JP2000353322A - Optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the height of the entire device by making the object lens driving unit enter the opening of a cartridge, arranging the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup nonparallelly to the line orthogonally crossing the width center line of the cartridge opening, and transferring the optical pickup width the longitudinal direction obliquely crossing the width center line of the opening. SOLUTION: The feeding direction N of the carriage 5 is in the direction coincident with the width center line of the opening 4 of a cartridge 2, while the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7 are arranged parallelly to the width center line of the opening 4. The screw shaft 6 connected to the output shaft of a feed motor through a gear train is driven rotatably in a prescribed direction by the feed motor, thereby transferring the carriage 5, which is screwed onto the screw haft 6, and the loaded optical pickup 8 from the outer to the inner periphery of the optical disk 3 and vice versa. As a result, positioning and assembling become easy for the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical disk apparatus for recording or reproducing information by irradiating an optical disk with a laser beam, and more particularly to performing recording or reproduction while the optical disk is housed in a cartridge. The present invention relates to an optical disk device using a cartridge storage type optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art MO (magneto-optical disk), DVD-RA
For protection purposes, an optical disk of a cartridge storage type such as M has an optical disk housed in a cartridge for the purpose of protection. The cartridge has a shutter that can be opened and closed and an opening (a vertically long window along the radial direction) for exposing the optical disk. Hole). The opening of the cartridge is covered with a shutter when not in use, but when the cartridge is inserted into the optical disk device during use, the shutter is opened by a loading mechanism inside the device to open the opening, and the optical disk is exposed. . The optical disc device is provided with an optical pickup for irradiating a light spot on the information recording surface of the exposed optical disc, and irradiates the rotating optical disc with the light spot to record or reproduce a signal. ing.

The above optical pickup is mounted on a carriage for transferring the optical pickup from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the optical disk or from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side.
The optical pickup includes a laser light source unit, a prism for irradiating the optical disk with laser light emitted from the laser light source unit, an optical element unit such as an objective lens, and a light detection unit that detects reflected light from the optical disk and converts the reflected light into an electric signal. And an objective lens drive unit (actuator unit) including an objective lens and including an objective lens for holding the focal point of the light spot at a target position on the optical disk surface. And the objective lens drive unit is
The objective lens is minutely moved in the optical axis direction according to the amount of surface deflection of the rotating optical disk, and the objective lens is minutely moved in the track direction of the optical disk according to the track position deviation amount.

The configuration of such an optical pickup is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-89448.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are a plan view and a side view, respectively, showing a simplified configuration of an objective lens driving unit of a conventional optical pickup and its surroundings.

9 and 10, 1 is a spindle motor, 2 is a cartridge, 3 is an optical disk housed in the cartridge 2, 4 is an opening of the cartridge 2, 10
Is an objective lens drive unit that forms part of an optical pickup mounted on a carriage (not shown).

An optical disk 3 is rotatably housed in a cartridge 2 inserted into the optical disk device. When the cartridge 2 is positioned at a predetermined position in the optical disk device, the optical disk 3 is driven by a spindle motor. 1 and is driven to rotate by a spindle motor 1. When the optical disc 3 is chucked by the spindle motor 1, for example, a shutter (not shown) is moved from a closed position to an open position by shutter driving means attached to a loading mechanism (not shown). The opening 4 of the cartridge 2 is opened, and the optical disk 2 is exposed through the opening 4. And opening 4
9 on the lower side of the optical disc 3 exposed in FIG.
The objective lens drive unit 10 of the optical pickup is positioned in a space area S1 surrounded by a dotted line in FIG.

The objective lens driving unit 10 has a movable part and a holding part. The movable part is composed of a lens holder 11 and an objective lens 12 held at the tip of the lens holder 11.
And a drive coil (not shown) provided inside the lens holder 11, and a balancer 13 (FIG. 10) for balancing in the up / down / front-rear directions. One end of a suspension 14 made of an elastic metal strip is attached above and below the left and right side surfaces of the lens holder 11, respectively.
The other ends of the four suspensions 14 are fixed to a suspension holder 15, and a lens drive unit base plate (not shown) is attached to the suspension holder 15, thereby holding the movable unit. Unit is configured. A magnet is provided so as to face the above-described drive coil (not shown).
The lens holder 11 holding 2 is driven in a focus adjustment direction or a tracking adjustment direction.

By the way, in the conventional configuration shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a part of the suspension 14 and a part of the suspension holder 15 protrude from the opening 4 of the cartridge 2 when viewed in a plan view. In a region S2 surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 10, a part of the suspension 14 and a part of the suspension holder 15 are configured to overlap the surface of the cartridge 2 near the opening 4 in a plane. Therefore, the objective lens drive unit 1
If the entire optical disk 3 is too close to the optical disk 3, a part of the suspension holder 15 and the lower surface of the cartridge 2 interfere with each other. To avoid this interference, the entire objective lens drive unit 10 (ie, the entire optical pickup) is used.
Has to be moved away from the optical disk 3 to some extent. However, when the entire objective lens drive unit 10 is lowered in this way, the height (distance) H _A1 from the optical disc 3 to the lower end of the objective lens drive unit 10 increases, which impedes the reduction of the overall height of the apparatus. There was a problem that became a factor.

As shown in FIG. 11, a part of the upper part of the suspension holder 15 is shaved off so that the suspension holder 15 and the lower surface of the cartridge 2 do not interfere with each other. It is also conceivable to configure so as to approach.
With this configuration, the height H _A2 from the optical disc 3 to the lower end of the objective lens drive unit 10 can be smaller than the height H _A1 , but the height interval between the upper and lower suspensions 14 is reduced from H _{S1 in} FIG. 11 must be made narrower, such as H _S2 , which is disadvantageous to the tilting resistance performance when the objective lens 12 operates. Further, since the distance in the height direction from the objective lens 12 to the middle point of the upper and lower suspensions 14 is further increased from H _B1 in FIG. 10 to H _B2 in FIG. 11, the response characteristic of the objective lens 12 is improved. Will also be disadvantaged. Further, it is necessary to make the balancer 13 for balancing the mass of the movable portion heavier than the configuration of FIG. 10, and as a result, the mass of the movable portion is increased, the acceleration performance is deteriorated, and the device Power consumption increases.
As described above, in the objective lens driving unit having the configuration shown in FIG. 11, the problems described above occur, and it is inevitable that the servo characteristics and the recording / reproducing characteristics of the apparatus are adversely affected.

In order to solve the problems of the structure shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 and the problem of the structure shown in FIG.
In Japanese Patent No. 40, the entire upper part of the objective lens drive unit is inserted into the opening of the cartridge, thereby reducing the height of the entire apparatus without deteriorating the performance of the objective lens drive unit. We proposed an optical disk device that can do this.

FIG. 12 is a simplified plan view showing a main part of the optical disk device proposed in the above-mentioned prior application.

In FIG. 12, 1 is a spindle motor,
2 is a cartridge, 3 is an optical disk, 4 is an opening of the cartridge 2, 5 is a carriage, 6 is a screw shaft for carriage feed, 7 is a guide shaft for carriage feed, 8 is an optical pickup mounted on the carriage 5, 9 is And an optical system that constitutes the optical pickup 8 together with the objective lens drive unit 10.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 12, the objective lens driving unit 10 of the optical pickup 8 mounted on the carriage 5 has the above-mentioned components, and The entire upper portion is configured to enter the opening 4 of the cartridge 2. As described above, in order to improve the space factor in the height direction by inserting the objective lens driving unit 10 into the opening 4, the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup 8 is changed to the width center line of the conventional opening 4 (the width of the opening 4). From a positional relationship perpendicular to the longitudinal center line L _O to a positional relationship oblique to the width center line L _O of the opening 4 at a predetermined angle (a positional relationship non-parallel to a line perpendicular to the width center line L _O ). At the same time, the optical axis of the objective lens 12 in the objective lens drive unit 10 is changed from a position that matches the width center line L _O of the conventional opening 4 to a position that is separated from the width center line L _O of the opening 4. I have. Then, the transfer direction of the carriage 5 that is transferred by the rotation of the screw shaft 6 that is rotationally driven by a feed motor (not shown)
From the direction parallel to the width center line L _O of the conventional opening 4, the opening 4
To the width center line L _O and an arrow M direction nonparallel illustration and are changed.

[0015]

In the conventional optical disk apparatus shown in FIG. 12, the objective lens driving unit is not cut off the upper part of the suspension holder 15 as in the configuration shown in FIG. Since the entire upper portion of the cartridge 10 can be positioned in the opening 4 of the cartridge 2, it is possible to reduce the height of the entire apparatus without deteriorating the performance of the objective lens drive unit 10.

[0016] However, in the conventional optical disc apparatus shown in FIG. 12, the width center line L _O of the carriage 5 opening 4
The screw shaft 6 is transported in the direction of the arrow M which is not parallel to the
And the guide shaft 7 must be arranged in the direction of the arrow M that is non-parallel to the width center line L _O of the opening 4, that is, a reference line that matches the insertion direction of the cartridge 2 and the front-back direction of the apparatus. There is a problem that the positioning and assembly of the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7 are troublesome, and that the carriage transfer mechanism cannot be shared with the conventional model. Further, since the moving direction of the carriage 5 is in the direction of the arrow M which is not parallel to the width center line L _O of the opening 4, the objective lens driving unit 10 also moves in the direction of the arrow M with the movement of the carriage 5. As a result, the objective lens driving unit 10 changes its position in the opening 4 in the left-right direction in the drawing, and the span S in the direction orthogonal to the width center line L _O of the opening 4 in the objective lens driving unit 10. I can't earn money. Therefore, there is also a problem in that the planar shape of the objective lens driving unit 10 is increased to provide a margin for design and assembly, and this becomes a bottleneck in further improving the operation performance of the objective lens driving unit 10. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disk device using an optical disk of a cartridge storage type, in which the height of the entire device can be reduced and a carriage transfer mechanism can be shared with a conventional model. . It is still another object of the present invention to provide an optical disk device capable of further improving the operation performance of the objective lens driving unit.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a laser beam chucked by a spindle motor and rotated by an optical pickup mounted on a carriage, in a state housed in a cartridge. In an optical disc apparatus for recording or reproducing light, the objective lens drive unit of the optical pickup is inserted into the opening of the cartridge, and the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup is aligned with the width center line of the opening of the cartridge. Arranged non-parallel to the orthogonal line, in a state where the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup is oblique to the width center line of the opening of the cartridge, so as to transport the optical pickup along the width center line of the opening of the cartridge, Be composed.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are a plan view and a side view showing a simplified configuration of an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in an optical disc device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a spindle motor, 2 is a cartridge, 3 is an optical disk, 4 is an opening of the cartridge 2, and 10 is an objective lens drive unit (actuator unit). Objective lens drive unit 1
Reference numeral 0 designates an optical pickup together with an optical system not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical pickup is mounted on a carriage and has an opening 4 in the cartridge 2. The paper is transported along the width center line L _O.

In the objective lens drive unit 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a lens holder formed of engineering plastics such as PPS resin or LCP resin. The objective lens 12 is held, and a balancer 13 (FIG. 2) for balancing in the up / down / front / rear direction is attached to the rear surface on the rear end side of the lens holder 11. One focus drive coil 2 is provided inside the lens holder 11.
One and two tracking drive coils 22 are bonded and fixed, and a magnet 23 is arranged on the fixed side of the objective lens drive unit 10 so as to face the focus drive coil 21 and the tracking drive coil 22. The magnetic yoke, the magnet 23, and the coils 21 and 22 constitute a magnetic circuit for focus control and a magnetic circuit for tracking control, respectively.

At the top and bottom of the left and right sides of the lens holder 11,
For example, one end of each of suspensions 14 made of an elastic metal strip such as phosphor bronze or beryllium phosphor bronze and having a circular or rectangular cross section is attached.
Is fixed to a fixed substrate 24 fixed to the substrate. As a result, the lens holder 11 is held so as to be able to move in parallel in the surface deflection direction and the radial direction of the disk. Further, the suspension holder 15 is fixed to a lens drive unit base plate 25, and the objective lens drive unit 10 is mounted on the carriage by positioning and fixing the lens drive unit base plate 25 to a carriage described later. ing.

By appropriately controlling the energization of the focus drive coil 21 and the tracking drive coil 22, the lens holder 11 holding the objective lens 12
It is driven in a focus adjustment direction or a tracking adjustment direction.

Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the entire upper portion of the objective lens driving unit 10 is configured to enter the opening 4 of the cartridge 2, and as shown in FIG. Objective lens drive unit 10
Into the opening 4 to improve the space factor in the height direction.
In the longitudinal direction (the direction parallel to the suspension 14) is oblique to the width center line of the opening 4 (the center line in the longitudinal direction of the opening 4) L _O at a predetermined angle (a line orthogonal to the width center line L _O). (A non-parallel positional relationship) and the optical axis of the objective lens 12 in the objective lens drive unit 10 is separated from the width center line L _O of the opening 4 by a predetermined distance D.

In order to set the positional relationship between the objective lens drive unit 10 and the opening 4 of the cartridge 2 as described above, for example, a method as shown in FIGS. That is, the position of the objective lens drive unit 10 shown by a dotted line in FIGS. 3 and 4 (the longitudinal direction of the objective lens drive unit 10 is orthogonal to the width center line L _{O of the} opening 4 and the optical axis of the objective lens 12 is The objective lens drive unit 10 is rotated by a predetermined amount in the circumferential track direction of the optical disc 3 (the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 3) from the position of the opening 4 at the width center line L _O , and FIGS. Then, the objective lens driving unit 10 may be positioned at the position shown by the solid line.

Alternatively, in order to set the positional relationship between the objective lens drive unit 10 and the opening 4 of the cartridge 2 as described above, a method shown in FIG. 5 may be used. That is, the position of the objective lens drive unit 10 (the objective lens drive unit 10
Longitudinal direction perpendicular to the width center line L _O of the opening 4 of and the position) in the optical axis of the objective lens 12 in the width center line L _O of the opening 4, firstly, the opening of the objective lens driving unit 10 4
Is linearly moved by a predetermined amount in the direction orthogonal to the width center line L _O (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5), and then the objective lens driving unit 10 is moved around the center axis (optical axis) of the objective lens 12 by a predetermined amount. By rotating the objective lens driving unit 10, the objective lens driving unit 10 may be positioned at the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a simplified plan view showing the configuration of the carriage and its peripheral portion in the optical disk device of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 6, 5 is a carriage, 6 is a screw shaft for feeding the carriage, 7 is a guide shaft for feeding the carriage, 8 is an optical pickup mounted on the carriage 5, 9
Is an optical system that constitutes the optical pickup 8 together with the objective lens drive unit 10. The optical pickup 8
The optical system 9 includes a laser light source unit, a prism for irradiating the optical disc with laser light emitted from the laser light source unit, an optical element unit such as an objective lens, and a light for detecting reflected light from the optical disc and converting it into an electric signal. It is composed of a detection unit and the like.

In the present embodiment, the feeding direction N of the carriage 5 is a direction coinciding with the width center line L _O of the opening 4 of the cartridge 2, and the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7 are aligned with the width center of the opening 4. It is arranged so as to be parallel to the line L _O. Then, the screw shaft 6 connected to the output shaft of a feed motor (pulse motor) (not shown) via a gear train is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction by the feed motor, so that the carriage screwed to the screw shaft 6. The optical disk 5 and the optical pickup 8 mounted thereon are transported from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the optical disc 1 or from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side.

In this embodiment, as described above, since the carriage 5 is moved along the width center line L _O of the opening 4 of the cartridge 2, the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7 are moved to the width center line of the opening 4. L _O , that is, a reference line that coincides with the insertion direction of the cartridge 2 or the front-rear direction of the apparatus, may be arranged in parallel, so that the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 7 can be easily positioned and assembled, and the carriage The carriage transfer mechanism can be shared with the conventional model whose transfer direction coincides with the width center line of the opening of the cartridge. further,
Since the moving direction of the carriage 5 is the direction of the arrow N parallel to the width center line L _O of the opening 4, even if the carriage 5 is moved, the objective lens driving unit 10 that has entered the opening 4 of the cartridge 2 The position does not change in the horizontal direction in the opening 4 in the drawing, and therefore, the span S in the direction orthogonal to the width center line L _O of the opening 4 in the objective lens driving unit 10, that is, the objective lens driving unit 10
In the longitudinal direction can be earned, and if necessary, can be set to be equal to or larger than the width dimension of the span 4 in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the planar shape of the objective lens drive unit 10 can be increased, and the design and assembly can have a margin, so that the operation performance of the objective lens drive unit 10 can be further improved.

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in an optical disk device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Components equivalent to those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Also in this embodiment, the entire upper part of the objective lens drive unit 10 is configured to enter the opening 4 of the cartridge 2. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the objective lens drive unit 10 (the direction parallel to the suspension 14) is set to be orthogonal to the width center line L _{O of the} opening 4 (the center line in the longitudinal direction of the opening 4). In addition, the optical axis of the objective lens 12 in the objective lens drive unit 10 is configured to be separated from the width center line L _O of the opening 4 by a predetermined distance D.

In order to set the positional relationship between the objective lens drive unit 10 and the opening 4 of the cartridge 2 as described above, a method as shown in FIG. That is,
The objective lens driving unit 1 shown by a dotted line in FIG.
From the position of 0 (longitudinal direction of the objective lens driving unit 10 is perpendicular to the width center line L _O of the opening 4, and the optical axis of the objective lens 12 is at the wide center line L _O of the opening 4 position), the objective lens The drive unit 10 is linearly moved by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the width center line L _O of the opening 4 (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5), and the objective lens drive unit 10 is positioned at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Just do it.

Although not shown, also in this embodiment, the optical pickup including the objective lens drive unit 10 is mounted on a carriage which is transferred along the width center line L _O of the opening 4 of the cartridge 2. I have.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, since the longitudinal direction of the objective lens driving unit 10 is orthogonal to the width center line L _O of the opening 4, compared with the configuration of the first embodiment, Except that the longitudinal span S ′ of the objective lens driving unit 10 cannot be set to be equal to or larger than the width of the opening 4, the same effect as in the first embodiment is exerted.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an optical disk apparatus using an optical disk of a cartridge storage type, the height of the entire apparatus can be reduced and the carriage transfer mechanism is shared with the conventional model. It is possible to provide an optical disk device capable of performing the above. Further, it is possible to provide an optical disk device capable of further improving the operation performance of the objective lens driving unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup and a peripheral portion thereof in an optical disc device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a simplified configuration of an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in the optical disc device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement method of an objective lens drive unit of the optical pickup in the optical disc device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an arrangement method of an objective lens drive unit of the optical pickup in the optical disc device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a method of arranging the objective lens drive unit of the optical pickup in the optical disc device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of a carriage and its peripheral portion in the optical disc device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an objective lens driving unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in an optical disc device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method of arranging an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup in an optical disc device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a simplified plan view showing a configuration of an objective lens drive unit of an optical pickup and a peripheral portion thereof in an optical disc device according to a first conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is a simplified side view showing a configuration of an objective lens driving unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in an optical disc device according to a first conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a simplified configuration of an objective lens driving unit of an optical pickup and its peripheral portion in an optical disc device according to a second conventional technique.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a simplified configuration of a carriage and its peripheral portion in an optical disc device according to a third conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 spindle motor 2 cartridge 3 optical disk 4 cartridge opening 5 carriage 6 screw shaft for carriage feed 7 guide shaft for carriage feed 8 optical pickup 9 optical system of optical pickup 10 objective lens drive unit of optical pickup 11 lens holder 12 objective lens 13 Balancer 14 Suspension 15 Suspension Holder 21 Focus Drive Coil 22 Tracking Drive Coil 23 Magnet 24 Fixed Board 25 Lens Drive Unit Base Plate L _O Cartridge Opening Width Center Line

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5D117 AA02 CC01 CC04 GG03 HH11 JJ01

Claims (4)

[Claims] An optical disc apparatus for recording or reproducing an optical disc, which is chucked by a spindle motor and rotated by an optical pickup mounted on a carriage, in a state housed in a cartridge. The objective lens drive unit of the optical pickup is inserted into the opening of the cartridge, and the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup is arranged non-parallel to a line perpendicular to the width center line of the opening of the cartridge. An optical disc apparatus wherein the optical pickup is transported along the width center line of the opening of the cartridge in a state where the longitudinal direction of the optical pickup is oblique to the width center line of the opening of the cartridge. . 2. The objective lens drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the objective lens drive unit focuses a laser beam on the optical disc to perform recording or reproduction, a lens holder holding the objective lens, and An optical disc comprising: driving means for driving a lens holder; elastic supporting means for displaceably supporting the lens holder; and holder means for holding one end of the elastic supporting means. apparatus. 3. The optical disk device according to claim 2, wherein an optical axis of the objective lens is arranged to be separated from a center line of a width of the opening of the cartridge. 4. An optical disk apparatus for recording or reproducing an optical disk, which is chucked by a spindle motor and rotates while being housed in a cartridge, by condensing a laser beam with an optical pickup mounted on a carriage. The objective lens driving unit of the optical pickup is inserted into the opening of the cartridge, and the optical axis of the objective lens is arranged so as to be separated from the center line of the width of the opening of the cartridge. The optical disk drive is adapted to transfer the cartridge along a width center line of the opening of the cartridge.