JPH11102564A - Automatic disk-selecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the usability of a disk selecting apparatus by loading a plurality of disks of different diameters to slits of a rotary table without using an adapter. SOLUTION: A first arm 12 is set rotatably on the side of a disk at a take- out position on a rotary table 4. A second arm 13 is arranged rotatably so that it can enter from below a disk load slit 4d of the disk, and moreover a third arm 14 is arranged rotatably above the disk. The distance of adjacent slits 4d on the rotary table 4 is reduced, so that many disks can be loaded on the rotary table 4. Since the disks are loaded by the first, second arms 12, 13 from the rotary table 4 to a turntable and unloaded by the first-third arms 12-14, a breadth of a recessed groove part 14a of the third arm 14 can be made larger than a breadth of a recessed groove part 13a of the second arm 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of selecting one disk from a plurality of disks mounted at a narrow pitch substantially upright on a rotatable rotary table, and driving the one disk with the rotary table and the disk drive. The present invention relates to an automatic disc selecting apparatus capable of reliably loading and unloading a disc with a unit by a disc transport means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of discs form one (desired) disc.
Although an automatic disk selecting device for selecting a disk has various forms and structures, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-82007 discloses a disk device in which a large number (100) of disks are stored on a rotary table.

FIG. 20 is a view for explaining a conventional disk drive, in which (A) shows an initial state of the drive, and (B)
FIG. 3C shows a state in which a disk is loaded from a rotary table to a disk reproducing mechanism, and FIG. 4C shows a state in which the disk is mounted on a disk table of the disk reproducing mechanism.

The conventional disk drive 100 shown in FIG.
Is described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-82007. Here, the disk transport means in the disk device 100 will be mainly described briefly.

As shown in FIG. 20A, in a conventional disk drive 100, a rotary table 103 is rotatably provided around a support shaft 102 fixed to a housing 101, and a rotary table 103 is provided on the rotary table 103. A large number (100) of discs D are placed substantially upright in a large number of disc storage portions 103a having slit-shaped openings formed radially along a line, and one disc selected by inputting a disc number is selected. D (hereinafter, referred to as a desired disk D) is moved from the standby position to the take-out position by rotating the rotary table 103, and the desired disk D is mounted on the disk table 111 of the disk reproducing mechanism 110 by the disk transport means. is there.

Here, as a disk transport means, the first arm 104 is provided so as to be rotatable about a rotary shaft 106 facing the slit-shaped opening of the disk storage portion 103a reaching the take-out position on the rotary table 103. Have been.
The second arm 105 is a rotary table 103.
It is provided on the left side of the desired disk D which has reached the take-out position so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft 106. Further, a disc guide 107 is provided movably up and down above a desired disc D which has reached a take-out position on the rotary table 103 above a disc reproducing mechanism 110 provided on the left side of the rotary table 103.

In a state before the desired disk D reaching the removal position on the rotary table 103 is taken out, the first and second arms 104 and 105 are retracted from the outer peripheral portion of the desired disk D. On the other hand, the disc guide 107 is located at a position close to the upper part of the outer periphery of the desired disc D. In an embodiment of the present invention described later, a first arm is provided on the side of the rotary table corresponding to the second arm 105, and a second arm 12 is provided on the rotary table corresponding to the first arm 104. It faces the installation slit.

Next, as shown in FIG. 20B, the desired disk D reaching the take-out position on the rotary table 103 is transferred to the disk table 11 of the disk reproducing mechanism 110.
1, the first arm 104 is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation shaft 106 so that the first arm 104 enters the slit-shaped opening of the disk storage portion 103a. The lower portion of the outer periphery of the desired disc D is lifted by the first transfer claw 104a formed on the arm 104, and the second arm 105 is rotated clockwise about the rotation shaft 106, thereby obtaining the second The outer peripheral left side of the desired disk D is grasped by the second transport claw 105a formed on the arm 105, and then the first and second arms 104 and
By rotating the first and second arms 104 and 105 toward the disk reproducing mechanism 110 while holding the desired disk D at 5, the upper outer periphery of the desired disk D is guided by the disk guide 107, A desired disk D is loaded on the disk table 111.

Next, as shown in FIG. 20C, after a desired disk D is mounted on the disk table 111,
The first and second arms 104 and 105 and the disk guide 107 are retracted from the outer periphery of the desired disk D.

[0010]

In the above-described conventional disk drive 100, a large number (100) of disks D can be placed on the rotary table 103, and a desired disk selected from the large number of disks D can be selected. D can be automatically loaded onto the disk table 111 of the disk reproducing mechanism 110, but in the market, a larger number (about 200) of disks D
03 is required.

In this case, in order to mount a large number (200) of disks D on the rotary table 103 without increasing the outer diameter of the rotary table 103, the disk D must have a slit-shaped opening. Disk storage unit 1 adjacent on rotary table 103
The interval (pitch) of 03a must be narrowed.

At this time, since the disk storage portion 103a is formed radially on the rotary table 103,
First arm 10 that enters disk storage section 103a
4 needs to be narrower in width than the second arm 105 located on the outer peripheral side of the rotary table 103.

That is, when the space between the adjacent disk storage portions 103a on the rotary table 103 is reduced, the outer periphery of the desired disk D is securely positioned in the disk storage portion 103a. Arm 104 enters the slit-shaped opening of the disk storage portion 103a, and the first transport claw 10 of the first arm 104
4a, the outer periphery of the desired disk D can be grasped, but when the desired disk D mounted on the disk table 111 is unloaded onto the rotary table 103, the outer periphery of the desired disk D mounted on the disk table 111 can be obtained. When the desired disc D has a warp or the like, the first transport claw 104a of the first arm 104, which is formed narrow, cannot grip the outer peripheral portion of the desired disc D because the section is not securely positioned. Occurs. At this time, the desired disk D is placed on the rotary table 1
03 to the disc playback mechanism 110, the desired disc D is loaded into the disc playback mechanism 11
Although the operation of unloading from 0 to the rotary table 103 is not described, if the unloading operation is considered to be the reverse of the loading operation, the unloading operation of the desired disk D becomes uneasy for the above reason. Therefore, the rotary table 1
In mounting a larger number (200) of disks D on the disk 03, there is a problem in reliability if the conventional disk transport means is used as it is.

Further, the above-mentioned conventional disk drive 100
Then, as described in paragraph 0063 of the above publication, a CD (compact disc) having a diameter of 12 cm is placed on the rotary table 103, but a CD (compact disc) having a diameter of 8 cm is placed. An adapter is required. Therefore, the rotary table 103
A large number of adapters must be prepared to mix 12 cm CDs and 8 cm CDs having different disk diameters on the top, and the usability of the apparatus 100 is poor. In addition, 12cmC
Even if D and 8 cm CDs are mixed and 200 sheets can be stored, there is a problem in reliability if the above-mentioned conventional disk transport means is inserted as it is.

Therefore, even when a large number (200) of disks are mounted on a rotary table with a reduced disk storage interval, a disk transport that can reliably load and unload disks between the rotary table and the disk drive unit. Means are desired. Further, even if 12 cm CDs and 8 cm CDs having different disk diameters are mixedly mounted on a rotary table without using an adapter, a disk transport means capable of reliably loading and unloading the disk between the rotary table and the disk drive is provided. Is desired.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a plurality of disk mounting slits radially formed at substantially equal intervals along a circumference on a rotatable rotary table. A plurality of disks are placed substantially upright, and one disk selected from the plurality of disks is moved from a standby position to a take-out position by rotation of the rotary table, and the one disk is In an automatic disc selection device for loading and unloading between a rotary table and a disc drive unit provided on a side of the take-out position by a disc carrying means, the disc carrying means reaches the take-out position on the rotary table. A first arm rotatably provided on a side of the one disk, and an ejection position on the rotary table; A second arm rotatably provided so as to enter from below into a disk mounting slit on which the one disk has been mounted, and the one arm of the one disk that has reached an unloading position on the rotary table. And a third arm rotatably provided upward.

Further, in the disk automatic selecting apparatus according to the present invention, the first arm is held while the outer peripheral portion of the one disk reaching the take-out position on the rotary table is sandwiched between the first arm and the second arm. Rotating the second arm toward the turntable side of the disk drive unit to load the one disk from the rotary table onto the turntable, while the outer peripheral portion of the one disk mounted on the turntable After the first and third arms have been rotated halfway on the rotary table side while holding the first arm and the third arm therebetween, the first arm and the third arm have entered the disk mounting slit. The one disk is unloaded onto the rotary table with the second arm.

Further, in the automatic disk selecting apparatus according to the present invention, the first to third arms each include a concave groove portion for gripping an outer peripheral portion of the one disk, and the one disk on the rotary table. The width of the concave groove portion of the third arm formed at a portion that does not interfere with the adjacent disk is formed wider than the width of the concave groove portion of the second arm.

Further, in the disk automatic selection apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of types of disks having different disk diameters are mixed and mounted on a plurality of disk mounting slits formed on the rotary table. is there.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an automatic disk selecting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an automatic disc selecting apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing first and second light detecting plates formed on the rotary table shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the optical sensor, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing output waveforms of the first to third optical sensors shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the rotary table shown in FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are a top view and a front view for explaining a disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selecting apparatus according to the present invention.

In the automatic disk selecting apparatus 1 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, a center shaft 3 is fixedly mounted on a chassis base 2 serving as a base, and a large-diameter rotary member serving as a disk storage portion is mounted on the center shaft 3. The rotary table 4 is provided so as to be rotatable clockwise and counterclockwise about the central shaft 3 by fitting the center hole 4a of the table 4 into the fitting. On this occasion,
The diameter of the rotary table 4 is about 340 mm.

The rotary table 4 has an upper surface 4b.
A plurality of disk mounting slits 4d penetrate a part of the lower surface 4c from the side and are arranged at substantially equal intervals along the circumference and at the outer peripheral portion 4e.
It is formed radially toward. At this time, the plurality of disk mounting slits 4d can be formed in a large number (about 200) by narrowing the interval (pitch) between the adjacent disk mounting slits 4d without increasing the outer diameter of the rotary table 4 so much. It is formed radially so that the disk D can be placed. Further, a plurality of disk mounting slits 4
As shown in FIG. 4, a 12 cm diameter C
D (compact disc) or 8 cm diameter CD (compact disc) can be mixed and placed. Further, the plurality of disk mounting slits 4d are connected to a second arm 13 described later.
The two ends of the central opening into which are inserted are closed in an arc shape, and the discs D are positioned at substantially equal intervals along the circumference and the outer periphery of the rotary table while securely positioning the outer periphery of the 12 cm CD or 8 cm CD at this arc portion. It is placed in a state of being substantially upright radially toward 4e.

The outer peripheral portion 4e of the rotary table 4
, And a gear portion 4f is formed along the circumference below the outer peripheral portion 4e, and the small tooth portion 5a of the spur gear 5 always meshes with the gear portion 4f, The large tooth portion 5b integrated with the small tooth portion 5a is connected to a motor 7 via a speed reduction mechanism 6 composed of a gear train (not shown).

Further, on the lower surface 4c side of the rotary table 4 and on the inner circumferential side from the disk mounting slit 4d,
The second light detection plates 4g and 4h are integrally formed coaxially with the center axis 3 in a ring shape and downward.

The first light detecting plate 4g is formed on the outer peripheral side with respect to the second light detecting plate 4h formed on the inner peripheral side, and as shown in FIG. A plurality of concave and convex portions 4g ₁ and 4g ₂ are formed repeatedly at regular intervals along the ring-shaped circumference in correspondence with the number of the disk mounting slits 4d. On the other hand, the second light detection plate 4h
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of concave and convex portions 4 are formed within an angular range divided at a predetermined angle (30 °) along the ring-shaped circumference.
h ₁ , 4h ₂ are formed respectively, and each pair of uneven portions 4
h ₁ and 4h ₂ are formed as shown in the drawing, with the lengths being sequentially changed in the order of division.

Further, one disk D (hereinafter, referred to as a desired disk D) selected by inputting a disk number from among a large number of disks D placed on the rotary table 4 is used as a disk drive unit 20 to be described later. In the vicinity of the take-out position to be taken out to the side, the first and second light sensors 8 and 9 are installed on the chassis base 2 at slightly shifted positions, facing the first light detection plate 4g formed on the rotary table 4. and,
A third optical sensor 10 is provided so as to face the second light detection plate 4h formed on the rotary table 4.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, when the rotary table 4 is rotated, the output of the first optical sensor 8 corresponds to the number of the disc mounting slits 4d. It is provided with a function of calculating a relative positional relationship between a standby position where a desired disk D is output at equal intervals and a take-out position where the desired disk D is taken out. Also, the output of the second optical sensor 9 is approximately 90 times the output of the first optical sensor 8.
(4) A function of pulling out a desired disk D so as to be surely stopped at an extraction position, which is output with the phase shifted. Further, the output of the third optical sensor 10 has a function of indicating the absolute addresses of many disks D in combination with the output of the first optical sensor 8 described above.

Next, a disk guide 11 is provided above the rotary table 4 at a desired take-out position of the disk D toward the disk drive section 20. The lower end of the disk guide 11 is placed on the chassis base 2 And the upper end thereof is attached to the loading base 15. Then, the disc guide 11 reaches the ejection position on the rotary table 4 for the disc D.
Has been guided.

Near the take-out position of the desired disk D, first to third arms 12 to 14 serving as disk transport means for taking out the desired disk D to the disk drive unit 20 described later are mounted on the chassis base 2. And is rotatably provided on a loading base 15 which is provided vertically. At this time, the first and third arms 12 and 14 are supported by rotating shafts 16 and 18 fixed to the loading base 15, respectively. On the other hand, the second arm 13 is supported by a rotation shaft 17 on a slide plate 19 provided on the loading base 15 so as to be slidable in the radial direction of the rotary table 4. The first and second arms 12 and 13 are connected to a cam mechanism (not shown) via a link.
Is connected via a clutch mechanism (not shown) using a rod to a rotation base 25 (FIG. 5) for rotating the disk drive unit 20 described later.

That is, as shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 4, the first arm 12 is rotatable via the rotary shaft 16 to the right of the desired disk D which has reached the take-out position on the rotary table 4. The desired disk D provided and reached the unloading position
Is supported on the right side of the outer periphery.

The second arm 13 rotates on the slide plate 19 so that the second arm 13 can enter from below into the disk mounting slit 4d on which the desired disk D, which has reached the removal position on the rotary table 4, is mounted. The disk D is rotatably provided via a shaft 17 so as to lift a lower portion of the outer periphery of a desired disk D.

The third arm 14 is rotatably mounted on the rotary table 4 above the desired disk D which has reached the take-out position via a rotary shaft 18. Has come to support. The third arm 14 is retracted from a desired upper portion of the outer periphery of the disk D when the clutch is turned on by a clutch mechanism (not shown), and drops off when the clutch is turned off.

Here, as described later, the second arm 13
When loading a desired disk D from the rotary table 4 to the disk drive unit 20 with the second arm 1
3 is slid in the inner circumferential direction of the rotary table 4 by the slide plate 19, while the second arm 1
When the desired disk D is unloaded from the disk drive unit 20 to the rotary table 4 in 3, the rotation shaft 17 of the second arm 13 is slid in the outer circumferential direction of the rotary table 4 by the slide plate 19, 2
The length of the arm 13 can be set short.

The first to third arms 12 to 14 have
A concave groove 1 for gripping the outer periphery of a desired disk D
2a to 14a are formed respectively. Also, a roller 12a ₁ to spliced is attached two the outer peripheral portion of the desired disc D in a concave groove 12a of the first arm 12,
Further, the second arm 13 is formed with a projection 13b which comes into contact with a cam mechanism (not shown) at the time of retreat in an operation described later. At this time, as described above, a large number (200 sheets)
In order to place the disk D on the disk mounting slit 4d, the interval between adjacent disk mounting slits 4d on the rotary table 4 is reduced. Accordingly, the widths B ₁ and B ₂ of the concave grooves 12 a and 13 a of the first and second arms 12 and 13 are narrowed so as not to interfere with the disk D adjacent to the desired disk D on the rotary table 4. Has formed. On the other hand, the width B of the concave groove portion 14a of the third arm 14 formed at a portion on the rotary table 4 which does not interfere with the disk D adjacent to the desired disk D
₃ is formed widely. At this time, the first to third arms 1
The widths B _{1 to} B ₃ of the 2 to 14 concave grooves 12 a to 14 a are B
3> B ₁ ≧ B ₂ , and the groove widths b _{1 to} b _{3 of} the concave grooves 12 a to 14 a are also set to a relationship of b 3> b ₁ ≧ b ₂ with respect to the thickness of the disk D. I have.
In the case of B ₁ > B ₂ , b ₁ > b ₂ , when the first and second arms 12, 13 come into contact with the radially mounted disc D, whether the first and second arms 12, 13 come into contact with the outer peripheral side of the rotary table 4, This is due to the difference in the diameter of the contact on the inner peripheral side of the rotary table 4.

As will be described later, when loading a desired disc D from the rotary table 4 to the turntable 22 of the disc drive unit 20, the first and second discs are loaded.
When the discs D are unloaded from the turntable 22 to the rotary table 4, the first to third arms 12 to 14 are rotated. At this time, it is detected whether the diameter of the disc D is 12 cm or 8 cm by a rotation angle until the first arm 12 contacts the outer right side of the disc D at the time of loading. The operation of the first arm 12 is determined based on a cam mechanism that does not operate, so that the first to third arms 12 to 14 rotate at predetermined timings at predetermined timings according to the diameter of the disk D.

Next, to the right of the desired position for taking out the disk D, as shown in FIG.
0 is provided. Here, a traverse base 21 serving as a base of the disk drive unit 20 is provided upright with respect to the chassis base 2 and substantially in parallel with a desired disk D mounted on the rotary table 4. A motor 23 to which the turntable 22 is fixed is attached to the traverse base 21 at right angles to the traverse base 21. Therefore, the disk D is rotatably supported by the turntable 22 in a substantially vertical posture. On the side of the turntable 22, an optical pickup 24 is provided so as to be able to reciprocate in the radial direction of the disk D. At this time, the disk drive unit 20 is rotatable by a rotation base table 25 (FIG. 5) in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, in other words, in the axial direction of the turntable 22. When the boss faces the turntable 22, the chucking boss 2 of the turntable 22
2a is structured to advance and retreat with respect to the center hole H of the disk D.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B,
A disk clamp mechanism 30 is attached to the loading base 15 so as to face the turntable 22 of the disk drive 20.

The disk / clamp mechanism 30 is provided with a clamper holding member (hereinafter, referred to as a clamper holding arm 31).
, A disc clamper 34 suspended in the clamper holding arm 31 in a loosely fitted state, and a regulating member 35 for regulating movement of the disc clamper 34 in the direction of gravity.

That is, a clamper holding arm 31 is provided on the right side of the loading base 15 so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 33 while being urged toward the turntable 22 by a torsion spring 32. Here, one end of the clamper holding arm 31 extends to the turntable 22 side, and the disc clamper 34 is suspended in a round hole 31a formed in one end side of the clamper holding arm 31 in a loosely fitted state. .

The disc clamper 34 has a first flange portion 34a provided on the turntable 22 side with a diameter larger than the diameter of the round hole 31a, and a diameter smaller than the diameter of the round hole 31a so that the inside of the round hole 31a can be loosely fitted. And a second flange portion 34c formed to have a diameter larger than the diameter of the round hole 31a so as to prevent the hole from being removed from the inside of the round hole 31a. The disk clamper 34 is provided so as to be able to freely contact and separate from the turntable 22 by rotating the clamper holding arm 31 clockwise or counterclockwise while facing the turntable 22.

The clamper holding arm 31 has a regulating member 35 for regulating the movement of the disc clamper 34 in the direction of gravity.
Are supported rotatably around the center. Before the disc D is chucked to the turntable 22 in a substantially vertical posture, the regulating member 35 is rotated clockwise about the pivot shaft 37 by the bias of the spring 36, and the disc clamper 34 is stopped. Positioning piece 31b of clamper holding arm 31 such that the center substantially matches the center of turntable 22.
When the stepped support portion 35a provided on one end side of the regulating member 35 abuts on the second flange portion 34c of the disc clamper 34 from below in a state where the
The disc clamper 34 suspended in the round hole 31a of the clamper holding arm 31 in a loosely fitted state is restricted from moving in the round hole 31a in the direction of gravity by its own weight.

On the other hand, as will be described later, when the disc D is chucked to the turntable 22 in a substantially vertical posture, the convex portion 12b formed on the first arm 12 is pressed against the urging force of the spring 36 to restrict the regulating member 35. Projection piece 35 formed on
By contacting the control member b, the regulating member 35 is retracted from the disk clamper 34.

Next, the overall operation of the automatic disk selecting apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 6 to 11 show the operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable. FIG. 6A shows the case of a 12 cm CD.
(B) is a diagram showing the case of an 8 cm CD, and FIGS.
FIG. 13B is a front view and a side view showing a state before the disk is chucked on the turntable in the disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selecting apparatus according to the present invention. FIGS. In the disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selecting apparatus according to the present invention, a front view and a side view showing a state where the disk is chucked on the turntable, and FIGS. 14 to 19 show an operation of unloading the disk from the turntable to the rotary table. (A) shows a case of a 12 cm CD,
(B) is a diagram showing a case of an 8 cm CD.

Although FIGS. 6 to 11 and FIGS. 14 to 19 show the case of 12 cm CD and the case of 8 cm CD, respectively, the basic operation of the first to third arms 12 to 14 is shown. Are substantially the same irrespective of the disk diameter, and the operation timing and the rotation angle of the first to third arms 12 to 14 slightly vary depending on the disk diameter.
The case of 2 cm CD and 8 cm CD will be described together.

First, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B,
The rotary table 4 is rotated to move a desired disk D selected from a large number of disks D placed on the rotary table 4 from a standby position to an unloading position. In this state, the desired disk D is mounted in the disk mounting slit 4d of the rotary table 4 in a substantially upright state, and the first to third arms 12 to 1 are set.
4 is retracted from the outer peripheral portion of the desired disk D. The rotating shaft 17 of the second arm 13 is
The rightward movement of (FIG. 4) reaches the position close to the rotation shaft 16 of the first arm 12. Thereafter, the operation of loading the disk D from the rotary table 4 side to the turntable 22 side mainly uses the first and second arms 12 and 13.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B,
The first arm 12 is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation shaft 16, and the second arm 13 is rotated clockwise about the rotation shaft 17. Here, the first arm 12 is directed to the desired disk D slightly earlier than the second arm 13, and the first arm 12 is brought into contact with the outer peripheral right side portion of the disk D. Also, the rotation shaft 17 of the second arm 13
Starts moving leftward toward the inner peripheral side of the rotary table 4 via the slide plate 19 (FIG. 4).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B,
The second arm 13 enters the disk mounting slit 4d of the rotary table 4 from below, raises the lower part of the outer periphery of the desired disk D, and separates the disk D from the disk mounting slit 4d. 2 arms 13
Arm 12 abutting on the right side of the outer periphery of disk D
And the disk D is sandwiched. Here, when the diameter of the disk D is 12 cm, the third upper part of the outer periphery of the disk D lifted by the second arm 13 is retracted upward.
Guided by arm 14, the diameter of disk D is 8cm
In this case, although the disk D cannot wait until guided by the third arm 14, there is no problem. Then, while maintaining the state where the desired disc D is sandwiched between the first and second arms 12 and 13, the rotation direction of the first arm 12 is reversed to rotate clockwise around the rotation shaft 16. And the rotating shaft 17 of the second arm 13 is
9 (FIG. 4) while moving to the left
Is continuously rotated clockwise to move the disk D to the turntable 22 side of the disk drive unit 20.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B,
While maintaining the state where the desired disk D is sandwiched between the first and second arms 12 and 13, the first and second arms 12 and 1
When the disc 3 is further rotated clockwise, the disc D approaches the turntable 22 side. Further, the rotating shaft 17 of the second arm 13 moves further to the left via the slide plate 19 (FIG. 4).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the first and second arms 1 and 2 are maintained while the desired disk D is sandwiched between the first and second arms 12 and 13.
2 and 13 are further rotated clockwise, and the rotation shaft 17 of the second arm 13 is further moved to the left via the slide plate 19 (FIG. 4). When the disk drive unit 20 faces the turntable 22,
Is rotated to the front perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and the chucking boss 22a of the turntable 22 enters the center hole H of the disc D, whereby the desired disc D is supported in a posture substantially perpendicular to the turntable 22.

Thereafter, a disk clamp mechanism 30 (FIG. 5) to be described later is operated.
As shown in (B), when the desired disk D is chucked on the turntable 22, the first and second arms 1
2 and 13 are retracted from the outer peripheral portion of the disk D. That is, the first arm 12 further rotates clockwise to retract from the outer periphery of the disk D, and the rotation of the first arm 12 causes the regulating member 35 (FIG. 5) of the disk clamp mechanism 30 to interlock. ing. On the other hand, the movement of the rotation shaft 17 of the second arm 13 to the left is stopped, and the second arm 13 reverses the rotation direction and retracts into the disk mounting slit 4 d of the rotary table 4. I have. At this time, the retreat of the second arm 13 is reversed and retracted by pushing the projection 13b by a cam mechanism (not shown).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, before the desired disk D is chucked on the turntable 22 in a substantially vertical posture, the one end of the clamper holding arm 31 The disk clamper 34 suspended in the round hole 31 a formed in a loosely fitted state is separated from the turntable 22 while facing the turntable 22.

The restricting member 35 rotatably supported by the clamper holding arm 31 is rotated clockwise about the rotating shaft 37 by the urging of the spring 36, and the disk
The positioning piece 31 of the clamper holding arm 31 such that the center of the clamper 34 and the center of the turntable 22 substantially match.
b, the step-like supporting portion 35a provided on one end side of the regulating member 35 is attached to the disc clamper 34.
Abuts on the second flange portion 34c from below to restrict the disk clamper 34 from moving in the direction of gravity in the round hole 31a by its own weight. Thus, before chucking the disc D, the center of the disc clamper 34, the center hole H of the disc D loaded on the turntable 22 side, and the center of the turntable 22 substantially match. At this time, the convex portion 12b formed on the first arm 12 is
It is separated without contacting b.

Then, the disk drive unit 20 is rotated by the rotation base table 25 (FIG. 5) to cause the chucking boss 22a of the turntable 22 to enter the center hole H of the disk D, and the clamper holding arm 31 Is turned to the turntable 22 side to bring the disk clamper 34 closer to the turntable 22.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the center hole H of the desired disk D is
After the disk clamper 34 is fitted to the chucking boss 22a of the turntable 2 through the disk D,
2, the desired disk D is securely chucked to the turntable 22 in a substantially vertical posture. Thereafter, when the first arm 12 rotates away from the outer peripheral portion of the disk D, the projection 1 formed on the first arm 12 is rotated.
2b abuts on the protruding piece 35b formed on the regulating member 35, so that the regulating member 35
, The step-like supporting portion 35a provided at one end of the regulating member 35 is retracted below the second flange portion 34c of the disc clamper 34. When the desired disk D is chucked to the turntable 22 by the disk clamper 34, the magnet 22b fixed in the central concave portion of the chucking boss 22a of the turntable 22 and the central convex portion of the disk clamper 34 And the magnetic plate 34da fixed to the turntable 22 is attracted to each other, so that the disk clamper 34 loosely fitted in the round hole 34a of the clamper holding arm 31 is integrated with the turntable 22 via the disk D supported in a substantially vertical posture. Can rotate.

Next, when the driving of the desired disk D is completed, as shown in FIGS.
To the third arm 12 to 14 are retracted from the outer peripheral portion of the disk D chucked to the turntable 22. Thereafter, the operation of unloading the desired disk D from the turntable 22 side to the rotary table 4 side is not the reverse operation of the above-described loading operation.
First to third arms 12 to 14 are used.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, in a state where the desired disk D is chucked by the disk clamper 34 in a substantially vertical posture on the turntable 22, the first arm 12 Is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation shaft 16 so that the first arm 12 abuts on the right side of the outer periphery of the disk D, and the clutch mechanism (not shown) of the third arm 14 is turned off. Then, the third arm 14 is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation axis 18 by gravity and the third arm 14 is brought into contact with the upper left portion of the outer periphery of the disk D. Then, the turntable 22 and the disc clamper 34 are returned to the original initial state. The rotation of the first arm 12 in the counterclockwise direction causes the regulating member 35 to abut on the disk clamper 34 again as described with reference to FIG. At this time, since the width of the concave groove 14a formed in the third arm 14 is wide, the third arm 14
, The upper left portion of the outer periphery of the disk D can be reliably inserted into the concave groove portion 14a. Further, although the second arm 13 only needs to be retracted into the disk mounting slit 4d of the rotary table 4 here,
Since the forward path and the return path are partially shared by a cam mechanism (not shown), the rotating shaft 17 is rotated while moving rightward toward the outer peripheral side of the rotary table 4 via the slide plate 19 (FIG. 4). The disk D rotates clockwise around the shaft 17 and approaches the lower left of the outer periphery of the disk D so as not to contact the disk D.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, the first arm 12 is further rotated counterclockwise while keeping the first arm 12 in contact with the right outer peripheral portion of the disk D, and 12, the disk D is slightly lifted upward, and the rotating direction is reversed clockwise while the third arm 14 is in contact with the upper left portion of the outer periphery of the disk D. The first arm 12 and the third arm 14 The disc D is moved to the rotary table 4 with D being sandwiched. Further, the second arm 13 reverses the rotating direction counterclockwise while the rotating shaft 17 moves further rightward through the slide plate 19 (FIG. 4), and the disk mounting slit of the rotary table 4 is rotated. 4
Although it is moved inside d, it does not come into contact with the disk D here.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the first arm 12 is further rotated in the counterclockwise direction while keeping the first arm 12 in contact with the right side of the outer periphery of the disk D. The lower right part of the outer periphery of D comes into contact with the second arm 13 that has moved into the disk mounting slit 4d. Here, the rotation of the third arm 14 is stopped, and in the case of a 12 cm CD, the third arm 14 guides the upper outer periphery of the disk D while
In the case of cmCD, the upper outer periphery of the disk D does not abut on the third arm 14.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, the first arm 12 is further rotated counterclockwise while keeping the first arm 12 in contact with the right outer peripheral portion of the disk D. D
When the second arm 13 supporting the lower right part of the outer periphery of the disk is further rotated counterclockwise and moved below the disk mounting slit 4d, the desired disk D is mounted again in the disk mounting slit 4d. Is done. Here, the desired disk D
Of the disk D is separated from the third arm 14. Further, the movement of the rotating shaft 17 of the second arm 13 to the right stops.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, when the desired disk D is completely loaded in the disk loading slit 4d, the first and second arms 12, 13 are moved. When the disk D is evacuated from the outer peripheral portion of the desired disk D, the automatic disk selecting device 1 returns to the initial state.

[0063]

According to the disk automatic selection apparatus of the present invention described in detail above, one disk is formed from a plurality of disks mounted substantially upright on a plurality of disk mounting slits formed on a rotatable rotary table. In the automatic disk selecting device for loading and unloading the one disk between the rotary table and the disk drive unit by the disk transport unit, the disk transport unit reaches the unloading position on the rotary table. A first arm rotatably provided on one side of the two disks, and a first arm rotatably rotatable so as to enter from below into a disk mounting slit on which one disk reaching the unloading position is mounted on the rotary table. The second arm provided and the rotary table can be rotated above one disk that has reached the removal position. With the third arm, the distance between adjacent disk mounting slits on the rotary table can be reduced, and accordingly, a large number (200) of disks can be mounted on the rotary table. In addition, one disk can be reliably loaded and unloaded between the rotary table and the disk drive by the first to third arms. At this time, one disk is loaded from the rotary table to the turntable of the disk drive using the first and second arms, and one disk is loaded using the first to third arms. , The width of the concave groove of the third arm can be made wider than the width of the concave groove of the second arm. Further, a plurality of disks having different disk diameters can be mixedly mounted on a plurality of disk mounting slits formed on the rotary table without using an adapter, so that the apparatus is easy to use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an automatic disc selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing first and second photodetectors formed on the rotary table shown in FIG. 1 and first to third optical sensors;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing output waveforms of first to third optical sensors shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing the vicinity of a take-out position of the rotary table shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation of loading a disk from a rotary table to a turntable.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a state before the disk is chucked on the turntable in the disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a state where the disk is chucked to the turntable in the disk clamping mechanism of the automatic disk selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an operation of unloading a disk from a turntable to a rotary table.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a conventional disk device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Automatic disk selection device, 4: Rotary table,
4d: disk mounting slit, 12 to 14: disk transport means (first to third arms), 12: first arm, 1
2a: concave groove, 13: second arm, 13a: concave groove, 14: third arm, 14a: concave groove, 20: disk drive unit, 22: turntable, D: disk.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of disks are mounted substantially upright on a plurality of disk mounting slits radially formed at substantially equal intervals along a circumference on a rotatable rotary table, and the plurality of disks are mounted on the rotary table. One of the disks is moved from a standby position to a take-out position by rotating the rotary table, and the one disk is moved between the rotary table and a disk drive unit provided beside the take-out position. In the automatic disc selecting device for loading and unloading by the disc transport means, the disc transport means is provided with a first arm rotatably provided on a side of the one disk which has reached the take-out position on the rotary table. A disk mounting slit on which the one disk reached the take-out position on the rotary table is mounted A second arm rotatably provided so as to enter the inside from below, and a third arm rotatably provided above the one disk which has reached the take-out position on the rotary table. An automatic disc selection device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The first and second arms are connected to the disk drive unit while the outer peripheral portion of the one disk reaching the take-out position on the rotary table is sandwiched between the first arm and the second arm. Is turned to the turntable side, and the one disk is loaded from the rotary table to the turntable, while the outer periphery of the one disk mounted on the turntable is connected to the first arm and the third arm. After the first and third arms have been rotated halfway on the rotary table side while being sandwiched by the arms, the first arm and the second arm that has entered the disc mounting slit are used for the one arm. 2. The automatic disk selection device according to claim 1, wherein a disk is unloaded onto the rotary table. 3. The first to third arms are each formed with a concave groove portion for gripping an outer peripheral portion of the one disk, and at a portion on the rotary table which does not interfere with a disk adjacent to the one disk. 3. The automatic disk selecting device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the formed concave groove of the third arm is wider than the width of the concave groove of the second arm. 4. A plurality of types of disks having different disk diameters are mixed and mounted on a plurality of disk mounting slits formed on the rotary table.
4. The disk automatic selection device according to claim 2, wherein