JPH1125570A - Recording medium loading mechanism and disk changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the miniaturization as to the drawing out direction of a disk-like recording medium in a disk changer for drawing out disk holders which hold the disk-like recording medium, from a disk housing body to perform the recording and reproducing operation. SOLUTION: The drawing out operation of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is made by an arm 160 mounted on a pinion gear 158 moving back and forth while engaging with a rack gear 157. Since a cycloid curve is dipicted by an engaging part 159 of a tip of the arm 160, the disk holders 13, 14, 15 are moved back and forth at a stroke longer than twice of the length of the arm 160.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium loading mechanism for mounting a recording medium such as a recording disk on a recording / reproducing unit. Further, the present invention relates to a disc changer for storing a plurality of recording discs and selecting and recording and reproducing information signals from the recording discs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of recording disks are housed in such a manner that the main surfaces of these recording disks are parallel to each other and are connected at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the main surfaces of the recording disks. There has been proposed a disc changer in which one recording disk is selected and conveyed to a recording / reproducing unit, and the recording / reproducing unit records and reproduces information signals on and from the recording disk.
The disk changer has a housing, and a disk housing having a plurality of disk housings is provided in the housing. The disc changer is provided with a carrier and a recording / reproducing unit in a housing. The recording disk is held and stored in the disk storage section of the disk storage body by the disk holder.

The recording / reproducing unit is disposed on a bottom plate of the housing via a buffer member and a spring. The spring supports the recording / reproducing unit in a suspended state in the housing. The buffer member attenuates vibration and impact transmitted from the housing to the recording / reproducing unit. The recording / reproducing unit includes a spindle motor for rotating a recording disk and an optical pickup for reading and writing information signals from and to a recording disk rotated by the spindle motor.

[0004] The carrier is supported above the recording / reproducing section and is movably supported in the vertical direction, which is the direction of contact and separation with the recording / reproducing section. The transporter is moved up and down with respect to the recording / reproducing unit, so as to be moved over the position of the disk storage unit facing each disk storage unit. The transport body has a disk holding unit that stores and holds one recording disk drawn from the disk storage unit facing the transport unit.

The carrier is elastically biased in a direction approaching the recording / reproducing unit by a chucking spring stretched between the carrier and the recording / reproducing unit. That is,
The transport body selects and stores and holds one of the plurality of recording disks stored in the disk storage body, and then, when approaching the recording / reproducing unit, holds the recording disk by the urging force of the chucking spring. Attach the recording disk to the recording / playback unit.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 33, the recording disk is pulled out from the disk storage portion of the disk storage body by a recording medium loading mechanism having an arm member 331. The recording medium loading mechanism is provided on a transport body. The arm member 331 is
As shown by an arrow a in FIG. 33, the base end is rotatably supported via a support shaft 330. This arm member 331
The engaging portion 332 that engages with the disk holder
Is provided. The arm member 331 is provided with the engaging portion 3
32 with the support shaft 330 engaged with the disc holder.
By being rotated around, the disk holder is pulled out from the disk storage section of the disk storage body, and the disk holder is returned to the disk storage section.

[0007]

By the way, in the disc changer having the above-described recording medium loading mechanism, when the length of the arm member 331, that is, the distance from the support shaft 330 to the engaging portion 332 is L. The transport stroke S that can transport the recording disk is 2L. That is, the length of the arm member 331 needs to be at least half of the transport stroke.

Therefore, in such a disc changer, in order to ensure the rotation of the arm member 331, a space longer than the length of the arm member 331 in the direction perpendicular to the recording disk transport direction is provided. This makes it difficult to reduce the size.

In view of the above, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and is a recording medium loading mechanism for pulling out and transporting a recording disk using an arm member, wherein a required transport stroke is maintained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium loading mechanism capable of shortening the length of an arm member as it is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk changer in which the size of the apparatus is reduced by providing the recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention, a pinion gear to which an arm member is attached is moved along a rack gear parallel to a direction in which a recording medium is conveyed. Let
The recording medium is conveyed by engaging the engaging portion of the arm member with the recording medium.

Further, a disc changer according to the present invention includes the recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention, and the recording medium loading mechanism pulls out one recording disk from a disk storage body that stores a plurality of recording disks. It was done.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a disc changer according to the present invention records and reproduces information signals by using a disc cartridge 202 having a recording disc housed in a cartridge 201. It is configured as a device. As shown in FIG. 1, the disc changer includes a base plate 1 serving as a support member,
A disk housing 2 disposed on the base plate 1, a recording / reproducing unit 4 disposed on the base plate 1 via a damper 3 serving as a buffer member, and an optical pickup constituting the recording / reproducing unit 4 5 and a spindle motor 6, and a carrier 7 for carrying the disc cartridge 202 between the disc housing 2 and the recording / reproducing section 4.

In this disk changer, a plurality of disk cartridges 202 are stored in the disk housing 2 and one of the disk cartridges 202 is selected by moving the carrier 7 to move the disk. The recording / reproducing unit 4 records or reproduces information signals on the recording disk of one disk cartridge 202.

As shown in FIG. 2, the disc changer has a pair of side walls 8 and 9 erected on both sides of the base plate 1 so as to face each other upward.
The upper edges of these side walls 8, 9 are attached to these side walls 8, 9
The top plate 10 is attached so as to be interposed therebetween. The base plate 1 on which the disk housing 2, the recording / reproducing unit 4 and the carrier 7 are disposed as described above is housed in a housing 11, as shown in FIG. The base plate 1 is a housing 1
1 is fixedly attached to the housing 11 on the bottom surface inside. The front part of the housing 11 is a lid 12 that can be opened and closed.

A power switch, a plurality of operation switches, and a display unit (not shown) are provided on a front surface of the housing 11. In this disk changer, control or transmission and reception of information signals to motors and detection switches constituting each mechanism group, which will be described later, are performed by a control circuit that operates according to the operation of each operation switch.

The disk container 2 which the disk changer has on the base plate 1 stores and holds the disk cartridge 202 whose lid 12 is opened and which is inserted from the front side of the disk changer. The recording disk of the disk cartridge 202 used in the disk changer is an optical disk such as a pit disk or a phase change disk or a magneto-optical disk.
Optical disks and magneto-optical disks have a diameter of, for example, 64 mm.
A signal recording layer made of a metal material, a dye material, or a magnetic material is formed on a disk substrate made of a transparent synthetic resin material such as polycarbonate. The recording disk is rotatably housed in a cartridge 201 as shown in FIG. In the cartridge 201,
An opening which can be opened and closed by a shutter plate 203 is formed. The recording disk in the cartridge 201 exposes a part of the signal recording area to the outside of the cartridge 201 through an opening that is opened when the shutter plate 203 is opened.

The disk container 2 is formed by connecting the plurality of disk cartridges 202 at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the main surfaces of the recording disks with the main surfaces of the recording disks of the disk cartridges 202 being parallel to each other. It is stored and held. The disc housing 2 is located on the front side of the disc changer on the base plate 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the disc housing 2 is formed in a housing shape in which a front side and a rear side of the disc changer are open. A plurality of disk holders 13, 14, and 15 for holding the disk cartridge 202 are stored in the disk housing 2 as described later. In the disk housing 2, when the disk cartridge 202 is inserted from the front side of the disk changer, the disk cartridge 202 is held by the disk holders 13, 14, 15. Further, in the disk storage body 2, each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15
Can be pulled out to the rear side of the disk storage body 2 while holding the disk cartridge 202.

The disc housing 2 is supported on the base plate 1 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and is brought into contact with and separated from a carrier 7 and a recording / reproducing section 4 which will be described later. That is, this disk housing 2
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of guide shafts 16, 1
7, 18 and these guide shafts 16, 17, 1
8 is a plurality of guide slits 1 provided on the base plate 1
The guide slits 19, 20, and 21 can be moved in the front-rear direction within the length range of the guide slits 19, 20, and 21 by being fitted corresponding to the guide slits 9, 20, and 21.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the disk housing 2 is moved back and forth by the driving force of a disk housing moving motor 22 mounted on the base plate 1. That is, the drive gear 23 is attached to the drive shaft of the disk housing body moving motor 22. The drive gear 23 transfers the driving force of the disk storage unit moving motor 22 below the disk storage unit 2 via a plurality of transmission gears (not shown) rotatably attached to the base plate 1 Disk moving gear 2 mounted on
4 As shown in FIG. 4, the disk storage body moving gear 24 is rotatably mounted on the lower surface of the bottom plate of the base plate 1 via a support shaft 25, and the driving pin 2 is mounted on the upper surface.
6. The drive pin 26 projects from the upper surface of the base plate 1 through an arcuate slit 27 provided in the base plate 1. The slit 27 is formed over an angle range of about 180 ° around the support shaft 25.

On the other hand, first and second levers 28 and 29 are attached to the lower surface of the disk housing 2. The levers 28 and 29 have their base ends on the support shaft 30,
The disc 31 is rotatably supported on the lower surface of the disc housing 2 and has the front end sideways. First lever 28
Is located on the rear side of the second lever 29. As shown by an arrow B in FIG. 4, these levers 28 and 29 are urged by a limiter spring 32 in a direction in which the tip ends approach each other. That is, the limiter spring 32 has one end locked to the spring locking portion 33 on the distal end of the first lever 28 and the other end locked to the spring locking portion 34 on the distal end of the second lever 29. ing. These levers 28 and 29
Each has slits 35 and 36, and these slits 3
Position regulating pins 37 and 38 projecting from the lower surface of the disk housing 2 are inserted into the disk holders 5 and 36, and the rotation range with respect to the disk housing 2 is limited by the length of the slits 35 and 36. The interval between the levers 28 and 29 has a width substantially equal to the thickness of the drive pin 26 of the disc housing moving gear 24. As shown in FIG. 4, when the disc housing 2 is located in front of the disc changer, the gap between the levers 28 and 29 is formed around the support shaft 25 of the disc housing moving gear 24. Over the angle range of approximately 120 °, it coincides with the arc-shaped slit 27 provided in the base plate 1.

Driving pin 2 of disk housing moving gear 24
6 is inserted between each lever 28,29. Due to the rotation of the disk housing moving gear 24, as shown in FIG.
When the drive pin 26 is moved over an angle range of 20 °, the drive pin 26 moves along the gap between the levers 28 and 29, so that the disk housing 2 is not moved. Then, as the disc housing moving gear 24 further rotates, as shown in FIG.
Is further moved around the support shaft 25 over an angle range of approximately 60 °, the drive pin 26 presses the first lever 28, and the disk housing 2 is indicated by an arrow F in FIG. Move backward.

When the disk housing 2 is moved rearward by the drive pins 26 in this manner, the disk housing 2 comes into contact with a transporting body 7 described later and stops. At this time, when the drive pin 26 further attempts to move the disk housing 2 rearward, the first lever 28
The lever 29 is rotated rearward away from the lever 29 to extend the limiter spring 32. At this time, the limiter spring 32 presses the disk housing 2 against the carrier 7 by a restoring force that is about to contract. At this time, the positional relationship between the disk housing 2 and the carrier 7 is determined by a positioning unit described later.

Incidentally, the distance between the walls on both sides of the disk housing 2 substantially corresponds to the width of the disk cartridge 202. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of guide slits 39 are formed on both side walls of the disk housing 2, respectively. These guide slits 39
It is formed horizontally at the same height position between the wall portions on both sides of the disk housing 2 and arranged vertically. These guide slits 39
Is formed over a portion of the disk housing 2 that is on the rear side of the portion on the front side of the disk changer, and is open toward the rear side.

In the disk housing 2, a plurality of disk holders 1 are formed by guide slits 39 on both left and right sides.
3, 14, 15 are supported. In this embodiment, the disc housing 2 has three guide slits 39 on the left and right sides, respectively.
02 can be stored. These disk holders 13, 14, and 15 are provided with a disk cartridge 20.
The top plate 2 is composed of a top plate that covers the upper surface and two side walls that hang down from both sides of the top plate. These disk holders 13, 14, 15
When the disc cartridge 202 is inserted from the front side of the disc cartridge, the disc cartridge 202 is inserted between both side walls. The bottom surfaces of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15 are open almost entirely so that the lower surface of the disk cartridge 202 faces downward.

As shown in FIG. 7, the disk holders 13, 14, 15 have side walls on one side.
A guide pin 40 is protruded. In addition, a pair of support pins 41 and 42 project from the side walls on the other side of the disk holders 13, 14 and 15 toward the outside.
Each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is provided with a corresponding one of the guide pins 4.
The disc and the support pins 41 and 42 are inserted into the guide slits 39 on the left and right sides of the disc housing 2 to be supported in the disc housing 2. That is, each of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15 can be pulled out rearward from the disk housing 2 along the guide slit 39. Also, each of the disk holders 13, 14, 1
5 is provided with an engagement groove 43 at the rear edge thereof for engaging a drawer mechanism described later. This engagement groove 43
Are formed along the rear edges of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 and are formed with both ends and the upper side open.

Then, each of the disk holders 13, 14, 1
As shown in FIG.
A shutter opening piece 44 and a shutter closing spring 45 are disposed on one side of the shutter plate 203 when the disc cartridge 202 is inserted into the disc cartridges 3, 14 and 15 from the front side of the disc changer. Has been established.

The shutter opening piece 44 is a fixed piece integrally projecting from the side wall of each of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15. The disk cartridge 202 is inserted into each of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15. When the disk cartridge 202 moves, the shutter plate 203 is slid with respect to the cartridge 201 to open the cover. Also, a shutter closing spring 4
Reference numeral 5 indicates that the base end is attached to the side wall of each of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15. A bent portion 46 is formed on the distal end side of the shutter closing spring 45 toward the inside of each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15. The bent portion 46 is located on the front side of the shutter lid 44 and is engaged with the shutter plate 203 when the shutter lid 44 comes into contact with the shutter plate 203.

The shutter closing lid spring 45 allows the disc cartridge 202 inserted into each of the disc holders 13, 14, 15 to be moved by the disc holders 13, 14, 15 respectively.
When the disk cartridge 202 is pulled out further forward, the bent portion 46 is engaged with the shutter plate 203 so that the shutter plate 203 is closed according to the movement of the disk cartridge 202.

After the shutter plate 203 is closed, the disc cartridge 202 is further moved into each disc holder 13,
When the shutter is closed, the shutter closing lid spring 45 is removed.
Is elastically displaced in the outward direction of each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 to release the engagement of the bent portion 46 with the shutter plate 203.

Each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15
The disk cartridge 202 inserted in the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is inserted into each of the disk holders 1.
There is provided a cartridge holding mechanism for holding the cartridge in a state held by 3, 14, and 15. This cartridge holding mechanism includes, as shown in FIG.
A locking lever 48 rotatably attached to a rear portion of the one side wall portion 15 via a support shaft 47, a torsion coil spring 49 for urging the locking lever 48 to rotate, and the side wall portion And a coil spring 51 for urging the cartridge holding / holding member 50 toward the front side of the disk holders 13, 14, 15. The cartridge holding and holding member 50 includes the disc holders 13 and 1.
Holding claws 52 projecting toward the inner side of 4 and 15 are provided. The coil spring 51 is stretched between a spring locking piece 53 provided on the cartridge holding and holding member 50 and a spring locking piece 54 provided on the disk holders 13, 14, 15.

When the disc cartridge 202 is inserted into the disc holders 13, 14, 15 from the front of the disc changer, the holding claws 52 are moved to the cartridge 201.
Engages. When the disk cartridge 202 is housed in the disk holders 13, 14, 15, the cartridge holding / holding member 50 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow M in FIG.
As shown by, the disk cartridge 202 is pressed and slid behind the disk holders 13, 14, and 15. The cartridge holding / holding member 50 slid rearward is locked at the rear position by the locking lever 48. In this state, the disk cartridge 202
Is held in a state housed in the disc holders 13, 14, 15.

The disc housing 2 is provided with an eject mechanism for releasing the holding of the disc cartridge 202 by the cartridge holding mechanism. As shown in FIG. 4, the ejection mechanism includes a disk holder 1 on an outer wall on one side of the disk housing 2.
A plurality of eject levers 55 are provided corresponding to 3, 14, and 15 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction.
The eject lever 55 has an eject button 56 at the front end facing the front side of the disc changer, and this front end protrudes forward of the housing 11. These eject levers 55, as shown by arrow C in FIG.
Each of the coil springs 57 urges the eject button 56 in a direction to protrude forward. The coil spring 57 is stretched between a spring locking portion 58 provided on the eject lever 55 and the disk housing 2. The ejection lever 55 is provided at the rear end portion with a lock release piece 5 protruding toward the inside of the disk housing 2.
9.

When the eject lever 55 is slid rearward as indicated by arrow D in FIG. 4 against the urging force of the coil spring 57 by pressing the eject button 56, the eject lever 55 By moving the stop lever 48, the locking of the cartridge holding and holding member 50 by the locking lever 48 is released. Then, the cartridge holding / holding member 50 is moved by the urging force of the coil spring 51 toward the front side indicated by the arrow N in FIG.
It slides together with the disk cartridge 202 stored in 3, 14, and 15. Thus, by pressing the eject button 56, the disk cartridge 202 can be taken out from the disk holders 13, 14, 15 to the front side.

The disk holder 2 has disk holders 13, 14, 1 in the disk holder 2.
5 is provided with a disk movement preventing mechanism for preventing the movement of the disk 5. As shown in FIG. 11, the disk movement prevention mechanism has a first movement prevention plate 60 attached to an outer wall on one side of the disk housing 2. The first movement preventing plate 60 is provided for each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15.
Is formed in a flat plate shape facing the side portion of the disk holder 2, and has a bent portion at the front end edge portion, which is bent toward the disk housing 2 which comes into contact with the guide pin 40 of each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15. The first movement preventing plate 60 is rotatably supported on a top plate portion of the disk housing 2 via a support shaft 61, and has a front end edge with respect to a side surface of the disk housing 2. It can be approached and separated. The disk movement preventing mechanism has a second movement preventing plate 62 attached to the outer wall on the other side of the disk housing 2. This second
Of the disk holders 13, 14, 1
5 is formed in a flat plate shape facing the side portion of the disk holder 5, and the front support pins 4 of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 are provided on the front edge.
1 has a bent portion that is bent toward the disk storage body 2 that contacts the disk housing 1. The second movement preventing plate 62 is rotatably supported on a top plate portion of the disk housing 2 via a support shaft 63, and has a front end edge with respect to a side surface of the disk housing 2. It can be approached and separated.

The first and second movement preventing plates 62, 6
0 has spring hanging pieces 64 and 65 at the upper edge portion so as to face each other. These spring hook pieces 64, 6
5, a coil spring 6 is provided between the hook-shaped spring hooks 66 and 67.
8 is stretched. Due to the urging force of the coil spring 68, the movement preventing plates 62 and 60 move the front edge portions closer to each other, as shown by the arrow G in FIG.
Each of the front ends is rotationally urged in a direction in which the front end is pressed against the disk housing 2.

Then, the first and second movement preventing plates 62,
Reference numeral 60 has a pair of left and right movement prevention release pins 69 and 70 serving as a disk movement prevention and release mechanism protruding upward. The movement prevention release pins 69 and 70 are located on both sides of the disk housing 2 above the disk housing 2 and protrude upward. In this disk movement prevention mechanism, as shown in FIG.
Each movement prevention release pin 6 against the urging force of the coil spring 68
Arrows H in FIG. 12 separating 9, 70 from each other on both left and right sides
By moving in the direction shown by
2 and 60 are rotated in a direction to separate the front edge portion from the disk housing 2, and each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is rotated.
Can be moved rearward with respect to the disk housing 2 and come out of the disk housing 2 rearward.

Each of the movement inhibition release pins 69, 70 is
0, which are inserted corresponding to the movement prevention release pin operation slits 71 and 72 which serve as a disk movement prevention release mechanism formed at 0. These movement prevention release pin operation slits 71, 7
Numerals 2 have a length in the front-rear direction corresponding to a movable distance of the disk housing 2 in the front-rear direction, and are formed on both side portions of the top plate 10. When the disk housing 2 is moved in the front-rear direction, the movement prevention release pins 69 and 70 are moved.
Moves in the movement prevention release pin operation slits 71 and 72 in the front-rear direction.

The distance between the movement prevention release pin operation slits 71 and 72 is short on the front side of the top plate 10 and long on the rear side. That is, when the disk housing 2 is on the front side, the distance between the movement prevention release pins 69 and 70 is shortened, and the disk holder 1 by the disk movement prevention mechanism is reduced.
When the disk storage 2 is on the rear side, the movement prevention release pins 6 are prevented from moving.
The distance between the disk holders 9 and 70 is increased so that the disk movement preventing mechanism stops the movement of the disk holders 13, 14 and 15.

The disc housing 2 is moved on the base plate 1 in the front-rear direction, so that the carrier mounted above the recording / reproducing unit 4 provided on the rear side of the base plate 1. 7 is operated. Then, the disk movement preventing mechanism moves the disk housing 2 rearward,
When the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 are positioned close to each other, the inhibition of the movement of each of the disc holders 13, 14, 15 stored in the disc housing 2 is released.

Further, the disc housing 2 is provided with a holder movement preventing spring 73 corresponding to each of the disc holders 13, 14, 15. This holder movement preventing spring 7
3 has a base end side portion attached to the second movement preventing plate 62, and a plurality of free end portions corresponding to the respective disk holders 13, 14, 15 facing rearward from the second movement preventing plate 62. It is extended. At the free end portion of the holder movement preventing spring 73, that is, at the rear end side, a bent portion is formed which is bent toward the disk housing 2 and abuts on the support pin 42 on the rear side. This holder movement preventing spring 73
Is formed as a leaf spring, and the second movement preventing plate 6
2 is rotated. This holder movement preventing spring 7
3 shows that the second movement preventing plate 62 is
When the movement of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is blocked by the support pins 41 on the front side of 14, 14, the disk holders 13, 14, 15 are separated from the support pins 42 on the rear side, but the second movement prevention plate 62 is When the inhibition of the movement of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is released, that is, when the disk housing 2 is moved rearward, the disk holder 2 abuts on the support pins 42 on the rear side, and the disk holders 13, 14, 15 are brought into contact.
Block movement of 14,15.

At this time, the free end portion of the holder movement preventing spring 73, which corresponds to the height of the carrier 7 described later, moves up and down in conjunction with the carrier 7 as shown in FIG. When the engaging claw 75 is engaged with the engaging portion 74 to be displaced in a direction away from the disk housing 2, even if the disk housing 2 is moved rearward, the corresponding disk holders 13, 14,. 15 does not prevent movement. The engagement claws 75 are provided at each free end of the holder movement preventing spring 73.

A plate is provided on the outer wall on the other side of the disk housing 2 to press and support the support pins 41 on the front side of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 housed in the disk housing 2 from outside. A spring 76 is provided.

The front side of the housing 11 has a disk cartridge 20 with respect to the disk housing 2 from the outside.
2 is provided with a disk insertion port 77 for performing the input / output operation. The disc insertion opening 77 can be opened and closed by the lid 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the lid 12 has a lower portion rotatably attached to the housing 11 by a support shaft 78, and the upper portion is rotated forward to insert a disc. The mouth 77 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 4, a lid prohibition lever 79 serving as a lid prohibition mechanism is provided in the housing 11.
The lid opening prohibiting lever 79 is provided so that the first and second movement preventing plates 62 and 60 are connected to the disc holder 1 in the disc housing 2.
When the movement of 3, 14, 15 is blocked, the lid 12
Is kept in a closed state. The lid opening prohibiting lever 79 is provided at the front end of a support rod 80 protruding from the housing 11 at a position adjacent to the lid 12, and has a central portion provided with a support shaft 81.
And is rotatably supported via the. One end of the lid opening prohibiting lever 79 is an engaging portion that engages with an engaged rod 82 provided inside the lid 12. And
The lid opening prohibiting lever 79 is engaged with an engaged rod 82 of the lid body 12 in a closed state by a coil spring 84 stretched between a spring hooking part 83 provided in the housing 11. Are urged to rotate in the direction in which As shown in FIG. 5, the lid 12 is held in a closed state when the engaging portion of the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is engaged with the engaged rod 82.

The other end of the lid opening inhibiting lever 79 is
The pressed portion 85 is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is rotated by being pressed by a lid holding release holding member 86 slidably disposed on the base plate 1, and The holding on the lid 12 is released. The lid holding release holding member 86 has guide slits 87 and 88, and these guide slits 8
7, 88, guide pins 8 provided on the base plate 1
The base plate 1 is slidably attached to the base plate 1 by inserting the base plates 9 and 90. The lid holding release holding member 86 is slid in one end side direction, so that the pressed portion 85 of the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is pressed by the pressing portion 91 on one end side, and the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is rotated. Then, the holding of the lid 12 by the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is released. Further, the lid holding release releasing holding member 86
Is pressed by the coil spring 93 stretched between the spring locking portion 92a of the lid holding release holding member 86 and the spring locking portion 92b on the base plate 1, that is, the pressing portion 9
1 is biased in a direction to separate the lid 1 from the pressed portion 85 of the lid opening prohibition lever 79. The lid holding release holding member 86 is connected to the drive pin 26 of the disc housing moving gear 24.
, And has a driven rod portion pressed by the drive pin 26 in contact with the drive pin 26. That is, the lid holding release holding member 86 is moved in accordance with the rotation of the disk housing body moving gear 24.
A slide operation is performed via the drive pin 26 and the driven rod portion, and the lid opening prohibition lever 79 is rotated.

Therefore, in this disc changer, the rotation of the disc housing moving gear 24 causes
The disk holders 13 and 1 in the disk storage 2 are moved by the operation of moving the disk storage 2 in the front-rear direction and the disk movement preventing mechanism accompanying the movement of the disk storage 2 in the front-rear direction.
The movement prevention and release cancellation of the movements 4 and 15 and the holding and release of the lid 12 in the closed state by the rotation of the opening prohibition lever 79 are performed while maintaining a constant timing. That is, when the disk housing 2 is moved to the rear side, as shown in FIG. 12, the movement prevention of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 by the disk movement prevention mechanism is released, and as shown in FIG. The lid 12 is held in a closed state.

Further, in this disk changer, when the lid 12 is opened, the disk storage 2 is prevented from being moved rearward, and the disk movement preventing mechanism is stored in the disk storage 2. Each of the disc holders 13, 14, and 15 is prevented from being pulled out rearward from the disc housing 2. When the lid 12 is opened, the movement of the disk housing 2 is prevented from being detected by detecting that the lid 12 is opened by a detection switch (not shown), and the output of the detection switch is input to the control circuit. However, this control circuit is realized by performing control such that the disk housing moving motor 22 is not driven when it is detected by the output of the detection switch that the lid 12 is opened. When the disc housing 2 is moved rearward after the cover 12 is closed, as described above,
Is kept in a closed state.

When one of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is pulled out to the rear of the disk storage 2, that is, toward the carrier 7, the disk storage 2 has the disk holder. An erroneous insertion prevention plate 94 for preventing the disk cartridge 202 from being inserted again into a non-existent portion is attached. As shown in FIG. 2, the erroneous insertion prevention plate 94 is disposed between the left and right side walls of the front side of the disk housing 2 corresponding to the disk holders 13, 14, and 15, respectively. Have been. As shown in FIG. 3, these erroneous insertion prevention plates 94 are rotatably attached to the disk housing 2 via support shafts 95, respectively. These erroneous insertion prevention plates 94
When the corresponding disk holder is present in the disk housing 2, the disk holder is flipped up by the upper surface of the disk holder and is positioned in front of the support shaft 95. When the corresponding disk holder is pulled out of the disk housing 2, these erroneous insertion prevention plates 94 are
As shown in FIG. 16, the disk cartridge 2 hangs downward from the support shaft 95, and
02 insertion operation is prevented.

In this disc changer, a recording / reproducing section 4 is provided on a base plate 1 via a damper 3 serving as a buffer member. This recording / reproducing unit 4
On the base plate 1, it is located behind the disk housing 2. The recording / reproducing unit 4 includes a rectangular flat plate-shaped substrate having a size substantially equal to the main surface of the disk cartridge 202 and an optical pickup 5 disposed on the base.
And a spindle motor 6. The recording / reproducing unit 4 includes a disc cartridge 2 on a base unit.
When 02 is mounted, information signals are recorded / reproduced on / from the recording disk of the mounted disk cartridge 202.

The recording / reproducing section 4 is suspended from a pair of side wall sections 8 and 9 provided on the base plate 1 via a plurality of suspension springs 96, as shown in FIG. Supported. As shown in FIG. 13, the suspension springs 96 are provided with spring hooks 97, 97 provided at both corners on the rear side of the recording / reproducing unit 4, and FIG.
As shown in (1), the recording / reproducing unit 4 is hooked at a total of four places, including spring hooks 98, 98 provided at both front corners.

The plurality of dampers 3 are formed in a sealed bag shape with a flexible material such as butyl rubber, and have a liquid having a suitable viscosity such as oil or fat enclosed therein. Further, these dampers 3 have fitting holes into which a plurality of buffer member support rods 99 and 100 provided on the bottom surface of the recording / reproducing unit 4 are fitted. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the damper 3 is configured such that a plurality of buffer member support rods 99, 100 provided on the bottom surface of the recording / reproducing unit 4 are fitted into the fitting holes, so that the recording / reproducing unit 4 is fitted. Mounted on As shown in FIG. 2, the dampers 3 are provided with a plurality of buffer member support holes 1 provided in the base plate 1.
01, 101 and attached to the base plate 1.

The dampers 3 extend and contract according to the distance between the base plate 1 and the recording / reproducing section 4. Since these dampers 3 have elasticity, as shown in FIG.
When it is not subjected to a compressing or expanding force, the length is the initial state length h. When the recording / reproducing unit 4 receives a compressive force when approaching the base plate 1, the damper 3 has a length h3 shorter than the initial length h, as shown in FIG. By setting the damper 3 to have a length h3 shorter than the length h in the initial state, the overall height of the disc changer can be reduced. When the recording / reproducing unit 4 receives a force that is extended by being separated from the base plate 1, the damper 3 has a length h1 longer than the length h of the initial state, as shown in FIG. . Since the damper 3 has the length h1 longer than the length h in the initial state in this manner, in this disc changer, the displacement of a chucking spring 127 which will be described later, which is an elastic member, can be reduced. . In this disc changer, the distance between the recording / reproducing unit 4 and the base plate 1 is controlled in conjunction with the height position of the carrier 7 described later, that is, the distance between the carrier 7 and the base plate 1. .

As shown in FIG. 2, from the side edge on one side of the recording / reproducing section 4, the position regulating pins 103 are moved outward.
Is protruding. Further, from the side edge on the other side of the recording / reproducing unit 4, two position regulating pins 10
2, 103 are protruded. These three position regulating pins 102, 103, 103 are inserted into circular through holes 104, 104, 105 provided in the side walls 8, 9. These through holes 104, 104, 105 have diameters that are sufficiently large with respect to the thickness of the position regulating pins 102, 103, 103, and the position regulating pins 102, 102 within a range where the damper 3 can be displaced. , 103 are not hindered. These through holes 104, 104, 1
Reference numeral 05 denotes position regulating pins 102 and 10 substantially at the centers when the length of the damper 3 is the initial length h.
3, 103 are formed at positions to be inserted correspondingly.

The recording / reproducing section includes a disk table in which a chucking hole at the center of the recording disk of the disk cartridge 202 is fitted, a spindle motor 6 for rotating the disk table, and a recording disk. It has an optical pickup 5 for writing and reading information signals.

The optical pickup 5 has an optical block, in which a light source such as a semiconductor laser,
An objective lens 106 for condensing a light beam emitted from the light source on a signal recording surface of a recording disk, and a light detection for detecting return light reflected by the signal recording surface and returning to the optical block via the objective lens 106 It has a built-in device.

The disk table is formed in a substantially disk shape, and has a truncated conical projection fitted into the chucking hole at the center of the upper surface. The projection has a built-in magnet for attracting the chucking plate attached to the recording disk. The disk table is mounted on a drive shaft of a spindle motor 6 mounted on a substantially central lower surface of the base plate 1, and is rotated by the spindle motor 6.

The optical pickup 5 is disposed on the lower surface side of the base plate 1, and the upward direction of the luminous flux from the objective lens 106 is directed through a through hole formed in the base plate 1. . The optical pickup 5 is located on the side of the spindle motor 6 and extends along the base plate 1.
The moving operation can be performed in the direction of approaching and separating from the spindle motor 6.

On the recording / reproducing section 4, positioning pins 107 and 108 and positioning projections 109 and 110 are provided to protrude near the four corners. When the disk cartridge 202 is mounted on the recording / reproducing unit 4 and mounted on the recording / reproducing unit, the positioning pins 107 and 108 located before and after the optical pickup 5 are fitted into positioning holes provided in the cartridge 201. , The disk cartridge 202 is positioned. At this time, the recording disk is fitted with the protrusion of the disk table in the chucking hole,
The chucking plate is attracted to the magnet and is positioned and held with respect to the disk table. In this disc changer, when the disc cartridge 202 is mounted on the recording / reproducing unit 4, it is possible to execute a recording / reproducing mode in which an information signal is written to and read from the recording disc of the disc cartridge 202.

Further, this disc changer is similar to that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the transporting unit 7 is located above the recording / reproducing unit 4 and faces the recording / reproducing unit. This carrier 7
Are disk holders 13, 14, 1 in the disk housing 2.
5, one disk cartridge 202 selected from the plurality of disk cartridges 202 held and housed and pulled out together with the disk holder by a pull-out mechanism described later is held together with the disk holder, and the disk cartridge 202 thus held is recorded. It is to be mounted on the reproduction unit 4. Also, this carrier 7
Performs the operation of removing the disk cartridge 202 mounted on the recording / reproducing unit from the recording / reproducing unit and returning the disk cartridge 202 together with the disk holder to the disk housing 2.

The carrier 7 is used for the disk cartridge 2
02, one of the disk holders 13, 14, 1
In order to store and hold the top 5, it is configured to have a top plate portion and a pair of side wall portions hanging down from both side edges of the top plate portion. The transport body 7 is moved in the vertical direction, which is the direction of contact and separation with respect to the recording / reproducing unit 4, so that
Each disk holder 13 housed in the disk housing 2,
Each disk cartridge 202 held in each of the disk cartridges 14 and 15
Move between positions opposing the trailing edge. And
The carrier 7 is moved up and down in this manner, so that one disk cartridge 20 from the disk cartridge 202 held in each of the disk holders 13, 14 and 15 is moved.
Select 2.

That is, the transporter 7 is the disk cartridge 202 of the disk cartridge 202 held in each of the disk holders 13, 14 and 15 stored in the disk storage 2, the disk cartridge 202 facing the transporter 7. When the disk cartridge 202 is pulled out toward the carrier 7 by a pulling mechanism described later, the disk cartridge 202 is held together with the disk holder. In addition, the carrier 7 is moved to a position close to the recording / reproducing unit, so that the disc cartridge 202 held by the disc holder held is mounted on the recording / reproducing unit.

As shown in FIG. 14, the transport body 7 is supported on the recording / reproducing unit 4 on both sides via a pair of support arms 111 and 112 so as to be able to come and go.
One support arm 111 is rotatably attached at one end to a rear portion of the side wall of the carrier 7 via a support shaft 113, and has the other end at the front side of the recording / reproducing unit 4. Is rotatably and slidably supported by a shaft 115 inserted through a slit 114 provided in the horn. The other support arm 112 has one end side rotatably attached to a rear part of the side part of the recording / reproducing unit 4 via a support shaft 116, and the other end side a front side wall part of the transport body 7. Is rotatably and slidably supported by a shaft 118 inserted through a slit 117 provided in the first member. These support arms 111, 112
The shafts 119 are rotatably connected to each other. When the carrier 7 is moved by the support arms 111 and 112 in the vertical direction, that is, in the direction of contacting and separating from the recording / reproducing unit 4, the carrier 7 is in a horizontal state, that is, parallel to the upper surface of the recording / reproducing unit 4. Posture is maintained.

The carrier 7 has a pair of left and right operation pins 120 on both sides. As shown in FIG. 22, these lifting operation pins 120, 120 are inserted through carrier guide slits 121, 121 provided on both side walls 8, 9, respectively. These carrier guide slits 121 are provided in the recording / reproducing section 4.
, That is, in a direction parallel to the drive shaft of the spindle motor 6. Also,
One elevating operation pin 120 is also inserted through a guide slit 123 provided on a guide plate 122 which is provided upright from one side edge of the recording / reproducing unit 4. And
The raising / lowering operation pin 120 on the other side has enlarged diameter portions 124 and 1 in which the proximal end portion and the distal end portion are each tapered.
24, and only the central portion is formed to have a pin-shaped shape with a small diameter. The other side of the lifting / lowering operation pin 120 has a small diameter portion at the center located in the conveyance body guide slit 121.

The carrier guide slits 121, 121
Each has a widened portion 125 on the lower end side. Carrier 7
When the disk cartridge 202 held by the disk holders 13, 14, 15 held close to the recording / reproducing unit 4 is mounted on the recording / reproducing unit 4, the lifting operation pins 120, 120 are transported by the respective transports. Body guide slit 12
1, 121 are located within the widened portion 125.

FIG. 1 shows the position between the carrier 7 and the recording / reproducing section 4.
As shown in FIG. 4, a chucking spring 1 which is an elastic member
27 are provided. This chucking spring 127
The carrier 7 is pressed and supported on the recording / reproducing unit side, so that the disc holders 13, 14, 1, 1 are supported by the carrier 7.
The disk cartridge 202 held through the disk drive 5 is mounted on the recording / reproducing unit. The chucking spring 127 is a torsion coil spring. The coil portion is fitted on a spring support pin 128 provided on a side edge portion of the recording / reproducing portion 4, and one arm portion is locked by the recording / reproducing portion 4. The other arm is locked to the elevating operation pin 120. The chucking spring 127 is located on the lower side indicated by an arrow A in FIG.
Is energizing.

The side walls 8, 9 on both sides of the base plate 1
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of cam plates 129 and 130 constituting a transport mechanism are slidably disposed on the outer side surface of the pair. As shown in FIG. 21, these cam plates 129 and 130 have a guide pin 131a and a horizontal guide slit 132, respectively, and the guide pins 131a are provided in the horizontal guide slits 133 provided in the side walls 8 and 9.
Through the guide pins 13 provided on the side walls 8 and 9.
By inserting 1b through the guide slit 132,
It is slidably supported in the front-rear direction.

Each of the cam plates 129 and 130 has an elevating operation cam groove 134 formed therein. Each cam plate 1
The elevating operation pins 120 on both sides are inserted into the elevating operation cam grooves 134 of the 29 and 130. These elevating operation cam grooves 134 are formed so as to be inclined such that the front side of the disc changer is made higher and the rear side is made lower. That is, the carrier 7 is provided with each cam plate 1.
29 and 130 are lowered by being slid forward, approaching the recording / reproducing unit 4, and the respective cam plates 129 and 13
0 is slid to the rear side to be raised and separated from the recording / reproducing unit 4. These elevating operation cam grooves 134
When the carrier 7 approaches the recording / reproducing unit 4 by the urging force of the chucking spring 127, the carrier 7 can move together with the recording / reproducing unit 4 with the displacement of the damper 3. An enlarged portion 134a is provided. Also,
These lifting / lowering operation cam grooves 134 include a first horizontal portion 134b that sets the transport body 7 at a height position facing the lower disk holder 13 of the disk storage body 2 and a transport disk 7 that is positioned at the middle of the disk storage body 2. It has a second horizontal portion 134c at a height position facing the holder 14 and a third horizontal portion 134d at a height position facing the carrier 7 to the upper disk holder 15 of the disk housing 2. ing. These first to third horizontal portions 134b, 134c, 134d
The lift operation cam grooves 134 are sequentially located from the rear side to the front side.

As shown in FIG. 15, the cam plate 130 is operated to move the engaging portion 74 which engages with the distal end portion of the holder movement preventing spring 73 via the support shaft 135 of the engaging portion 74. The cam groove 136 for holding the holder is formed. That is, the cam groove 136 for holding the holder includes:
As shown in FIG. 15, the support shaft 13 provided on the engagement portion 74
5 is inserted. This cam groove 136 for holding the holder
Similarly to the lifting / lowering operation cam groove 134, it is formed to have an inclined shape such that the front side is high and the rear side is low. That is, the engagement portion 74 is lowered by the cam plate 130 sliding forward, and is raised by the cam plate 130 sliding rearward. And
The holder holding cam groove 136 is, as shown in FIG. 21, a first position where the engaging portion 74 is engaged with an engaging claw 75 corresponding to the lower disk holder 13 of the disk housing 2. The horizontal portion 136b and the engagement portion 74 are engaged with the engagement claws 75 corresponding to the disk holder 14 at the middle stage of the disk housing 2.
A second horizontal portion 136c at a height position for engaging the disk holder 1 with the upper portion of the disk holder 2.
The third position is a height position for engaging with the engaging claw 75 corresponding to the fourth position.
And a horizontal portion 136d. These first to third
The horizontal portions 136b, 136c, and 136d are sequentially located from the rear side to the front side of the holder holding cam groove 136. Further, a portion near the rear end of the holder holding cam groove 136 is a fourth horizontal portion 136a in which the engaging portion 74 is at a height position that does not engage with any of the engaging claws 75.

The cam plates 129 and 130 are slid in the front-rear direction by the driving force of a cam plate moving motor 137 constituting a transport mechanism. That is, the cam plate moving motor 137 has a drive gear 138 attached to a drive shaft as shown in FIG. 2, and is attached to the lower surface of the base plate 1. The driving gear 138 is rotatably disposed below the cam plates 129 and 130 outside the side walls 8 and 9 on both sides via a transmission gear (not shown) so as to be rotatable. 139. These cam plate moving pinion gears 139, 139
It meshes with rack gears 140, 140 formed on the lower edges of the cam plates 129, 130. Therefore, when the cam plate moving motor 137 is rotationally driven, the respective cam plates 129 and 130 are slid in the front-rear direction.

A position detecting sensor 141 for detecting the positions of the cam plates 129 and 130 is attached to the side wall portion 8. As the position detection sensor 141, for example,
A photocoupler can be used. And the cam plate 1
Reference numeral 29 denotes a position detection slit 1 having four notches serving as a reference for position detection by the position detection sensor 141.
42 are provided. The position detection sensor 141 detects the first to fourth positions of the cam plates 129 and 130 based on the cut portion of the position detection slit 142.

The first positions of the cam plates 129 and 130 are as follows.
As shown in FIG. 25, each lifting operation pin 120 is inserted into the widened portion 134 a of each lifting operation cam groove 134,
As shown in FIG. 3, the carrier 7 approaches the recording / reproducing unit 4 by the urging force of the chucking spring 127 and can be moved together with the recording / reproducing unit 4 with the displacement of the damper 3. Position. Also, the cam plates 129, 1
As shown in FIG. 24, the second position of 30 means that the elevating operation pins 120, 120 are inserted into the first horizontal portion 134b of the elevating operation cam groove 134, and the carrier 7 is
Is a height position facing the lower disk holder 13. The third positions of the cam plates 129 and 130 are, as shown in FIG.
0, 120 is the second horizontal portion 13 of the lifting operation cam groove 134
4c, and as shown in FIG. 16, this is a position where the carrier 7 is at a height position where the carrier 7 is opposed to the middle disk holder 14 of the disk housing 2. And the cam plate 12
As shown in FIG. 22, the fourth positions 9 and 130 mean that the elevating operation pins 120 and 120 are inserted through the third horizontal portion 134 d of the elevating operation cam groove 134 and the transport body 7 is This is a position that is a height position that is opposed to the upper disk holder 15.

The disc changer has a holding plate 143 that constitutes a holding mechanism. The holding plate 143 is moved by sliding the cam plates 129 and 130 to record and reproduce at a position where the distance to the base plate 1 varies depending on the distance between the carrier 7 and the recording and reproducing unit 4. The part 4 is held so as not to move with respect to the base plate 1. In this holding mechanism, the holding plate 143 holds the recording / reproducing unit 4 by preventing the biasing force of the chucking spring 127 from moving the recording / reproducing unit 4 toward the transport body 7.

The holding plate 143 has a plurality of support slits 144, as shown in FIG.
44, a plurality of support pins 14 implanted in the side walls 8 and 9.
5, 146, 147 are supported in such a manner that they can be slid in the up-down direction, that is, in the direction parallel to the moving direction of the transporting body 7, by being inserted correspondingly. This holding plate 14
3 are provided with position regulating pins 102,
Notch part 14 for fitting and pressing support 103
3a and 143b are formed. Also, this holding plate 1
The slit 43 is formed with a slit 148 corresponding to the carrier guide slit 121 and through which the elevating operation pins 120 and 120 are inserted. The lower end of the slit 148 is formed as a widened portion 125 corresponding to the widened portion 126 of the carrier guide slit 121. When the holding plate 143 is slid downward, the position regulating pins 102 and 103 of the recording / reproducing unit 4 are fitted into the notches 143a and 143b, respectively.
The position regulating pins 102 and 103 are pressed and supported.

The holding plates 143 are provided on the side walls 8 and 9.
A holding member operation lever 149 for sliding operation is provided. This holding member operation lever 149 is
The central portion is rotatably supported on the side walls 8 and 9 by the rotation support shaft 150. This holding member operation lever 149
One end is attached to a holding plate 143 via a support shaft 151, and the other end is provided with a copying pin 153 engaged with a holding member cam groove 152 formed in the cam plates 129 and 130. I have. That is, when the cam plates 129 and 130 are slid in the front-rear direction, the holding member operation lever 149 is moved.
Is rotated, and the holding plate 143 is slid in accordance with the rotation of the holding member operation lever 149.

As shown in FIG. 25, the holding member cam groove 152 is a position where the copying pin 153 is inserted when the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the first position.
As shown in FIG. 7, the position of the holding plate 143 is
Rear end portion 152 at a position spaced apart from 2,103
24, the position where the copying pin 153 is inserted when the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the second position as shown in FIG. 24, and the position of the holding plate 143 is restricted as shown in FIG. By pushing down the pins 102 and 103 downward, the length h of each damper 3 is shorter than the initial length h.
23 and a substantially central portion 152b at a position 3
As shown in FIG. 1, when the cam plate 129, 130 is in the third position, the copying pin 153 is inserted therethrough.
As shown in FIG. 22, the position of the holding plate 143 is a position where the length of each damper 3 is a length h2 equal to the initial length h, and a portion extending from the substantially center to the front end side, as shown in FIG. To
When the cam plate 129, 130 is at the fourth position, the copying pin 153 is inserted therethrough. As shown in FIG. 20, the position of the holding plate 143 is determined by changing the length of each damper 3 to the initial length h. Front end portion 1 at a position where the length becomes longer than h1
52c.

That is, this holding mechanism is provided with a holding plate 143.
By controlling the position, the holding position of the recording / reproducing unit 4 is regulated. When the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the first position, the holding plate 143 does not act on the recording / reproducing unit 4, and each damper 3 has an initial length h as shown in FIG. When the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the second position, the position of the recording / reproducing unit 4 is set to the holding plate 1
With reference to FIG. 43, as shown in FIG. 18, the position where the length of each damper 3 is shorter than the initial length h is h3. When the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the third position, the position of the recording / reproducing unit 4 is moved by the holding plate 143.
As shown in FIG. 19, the length of each damper 3 is the initial length h.
Is set to a position having a length h2 equal to When the cam plates 129 and 130 are at the fourth position, the position of the recording / reproducing section 4 is adjusted by the holding plate 143 so that the length of each damper 3 is larger than the initial length h as shown in FIG. Long length h
The position is set to 1.

As described above, the recording / reproducing unit 4 includes the holding plate 14
3, the carrier 7 is held at a different position depending on the height position of the carrier 7. The variable range of the holding position of the recording / reproducing unit 4 includes a position where the length of each damper 3 becomes the initial length h.

By the way, the disk housing 2 and the carrier 7 can be moved toward and away from each other in the direction along the main surface of the recording disk by moving the disk housing 2 back and forth. I have. Then, when the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 are located at positions close to each other, as shown in FIG.
Guide slit 39 in the guide and guide slit 15 in the carrier 7
4 means the disk cartridge 2 in the disk housing 2
A substantially continuous pull-out guide slit for transporting the disc holders 13, 14, 15 holding 02 into the carrier 7 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 have a conical shape which serves as a positioning portion for positioning the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 when they come close to each other. It has a positioning pin 155 and a positioning hole 156 corresponding to the positioning pin 155.
As shown in FIG. 6, the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 are
The positioning pins 155 and the positioning holes 156 are brought into contact with each other and fitted to each other, whereby the positioning is performed, and the disk holders 13, 14, and
Reference numeral 15 forms a substantially continuous pull-out guide slit that is transported into the transport body 7. Thus, the draw-out guide slit formed by the guide slit 39 in the disk housing 2 and the guide slit 154 in the carrier 7 is a pair of left and right slits located on both sides of each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15. Make a shape.

The positioning portion for positioning between the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 is not limited to the conical pin and the positioning hole as described above, and the rear edges of both sides of the disc housing 2 are tapered. It may be configured as a positioning part.

Then, each of the disk holders 13, 14, 1
Reference numeral 5 has at least one pin on each of one side and the other side in the transport direction from the inside of the disk housing 2 to the inside of the transport body 7. That is, each of the disk holders 13, 14, 15 is provided with a guide pin 40 on one side surface.
, And a pair of support pins 41 and 42 on the side surface on the other side. The guide pin 40 and the pair of support pins 41 and 42 are inserted correspondingly into the draw-out guide slits formed by the respective guide slits 39 and 154, and guided to move.

That is, in a state where the disk housing 2 and the carrier 7 are separated from each other, as shown in FIG. 26, the guide pin 40 and the pair of support pins 41 and 42 are provided.
Are supported by a guide slit 39 in the disk housing 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 27, when the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 are positioned and joined to each other, and each of the guide slits 39 and 154 forms a continuous pullout guide slit, the guide pin 40 and a pair of support pins are formed. The pins 41 and 42 can move along the guide slit. When the guide pin 40 and the pair of support pins 41 and 42 move along the pull-out guide slit, as shown in FIG.
3, 14, 15 are transferred from the disk storage unit 2 to the transfer unit 7,
Alternatively, the sheet is transferred from the transfer unit 7 to the disk storage unit 2.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 29, the positioning between the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 is inaccurate, and the respective guide slits 3 of the disc housing 2 and the carrier 7 are inaccurate.
Even when the draw-out guide slits formed by 9, 9 and 154 are not in a straight line, each of the disc holders
Since the pull-out guide slits 3, 14, and 15 are supported via the guide pin 40 and the pair of support pins 41 and 42, the disc storage body is smoothly affected by the bending of the pull-out guide slit. 2 and the transfer body 7 can be carried out.

[0086] The carrier 7 is provided with a pull-out mechanism which is a recording medium loading mechanism for pulling out the disk holders 13, 14, 15 from the disk housing 2. As shown in FIG. 7, the pull-out mechanism is provided with a rack gear 157 provided on the carrier 7 in a direction parallel to the front-rear direction for carrying the disk holders 13, 14, 15.
A pinion gear 158 meshed with the rack gear 157 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction; And a drawer arm 160 serving as an arm member. The rack gear 157 is formed on a side surface of a rack gear member 161 mounted on the carrier 7.

The pinion gear 158 is rotatably mounted via a support shaft 163 on a pinion gear support plate 162 slidably provided in the front-rear direction on the carrier 7. The pinion gear 158 has a cylindrical portion 164 at the center thereof inserted through a gear guide slit 165 provided on the upper surface of the carrier 7, and is guided by the gear guide slit 165.

The pinion gear support plate 162 has a pinion gear 158 mounted at a substantially central portion thereof, and a support piece 166 at one end is guided by a support slit 167 provided on the upper surface of the carrier 7 and at the other end. The provided pair of support pins 168 and 169 are guided by guide slits 170 provided on the upper surface of the carrier 7 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. This support pin 168,
A rack gear plate 172 having a rack gear portion 171 is attached to 169 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction within a predetermined range. A limiter coil spring 17 is provided between the rack gear plate 172 and the pinion gear support plate 162.
3 is stretched. This limiter coil spring 173
One end side of the pinion gear support plate 162
The other end is hung on a spring hook 175 of the rack gear plate 172, and urges the rack gear plate 172 toward the front side of the disc changer against the pinion gear support plate 162.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rack gear plate 172 is moved in the front-rear direction together with the pinion gear support plate 162 by the driving force of the pull-out motor 176 attached to the carrier 7. That is, the drawer motor 176
A drive gear 177 is attached to the drive shaft. The drive gear 177 is rotatable via a transmission gear (not shown) rotatably mounted on the lower surface of the carrier 7 and, as shown in FIG. Is transmitted to the first transmission gear 179 attached to the first transmission gear 179. The first transmission gear 179 meshes with a second transmission gear 181 rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the carrier 7 via a support shaft 180. This second transmission gear 181
Is engaged with a pinion gear 183 rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the carrier 7 via a support shaft 182. The pinion gear 183 meshes with the rack gear 171 of the rack gear plate 172.

In this pull-out mechanism, when the pinion gear 158 is moved along the rack gear 157, the engaging portion 159 of the pull-out arm 160 is moved on the locus of the cycloid curve as shown by the arrow K in FIG. .
The locus of the cycloid curve in which the engaging portion 159 moves in this manner is such that the engaging portion 159
A section in which the disc holders 13, 14, 15 are conveyed by engaging with the engagement grooves 43 of the engagement portions 14, 15;
Reference numeral 9 denotes a section in which the engagement with the engagement groove 43 is released.

That is, when the pinion gear support plate 162 is located on the front side of the disc changer in this pull-out mechanism, as shown in FIG. It is located in.
When the pinion gear support plate 162 is slid rearward, the engaging portion 159 enters the engaging groove 43 from the side as shown by the arrow K in FIG. 7, and as shown in FIG. Then, it engages with the engagement groove 43. Then, the engaging portion 1
When the pinion gear support plate 162 is further moved rearward, the disk holder 59 conveys the disk holders 13, 14, 15 to the rear side while being engaged with the engagement groove 43, as shown in FIG.

In this drawer mechanism, when the carrier 7 is moved up and down, as shown in FIG. 7, the pinion gear support plate 162 is positioned at the front side, and the position of the drawer arm 160 is changed to the disk of the engaging portion 159. Holder 1
The position at which the engagement with 3, 14, 15 is released. In this state, the transporting body 7 is configured such that the engaging portion 159 of the drawer arm 160 has the disk holders 13, 14,.
15 does not interfere, and can be moved up and down.
When the transporter 7 is stopped, the drawer mechanism has a disk whose rear edge faces the transporter 7 of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15 stored in the disk storage 2. By engaging the engaging portion 159 with the engaging groove 43 of the disk holder holding the cartridge 202 and moving the engaging portion 159, as shown in FIG. It is pulled out and stored in the carrier 7 and held.

In the pull-out mechanism, the pinion gear support plate 162 is slid to a position on the front side from the position on the rear side in a state where the disk holder is housed and held in the carrier 7, thereby obtaining the state shown in FIG. As shown by the arrow Q, the engaging portion 159 can be moved forward from the rear side of the disk changer to return the disk holder stored and held in the carrier 7 into the disk housing 2. In this case, the engaging portion 159
After the disk holders 13, 14, and 15 return to the disk housing 2, the disk holders 13, 14, and 15 escape laterally from the engagement groove 43, and reach a position on the side of the engagement groove 43, as shown in FIG. Moving.

In this pull-out mechanism, as shown in FIG. 10, when the pinion gear 158 is engaged with the rack gear 157 as shown by arrows J and P in FIG. 10, the engaging portion 159 moves along the locus of the cycloid curve. , The sum of the radius R of the pinion gear 158 and the length of the pull-out arm 160 is L, and the major axis of the cycloid curve drawn by the engaging portion 159, that is, the engaging portion 15
Assuming that the longest linear stroke in the case of transporting the transported object by S is S, S is longer than twice L, that is, a relationship of S> 2L is established. Therefore, the drawer mechanism can reduce the space occupied by the drawer mechanism, that is, the space occupied by the movement trajectory of the drawer arm 160, while maintaining the transportable distance of the disk holders 13, 14, and 15.

In the disk changer configured as described above, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the lid 12 is opened, and a plurality of disk cartridges 202 are placed in the disk storage 2 from the front side of the changer. Is inserted. At this time, the disk housing 2 is located in the movable range of the disk housing 2 in front of the disk changer. Then, each disk cartridge 202 is held in the disk holders 13, 14, 15. Disk storage unit 2 of disk cartridge 202
When the insertion into the cover 1 is completed, as shown in FIG.
2 is closed.

Next, when a plurality of operation switches provided on the front surface of the housing 11 are operated, the control circuit
The cam plate moving motor 137 is driven. When the cam plate moving motor 137 is driven, the carrier 7 is moved up and down, and one disk cartridge 20 from the disk cartridge 202 held by the plurality of disk holders 13, 14 and 15.
2 is selected. When the carrier 7 is moved up and down in this way, each damper 3 moves the height position of the recording / reproducing unit 4 according to the height position of the carrier 7 as described above.
It is expanded and contracted by being regulated by 3.

Then, as shown in FIG. 30, the disc housing 2 is driven by the control circuit to drive the disc housing moving motor 22, so that the carrier 7,
Moved to the side. While the disc housing 2 is moved rearward in this manner, the lid 12 is held in a closed state. Then, the selected disk cartridge 202
Is carried into the carrier 7 together with the disk holder by the drawer mechanism.

When the selected disk cartridge 202 is loaded into the carrier 7, as shown in FIG.
The disc housing 2 is returned to the front side. At this time, the lid 12 can be opened. However, at the place where the disk holder is pulled out in the disk housing 2, the disk cartridge 202
Is prevented from being inserted.

Next, as shown in FIG. 32, when the carrier 7 is lowered to approach the recording / reproducing unit 4, the disc cartridge 202 held on the carrier 7 via the disc holder is used for recording. It is attached to the playback unit 4. At this time, the disc cartridge 202 is attached to the recording / reproducing unit by being pressed and supported by the urging force of the chucking spring 127. In this state, recording and reproduction of information signals on the recording disk of the disk cartridge 202 are performed.

After the end of the recording / reproducing mode, when the carrier 7 is lifted and separated from the recording / reproducing section 4, the disc cartridge 202 held on the carrier 7 via the disc holder is used for recording / reproducing. Removed from the part. Then, the transport body 7 is returned to the height position where the disk holder being held is stored in the disk storage body 2. At this time, the disc housing 2 is moved to the side of the carrier 7. The disk holder held by the carrier 7 is returned into the disk housing 2 by the pull-out mechanism. Then, by returning the disk housing 2 to the front side, the lid 12 can be opened. In this state, the disk cartridge 202 held in the disk holders 13, 14, 15 can be taken out to the front of the disk changer.

The disc changer according to the present invention is not limited to a disc cartridge constituted by accommodating a recording disc in a cartridge as described above. The recording disk used in a state where it is not stored may be used. In this case, the engaging portion of the drawer mechanism is formed in a shape that can engage with the recording disk.

[0102]

As described above, in the recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention, the pinion gear to which the arm member is attached is moved along the rack gear parallel to the direction in which the recording medium is transported, and the arm member is engaged. The unit is conveyed while engaging the recording medium. The engagement portion of the arm member moves along a cycloid curve.

Further, the disc changer according to the present invention includes the recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention, and the recording medium loading mechanism is configured to pull out one recording disk from a disk storage body that stores a plurality of recording disks. It was done.

That is, the present invention relates to a recording medium loading mechanism for pulling out a recording medium by using an arm member and conveying the recording medium.
It is possible to provide a recording medium loading mechanism capable of shortening the length of an arm member.

Further, the present invention can provide a disc changer having a reduced size of the apparatus by including the recording medium loading mechanism according to the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a disc changer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of the disc changer.

FIG. 3 is a side view, partially broken away, showing a state in which a lid member is opened in the disc changer.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration and a positional relationship of a carrier, a disk storage body, and a lid of the disk changer;
This shows a state in which the lid can be opened.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a configuration and a positional relationship of a carrier, a disk storage body, and a lid of the disk changer;
This shows a state in which opening of the lid is prohibited.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration and a positional relationship of a carrier, a disk storage body, and a lid of the disk changer;
This shows a state where the disk storage body is connected to the carrier.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a configuration of a mechanism for pulling out a carrier of the disc changer.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing the structure of the disk changer pull-out mechanism and the disk holder.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state in which the disk changer pull-out mechanism draws the disk holder into the transport body.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a configuration of a rack gear and a pinion gear which are main parts of a pull-out mechanism of the disk changer.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a configuration and a positional relationship of a carrier, a disc housing, and a chassis of the disc changer, showing a state where the disc housing is separated from the carrier.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a configuration and a positional relationship of a carrier, a disc housing, and a chassis of the disc changer, showing a state where the disc housing is coupled to the carrier.

FIG. 13 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a transport body that is a main part of the disc changer.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a configuration of a carrier of the disc changer.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing a positional relationship between a cam plate of the disk changer and a disk housing.

FIG. 16 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the transporter selects a middle recording disk in the disk changer.

FIG. 17 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the play mode is being executed in the disc changer.

FIG. 18 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the transporter selects the lowermost recording disk in the disk changer.

FIG. 19 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the transporter selects the middle recording disk in the disk changer.

FIG. 20 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the transporter selects the uppermost recording disk in the disk changer.

FIG. 21 is a side view showing a configuration of a cam plate of the disc changer.

FIG. 22 is a side view showing a state in which the cam plate of the disc changer has the carrier at the uppermost stage of the disc housing.

FIG. 23 is a side view showing a state in which the cam plate of the disk changer sets the transfer body to the middle stage of the disk storage body.

FIG. 24 is a side view showing a state in which the cam plate of the disc changer sets the carrier to the lowermost stage of the disc housing.

FIG. 25 is a side view showing a state in which the cam plate of the disc changer has the transporting body at the play position.

FIG. 26 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a positional relationship among a carrier, a disk storage body, and a disk holder of the disk changer.

FIG. 27 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the positional relationship among the carrier, the disc housing, and the disc holder when the disc housing of the disc changer is coupled to the carrier.

FIG. 28 illustrates a state in which the disk holder of the disk changer is being transported between the disk storage body and the transport body.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a positional relationship among a carrier, a disk storage body, and a disk holder.

FIG. 29 illustrates a state in which the disk holder of the disk changer is being conveyed between the disk storage body and the conveyance body.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view schematically showing a state in which the positional relationship between the transport body and the disk storage body is shifted.

FIG. 30 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the carrier accommodates the middle-stage disc holder in the disc changer.

FIG. 31 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the disk storage body is separated from the carrier in the disk changer.

FIG. 32 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the play mode is being executed in the disc changer.

FIG. 33 is a plan view showing a configuration of a rotating arm which is a main part of a drawer mechanism provided on a lifting / lowering body of a conventional disc changer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 chassis, 2 disk storage units, 3 dampers, 4
Recording / reproducing section, 5 optical pickup, 6 spindle motor, 7 carrier, 12 lid, 13, 14, 15 disk holder, 39, 154 guide slit, 40, 4
1,42 support pin, 62 fixing plate, 79 lid opening prohibition lever, 127 chucking spring, 143 holding plate,
155 Positioning pin, 156 Positioning hole, 157
Rack gear, 158 pinion gear, 159 engaging part,
160 drawer arm, 202 disk cartridge

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rack gear provided in a direction parallel to a direction in which a recording medium is conveyed, a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear, a base end side attached to the pinion gear, and a front end associated with the recording medium. An arm member having a mating engagement portion, wherein the pinion gear is moved along the rack gear to convey a recording medium engaged with the engagement portion of the arm member. Media loading mechanism. 2. A plurality of recording disks are accommodated in such a manner that the main surfaces of these recording disks are parallel to each other and connected in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of each recording disk, and each recording disk is placed on the main surface of these recording disks A disk storage body that can be pulled out in one direction along the disk storage body; And a carrier for holding one recording disk, and a direction parallel to the direction in which the recording disk is pulled out from the disk storage body over the carrier is provided on the carrier. Rack gear, a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear, and a base end attached to the pinion gear and a front end connected to a recording disk. An arm member having an engaging portion that engages with the recording disk to move the pinion gear along the rack gear to thereby convey the recording disk and the recording disk. And a drawer mechanism that moves on a locus of a continuous cycloid curve in which a section to disengage with the drawer mechanism is provided.
The engagement of the engaging portion with each of the recording disks stored in the disk storage is released, and when the carrier is stopped, an edge of each of the recording disks stored in the disk storage is Engaging the engaging portion with a recording disk facing the carrier, moving the engaging portion, pulling out the recording disk from the disk housing, and carrying the recording disk into the carrier. Disc changer. 3. A recording disk, which is rotatably stored in a cartridge, and is transported and mounted on a recording / reproducing unit while being stored in the cartridge. The disc changer according to claim 2.