Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval – Particular cabinet structure for optical media
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-03
2004-11-16
Cao, Allen (Department: 2652)
Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval
Particular cabinet structure for optical media
C369S077110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820272
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
(1) Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to a stopper structure for a disc drive housing and more particularly to a structure that has an upper cover with a lateral side formed with an inward angle to restrict the disk within the drive housing when there is rotating disc or its broken fragment tend to flying out.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In computer and media technology, optical disk or the like disk is an excellent medium and data storage means. Data recording and retrieval are generally done by means of a Compact Disk Drive. In the art, a compact disk drive mainly consists of two major parts; one is a data retrieval mechanism which further includes apparatus for supporting the disk and for reading and retrieving data from the disk, and the other one is a control circuitry. The disc drive housing of the present invention relates to the housing of the compact disk drive.
Referring to
FIG. 1
for a conventional rotating disc housing of the data retrieval mechanism for a compact disk drive, it consists of a base tray
10
, an upper cover
11
, a rotating disc
14
and a clamping mechanism
13
. A disk
14
operates in an accommodation space formed between the base tray
10
and the upper cover
11
. The upper cover
11
functions as a protective lid for the accommodation space and has a lateral side
15
formed as a slanted-seal edge. During operations, the disk
14
is mounted on the turntable
12
inside the base tray
10
and is driven by a driving motor
35
. The clamping mechanism
13
is used to anchor the disk
14
on the rotation disc
12
.
When the drive is operating, the disk
14
is spinning to perform data retrieval or writing function. Upon an event of unexpected external impact or failure of the clamping mechanism
13
, the disk
14
may fly away sideward from the turntable
12
due to clamping defect and rotation inertia, and hit the lateral side
15
of the upper cover
11
.
Refer to FIG.
2
. When the rotating disk
14
flies away from the turntable
12
, it may hit the lateral side
15
of the rotation disc housing with a great impact. Although the disc drive housing serves as a protective cover device, yet the lateral sides of the upper cover
11
and the base tray
10
are still elastic and can be treated as individual cantilevers. The lateral side
15
of the upper cover
11
could be bent upward by the flying disk
14
, while the base tray
10
is pushed to bend downward, and an aperture
36
is suddenly formed between the upper cover
11
and the base tray
10
. It could result in the disk
14
to be flying out of the aperture
36
. In such circumstances, the disk
14
is highly possible to severely harm the user. To prevent the accidents and possible damages mentioned above, an improvement upon the construction of the disc drive housing is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a stopper structure for the disc drive housing. In the present invention, the upper cover of the disc drive housing has a lateral side characterized by an inward-angle bent shape. When a disk flies incidentally away and hits the lateral side of the upper cover, the impact force can positively distribute to deform the lateral side toward a direction of closing the aperture between the upper cover and the base tray. Hence, the disk can be retained inside the disc drive housing. As a result, harm to end users can be reduced greatly.
The disc drive housing of the present invention includes a base tray for supporting the disk, and an upper cover for protecting and covering the base tray. The base tray and the upper cover together form an internal accommodation space for the disk. In the accommodation space, a turntable for holding the disk and a clamping mechanism for anchoring the disk on the rotation disc are constructed. Below the base tray, a driving motor is included for driving the turntable as well as the disk mounting on the rotation disc. In the disc drive housing, the aperture is formed between the base tray and the upper cover to allow the disk to move in or out of the disc drive housing. The stopper structure of the present invention is located on a lateral side of the upper cover adjacent to the aperture. The lateral side has a predetermined inward-angle tip (inclining towards the center of the disc drive housing). When the disk in the disc drive housing flies outwards and hits the lateral edge, the inward-angle tip can split the impact force into beneficial force components. As a result, the disk can be tilted upwards and moves away from the aperture, or the aperture becomes narrower while the disk hits. Thereby, the disk can be retained in the disc drive housing.
In the present invention, the predetermined inward-angle tip of the stopper may be at any acute angle, but preferably an angle between 5 and 30 degrees.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the lateral side of the stopper structure may further include an end formed a flange jutting inwards for a selected length. The jutting flange is extended in a direction away from the base tray and extended towards the center of the rotation disc housing.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5793729 (1998-08-01), Soga et al.
patent: 6134205 (2000-10-01), Watanabe
patent: 6414928 (2002-07-01), Aoki et al.
patent: 6728201 (2004-04-01), Takizawa et al.
patent: 6731583 (2004-05-01), Kabasawa
Benq Corporation
Cao Allen
Troxell Law Office PLLC
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