Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Information location or remote operator actuated control – Selective addressing of storage medium
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-22
2003-04-01
Dinh, Tan (Department: 2653)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Information location or remote operator actuated control
Selective addressing of storage medium
C369S030270, C369S033010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06542446
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an optical disc apparatus, and more particularly to a portable optical disc apparatus easy to be made into a thin-type apparatus. The present invention also is directed to an optical disc suitable for the portable optical disc apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Nowadays, there has been a development ro transform the existent CD and DVD, etc. into a magneto-optical disc exploiting both a light and a magnetic field and a near field optical disc expected to increase dramatically a recording density using a near field. Hereinafter, an optical disc generally includes all the recording media or storage media taking the above-mentioned disc type.
The optical disc is provided with signal tracks having a spiral shape or concentric circle shape, and trends toward a high density disc owing to a development of an access technique and a servo technique, etc. Accordingly, the optical disc is developed more and more small in size from a standard disc having a 12 cm diameter until a disc having a 8 cm diameter to be suitable for a portable equipment is reached.
Generally, an optical disc apparatus includes an optical pickup for optically accessing the optical disc, a spindle motor for rotating the optical disc, and a printed circuit board mounted with various circuitry such as drive and control circuits, an interface circuit and the like. Such an optical disc has been commercially available for peripheral equipment of a personal computer (PC) and an audio/video equipment. Recently, there has been suggested a scheme of using an optical disc having a large recording density as a storage medium of a portable equipment as various portable equipment, such as a notebook computer and a camcoder, etc. Accordingly, a study as to a high-density optical disc as well as a thin-type optical disc apparatus has been actively made.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an optical disc apparatus includes a spindle motor
2
loaded with an optical disc
1
, an optical pickup
3
for irradiating a light onto the optical disc
1
, an optical pickup carriage motor
4
for carrying the optical pickup
3
, and a sled base
5
for supporting the spindle motor
2
and the optical pickup carriage motor
4
. The spindle motor
2
plays a role to rotary-drive the optical disc
1
at a constant speed. The optical pickup
3
consists of a laser light source and an optical system, and focuses a laser light beam emitted from the laser light source onto the optical disc
1
and converts a reflective light beam reflected from the optical disc
1
into an electrical signal. The optical pickup carriage motor
4
drives the optical pickup
3
via a guide shaft
4
a
. The optical pickup carriage motor
4
carries the optical pickup
3
in a radial direction of the optical disc
1
such that the optical pickup
3
can access the optical disc
1
on a random basis from the inner circumference thereof until the outer circumference thereof along the radial direction of the optical disc
1
. At this time, the guide shaft
4
a
converts a rotation power generated from the optical pickup carriage motor
4
into a liner power to transfer the same to the optical pickup
3
. The sled base
5
is installed, via a connecting member
5
a
, within the case
6
and plays a role to support the spindle motor
2
and the optical pickup carriage motor
4
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, for the sake of making a servo control, the optical disc apparatus includes a signal processor
7
connected to an output line of the optical pickup
3
, a servo driver
8
for driving the optical pickup
3
and the optical pickup carriage motor
4
, and a controller
9
for controlling the signal processor
7
and the servo driver
8
. The signal processor
7
detects a radio frequency signal and servo control signals, such as focusing and tracking error signals, etc., from an output signal of the optical pickup
3
. The servo driver
8
is connected between the signal processor
7
and the controller
9
to drive an actuator
3
b
attached with an objective lens
3
a
of the optical pickup
3
and the optical pickup carriage motor
4
in accordance with the servo error signals detected from the signal processor
7
. With the aid of the servo driver
8
, the optical pickup
3
retrieves a data in a rough search mode and in a fine search mode. In the rough search mode, the optical pickup carriage motor
4
is driven in a movement range exceeding a movable range of the actuator
3
b
. Thus, the entire optical pickup
3
is transferred in a radial direction of the optical disc
1
along the guide shaft
4
a
in the rough search mode. At this time, the signal processor
7
detects a tracking traverse signal being generated when the optical pickup
3
traverses the optical pickups. By monitoring this tracking traverse signal, the servo driver
8
moves the optical pickup
3
into a start point of the fine search mode. The start point of the fine search mode is determined by the rough search mode. In the fine search mode, the actuator
3
b
is driven in two, i.e., vertical and horizontal axes direction in accordance with a tracking error signal and a focusing error signal detected within a movable range of the actuator
3
b
. In the fine search mode, the objective lens
3
a
is driven with the actuator
3
b
to be moved into a final target position. The movable range of the actuator
3
b
, that is, the fine search allowable range is approximately hundreds through thousands of tracks.
However, the conventional optical pickup apparatus has a limit in making it into a slim-type apparatus due to optical pickup transfer devices, such as the optical pickup carriage motor
4
and the guide shaft
4
a
, and a space occupied by the sled base
5
for supporting these devices. Also, the optical pickup transfer devices and the sled base
5
transfer themselves vibration, or an external impact or vibration transferred from the exterior thereof to the optical pickup
3
to cause an external interference and vibration of the optical pickup
3
. If the optical pickup
3
is vibrated upon recording and reproducing, then an error may be generated in a recording data or a reproducing data.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable optical disc apparatus that is easy to be made into a slim-type apparatus.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc adaptive for the portable optical disc apparatus.
In order to achieve this and other objects of the invention, an optical pickup apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention has a pickup secured onto a base, and a movable member in the pickup operated to access only an area within a specific radius range which is a partial area of the optical disc.
A optical disc according to another aspect of the present invention has a diameter equal to a standard or conventional optical disc and a data area thereof divided into at least two zones so that it can be used with optical disc apparatuses having different accessible radius ranges, and is provided with an identification information for the divided data area.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5537387 (1996-07-01), Ando et al.
patent: 5754521 (1998-05-01), Yokota
patent: 5778257 (1998-07-01), Tsukatani et al.
patent: 6229784 (2001-05-01), Yoshimoto et al.
patent: 6310854 (2001-10-01), Sato et al.
patent: 1-130328 (1989-05-01), None
patent: 4-13266 (1992-01-01), None
patent: 1997-60158 (1997-08-01), None
patent: 1999-18762 (1999-03-01), None
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Dinh Tan
LG Electronics Inc.
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