Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval – Particular cabinet structure for optical media – Tray or drawer loading or ejecting
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-16
2004-08-03
Miller, Brian E. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval
Particular cabinet structure for optical media
Tray or drawer loading or ejecting
C360S099060
Reexamination Certificate
active
06772424
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to disk drives, and more particularly, to a locking and ejection mechanism for use in a disk drive, the locking and ejection mechanism minimizing vibrations between the tray and the housing when the tray is secured inside the housing during a play mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
CD-ROM and DVD disk drives are well-known. For example, CD-ROM disk drives are commonly used within a notebook-size personal computer. A CD-ROM is a type of an optical disk which is capable of storing a large amount of data including programs or database data. The CD-ROM, which is placed in the CD-ROM disk drive, is accessed by a laser pickup of the CD-ROM disk drive so that data is reproduced from the CD-ROM.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
illustrate a conventional CD-ROM disk drive
20
, which includes a tray
22
which is slidably positioned in a housing
23
of the disk drive
20
for reciprocating movement in both an ejecting direction A and an inserting direction B. The housing
23
has a top cover
25
and a bottom cover
28
, and the tray
22
includes a chassis
29
that is secured (e.g., by screws) to the bottom of the tray
22
. When a disk (not shown) is loaded into the disk drive
20
, the tray
22
(with the disk being placed thereon) is manually pushed into the disk drive
20
in the inserting direction B and set at a loaded position in the disk drive
20
.
In the disk drive
20
, a drive unit (not shown) is provided below the tray
22
. A turntable
24
which is rotated by a spindle motor (not shown) is attached to the drive unit, with the disk that is placed on the tray
22
being held on the turntable
24
. An optical pickup
26
is coupled to the drive unit for accessing the disk to read out data from the disk.
A locking and ejection mechanism is provided for ejecting the tray
22
from the housing
23
. A front bezel
30
is attached to a front end of the tray
22
, and includes a rectangular opening which extends laterally in the front bezel
30
. An ejection switch
32
is attached to the tray
22
and provided in the rectangular opening of the front bezel
30
. When the ejection switch
32
is manually pressed, the tray
22
is ejected from the housing
23
to an ejected position, where the tray
22
at the ejected position can be further pulled out from the housing
23
to a disk-change position by the user. When the tray
22
is set at the disk-change position (as shown in FIG.
1
), the tray
22
is completely outside the confines of the housing
23
and the disk on the tray
22
can be removed and replaced with a new one.
A guide rail assembly is provided to guide the movement of the tray
22
in either the inserting direction or the ejecting direction. The guide rail assembly includes a pair of movable rails
34
, a pair of guide rails
36
, and a pair of slide rails
38
. One movable rail
34
is secured to each of the opposing sides of the tray
22
and arranged such that each movable rail
34
is movable with respect to the bottom cover
28
. Each guide rail
36
is secured to each of the opposing sides of the bottom cover
28
, and each guide rail
36
is arranged on the bottom cover
28
so that the guide rail
36
can extend in directions parallel to the corresponding movable rail
34
. Each slide rail
38
is movably arranged between the corresponding movable rail
34
and guide rail
36
so that the slide rail
38
is movable with respect to both the movable rail
34
of the tray
22
and the guide rail
36
of the bottom cover
28
. In other words, there is a relative displacement between each set of slide rail
38
and movable rail
34
, and between each set of slide rail
38
and guide rail
36
. Each set of rails
38
+
34
and
38
+
36
slides along its own defined paths.
The disk drive
20
has a locking and ejection mechanism that functions to lock the tray
22
and its play module
40
inside the housing
23
during the play mode, and to eject the tray
22
to the ejected position. Referring to
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the locking and ejection mechanism has a slide
42
that is attached to the chassis
29
. The slide
42
can also move relative to the tray
22
in the directions labeled by the arrows A and B. The locking and ejection mechanism also includes a spring member
44
that has a first or front end
46
that is secured to a portion of the slide
42
, and an opposite second or rear end
48
that is secured to the chassis
29
. The bias exerted by the spring member
44
ensures that the slide
42
is always pushed in the direction of arrow B. The locking and ejection mechanism also includes a first arm
50
and a second arm
52
that are provided at the front end of the tray
22
. The first arm
50
has a generally T-shaped configuration, with a bottom end
54
that is rotatably coupled to a solenoid
56
, and an opposing top end
58
that has a protrusion
60
about which a torsion spring
62
is seated. The first arm
50
can pivot about the pivot point
60
defined by the protrusion
60
. The second arm
52
has a generally elongated configuration with a side
64
that is adjacent to, and abuts, the top end
58
of the first arm
50
. The second arm
52
also has an end
66
that defines a recess. The second arm
52
can pivot about a pivot point
70
. A pin
72
is provided on the bottom cover
28
, and is normally secured or held inside the recess of the second arm
52
when the tray
22
is secured inside the housing
23
in the play mode.
When the pin
72
is secured inside the recess of the second arm
52
, the tray
22
is pushed and locked inside the housing
23
in the play mode. When in the play mode, the tray
22
and chassis
29
are locked inside the housing
23
, so that the spring member
44
is stretched. The stretched spring member
44
exerts a bias which biases the slide
42
in the direction of the arrow B.
To release the tray
22
from the play mode to the ejected position, the ejection switch
32
is manually pressed, thereby actuating the solenoid
56
, which releases the torsion spring
62
so that the bias of the torsion spring
62
pushes the first arm
50
in a clockwise rotation (as viewed from the top of FIG.
3
). The top end
58
of the first arm
50
in turn pushes the side
64
of the second arm
52
in a clockwise rotation, so that the recess is moved clockwise away from its engagement with the pin
72
. When the pin
72
is released from the recess of the second arm
52
, the natural bias of the spring member
44
will pull the rear end
48
towards the front end
46
, pushing the tray
22
out of the housing
23
in the direction of arrow A.
FIG. 4
shows the tray
22
in the ejected position, with certain elements (e.g., the solenoid
56
) omitted for clarity and illustration purposes. The tray
22
moves relative to the housing
23
along the rails
34
,
36
and
38
of the guide rail assembly described above.
Unfortunately, vibrations are commonly experienced by conventional disk drives
20
. In particular, the locking point defined by the pin
72
retained in the recess of the second arm
52
contains a moment about which the entire tray
22
can pivot. In addition, since the pin
72
is part of the bottom cover
28
, and the second arm
52
is coupled to the chassis
29
, any vibrations experienced by the tray
22
when the turntable
24
rotates during the play mode will be transferred via the pin
72
and the bottom cover
28
to the external environment. This external environment can even be the housing of a lap-top or notebook computer if the disk drive
20
is a slim-type optical disk drive. This can lead to undesirable vibrations that can be felt or experienced by the user.
Thus, there remains a need for a locking and ejection mechanism that minimizes the effects of vibrations, and which minimizes the spread of vibrations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a locking and ejection mechanism that minimizes the effects of vibrations, and which minimizes the spread of vibrations
Chen Han-Chao
Chuang Jui-Nan
Yeh Shih-Lin
Lite-On IT Corp.
Miller Brian E.
Raymond Sun
LandOfFree
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