Sony Corporation

Hideyoshi Horimai

Goro Fujita

Yoshio Aoki

Kimihiro Saito

Katsuhiro Seo

Kiyoshi Toyota

Minoru Tobita

Susumu Tosaka

Tsunehiro Maruo

Hiroshi Ogawa

Kiyoshi Ohmori

Osamu Kawakubo

When a plurality of magneto-optic disks are inserted via a mail slot provided in a front panel block, a controller controls a manipulator of a robotics block so as to load magneto-optic (MO) disks in MO disk arrays constituted by connecting a plurality of MO drives and one Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk (RAID) controller. Then, when a RAID recording system is selected by the user, the controller controls the recording operation of the MO disk arrays in accordance with the selected recording system. More specifically, when a RAID recording striping system is selected by the user, the controller divides the data supplied from the outside and controls the recording operation of the MO drives so as to perform the recording in parallel by the MO drives. As a result, data such as image data may be handled with a high transfer speed.

Recording apparatus having a partially exchangeable disk array, a loading/unloading device, and a control device and which uses a disk-like recording medium

A format of a recording medium suitable for a larger capacity, a higher transfer rate, and integration of pits/lands/grooves is provided. In a first method, in a recordable and reproduceable area, a twin-track structure of lands/grooves is configured such that tracks on which lands become recording tracks and tracks on which grooves become recording tracks form a double spiral. In a read-only area, pits are arrayed such that tracks in the radial direction of the disk are formed in a data area. In a second method, in a recordable and reproduceable area, a land/groove-alternate track structure is configured such that grooves become data recording tracks in the circular track next to the circular track in which lands become data recording tracks, and lands become data recording tracks in the next circular track. In the read-only area, pits are arrayed such that tracks in the radial direction of the disk are formed in the data area.

Recording medium

An optical information recording/playback apparatus having a compact construction of a recording/playback optical system. A light beam emitted from a laser coupler is modulated by a spatial modulator according to difference in the polarizing direction. The modulated light enters an S-polarized light hologram which separates an information light and a recording reference light of different polarizing directions and having different focal positions. An optical rotation is effected by a split optical rotation plate such that the polarizing directions of the information light and the recording reference light coincide with each other in a region of a holographic layer of a recording medium where the information light and the recording reference light are superposed on each other. The light beam having undergone the optical rotation is applied to the holographic layer through an objective lens, whereby the information carried by the information light is recorded in the holographic layer in terms of an interference pattern produced as a result of an interference between the information light and the recording reference light.

Apparatus and method for recording and/or playing back optical

A recording medium such as an optical or magneto-optical disk divided into servo areas and data areas, wherein at least one of pits in each servo area is formed with a phase deviation. There are also disclosed a method of recording pits on such a recording medium, and an apparatus for recording data on and/or reproducing the same from the recording medium. The apparatus comprises a light source for irradiating a light output to the recording medium; a photoelectric converter for receiving the light emitted from the light source and reflected from or transmitted through the recording medium, and converting the received light into an RF signal; a signal converter for converting the output RF signal of the photoelectric converter into a binary signal corresponding to the pit formed on the recording medium; and a detector for detecting the servo area on the recording medium on the basis of the phase deviation of the binary signal outputted from the signal conversion means; wherein data is recorded or reproduced while a servo action is executed in accordance with the servo byte in the servo area detected by teh detector.

Disc having at least one servo area pit formed out of phase for servo

When a plurality of magneto-optic disks are inserted via a mail slot (12) provided in a front panel block (1), a controller block (23) controls a manipulator of a robotics block (2) so as to load the magneto-optic disks in Magneto-Optic disk arrays (4) and (5) constituted by connecting a plurality of Magneto-Optic drives and one Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk controller. When the Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk recording system is selected by the user, the controller block (23) controls the recording operation of the Magneto-Optic disk arrays (4) and (5) in accordance with the selected recording system. More specifically, when the Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk recording system of striping is selected, the controller block (23) divides the data supplied from the outside and controls the recording operation of the Magneto-Optic drives so as to perform the recording in parallel by the Magneto Optic drives. Thus, it becomes possible to handle data of a high transfer speed such as image data.

Apparatus for recording magneto-optic disks

Optical pickup device and optical disc driving apparatus having light

In an optical pickup apparatus, including a laser source arranged along an optical axis, a polarization beam splitter and an objective lens, wherein light emitted from the laser source is emitted on a recording plane of an optical-magnetical recording media as a converged beam, light beams reflected from the recording media of the optical-magnetical recording media are separated by said polarization beam splitter to obtain a predetermined polarized light component, a phase change means, which changes a phase of light passing through one side of said optical axis and a phase of light passing through another side of said optical axis by a predetermined angle, such as 1/2 wavelength plate, a phase retardation type prism and a combination optical rotation plate, is provided between the polarization beam splitter and the objective lens, and, an optical detection element, which detects the light polarized by the polarization beam splitter, is provided at a side intersecting the phase change means of the polarization beam splitter.

Prism has a plurality of reflective regions each with a predetermined

A recording medium such as an optical or magneto-optical disk divided into servo areas and data areas, wherein at least one of pits in each servo area is formed with a phase deviation. There are also disclosed a method of recording pits on such a recording medium, and an apparatus for recording data on and/or reproducing the same from the recording medium. The apparatus comprises a light source for irradiating a light output to the recording medium; a photoelectric conversion means for receiving the light emitted from the light source and reflected from or transmitted through the recording medium, and converting the received light into an RF signal; a signal conversion means for converting the output RF signal of the photoelectric conversion means into a binary signal corresponding to the pit formed on the recording medium; and a detection means for detecting the servo area on the recording medium on the basis of the phase deviation of the binary signal outputted from the signal conversion means; wherein data is recorded or reproduced while a servo action is executed in accordance with the servo byte in the servo area detected by the detection means. The servo area is detectable with facility, and data of any pit pattern can be recorded and/or reproduced properly.

Recording medium, recording method, recording/reproducing apparatus, and

An optical pickup device suitable for use as an optical system of; e.g., an optical disc reproducing apparatus, for carrying out reproduction of desired information on an optical disc; e.g., a magneto-optical disc, a compact disc (CD) or a video disc. The device uses diffraction and various optical rotation devices to direct the incident and reflected light rays to the optical disk and to photodetectors. More specifically, light emitted by a laser source is trisected into 0-th and .+-.1-th order light. The rays are then rotated by an optical rotation device. The rays are converged on the optical disk, reflected, and then rotated again. The rays are then deflected to a photodetector, which then produces light quantity detection signals; e.g., tracking error signal.

Optical pickup apparatus including an optical rotation device

There is provided an optical recording medium including a first pit string having a succession of pits and mirror surface sections, which first pit string is formed on one side of a track center as a reference, and a second pit string having pits and mirror sections, reversed in their array from the pits and the mirror surface sections of the first pit string. A laser beam is radiated onto the track center for accessing information signals represented by the pits and the mirror surface sections. There are also provided a recording device and a reproducing device for such optical recording medium.

Apparatus for reproducing an optical recording medium having first and

Disclosed herein is a disk drive device comprising a chassis; a spindle motor vertically movably mounted on the chassis, for rotatively driving a disk-shaped recording medium; a cam adapted to contact a pin projecting from the spindle motor, for vertically driving the spindle motor through the pin; a loading motor mounted on the chassis, for rotatively driving the cam; a block fixed to the chassis, for restricting an upper limit of a vertical stroke of the spindle motor: and a spring for biasing the spindle motor against the block. Accordingly, the spindle motor can be stably positioned in a loaded condition of the disk-shaped recording medium, and the construction can be simplified with no need of high accuracy of the cam.

Disk drive device having stabilized spindle

An optical recording medium on which information data is to be recorded and on which an n-th recording track is located at a distance from the (n-1)th recording track preceding the n-th recording track in a recording region which is narrower than the diameter of a spot of a light beam radiated on the recording area, with recording data obtained on logical processing with recording data recorded on the (n-1)th recording track being recorded on the n-th recording track for increasing the storage capacity of information data, is disclosed. A return beam of a light beam radiated across two neighboring recording tracks on the optical recording medium is detected by a detector having first and second light receiving sections having a boundary line extending parallel to the recording track of the optical recording medium for reading out the information recorded on the optical recording medium based on the level of a sum or difference signal of the output signals of the first and second light receiving sections.

Reproducing apparatus having a detector for simultaneously scanning

A recording medium such as an optical or magneto-optical disk divided into servo areas and data areas, wherein at least one of pits in each servo area is formed with a phase deviation. There are also disclosed a method of recording pits on such a recording medium, and an apparatus for recording data on and/or reproducing the same from the recording medium. The apparatus comprises a light source for irradiating a light output to the recording medium; a photoelectric conversion circuit for receiving the light emitted from the light source and reflected from or transmitted through the recording medium, and converting the received light into an RF signal; a signal conversion circuit for converting the output RF signal of the photoelectric conversion circuit into a binary signal corresponding to the pit formed on the recording medium; and a detection circuit for detecting the servo area on the recording medium on the basis of the phase deviation of the binary signal outputted from the signal conversion circuit; wherein data is recorded or reproduced while a servo action is executed in accordance with the servo byte in the servo area detected by the detection circuit. The servo area is detectable with facility, and data of any pit pattern can be recorded and/or reproduced properly.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Hideyoshi Horimai