive-force transmitting mechanism that permits and does not permit transmission of a torque at a predetermined timing.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 11
illustrates a conventional drive-force transmitting mechanism, and particularly a pertinent portion of a cassette loading apparatus disclosed in Laid-open Japanese Patent (KOKAI) No. 11-219555.
A cam gear
102
is journaled on a chassis
101
and is in mesh with a worm gear
105
. The rotation of a motor
103
is transmitted through a belt
104
to the worm gear
105
, which in turn drives the cam gear
102
in rotation.
A capstan motor
106
generates a torque, which is transmitted through a pulley
109
and a belt
107
to a gear pulley
108
. A lever
110
is pivotally supported on the chassis
101
at a pivot shaft
110
c
. The lever
110
has a cam pin
110
a
formed at a midway point of the lever
110
and a pin
110
b
formed at a free end thereof. The cam pin
110
a
engages a cam groove
102
a
formed in the cam gear
102
.
A slide plate
111
is formed with a cutout
111
a
therein that receives the pin
110
b
and is slidably supported on the chassis
101
. When the lever
110
is driven by the cam gear
102
to pivot about the pivot shaft
110
c
, the pin
110
b
causes the slide plate
111
to move back and forth in the X direction. The slide plate
111
is formed with a cam surface
111
b
on one longitudinal end thereof.
A lever
113
is rotatably supported at a midway point thereof on the chassis
101
and rotates relative to the chassis
101
about a pivot shaft
113
a
. The lever
113
has one longitudinal end thereof connected to a tension spring
115
and the other end rotatably supported on a gear pulley
114
. The lever
113
also has a pin
113
b
provided thereon between the spring
115
and the pivot shaft
113
a
. The spring
115
urges the pin
113
b
against the cam surface
111
b
counterclockwise.
A belt
118
is entrained about the gear pulley
114
and an intermediate gear
116
. The intermediate gear
116
is in mesh with a drive gear
117
that is rotatably mounted on the chassis
101
. The rotation of the gear pulley
114
is transmitted through the intermediate gear
116
to the drive gear
117
. The drive gear
117
drives a cassette loading mechanism, not shown.
The operation of the conventional clutch of the aforementioned constriction will be described.
When a user inserts a cassette
120
into the apparatus, a detection switch, not shown, detects the cassette
120
and then the drive motor
103
runs to rotate the cam gear
102
to bring the apparatus into a predetermined mode of operation. As the cam gear
102
rotates, the lever
110
pivots counterclockwise, causing the slide plate
111
to move in the X direction away from the origin O. Thus, the pin
113
b
is guided on the cam surface
111
b
to rotate counterclockwise so that the gear pulley
114
moves into meshing engagement with the gear pulley
108
.
Then, the capstan motor
106
starts to rotate. The rotation of the capstan motor
106
is transmitted through the gear pulleys
108
and
114
, belt
118
, intermediate gear
116
, to the drive gear
117
. The drive gear
117
drives the cassette-loading mechanism to pull in the cassette
120
into the apparatus, thereby placing the cassette
120
on the reels
121
and
122
.
The detection switch, not shown, detects when the loading operation is completed, and the capstan motor
106
stops rotating and the drive motor
103
rotates in the reverse direction. Thus, the slide plate
111
is moved in the X direction toward the origin O, so that the gear pulley
114
moves out of meshing engagement with the gear pulley
108
. Then, a tape loading mechanism, not shown, draws out the tape from the cassette
120
and loads it onto a rotary drum, not shown. The capstan motor
106
then rotates to run the tape for the reproduction operation.
FIG. 12
illustrates another conventional clutch mechanism, a commonly used geneva mechanism.
Referring to
FIG. 12
, a drive gear
151
has a gear portion
151
a
and a non-gear circumferential portion
151
b
having a smooth circumferential surface. A driven gear
152
has gear portions
152
a
and fish-tail-shaped portions
152
b
, the gear portion
152
a
and the fish-tail-shaped portion
151
b
being arranged alternately. The gear portion
151
a
meshes with the gear portion
151
a.
When the gear portion
151
a
is in mesh with the gear portion
151
a
, the driven gear
152
rotates so that the rotation of the drive gear
151
is transmitted to the driven gear
152
. When the non-gear circumferential portion
151
b
moves into contact engagement with the fish-tail-shaped portion
151
b
, the rotation of the drive gear
151
is not transmitted to the driven gear
152
. As the drive gear
151
further rotates, the gear portion
151
a
again moves into meshing engagement with the gear portion
151
a
so that the rotation of the drive gear
151
is transmitted to the driven gear
152
. In this manner, the continuous rotation of the drive gear
151
is transmitted intermittently to the driven gear
152
.
The drive-force transmitting mechanism disclosed by Laid-open Japanese Patent (KOKAI) No. 11-219555 suffers from the problem that the drive motor
103
is required as a drive source that drives the clutch to engage and disengage. The need for such a drive source leads to an increase in cost.
The drive-force is transmitted or not transmitted by bringing the gears into or out of meshing engagement with each other, respectively. When the gears are rotating, the gears are not only smoothly brought into or out of meshing engagement but the gear teeth may be damaged.
The geneva mechanism requires no special drive source for engaging and disengaging the gears. However, the gears must be closely located to each other so that they move into and out of meshing engagement with each other as the drive gear rotates. In other words, the drive gear cannot be disposed away from the driven gear. Thus, the geneva mechanism is not practical in a case where the relative distance between the drive side and the driven side changes depending on whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a drive-force transmitting mechanism that requires no drive source such as a motor for driving the clutch to engage and disengage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a drive-force transmitting mechanism that transmits a drive force irrespective of whether the relative distance between the drive side and the driven side changes depending on the engagement state of the drive-force transmitting mechanism.
A drive-force transmitting mechanism engages to transmit the rotation of a first disk to the second disk and disengages not to transmit the rotation. A first disk is rotatable about an axis. A second disk is rotatable about the axis and has a first engagement member formed thereon. A second engagement member is mounted on the first disk such that the second engagement member is sandwiched between the first disk and the second disk, the second engagement member being movable toward the axis or away from the axis. A guide member guides the second engagement member such that the second engagement member moves radially toward the axis or away from the axis depending on a direction in which the first disk rotates about the axis. When the second engagement member engages the first engagement member, rotation of the first disk is transmitted to the second disk. When the second engagement member disengages from the first engagement member, rotation of the first disk is not transmitted to the second disk.
When the first disk rotates in a first direction through a first angle range, the guide member guides the second engagement member to move radially
Michimori Atsushi
Takeshima Masaaki
Blouin Mark
Ometz David L.
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