GB2227594A - Compact disc insertion and election system - Google Patents

Abstract

A compact disc player disc insertion and ejection mechanism comprises a tray (16) which is moved vertically whilst being driven into the housing. In operation the carriage (12) moves the tray (16) into the housing. Tray (16) carries a tray riser (40) which has an angled sawtooth surface (42), which initially rests atop tray riser pinion (44) whose rotational axis is fastened to the carriage. The tray riser pinion passes over a short rack (46) fixed to the front of the housing or chassis, and rotates relative to the fixed gear-toothed tray riser, causing the tray to rise above the carriage. The carriage passes over the motors of the housing and around the spindle motor on whose spindle (10) the disc will rest and rotate. When the disc is centered over the spindle, the disc supporting tray (16) ceases to move further into the housing with movement of the carriage. The tray riser pinion then rotates in the opposite direction thereby lowering the tray onto the spindle with the disc now resting on the spindle. <IMAGE>

Description

COMPACT DISC INSERTION AND EJECTION SYSTEM The invention is directed to the field of compact disc record and playback apparatus, and more particularly to the field of disc insertion and insertion mechanisms. The compact disc insertion mechanism of the present invention is particularly useful with a compact disc player incorporating a low profile servo actuator described in our U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 270536 and European Patent Publication No. (Ref: 34589/000).

The need for high density relatively high capacity storage at a reasonable cost for use with personal computers has been satisfied for many years by floppy disc drives and what are now known as hard disc drives or Winchester-type disc drives. However, with the advent of increasingly complex programs which require a significant amount of storage space as well as the need for mass data storage, the search for usable storage at reasonable cost has now turned to optical memories wherein the data is stored on a disc which is removable from the mechanism and which may be recorded and/or read by an optical transducer such as a laser. However, a limitation to this date on incorporating such storage devices in personal computers has been the relatively high cost per bit for data storage relative to existing types of data storage systems.

Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an optical disc storage system which is economical yet provides a significant amount of storage.

The particular problem addressed herein is of placing the optical disc on a spindle or turntable in the memory apparatus for rotation under the transducer. It is necessary and important to minimize the amount of handling of the disc, as excessive handling which deposits dirt and oil on the surface of the disc will quickly cause deterioration of the storage capability of the disc. Since the typical optical disc memory is intended for mounting in a personal computer in much the same way as a hard disc or floppy disc drive is currently mounted (i.e. only the front panel of the drive is user-accessible), it is necessary to provide means for inserting the disc into the system and ejecting it from the system.

In performing this insertion operation, it is necessary to support the disc above the fixed spindle while it is moved laterally from the front of the machine to a point where the disc is centered over the spindle, and then lower the disc onto the spindle platform and clamp it in place from the top. Therefore, it is a further objective of the present invention to provide means for automatically inserting a disc relative to the spindle, after which it is clamped very securely in place and can be precisely positioned so that the optical transducer which is moved in a linear path relative to the disc can be accurately positioned over any target track.

A further objective is to provide a means for ejecting the disc drom the system, when desired, including means for unclamping the disc, raising the disc off the drive spindle, and moving the disc outside the drive housing where it can be removed.

These and other objectives of the present invention are achieved in a compact disc player wherein the disc insertion and ejection mechanism comprises a tray which will support the disc for movement to and from a recording or reading position supported on a spindle motor, and a carriage for moving the tray relative to the record/playback mechanism. At the beginning of the disc insertion cycle, the disc is placed on the tray, while it and the carriage are located outside the housing of the record/playback mechanism. Upon initiating the insertion of the disc, the carriage begins to move the tray into the record/playback mechanism housing. The side of the disc supporting tray carries a tray riser which has an angled sawtooth surface, which at the beginning of the insertion cycle rests atop a tray riser pinion whose rotational axis is fastened to the carriage.As the carriage begins to move into the housing, the tray riser pinion passes over a short rack fixed to the front of the housing or chassis, and rotates relative to the fixed gear-toothed tray riser, causing the tray to rise above the carriage. The carriage now passes into the housing, the open end of the U-shaped carriage passing over the motors of the housing and around the spindle motor on whose spindle the disc will rest and rotate. When the carriage has carried the tray and disc to a point where the disc is centered over the spindle, then the disc supporting tray ceases to move further into the housing with movement of the carriage. The carriage continues to move, and as it does, the tray riser pinion rotates in a direction opposite to its initial rotation.

The tray riser pinion thereby steps back across the angled, toothed surface of the tray riser on the disc tray. Since the face of the sawtooth tray riser which is facing the tray riser pinion is inclined, with continued motion of the carriage and rotation of the tray riser pinion, the tray is lowered around the spindle with the disc now resting on the spindle.

As an additional feature, the carriage further carries a wedge on the leading end of one leg, which at the end of its travel presses against a lever actuator.

The lever actuator rotates around an axis in a clockwise direction (as seen from the wedge), causing translation of its motion from the XY direction to the YZ direction, and causing a clamp lever which extends out over the top of the tray and disc to be clamped down on the top of the spindle and on the disc so that the disc, having passed over the top of the spindle and being centered about it is now clamped securely in place.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description.

The single drawing in this application is an exploded view of the essential elements of a compact disc insertion and ejection mechanism which may easily be incorporated in any of the many front-loading compact disc players known in this technology.

The single figure of the present invention shows the essential elements of a mechanism for inserting and ejecting a disc in an optical disc read/record apparatus of a front loading design which is a type well known in this technology. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, only the essential elements necessary to illustrate the insertion and ejection mechanism are specifically illustrated herein.

Specifically, the means for supporting a disc and moving it from a position outside the housing to a position where it is centered over the spindle 10 includes a carriage 12 which is directly driven by a motor 14, and a tray 16 for supporting the disc. As illustrated, it is clear that the carriage 12 and tray 16 are in their fullyinserted position in the housing, with the tray having centered the disc over the epi spindle 10. However, the operation shall be described beginning with the carriage 12 and tray 16 being positioned outside the housing so that the user of the disc drive may place a disc upon the tray 16.

Upon putting a disc on the tray 16, the operation of the drive mechanism generally indicated at 20 is initiated either by pushing a START button or by manually pushing the carriage into the housing. The drive mechanism includes a DC motor 14 and a rack 22 which is fastened to the side of the carriage 12. The output of the motor 14 is coupled to the rack 22 through a gear train 24 which reduces the motor speed to the required speed through a worm gear 26, pinion gear 28, and a second pinion gear 30.

In this way, the output of the motor 14, reduced to the proper rate of rotation, is coupled from the motor 14 to the rack 22 to drive the carriage 12 along the path in the direction of the letter A.

It is immediately apparent that a problem which must be addressed is that the spindle 10 which is used to drive the rotational movement of the disc protrudes upward and intervenes in the path of the disc which is being brought into the housing. Further, in order to accurately posi tion the transducer with respect to the disc, it is necessary to tightly and accurately clamp the disc on the spindle hub so that the disc is accurately located on the hub and held there for rotation of the disc.

To overcome this problem, the present invention incorporates a novel, simple approach to raising the tray 16 above the carriage 12 while the carriage 12 continues to carry it from outside the housing into the housing to center the disc on the hub 10. Thereupon, the disc is lowered onto the hub 10 so that it may be clamped in place on the hub 10 using clamp 71.

To achieve this function of raising and lowering the tray 16, a tray riser 40 is attached to the side of the tray, having an inclined, gear-toothed face 42 facing a tray riser pinion 44 whose rotational axis is attached to the side of the carriage 12. As the carriage 12 and tray 16 move into the housing, the tray riser pinion 44 passes over a short rack 46 shown at the lower part of FIG 1.

Passing over this rack 46 causes clockwise rotation of the tray riser pinion 44. Since the tray riser pinion 44 is fixed to the carriage 12, as the tray riser pinion rotates across the inclined face 42 of tray riser 40, the tray 16 rises above the carriage 12 (in the Z-axis direction), but continues to rest upon and travel in direction A with the carriage. Thus, the tray 16 has been elevated above the carriage 12 by the height 47 of inclined face 42 as it passes into the housing. When the tray 16 reaches a position such that the disc is centered over the hub 10, the leading edge 50 of the tray meets a stop 52 which is fastened near the rear portion of the chassis. This effectively and accurately stops movement of the tray.

The carriage 12 continues to move forward propelled by the motor 14 and rack 22. As the carriage moves, it is obvious that the tray riser pinion 44 will now rotate opposite to its original direction of rotation, and as the tray riser pinion moves across the inclined face 42 of the tray riser 40, the tray 16 will be lowered back onto the carriage 12 and the disc will be lowered gently onto the hub to be clamped by clamp lever 60.

When the disc is to be withdrawn, the opposite sequence of actions will occur. That is, first the action of the motor 14 is initiated, causing the movement of the rack 22 and with it the carriage 12. As the carriage begins to move, the tray riser pinion 44 rotates clockwise, and rotates across the inclined face 42 of riser 40 again causing the tray to rise above the carriage by height 47. A second stop 49 on the carriage 12 now catches the edge 50 of the tray 16, causing the tray 16 to move in the direction of arrow B with the carriage 12.

The carriage 12 and tray 16 now move out of the housing as a unit. A final tray stop catches the tray 16 at the end of its path of travel before the carriage stops moving, causing the tray riser pinion 44 to pass across the inclined face 42 of the short rack 46, again lowering the tray 16 onto the carriage 12.

In order to tightly clamp the disc in place, a clamp lever system is provided which will clamp the disc on the locating hub and hold it there while the disc is spun.

The clamp mechanism includes two levers 62, 64, the lever 62 having a working end 66 which faces a wedge 68 carried on the leading edge of carriage 12. As the carriage reaches the end of its travel in the A direction, the disc has been lowered onto the hub. The face of wedge 68 meets the working handle 66 and forces rotation of lever actuator 62 about a center of rotation 70. As it does so, by commonly known mechanical principles, the lever actuator 68 causes the clamping lever 60 to rotate such that it lowers the clamping hub 71 toward the disc.

Meanwhile, a spring 72 attached to the side of the clamping lever 60 is being stretched to place tension on the clamping lever 60. This wedging action locks the lever system in this position until the carriage moves in direction B, removing the wedge 68. When it is desired to remove the disc, the disc is unclamped as soon as the carriage 12 begins to move, as the wedge is removed from contact with the working end 66 of the lever actuator 62.

The spring 72 retracts to its original length, causing the clamping lever 60 to rotate away from the disc and carrying away the clamping hub 71, freeing the disc. In this way, the entire system is reset for its next use, and movement of the carriage 12 may support and carry the tray 16 out of the housing so that the disc may be removed by the user of the system.

Other features and advantages of the present invention may become apparent to a person of skill in the art who studies the present invention disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the following claims.

Claims (2)

1. A compact disc player comprising disc insertion and ejection mechanism comprising a tray which will support the disc for movement to and from a recording or reading position, and a carriage for moving the tray relative to the record/playback mechanism, a drive means for moving the carriage into and out of said housing with said tray supported thereon, side of the disc supporting tray carrying a tray riser which has an angled sawtooth surface, which at the beginning of the insertion cycle rests atop a tray riser pinion whose rotational axis is fastened to the carriage, the tray riser pinion passing over a short rack fixed to the front of the housing or chassis, and rotating relative to the fixed gear-toothed tray riser, causing the tray to rise above the carriage, for movement of the carriage and tray into the housing, ceasing to move further into the housing with movement of the carriage when the disc is centered over a spindle for rotating the disc, the carriage continuing to move, the tray riser pinion rotating in a direction opposite to its initial rotation, the tray riser pinion thereby stepping back across the angled, toothed surface of the tray riser on the disc tray, lowering tray and disc carried thereon into engagement with spindle.

2. A compact disc player substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.