JPH039172Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a cartridge for storing a plurality of digital audio discs, which is suitable for use in a player having a so-called auto-changer function that plays a plurality of digital audio discs sequentially or selectively. .

In recent years, digital audio disks (hereinafter simply referred to as disks), which record digital signals converted from analog audio signals, have been developed, and are being put into practical use in some cases. This disk is constructed by converting a digital signal into concave portions called pits, which are formed into a spiral track, and the length, arrangement, etc. of the pits vary depending on the content of the signal. In a player that plays such a disc, a well-known optical or capacitive pickup is used to play the disc, and the reproduced signal is converted back to the original analog signal and applied to a speaker.

The present invention provides an optimal disc cartridge for use in a player that plays the above-mentioned discs.Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a disc player having an autochanger function will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an embodiment of a disk cartridge for storing a plurality of disks will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 1, the disk cartridge 1 is
As shown in the figure, it is made of plastic or the like and is formed into a flat housing shape. This cartridge 1 stores five trays 3 on which disks 2 are placed. In a disc player to be described later, a cartridge 1 containing a tray 3 on which a disc 2 is placed is mounted. And first, one tray 3
is pulled out to a predetermined position, and then the placed disc 2 is lifted up by a holding mechanism provided on the player and held on the rotary table. Next, the rotary table rotates and the pickup plays the disc.

An opening 4 into which a tray 3 is inserted is provided on the front surface of the cartridge 1. Furthermore, five guide grooves 5 are provided on the left and right side walls inside the cartridge 1, which function as guide portions for guiding the tray 3 outward. Along with this, a positioning pin 16 for the tray 3 is vertically provided near the center of the rear wall. Both side edges of the tray 3 are slidably fitted into the guide groove 5. Five slits 6 are provided on both sides of the opening 4 and communicate with the guide groove 5. Finely jagged uneven portions 7 are formed on both side edges of the upper surface of the cartridge 1. As will be described later, when inserting the cartridge 1 from the player's insertion slot, when the cartridge 1 is inserted halfway, a rubber ring comes into pressure contact with the uneven portion 7, and as the rubber ring is rotated, the cartridge 1 is inserted. Furthermore, it is configured to be automatically fed into the interior.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 3 is made of a thin plate of plastic or metal, and is provided with a U-shaped notch 8 and four disk positioning protrusions 9 on its upper surface. Also this tray 3
A pair of slits 10 and a keyhole-shaped notch 11 are provided between the slits 10 on the rear edge, and these slits 10 and notches 11 form a pair of elastic pieces 12. There is. When the tray 3 is stored in the cartridge 1, the positioning pin 16 fits into the circular part 11b from the open end 11a of the keyhole-shaped notch 11, as shown in FIG. 4, and the tray 3 is positioned. It is designed so that The locking force for this positioning is relatively weak, so that the pin 16 can be fitted into and removed from the circular portion 11b with a light force. A pair of engaging protrusions 1 are provided on both sides of the front end of the tray 3.
4 are provided. Tray 3 to cartridge 1
When stored inside, the protrusion 14 will open as shown in FIG.
is fitted into the slit 6 and this slit 6
It will be in a state where it protrudes outward. When the cartridge 1 is installed in the player in this state, the claws provided in the tray selection mechanism (to be described later) are set to one tray 3.
The tray 3 is pulled out from the cartridge 1 by hooking the protrusion 14 thereon. Incidentally, instead of the U-shaped notch 8, a circular hole may be provided in the center of the tray 3.

The disk 2 is made of, for example, a plastic disk with a diameter of 12 cm and a thickness of 1.5 mm, and has a rotary table mounting hole 15 with a diameter of 1.5 cm in the center. This disk 2 is positioned and placed on the tray 3 by the positioning projections 9.

Next, an embodiment of the player will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8.

In FIG. 4, a cartridge mounting portion 21 is formed on the chassis 20 of the player, and a slide plate 22 is provided so as to be movable in the directions of arrows A and B. This slide plate 22 is a left and right side plate 2.
2a, 22b, and a bottom plate 22c in which a substantially U-shaped notch 23 is formed. A pair of tray selection mechanisms 25 and 26 are mounted on this slide plate 22. Further, gear mechanisms 27, 28 are provided on the side plates 22a, 22b, and the gear mechanisms 27, 28 are provided on the side plates 22a, 22b.
Gears 29 and 3 provided on the chassis 20 are shown at 28.
0 are in mesh with each other, and the rack gears 19 formed on both sides of the bottom of the chassis 20 are also in mesh with each other. gear 2
9 and 30 are provided on a shaft 31, and when the shaft 31 is rotated by a motor, the slide plate 22 reciprocates in directions A and B through the meshing of the gear mechanisms 27 and 28 and the rack gear 19. It is done like this. The shaft 31 is configured to be rotated via a gear mechanism 32 by a motor 33 provided on the upper plate 20a of the chassis 20, as shown in FIG. Note that the motor 33 is not shown in FIG. 4, and the gear mechanism 3
A gear forming part of 2 is shown.

The chassis 20 is provided with a disk holding mechanism 34, and the disk holding member 35 is attached to the notch 2.
I am facing 3. Also, the upper plate 2 of the chassis 20
Another motor 36 is provided at 0a, and the rotation of this motor 36 is transmitted to a pair of rubber rings 38 and 39 via a gear mechanism 37.
The rubber rings 38 and 39 are configured to press against the concave and convex portion 7 of the cartridge 1 inserted into the mounting portion 21 so as to feed the cartridge 1 in the B direction or in the A direction.

In this embodiment, when the cartridge 1 is installed,
First, the slide plate 22 is moved in the direction A from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. Next, the tray selection mechanisms 25 and 26 are operated to selectively engage one of the claws 49 with the protrusion 14 of one tray 3, and then the slide plate 22 is moved in the direction B to move the tray 3 Pull it out to the specified position. Next, the holding mechanism 34
Now, lift up the disk 2 placed on the tray 3 and finally make it into the state shown in Fig. 8.
The disk 2 is mounted and held on the rotary table 70,
Playback is performed in this state.

Next, the tray selection mechanism 25 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 6, this mechanism 25 is composed of a motor 41, a gear mechanism 42, a cam mechanism 43, five pawls 49, a tray receiving portion 44, and the like. The cam mechanism 43 consists of five cams 45, which are coaxially fixed to each other, and each cam 45 has a notch 45a formed by cutting a portion of a circle in the chord direction. The directions of the notches 45a of the five cams 45 are shifted from each other. These cams 45 control the rotation of the motor 41 through the gear mechanism 4.
2, and rotate at the same time.

The five pawls 49 are rotatably supported integrally on the shaft 50, and are each provided with a protrusion 46, which is in pressure contact with the side surface of each cam 45. For this purpose, each claw 49 is biased in the pressure contact direction by a leaf spring 47. The tray receiving part 44 is provided with five stages of slits 48.
The front end of the tray 3 is inserted into the tray 8. Note that the tray selection mechanism 26 is also configured in exactly the same manner as described above.

Next, the disk holding mechanism 34 will be explained.

4 and 5, a support member 51 fixed to the chassis 20 includes a motor 52 and a screw shaft 5.
3, and the rotation of the motor 52 is controlled by gears 54,
55 to be transmitted to the screw shaft 53. The threaded shaft 53 is screwed into the thread of a cylindrical body 56 having a thread formed on its inner peripheral surface. A support plate 57 is fixed to the lower part of the cylinder 56.
A hole 58 is provided at the tip of this support plate 57,
A guide hole 59 is provided at the rear end. A guide rod 60 fixed to the support member 51 parallel to the screw shaft 53 is inserted through the guide hole 59 . Therefore, the motor 52 rotates and the screw shaft 5
3 rotates, the cylindrical body 56 and the support plate 57 move in the vertical direction.

A limiter plate 61 is attached to the shaft 62 on the lower surface of the support plate 57.
It is provided so as to be freely rotatable in a substantially vertical direction.
A spring 63 is installed between the support plate 57 and the limiter plate 61.
is interposed to bias the two toward each other. Also, screw 6 to adjust the distance between the two.
4 is provided. The disk holding member 35 is placed on the upper surface of the tip of the limiter plate 61, is loosely fitted into the hole 58 of the support plate 57, and projects upward from the hole 58. An elastic material 66 such as rubber is adhered to the circumferential surface of the holding member 35, and a fitting member 65 that is fitted into the mounting hole 15 of the disk 2 is provided via a spring 67. This fitting part 65
A spindle fitting hole 69 is provided in the spindle fitting hole 69 .
A steel ball 68 is fitted into the lower surface of the holding member 35, and the holding member 35 is supported at one point on the limiter plate 61 by this steel ball 68.

On the other hand, a rotary table 70 is provided on the upper plate 20a of the chassis 20 at a position corresponding to the holding member 35 and is fixed to a spindle 71. A recess 72 for receiving the fitting portion 65 is formed in the rotary table 70. The spindle 71 is configured to be rotated together with the rotary table 70 by a drive mechanism 73 provided on the upper plate 20a.

Further, the chassis 20 is provided with a cartridge insertion opening 74 communicating with the cartridge mounting portion 21, and this insertion opening 74 is opened and closed by an opening/closing lid 76 rotatably supported by a shaft 75.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

5 The disks 2 are positioned and placed respectively.
The cartridge 1 containing the trays 3 is inserted through the insertion opening 74. When the cartridge 1 is inserted halfway, the motor 36 is driven, and this rotation is transmitted through the gear mechanism 37 to rotate the rubber rings 38 and 39, and the cartridge 1 is automatically fed to a predetermined position in the cartridge mounting section 21. and stop.
Next, the motor 33 is driven, and this rotation is transmitted to the gears 29, 30 via the gear mechanism 32, and the gears 29, 30 rotate in the direction of arrow C. When this rotation is transmitted to the slide plate 22 via the gear mechanisms 27, 28 and the rack gear 19, the slide plate 22 moves from the position shown in FIG. 4 in the direction A and stops at the position shown in FIG. 7. In this position, each tray 3
The front end of each tray 3 is fitted into the slit 48 of the tray receiving part 44, and the protrusion 14 and claw 49 of each tray 3 are fitted into the slit 48 of the tray receiving part 44.
are facing each other. The protrusion 14 projects from the slit 6 of the cartridge 1, as also shown in FIG.

In this state, the motors 41 of the tray selection mechanisms 25 and 26 are driven, and this rotation rotates the cam 45 by a predetermined angle via the gear mechanism 42. As a result, the notch 45a of one cam 45 comes into contact with the protrusion 46 of the opposing pawl 49, so that the pawl 49 is rotated inward by the leaf spring 47 and contacts the protrusion 14 of the corresponding tray 3. engage. Next, when the motor 33 is driven in the opposite direction, the slide plate 22 moves in the B direction. At this time, only the tray 3 whose protrusion 14 is engaged with the rotated claw 49 is pulled out from the cartridge 1. When the slide plate 22 returns to its original position, as shown in FIG. It will be in a state where it is supported by 5. still,
In FIG. 5, only one tray 3 is shown for the sake of simplicity.

When the motor 52 is driven in the state shown in FIG.
3 can be conveyed. As a result, the cylinder 56, the support plate 57, the limiter plate 61, etc. are raised along the guide rod 60. As a result, the insertion portion 65 is inserted into the mounting hole 15 of the disk 2, and the disk 2 is lifted from the tray 3. The support plate 57 and the limiter plate 61 pass upward through the notch 8 of the tray 3, rise further, and stop at the position shown in FIG.
In this state, the fitting portion 65 is fitted into the recess 72 of the rotary table 70 with the spring 67 being compressed, and thereby the disk 2 is inserted into the recess 72 of the rotary table 70.
and the holding member 35. Further, the spindle 71 fits into the fitting hole 69. in this case,
Even if there is variation in the stopping position of the cylinder 56, this variation is absorbed by the action of the limiter plate 61 and the spring 63, and the disk 2 is held stably.

Next, the drive mechanism 73 is driven and the spindle 71
When rotated, the rotary table 70 and the insertion part 65
The holding member 35, the disk 2, etc. rotate together at a predetermined speed. Although not shown, when the pick-up is brought close to or in contact with disk 2, this disk 2
is played.

When the reproduction of the disk 2 is completed, the motor 52 is rotated in the opposite direction, thereby lowering the cylinder 56, the support plate 57, the limiter plate 61, etc. Therefore, the disk 2 also leaves the rotary table 70 and descends while being supported by the insertion part 65. and tray 3
When the disk 2 is lowered to the tray 3 position,
The support plate 57 and the like further descend and stop. Next, the motor 33 rotates and the slide plate 22
However, the tray 3 with the disk 2 returned thereon moves in the direction A. As a result, the tray 3 is stored in the cartridge 1 again at its original location. Next, the tray selection mechanisms 25 and 26 are operated, and the other claws 49
is operated and the corresponding tray 3 is selected,
The slide plate 22 moves in the B direction again. Then, other disks 2 are reproduced by performing the same operation as described above. Note that the reproduction of the five discs 2 may be performed sequentially, or a desired disc may be selected. Furthermore, the playback order may be set in advance using a microcomputer or the like.

In the embodiment described above, the tray selection mechanisms 25, 26
is provided with a driver motor 41. Next, an embodiment of the tray selection mechanism using one motor will be described with reference to FIGS. 9-11.

FIG. 9 shows the tray selection mechanisms 25, 26 provided on the slide plate 22, the motor 77 and gear mechanisms 78, 79 provided on the upper plate 20a of the chassis 20,
80 is shown.

The rotation of the motor 77 is transmitted to a shaft 81 via a gear mechanism 78, and the rotation of this shaft 81 is transmitted to a gear 82 in FIG. 10 via gear mechanisms 79 and 80, respectively. Note that a gear similar to the gear 82 described above is also provided on the gear mechanism 80 side.

On the other hand, a gear 83 is coaxially provided in the upper part of the five cams 45, and a stopper disc 84 is provided in the lower part.
is provided. These gears 83, discs 84
rotates integrally with the cam 45. The disk 84 is the first
As shown in FIG. 1, five semicircular recesses 85 are formed on the periphery. A lever 37 having a roller 86 is provided in the vicinity of the disk 84 and is biased by a spring 89 and has a shaft 88 as a pivot point.

9 and 10, when the slide plate 22 moves in the A direction and stops at the same position as in FIG. 7, the gear 83 meshes with the gear 82. In FIGS. Also, on the opposite side of the selection mechanism 26, a gear 83 meshes with a gear provided in the gear mechanism 80. When the motor 77 is rotated, the cam 45 is rotated, and one of the claws 49 is selected and protruded, and is engaged with the corresponding protrusion 14 of the tray 3. In this case, the roller 86 is engaged with one of the recesses 85 due to the rotation of the disc 84 as the cam 45 rotates. This provides a stopper action and a click action for the cam 45. It goes without saying that the stopper mechanism comprising the disk 84 and roller 86 may be used in the embodiment shown in FIG.

The above is a case in which the present invention is applied to a player that plays back digital audio discs, but the present invention may also be applied to players that play back video discs and other various types of discs.

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
When the tray is selectively guided out of the housing, for example as shown in FIG. It can be supported by Therefore, when the tray is inserted into the housing again after the playback of the disc is completed, this insertion can be performed reliably. Furthermore, since the distance from the tip end 3a of the tray to the housing when the tray is pulled out can be made shorter than the above-mentioned distance when the tray is completely removed, it is possible to The amount of drive of the drive mechanism can be reduced, and as a result, the disc playback device can be made smaller and its power consumption can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a disk cartridge, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a tray, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of main parts of the cartridge, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a player, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tray selection mechanism, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the operating state of the player, FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing the operating state of the player, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tray selection mechanism. FIG. 10 is a side view of the main part of FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a plan view of the main part of FIG. 10. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...
. . . disk cartridge cartridge, 2 . . . digital audio disk, 3 . . . tray, 5 . . . guide groove (guide portion), 8 .

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A housing, a plurality of trays that can hold disks and are stored in and out of the housing, and a notch provided in the tray for inserting a disk holding mechanism; a hole; for supporting the tray in each of a storage position stored in the housing and an operating position guided from the housing, and guiding the tray led out from the storage position to the operating position; A disk cartridge comprising a guide section provided in the casing.