JPH0729197A - Lens checker for optical pickup - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a lens holder which grasps the contamination degree on the surface of an objective lens for an optical pickup. CONSTITUTION:A disk whose structure and specifications have been constituted to be equal to those of a compact disk is installed. A program area 5 on the disk is divided into a cleaning area C and a plurality of check areas E. A cleaning body 9 is arranged in the cleaning area C. A quantity of reflected light in the individual check areas E is changed in such a way that a quantity of feedback light in the individual check areas E is reduced from the inside in the radial direction toward the outside. A lens checker constituted in this manner is used in a reproduction mode. The reduction portion of transmitted light due to the contamination on the surface of a lens is derived from the quantity of reflected light in the check areas E when a CD player stops operating due to a readout error, and its contamination degree is grasped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical pickup lens checker for detecting the degree of contamination of an objective lens of an optical pickup in an optical disc player.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the objective lens of an optical pickup, the lens surface is contaminated due to the adhesion of suspended dust in the air or foreign substances shaken off the optical disk, and the lens performance deteriorates over time. In order to remove such dirt on the lens surface,
There are commercially available cleaners for optical pickups. Although the degree of dirt on the lens surface varies greatly depending on the usage environment of the optical disk player and the usage frequency,
It is not possible to know the dirt level correctly. Therefore, under the present circumstances, cleaning is performed using a cleaner at regular intervals or every time the usage time of the optical disk player reaches a preset time.

[0003]

As described above, in the mode in which the lens surface is regularly cleaned by using the cleaner, there is a possibility that the cleaning is unnecessarily performed and the cleaning interval is too large. There is a possibility that sufficient maintenance may not have been performed, so there is a problem in that proper cleaning cannot be performed in a timely manner. Excessive cleaning only unnecessarily consumes the cleaner and may damage the coating layer on the lens surface. On the other hand, if the optical disk is reproduced while the cleaning is still necessary, a signal reading error may occur, the operation of the optical disk player may be stopped, and the interest may be lost.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a lens checker for an optical pickup which can correctly grasp the degree of dirt on the lens surface of the optical pickup and can confirm the necessity of cleaning and the timing of cleaning. Another object of the present invention is to obtain a lens checker for an optical pickup having a cleaner function.

[0005]

A lens checker of the present invention has a transparent disc substrate 1 and a protective layer 2 laminated on one side of the disc substrate 1, and a space between the disc substrate 1 and the protective layer 2 is provided. The optical pickup has a signal recording layer 3 having an information signal recorded therein, is formed to have substantially the same structural specifications as an optical disc, and the program area 5 is divided into a plurality of check areas E. It is characterized in that the amount of returned light to be taken in is set to be different for each check area E. In the above checker, a cleaning body 9 for wiping the surface of the objective lens 7 of the optical pickup is provided on the signal reading surface 1a side of the disc substrate 1,
It can also have a cleaner function.

Another lens checker of the present invention has a transparent disc substrate 1 and a protective layer 2 laminated on one side of the disc substrate 1, and provides signal information between the disc substrate 1 and the protective layer 2. It has a recorded signal recording layer 3 and is formed to have substantially the same structural specifications as an optical disc, and a checker layer 14 is arranged on the signal reading surface 1a side of the disc substrate 1, and a program area 5 Is divided into a plurality of check areas E, and the light transmittance of the checker layer 14 is different for each check area E so as to change between a transparent state and an opaque state. To do. In the above checker, a cleaning body 9 for wiping the surface of the objective lens 7 of the optical pickup is provided on the signal reading surface 1a side of the disc substrate 1 in a state of protruding from the checker layer 14 and also has a cleaner function. it can.

[0007]

The eye pattern of the RF signal taken in by the optical pickup changes depending on the degree of contamination of the objective lens 7, and when the amplitude amount of the eye pattern of the RF signal becomes a certain value or less, the optical disc player stops its operation. On the other hand, in the plurality of check areas E, the light reflectance and the light transmittance are set to be different for each check area E, and the lower the amount of returned light, the lower the amplitude amount of the eye pattern of the RF signal. . Therefore, multiple check areas E
If the amount of return light in the check area E when the operation of the optical disc player is stopped is performed by performing the reproducing operation, the degree of contamination of the lens surface can be calculated. The return light amount of each check area E can be recorded as an audio signal or a video signal in the signal recording layer 3 corresponding to each check area E, and the degree of cleaning required from the reproduced signal and You can know the time.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of check areas E are provided.
For each time, the return light amount is changed by making the light reflectance and the light transmittance different, and the degree of dirt on the surface of the objective lens 7 is determined from the return light amount in the check area E when the operation of the optical disc player is stopped during reproduction. I was able to confirm.
Therefore, if the lens checker of the present invention is used to check the lens of the optical pickup, it is possible to know the necessity of cleaning and the suitable cleaning time, and the proper cleaning can be performed in a timely manner to minimize the consumption of the cleaner. It can be done and its life can be improved. It is also possible to avoid problems such as skipping of sound and stop of reproduction due to deterioration of lens performance during reproduction of the optical disc. By alternately using the lens checker and the cleaner, and knowing the degree of contamination before and after cleaning, you can know the cleaning effect of the cleaner, and the confirmation result by the lens checker when the optical disk player was originally purchased,
The state of deterioration of the function of the optical pickup can be known from the current confirmation result.

According to the lens checker provided with the cleaning body 9, the cleaning can be performed immediately depending on the degree of dirt on the lens surface. Therefore, a series of operations from the confirmation of the lens state to the cleaning can be carried out with less labor, which is necessary. If so, the lens state after cleaning can be checked, and the optical disk can be reproduced with peace of mind. It is also advantageous in that the cost of the lens checker provided with the cleaning body 9 can be reduced as compared with the case of separately purchasing the lens checker and the cleaner.

[0010]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 to 3 show a lens checker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This lens checker
A disk substrate 1 corresponding to an optical pickup of a CD player and made of a transparent plastic material,
A protective layer 2 made of a plastic material laminated on one side of the disc substrate 1, and a signal recording layer 3 for recording an information signal between the disc substrate 1 and the protective layer 2.
It is formed to have substantially the same structural specifications as a compact disc (optical disc). A lead-in area 4, a program area 5, and a lead-out area 6 are assigned to the signal recording layer 3 according to the standard.

The program area 5 is divided into a plurality of check areas E and a cleaning area C, and the amount of return light to be taken into the optical pickup is different for each check area E. Specifically, the amount of return light in each check area E was reduced from the lead-in area 4 toward the cleaning area C.

In order to change the feedback light quantity of the laser beam oscillated from the laser diode of the optical pickup and reflected by the signal recording layer 3, the quantity of light incident on the signal recording layer 3 is controlled by the outer surface of the disk substrate 1. For example, one of adjusting the light transmittance of the disc substrate 1 to control the amount of transmitted light between the outer surface of the disc substrate 1 and the signal recording layer 3 and controlling the amount of reflected light on the signal recording layer 3. , Or a combination of these.

In this embodiment, the amount of reflected light in the signal recording layer 3 was controlled so that the amount of returned light in each check area E was made different. Specifically, the depth of the pits is made shallower for each check area E to change the amount of return light so that the amplitude amount of the eye pattern of the RF signal becomes smaller toward the check area E on the outer side in the radial direction. The amount of return light can be similarly changed by changing the cross-sectional shape of the pit. In this way, when the return light amount is changed by changing the structure or size of the pits, compared to the case of controlling the incident light amount or the case of controlling the transmitted light amount described above,
The amount of returned light can be changed more precisely, which is also advantageous in terms of durability.

The signal recording layer 3 corresponding to the check area E
Is an audio signal for notifying the degree of the amount of returned light in each check area E, or the degree of dirt on the lens surface of the objective lens 7 (see FIG. 3) guided from the check area E, necessity of cleaning, proper cleaning time, etc. Is recorded. For example, in a state where a certain check area E is being reproduced, if the CD player stops operating in the adjacent check area E where the amount of returned light is smaller, the degree of contamination of the lens surface at that time is voiced. Record it as a signal. Of course, this kind of guidance is collectively recorded in the innermost check area E adjacent to the lead-in area 4, and each check area E is played back in a skip selection manner to check the number (what number) of track. Necessary information can be given depending on whether the CD player stops operating in the area E.

In the cleaning area C, the objective lens 7
A cleaning body 9 is arranged to wipe and remove dust and foreign matter attached to the lens surface. In FIG. 3, a cleaning body 9 is made of a molded product of an elastically deformable porous body such as an open-cell foam rubber or a foam synthetic resin, and is attached and fixed to the disk substrate 1 by adhesive bonding.
0 and a contact portion 11 having a tapered shape protruding from the signal reading surface 1a of the disk substrate 1, and a through hole 12 is formed near the large-diameter end of the contact portion 11 to provide a contact pressure to the lens surface. Is small. The cleaning body 9 can also be formed by a large number of brush bristles embedded in the disk substrate 1.

The diameter of the mounting portion 10 of the cleaning member 9 is set to 1 to 2 mm. However, if such a large foreign substance is present on the board surface, it becomes impossible to read a large amount of pit signals. , The CD player stops operating, and cleaning cannot be performed. In order to avoid such a situation, one gap occupies the entire cleaning area C. In the lead-in area 4, TOC information is repeatedly recorded, and this TOC information contains the content that defines the gap length. Therefore, TOC in the conventional compact disc
Unlike the information, the regulation content regarding the gap length is partially changed so that the entire cleaning area C is occupied by one huge gap. In the gap part, the occurrence of an error such as a burst error is ignored. Therefore, even if there is a cleaning body 9 corresponding to a huge foreign substance, the CD player does not stop operating,
Cleaning can be done without any trouble. Cleaning body 9
As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning area C is spirally arranged from the inner end to the outer end of the cleaning area C with a space sufficiently larger than the diameter dimension of the objective lens 7.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a lens checker according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, in a disc having the same disc substrate 1, protective layer 2, and signal recording layer 3 as in the first embodiment, the signal reading surface 1a of the disc substrate 1 is printed, and the printing layer is printed for each check area E. The light transmission amount of 17 was changed, and the return light amount was changed.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 5 shows a lens checker according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In this embodiment, a disk 1A having a disk substrate 1, a protective layer 2 and a signal recording layer 3 similar to those in the above embodiments, and a checker adhered and fixed to the signal reading surface 1a side of the disk substrate 1 with a transparent adhesive. A lens checker is formed by the layer 14 and the cleaning body 9 fixed to the disc 1A.

The checker layer 14 is formed by punching out a transparent plastic sheet or film in a donut shape, and printing is performed on the surface to which the checker layer 14 is adhered, so that the amount of light transmitted through the checker layer 14 is different for each check area E. It was done like this. In other words, the checker layer 14 is added to change the light transmission amount of each check area E, and the return light amount is different. In the checker layer 14,
An opening 15 is provided for allowing the cleaning body 9 to project.

According to the lens checker of this embodiment, the amount of return light is controlled by the checker layer 14 on which the dimming portion is printed, so that the manufacturing is easier than in Embodiment 1 in which the pit structure is changed. Also, the manufacturing cost is low. The yield of the disk 1A at the time of manufacturing is good, and it is also advantageous in that the lens checker can be configured by using the existing cleaner disk 1A. In order to change the light transmittance of the checker layer 14, a minute projection group or a minute groove group is formed on the surface of the checker layer 14 and the amount of return light can be controlled by utilizing the fact that light is scattered by the projection or groove. The checker layer 14 is formed of a plastic material having a slightly low transparency,
The light transmittance can be changed by gradually increasing its thickness from the inner edge to the outer edge in the program area 5.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the cleaning member 9 is fixed to the disk substrate 1 and the cleaner function is added to the lens checker, but this is not necessary. The checker layer 14 according to the third embodiment can be sold alone, and may be used by being attached to an optical disc that the user holds.
However, in this case, the guidance such as the usage of the lens checker cannot be reproduced, so it is necessary to attach a manual or the like describing the usage and the correspondence when the optical disk player is stopped. At least two check areas E may be provided. Contrary to the embodiment, the arrangement of the check areas E having different amounts of returned light can be arranged such that the amount of returned light decreases as it gets closer to the center of the disc, or a random arrangement. The cleaning area C can also be arranged at any position, and if necessary, the check area E in the previous stage where the operation of the CD player is stopped can be the cleaning area C. The lens checker of this invention is a CD
-Widely applicable to CD players such as ROM, CDV and CDI, and laser disc players. The cleaning body 9 can be formed of non-foamed rubber.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a lens checker.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a lens checker.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cleaning body.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a lens checker according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view in which a lens checker according to another embodiment is partially cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Disk Substrate 2 Protective Layer 3 Signal Recording Layer 5 Program Area 9 Cleaning Body 14 Checker Layer C Cleaning Area E Check Area

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A signal recording layer 3 having a transparent disc substrate 1 and a protective layer 2 laminated on one side of the disc substrate 1, and recording an information signal between the disc substrate 1 and the protective layer 2.
Is a lens checker for an optical pickup, which has substantially the same structural specifications as an optical disc, in which the program area 5 is divided into a plurality of check areas E, and the amount of return light to be taken into the optical pickup is different. A lens checker for optical pickups that is set differently for each check area E. 2. A lens checker for an optical pickup according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning member 9 for wiping the surface of the objective lens 7 of the optical pickup is provided on the signal reading surface 1a side of the disk substrate 1. 3. A signal recording layer 3 having a transparent disc substrate 1 and a protective layer 2 laminated on one side of the disc substrate 1, and recording signal information between the disc substrate 1 and the protective layer 2.
A lens checker for an optical pickup, which has substantially the same structural specifications as an optical disc, and has a checker layer 14 on the signal reading surface 1a side of the disc substrate 1.
Are arranged, the program area 5 is divided into a plurality of check areas E, and the light transmittance of the checker layer 14 is changed for each check area E between a transparent state and an opaque state. A different lens checker for optical pickups. 4. The light according to claim 3, wherein a cleaning body 9 for wiping the surface of the objective lens 7 of the optical pickup is provided on the side of the signal reading surface 1a of the disc substrate 1 so as to project from the checker layer 14. Lens checker for pickup.