Capable Of Only Accepting Protected Insertable Single Optical Medium Patents (Class 720/630)
  • Publication number: 20140250445
    Abstract: An optical disc drive (ODD) includes one or more sensors which detect a user placing a disc in the loading path. In response, a process is triggered for sensing the thickness of a protective layer of the disc even while the disc is moving toward a turntable. An initial determination of the type of the disc (e.g. CD, DVD or Blu-ray®) can be determined based on the thickness and reported to a host computing device. The host, in turn, determines an application to load based on the disc type. The loading of the application can begin sooner than if the ODD waited until the disc was seated on the turntable to detect the disc type. A final determination of the disc type can be made while the disc is seated as well. The host is informed if there is a disagreement between the initial determination and the final determination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Henry Chiu, Tse-Ching Yu
  • Patent number: 8230452
    Abstract: A miniature optical disc drive includes a DVD-compatible optical controller and a cartridge load module designed to hold a cartridge containing a 32 mm optical data storage disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: VMO Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven B. Volk, Jerry E. Hurst, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8184400
    Abstract: A mounting system for a media playback device is provided having an outer module for rigidly mounting the media playback device to a surface, and a corresponding cartridge which is capable of being inserted and removed from the outer module. While inserted in the outer module, a first mounting subsystem functions to fixedly mount the cartridge within the outer module such that shock, vibration, and other physical environmental factors are not amplified in the cartridge. A second mounting subsystem is provided to protect the cartridge while removed from the outer module, and generally comprises a resilient material around a portion of the cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Viviana Research LLC
    Inventors: Bruce Edwards, Nicholas R. Kalayjian, Craig M. Janik
  • Publication number: 20100287576
    Abstract: Embodiments provide methods and systems for handling optical discs in a media library appliance and for replacing optical drives in the field. In one embodiment, the media library appliance comprises optical disc handling robotics developed for slim form factor slot load drives in a vertical orientation located on both sides of the robotics within a 19 inch rackable appliance. On the system level, the optical disc storage system provides modularity and scalability. The drives reside in field replaceable units (“FRUs”) that are oriented vertically on a horizontal backplane. The disc handling robotics access discs on each side stored in horizontal stacks within large disc cartridges. A small disc shuttle cartridge attaches to a large disc cartridge to provide a means to import and export a smaller number of discs from the disc cartridge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2010
    Publication date: November 11, 2010
    Applicant: POWERFILE, INC.
    Inventors: Price Berrien Terzis, Artem Mishin, Christopher Montgomery Carpenter, Brian Hale Nelson, Craig Barker
  • Patent number: 7827570
    Abstract: A cartridge tray is supported to be movable relative to a frame and capable of receiving a cartridge inserted thereinto. The cartridge tray comprises a cartridge locking lever for locking the cartridge to the cartridge tray, and a lever guard for enabling the cartridge locking lever to act to lock the cartridge to the cartridge tray when the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge tray. With the provision of the lever guard, the cartridge locking lever is prevented from transitioning to a locking state even if the tray locking lever is unlocked while no cartridge is accommodated in the cartridge tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 7657900
    Abstract: An apparatus for recording and reproduction of a photosensitive recording medium, which accommodates a cartridge, the cartridge including: a photosensitive recording medium; a cartridge body rotatably accommodating the photosensitive recording medium and having an opening through which a center and a recording face of the photosensitive recording medium are exposed; a shutter assembled to an outside of the cartridge body and arranged so as to move between a closed position where the opening is closed and an open position where the opening is opened; and an RFID capable of recording disk information with respect to the photosensitive recording medium, wherein the disk information with respect to said photosensitive recording medium is obtained from the RFID.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Usami, Nobuyuki Tada
  • Patent number: 7652844
    Abstract: A mounting system for a media playback device is provided having an outer module for rigidly mounting the media playback device to a surface, and a corresponding cartridge which is capable of being inserted and removed from the outer module. While inserted in the outer module, a first mounting subsystem functions to fixedly mount the cartridge within the outer module such that shock, vibration, and other physical environmental factors are not amplified in the cartridge. A second mounting subsystem is provided to protect the cartridge while removed from the outer module, and generally comprises a resilient material around a portion of the cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Inventors: Bruce Edwards, Nick Kalayjian, Craig Janik
  • Patent number: 7533393
    Abstract: A data storage and retrieval device utilizes a data cartridge recording and playback apparatus and has storage magazines for holding a plurality of data cartridges for use by the recording and playback apparatus. A cartridge shuttle moves the data cartridges between the recording and playback apparatus and the storage magazines. The cartridge shuttle has a translation drive for moving the shuttle and the cartridges held therein along a translation space within the data storage and retrieval device. The shuttle also has an elevator for lifting and lowering the cartridges, a rotation apparatus to rotate the cartridges, and a cartridge gripper to move the cartridges into and out of the rotation apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2009
    Assignee: Tandberg Data ASA
    Inventor: Håvard Hoelsaeter
  • Patent number: 7506347
    Abstract: A battery-operated, hand-held disc drive for an optical data storage disc contains a radio transceiver. Data read from the disc, for example a game or movie, are delivered to the transceiver and transmitted, preferably using a WiFi protocol, to a host device, such as a smartphone, PDA, ultra-light tablet or notebook computer, or digital TV. Preferably, the compression factor of the data on the disc and the transfer rate of the data from the disc drive to the host device are set such that that disc drive has a low duty cycle, thereby conserving battery power while providing the user with an extended usage period. To provide a high-quality experience, the data on the disc are compressed using a highly efficient data compression algorithm such as MPEG-4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2009
    Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven B. Volk, Jerry E. Hurst, Jr., Gregory Dimitri Volan
  • Patent number: 7472405
    Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method are disclosed for conducting an inventory of a data storage library. The invention includes providing a plurality of data storage slots for storing data storage cartridges, providing an accessor having a plurality of detectors mounted thereon, and concurrently detecting cartridge information with the plurality of detectors for a corresponding plurality of data storage slots. The detectors may include any combination of detectors, including but not limited to, bar code scanners, radio frequency readers, cartridge presence sensors, or cameras. In certain embodiments, the invention also includes associating the cartridge information with the corresponding data storage slot and storing the information on a data bearing medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Steven Ned Pierce, Jonathan Edward Bosley, Brian Gerard Goodman, Brian Dean Rasmussen
  • Patent number: 7434238
    Abstract: An optical disc apparatus includes, as a raising/lowering mechanism for moving a second base constituting a unit mechanism portion pivotally about a fulcrum so as to raise or lower the second base with respect to a first base as a base of the optical disc apparatus, a cam mechanism which is provided pivotably on the first base side within an orthographic projection area of the optical disc that is in a chucked state and which has a cam surface formed around and in the direction of a pivot shaft. In addition, a cam pin provided on the second base side is brought into engagement with the cam surface. When the optical disc inserted into the optical disc apparatus is chucked onto a turntable so as to be rotatable, the cam mechanism is pivoted about the pivot shaft by a cam drive section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc.
    Inventors: Sojiro Kirihara, Yoshiyuki Tanaka, Shinya Tsubota
  • Patent number: 7367035
    Abstract: A data recording device to and from which a memory cartridge accommodating memory cards that are data recording media can be attached and detached is provided. According to the data recording device, it is possible to firmly connect the memory cards loaded in the memory slot to connectors and to thus improve stability against vibration. In the data recording device A to and from which the memory cartridge B accommodating the memory cards DM that are the data recording media can be attached and detached, the opening and closing door 2 is provided in the accommodating portion of the memory cartridge B of the data recording device A. A pressing mechanism for elastically supporting the memory cards CM loaded in the memory slot in the direction where the memory cards CM are loaded is provided in the opening and closing door 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Teac Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuhide Kitaoka
  • Patent number: 7275252
    Abstract: A microminiature optical disc drive is mounted in a cell phone or other handheld portable device to provide a large data source for playing games, movies and other digital content on the device. The optical disc drive is manufactured to an extremely small form factor by, among other things, employing a blue laser beam and a high numerical aperture lens in the optics assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2007
    Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven B. Volk, Gregory Dimitri Volan
  • Patent number: 7269834
    Abstract: A disc type recording and/or reproducing apparatus automatically performs the opening and closing of a shutter provided on a cartridge housing an optical disc in its case, and prevents the above-mentioned opening and closing mechanism from affecting the cartridge after an end of loading. When a DVR cartridge (51) is drawn into a recording and reproducing position by means of a tray (13), a shutter opening and closing mechanism (65) arranged on the side of the apparatus is relatively moved with regard to the cartridge (51). Thereby, shutter plates (100) of the cartridge (51) are opened or closed. Then, after the shutter plates (100) are completely released, the shutter opening and closing mechanism (65) is retracted by means of a cam (85) to be away from the cartridge (51).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Tsutsumi, Yoichiro Mitsumoto, Hisashi Negoro
  • Patent number: 7231646
    Abstract: A disc drive unit capable of simply performing an opening and closing driving of shutters by rotation of an inner rotor of a disc cartridge using the inner rotor is provided. A disc drive unit is constituted so as to open and close shutters (9, 10) by rotationally driving a partial gear (27) of the inner rotor (4) by a rack portion (74) of a rack member (71) slidably driving it relative to a disc cartridge (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2007
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuyoshi Kawaguchi, Naoki Inoue, Hiroaki Mizuma, Takuji Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7222351
    Abstract: In a disc cartridge, the shutter opening/closing operation is to be performed reliably. To this end, the distal ends of a first engagement member 75 and a second engagement member 79 provided to a base 66 are pivotally movable in a direction along a lateral surface of a housing 51, in addition to being movable in a direction perpendicular to the lateral surface of the housing 51. The state of engagement of the first engagement member 75 and the second engagement member 79, provided to the base, with a first mating engagement section 110 and with a second mating engagement section 108, provided to an inner rotor 101, facing outwards from one lateral surface of the housing 51, when the base 66 performs relative movement along the lateral surface of the housing 51, may be maintained for prolonged time, while the load applied to the distal ends during engagement and disengagement may be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2007
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Tsutsumi, Manabu Obata, Zensaku Mitsuji, Mitsunori Matsumura
  • Patent number: 7136259
    Abstract: In order to provide a positioning mechanism that can be processed easily and accurately by press forming and a frame structure having the same, especially a main frame and a method of manufacturing the same, the invention provides a frame structure of the flexible disk drive including a pair of projections fitted into a pair of corresponding positioning holes on the inserted flexible disk. The pair of projections is formed by cutting and raising.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisateru Komatsu, Makoto Takahashi, Noriyuki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7089571
    Abstract: A disc drive designed to hold a cartridge containing an optical data storage disk is compatible with a memory card slot in a host digital electronics device such as a PDA, for example a slot designed for a Type I CompactFlash card. The disc drive contains a body assembly which is inserted into the memory card slot and which has a compatible connector at one end. The disc drive also includes a drive mechanism which contains the spindle motor and optics systems and which is located outside the memory card slot when the drive is in operation. The drive mechanism is lifted from the body assembly to form an opening to a tray into which a cartridge is loaded. The drive mechanism is then pressed against the body assembly to close the cartridge tray and to cause the spindle motor assembly to engage the optical disc within the cartridge. To minimize the extent to which the disc drive protrudes from the host device, part of the cartridge extends into the memory card slot when the disc drive is connected to the host.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2006
    Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven B. Volk, Thomas E. Berg
  • Patent number: 7058959
    Abstract: A disc drive designed to hold a cartridge containing an optical data storage disk is compatible with a memory card slot in a host digital electronics device such as a PDA, for example a slot designed for a Type I CompactFlash card. The disc drive contains a body assembly which is inserted into the memory card slot and which has a compatible connector at one end. The disc drive also includes a drive mechanism which contains the spindle motor and optics systems and which is located outside the memory card slot when the drive is in operation. The drive mechanism is lifted from the body assembly to form an opening to a tray into which a cartridge is loaded. The drive mechanism is then pressed against the body assembly to close the cartridge tray and to cause the spindle motor assembly to engage the optical disc within the cartridge. To minimize the extent to which the disc drive protrudes from the host device, part of the cartridge extends into the memory card slot when the disc drive is connected to the host.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven B. Volk, Thomas E. Berg
  • Patent number: 6826767
    Abstract: A cartridge has a shutter movable forward and rearward for exposing or alternatively enclosing a disk contained in a shell. The shell is inserted into a device provided with a tooth for opening the shutter and a spring piece fittable to the shutter and positioned at a level different from that of the tooth. The shell has a slit formed in a side face thereof in the vicinity of the shutter for permitting the tooth to advance thereinto. The shell has a corner in the vicinity of the slit and providing a contact face. The slit is provided at a front end portion thereof with a guide groove positioned in the contact face and enlarging toward the front. The contact face is in the form of a circular arc or slope and so shaped that the path of movement thereof intersects the inner end of the tooth at a location B which is positioned forwardly of a position A where the path of movement intersects the spring piece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2004
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasushi Kojima