Dynamic information storage or retrieval – With particular cabinet structure – Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-17
2003-02-18
Davis, David (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
With particular cabinet structure
Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc
C369S223000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06522614
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive, in particular to a tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive which is capable of ejecting a tray by using the driving force of a sled motor for transferring a pickup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a disk drive performs data reproducing/recording of a disk by using a pickup. It widely comprises a casing which is a mainframe of a drive, and a tray installed at the casing so as to be movable back and forth which performs the loading/unloading of the disk.
The general disk drive comprises a tray ejection apparatus which fixes the position of the tray, while data reproducing/recording is performed, after it is inserted inside of a casing, and ejects the tray from the casing when the fixed position, of the tray is released after the disk reproducing/recording is finished.
The conventional tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive will now be described with reference to FIG.
1
.
First, a solenoid
1
as the driving source and a driving plate
3
driven by the solenoid
1
are installed at the bottom surface of a tray T′ where a disk is mounted.
Herein, the driving plate
3
is elastically supported by a spring
4
and the side of the spring is connected to an actuator
2
of the solenoid
1
.
In addition, the spring
4
is connected between the tray T′ and the driving plate
3
and provides elasticity to the driving plate
3
.
Rotating slots
3
A,
3
B for rotating a connecting lever
6
and a bridging lever
10
are installed at the driving plate
3
. Herein, the connecting lever
6
is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ so as to be rotational, centering around a hinge shaft
6
H, and is driven by the driving plate
3
.
The connecting lever
6
includes a rotating protrusion
8
inserted into the rotating slot
3
A of the driving plate
3
sliding along the rotating slot
3
A, and a driving pin
9
for driving the bridging lever
10
formed at the end of the rotating protrusion
8
.
The bridging lever
10
is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ so as to be rotational, centering around a hinge shaft
10
H, and is driven by the connecting lever
6
.
An interlocking rib
11
for interlocking with the driving pin
9
of the connecting lever
6
is formed at the end of the bridging lever
10
, and the hinge shaft
10
H is inserted into the rotating slot
3
B of the driving plate
3
.
In addition, the bridging lever
10
and connecting lever
6
are elastically supported by the spring
7
,
12
separately so as to be rotational, centering around the hinge shafts
6
H and
10
H, respectively.
A returning lever
13
for returning the connecting lever
6
and the bridging lever
10
driven by the solenoid
1
to their initial position is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ adjacent to the bridging lever
10
so as to be rotational around the hinge shaft
13
H. In addition, the returning lever
13
is elastically supported by a spring
9
(not shown) so as to be rotational around the hinge shaft
13
H in a counter-clockwise direction.
A stopper
15
is formed at the front side of the casing C′ for hanging and fixing the bridging lever
10
in order to prevent the tray T′ from ejecting to the outside of the casing C′ when the tray T′ is inserted into the casing C′ and when reproducing/recording data on a disk is performed.
In addition, the tray T′ is elastically supported by an ejector spring
17
biased toward the outside of the casing C′; namely, in the tray ejection direction.
The non-described reference numeral
19
is a supporting protrusion formed the bottom surface of the tray T′ for supporting the end of the springs
7
,
12
which support the connection lever
6
and the bridging lever
10
.
The operation of the conventional tray eject apparatus of the disk drive will now be described.
First, when an eject button is pushed by a user, a signal for operating the solenoid
1
is generated. The solenoid
1
is driven by the signal and the actuator
2
is projected to the rear side.
Likewise, when the actuator
2
of the solenoid
1
operates, the driving plate
3
connected to the actuator
2
is horizontally transferred to the rear side. After that, the rotating protrusion
8
of the bridging lever
6
inserted into the rotating slot
3
A of the driving plate
3
slides along the rotating slot
3
A by the movement of the driving plate
3
, and the connecting lever
6
rotates around the hinge shaft
6
H in the counter-clockwise direction.
As described above, when the connecting lever
6
rotates, the driving pin
9
of the connecting lever
6
pushes the interlocking rib
11
of the bridging lever
10
, and the bridging lever
10
rotates around the hinge shaft
10
H in counter-clockwise direction.
After that, when the bridging lever
10
escapes from the stopper
15
, after rotating a certain amount in the counter-clockwise direction, the force restricting the tray T′ is removed and, accordingly, the tray T′ ejects to the outside of the casing C′ to a certain degree by the ejector spring
17
.
As described above, when the tray T′ projects to the outside of the casing C′ to a certain degree, the user can pull the tray T′ by hand until it is completely removed to the outside of the casing C′ where a disk can be unloaded from a tray or mounted in a tray T′.
Herein, when the tray T′ completely projects to the outside of the casing C′, the return lever
13
operates to make the solenoid
1
return to its initial position.
The return process of the solenoid
1
by the return lever
13
will now be described in detail.
When the tray T′ is transferred toward the outside of the casing C′, the left end portion of the return lever
13
hangs on the stopper
15
, and the return lever
13
rotates around the hinge shaft
13
H in a clock-wise direction.
As described above, when the return lever
13
rotates, the right end of the return lever
13
pushes the driving plate
3
to the front side, and the actuator
2
of the solenoid
1
moves into the solenoid
1
by the movement of the driving plate
3
.
On the contrary, when the user pushes the tray T′ into the casing C′, the bridging lever
10
engages the stopper
15
and, accordingly, the position of the tray T′ is fixed.
In more detail, the user loads a disk on the tray T′ or unloads a disk mounted on the tray T′, and pushes the tray T′ into the casing C′.
When the tray T′ is pushed into the casing C′, the bridging lever
10
overcomes the elasticity of the spring
12
by being pushed by the stopper
15
and rotates a small amount in the counter-clockwise direction. The side of the bridging lever
10
in its rotated state is transferred in accordance with the stopper
15
.
The tray T′ is then pushed continually, so that when the end portion of the bridging lever
10
passes the stopper
15
, the bridging lever
10
rotates around the hinge shaft
10
H by the elasticity of the spring
12
, and the end portion of the bridging lever
10
engages the inside of the stopper
15
. Accordingly, the tray T′ is received inside of the casing C′.
As described above, the solenoid
1
, the driving plate
3
, the bridging lever
10
, the connecting lever
6
and the return lever
13
all represent the conventional tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive and are all installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′, which is a moving unit. Accordingly, the construction complexity of the moving unit, and the electricity consumption required for transferring the moving unit increase due to the increase in load. Also, the assembly of the tray T′ is very complicated because most of the parts are installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′.
In addition, the conventional tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive requires a solenoid
1
as an additional operation unit, and flexible cable
Davis David
Dolan Jennifer M
LG Electronics Inc.
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