JP2002269891A - Disk changer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk changer device provided with a highly reliable gear elevating/lowering mechanism evading operation failures due to the collision of a pinion and a rack provided on a tray occurring accompanying the elevating/lowering operation of the pinion and hardly damaging teeth. SOLUTION: This disk changer device is provided with a plurality of trays where a disk can be mounted, a tray housing part for piling up and housing a plurality of the trays, a tray moving means for moving a selected tray to the attaching/detaching position or reproducing position of the disk and a disk reproducing means for reproducing the disk at the reproducing position. The pinion to be engaged with the rack provided on the tray is provided on the tray moving means and the pinion is vertically moved in the direction of piling up the tray. A first slope is provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the pinion, a second slope is provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth facing the pinion of the rack, the first and second slopes are mutually abutted and guided and thus, the engaging position of the rack and the pinion is adjusted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a disk as an information recording medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk loading device for loading a disk reproducing device, and more particularly to a disk changer device for selectively transferring one of a plurality of stored disks to the disk reproducing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, with the spread of disks as information recording media such as optical disks and magneto-optical disks,
In order to easily handle a plurality of disks collectively, a disk loading device that stores the plurality of disks at a time and selectively plays back the disks has been proposed. Has proposed a disc changer device for selectively transferring one of a plurality of stored discs to the disc reproducing apparatus.

As one example of such a disc changer device, there is a disc reproducing device which does not require a magazine case and which can exchange other discs during reproduction, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-282520. Proposed.

[0004] Specifically, a sub-tray for mounting a disk, a main tray for holding the sub-tray movably by a certain distance, and at least three main trays arranged in a stack are movably held for a certain distance. The playback device housing includes a tray moving mechanism for selectively moving the sub-tray and the main tray, and a playback mechanism for playing a disk placed at the playback position.

The tray moving mechanism includes a pinion that meshes with one of a rack attached to the sub-tray and a rack attached to the main tray, a pinion rotation motor that rotates the pinion, and a pinion rotation motor. And a pinion moving means for moving the pinion along an axis of rotation.

Further, the pinion moving means includes a pinion elevating cam for moving the pinion along the rotation axis,
The reproducing mechanism is moved to a predetermined position by a reproducing unit elevating cam, and the pinion elevating cam and the reproducing unit elevating cam are selectively rotated by one cam rotation motor.

[0007] More specifically, the disc reproducing apparatus has a set of a sub tray and a main tray.
The sub-tray moves the disk from a disk exchange position outside the housing to a reproduction position. The main tray is
The sub-tray is movably held between the disk exchange position and a standby position inside the housing.

Further, racks are provided on both the sub-tray and the main tray, and one pinion meshes with either one of the racks. That is, the pinion is moved up and down along its own rotation axis by the pinion moving means including the pinion elevating cam, so that the pinion is moved to a position where it meshes with one of the racks. The pinion elevating cam is a cylindrical cam, and has a plurality of cam surfaces according to the position of the pinion.

Further, the disc reproducing apparatus has a swing gear and a reproducing section elevating cam for moving the reproducing apparatus. The reproducing unit elevating cam is a cylindrical cam for moving the reproducing unit including the turntable and the optical pickup unit up and down, and has a plurality of cam surfaces according to the position of the reproducing unit. The swing gear swings according to the rotation direction of the motor to rotate either the pinion elevating cam or the regenerating unit elevating cam. Thereby, two types of cams can be driven by one motor.

[0010]

However, in the structure described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-282520, the pin side faces of the rack collide with the tooth side faces of the rack as the pinion moves up and down. There is a possibility that the operation may be stopped. In order to avoid this, in the embodiment having the above-described configuration, the tray moving mechanism is provided with one pinion that meshes with either the rack attached to the sub-tray or the rack attached to the main tray, and rotates this pinion. It comprises a pinion rotation motor and pinion moving means for moving the pinion along the rotation axis of the pinion, so that the pinion is finely rotated in a very short cycle when the pinion moves up and down.

However, such a configuration requires a complicated rotation control mechanism for finely rotating the pinion, resulting in an increase in cost and power consumption. Also,
Only by slightly rotating the pinion does not reliably prevent the collision between the pinion and the rack, so that damage to the teeth and a shortened life of the parts due to the damage are inevitable. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an operation failure caused by a collision between a pinion and a rack provided on a tray, which is caused by a lifting / lowering operation of a pinion, can be performed without newly providing a fine movement rotation mechanism for the pinion. An object of the present invention is to provide a disk changer device having a highly reliable gear elevating mechanism that avoids and damages teeth and has high reliability.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there are provided a plurality of trays on each of which a disc can be placed, a tray storage portion for storing the plurality of trays in a superimposed manner, and Tray moving means for moving a tray selected from among the trays from the tray storage section to a position where a disc is to be loaded or unloaded, or from the tray storage section to a disk playback position, and a tray at the disk playback position A disc reproducing means for reproducing a disc placed on the tray, wherein a pinion meshing with a rack provided on the tray is provided on the tray moving means for the plurality of trays stored in an overlapping manner, In the configuration in which the pinion is moved up and down in the set direction, a first slope is provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the pinion, A second slope is provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth facing the pinion, and the first and second slopes are guided in contact with each other to adjust a meshing position between the rack and the pinion. I do.

Further, the first and second slopes each have a tapered shape.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a disk loading device including a disk changer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure thereof. As shown in these drawings, in the present embodiment, a substantially box-shaped housing 1 is provided.
At the front of the housing 1, a tray storage unit 3 in which a plurality of trays 4 are stacked and stored is provided. The tray storage unit 3 includes a frame-shaped tray storage unit 3R on the front right side of the housing 1.
Further, a frame-shaped tray storage portion 3L is attached to the front left side surface of the housing 1 respectively.

A tray holder 12 into which a tray 4 on which a disk to be played is loaded is pulled in, and a substantially disk-shaped disk holder 13 provided near the center thereof are installed at the rear of the housing 1. Have been. The upper cover 2 is screwed from above the front part of the housing 1 and the upper covers 2F and 2R are screwed from front to rear from above the rear part of the housing 1, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the appearance of the housing and the tray accommodating portion in this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the number of disks that can be stored in the apparatus, that is, the number of trays 4 (here, 6
Tray guide portions 3a corresponding to each sheet are disposed at both ends. That is, a long plate-shaped tray guide portion 3a having a substantially L-shaped cross section protrudes inward from each inner wall of the tray storage portions 3R and 3L. Above the top of each tray guide section, a long plate-shaped tray guide section 3b projects inward from the inner walls of the tray storage sections 3R and 3L.
The leg 100 extends downward from the lower surface of the housing 1.

FIG. 4 is a front left side view showing a configuration of a portion related to the tray storage section and the gear cover in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG.
A guide groove 3c is formed in each step from the outside of the side surface to the inside, that is, in the lateral direction of the apparatus. The tray lock members 25 respectively corresponding to the trays 4 accommodated in the respective stages are slidable in the left-right direction of the apparatus by the engagement of the projections 25c provided at the lower portion thereof with the respective guide grooves 3c. Attached to.

As described above, the operation of the tray lock member 25 is guided by the guide groove 3c provided in the tray storage portion 3L. Then, the rear surface 25b is pressed from the outside of the side surface of the tray housing portion 3L by the leaf spring-shaped action portion 26a extending in each step from the lock member holding spring 26 screwed thereto, and is urged inward. Have been. Reference numeral 25a denotes a lock release unit that regulates the insertion amount of the tray lock member 25 into the apparatus. Details will be described later.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing two types of disks mounted on the apparatus. In FIGS. 7A and 7B, FIG.
Discs 15 and 16 are shown as information recording media, respectively. The disk 15 is a large-diameter disk indicated by an outer diameter D, and has a hole 15a at the center thereof for fitting with a turntable of a reproducing mechanism unit described later.
The disc 16 is a small-diameter disc indicated by an outer diameter d, and has a hole 16a at the center thereof for fitting with a turntable of the reproducing mechanism unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the reproducing mechanism unit. As shown in the figure, the reproduction mechanism unit 14 has a configuration in which a turntable 61, a pickup 62, and the like are mounted on a substantially rectangular base plate 14a. The turntable 61 is provided at a front portion of the base plate 14a so as to be fitted to a rotating shaft 63a extending upward from a spindle motor 63 mounted on a lower surface thereof.

The pickup 62 is slidably supported by a slide plate 14b and a slide shaft 14c from the left and right sides thereof, and is mounted on the turntable 61 from near the center of the base plate 14a to the rear. Linearly moves in the radial direction of the disk. 14 d provided on the right side of the base plate 14 a is a drive mechanism for driving the pickup 62. At four corners of the base plate 14a, mounting holes 14e are provided, whereby the reproducing mechanism unit 14 is mounted on the housing 1 via, for example, a vibration-proof rubber. The reproduction mechanism unit 14 is disposed below the tray holder 12 at the rear of the housing 1.

By the way, as shown in FIG.
Are superimposed substantially in parallel in the tray storage section 3 and are slidably mounted in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Then, the disk 15 or 16 placed on the tray 4 is transported from the outside front of the housing 1 to the playback mechanism unit 14 disposed at the rear of the housing 1.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the structure of the tray. As shown in FIG. 6, the substantially rectangular tray 4 has a reproduction mechanism unit 1 shown in FIG.
A hole 4e for introducing the turntable 61 is formed in the upper surface, and circular concavities 4a and 4b having different inner diameters are formed on the upper surface thereof. The concave portion 4a is formed so that the large-diameter disk 15 can be fitted and accommodated therein, and the concave portion 4b is formed so that the small-diameter disk 16 can be fitted and accommodated therein. I have.

Also, extending rearward from the hole 4e,
A hole 4f for introducing the pickup 62 of the reproducing mechanism unit 14 is formed. Further, the tray 4 has a guide groove 4d on the lower surface side of both side edges along the front-rear direction. The guide groove 4d engages with the tray guide portion 3a provided integrally with the tray storage portions 3R and 3L shown in FIG.

A rack 4c is formed on the left side surface of the tray 4 over substantially the entire length in the forward and backward movement directions. The rack 4c meshes with a first tray drive gear 8 which can be moved up and down, which will be described later, at the front of the apparatus. Move between T2 '. further,
Between the drive switching position T2 'and the retracted position T3 at the rear of the apparatus, the rack 4c meshes with a second tray drive gear 10 described later to move the tray 4. Details will be described later. In the following description, only the disk 15 will be used for convenience.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a tray rack and a tray lock member. FIG. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a left side view. FIG. 3C is a detailed view of a portion B surrounded by a dashed circle in FIG. As shown in the figure, a lock portion 4m, which is a concave portion, is provided near the front of the rack 4c.

On the other hand, a lock portion 25d, which is a convex portion, is provided at the tip of the tray lock member 25 inside the apparatus. The engagement of the lock portion 25d with the lock portion 4m locks the movement of the tray 4 in the front-rear direction of the apparatus,
The tray 4 is held in the tray storage unit 3. The lock portion 4m is provided on the upper portion of the rack 4c, and is configured so that engagement with the first tray drive gear 8 and the second tray drive gear 10 is not hindered.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the structure of the tray holder. As shown in the figure, a gear holding portion 12a having a substantially U-shaped cross section is integrally provided at a left front portion of the tray holder 12, and a second tray driving gear 1 described later is provided.
0 is held while regulating the operation in the vertical direction of the apparatus. Further, bosses 12b for ascending and descending operation are provided on the left and right sides and the rear side of the tray holder 12, respectively, at upper and lower portions, respectively, and these are provided on the rear left and right inner sides and the inner rear side of the housing 1 shown in FIG. Each of the guide grooves 1a has a substantially U-shaped cross section and extends vertically. Thereby, the tray holder 12 is slidably disposed in the vertical direction of the apparatus.

A substantially disk-shaped disc holder 13 is attached to the tray holder 12 at a position near the front of the center so as to face downward from the upper surface. And the tray holder 12
And only the disc holder 13 and the disc 1
The boss 12b is provided at a position intentionally offset from the vicinity of the center of gravity both when the trays 4 on which the trays 5 are placed are combined. Thus, the inclination of the tray holder 12 due to the gap between the boss 12b and the guide groove 1a is always kept in a fixed direction, and stable operation without rattling is enabled.

On both left and right sides of the tray holder 12, racks 12c for vertically moving the tray holder 12 are provided vertically. This meshes with a second tray elevating gear 18 combined with a first tray elevating gear 11 to be described later, whereby the driving force is transmitted. At the front of the tray holder 12, a slit is opened in the left-right direction to engage with the disc drop-off prevention member and guide this operation on the tray holding portion 12j bridged in the left-right direction. Guide hole 12d
Are provided at two places on the left and right.

Further, on the left and right sides of the bottom surface of the tray holder 12, several tray guide portions 12e are provided on the front and rear sides corresponding to the tray guide portions 3a provided in the tray storage portion 3 shown in FIG. Have been. When the tray holder 12 moves up and down to the selected tray position in the tray storage section 3 and reaches the position facing the tray 4, the tray guide section 12e moves the tray guide in the stage where the tray 4 is stored. It has a substantially linear positional relationship with the section 3a, and guides the movement of the tray 4 from the storage position T2 to the retracted position T3, that is, the movement from the tray storage section 3 to the tray holder 12.

A substantially L-shaped rib 12f as viewed from the front is provided on the left side of the front surface of the tray holder 12 for restricting the operation of lifting and lowering the tray holder. At the right and left rear portions of the tray holder 12, disk displacement preventing portions 12g extending diagonally downward from the upper surface toward the front are integrally provided. 12 g of this disk displacement prevention unit
FIG. 7 shows that when the tray 4 reaches the pull-in position T3,
Are introduced into grooves 4g provided in the front-rear direction on the left and right sides of the rear surface of the tray 4 indicated by.

An intermediate gear 50, which is an intermediate transmission member, is rotatably attached to the housing 1 on the left rear side when viewed from the front of the housing 1. This is located in front of the tray holder 12 and has a substantially cylindrical shaft shape extending vertically as shown in FIG. A gear portion 50a meshing with the gear portion of the tray selecting means driving cam 20 is provided on the upper portion.
And a lower gear portion 50b that meshes with another intermediate gear. Further, a tongue-shaped lock member 50c is integrally provided at the center portion to protrude laterally.

In the standby state, the lock member 50c of the intermediate gear 50 and the rib 12f of the tray holder 12 are in a positional relationship. When the tray holder 12 moves up and down in a normal operation, the intermediate gear 50 is rotated to transmit the driving force, and the rib 12f and the lock member 50c are set so as not to abut.

Next, the structure of the driving force transmission mechanism will be described. Below the tray storage section 3 at the front of the apparatus, components of a driving force transmission mechanism for transmitting a driving force from the motor serving as a driving source to the tray 4 or the tray holder 12 are provided in the housing 1. . First, a substantially cylindrical motor 31 and a motor 30, which are drive sources of the apparatus, are attached to the front and rear of the housing 1, that is, the right end when viewed from the front of the apparatus (not shown). .

The motor 30 moves up and down the tray holder 12, the first tray driving gear 8 and the second tray driving gear 10, and the motor 31 drives the first tray driving gear 8 and the second tray driving gear 10. Then, the tray 4 is moved between the attachment / detachment position T1 and the pull-in position T3. The rotational driving force of the motor 30 is transmitted to a tray selecting means driving cam 20 (not shown) rotatably mounted near the center of the front part of the housing 1 via an intermediate gear (not shown).

A gear portion is provided on a side surface of the tray selecting means driving cam 20, and meshes with an intermediate gear for moving the second tray driving gear 10 and the tray holder 12 up and down. 8 and an intermediate gear that transmits a driving force to an elevating cam 5 that moves up and down a gear cover 7 described below.

On the other hand, the rotational driving force of the motor 31 is transmitted through an intermediate gear (not shown), which is an intermediate transmission member rotatably mounted on the housing 1, to the lower part of the tray selecting means driving cam 20 at the front center of the housing 1. And transmitted to a tray drive cam 21 (not shown), which is rotatably mounted coaxially with. On the side surface of the tray drive cam 21, a gear portion that transmits a drive force to the intermediate gear 6 that drives the first tray drive gear 8 and a drive force that is transmitted to the intermediate gear 9 that drives the second tray drive gear 10. Gear portion is provided.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the structure of the lifting cam and its peripheral portion. As shown in the drawing, the elevating cam 5 has a substantially columnar shape and is provided in a vertical direction, and a lower end thereof is provided with a gear portion 5a that meshes with an intermediate gear (not shown). A cam groove 5b is spirally formed around the side surface.
Are formed. This is configured as a cylindrical cam in which parallel portions 5b1 provided horizontally in several stages are continuously connected by inclined surfaces 5b2. The parallel portion 5b1 is
The tray driving gear 8 is provided so as to correspond to each predetermined position in the elevating operation, that is, each of the stored trays 4 and the reproduction (standby) position.

A convex portion 7a projecting from the gear cover 7 described below is fitted into the cam groove 5b, and the elevating cam 5 has its central shaft 5
By rotating around the gear c, the gear cover 7 and the first tray driving gear 8 held by the gear cover 7 are moved up and down and moved to predetermined stages. In addition, the mounting positional relationship with respect to the housing 1 having the above configuration is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. However, the elevation cam 5 is not shown in FIG.

The gear cover 7 has a substantially semi-cylindrical gear holding portion 7e for holding the first tray drive gear 8. A U-shaped notch 7f is provided on the upper surface and the lower surface of the gear holding portion 7e in order to avoid radial contact with the long shaft 6a of the intermediate gear 6, which is the rotation shaft of the first tray drive gear 8, which will be described later. It is. The guide shaft 2 is located adjacent to the gear holding portion 7e.
The gear cover 7 is guided by the guide shaft 27, and is held slidably in the vertical direction of the device.
Attached to the tray storage section 3L together with the guide shaft 27.

In the gear cover 7, the guide 7b
The convex portion 7a protrudes laterally adjacent to. Further, a slope 7c is provided adjacent to the convex portion 7a, which is substantially symmetrical in the vertical direction and is cut into a mountain shape, and engages with the unlocking portion 25a of the tray lock member 25 as the gear cover 7 moves up and down. Then, the unlock operation of the tray 4 is performed. The slope 7c has a top 7d. FIG.
5 shows an arrangement relationship between the tray lock member 25 and the lock member pressing spring 26 described above.

The driving force of the tray selecting means driving cam 20 is as follows.
It is transmitted to the first tray elevating gear 11 via an intermediate gear (not shown) on the side of the apparatus. An outer peripheral gear portion of the second tray lifting / lowering gear 18 connected to the first tray lifting / lowering gear 11 is engaged with a rack 12c provided on the left side surface of the tray holder 12, and performs the lifting / lowering operation of the tray holder 12.

Further, another intermediate gear is connected to the intermediate gear by a shaft member (not shown). In order to finally transmit the driving force of another intermediate gear synchronized with the intermediate gear to the rack 12c provided on the right side of the tray holder 12, the tray elevating gear mechanism is provided on the right side of the apparatus, that is, the casing 1 It is also provided on the right side of the rear. This is the same configuration as the first tray lifting gear 11, the second tray lifting gear 18, and the related parts and is symmetrical in the left and right directions, and therefore, the description is omitted.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a portion related to the above-mentioned first tray drive gear. FIG. 1A shows the first case.
FIG. 3B is a plan view of the tray drive gear 8, and FIG. FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view of these. The arrangement relationship of the parts shown in the figure on the apparatus is mainly shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 10. FIG.

The intermediate gear 6 is an intermediate transmission member rotatably attached to the tray housing 3L. As shown in FIG. 11, the intermediate gear 6 has a long shaft portion 6a and grooves 6b, 6c, and a gear portion 6d provided at the lower end of the long shaft portion 6a. The grooves 6b and 6c have a substantially U-shaped or substantially V-shaped cross section, and are located substantially diagonally on the long axis 6a. The cross-sectional shapes of the grooves 6b and 6c are different.

On the other hand, the first tray driving gear 8 has a hole 8a at the center, and the first tray driving gear 8 is substantially diagonally located on the inner periphery of the hole 8a.
The substantially U-shaped or substantially V-shaped projections 8b and 8c that fit into the grooves 6b and 6c, respectively, protrude inward. Further, on the outer periphery of the first tray driving gear 8, there are provided a gear portion 8d having wide teeth and a gear portion 8e having narrow teeth.
And are alternately arranged. The first tray drive gear 8 has the protrusions 8 b and 8 c formed in the groove 6 b of the intermediate gear 6.
And 6c, the intermediate gear 6 is slidably mounted in the longitudinal direction of the long shaft 6a while being restricted in the rotation direction.

The gear portion 6d of the intermediate gear 6 meshes with an intermediate gear (not shown),
Is rotationally transmitted to the intermediate gear 6 via such an intermediate gear. Further, the rotation of the intermediate gear 6 is restricted by the first tray driving gear 8
Is transmitted to.

The first tray drive gear 8 is held so as to be covered by a substantially semi-cylindrical gear holding portion 7e of the gear cover 7, and is attached to the tray storage portion 3L. According to the elevating operation of the gear cover 7,
The intermediate gear 6 is guided by the long shaft portion 6a and moves up and down to a predetermined tray position. The gear portion of the first tray drive gear 8 is a rack 4c formed on the left side surface of the tray 4 described above.
And the tray 4 is moved between the attachment / detachment position T1 at the front of the apparatus, the storage position T2 at the front of the apparatus, and the drive switching position T2 'at the back of the apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a portion related to the second tray drive gear described above. FIG. 2A shows the second
FIG. 3B is a plan view of the tray drive gear 10, and FIG.
FIG. FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view of these. The arrangement relationship of the parts shown in the figure on the apparatus is mainly shown in FIGS.

The intermediate gear 9 is an intermediate transmission member rotatably mounted on the housing 1 and, as shown in FIG.
A major axis portion 9a and a groove portion 9 provided on the outer periphery in the longitudinal direction.
b, 9c, and a gear portion 9 provided at the lower end of the long shaft portion 9a
d. The grooves 9b and 9c have a substantially U-shaped cross section.
It has a V-shape or a substantially V-shape, and is located substantially diagonally on the long axis portion 9a. Also, the cross-sectional shapes of the grooves 9b and 9c are different.

On the other hand, the second tray driving gear 10 has a hole 10a at the center, and substantially U-shaped fittings are formed in the grooves 9b and 9c at substantially diagonal positions on the inner periphery of the hole 10a.
The convex portions 10b and 10c having a V-shape or a substantially V-shape protrude inward. Also, on the outer periphery of the second tray drive gear 10,
The gear portions 10d having wide teeth and the gear portions 10e having narrow teeth are alternately arranged. Then, the second tray drive gear 10 is configured such that the protrusions 10 b and 10 c engage with the grooves 9 b and 9 c of the intermediate gear 9,
The intermediate gear 9 is slidably mounted in the longitudinal direction of the long shaft portion 9a while being restricted in the rotation direction.

The gear portion 9d of the intermediate gear 9 is meshed with an intermediate gear (not shown),
Is transmitted to the intermediate gear 9 via such an intermediate gear. Further, the rotation of the intermediate gear 9 is restricted by the second tray drive gear 1
Transmitted to 0.

The second tray drive gear 10 is sandwiched by a gear holding portion 12a provided integrally with the tray holder 12, and is guided by the long shaft portion 9a of the intermediate gear 9 as the tray holder 12 moves up and down. Is moved up and down to a predetermined tray position. The gear portion of the second tray drive gear 10 meshes with the rack 4c formed on the left side surface of the tray 4, and moves the tray 4 between the drive switching position T2 'and the retracted position T3 at the rear of the apparatus.

By the way, the second tray drive gear 10 is constructed such that teeth having different tooth widths are alternately arranged one by one as shown in FIG. The tooth 4n at the rear end portion is
It is configured to mesh with wide teeth. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to avoid such a problem that the teeth are brought into contact with each other and damaged at the start of engagement of the teeth. Further, the teeth 4n are also provided at the front end of the rack 4c, so that even when the engagement with the first tray drive gear 8 is started, contact and breakage of these teeth can be avoided.

FIG. 13 is a basic operation diagram schematically showing the movement of the tray in the present apparatus. The figure shows the left side of the device. In the present embodiment, an apparatus provided with six trays 4 assuming that the number of disks that can be stored in the apparatus is six will be described. For the convenience of the following description, the tray 4 whose storage position is the lowest is designated as No. 4. No. 1 in the top row. Numbers are given in order up to 6.

As shown in the figure, the tray 4 is used to hold the disk 15 placed on the tray 4 in the loading / unloading position T1 and the storage position T.
2, it is configured to be transported to a pull-in position T3 and a reproduction position T4. First, the attachment / detachment position T1 is a position where the disc 15 is attached / detached to / from the tray 4 outside the front of the housing 1. Next, the storage position T2 is a position where the tray 4 is stored in the tray storage unit 3 located at the front of the apparatus.
This is a position held by the tray lock member 25. In addition, P arranged at the lower part of the tray storage unit is the above-described driving force transmission mechanism.

The retracted position T3 is a position further deeper than the storage position T2 in the housing 1 where the tray 4 is retracted into the tray holder 12 and can be moved up and down. Finally, the reproduction position T4 is the retracted position T3 on the rear side of the housing 1.
This is the position where the transport of the disc 15 to the reproducible state is completed in the reproducing mechanism unit 14 located at the lower part of FIG.

FIG. 13A shows a standby state. The standby state is No. 1 to No. All trays 6
Is in the storage position T2, the first tray drive gear 8 is located below the tray storage section 3 which does not mesh with the rack 4c of each stored tray 4, and the second tray drive gear 10
And the tray holder 12 are in the standby position, which is the lower limit position.

From the standby state, for example, 4 trays 4
When the disc 15 is to be attached to or detached from the disc No. 1, the first tray drive gear 8, the second tray drive gear 10, and the tray holder 12 are selected as shown in FIG. 4 to the position of the tray 4. Next, as shown in FIG.
o. The tray 4 of No. 4 is driven and moved to the attachment / detachment position T1.

Subsequently, No. When the tray 4 of No. 4 is reproduced, first, as shown in FIG. The tray 4 of No. 4 is driven and moved to the drive switching position T2 'on the inner side of the apparatus via the storage position T2. This T2 'is a position where the driving source of the tray 4 is switched from the first tray driving gear 8 to the second tray driving gear 10.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4 tray 4 is driven,
The tray is moved to the retracted position T3 in the tray holder 12. Further, as shown in FIG. Tray 4 has a first tray drive gear 8,
Together with the second tray drive gear 10 and the tray holder 12, the tray lowers to the reproduction position T4. The above is an outline of the basic operation of the present apparatus. No. 1 to No. Up to 6 can be arbitrarily selected.

FIGS. 14 to 16 are schematic state transition diagrams of portions related to the tray selection means driving cam.
(A) shows the left side, and (b) shows the front.
When the disc to be reproduced is determined by the tray selection determining means (not shown), the selected tray 4 is moved from the storage position T2 to the retracted position T3 in the tray holder. The second tray drive gear 10 and the tray holder 12 are moved up to the selected tray position.

At this time, according to the disk selection by the tray selection determining means, the motor 3 for driving the tray selecting means
0 is driven, and the driving force of the motor 30 is interlocked with the gear portion 20a of the tray selecting means driving cam 20 arranged in the housing 1 while being reduced, through the intermediate gear stages.
The cam 20 is driven to rotate.

Here, as shown in FIG. 14, in this disc loading apparatus, all the trays 4 are usually stored in the storage position T2, and the first tray driving gear 8, the second tray driving gear 10, and the tray holder 12 is in a standby state in which it is at the lowermost position. As described above, the up and down movement of the gear cover 7 and the accompanying first tray drive gear 8
The operation is performed by the gear portion on the side surface of the tray selecting means driving cam 20 meshing with the intermediate gear, and the lifting cam 5 being rotationally driven via the intermediate gear.

In addition, when the tray holder 12 and the accompanying second tray drive gear 10 are moved up and down, the second tray elevating gear 18 is driven by the engagement of the gear on the side surface of the tray selecting means drive cam 20 and the intermediate gear. It is done by doing. The above-described elevating operation is performed at the same time as the tray selecting unit driving cam 20 rotates.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15,
When the gear cover 7 (not shown here) moves upward with the first tray drive gear 8, the upper side of the slope 7 c provided on the gear cover 7 is no. It comes into contact with the lock release portion 25a of the tray lock member 25 corresponding to one tray 4. When the gear cover 7 is further raised, the tray lock member 25 is guided along the upper side of the slope 7c by the guide groove 3c of the tray storage portion 3L while resisting the urging force of the lock member pressing spring 26, and Start moving to the outside of the side.

The first tray driving gear 8 held by the gear cover 7 is No. One of the trays 4 meshes with a rack 4c provided on the side surface. That is, the first tray drive gear 8 and the No. 1 At the time when the rack 4c of the tray 4 of the No. 1 begins to engage, One tray 4 is held by a tray lock member 25, so that meshing can be performed smoothly. Further, N shown in FIG.
o. In the position of the first tray 4, the lock release section 25 a
Reaches the top 7d of the slope 7c, and as shown in FIG.
The tray lock member 25 is separated from the lock portion 4m of the rack 4c. The lock of the first tray 4 is released.

As described above, the first tray driving gear 8, the second tray driving gear 10, and the tray holder 12
o. No. 1 ascends to the position of tray 4, and One tray 4 can be pulled into the tray holder 12. If the selected tray 4 is No. If the tray is other than the tray 4, the first tray driving gear 8, the second tray driving gear 10, and the tray holder 12 continue to be No. The second tray 4 is moved upward.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16,
When the gear cover 7 (not shown here) moves upward with the first tray drive gear 8, the No. Lock release part 25 of tray lock member 25 corresponding to one tray 4
a moves along the inner side of the apparatus according to the biasing force of the lock member pressing spring 26 along the lower side of the top 7d of the slope 7c of the gear cover 7. One tray 4 is held at the storage position T2.

Also, a slope 7c provided on the gear cover 7
The upper side of No. The tray abuts against the lock release portion 25a of the tray lock member 25 corresponding to the second tray 4. When the gear cover 7 is further raised, the tray lock member 25 is guided along the upper side of the slope 7c by the guide groove 3c of the tray storage portion 3L while resisting the urging force of the lock member pressing spring 26, and Start moving to the outside of the side.

The first tray drive gear 8 held by the gear cover 7 has the No. The second tray 4 meshes with a rack 4c provided on the side surface. That is, the first tray drive gear 8 and the No. 1 At the time when the rack 4c of the tray 4 of No. 2 starts to mesh, The second tray 4 is held by a tray lock member 25 so that the meshing can be smoothly switched. Further, the No. shown in FIG. At the position of the tray 4 of No. 2, the unlocking portion 25a reaches the top 7d of the slope 7c, and as shown in FIG. 8, the tray lock member 25 is separated from the locking portion 4m of the rack 4c. The lock of the second tray 4 is released.

As described above, the first tray driving gear 8, the second tray driving gear 10, and the tray holder 12
o. No. 2 to the position of tray 4 The second tray 4 can be pulled into the tray holder 12. These operations are repeated to raise the first tray gear 8, the second tray drive gear 10, and the tray holder 12 to the selected tray position. The lowering operation from the selected tray position to the disk reproducing position can be realized by performing a procedure reverse to the above-described operation, that is, by driving the tray selecting device driving cam 20 to rotate in the reverse direction.

By the way, when the first tray driving gear 8 meshing with the rack 4c moves up and down in the vertical direction with respect to the rack 4c provided on the tray 4 housed in an overlapping manner, the tray 4 and the first tray driving gear 8 May not be able to mesh due to slight movement due to rattling of the two, and the upper surface of the first tray drive gear 8 tooth portion and the lower surface of the rack 4c tooth portion may collide with each other, which may hinder operation. Can be Hereinafter, such a problem will be described by taking a case where the gear is raised as an example. Note that, when the gear is lowered, the description is omitted because it is the same.

Conventionally, in order to avoid such a problem,
For example, the gear is configured to rotate while giving a biasing force by a spring upward to the gear. Then, when the gear rotates to a position where the gear and the rack can mesh, that is, the position where the upper and lower surfaces of the teeth do not contact each other, the gear rises by the urging force and meshes with the rack at a predetermined height. Was.

However, in such a configuration, it is necessary to add a spring component in order to generate an urging force on the gear, which increases the number of components and complicates the rotation control of the gear. In addition, the gears cannot be reliably engaged with each other at a predetermined position, which may cause a shift. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the tooth shapes of a part of the rack 4c and the tray drive gear 8 are configured to have a special shape.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the configuration of such a rack and tray drive gear. FIG. 1A is a perspective view, and FIG. 1B is a side view of a rack. Teeth 4i and teeth 4j having different tooth shapes are arranged adjacent to each other at a portion where the rack 4c meshes with the gear, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the teeth 4i and 4j are symmetrical about a center line c along the vertical direction. Thus, two teeth are provided. And teeth 4i
Is provided with an inclined surface 4k in a vertically symmetrical manner, and a tooth 4j is provided with an inclined surface 4l in a vertically symmetrical manner. Each slope has a tapered shape symmetrical with respect to the center line c.

On the other hand, the tray drive gear 8 which functions as a pinion for the rack has wide teeth 8d and narrow teeth 8e alternately arranged as shown in FIG. I have. Each of the teeth 8d and 8e has a symmetric slope 8d
Nos. 1 and 8e1 are formed, and these slopes each have a mountain-shaped tapered shape that is symmetric with respect to the thickness center of the tooth. Further, the rack 4c and the tray drive gear 8 are preset so that the teeth 8e basically mesh between the teeth 4i.

When the tray drive gear 8 moves up with respect to the rack 4c, first, the upper part of the wide teeth 8d reaches the rack 4c. At this time, assuming that the position of the rack 4c is relatively displaced relative to the tray drive gear 8 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, that is, in the operation direction of the tray 4, within the range of the backlash, the slope 8d1 above the teeth 8d becomes It comes into contact with the slope 4k below the teeth 4i or the slope 4l below the teeth 4j.

8d1, 4k and 4l are mutually guided by the slopes, so that the resistance to the upward movement of the tray drive gear 8 can be reduced. Disturbance can be avoided. In addition, since the tray drive gear 8 rises along the slopes 4k and 4l, the relative positional deviation of the rack 4c is caused by the tray 4 moving within the play range as the tray drive gear 8 rises. Will be resolved. Thereby, the teeth 8e of the tray drive gear 8 are
It can be introduced between the teeth 4i on the rack 4c.

With the above configuration, in this embodiment, the tray drive gear can be moved up and down so as to ensure the engagement between the rack and the tray drive gear without adding a mechanism such as spring bias. As a result, the tray can be driven stably.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention,
To provide a disk changer device having a highly reliable gear elevating mechanism that avoids an operation defect due to a collision between a pinion and a rack provided on a tray, which is caused by a pinion elevating operation, and is less likely to cause tooth damage. Can be.

More specifically, a plurality of trays on each of which a disc can be placed, a tray storage section for storing the plurality of trays in an overlapping manner, and a tray selected from the plurality of trays are stored in the tray storage section. A tray moving means for moving from a disc to a position for loading and unloading a disc, or moving from a tray storage portion to a disc reproducing position, and a disc reproducing means for reproducing a disc placed on a tray at the disc reproducing position. In the configuration in which, for the plurality of trays stored in a superimposed manner, a pinion that meshes with a rack provided in the tray is provided in the tray moving means, and the pinion is moved up and down in the superimposed direction. First inclined surfaces are provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the pinion, and second inclined surfaces are provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the rack facing the pinion. The provided by first and second inclined surfaces that are abutting guide each other, and configured to perform engagement position adjustment between the rack and the pinion.

Thus, while adjusting the displacement of the meshing position due to rattling between the rack and the pinion,
The pinion can be moved up and down. Therefore,
At the time of raising / lowering operation of the tray moving means, it is possible to avoid malfunctions such as gear breakage without adding a special mechanism, and to stabilize the tray drive by the tray moving means, thereby ensuring reliability. .

The first and second slopes each have a tapered shape. Thereby, the contact guide between the first and second slopes becomes smoother.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a disk loading device including a disk changer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the disc loading device.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the appearance of a housing and a tray storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front left side view showing a configuration of a portion related to a tray storage section and a gear cover in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing two types of disks mounted on the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a reproduction mechanism unit.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the structure of a tray.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a tray rack unit and a tray lock member.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a tray holder.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a lifting cam and a peripheral portion thereof.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a portion related to a first tray drive gear.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a portion related to a second tray drive gear.

FIG. 13 is a basic operation diagram schematically showing movement of a tray in the present apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a schematic state transition diagram of a portion related to a tray selection unit driving cam.

FIG. 15 is a schematic state transition diagram of a portion related to a tray selection unit driving cam.

FIG. 16 is a schematic state transition diagram of a portion related to a tray selection unit driving cam.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration of a rack and a tray driving gear.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Top cover 3 Tray storage part 4 Tray 5 Elevating cam 6 Intermediate gear 7 Gear cover 8 1st tray drive gear 9 Intermediate gear 10 2nd tray drive gear 11 1st tray elevating gear 12 Tray holder 13 Disk press 14 Reproduction mechanism Unit 15, 16 Disk 18 Second tray lifting gear

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hironobu Shimomura 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Yoshibo Fujioka 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Harunobu Yamaguchi 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term (reference) 5D072 AB23 BE03 BG02 BH05 EB04

Claims (2)

[Claims] A plurality of trays on each of which a disc can be placed; a tray storage unit for storing the plurality of trays in an overlapping manner; and a tray selected from the plurality of trays, wherein A tray moving unit that moves to a position where the attachment / detachment is performed or moves from the tray storage unit to a disk reproduction position, and a disk reproduction unit that reproduces a disk placed on a tray at the disk reproduction position. For the plurality of trays stored in a superimposed manner, a pinion that meshes with a rack provided in the tray is provided in the tray moving means, and the disc changer device moves the pinions up and down in the superimposed direction. First slopes are provided on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the pinion, and second slopes are formed on both upper and lower sides of the teeth of the rack facing the pinion. The provided by first and second slopes are abutting guide each other, the disk changer apparatus characterized by performing the engagement position adjustment between the rack and the pinion. 2. The disc changer device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second slopes each have a tapered shape.