JPH02168481A - Optical head cleaning method and cleaning device for optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain automatic cleaning of an optical head by moving the optical head while the cleaning fixture is loaded to an optical disk driver. CONSTITUTION:When a clean instruction of an optical head 6 of an optical disk driver 5 is outputted from a logical control section 9 by a command from a host controller 10 or the discrimination of the logic control section 9 itself, a carrier mechanism section 1 carries the cleaning fixture 12 to the optical disk driver 5 to move the cleaning fixture 12. In this case, since a brush 13 is in contact onto the surface of an optical head 6, dirt or dust adhered to the surface of the optical head 6 is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical head cleaning method and a cleaning tool for an optical disk device, and particularly to an optical head cleaning method suitable for automatically cleaning an optical head, and furthermore, The present invention relates to a cleaning tool suitable for automatically or manually cleaning an optical head.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional optical disc device, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-3997
2. Description of the Related Art As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1, a technique related to storage and automatic transportation of a cartridge storing an optical disk (hereinafter referred to as an optical disk cartridge) is known. However, cleaning of the optical head of the optical disk device is not considered.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional technology does not take into account cleaning of the optical head provided in the optical disk drive device in the optical disk device. Therefore, there is a problem in that a worker must remove or disassemble the optical disk drive device from the optical disk device and clean the optical head periodically or when an abnormality occurs due to the optical head.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical head cleaning method that can automatically clean an optical head without removing or disassembling an optical disk drive, and a cleaning device for automatically or manually cleaning an optical head. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means to solve the problem]

The method for cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device according to the present invention is to remove the laser beam from the optical head in the optical disk drive by attaching and detaching a cleaning tool to the optical disk drive, which is removably formed in the same way as an optical disk cartridge. It is characterized by cleaning the exit lens.

Here, when the cleaning device is attached to the optical disk drive device, the cleaning member comes into contact with the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head, and in this state, the optical head is moved to clean the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head. You can do it like this.

Further, the optical head cleaning method for an optical disk device of the present invention includes a cartridge storage for storing a plurality of optical disk cartridges, and an optical disk for removing an optical disk cartridge from the cartridge storage or storing the optical disk cartridge in the cartridge storage. It is applied to an optical disc device equipped with an automatic optical disc loading device, which has a transport mechanism unit that transports a cartridge, and an optical disc drive unit that sets an optical disc cartridge that has been fed by the transport mechanism unit, and is particularly applicable to the above-mentioned optical disc cartridge. The cleaning member is formed in a similar shape to be stored in the cartridge storage, and is configured to be transportable by the transport mechanism, and the cleaning member comes into contact with the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head when mounted on the optical disk drive device. The cleaning tool is transported to and removed from the optical disc drive by the transport mechanism, or the optical head inside the optical disc drive is moved while it is attached to the optical disc drive, and the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head is cleaned. It is characterized by

Furthermore, the cleaning tool of the present invention has a first recess for gripping by a conveying means for conveying an optical disk cartridge provided in an optical disk drive, and an optical disk drive device that determines that the cleaning cartridge is a cleaning cartridge when the cleaning tool is attached. a case comprising a second recess for opening the optical disk drive and a movable shutter formed to open when inserted into the optical disk drive; and a laser emitting lens of the optical head provided in the case when the movable shutter is opened. and a cleaning member disposed so as to come into contact with the cleaning member.

[Function] According to the method for cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device of the present invention, when the cleaning tool formed to be detachably attached to the optical disk drive device is attached to and detached from the optical disk drive device, the cleaning tool cleans the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head. The surface is contacted and the optical head is cleaned as a result.

Further, according to the optical head cleaning method for an optical disc of the present invention, by moving the optical head with the cleaning tool attached to the optical disc device, the surface of the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head is cleaned by the cleaning member. .

Further, according to the method for cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device of the present invention, the transport mechanism section drives the optical disk by driving a cleaning tool placed in a predetermined location by an external operation or a cleaning tool stored in the device. The laser beam emitting lens of the optical head is cleaned by transporting it to and removing it from the device, or by moving the optical head while being attached to the optical disk drive device. After cleaning is complete, transport the cleaning equipment to the designated location. Furthermore, if the cleaning equipment is stored in a storage cabinet, it is also possible to automatically transport the cleaning equipment and clean the optical head periodically or when an abnormality caused by the optical head occurs. It is.

Further, according to the cleaning device of the present invention, the cleaning device is transported by a transport mechanism section like an optical disc cartridge, and when installed in an optical disc drive device, the movable shutter opens and the cleaning member comes into contact with the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head. Equipment is provided. The laser beam emitting lens of the optical head is cleaned by attaching and detaching the cleaning device to the optical disk drive device, or by moving the optical head while the cleaning device is attached.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an optical disc device to which the optical head cleaning method for an optical disc device of the present invention is applied.

The optical disk device 14 is composed of a transport mechanism section l for the optical disk cartridge 4, a cartridge input/output port 2, a cartridge storage 3, an optical disk drive device 5, a transport mechanism control section 8, and a logic control section 9, which are arranged inside the cover 11. It is set in. Further, the optical disk drive device 5 includes an optical head 6 and a spindle 7, as shown in the figure. Furthermore, the logic control unit 9
It is connected to the. In addition, in the cartridge storage 3,
In addition to the optical disc cartridge 4, a cleaning tool 12 is stored.

Here, the logic control section 9 receives and accepts instructions from the higher-level control device 10, and controls the entire optical disk device 14 and manages the stored optical disk cartridges 4. Further, the transport mechanism control section 8 receives instructions from the logic control section 9, and
The conveyance mechanism section 1 specifically controls the conveyance of the optical disk cartridge 4. Normally, the optical disc cartridge 4 is transported by the transport mechanism l when the optical disc cartridge 4 is inserted or ejected from the cartridge loading/unloading port 2, and when the optical disc cartridge 4 is set in the optical disc drive device 5. .

When the optical disc cartridge 4 is transported to the optical disc drive device 5, the optical disc in the optical disc cartridge 4 is set on a spindle 7 that rotates the optical disc, rotates at a predetermined speed, and in this state is placed on the optical disc by the optical head 6. Optical information is recorded and reproduced.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the cleaning tool 12 shown in FIG. 1. This cleaning tool 12 has a similar shape to the optical disc cartridge 4, is formed to be able to be stored in the cartridge storage 3 in the same manner as the optical disc cartridge 4, is configured to be transportable by the transport mechanism section 1, and is further configured to be able to be transported by the optical disc drive device. A brush 13 is provided at a position in contact with the optical head 6 when set to 5.

Therefore, when a command to clean the optical disc drive 6 of the optical disc drive device 5 is output from the logic control unit 9 according to an instruction from the host controller 10 or based on the judgment of the logic control unit 9 itself, the transport mechanism unit 1 cleans the optical disc drive 5. The device 12 is connected to the optical disk drive device 5
As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning tool 12 is taken in and out. At this time, since the brush 13 comes into contact with the surface of the optical head 6, dirt and dust attached to the surface of the optical head 6 can be removed.

When cleaning the optical disk drive 5 automatically, the timing to perform the operation is determined by the fact that the host controller IO or the logic control unit 9 remembers the number of times the optical disk drive 5 is used, the number of abnormalities, etc. , if these exceed a certain standard value, the cleaning equipment 12 stored in the storage room may be automatically transported and cleaned, or if the above-mentioned certain standard value is exceeded, the operator may cleaning equipment 1
2 may be instructed to be put into the input/output port 2 to perform cleaning.

In the optical disk device 14 shown in FIG. 1, even if the power is not turned on and the transport mechanism l cannot operate, the cleaning tool 12 can be manually moved to the drive device 5 by removing the cover 11 at the rear of the device. The optical head 6 can be inserted into the optical head 6 without removing or disassembling the drive device 5.
can be cleaned.

Further, the cleaning part of the cleaning device 12 shown in FIG. 2 does not have to be in the shape of a brush, and may be made of cloth or paper, and it is stored in the cleaning device 12 when not in use, and when performing cleaning operations. It is also possible to have a structure that only protrudes.

4(a) and 4(b) show other examples of the cleaning device, and FIG. 4(a) is a perspective explanatory view of a cleaning cartridge having almost the same structure as an optical disk cartridge. FIG. 4(b) is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4(a). As shown, cleaning cartridge 2
0 includes a case 21, a fixed shutter 22 formed on the upper surface of the case 21, a cleaning member base 23 formed on the lower side of the fixed shutter 22, and a cleaning member base 23 that is detachably provided with a pawl 26. A cleaning member 24 , a movable shutter 25 provided on the lower surface of the case 21 and movable in the direction of the arrow 40 , a hole 27 provided on the upper surface of the case 21 , a recess 28 , and a notch 29 . It is configured.

The case 21 has the same shape as an optical disc cartridge that normally houses an optical disc medium.

A normal optical disc cartridge is not provided with a hole 27, and the optical disc drive device 5 determines whether the hole 27 exists or not to determine whether the cleaning cartridge 20 has been inserted or an optical disc cartridge containing a normal optical disc medium has been inserted. It is detected and identified by a microswitch, which will be described later.

The hole 27 is located in the case 2 of the cleaning cartridge 20.
It is provided in only one place on one side of 1. Therefore, the cleaning cartridge 20 is
4 is inserted into the optical disk drive device 5 without facing the optical head, the optical disk drive device 5 does not recognize that the cleaning cartridge 20 has been inserted and does not perform a cleaning operation.

The cleaning member 24 is a brush made of a conductive material, and is embedded in the cleaning member base 23.

Further, the cap 26 is made of an elastic material, and allows the cleaning member 24 to be attached and removed by being elastically deformed.

Further, the recess 28 is for the transport mechanism section of the optical disc device to grip the cleaning cartridge 20.
The notch 29 is used to open the movable shutter 25 when the cleaning cartridge 20 is inserted into the optical disk drive device 5.

Next, the state in which the cleaning cartridge 20 is inserted into the optical disk drive device 5 will be explained using FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b). FIG. 5(a) is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the optical disc drive device 5, and FIG. 5(b) is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the cleaning cartridge 20 is inserted into the optical disc drive device 5. The optical disc drive device 5 is
A bracket 51 that receives a normal optical disc cartridge or a cleaning cartridge, and a movable shutter 25 of the cleaning cartridge 20 for opening and closing.
Shutter arm 5 rotatable about axis 521.531
It has a value of 2.53.

Further, the bracket 51 is provided with a cartridge insertion detection mechanism 54 such as a microswitch, which detects insertion of the optical disk cartridge or cleaning cartridge 20. In addition, the optical disk drive device 5
is equipped with an optical head 6 that can be moved in the radial direction of the optical disk by a linear actuator (not shown), and the optical head 6 has a laser beam emitting lens 601. Also,
When an optical disc cartridge or a cleaning cartridge is inserted into the bracket 51 of the optical disc drive device 5, the bracket 51 is moved up and down via bearings 56a and 56b to move the optical disc cartridge or cleaning cartridge 20 to the operating position (read/write position, etc.).
A vertical mechanism 59 is provided for moving the camera to a cleaning position. The vertical mechanism 59 is formed to be movable in the direction of the arrow 60, and the bracket 51 moves the vertical mechanism 59 in the direction of the arrow 60.
By moving the slope 57 of the vertical mechanism 59 in the direction of
Move up and down. The optical disk cartridge and cleaning cartridge 20 are set by the above-mentioned vertical movement from the insertion position of the optical disk cartridge and cleaning cartridge 20 shown in FIG. 5(a) to the read/write position (cleaning position) shown in FIG. 5(b). be done.

Further, the optical disc drive device 5 is provided with a shaft 55 that detects whether the optical disc cartridge is accurately positioned at the read/write position. That is,
When the shaft 55 is pressed down, a microswitch (not shown) is turned on, and it is detected that the optical disc cartridge is positioned at an accurate position. In the case of an optical disc cartridge instead of a cleaning cartridge, the optical disc in the optical disc cartridge is clamped by a spindle receiver 58, rotated by a motor 61, and written/read by the optical head 6.

The cleaning cartridge 20 is attached to the optical disc drive device 5
When inserted into the bracket 51 of the cleaning cartridge 20, the tip of the shutter arm 53 is caught in the recess 29 provided in the movable shutter 25 of the cleaning cartridge 20, and the movable shutter 25 is opened. The bracket 51 is provided with a cartridge insertion detection mechanism 54, which detects the front end surface of the cleaning cartridge 20 when it is inserted.
This causes the up-and-down mechanism 59 to operate, positioning the cleaning cartridge at the proper position. As this insertion detection mechanism 54, a microswitch or the like is normally used.

FIG. 5(b) shows a state in which the cleaning cartridge is positioned at its normal position. The length of the cleaning member 24 is set so that the cleaning member 24 contacts the optical head 601 in this state.

When the cleaning cartridge 20 is positioned at the normal position, the shaft 55 provided in the optical disc drive device 5 is inserted into the hole 27, the microswitch (not shown) provided at the bottom of the shaft 55 is not turned on, and the optical disc is not turned on. The drive device 5 recognizes that the cleaning cartridge 20 has been inserted.

When such a state occurs, the control section of the optical disk drive device 5 determines that the cleaning cartridge 20 has been inserted, and a linear actuator (not shown) is driven to reciprocate the optical head 6 in the direction of the arrow 63. The number of times this reciprocating operation is performed varies depending on the degree of dirt on the surface of the laser beam emitting lens and the material and shape of the cleaning member 24, but it is usually preferably from several times to several thousand times. After completing this reciprocating operation, the optical disk drive device 5 ejects the cleaning cartridge 20. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart showing the above-described operation.

Further, it is conceivable that static electricity is generated by rubbing the surface of the laser beam emitting lens 601 with the cleaning member 24, which causes floating dust in the air to be attracted.

Therefore, the cleaning member 24. Cleaning member base 23. Movable shutter 25. By composing the fixed shutter 22° case 21 and the like with conductive materials, static electricity can be prevented, floating dust can be prevented from being attracted, and dust on the surface of the laser beam emitting lens 601 can be removed.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning cartridge 20 is taken in and out manually 71, and
There is also a method of cleaning the surface of the laser beam emitting lens 601 by moving back and forth in two directions. That is, the fifth
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. (a) and (b), after the cleaning cartridge 20 is inserted into the bracket 51, the whole bracket 51 is moved up and down, and the cleaning cartridge 20 is moved up and down.
0 to the normal position, and then remove the cleaning member 2.
4 and the laser beam emitting lens 601, but the cleaning member 24 is made into a longer shape, and the cleaning cartridge 20 is placed in the bracket 51 without lowering the cleaning cartridge 20 and bringing it to the normal position. The surface of the laser beam emitting lens 601 may be cleaned by moving it in the front-back direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, by providing a recess 73 in a portion facing the insertion detection mechanism 54 of the cleaning cartridge 20, even if the cleaning cartridge 20 is inserted into the bracket 51, the insertion detection mechanism 54
does not operate, and therefore the vertical mechanism 59 does not operate.

In addition, a cleaning brush or the like is added to a part of the optical disc cartridge 4 that contains an optical disc on which information can actually be read and written as a substitute for a cartridge/nozzle for special cleaning. It is also possible to clean the optical head during normal use of the optical disc without being aware of this.

Additionally, cleaning can be carried out by adding a brush or the like for cleaning the optical head to a part of the transport mechanism section 1 and performing the same operation as inserting and removing a cartridge into the optical disk drive inserter 5, without having to carry any particular cleaning equipment. Also good.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the optical head can be cleaned periodically or when necessary by using the idle time of the device, thereby achieving high reliability without impairing the operating time of the device. can be maintained.

Further, since the optical head can be cleaned by some users other than those who have received special training, such as maintenance personnel, it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of maintaining the apparatus.

In addition, by selecting the material and shape of the cleaning member, floating dust, adhesive dust, etc. on the surface of the laser beam emission lens can be removed.
It is effective against various types of dust such as cloudiness caused by fine particles.

Further, the cleaning operation can be performed only when the cleaning cartridge is inserted.

Further, according to the present invention, the optical head can be cleaned automatically or easily without removing the optical disk drive device.

Furthermore, since dust can be removed from the surface of the laser beam emitting lens, it is possible to prevent writing/reading errors due to a decrease in the amount of laser beam due to dust adhesion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an optical disk device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a cleaning tool used in the invention, and FIG. An explanatory view showing a state in which the optical head of the optical disk drive shown in the figure is cleaned, FIG. 4(a) is a perspective explanatory view showing a cleaning cartridge, and FIG. 4(b) is an explanatory view of FIG. 4(a).
A-A cross-sectional explanatory diagram of the cleaning cartridge shown in
FIG. 5(a) is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing an example of an optical disk drive, and FIG. 5(b) is a cleaning of the optical disk drive shown in FIG. 5(a) as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of cleaning the laser beam emitting lens of the optical disk drive device shown in FIG. 5(a), and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the laser beam emitting lens of the optical disc drive shown in FIG. 1 is manually cleaned using a cleaning cartridge. 1... Conveyance mechanism section, 3... Cartridge storage, 4
... Optical disk cartridge, 5... Optical disk drive device, 6... Optical head, 12... Cleaning tool, 13
...Brush, 14...Optical disc device, 20...
Cleaning cartridge, 21...Case, 22.
...Fixed shutter, 23...Cleaning member base, 24...Cleaning member, 25...Movable shutter, 26...Claw, 27...Hole, 51...Bracket, 52.53...・Shutter arm, 54... Insertion detection mechanism, 56a, 56b... Bearing, 57.
... Slope, 58 ... Spindle receiver, 59 ... Vertical mechanism, 61 ... Motor, 73 ... Recess, 601 ...
・Laser light emission lens. Agent Patent Attorney Tadashi Akimoto Actual Figure 12; Cleaning Tools / \ 7 Zubin rIshi 13 Bufun 8 (a) ``24 Cleaning Blue r 廁'' Figure (0) Figure (b) 5 ---- t?';+2'7JEmfJ151...-2
-Uke, To52.53...-1 N#Pig7-A54--- God λ detection a structure. 55.-Shaft 56a, 56b--To Arijig 57--Remainder 58-11 Subishido Q receiver 59--Upper and lower rock (Year. 6o.--C mark 61--.Motor 6-- Beak 601--Ray flower outlet 2o--Cleaning cartridge 22--Gomata 24-1-71)-Conch t and 1 25-11-1 shutter 27 −・−hole

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cleaning tool that is formed to be removably attached to an optical disk drive and whose cleaning member comes into contact with a laser beam emitting lens of an optical head when attached to the optical disk drive is attached to and detached from the optical disk drive. 1. A method for cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device, comprising: cleaning a laser beam emitting lens of an optical head in an optical disk drive. 2. The cleaning member is removably attached to the optical disk drive, and when attached to the optical disk drive, the cleaning member comes into contact with the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head, and in this state, the optical head is moved to clean the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head. A method for cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device, the method comprising: cleaning an optical head of an optical disk device; 3. A cartridge storage for storing a plurality of optical disc cartridges, a transport mechanism section for transporting the optical disc cartridge in order to take out the optical disc cartridge from the cartridge storage or store the optical disc cartridge in the cartridge storage, and the transport mechanism. In an optical disc device equipped with an automatic optical disc loading device having an optical disc drive device for setting an optical disc cartridge transported by a unit, the transport mechanism unit is formed to have a similar shape to the optical disc cartridge and can be stored in the cartridge storage; a cleaning tool that is configured to be transportable and whose cleaning member contacts the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head when attached to the optical disc drive device is transported to and removed from the optical disc drive device by the transport mechanism; Move the optical head inside the optical disk drive while it is attached to the optical disk drive,
A method for cleaning an optical disc device, comprising cleaning a laser beam emitting lens of an optical head. 4. A first recess for gripping by a transport means for transporting an optical disc cartridge provided in the optical disc drive, and a second recess for determining that the optical disc drive is a cleaning cartridge when a cleaning tool is attached. and a movable shutter formed to open when inserted into the optical disk drive; and a movable shutter provided within the case and arranged so as to contact the laser beam emitting lens of the optical head when the movable shutter is opened. An optical head cleaning tool for an optical disk device, comprising: a cleaning member having a cleaning member; 5. The optical head cleaning device for an optical disk device according to claim 4, wherein the cleaning member is formed to be detachable from the case. 6. The optical head cleaning tool for an optical disk device according to claim 4, wherein the cleaning member of the cleaning tool is made of a conductive material.