Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure – With mechanism to place disc on a turntable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-25
2004-03-02
Miller, Brian E. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
With mechanism to place disc on a turntable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06700850
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement for an optical disk apparatus, and more particularly to a safety improvement relating to possible optical disk damage during rotation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical disk apparatuses comprising a driven spinner, a driving spinner and an optical disk tray are already known.
An example of this type of optical disk apparatus is shown in FIG.
5
and FIG.
6
.
FIG. 5
is a schematic illustration showing a cutaway cross-section along the center of a conventional optical disk apparatus
100
.
FIG. 6
is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the conventional optical disk apparatus
100
.
As can be seen in
FIG. 5
, the optical disk apparatus
100
comprises a driven spinner
3
, a support member
4
, an optical disk tray
5
, a housing
6
, a tray opening/closing mechanism
7
, a driving spinner
8
, a spinner rotation motor
9
, and a reproduction unit
10
. The driven spinner
3
retains an optical disk
2
. The support member
4
supports the driven spinner
3
in a freely rotatable state. The optical disk tray
5
has a through hole in the center thereof. The tray opening/closing mechanism
7
moves the optical disk tray
5
in and out of the housing
6
. The driving spinner
8
moves towards and away from the driven spinner
3
in synchronization with the in and out movement of the optical disk tray
5
. The spinner rotation motor
9
rotates the driving spinner
8
. The reproduction unit
10
reproduces information obtained from the rotating optical disk
2
, and may also incorporate a writing function.
Of the above components, the support member
4
supports the driven spinner
3
in a freely rotatable state, and is fixed to the housing
6
, as shown in FIG.
6
.
Furthermore, the tray opening/closing mechanism
7
typically comprises a motor, and uses a power transmission mechanism not shown in the figures to slide the optical disk tray
5
in the radial direction of the optical disk
2
, in other words, in a left and right direction as shown in
FIG. 5
, thereby moving the optical disk tray
5
in and out of the housing
6
.
The reproduction unit
10
comprises a substrate section
10
a
and an elevation section
10
b,
and by moving this elevation section
10
b
up and down relative to the substrate section
10
a
using an elevation mechanism not shown in the figures, the driving spinner
8
of the spinner rotation motor
9
provided on the elevation section
10
b
moves towards and away from the driven spinner
3
.
When positioned close to the driven spinner
3
, the driving spinner
8
clamps the optical disk
2
in combination with the driven spinner
3
, and then rotates the optical disk
2
using the driving force from the spinner rotation motor
9
.
A tracer head
11
is one component of the reproduction unit
10
, and moves in and out along a slot
12
in the radial direction of the optical disk
2
. The slot connects with the through hole provided in the center of the optical disk tray
5
.
As follows is a brief description of the opening/closing operation for the optical disk tray
5
. First, with the apparatus in the state shown in
FIG. 5
, if an open/close switch
15
provided inside the housing
6
is operated via a push member
14
on the front panel
13
. Then the elevation mechanism (not shown) is activated and lowers the elevation section
10
b
of the reproduction unit
10
. At the same time, the spinner rotation motor
9
and the driving spinner
8
also move downwards, and the optical disk
2
, the lower surface of which has been supported by the driving spinner
8
, is mounted onto the optical disk tray
5
.
In this manner, when the elevation section
10
b
reaches a lower limit, the tray opening/closing mechanism
7
is then activated and causes the optical disk tray
5
to slide out towards the right of
FIG. 5
, thereby projecting the optical disk tray
5
outside of the housing
6
. In this state, the optical disk
2
can then be removed.
Subsequently, if the open/close switch
15
provided inside the housing
6
is once again operated via the push member
14
on the front panel
13
, then the tray opening/closing mechanism
7
is activated again and slides the optical disk tray
5
towards the left of
FIG. 5
, thereby retracting the optical disk tray
5
inside the housing
6
. In this manner, when the optical disk tray
5
reaches the retracted position shown in
FIG. 5
, the elevation mechanism is once again activated and the elevation section
10
b
of the reproduction unit
10
is raised. At the same time, the spinner rotation motor
9
and the driving spinner
8
also move upwards, and the optical disk
2
, the lower surface of which has been supported by the driving spinner
8
, is lifted up off the optical disk tray
5
and pressed against the lower surface of the driven spinner
3
.
The optical disk
2
, which is clamped between the driving spinner
8
and the driven spinner
3
, is then rotated by driving the spinner rotation motor
9
. Furthermore, reading or writing of information is then carried out using the tracer head
11
, by irradiating a laser light beam while moving the tracer head
11
across the optical disk
2
in a radial direction.
The optical disk apparatus
100
has a face panel
16
which is integrally formed with the optical disk tray
5
, and the operation for storing the optical disk tray
5
in the optical disk apparatus
100
can also be performed by pressing the face panel
16
instead of operating the push member
14
.
In an optical disk apparatus
100
of this type of construction, the rotational speed of the optical disk
2
was initially assumed to be 200 rpm (CD single speed), and the rigidity and strength of each of the components within the optical disk apparatus
100
were designed for such rotational speeds.
Subsequent improvements in the performance of computers and the like lead to demands for higher reading and writing speeds, and optical disk apparatus
100
of 2-times speed, 4-times speed, and 8-times speed and greater were designed. Recently, optical disk apparatuses
100
with rotational speeds of 9600 rpm (48-times CD single speed) have also been developed.
Moreover, the appearance of optical disks
2
such as CD-ROM disks and the like coincides with the development of the optical disk apparatus
100
, and there is a distinct possibility that very early optical disks
2
which have been damaged by scratches or age deterioration may also be used in optical disk apparatus
100
of current specifications.
Although both optical disks
2
and optical disk apparatus
100
have been designed with considerable margins allowed for safety, if an optical disk
2
is damaged during rotation and flies off in a radially outward direction due to the centrifugal force, then in the case where half of an optical disk
2
being rotated in a 9600 rpm optical disk apparatus
100
is torn to pieces for example, the force generated reaches approximately 20.9 Kgf (calculated value). If the optical disk
2
flies directly into the front panel
13
or the face panel
16
, then there is no absolute guarantee that the front panel
13
or the face panel
16
could withstand such an impact.
Consequently, in order to resolve this type of problem, an optical disk apparatus has been proposed which comprises a protrusion which protrudes downwards from a position towards the right hand side of the upper inside surface of the housing
6
(refer to position a in FIG.
5
), and extends to a position touching the upper surface of the optical disk tray
5
.
However, in this type of construction, the optical disk tray
5
may sometimes catch on the protrusion, obstructing the slide operation of the optical disk tray
5
.
Furthermore, in cases where the optical disk
2
does not mount perfectly on the optical disk tray
5
and sits with a slight tilt, the tip of the protrusion can rub the surface of the optical disk
2
and generate scratches.
An optical disk apparatus has also been proposed which comprises a cir
Izumiya Yusuke
Miyasaka Hiroaki
Sudou Shinichi
Takahashi Kazuaki
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