Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval – Particular cabinet structure for optical media
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-10
2004-08-31
Cao, Allen (Department: 2652)
Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval
Particular cabinet structure for optical media
C369S075110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785896
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive, and more particularly to an external optical disk drive with a locking mechanism for releasing or locking its cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical disk drive has an independent housing (referred to as an external optical disk drive), and is connected to a host computer via a signal cable to transmit data to the computer system. In addition, the external optical disk drive may transmit data to the users via an audio cable.
In prior art, the conventional disk loading and disk ejection methods include disk-tray type and cover-lifting type. Regarding the disk-tray type disk drive, the optical disk can be placed on the disk tray when a disk tray motor pulls the disk tray to what so called pull-out position. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the disk-tray optical disk drive includes a rectangular-shaped slit
11
surrounding the disk tray. However, due to the slit
11
, the disk tray may be jammed by foreign objects during loading and ejection of the optical disk. Besides, the cover-lifting optical disk drive is normally applied to multimedia playback device. FIG.
2
and
FIG. 3
show a conventional locking mechanism for a cover-lifting optical disk drive. The cover-lifting optical disk drive includes a cover
100
and a lower housing assembly
200
. The cover
100
includes an opening
101
at its front edge, a rod
102
extending downwardly the front edge and beside the opening
101
, and a rotary shaft
103
at its rear edge. The rotary shaft
103
is pivotally coupled to the lower housing assembly
200
so that the cover
100
can be pivoted with respect to the lower cover assembly
200
. To effectively utilize the space occupied by the optical disk drive, the rotary shaft
103
is not located at a central portion of the rear edge of the cover
100
. Further, the hook
300
engages with the opening
101
for the purpose of securing the cover
100
to the lower housing assembly
200
. When the cover
100
is locked, a force F is applied to the rod
102
of the cover
100
by a torsion spring
400
. As described above, the force F of the torsion spring
400
is applied to the rod
102
that is not located at the central portion of the front edge of the cover
100
. Thus, the rotary shaft
103
that is slightly open. Due to a displacement D at the front edge of the cover
100
, the cover
100
is deformed. The deformation of cover
100
may be aggravated during transport when environmental temperature is high, thereby rendering the finished product unusable prior to selling.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a locking mechanism for use in an external optical disk drive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for an external optical disk drive that can effectively eliminate the deformation of a cover.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an external optical disk drive that a locking mechanism is used to secure a cover smoothly.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a locking mechanism for an external optical disk drive without additional torsion spring. In one embodiment of the present invention, the locking mechanism is disposed under the cover and includes a curved extension portion, a motor and a gear set. The gear set is driven by the motor to drive the curved extension portion of the cover, thereby opening the cover.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide an external optical disk drive without deformation, such that both quality and appearance of the cover are improved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5583834 (1996-12-01), Kanada et al.
patent: 6388980 (2002-05-01), Otani et al.
patent: 6665254 (2003-12-01), Fukasawa
Cao Allen
Lite-On It Corporation
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley
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