Optical Storage Disc Holding Structure Patents (Class 720/703)
  • Patent number: 9082445
    Abstract: Provided is a disc clamping structure, a spindle structure, and an optical disc drive having the disc clamping structure. The disc clamping structure includes a chucking spring comprising a pressing portion pressing an upper surface of the clamper, and elastic portions surrounding the pressing portion and providing an elastic force toward the clamper. The disc clamping structure does not require a magnetic thrust as does the conventional optical disc drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Korea Corporation
    Inventors: Byung-yeob Park, Seong-yeon Park, Bo-won Hwang, Jeong-hun Choe
  • Patent number: 8954999
    Abstract: A holding portion includes at least three pressing members which are operable to press an inner peripheral of a hole formed on the medium. The pressing members are movable between first positions where the pressing members do not come in contact with the inner peripheral and second positions where the pressing members come in contact with and press the inner peripheral. Each of the pressing members is adapted to interlockingly move with each other when moving toward the first positions and to press the inner peripheral independently from the other members when positioning the second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mitsuhiko Nebashi
  • Patent number: 8836182
    Abstract: A ring-shaped back yoke and a ring-shaped magnet are provided on a bottom surface of a ring-shaped opening part formed at a central portion of an alignment ring of a turntable part. The back yoke is provided with a protruding pawl which protrudes in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the back yoke, and the alignment ring is provided with a through hole into which the protruding pawl is inserted when mounting the back yoke to the alignment ring. The protruding pawl of the back yoke and an upper surface of a rotor frame are fixed together using an adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Nishikata, Hideki Noto
  • Patent number: 8789076
    Abstract: A transportation body 1 for a flexible optical disk 10 has flexibility, and includes a rotation stabilizing board 2 having a disk-shaped form, an optical disk alignment unit 4 installed in the central part of the rotation stabilizing board 2, and a spacer 3 installed on a surface of the rotation stabilizing board 2. A combination of the transportation body 1 and the optical disk 10 can be treated as an equivalent of a conventional optical disk having rigidity, by transporting the flexible optical disk 10 placed on the transportation body 1 and by recording/reproducing information onto/from the flexible optical disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Masashi Kubota, Kenji Tagami, Hisaya Niizawa
  • Patent number: 8756618
    Abstract: A motor including: a rotor case having a chucking device, on which a disk is mounted, press-fitted and coupled thereto; disk support members mounted on an upper surface of the rotor case to support a bottom surface of the disk, and having each of flow path portions therebetween allowing for airflow in a space between the disk and the rotor case; and a push portion disposed in at least one of the rotor case and the disk support members to accelerate the airflow through the flow path portions when the rotor case rotates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Viatcheslav Smirnov, Dae Lyun Kang, Sang Kyu Lee
  • Patent number: 8695023
    Abstract: A holding portion includes at least three pressing members which are operable to press an inner peripheral of a hole formed on the medium. The pressing members are movable between first positions where the pressing members do not come in contact with the inner peripheral and second positions where the pressing members come in contact with and press the inner peripheral. Each of the pressing members is adapted to interlockingly move with each other when moving toward the first positions and to press the inner peripheral independently from the other members when positioning the second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mitsuhiko Nebashi
  • Patent number: 8645981
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a disk chucking apparatus. The apparatus includes a central boss which is coupled to a rotating shaft of a motor, a guide which extends from the central boss outwards and is inserted into a center hole of a disk, and a chucking unit which extends from the central boss outwards. The chucking unit is elastically deformable inwards when pushed by the disk that is fitted over the guide. The chucking unit includes a lower horizontal part, a vertical part and an upper horizontal part. The lower horizontal part extends from the lower portion of the central boss outwards in the horizontal direction. The vertical part is bent from the outer end of the lower horizontal part upwards. The vertical part extends in a direction inclined outwards. The upper horizontal part extends from the upper end of the vertical part inwards in a horizontal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nam Seok Kim, Ho Jun Yoo, Chang Keun Jun
  • Publication number: 20130339989
    Abstract: In an archive device which has a disc storing case which stores a plurality of discs, a disc writing/reading unit having an ODD, and a disc conveying unit which conveys each of the discs between both, the fixing strength for a drive fixer to be incorporated to fix the ODD can be increased. The archive device includes holding members which fix surfaces of the ODD in a direction parallel to a direction in which the disc is delivered and received between the disc conveying unit and the ODD, one of the holding members integrally including a detecting member which detects a relative position of the disc storing case with respect to the ODD. The holding members for the surfaces of the ODD may be individual components, and may be integrally formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Inventor: Hiroshi YAMAGISHI
  • Patent number: 8448202
    Abstract: There is provided a motor including: a rotor case having a chucking device, on which a disk is mounted, press-fitted and coupled thereto; and disk support members mounted on an upper surface of the rotor case to support a bottom surface of the disk, and having each of flow path portions therebetween allowing for airflow in a space between the disk and the rotor case, wherein a push portion is disposed in at least one of the rotor case and the disk support members to accelerate the airflow through the flow path portions when the rotor case rotates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Viatcheslav Smirnov, Dae Lyun Kang, Sang Kyu Lee
  • Publication number: 20130067504
    Abstract: A chassis, and a rigid mount member having at least three fixed support portions connected to the chassis are included. The rigid mount member has an installation surface for fixing a base unit, and with the installation surface being used as a reference plane which is along the horizontal plane, at least one of the fixed support portions is provided at a level higher than the center of gravity of the base unit on the side of one end edge of the installation surface, while at least the other one of the fixed support portion is provided at a level lower than the center of gravity of the base unit on the side of the other end edge of the installation surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: JVC KENWOOD CORPORATION
    Inventor: JVC KENWOOD CORPORATION
  • Publication number: 20130024878
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a spindle motor including: a turn table made of a deformable iron based material; a turn table inner diameter part provided at the center of the turn table, having a hollow part, and including a coupling part formed in an inner peripheral surface thereof; and a shaft inserted into the hollow part of the turn table inner diameter part to thereby contact the coupling part and rotate in an axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yong Kwan Lee, Sun Kim, Dae Hyun Kwon, Hyun Su Kim
  • Patent number: 8151288
    Abstract: A disk chucking device is disclosed. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the disk chucking device coupling a disk to a rotor of a motor can include: a housing, which accommodates a boss that is coupled to the rotor; a plurality of chuck pins, which is inserted into the housing such that the chuck pins are protruded to the outside of the housing; an elastic body, which elastically supports an adjacent pair of the chuck pins toward the outside of the housing; a supporting surface, which is formed on an outer circumference of the boss to support a center portion of the elastic body; a guide part, which faces the supporting surface to guide a movement of the elastic body; and a protruding part, which is protruded on a lower end of the guide part toward the boss to support a lower side of the center portion of the elastic body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Viatcheslav Smirnov, Dong-Yeon Shin, Nam-Seok Kim
  • Publication number: 20120060174
    Abstract: A recording/reproducing apparatus is disclosed that includes a spindle motor unit including a spindle on which a flexible recording disk is placed, a stabilizer plate disposed so as to face the recording disk, a torque detection unit configured to detect a drive torque applied to the spindle motor unit, an adjustment unit configured to adjust a gap between the recording disk and the stabilizer plate, and a determination unit configured to determine an optimal gap to be set to the gap based on the drive torque detected by the torque detection unit, in which the adjustment unit sets the optimum gap determined by the determination unit to the gap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Inventors: Nobuaki Onagi, Yasutomo Aman, Minoru Takahashi, Haruki Tokumaru, Yoshimichi Takano, Daiichi Koide
  • Publication number: 20120017227
    Abstract: There is provided a motor formed to have a simple coupling structure between a base plate and a sleeve holder, thereby implementing a simple structure and reducing costs and processes taken for manufacturing the motor, and an optical disc drive using the same. To this end, the motor includes a base plate having at least one protrusion formed therein, and a sleeve holder having a body part, of which the shape is cylindrical and in which a sleeve is fitted, and a flange protrudingly formed from a lower end of the body part in such a manner as to make surface-to-surface contact with an upper surface of the base plate, wherein the flange is formed to have at least one insertion hole, through which the protrusion is inserted so that the sleeve holder is coupled to the base plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2011
    Publication date: January 19, 2012
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pyo Kim, Jae Yoon Kim, Dong Yeon Shin
  • Patent number: 8099744
    Abstract: A low-cost disk device with which the same spindle motor and clamper can be used for different types of disk device, such as a DVD drive. A clamper includes a clamper main body and a plurality of positioning components. The clamper main body clamps a disk between itself and a spindle motor that holds and rotates the disk. The plurality of positioning components are formed on the clamper main body for the relative positioning of the clamper main body and each of the plurality of spindle motors in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshito Saji, Kozo Ezawa, Takeo Santo
  • Publication number: 20120005698
    Abstract: There is provided a turntable for a motor, including: a rotor case equipped with a chucking mechanism mounting a disk; a disk holding base part formed on the rotor case to be protruded by denting and disposed to be spaced apart from each other in order to form an air passage communicating a space formed between the disk and the top surface of the rotor case with the outer side of the rotor case; and a disk holding friction part stacked on the disk holding base part and grounded to the bottom surface of the disk.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2011
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicant: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dae Lyun Kang, Dong Yeon Shin
  • Publication number: 20110307911
    Abstract: A circuit board for supplying therethrough an electric current to a stator including windings arranged to generate magnetic fields includes a body portion having a rectangular shape when seen in a plan view and mounted with electronic parts, and an extension portion protruding from the body portion substantially along a circumferential direction around a rotation axis of the motor when seen in a plan view. The extension portion includes a distal end extension opposed to the body portion through a gap when seen in a plan view. The transverse width of the extension portion is smaller than the gap. The body portion includes an outward connector portion connected to an external power source or an external circuit board. The extension portion includes a winding connection portion connected to the outward connector portion through a wiring portion. The windings are soldered to the winding connection portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahiro Yamada, Satoshi Komatsu
  • Patent number: 8069457
    Abstract: An auto-balancing device, as well as a turntable device and a disc driving device equipped with the auto-balancing device are disclosed. The auto-balancing device, which includes a housing, which is coupled with a rotating body, and in which an annular insertion groove is formed; a correcting ring, rotatably inserted in the insertion groove; and multiple correcting balls, positioned between the correcting ring and an outward inwall of the insertion groove, can reduce noise and vibration for a rotating body during acceleration and deceleration and during high-speed rotations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Viatcheslav Smirnov, Pyo Kim, Nam-Seok Kim
  • Publication number: 20110239235
    Abstract: Disclosed is a motor including a rotor body mounted on a shaft and a chucking mechanism body mounted on a rotor hub, which are coupled with an increased coupling force by changing a coupling structure of the rotor hub of the rotor body and the chucking mechanism body mounted on the rotor hub. The motor includes: a sleeve rotatably supporting a shaft; a rotor body having a rotor hub mounted on the shaft; and a chucking mechanism body having a boss with a through hole in which the rotor hub is insertedly coupled and a space part formed within the boss and providing an elastic force when the rotor hub is coupled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2010
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Byung Hoon Lee, Sang Kyu Lee, Dong Yeon Shin
  • Publication number: 20110214139
    Abstract: A disk stabilizing plate is disposed oppositely below a thin disk for the purpose of allowing the thin disk to rotate stably, in a recording and reading device that uses a flexible thin disk for recording and reading. The disk stabilizing plate has a movable disk support member, relative to the prescribed rotation condition of the thin disk, that is caused to protrude upward from the surface of the disk stabilizing plate to touch and support the thin disk, or that is drawn downward from the surface of the disk stabilizing plate from the state touching and supporting the thin disk so that the state wherein the thin disk is touched and supported is terminated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2009
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Inventor: Kenji Tagami
  • Publication number: 20110197212
    Abstract: There is provided an encoder sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The encoder sensor may include: a light emitting unit and a light receiving part disposed at a distance in a readable range of an encoding mark of a disk; a receiving part receiving the light emitting unit and the light emitting unit; and a lead frame extending into an opposite direction of the disk from the receiving part and electrically connected to a printed circuit board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ho Jun Yoo, Young Sun Yoo, Sang Kyu Lee, Yeol Choi
  • Patent number: 7954119
    Abstract: In one arrangement, apparatus for attaching a disk to a spindle of a spinstand has a spindle adapter. The spindle adapter has a drawbar movably disposed within. The drawbar has a connector end that is reversibly connectable to the cap and has a piston that is connectable to a source of fluid pressure. The drawbar is movable in response to fluid pressure so as to urge together the cap and the spindle adapter when connected. The cap and the spindle adapter are capable of holding a disk therebetween. In another arrangement, a movable stage movable over a deck of a spinstand has a lift stage arranged to hold a cap with a disk positioned thereon. The lift stage has at least one actuator for raising the lift stage so that the cap can be connected with a spindle adapter of an inverted spindle of a spinstand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2011
    Assignees: Xyratex Technology Limited, Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Ian Stanley Warn, Brett Robert Herdendorf
  • Publication number: 20110067041
    Abstract: A mounting structure for an optical member comprising: an optical member; a holding member having the optical member mounted thereon; and a position adjustment member disposed between the optical member and the holding member, the position adjustment member configured to adjust a mounting position of the optical member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2010
    Publication date: March 17, 2011
    Applicant: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Akutsu, Takao Fukumoto, Yasukazu Imaizumi
  • Patent number: 7904918
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost disk device with which the same spindle motor and clamper can be used for different types of disk device, such as a DVD drive. A clamper comprises a clamper main body and a plurality of positioning components. The clamper main body clamps a disk between itself and a spindle motor that holds and rotates the disk. The plurality of positioning components are formed on the clamper main body for the relative positioning of the clamper main body and each of the plurality of spindle motors in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshito Saji, Kozo Ezawa, Takeo Santo
  • Publication number: 20100313212
    Abstract: A turntable for a storage disk drive apparatus includes a plate member made of a ferromagnetic material and a central resin member arranged at the center of the plate member and formed into a single member by injection-molding a resin. The plate member includes a peripheral plate portion and a central plate portion positioned higher than the peripheral plate portion. The central plate portion includes a plate center hole defined at the center of the plate member. The central resin member includes a resinous cylinder portion extending through the plate center hole and defining a resin central through-hole, a disk guide portion arranged to guide a disk center hole, and a resinous connector portion arranged above the central plate portion to interconnect the resinous cylinder portion and the disk guide portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Applicant: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke Nakanishi, Shinya Tabata, Toshihide Sonoda, Yoshihisa Kitamura
  • Publication number: 20100299685
    Abstract: A disc device capable of achieving a slimming down of a tilt adjusting portion is provided. A tilt adjusting portion 400, 500, or 600 is provided to adjust a light beam 303b emitted from an optical pickup 303 such that an optical axis 303c is set perpendicularly to a disc 200 loaded on a disc turning portion 302. As the tilt adjusting portion 400, 500, or 600, a turntable adjusting portion 600 for adjusting a tilt of the disc loading face of the disc turning portion 302, and an optical pickup adjusting portion 400 or 500 for adjusting a position of a frame 307 that holds an optical pickup driving portion 305 are provided. Therefore, a margin of adjustment in the adjusting portion can be reduced, the tilt adjusting portion 400, 500, 600 can be reduced in size, and a slimming down of a disc device 100 can be achieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Publication date: November 25, 2010
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Urushihara, Yoshikazu Ohmura, Tetsuya Okubo, Hiroshi Saito
  • Publication number: 20100293563
    Abstract: A spindle motor and a mounting device for mounting a disk in a spindle motor are provided. The mounting device allows for a reduced number of parts, a reduction in product cost, a disk to be smoothly slid and securely mounted to a turntable, prevents deforming of a disk during mounting, and ease of mounting a disk. A center guide member is formed of a plastic material, into which the rotating shaft is inserted at an upper end of the turntable, so that it is capable of rising and descending thereon. The center guide member supports the disk. A back yoke is fixed at an upper side of the center guide member on the rotating shaft, to prevent disengaging of the center guide member from the rotating shaft. An outer portion of the center guide member gradually widens toward a lower end thereof, so that the disk can be inserted more securely.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Publication date: November 18, 2010
    Inventors: Jae Hyun Park, Jin Seung Yoo
  • Patent number: 7836464
    Abstract: A disk holder, disk alignment mechanism and disk drive employing same that for permitting accurate alignment of a disk are provided. The disk drive comprises a disk holder 10 that comprises a plurality of holder plates 11 that individually hold disks D, a drive unit 62 that plays back disks D, disk selectors 41A and 41B that form a space above and below a desired disk D by raising and lowering the holder plates 11, and a drive base 60 that moves the drive unit 62 into the space that is formed as a result of raising and lowering the holder plates 11. Disk hold links 17 and 18 comprising catches 17a and 18a respectively that engage with and disengage from the center hole of disk D are provided on the holder plates 11 such that the disk hold links 17 and 18 are able to turn, and a disk hold arm 16 that allows the disk hold links 17 and 18 to turn is provided so as to be able to perform a sliding movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Keiji Tokita, Kouji Seki, Kazuya Tanaka, Yoshio Suzuki, Shouichiro Kokubo
  • Publication number: 20100262985
    Abstract: An optical read/write apparatus causes a read/write light beam from illuminating means to strike only one side of an optical storage medium including stacked data storage layers each of which is readable/writeable separately from the other layers. In this case, the optical read/write apparatus operates so that data is read/written from/into a second data storage layer after fully recording a recordable area of a first data storage layer. Thus, light can be shone with uniform intensity across the substantially entire recordable area of the second data storage layer without using a complex read/write system even under such conditions that the transmittance to light of the first data storage layer in the recordable area may vary depending on whether any data is recorded in the recordable area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Junji Hirokane, Noboru Iwata
  • Publication number: 20100262984
    Abstract: An optical read/write apparatus causes a read/write light beam from illuminating means to strike only one side of an optical storage medium including stacked data storage layers each of which is readable/writeable separately from the other layers. In this case, the optical read/write apparatus operates so that data is read/written from/into a second data storage layer after fully recording a recordable area of a first data storage layer. Thus, light can be shone with uniform intensity across the substantially entire recordable area of the second data storage layer without using a complex read/write system even under such conditions that the transmittance to light of the first data storage layer in the recordable area may vary depending on whether any data is recorded in the recordable area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Junji Hirokane, Noboru Iwata
  • Patent number: 7787333
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for controlling an optical disk device performs a disk loading and unloading operation based on at least one driving signal containing multiple pulses of different widths. The pulses are applied to control a motor to unclamp the disk relative to a spindle. Because the signal is formed from multiple pulses of different widths, the unclamping operation is performed with little or no shock forces and as a result the disk is ejected without damage and without being dislodged from the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi-LG Data Storage Korea, Inc.
    Inventors: Seuk Ho Choi, Kyu Tae Kang
  • Publication number: 20100192169
    Abstract: A data storage medium support member is produced by resin molding. The data storage medium support member includes an accommodating portion, a guide portion, and a gate cut portion. The accommodating portion accommodates a magnetic member around a central axis. The guide portion has a guide surface for guiding an inner edge of a disc, and is arranged radially outward of the accommodating portion. The gate cut portion is formed on a rear surface of the guide portion. The data storage medium support member can be produced by the resin molding while securing space for accommodating the magnetic member and preventing an increase in the axial dimension of the data storage medium support member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2009
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Applicant: Nidec Corporation
    Inventors: Hitoshi TAKEUCHI, Hideya IKEMOTO, Hironori TSUKAMOTO, Nobuaki YASUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20100100895
    Abstract: A distribution apparatus for a plurality of discs each having an aperture therethrough utilizing a shaft. The shaft is sized to fit within each of the apertures of the plurality of discs when such discs lie in a stacked configuration. A movable contact supported by the shaft extends from the shaft to engage the edges of the disc surrounding the apertures of the discs. Such extension of the moveable contact holds each of the discs to the shaft. A quick retraction of the movable contact releases a single disc and the remaining disc are again held by the movable contact by its subsequent extension. Feet on the shaft may hold a single disc released from the disc stack held by the moveable contact. Retraction of the feet releases a single disc from the shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2008
    Publication date: April 22, 2010
    Inventor: David R. Hernandez
  • Publication number: 20100088713
    Abstract: A disk holder, disk alignment mechanism and disk drive employing same that for permitting accurate alignment of a disk are provided. The disk drive comprises a disk holder 10 that comprises a plurality of holder plates 11 that individually hold disks D, a drive unit 62 that plays back disks D, disk selectors 41A and 41B that form a space above and below a desired disk D by raising and lowering the holder plates 11, and a drive base 60 that moves the drive unit 62 into the space that is formed as a result of raising and lowering the holder plates 11. Disk hold links 17 and 18 comprising catches 17a and 18a respectively that engage with and disengage from the center hole of disk D are provided on the holder plates 11 such that the disk hold links 17 and 18 are able to turn, and a disk hold arm 16 that allows the disk hold links 17 and 18 to turn is provided so as to be able to perform a sliding movement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2009
    Publication date: April 8, 2010
    Inventors: Keiji Tokita, Kouji Seki, Kazuya Tanaka, Yoshio Suzuki, Shouichiro Kokubo
  • Patent number: 7685610
    Abstract: A disk device includes a driving unit and a restricting mechanism that are disposed in a housing. The driving unit moves between a withdrawal position and a driving position. The withdrawal position is separated from an outer peripheral edge of a disk that is positioned in the housing, and the driving position is where the disk is rotationally driven. When the driving unit is at the withdrawal position, the restricting mechanism restricts movement of the driving unit toward the driving position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Abe, Ken Fujinaga
  • Publication number: 20090257336
    Abstract: A marking device for marking optical discs in a non-destructive, tamper-proof manner for licensing and other purposes such as part of a digital content library service includes top and bottom structures coupled together by a hinge. The bottom structure is adapted with a mounting post in a recessed area defined by opposing curved ledges to hold an optical disc for marking. The top structure is adapted with a removable tool having an embossed symbol for impressing a mark on the held optical disc by applying pressure to the top structure when the device is in a closed position. The top structure is also adapted with perforations for alternatively or additionally injecting a permanent ink onto the optical disc so that a mark defined by the pattern of perforations may be placed on the optical disc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2008
    Publication date: October 15, 2009
    Inventors: Anthony David Knight, Jonny Boyd Reckless
  • Patent number: 7596796
    Abstract: A disc cartridge having rotatably housed an optical disc (2) is disclosed. The disc cartridge includes a main cartridge body unit (5) having an aperture for the head part (13) for exposing a portion of the optical disc to outside across the inner and outer rims of the disc. In one surface of the main cartridge body unit is formed a center opening (12) into which is intruded a turntable (90) for rotationally driving the optical disc. An inner peripheral surface (81) of the center opening operates as a mounting reference plane along the planar direction when mounting the disc cartridge to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus. The rim of the opening of the one surface of the main cartridge body unit operates as a mounting reference surface (82) along the height-wise direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhito Kurita, Tokio Kanada, Takahiro Yamada
  • Publication number: 20090172719
    Abstract: An optical disk drive includes a device body. A turntable is disposed on the device body, for rotating a disk. There is an optical pickup head for reading and/or writing of data with the disk. A multi-segment cover assembly is shiftable between a folded position and a spread position. The multi-segment cover assembly, when in the folded position, allows loading and unloading of the disk on the turntable, and when in the spread position, has a larger area than when in the folded position, and contains and protects the disk on the turntable. The multi-segment cover assembly includes a plurality of pie-shaped cover sectors, rotatable about an axis defined concentrically with the turntable, for extending to nest in one another when in the folded position, and for spreading by offsetting from one another when in the spread position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2008
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Applicant: TEAC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yutaka Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7543311
    Abstract: A pair of guide shafts 230 supporting an information processing section 240 equipped with a pickup 242 is provided on a mount 210 rotatably disposed in a casing 110 with a turn table for rotatably supporting the optical disc 10 being provided on the rotation end side. An electric moving motor 310 is integrally attached on the bottom side of the casing 110 by an attachment 330 with a lead screw 320 having a spiral engaging groove 321, to which a movement restricting claw 241B of the information processing section 240 is engaged, being coupled coaxially to an output shaft. The configuration moving the information processing section 240 will not contact to the casing 110 when the turn table 222 is rotated to a retracted position retracted from the moving path of the optical disc 10 at the insertion or ejection of the optical disc 10, thus preferably being downsized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventor: Tomonori Nakada
  • Patent number: 7536702
    Abstract: A disk device comprising: a turn table, a clamp head, a spindle motor and an elevating frame, wherein the turn table and the clamp head fixed to a driving shaft of the spindle motor disposed at a front end of the elevation frame disposed in a direction along a diagonal line inside of the disk device, and means for rocking a front end of the elevating frame up and down to clamp an optical disk by the clamp head and to hold the optical disk on the turn table or to release the clamping state of the held optical disk, wherein when the front end of the elevating frame descends, a horizontal state of a plane orthogonal to a diagonal line of the elevating frame is held, or either the left side or right side of the front end of the elevating frame is more inclined than the other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2009
    Assignee: TEAC Corporation
    Inventor: Nobuhiko Fujimura
  • Publication number: 20090125931
    Abstract: A turntable device and a disk driving device having the same are disclosed. A turntable device for securing a disk includes: a cone part, which receives the disk in a detachable manner; a base, on which the disk may be mounted, and on which a boss is formed; and a yoke, which is coupled to the boss, and which supports the cone part in a manner such that the cone part is separated from the boss and is capable of sliding. This turntable device can improve alignment between the rotation centers of the motor and the disk, even in high-speed rotations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2008
    Publication date: May 14, 2009
    Applicant: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Viatcheslav Smirnov, Young-Sun Yoo, Ho-Jun Yoo, Kyung-Seob Shin
  • Publication number: 20090044213
    Abstract: A disk drive includes a chassis having a spindle motor for rotating a disk and a read/write head for reading or writing data on the disk, a slide block disposed at one side of the chassis and slidable reciprocally along an entrance-and-exit route defined by the disk, and a support member mounted on the slide member so as to be movable together therewith. The support member supports the disk from below during inserting the disk into the disk drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2008
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Applicant: LITE-ON IT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tai-Kuo Wang, Fu-Jen Yang, Chieh-Li Chen
  • Publication number: 20090037944
    Abstract: A support (611) that is substantially cylindrical so as to be received by a disk hole (1NA) and has a positioning portion (612) on a circumference adjacent to a first axial end is provided with an engagement/disengagement concave portion (613) of which both ends open to the circumference along a radial direction. A first engaging portion (614) protrudes from around the circumference at which a first axial end of the engagement/disengagement concave portion (613) opens substantially opposes to the positioning portion (612) with a gap equal to or more than a thickness of an optical disk (1N). A moving member (615) is disposed in the engagement/disengagement concave portion (613) in a manner movable along a radial direction of the support (611).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2006
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Applicant: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Yasaki, Hideki Kinoshita, Shigeru Kojima, Jun Togashi, Akira Takahashi, Yasuyuki Noboribayashi
  • Patent number: 7430750
    Abstract: An optical disc drive including a main frame in which a turntable is provided; a tray on which the optical disc is mounted and which is slidable in the main frame; a cover, which covers a top surface of the main frame and includes a clamper to fix the optical disc in the turntable; and a noise reducer, which is disposed in the cover and causes air generated by rotation of the optical disc circulate from an inner circumference to an outer circumference of the optical disc and from the outer circumference to the inner circumference thereof, thereby reducing noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sang-yun Lee, Myung-ryul Choi, Eun-hyoung Cho, Suk-il Oh
  • Publication number: 20080148304
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an optical disc drive including a pickup head for reading data from a disc; a spindle motor for supporting and rotating the disc; a loading/ejecting apparatus for loading or ejecting the disc; and an emergency ejecting apparatus. The emergency ejecting apparatus includes a slider for connecting the loading/ejecting apparatus, a rack, and an elastic component for connecting the slider and the rack. When a user drives the slider and the elastic component is elastically deformed, the slider is moved in the optical disc drive to drive the loading/ejecting apparatus to eject the disc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Applicant: LITE-ON IT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Fu-Jen Yang, Chun-Hung Chen, Ming-Chao Li, Li-Feng Chen
  • Publication number: 20080134227
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an optical disc apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has a loading arm. The loading arm has two projections provided, respectively, at a distal end and at a position prescribed in accordance with a difference in diameter between optical discs. The loading arm can rotate in a direction in which an optical disc is inserted. It rotates when the optical disc contacts at least the projection provided at the distal end. It positions the optical disc when it is rotated through an angle prescribed in accordance with the difference in diameter between the optical discs, by using the two projections spaced apart by a distance prescribed in accordance with the difference in diameter between the optical discs. When the loading arm is rotated in the opposite direction, the optical disc is ejected from the optical disc apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventor: Naoki EGUCHI
  • Patent number: 7380255
    Abstract: A disc positioning structure includes a driver, a turntable and a positioning element. The turntable is disposed on the driver and used for placing a disc driven by the driver. The positioning element is disposed on the turntable and the disc is clamped onto the positioning element. The positioning element includes a first ring, a second ring and a plurality of spokes. Wherein, the second ring resides inside the first ring while the spokes are connected between the first ring and the second ring. The disc positioning structure provided by the present invention is able to compensate the positioning error of the disc and to reduce the production cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: Lite-On It Corporation
    Inventor: Jeng-Jiun Chen
  • Publication number: 20080077948
    Abstract: The position of an optical pickup with respect to a disk is maintained accurately by preventing the free end portion of a cantilever movable member from being displaced lower than its proper position during the rotation of the disk even if the movable member is heavy to have improved vibration characteristics. There are provided a movable member 4, a chassis 1, a clamp mechanism 3, and a cam mechanism 5. The cam mechanism 5 includes a shift lever 51 connected to the free end portion of the movable member 4 via elastic bodies 42 and a cam main body 55. Positioning means 8 is composed of a protrusion 53 on the shift lever 51, a stepped engaging surface 15 for supporting the protrusion 53 thereon, and a guide mechanism 71. There is also provided anti-positioning means 9 for disengaging the protrusion 53 from the engaging surface 15.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2007
    Publication date: March 27, 2008
    Applicant: FUNAI Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazumasa Nasu, Ryuuji Hayashi
  • Patent number: 7308694
    Abstract: A high-precision positioning apparatus includes a fine driving unit for producing horizontal and small movements of a flat recording medium relative to an optical system, the medium being used for optically recording and reproducing information. The fine driving unit includes a frame-shaped unit body, a first driving frame inside the unit body, and a second driving frame inside the first driving frame and secured at a position adjacent to a magnetized portion of the recording medium. The first driving frame is movable relative to the unit body by fine driving devices in the horizontal direction of the recording medium, while the second driving frame is movable relative to the first driving frame by other fine driving devices in the horizontal direction of the recording medium and in the direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the first driving frame, thereby producing horizontal and small movements of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: ALPS Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshihiro Someno
  • Patent number: 7231648
    Abstract: To provide a disk supporting apparatus, a disk holding apparatus and a disk apparatus whose planar dimension is minimized, and which can be manufactured simply and inexpensively. A plurality of supporting portions 44 inclines with respect to a top portion 46 as a vertex. A tray 26 is formed into a substantially triangular pyramid (three-dimensional) configuration, and a planar dimension of the tray 26 can be smaller than that of a conventional turntable. Accordingly, a plurality of disks can be mounted on the tray 26. The supporting portion 44 of the tray 26 can be placed in parallel to a door leaf without a slide mechanism that has conventionally been used for sliding a tray. Accordingly, a desired disk can be attached/detached merely by rotating and driving the tray 26, and a mechanism disposed at a stereo apparatus is made compact and manufactured inexpensively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2007
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Chikara Ute, Kiyoshi Kawakubo, Takeshi Sano, Yukio Matsumoto, Akira Ishihara, Noboru Fujita, Yutaka Ogasawara, Hiroaki Masuda, Daisuke Matsuo