Abstract: A disc clamping structure is provided. A fixing base is disposed on a turntable. A plurality of ball seats are disposed around a periphery of the fixing base, and each of the ball seats has an aperture. The balls are received in the ball seats. The elastic members are disposed within the fixing base. The balls are upwardly moved, and the height of the center point of the ball is adjusted according to the thickness of the disc when the disc is clamped on the turntable. A portion of the ball is projected from the aperture of the ball seat before clamping the disc.

Abstract: In a chucking device, a rolling guide portion is arranged below an upper cover portion of a rotor holder and radially inwards of a cylinder portion of the rotor holder. This helps restrain the noises generated by the rolling movement of balls from propagating to the outside. Moreover, the turntable and the rolling guide portion are formed of a single resin member extending continuously through a through-hole defined in the rotor holder.

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.

Abstract: A disk chucking device includes a guide shaft for insertion into the central hole of a disk. A supporting member at the base side of the guide shaft supports a vicinity of the central hole at one surface of the disk. A cylindrical holding member approaches to or separates from the supporting member. A plunger moves along the holding member. A ball supporting member in the plunger stores a ball. An elastic member is locked by the plunger and the holding member, and biases to separate the plunger and the holding member in the axial direction of the guide shaft. A locking portion of the guide shaft prevents plunger movement in the axial direction of the guide shaft by making contact with the balls. An inside protrusion of the holding member supports the balls by surrounding together with the guide shaft when the balls are contacted with the locking portion.

Abstract: An optical disk drive includes a motor base, a rotating shaft, a rotor and a disk mounting structure. The rotating shaft is rotatably disposed on the motor base. The rotor is disposed on the rotating shaft with part of the rotating shaft protruding from the rotor. The disk mounting structure includes a mounting portion, a fitting portion and a ball. The mounting portion is disposed on the rotating shaft for carrying an optical disk. The fitting portion is disposed on the mounting portion to be buckled into the hole of the optical disk. The lateral surface of the fitting portion has a cavity. The ball is movably disposed inside the cavity and may be pulled or attracted by a predetermined pulling force. When the disk mounting structure rotates, the ball will press the optical disk because the centrifugal force of the ball is larger than the predetermined pulling force.

Abstract: There is provided a thin optical disk device having a slot-in mechanism which is able to smoothly carry out operations of clamping and releasing an optical disk, including an optical pickup which carries out reading and/or writing from/to the optical disk, a turntable which places the optical disk at an operating position of the optical pickup and rotates the optical disk, a clamper which is arranged at an approximate center of the turntable and can freely advance and retreat in a direction of a diameter of the optical disk, and a device for clamping an inside diameter section of the optical disk at a location directly above the clamper with the optical disk being held by sandwiching the optical disk and for pressing the inside diameter section from the side of a non-writing surface of the optical disk and clamping the inside diameter section to the clamper.

Abstract: A disk clamping device for a disk drive having a hub insertable into a central hole of a disk which is capable of preventing the slip of the disk, even in a high speed rotation of the disk, by increasing the frictional force between a hub and the disk, wherein the disk clamping device includes a plurality of clamping grooves formed at the hub in a radial direction and respectively placed at regular angles and intervals centering around the hub, a plurality of springs respectively inserted into the plurality of clamping grooves, a plurality of balls respectively inserted into the plurality of clamping grooves, pushed toward the outer circumference of the hub by the plurality of springs and contacting to the disk when the hub is inserted into the central hole of the disk and a fluid provided inside the plurality of clamping grooves in order to increase the frictional force between the plurality of balls and the disk in accordance with the rotation of the disk and the hub.