Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Katsumi Ichinose

Masayuki Shiwa

Masatoshi Takeda

Hideru Gotoh

An optical disk unit includes a tray for supporting an optical disk thereon, a body for receiving the tray therein, a first board provided at the body, a second board provided at the tray, and a wiring board (flexible board) electrically connecting the first board and the second board together. The wiring board (flexible board) has a number N of bent portions, the wiring board being bent at the number N of the bent portions of the wiring board, such that the wiring board is superposed in (N+1) layers where N is an integer equal to or greater than 1, and an area of the (N+1)-layer superposed portion is changed according to an amount of drawing-out of the tray.

Optical disk unit with folding circuit board

An optical disk apparatus includes a framewhich receives internal devices and can receive an optical disk, a trayon which the optical diskis rotatably mounted, a railwhich supports the tray so as to be moved between a mounting position where the optical diskis detachably mounted and a receiving position where the optical diskis received in the frame, a tray moving means which moves the traybetween the mounting position and the receiving position, a tray receiving releasing member which receives and release the trayat the receiving position, and an optical disk rotation suppressing member which exerts a pressing force on the optical disk in cooperation with a tray releasing operation of the tray receiving releasing member and releases the pressing force in cooperation with a tray receiving operation of the tray receiving releasing member.

Optical disk apparatus

A support frame for an optical disk unit where reduction in thickness and/or weight saving can be realized and the optical disk unit are intended to be obtained. In an optical disk drive unit, a support framehas neither upper cover nor bottom cover, and is formed from a frame that continuously encloses both sides and a back of a disk traywithout any cutout portions in order to secure strength, and furthermore, the support frameis manufactured by a die casting method using a metal material such as aluminum material, zinc material, and magnesium material, or by a press method using a metal sheet such as iron sheet, aluminum sheet, and magnesium sheet, or by composite molding using a polymer such as PPS (polyphenylenesulfide), POM (polyacetal), and LCP (liquid crystal polymer) with the metal sheet, or by a forging method using a metal material such as aluminum, thereby strength that prevents the optical disk drive unit as a whole from distorting or deforming during operation or actuation is secured.

Growing community of inventors

Fukuoka, Japan

Katsumi Ichinose