JP2007196462A - Optical disk apparatus and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical disk apparatus capable of performing a printing well on the label face of an optical disk media. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus is equipped with a printing head 16 for performing a printing on the label face of the optical disk clamped in a disk driving mechanism. When the supply of a drive current to a spindle motor 21 is cut off according to the stop instruction from a controller and the inertial revolving speed is detected to be not above a predetermined value, the label printing with a printing head 15 is controlled to be started. By specifying the weight of components such as a clamp which becomes a load of revolution of the spindle motor 21 or adding load adjusting member such as a fly wheel 102, the motor can be stably revolved at the speed suitable for the label printing of the optical disk media by the inertial force brought about from those loads after the motor stops. Thereby, the label printing with a good grace can be performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus for recording or reproducing information on a write once or rewritable optical disc medium, and in particular, an optical disc equipped with a label printing function capable of printing on a label surface of the optical disc medium. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, write-once discs such as DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -R and CD-R, and rewritable discs such as DVD-RW and CD-RW are generally used as media for recording contents such as video and audio. It ’s becoming a reality. If the number of these optical disk media owned increases, management of these becomes complicated, and therefore it is very useful for the user to print information about the recorded content on the label surface of the optical disk media.

  Accordingly, various types of optical disc apparatuses having a function of printing on the label surface of the optical disc media have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of performing printing using a laser beam of an optical pickup.

Patent Document 2 proposes a method in which a print head is mounted on an optical disc apparatus and printing is performed on the optical disc rotated by a spindle motor.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-280953 Special table 2002-512140 gazette

  However, the method of printing using the laser beam of the optical pickup has restrictions on the media that can be used, such as the use of a dedicated media that employs a drawing-specific dye. In addition, in the system in which an optical disk is rotated by a spindle motor and printing is performed by a print head, there is a problem in that the rotation of the spindle motor is not stable and printing distortion is likely to occur at a low rotation speed suitable for label printing.

  The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of performing good printing on a label surface of an optical disc medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, an optical disc apparatus of the present invention is clamped by a clamp unit that clamps an optical disc medium, a motor that is connected to the clamp unit and drives an optical disc medium clamped by the clamp unit, and the clamp unit. The print head that prints on the label surface of the optical disc media, the rotation speed detection unit that detects the rotation speed of the motor, and the control to stop the motor, the rotation speed of the motor is below a predetermined value. And a control unit that executes printing by the print head when detected by the rotation speed detection unit.

  According to the present invention, the speed at which the motor is suitable for label printing of the optical disk media is selected by the inertial force brought about by the load after the motor is stopped by selecting the load of the parts such as the clamp portion that are the motor load. Rotates stably. This makes it possible to perform label printing with good quality.

  In the present invention, the clamp unit includes a lower disk clamp fixed to the drive shaft of the motor and an upper disk clamp that rotates together with the lower disk clamp and the optical disk medium while holding the optical disk medium between the lower disk clamp and the lower disk clamp. The upper disk clamp may be configured to be connected to a load adjustment member that rotates coaxially and integrally therewith.

  Furthermore, the present invention may further include a load adjustment member connection switching unit that switches on and off the connection between the load adjustment member and the upper disk clamp.

  Further, the print head, the upper disk clamp, and the load adjusting member may be integrated as one unit and configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body. As a result, the label printing function can be easily retrofitted to the existing optical disc apparatus, and the maintainability of the label printing function is improved.

  Further, the present invention may further include a print head transport mechanism that transports the print head in the radial direction of the optical disk medium. As a result, printing can be performed over different radial positions of the optical disk medium, and printing can be performed on almost the entire label surface of the optical disk medium.

  The unit may further include an opening that exposes the print head and a shutter that is movable so as to open the opening upon receipt of the print head transported by the print head transport mechanism. . As a result, it is possible to prevent excess scattered ink other than during label printing.

  According to the optical disk apparatus and the control method thereof of the present invention, it is possible to print on the label surface of the optical disk medium satisfactorily.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tray type optical disc apparatus 100 equipped with a label printing mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing a disc clamp structure provided in the optical disc apparatus of FIG.

  The optical disc apparatus 100 is configured such that a disc tray 3 on which an optical disc medium D is mounted can be protruded from one side surface (front surface) of a casing 1 formed in a cube. That is, the disk tray 3 is between the first position where the optical disk medium D is recorded by the optical pickup in the casing 1 and the second position where the user outside the casing 1 can perform media replacement work. The optical disc medium D is provided so as to be transportable in a direction along the label surface. An opening 5 for inserting and removing the disk tray 3 is provided on the front surface of the housing 1, and the opening 5 is opened by a tray cover 7 that rotates within a range of about 90 degrees in conjunction with the insertion and removal of the disk tray 3. / Closed.

  On the surface of the disc tray 3, a disc mounting recess 9 that conforms to the outer shape of the optical disc medium D is formed, and the disc tray 3 is in a state in which the optical disc media D is set in the disc mounting recess 9 with its data recording surface facing down. Be transported.

  The disc mounting recess 9 of the disc tray 3 can be inserted from the back side of the disc tray 3 with a disc holding portion fixed to the tip of a drive shaft of a spindle motor that is a disc drive mechanism described later, and at least the optical pickup. A hole 8 is provided for opening the objective lens portion with respect to the data recording surface of the optical disc medium D mounted on the disc tray 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower disk clamp 22 holds the optical disk medium D by sandwiching the periphery of the center hole of the optical disk medium D with an upper disk clamp 39 provided in the printing unit 15 described later. Is. The lower disk clamp 22 and the upper disk clamp 39 are detachable by a coupling means 38 such as a magnet.

  3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the optical disc apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the printing unit 15 removed from the internal configuration of the optical disc apparatus 100 in FIG.

  A disk drive mechanism that holds and drives the optical disk medium D is provided in the housing 1. The disk drive mechanism includes a motor holder 20, a spindle motor 21 fixed to the motor holder 20, and a lower disk clamp 22 fixed to a drive shaft 23 of the spindle motor 21. The spindle motor 21 includes a frequency generator (FG) for detecting the rotation speed of itself (rotor). The lower disc clamp 22 is engaged with the center hole of the optical disc medium D and clamps the periphery of the center hole with the upper disc clamp 39 provided in the printing unit 15.

  In the housing 1, an optical pickup 11 that records and reproduces data by irradiating a data recording surface of an optical disk medium D that is driven while being held by a disk drive mechanism, and a disk tray 3 is provided with the optical pickup 11. Thus, a transport mechanism for transporting between the position where recording on the optical disk medium D is performed and the position where the user outside the housing 1 can perform media replacement work is incorporated. The transport mechanism uses the sled motor 25 as a power source. The thread motor 25 has a potentiometer that measures the operation amount of the thread motor 25. Further, in order to guide the conveyance of the disk tray 3, tray guide rails 4 and 4 are provided on a pair of opposed inner side surfaces in the housing 1, respectively.

  Further, in conjunction with the pulling-in operation of the disc tray 3, the optical disc medium D mounted on the disc tray 3 is slightly pushed up from below by the lower disc clamp 22 and held (clamped) with the disc clamp. The motor holder 20 is moved up and down according to the guide groove 28 of the motor guide plate 27 so that the clamp is released in conjunction with the ejecting operation of the tray 3 and the optical disk medium D is returned to the disk mounting recess 9 of the disk tray 3. A mechanism is provided. The motor guide plate 27 is disposed opposite to both sides of the motor holder 20. In FIG. 4, only one motor guide plate 27 is shown. A guide pin 29 that protrudes from the motor holder 20 is engaged with the guide groove 28, and the guide pin 29 is guided along the guide groove 28 to move the motor holder 20 up and down. It has come to be. The motor guide plate 27 is supported so as to slide together in the transport direction of the disc tray 3 as the disc tray 3 is transported. As the motor guide plate 27 slides, the position of the guide pin 29 in the guide groove 28 is displaced, and the motor holder 20 moves up and down according to the cam shape of the guide groove 28.

  The optical pickup 11 is supported so that it can be conveyed in the radial direction of the optical disk medium D held by the disk drive mechanism. The optical pickup 11 is equipped with a feed mechanism (not shown) for carrying and driving itself along the guide shaft 13.

  Next, a basic operation of the tray type optical disc apparatus 100 will be described.

  The disc tray 3 on which the optical disc medium D is loaded is drawn into the housing 1 by the transport mechanism using the sled motor 25 as a power source, and is entirely accommodated in the housing 1. The motor holder 20 is raised in conjunction with the pulling operation of the disc tray 3. Then, the lower disk clamp 22 of the spindle motor 21 passes through the hole 8 of the disk tray 3 and comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the center hole of the optical disk medium D set in the disk mounting recess 9 of the disk tray 3 so as to contact the disk mounting recess 9. The optical disk medium D is pushed up slightly to hold the optical disk medium D with the upper disk clamp 39 disposed on the lower surface of the printing unit 15. When the spindle motor 21 is started in this state, the optical disk medium D is rotated, and laser light is emitted from the optical pickup 11 and condensed on the data recording surface of the optical disk medium D. Recording or playback is performed.

  When taking out the optical disk medium D, the disk tray 3 is ejected from the housing 1 by a transport mechanism using the sled motor 25 as a power source. The motor holder 20 is lowered in conjunction with the eject operation of the disc tray 3. As a result, the spindle motor 21 moves by a certain amount in the direction opposite to that when the disk tray 3 is retracted, and the holding of the optical disk medium D by the lower disk clamp 22 and the upper disk clamp 39 is released. Fits in the disk mounting recess 9. Even after the optical disk medium D is received in the disk mounting recess 9 of the disk tray 3, the conveyance for discharging the disk tray 3 is continued, and finally the position outside the housing 1 where the user can perform media replacement work. Then, the optical disk medium D can be taken out from the disk mounting recess 9 of the disk tray 3.

  Further, in the casing 1, a print head is mounted with a print head for printing characters and images with ink on a label surface opposite to the data recording surface of the optical disk medium D mounted on the disk tray 3. A unit 15 is detachably provided. The printing unit 15 is arranged above the disk tray 3, that is, so that the head surface of the print head faces the label surface of the optical disk medium D mounted on the disk tray 3. Attachment pieces 31 are provided at a total of four locations on the left and right sides of the printing unit 15, and these attachment pieces 31 are supported by unit receiving portions 33 provided on the tray guide rails 4 and 4, and are connected to a connecting tool such as a screw. Are connected by

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the printing unit 15 as seen from the side facing the disc tray 3. An upper disk clamp 39 protrudes from the surface of the printing unit 15 facing the disk tray 3. An opening 35 for exposing the print head 16 is provided on the opposite surface, and the print head 16 is disposed so that the portion of the ink discharge port 37 projects from the opening 35.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the print head 16. An ink discharge port 37 is formed on the head surface of the print head 16. The ink discharge port 37 has, for example, several tens of ink discharge nozzles. In the case of the inkjet method, the head surface of the print head 16 moves relative to the label surface of the optical disk medium D being conveyed in the direction of the arrow, and printing is performed by spraying ink on the label surface of the optical disk medium D.

  7 is a perspective view showing the printing unit 15 with the top cover 15a removed, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the printing head base 41 removed from FIG. The print head base 41 is a base that supports a mechanism that holds the print head 16 and moves the print head 16 in the transport direction of the disc tray 3.

  In the transport mechanism of the print head 16, the print head 16 is detachably held by the print head holder 43. The print head holder 43 is slidably supported by a pair of head shafts 46 via a shaft connecting plate 113. The head shaft 46 is fixed to the print head base 41 and the back cover 15 c of the printing unit 15 via a plurality of shaft support portions 47. The print head base 41 supports a head movable motor 49. A ball screw 51 is coaxially connected to the drive shaft of the head movable motor 49, and the ball screw 51 meshes with a rack 53 provided on the shaft connecting plate 113. That is, the head movable motor 49 moves the print head holder 43 along the head shaft 46 by transmitting the power to the rack 53 through the ball screw 51.

  Further, the printing unit 15 is provided with a low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101 for stably rotating at a low speed suitable for printing the optical disk medium D during label printing on the optical disk medium D.

  Next, the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101 will be described mainly based on FIG. 7 and FIG.

  The low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101 includes a flywheel 102 that is a load adjustment member that rotates integrally with the spindle motor 21. That is, a through hole 103 is formed in the under cover 15 a of the printing unit 15, and the drive shaft 23 of the spindle motor 21 passes through the through hole 103. The flywheel 102 is fixed to the drive shaft 23 at a position facing the upper disk clamp 39 with the under cover 15a interposed therebetween. Therefore, the lower disk clamp 22, the upper disk clamp 39, the optical disk medium D sandwiched between them, and the flywheel 102 rotate together while obtaining the inertial force of the flywheel 102 by driving the spindle motor 21.

  Here, the optical disc apparatus 100 includes a controller that comprehensively controls each hardware in the apparatus including the printing unit 15 and the drive circuit of the spindle motor 21 described above. This controller detects the rotation speed of the spindle motor itself (rotor), that is, the rotation speed of the spindle motor 21 through a frequency generator (FG) constituting the drive circuit of the spindle motor 21.

  Further, the controller performs the following control during label printing on the optical disc medium D. After the recording of information on the optical disc medium D by the optical pickup 11 is completed, the controller generates a spindle motor 21 stop command and outputs it to a motor drive circuit (not shown). As a result, the drive current to the spindle motor 21 is interrupted, and the rotation of the spindle motor 21 is gradually decelerated. When the controller detects that the rotation speed of the spindle motor 21 has become a predetermined rotation speed (for example, 80 to 120 rpm) or less through the frequency generator (or a rotary encoder or the like), the controller moves the printing unit 15 including the print head 16. Control to start the printing operation. At this time, while the spindle motor 21 decelerates, the spindle motor 21 rotates stably by the inertial force due to the load applied by the flywheel 102. As a result, the optical disk medium D stably rotates at a speed suitable for label printing, and it becomes possible to perform label printing with good quality. Also. In the present embodiment, since the functions for label printing are integrated in the printing unit 15, it becomes easy to retrofit the label printing function to an existing optical disc apparatus.

  It should be noted that by selecting the load of the parts that are loads on the spindle motor 21 such as the lower disk clamp 22 and the upper disk clamp 39, an effect equivalent to the configuration in which the flywheel 102 is added as a load adjusting member is produced. Can do. Therefore, in this case, the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101 can be excluded from the configuration.

  9 is achieved on the label surface of the optical disc medium D by relative movement between the print head 16 of the printing unit 15 and the label surface of the rotating optical disc medium D, for example. Since the print head 16 can be moved in the transport direction of the disc tray 3 by the power of the head movable motor 49 as described above, printing can be performed over different radial positions of the optical disc medium D. As a result, printing can be performed on almost the entire label surface of the optical disk medium D.

  Further, at the time of label printing, the controller of the optical disc apparatus 100 collects information such as the title (file name) and date of the content recorded on the optical disc medium D and stores it in a memory in the controller. It is possible to print by generating print data based on the information.

  The controller that comprehensively controls the optical disc apparatus 100 determines the type of the set optical disc medium D, such as a read-only disc, a write-once disc, a rewritable disc, a double-sided recording disc, and the like. It is possible to discriminate based on the measurement results. Many such techniques have already been proposed. In combination with this technology, the following functions can be realized.

  A label printing execution command is given from the user to the controller of the optical disc apparatus 100. In this case, the controller functions as a print execution restriction unit as follows. That is, before starting the label printing according to the label printing execution command, the controller determines that the type of optical disk medium D that is not suitable for label printing is set based on the determination result of the type of the set optical disk medium D. Is determined, control is performed so as to invalidate the execution of label printing. Here, the type of optical disk medium D unsuitable for printing is a read-only disk, a double-sided recording disk, or the like.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is a modification of the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism.

  FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101. In this example, a mechanism for switching on and off the connection between the upper disk clamp 39 and the flywheel 102 is added. A shaft 118 protruding from the top surface of the flywheel 102 is rotatably supported by the connecting plate 113. One end of the connecting plate 113 is rotatably supported by the hinge portion 111, and the other end is supported by a ball screw 117 provided coaxially with the drive shaft of the connecting motor 114 fixed to the under cover 15b. ing. The connecting portion of the connecting plate 113 with the ball screw 117 is a hole 116 having a thread groove on the inner peripheral surface. That is, in this low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 101, the ball screw 117 is rotated by the power of the connection motor 114, so that the connection plate 113 tilts around the hinge portion 111 and rotates to the connection plate 113 via the shaft 118. The flywheel 102 connected freely moves up and down, and as a result, the connection between the flywheel 102 and the upper disk clamp 39 can be switched on and off. For the connection between the flywheel 102 and the upper disk clamp 39, for example, magnets 121 and 122 are used.

  After the controller completes the recording of information on the optical disk medium D by the optical pickup 11 and stops the energization of the spindle motor 21, the controller operates the connecting motor 114 to move the ball screw 117 in a predetermined direction. Rotate. When the ball screw 117 rotates in a predetermined direction, the engagement position of the connecting plate 113 with the ball screw 117 is displaced (lowered), and the connecting plate 113 rotates about the hinge portion 111, so that the flywheel 102 and the upper disk clamp are rotated. 39 is coupled through magnets 121 and 122. As a result, the optical disk medium D rotates stably while lowering the rotational speed due to the inertial force generated by the load applied to the flywheel 102. Then, when the rotational speed becomes a predetermined value or less, the controller performs control so that label printing by the print head 16 is started.

  The connecting motor 114 only needs to be energized at the time of connection and when it is released, so that the increase in power consumption is small. Further, the connecting motor 114 is an inexpensive DC motor and can sufficiently function.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is a modification of the printing unit. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a surface facing the disc tray 3 of the printing unit 15 of the present embodiment. The present embodiment is characterized in that a shutter 81 is provided in the opening 35 for allowing the print head 16 to be exposed from the printing unit 15. The shutter 81 is supported by a shaft 82 fixed to the under cover 15b of the printing unit 15 so as to be rotatable along the surface of the under cover 15b. The shutter 81 has a receiving portion 83 that receives the side surface of the print head 16 that is conveyed from the standby position in the print head storage portion 84 toward the print execution position in order to start label printing. When the receiving portion 83 is pressed by the side surface of the print head 16, the shutter 81 rotates about the shaft 82 and the opening 35 hidden behind the shutter 81 appears. Further, the shutter 81 is closed except when label printing is performed, so that the shutter 81 is closed by a biasing member such as a spring (not shown) in a certain rotational direction, that is, a direction opposite to the rotational direction when pressed by the side surface of the print head 16. It is energized. Thereby, it is possible to prevent excess scattered ink other than during label printing. The scattered ink is prevented from being absorbed by an ink absorber (not shown) provided in the print head storage 84 and leaking outside.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment concerning this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, The following deformation | transformation and the range of application are included.

  The transport mechanism of the print head 16 of the printing unit 15 is not necessarily essential for performing label printing.

  The present invention is applicable not only to the tray system but also to the slot system. The slot system is a system in which the optical disk medium is not transported on a disk tray but is transported while holding both surfaces of the optical disk medium between a pair of rolls.

  The print head 16 is not limited to the ink jet system, and can be replaced with other various systems.

  The present invention can also be applied to a system in which an optical disk medium D is accommodated in a container such as a cartridge and transported as in a DVD-RAM. In this case, the surface of the cartridge is the target area for label printing.

1 is a perspective view showing a tray-type optical disc apparatus equipped with a label printing mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the disc clamp mechanism of the optical disc apparatus of FIG. The perspective view which showed the inside of the optical disk apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the printing unit removed from FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a surface facing a disc tray of the printing unit of FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the print head of FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the printing unit of FIG. 3 with a top cover removed. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the print head base removed from FIG. 7. The figure which shows the example of the printing on the label surface of an optical disk media. The perspective view which shows the modification of the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism which is the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism of FIG. The perspective view which shows the modification of the printing unit which is the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

D optical disk medium 1 housing 3 disk tray 11 optical pickup 15 printing unit 16 print head 21 spindle motor 22 lower disk clamp 39 upper disk clamp 100 optical disk device 101 low-speed rotation stabilization mechanism 102 flywheel 111 hinge part 113 shaft coupling plate 114 coupling motor 117 Ball Screw 121, 122 Magnet

Claims (7)

A clamp for clamping the optical disk medium;
A motor connected to the clamp unit and driving the optical disc medium clamped by the clamp unit;
A print head that performs printing on a label surface of the optical disc medium clamped by the clamp unit;
A rotational speed detector for detecting the rotational speed of the motor;
A control unit that controls the motor to stop, and when the rotation number detection unit detects that the rotation number of the motor is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
An optical disc apparatus comprising: The upper disc clamp that rotates together with the lower disc clamp and the optical disc medium while the clamp portion clamps the optical disc medium between the lower disc clamp and the lower disc clamp fixed to the drive shaft of the motor And
2. The optical disc apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a load adjusting member rotating integrally with the upper disc clamp is connected to the upper disc clamp.   3. The optical disc apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a load adjustment member connection switching unit that switches on and off the connection of the load adjustment member with the upper disk clamp.   4. The optical disk apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the print head, the upper disk clamp, and the load adjusting member are integrated as a single unit and configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body.   The optical disk apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a print head transport mechanism that transports the print head in a radial direction of the optical disk medium. The unit is
An opening for exposing the print head;
The optical disk apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a shutter that is movable to receive the print head transported by the print head transport mechanism and to open the opening. Clamping part for clamping optical disk media, motor connected to the clamping part and driving the optical disk media clamped by the clamping part, and printing for printing on the label surface of the optical disk media clamped by the clamping part With a head,
Controlling that the print head starts printing on the label surface of the optical disk medium when the rotational speed of the disk motor is detected to be a predetermined value or less by a stop command from the control unit. A control method of an optical disc device characterized by

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