JPH02105340A - Loading mechanism for optical disk - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely record and reproduce data to an optical disk with an objective lens always kept clean by cleaning this lens of an optical pickup device in response to the inserting/ejecting actions of a cartridge. CONSTITUTION:When a disk cartridge 50 is put into a tray 1, the levers 31 and 32 are put into the opening parts 53 and 54 of a shutter 52 when the inserted variable of the cartridge 50 reaches a fixed level. Thus a shutter 52 is gradually opened. At the same time, a brush 33 planted to the lever 31 crosses the moving range of an optical pickup 35 to remove the dust, etc., attached on the surface of an objective lens 36. When an ejection button is pushed inside, a carrier 2 moves against the force of the ejection springs 12 and 13. Then the tray 1 moves up and moves in the ejecting direction. At the same time, the holding state of an optical disk is released to a turntable 34. Then the cartridge 50 is ejected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical disc loading mechanism that is capable of cleaning an objective lens of an optical pickup.

[Prior Art] In recent years, optical discs made by shaping optical storage media into a disk shape,
Alternatively, a storage device (hereinafter collectively referred to as an optical disk device) that uses a magneto-optical disk formed by shaping a magneto-optical storage medium into a disk shape as a storage medium has been put into practical use. Note that in the following description, the term "optical disk" also includes a magneto-optical disk.

Now, in this optical disk device, when recording/reproducing data on an optical disk, a laser beam focused to an extremely small diameter is used.This laser beam is irradiated onto the optical disk and the reflected light from the optical disk is received. As a mechanism, an optical pickup device is used to record/reproduce data on an optical disc.

In this optical pickup device, the objective lens used to focus the laser beam onto the optical disk is set at a very small distance from the recording surface of the optical disk, so the surface of the objective lens must be covered with a cover, etc. I can't do it,
This objective lens is always exposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, fine dust etc. adhere to the objective lens, and the optical level of the laser beam irradiated onto the optical disc and the reflected beam from the optical disc guided into the inside of the optical pickup device is reduced. becomes small, resulting in the inconvenience of not being able to record/reproduce data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc loading mechanism that can solve these conventional problems and reliably record/reproduce data on an optical disc.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides disc cars 1 to 1 that accommodate optical discs.
The apparatus is equipped with a cleaning means for cleaning an objective lens of an optical pickup device that records/reproduces data on an optical disk in conjunction with the insertion/ejection of the cartridge.

[Function] Therefore, the objective lens of the optical pickup gi is cleaned when inserting/ejecting the optical disc, so the objective lens can always be kept in a clean state, thereby making it easier to record/reproduce data on the optical disc. It can be done reliably.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) show an optical disk loading mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This mechanism consists of a tray 1 for holding a disc cartridge (described later) that accommodates an optical disc, and a tray l for holding a disc cartridge (described later) that accommodates an optical disc.
It consists of a carrier 2 for moving the machine in the vertical direction.

In the carrier 2, elongated holes 3 and 4 provided at both front ends
Reference pins 5 and 6 for setting the reference position of the disk cartridge (described later) are inserted into the slots, and slotted holes 7 provided behind the slotted holes 3 are used to set the height of the carrier 2. A height reference pin 8 is inserted. Thereby, the movement of the carrier 2 is restricted only in the longitudinal direction of its elongated holes 3, 4.7.

Further, the pushing portion 2a extended to the position where the elongated hole 4 is disposed and folded down is used to push the carrier 2 using an eject button (path shown) or the like when ejecting the disk cartridge.

A spring 12, 13 is tensioned between the inner protrusions 9, 10 of the carrier 2 and the frame 11 of the drive device, and this causes the carrier 2 to move in the direction of arrow R1, that is, in the disk cartridge ejection direction. is energized by

This biasing force is retained by a latch mechanism 14 provided at the rear of the elongated hole 4 when the disc cartridge is not attached.

The raised side ends 15 and 16 of the carrier 2 are provided with guide holes 17° and 18 which are approximately in the shape of a rectangle for guiding the tray 1.
and guide holes 19 and 20 are formed, respectively.

Rays 1 to 1 are generally formed so as to hold the disc cartridge from above and from both sides, and the lower both sides of the disc cartridge storage opening are bent downward.

At both rear ends of the tray 1, there are guide holes 23 through which guide pins 21 and 22 protruding from the frame 11 are inserted.
, 24 are formed, on both sides of which pins 25-28 are arranged which engage in guide holes 17-20 formed in the side ends 1.5.16 of the carrier 2. As a result, the direction of movement of the tray 1 is restricted so that it moves only in the vertical direction.

Inside the i-ray 1, near the guide holes 23, 24, levers 31, 32 for opening and closing the shutter of the disk cartridge are rotatably attached. Further, the height of the lever 31 is located one step lower than the lever 32, so that the lever 31 and the lever 32 can cross each other, and a tray is provided on the lower surface of the lever 31 located below the lever 31. 1, move the brush 33 to a position where it can slide on the surface of the objective lens (described later) of the optical pickup.
has been planted.

As the material for this brush 33, for example, a synthetic resin such as nylon or acrylic formed into fibers with a diameter of 10 to 20 μn1 can be used, and carbon may be mixed to prevent static electricity. .

The turntable 34 is disposed at the tip of a spindle motor that rotates the optical disc, and is used to hold the optical disc.

The optical pickup 35 is for recording/reproducing data on an optical disk, and is moved by a moving mechanism (not shown).
It is reciprocated in the radial direction of the optical disc in a range from an inner circumferential limit position shown by a solid line to an outer circumferential limit position shown by a dashed line. An objective lens 36 is provided at the tip of the optical pickup 35 to focus a laser beam for recording/reproducing data.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) show a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the end located in the insertion direction will be referred to as the distal end, and the opposite end will be referred to as the rear end.

A long access window 51 is formed in the insertion direction in the middle of the disc cartridge 50 that accommodates an optical disc (not shown). It is set up in a way that it can be folded back.

The folded portion of the shutter 52 is formed in a shape extending from the access window 51 toward one side end.
Furthermore, openings 53 and 54 are formed at the folded end of the shutter 52, into which the levers 31 and 32 are inserted, respectively.

Further, in the rear part of the disc cartridge 50, reference holes 55 and 56 are bored through which the reference pins 5 and 6 of the loading mechanism are inserted and for positioning the disc cartridge 50.

With the above configuration, when the disk cartridge 50 is inserted into the tray 1, after the insertion amount reaches a certain distance, the levers 31 and 32 are inserted into the openings 53 and 54 of the shutter 52, so that the shutter 52 is gradually closed. We will open it up to

7= At the same time, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the lever 31
The brush 33 installed in the optical pickup 35 crosses the moving range of the optical pickup 35 and comes into contact with the surface of the objective lens 36, so that dust and the like adhering to the surface of the objective lens 36 are removed.

When the disk cartridge 50 is completely inserted into the tray 1, the shutter 52 is completely opened and the latch mechanism 14 releases the eject spring 12.1.
The latch of the urging force No. 3 is released.

As a result, the carrier 2 moves in the ejection direction of the disk cartridge 50, and the pins 25 to 28 of the tray 1 move along the guide holes 17 to 20 of the carrier 2.
Tray 1 is lowered.

Thereby, the disc cartridge 50 is lowered toward the turntable 34 while being positioned at the reference position with the reference pins 5 and 6 inserted into the reference holes 55 and 56 thereof.

When the descent of the disk cartridge 50 is completed, the optical disk accommodated in the disk cartridge is
The turntable 3 is attached by a chucking mechanism (not shown).
4, and the height of the disk cartridge 50 is maintained at the height set by the height reference pin 8.

In this state, the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35 is positioned at a constant distance from the surface of the optical disc.

Thereby, data can be recorded/reproduced on the optical disc.

Furthermore, when ejecting the disk cartridge 50,
For example, when the eject button is pressed, the push portion 2a of the carrier 2 is pushed in the opposite direction to the eject direction, and the carrier 2 moves against the biasing force of the eject springs 12, 13.

As a result, the tray I rises and moves in the eject direction. Also, at that time, the holding of the optical disc on the turntable 34 by the chucking mechanism is released, so the disc cartridge 50 is ejected.

Furthermore, since the levers 31 and 32 come out of the openings 53 and 54 during this ejection, the shutter 52 is completely closed when the ejection of the disk cartridge 50 is completed.

Further, while the levers 31, 32 are removed from the openings 53, 54 and are completely restored to their original state, the brush 33 cleans the surface of the objective lens 36 in the same manner as described above.

In this way, the disk cartridge 50 is attached to and removed from the optical disk moving device by this loading mechanism, and the surface of the objective lens 36 is cleaned by the brush 33.

Therefore, since the surface of the objective lens 36 is always in a clean state, attenuation of the laser beam irradiated/received by the optical pickup 35 is suppressed, so that data can be recorded/reproduced appropriately.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the movement range of the lever 31 is limited when opening and closing the shutter 52, and the movement of the brush 3 is limited.
Since the installation range of the optical pickup 3 cannot be widened, the objective lens 36 may not be able to be cleaned when the optical pickup 33 is located on the inner peripheral side of the optical disc. However, since the stop position of the optical pickup 35 is randomly determined, the objective lens 36 is cleaned by the brush 33 at a frequency that does not cause any practical problems.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show a mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention, which can reliably clean the objective lens 36 no matter where the optical pickup 35 is stopped within its movement range. show. In addition, in the same figure, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 (a
) and (b), the same parts are given the same reference numerals.

In the figure, the lever 38 is larger than the tray 1 than the lever 31.
It is rotatably attached to the back side of the lever 31 in a manner that it can be rotated without engaging the lever 31, and a brush 39 is planted on the lower surface over a wide range from the tip to approximately the center. There is.

Further, the spring 40 biases the lever 38 in the inner circumferential direction of the optical disk.

Therefore, before the disk car 1-ridge 50 is inserted, the lever 38 is biased by the spring 40 and has moved to a position limited by the rotational position of the lever 31.

In this state, the disk cartridge 50 is inserted,
As mentioned above, the opening 5 of the disc cartridge 50
When the lever 31 moves toward the outer periphery of the optical disk while the lever 38 is inserted into the optical disk 3, the lever 38 also moves toward the outer periphery of the optical disk.

As a result, the brush 39 installed on the lower surface of the lever 38 comes into sliding contact with the surface of the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35, thereby cleaning the surface of the objective lens 36.

Also, when ejecting the disk cartridge 50, the lever 31. ．． When the brush 38 returns to its original position, the brush 3
9, the objective lens 36 is cleaned.

Here, as the lever 38 moves, the brush 39 crosses the entire range of the stopping position of the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35, so that
During discharge, the objective lens 36 is constantly cleaned by the brush 39.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the brush for cleaning the objective lens is moved in conjunction with the lever that opens and closes the shutter of the disk cartridge, but the mechanism for moving the brush is not limited to this.

FIG. 5 shows a hooking mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the invention. In this figure, details are omitted, and the same or corresponding parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) and (b) are given the same reference numerals.

In the figure, a long guide hole 60 is bored in the upper surface of the tray 1 in the insertion direction of the disk cartridge 50.
A moving member 61 that can be engaged with the disk cars 1 to 50 to be inserted is installed inside the tray 1 while being guided by the guide hole 60. In addition, the moving member 6
1 is urged by a spring 62 toward the disk cartridge accommodating opening side of the tray 1.

The moving member 61 includes the objective lens 3 of the optical pickup 35.
A brush 63 for cleaning 6 is installed.

Further, the position of the guide hole 60 is set so that when the moving member 61 moves, the brush 63 can move entirely within the movement range of the optical hinge up 35.

With the above configuration, when the disk cartridge 50 is inserted into the tray 1, the leading end of the tray 1 comes into contact with the moving member 61 and pushes it in the insertion direction, as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b).
As a result, the moving member 61 moves from the limit position on the side of the disc cartridge accommodating opening to the position where the insertion of the disc cartridge 50 is completed.

As the moving member 61 moves, the brush 63 slides on the surface of the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35, thereby cleaning the surface of the objective lens 36.

Furthermore, when ejecting the disk cartridge 50,
The moving member 61 returns to its original position, and the brush 63 cleans the objective lens 36 accordingly.

Now, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the brush for cleaning the objective lens is driven by a mechanism linked to the insertion/ejection of the disk cartridge, but it is also possible to use a dummy disk cartridge with such a brush installed. can.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), the dummy cartridge 70 is made of a plate material with a window (not shown) in the same shape as the access window in the center, and A brush 71 is installed at the tip of the brush 71 so that the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35 can slide thereon. In addition,
This dummy cartridge 70 is used to fix the optical pickup 35 during transportation.

Therefore, when the dummy cartridge 70 is inserted into the optical disk drive device Dv, the brush 71 slides on the surface of the objective lens 36 and moves to the outside of the movement range of the optical pickup 35.

In addition, since the insertion of the dummy cartridge 70 is completed in this state, due to the action of the double loading mechanism,
The dummy cartridge 70 descends toward the optical pickup 35.

As a result, the engaging portion (not shown) of the optical pickup 35 and the engaging portion (not shown) of the dummy cartridge 70 are engaged with each other, thereby fixing the optical pickup 35. Further, in this state, since the brush 71 is moved outside the movement range of the optical pickup 35, the optical pickup 35 is not pressed down by the brush 71.

In this way, even when the dummy quadrangle 70 is used, the objective lens 36 of the optical pickup 35 can be cleaned.

In the above embodiment, the objective lens of an optical pickup that records/reproduces data on an optical disk is cleaned, but the objective lens of an optical pickup that records/reproduces data on a magneto-optical disk may also be cleaned. The invention can be applied in a similar manner.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to devices equipped with the above-described loading mechanism, but can be similarly applied to devices equipped with other loading mechanisms.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the objective lens of an optical pickup device that records/reproduces data on an optical disc is cleaned in conjunction with the insertion/ejection of a disc cartridge containing an optical disc. Since it is equipped with a cleaning means to
When inserting/ejecting an optical disc, the objective lens of the optical pickup device is cleaned, and the objective lens can be kept in a clean state at all times, thereby ensuring that data can be recorded/played back on the optical disc all the time. Get the effect of being able to do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a loading mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between an objective lens and a brush, and FIG. Schematic diagram for explaining the lens cleaning situation, Part 3
Figure (,) is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a disk cartridge, and Figure (b) is a front view of the same. FIG. 4(,) is a schematic diagram for explaining the mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4(b) is a schematic diagram of the same, and FIG. 6(a) and 6(b) are schematic perspective views showing the mechanism, and FIG.
) and (b) are schematic diagrams for explaining an embodiment in which an objective lens is cleaned using a dummy cartridge. 31.32.38...Lever, 33,39,63.7
1... Brush, 35... Optical pickup, 36...
・Objective lens, 40.62...Spring, 60...
- Guide hole, 61... Moving member, 70... Dummy cartridge. Figure (a) (b) Figure (a)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an optical disc loading mechanism that positions the optical disc at a predetermined position in the data recording/reproducing mechanism,
An optical disc loading mechanism characterized by comprising a cleaning means for cleaning an objective lens of an optical pickup device that records/reproduces data on an optical disc in conjunction with insertion/ejection of a disc cartridge containing an optical disc. (2) The optical disc according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means comprises a brush that slides on the surface of the objective lens when inserting/ejecting the disc cartridge in conjunction with an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes a shutter of the disc cartridge. loading mechanism. (3) The cleaning means includes a moving member that is engageable with the disk cartridge and movable in the insertion front and rear directions;
2. The movable member according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing member that biases the movable member in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, and a brush member implanted in the movable member so as to be able to clean the surface of the objective lens. optical disc loading mechanism.