Mitsumi Electric Company Ltd.

Other

Kouji Teranishi

Satoru Manabe

Ken'ichi Furukawa

Kazutomo Imi

Atsushi Kirii

Ken'ichi Hori

Hiroyuki Morita

Ken' Ichi Furukawa

Ken'Ichi Hori

Ken&prime;ichi Furukawa

A skew adjustment mechanism for an optical pick-up used in an optical disc drive is disclosed, in which the optical pick-up is freely movable in a radial direction of an optical disc along a guide rod for playing back or recording and playing back information recorded on the optical disc. The optical pick-up includes a pick-up base having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end being slidably connected to the guide rod. The tangential skew adjustment mechanism includes a pick-up base displacement mechanism provided on the second end of the pick-up base for rotationally displacing the pick-up base about an axis of the guide rod. The pick-up base displacement mechanism includes a screw which vertically passes through the second end of the pick-up base such that a lower end portion of the screw which protrudes from the bottom surface of the pick-up base is in contact with a sliding surface which is positioned a prescribed distance below the bottom surface of the second end of the pick-up, whereby the pick-up base can be displaced by adjusting the protruding length of the lower end portion of the screw to achieve tangential skew adjustment.

Skew adjustment mechanism for an optical pick-up used in an optical disc drive

A positioning structure of a flexible printed circuit for a pick-up used in a disc drive is disclosed. The structure comprises a turntable driven by a motor for supporting a disc thereon, a pick-up movable in a radial direction of the disc for reproducing information recorded on the disc to be supported on the turntable, a chassis provided with the turntable and the pick-up and having an opening and positioning members provided at or near the opening, a printed circuit board arranged below the chassis and provided with electrical circuits for inputting and outputting electrical signals to and from the pick-up, and a flexing printed circuit for connecting the pick-up to the printed circuit board through the opening of the chassis, wherein the flexible printed circuit is formed with engaging members to be engaged with the positioning members, respectively. This structure is capable of positioning the flexible printed circuit with respect to the chassis easily and reliably.

Positioning structure of a flexible printed circuit for a pick-up used in a disc drive and pick-up assembly used in a disc drive

A disk device for reproducing information and/or for recording information having a casing in which all parts of the disk device are included. The casing includes a number of first bosses and a recording/reproducing unit. The recording/reproducing unit includes at least a disk motor and an optical head. The optical head accesses the disk to reproduce information from the disk and/or record information in the disk. The recording/reproducing unit is arranged to have corners at positions corresponding to the first bosses of the casing. A plurality of vibration absorbing parts are provided and arranged at corners of the recording/reproducing unit. The vibration absorbing parts are also fixed to the first bosses to absorb vibrations of the recording/reproducing unit. The recording/reproducing unit further includes a chassis having mounting holes at the corners thereof. Each vibration absorbing part is respectively fitted to a periphery of one of such mounting holes.

Disk device having vibration absorbers for providing a small-height structure

A disc drive comprises a main body equipped with a turntable for rotating a disc, a disc tray movable with respect to the main body between a disc loaded position and a disc eject position to transport the disc to the disc loaded position, and a disc clamper for holding the disc transported by the disc tray between the turntable and the disc clamper. The disc drive further includes a disc clamper displacement mechanism provided on the disc tray to make contact with the disc clamper to displace the disc clamper upward when the disc tray is moved from the disc loaded position to the disc eject position so as to prevent obstruction of the movement of the disc tray. This mechanism includes an inclined surface formed on at least a portion of the disc tray to the rear of a disc supporting portion and a reinforcing portion connected to the rear of the inclined surface. According to this structure, the disc clamper does not obstruct the movement of the disc tray, and since a space created underneath the disc tray is utilized to provide ribs underneath the reinforcing portion and the inclined surface, which increase the strength of the disc tray and prevent cambering or warpage of the disc tray.

Disc drive equipped with a disc tray having a disc clamper displacement means

A disk device includes a drive mechanism having at least a disk motor and an optical head, the disk motor rotating a recording disk, and the optical head accessing the disk to reproduce information from the disk and/or record information in the disk. A first printed circuit board controls the disk motor and the optical head of the drive mechanism, the first printed circuit board receiving signals from the optical head and/or sending signals to the optical head to perform the reproducing of information and/or the recording of information. The disk device further comprises a second printed circuit board electrically coupling the drive mechanism to the first printed circuit board, the second printed circuit board including a connector coupled to wire patterns of the signals received and/or sent by the first printed circuit board, and the connector being coupled to the first printed circuit board.

Disk device having a drive unit for providing a small-height structure

A sled motor mounting structure is provided with a sled motor which having a rotation shaft and a lead screw which is mounted on the rotation shaft and is in mesh with a mated gear, the rotation shaft being constructed so as to have a play in its axial direction for enabling a smooth rotation; and a stopper provided in front of the tip of the rotation shaft of the sled motor such that the tip of the rotation shaft comes to abutment thereto when the rotation shaft is displaced toward the tip direction thereof within the play due to the rotation of the lead screw which is in mesh with the mated gear, thereby restricting the tip of the rotation shaft from further movement in the axial direction thereof. The stopper is arranged at a prescribed distance from the tip of the rotation shaft when the rotation shaft is moved to the base end within the play. The prescribed distance is set to be less than the play in the axial direction, for example it lies within the range of 0.02 mm-0.05 mm. According to this structure, because there is no resistance exerted on the rotation shaft by a plate spring or the like which is used in the prior art to push a rotation shaft toward the base end, it is possible to smoothly rotate the sled motor without the need for a large torque.

Sled motor mounting structure and sliding feed mechanism provided with the sled motor mounting structure

An improved disc clamper and a disc drive equipped with the disc clamper is disclosed. The disc clamper is used in a disc drive for carrying out playing back or playing back and recording of a disc which is rotated by means of a turntable movable between a raised position and a lowered position. The disc clamper is supported rotatably and movably in up and down direction by a support member with an opening provided above the turntable so as to hold the disc between the clamper and the turntable moved to the raised position. The disc clamper comprises a disc clamper main body including a cylindrical part, which has a substantially cylindrical shape and a diameter almost equal to the diameter of the turntable, to be inserted into the opening in the support member, and a flange part provided integrally with the upper circumference of the cylindrical part so as to be supported on the upper surface of the support member, an attraction means provided in the disc clamper main body to be attracted to the turntable, and a plurality of disc pressing protrusions projecting outward in the radial direction from the lower circumference of the cylindrical part of the disc clamper main body. This disc clamper is light and has a simple structure for easy assembling, and makes it possible to press the top surface of the disc with an effectively large area.

Disc clamper and disc drive provided with the disc clamper

An improved sliding feed mechanism having a worm gear is disclosed can prevent a locking state from occurring between the worm and the worm wheel. The sliding feed mechanism includes a motor having a rotational shaft with an output end, a worm fixedly mounted to the rotational shaft and formed with a left-hand thread, a worm wheel which meshes with the worm, a driven member which is adapted to slidably move according to the rotation of the worm wheel. In this connection, the lead angle of the worm wheel is set so as to be larger than the lead angle of the worm, and the motor is mounted so that the output end of the rotational shaft is upwardly tilted so as to provide a proper engagement between the worm and the worm wheel having said lead angle.

Sliding feed mechanism having worm gear

Disk device having a drive unit and a cam plate which moves up and down

A disk driver having a pivotal support structure capable of defining a unique position of a support member has a disk holding table (10) and a support member (12) assembled to a lower surface thereof. The support member (12) is provided with an insertion hole (12b) formed at one end thereof. The insertion hole (12b) has a shape of an elongated hole extending along an imaginary line (L) between a center axis of the driving roller (15) and a center axis of a support pin (14). The elongated hole has a nonuniform width in a transversal direction perpendicular to the imaginary line (L). The width gradually reduces towards the driving roller (15) and is smaller and greater than a diameter of an engaging end (14a) of the support pin (14) at a closest portion closest to the driving roller (15) and at a remotest portion remotest from the driving roller (15), respectively. Following the movement of the support member (12) during rotation of the disk holding table (10) in a direction from the support pin (14) towards a driving roller (15), a circumferential wall defining the insertion hole (12b) is substantially brought into two-line contact (P1, P2) with a peripheral side wall of the engaging end (14a) of the support pin (14).

Growing community of inventors

Atsugi, Japan

Kouji Teranishi