Pioneer Corporation

Akihiro Muto

Yasuhiro Shinkai

Tetsuya Uchiyama

Yasuo Ogiwara

Toru Suzuki

Yoshinori Yamada

Kenji Uchiyama

Koji Asao

Takashi Komiyama

Ryosuke Shimosawa

Yasushi Konno

Takashi Satoh

A clamp mechanism comprises a turntable, a plurality of chuck claws, and a driving element. The turntable is rotatably driven by a motor. A disc serving as a recording medium is placed on the turntable. The chuck claws are used to hold, that is, clamp the disc on the turntable. The driving element drives the chuck claws both in both a first direction determined to clamp the disc and a second direction determined to unclamp the disc. The driving element includes a pressing portion so that travel of the chuck claws in the first direction in cases where the chuck claws are driven in the second direction. This offers stable clamping and unclamping operations of the chuck claws to detachably hold the disc on the turntable, independently of which attitude the disc takes.

Clamp mechanism and information replay apparatus using same

The feed mechanism has a lead screw , a pickup assembly , an engagement piece , and a restrictor piece , a compressed coil spring , and a bearing portion . The engagement piece has a thread portion engaged with a screw groove of the lead screw . The engagement piece moves along the lead screw and can come close to and off from the lead screw . The pickup assembly moves together with the engagement piece . The restrictor piece prevents the engagement piece from disengaging from the lead screw , except when the screw groove moves apart from the thread portion . The compressed coil spring urges the engagement piece toward the lead screw . The bearing portion rotatively supports the lead screw and allows the lead screw to move apart from the engagement piece when the engagement piece has reached an end thereof.

Pickup feed mechanism

An optical pickup sending device comprises: an optical pickup for reading information from an information recording medium; a rack member provided in connection with the optical pickup; and a screwed shaft engaged with the rack member for sending the optical pickup along the screwed shaft. In particular, the rack member is formed with a plurality of curved teeth each having a radius of curvature larger than that of the screwed shaft.

Optical pickup sending device

Growing community of inventors

Kawagoe, Japan

Akihiro Muto