JP2002367261A - Recording medium drive - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To transport an optical disk without being affected by variations in the thickness of the optical disk in an optical disk loading mechanism. An arm (10) for accommodating an optical disk (100).
The roller 11 provided at the tip is fixed to a reference roller 11.
a and a movable roller 11b that is movable in the thickness direction of the optical disc 100.
It is urged by a leaf spring 20 in the direction of a. When the optical disc 100 is inserted, the movable roller 11b moves in the thickness direction according to the thickness of the optical disc 100, and is nipped between the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 11b from above and below.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a recording medium driving device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a mechanism for transporting a recording medium to a predetermined position while holding the recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an optical disk such as a CD or DVD is inserted into an insertion slot, the optical disk is housed in the apparatus and transported to a recording / reproducing position, and when recording / reproduction is completed, loading is performed to discharge the optical disk out of the apparatus. An optical disk device having a mechanism has been developed.

[0003] Such a loading mechanism includes a "roller type" in which the optical disc is conveyed by sandwiching the optical disc in a thickness direction with a wide rubber roller, and a resin roller provided on the arm by rotating or moving an arm. An "arm type" for pressing the outer periphery is known.

[0004] In the former method, since rubber is usually used, deterioration or cracking is liable to occur due to changes in temperature and humidity or aging, and the optical disk may slip, which is problematic in terms of durability. Further, since the roller comes into contact with the data surface of the disk, there is also a problem that dust and dirt are involved and are scratched.

On the other hand, in the latter method, since the optical disk is conveyed while being brought into contact with the outer periphery of the optical disk, there is little influence of a change with time and there is no possibility of damaging the data surface.

[0006]

However, in the "arm" type, unlike the roller type, the optical disk is not sandwiched, so that it is easily affected by the thickness of the optical disk. It was difficult to load while maintaining the posture, and it was necessary to provide an optical disk guide other than the resin roller. Hereinafter, this point will be described.

[0007] The thickness of a 12 cm optical disk is 1.
2 mm + 0.2 / -0.1 mm (t = 1.1 mm to 1.
4 mm), but there are optical disks of 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm thickness which are out of the standard, and the groove width of the arm type roller must be set to be large to correspond to these optical disks. There is no present.

FIG. 8 shows a configuration of a roller in a conventional arm type. A storage arm 50 for transporting the optical disk from the insertion position to the recording / reproducing position and a discharge arm 52 for discharging the optical disk out of the apparatus are provided.
Resin rollers 51 and 53 are formed at the tip of each arm. At the time of storage, the storage arm 50 rotates to bring the roller 51 into contact with the outer periphery of the optical disk 100, and pushes the optical disk to convey it to the clamp position on the turntable 60. At this time, even if the thickness of the optical disk 100 is 1.5 mm, which is out of the standard, the groove width of the roller 51 needs to be set to 1.5 mm or more so as to correspond to this. The same applies to the rollers 53 formed on the discharge arm 52.

However, when the groove width of the rollers 51 and 53 is set so as to be able to cope with a thick optical disk of 1.5 mm, when the thin optical disk 100 of 1.0 mm is accommodated or ejected, the gap between the optical disk 100 and the groove is set. In this case, a “play” occurs, and the posture of the optical disc 100 is lost as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a guide separately to maintain the attitude of the optical disc 100.

[0010] As shown in FIG.
It is also possible to stabilize the attitude of the optical disc 100 by making the grooves 1 and 53 not “U” -shaped grooves but “V” -shaped grooves. As a result, there is a problem that a shift occurs in the circumferential direction, and a shift also occurs in a final transport position, which makes it difficult to perform a clamping operation on the turntable 60. Further, the horizontal level of the lower surface of the optical disc 100 is affected by the shift in the thickness direction. There is a difference
There is also a problem that it is difficult to set standards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and has as its object to provide an apparatus capable of transporting a recording medium such as an optical disk in a stable posture.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a moving means which moves along a predetermined trajectory, and a recording medium formed on the moving means, the recording medium being moved along with the moving of the moving means. A recording medium driving device having a holding unit that conveys the recording medium to a predetermined position while holding the holding unit, wherein the holding unit is configured to abut on one of a lower surface and an upper surface of the recording medium, and A movable portion movably provided in a thickness direction of the recording medium, wherein the fixed portion and the movable portion sandwich the recording medium.

It is preferable that the apparatus further comprises an elastic means for urging the movable portion toward the fixed portion.

Further, in the present apparatus, it is preferable that a taper is formed on a surface of the fixing portion where the recording medium contacts.

It is preferable that the apparatus further comprises a detecting means for detecting the amount of movement of the movable portion in the thickness direction.

In the present apparatus, the recording medium may be, for example, an optical disk.

Further, in the present apparatus, the moving means includes:
One end is supported and the holding means is formed at the other end, and a holding arm for holding the recording medium in the apparatus by rotating about an axis, and the holding means is formed at one end and supported at the other end. And a discharge arm that rotates around an axis to discharge the recording medium out of the apparatus.

As described above, according to the recording medium driving apparatus of the present invention, the roller formed on the moving means such as the arm is not brought into contact with the recording medium such as an optical disk and pushed in, but is moved with the fixed part. The recording medium is nipped and transported by the unit. The movable portion is movable in the thickness direction of the recording medium, and can be held between the fixed portion and the movable portion even if the thickness of the recording medium varies, so that the posture of the recording medium can be kept constant. At this time, by urging the movable portion toward the fixed portion, the recording medium can be more reliably held.

When the recording medium is sandwiched, the data area of the recording medium can be protected by reducing the contact area by forming a taper in the contact surface of the fixed portion with the recording medium.

When the recording medium is sandwiched between the fixed part and the movable part, the movable part moves according to the thickness of the recording medium.
The moving amount of the movable part directly reflects the thickness of the recording medium. Therefore, by detecting the amount of movement of the movable part,
The thickness of the recording medium can be evaluated. When an optical disk such as a CD or DVD is used as a recording medium, the thickness of the optical disk can be evaluated based on the amount of movement of the movable portion, and it can be determined whether the thickness is within a standard.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a plan view of an optical disk device according to the present embodiment. On the base of the optical disk device, three arms, a storage arm 10, a discharge arm 12, and a sub arm 14, are pivotally supported, and each of them rotates along a predetermined orbit. Three arms 10,
Rollers 11, 13, 15 are provided at the ends of 12, 14, respectively.
Are formed, and the roller 1 rotates with the rotation around the axis.
1, 13, 15 are brought into contact with the outer circumference of the optical disc 100,
The outer periphery is pushed and stored and discharged. That is, when the optical disk 100 is accommodated, the arm 10 is rotated in the direction a in the figure and the arm 14 is rotated in the direction a in FIG. Push in the middle and upper direction. Also, the optical disk 1
At the time of discharging 00, the arm 12 is rotated in the direction c in the figure, and the optical disk 100 is pushed downward in the figure to be discharged out of the apparatus. Each of the arms 10, 12, and 14 is urged in the direction of the optical disc 100 by a coil spring (not shown), and holds the outer peripheral portion of the optical disc 100 by the elastic force of the coil spring.

FIG. 2 shows the roller 11 formed at the end of the storage arm 10. The roller 11 includes a reference roller 11 a fixedly provided at an end of the arm 10,
The reference roller 11 is opposed to the reference roller 11a by a leaf spring 20.
The movable roller 11b is urged in the direction a. The elastic force of the leaf spring 20 is weaker than the elastic force of the coil spring, and the movable roller 11b can move in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, that is, in the thickness direction of the optical disc 100, against the elastic force of the leaf spring 20.

In such a configuration, when the optical disc 100 having a standard thickness is inserted, the arm 10
As a result, the roller 11 comes into contact with the outer periphery of the optical disc 100, and the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 11b come into contact with each other. Since both the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 11b are urged to the outer circumference of the optical disk 100 by the coil spring, the movable roller 11b moves upward in the drawing against the elastic force of the leaf spring 20, and the optical disk 100 is moved to the reference roller 11a. And the movable roller 11b. The data surface (recording surface) of the optical disc 100 is
The label surface can be held by the movable roller 11b.

Also, the optical disk 100 thinner than the standard,
For example, when the optical disk 100 having a thickness of 1.0 mm is inserted, the movable roller 11b moves by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the optical disk 100 as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the optical disk 100 thicker than the standard, for example, the optical disk 1 having a thickness of 1.5 mm
00 is also inserted, the movable roller 11b moves upward according to the thickness, and the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 1a are moved.
1b can hold the optical disc 100. As before,
The groove of the roller is not brought into contact with the outer periphery of the optical disc 100, but the outer periphery of the optical disc 100 is sandwiched between the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 11b.
The optical disk 100 can be accommodated without being affected by the thickness of the optical disk 100 while maintaining the attitude of the optical disk 100 in parallel with the turntable.

FIG. 3 shows the details of the reference roller 11a constituting the roller 11. As shown in (a), a seat 11a1 is formed in the groove of the reference roller 11a, and the data surface of the optical disc 100 comes into contact with the seat 11a1 to define the height position of the optical disc 100. That is, the seat surface 11a1 serves as a reference in the height direction of the optical disc 100. Further, a convex portion 11a2 with which the side surface of the optical disc 100 is in contact is formed above the seating surface 11a1, and the circumferential position of the optical disc 100 is defined by the convex portion 11a2. By reducing the width of the convex portion 11a2 and the contact portion with the optical disc 100, it is possible to cope with the case where the side of the optical disc 100 is tapered. Further, a concave portion (or U-shaped groove) 11a3 is formed at the back of the seating surface 11a1, and the concave portion 11a3 can cope with a variation in the side surface of the optical disc 100. This will be further described later.

(B) is a reference numeral 5 for the reference roller 11a.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion 0, and an optical disc 1
The taper is formed so as to form a constant angle θ toward the inner diameter direction of 00. θ can be, for example, 2 to 3 °, and by forming a taper, contact with the data surface of the optical disc 100 can be minimized.

FIG. 4 shows the roller 11 and the optical disk 1 when the optical disk 100 having a "burr" on its side is inserted.
The relationship with 00 is shown. As described above, the optical disk 100 is sandwiched between the reference roller 11a and the movable roller 11b. More specifically, the data surface of the optical disk contacts the seat surface 11a1 of the reference roller 11a, and the label surface contacts the groove of the movable roller 11b. The burrs are held by the elastic force of the leaf spring 20, but since the concave portion 11a3 is formed in the back of the seat surface 11a1, the "burr" portion 100a of the optical disk 100 is absorbed by the concave portion 11a3, and The displacement of the circumferential position can be prevented.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the roller 11 and the optical disc 100 when the optical disc 100 having a curvature formed at the corner (round portion) is inserted. Even if the corner portion has a curvature, the seating surface 11a1
Abuts on the data surface of the optical disk 100 and holds it from below, and the movable roller 11b abuts on the label surface of the optical disk 100 and presses it from above. Can be kept parallel.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the roller 11 and the optical disk 100 when the optical disk 100, such as a DVD, in which two sheets are stuck together, and the optical disk 100 is shifted vertically and has a step. I have. Also in this case, the data surface of the optical disk 100 is held by the seat surface 11a1 of the reference roller 11a, and the label surface is
Is held by the movable roller 11b moved in accordance with the thickness of the optical disk 100 and nipped from above and below, so that the optical disk 100 can be accommodated in a parallel state without being affected by a step.

In FIGS. 2 to 6, the roller 11 formed on the storage arm 10 has been described.
The roller 13 formed on the sub-arm 2 or the roller 15 formed on the sub-arm 14 can also be configured to be sandwiched between the reference roller and the movable roller from above and below.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 7 shows the structure of the arm 10 in the present embodiment. The roller 11 is formed on the arm 10 in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a reference roller 11a and a movable roller 11b. The arm 10 further includes a proximity sensor 30 opposed to a leaf spring 20 for urging the movable roller 11b in the direction of the reference roller 11a. . This proximity sensor 30
Is a sensor for detecting that the leaf spring 20 has approached. In a state where the optical disc 100 is not inserted, the leaf spring 20 is separated from the arm 10 by a predetermined distance and is in an OFF state. In this case, the movable roller 11b moves against the elastic force of the leaf spring 20,
Since the leaf spring 20 is bent and approaches the arm 10, it is turned on. Therefore, by monitoring the signal from the proximity sensor 30, it is possible to detect whether or not the optical disc 100 is inserted.

Also, the ON / OFF operation distance of the proximity sensor 30 is adjusted, and the optical disc 100 having a thickness within the standard is adjusted.
When the optical disc 100 thinner than the standard is inserted, the proximity sensor 30 is turned on when the optical disc 100 is thinner than the standard. An abnormality of the optical disc 100 can be detected based on the fact that the optical disc 100 remains in the OFF state.

The ON / OFF operation distance of the proximity sensor 30 is adjusted, and the optical disc 10 having a thickness exceeding a standard is adjusted.
By adjusting the ON state at the approach distance L2 when 0 is inserted, it is also possible to detect that the optical disk 100 having a thickness of, for example, 1.5 mm is inserted.

In FIG. 7, the proximity sensor 30 is provided on the arm 10 to evaluate the thickness of the optical disc 100 based on the approach distance of the leaf spring 20, but any sensor for detecting the travel distance of the movable roller 11b Can be used.

Although FIG. 7 shows the arm 10, the proximity sensor 30 can be similarly provided on the other ejection arm 12 or the sub arm 14, and the proximity sensor 30 is provided on all the arms 10, 12 and 14. In the case where the optical disk 100 is provided, whether or not the optical disk 100 is inserted is calculated by calculating the AND of the signals from the respective sensors.
Can be evaluated.

In the present embodiment, the optical disk 100 is exemplified as a recording medium, but the present invention can be applied to a magnetic disk or the like.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reliably transport a recording medium such as an optical disk.

In particular, when the optical disk is transported, the optical disk can be housed in the apparatus or discharged out of the apparatus while maintaining a constant attitude without being affected by the thickness variation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an arrangement of an arm in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a roller.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a reference roller.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a roller when an optical disk having burrs is inserted.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a roller when an optical disc having a curvature at a corner is inserted.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a roller when a DVD disc having a step is inserted.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an arrangement of a proximity sensor according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a conventional roller.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a conventional roller.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a conventional V-shaped groove roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 accommodation arm, 11 roller, 11a reference roller, 11b movable roller, 12 discharge arm, 13 roller, 14 sub arm, 15 roller, 20 leaf spring,
30 Proximity sensor.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium comprising: a moving unit that moves along a predetermined trajectory; and a holding unit that is formed on the moving unit and that conveys a recording medium to a predetermined position while holding the recording medium as the moving unit moves. A driving unit, wherein the holding unit includes: a fixed portion that contacts either the lower surface or the upper surface of the recording medium; and a movable portion that is movably provided in the thickness direction of the recording medium with respect to the fixed portion. And a recording medium driving device, wherein the recording medium is sandwiched between the fixed part and the movable part. 2. The recording medium driving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an elastic means for urging the movable section toward the fixed section. 3. The recording medium driving device according to claim 1, wherein a taper is formed on a surface of the fixed portion that contacts the recording medium. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a detecting unit configured to detect an amount of movement of the movable unit in the thickness direction. . 5. The recording medium driving device according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is an optical disk. 6. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the moving means has one end pivotally supported and the other end formed with the holding means, and rotates about an axis. A holding arm formed at one end and the holding means formed at the other end, and a discharge arm for discharging the recording medium out of the device by rotating about an axis. A recording medium driving device characterized by the above-mentioned.