Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Dynamic mechanism subsystem – Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-07
2003-09-02
Miller, Brian E. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Dynamic mechanism subsystem
Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
active
06614747
ABSTRACT:
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a disc apparatus such as CD players, and more particularly to a floating chassis support mechanism suitable for a vehicle mount disc apparatus.
The present invention also relates to a vehicle mount disc reproduction apparatus in which a reproduction unit chassis is supported in a floating state by a main chassis with springs and dampers, and more particularly to a lock position of the reproduction unit chassis when a disk is unloaded or loaded.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
An example of the structure of a conventional floating chassis support mechanism for vehicle mount CD players will be described with reference to
FIGS. 11
to
13
. A floating chassis
11
shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12
supports thereon a disc motor
7
, a pickup
9
, and a pickup transport mechanism. The floating chassis is supported in a floating state by a main chassis (not shown) by dampers
4
,
4
,
4
and unrepresented coil springs during disk reproducing. At least one of the dampers
4
,
4
,
4
is disposed in a projection area of a disc during disk reproducing.
In loading/unloading a disc
15
, the floating chassis
11
is locked to the main chassis by an unrepresented lock mechanism, and the disc
15
is squeezed between a disk guide
1
and a disc transport roller
2
and transported between a reproduction position and a disk insert port while the disk transport roller
2
rotates.
As the disc
15
is transported to the reproduction position, the transport roller
2
lowers and detaches from the disc
15
and the lock mechanism releases a lock of the floating chassis
11
. Thereafter, the disc
15
is clamped between a turntable
8
fixedly connected to a rotary shaft of the disc motor
7
and an unrepresented clamper and then it is rotated. The optical pickup
9
is fed along a disc radial direction to reproduce information from the disc.
In the above-described conventional floating chassis support mechanism, since the damper
4
is disposed in the projection area of the disc
15
, the depth from the upper surface of the disc
15
to the lower surface of the damper
4
is a total T=H
1
+H
2
+H
3
as shown in
FIG. 13
, where H
1
is a distance from the upper surface of the disc
15
to the upper surface of the floating chassis
11
, H
2
is a thickness of the floating chassis
11
, and H
3
is a thickness from the lower surface of the floating chassis
11
to the lower surface of the disc
15
. Since the depth from the upper surface of the disc
15
to the lower surface of the damper
4
is large, the total height of the apparatus becomes large.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has been made under the above-described circumstances. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a floating chassis support mechanism for disc apparatuses capable of thinning the apparatus by reducing the necessary size from the upper surface of a loaded disc to the lower surface of a damper.
It is another object of the invention to provide a vehicle mount disc reproduction apparatus having the floating chassis support mechanism described above, capable of loading and unloading a disc with a short transport distance.
In a floating chassis support mechanism for a disc apparatus of this invention for supporting a floating chassis with springs and dampers vertically from the opposite side of a loaded disc, the dampers are disposed outside of a projection area of the disc, and an area of the floating chassis supported by the dampers is retracted toward the disk side more than a lower surface of the disc.
In the floating chassis support mechanism, the damper is fitted in a tubular portion of a main chassis and a damper pusher is fitted in the main chassis to push a bottom surface of the damper and mount the damper on the main chassis.
In the floating chassis support mechanism, the spring for supporting the floating chassis is fitted around an outer wall of the tubular portion of the main chassis, and engaged with a projection formed on the tubular portion.
In a vehicle mount disc reproduction apparatus with the floating chassis support mechanism of this invention having a reproduction unit chassis supported in a floating state by a main chassis with springs and dampers, the reproduction unit chassis is locked to the main chassis in a state shifted toward a disc insert port when a disk is loaded or unloaded.
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Haga Yosuke
Imai Tsutomu
Masuda Shinji
Murakami Midori
Ono Atuomi
Kabushiki Kaisha Kenwood
Miller Brian E.
Robinson Eric J.
Robinson Intellectual Property Law Office P.C.
Tianjie Chen
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