JPH11353824A - Optical storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To absorb the change in distance between pitches being generated between a rack and pinion by supporting the pinion of a rack-and-pinion gear so that the pinion can be moved, and at the same time, by applying pre-load by an elastic member for energizing the pinion to the rack. SOLUTION: The pinion 29 of a rack-and-pinion gear is supported to a rotation member 36 being supported to the chassis 21 freely rotatably so that the pinion 29 can be freely rotated, and a rack 28 of the rack-and-pinion gear is fixed to a slide base 27. Also, a coil spring 47 for energizing the pinion rack 29 to the rack 28 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical storage device for recording (writing) and / or reproducing (reading) information signals on an optical storage medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk using an optical pickup device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical storage device in which a feed mechanism having a rack-and-pinion gear moves an optical pickup device toward and away from a rotation drive mechanism for rotating an optical storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical storage device in which an optical pickup device is moved toward and away from a rotary drive mechanism by a feed mechanism having a rack-and-pinion gear is generally shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example. Such a structure is known. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional optical storage device, and FIG. 8 is a side view thereof.

[0003] The optical storage device shown in FIGS.
A frame-shaped chassis 1 provided with an opening window 2 on the inside, a spindle motor 3 as a rotation drive mechanism attached to one longitudinal side of the chassis 1, and a rotation drive mounted on the spindle motor 3 An optical pickup device 4 having an optical head 4a for emitting a laser beam toward an optical disk to be processed, and a feed mechanism 5 for moving the optical pickup device 4 forward and backward so as to approach and separate from the spindle motor 3 are provided. . The optical pickup device 4 moved by the feed mechanism 5 is slidably supported by two guide shafts 6a and 6b arranged in parallel with each other so as to straddle the opening window 2 in the longitudinal direction.

[0004] Of the two guide shafts 6a and 6b, one guide shaft 6a slidably passes through a bearing hole provided in a slide base 7 which is a member on the optical pickup device side. The optical pickup device 4 is moved in the axial direction by being guided by 6a. A rack and pinion gear rack 8 is attached to the slide base 7 so as to be integrated with the optical pickup device 4, and the teeth of the rack 8 extend so as to be parallel to the guide shafts 6a and 6b. . The pinion 9 meshed with the rack 8 is rotatably supported via a support shaft 10 on one frame side in the width direction crossing the longitudinal direction of the chassis 1.

[0005] The pinion 9 is connected to the drive gear 11 via a plurality of gears so as to transmit power. The drive gear 11 is a drive motor 1 mounted on the chassis 1.
2 is attached to the rotating shaft. This drive motor 12
The gear train including the drive gear 11, the rack 8 and the pinion 9, and the guide shafts 6 a and 6 b constitute a feed mechanism 5 that moves the optical pickup device 4 forward and backward with respect to the spindle motor 3.

Thus, by driving the drive motor 12 to rotate the pinion 9, the rack 8 moves forward or backward in accordance with the rotation direction of the pinion 9. As a result, the optical head 4a moves on the information recording surface of the optical disk in the radial direction, and recording (writing) and / or reproduction (reading) of the information signal is executed.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional optical storage device, the rotational force of the pinion 9 supported on the chassis 1 is transmitted to the rack 8 attached to the slide base 7, and the rotation of the pinion 9 is performed. Since the optical pickup device 4 is moved forward and backward while being guided by the two guide shafts 6a and 6b by force, the pitch line R of the teeth of the rack 8 is attached in parallel with the axis G of the guide shaft 6a. If not, the rotational force of the pinion 9 fluctuates in relation to the meshing position of the rack 8, and there is a problem that the optical pickup device 4 cannot be moved smoothly and reliably.

That is, when the pitch line R of the teeth of the rack 8 is not set parallel to the axis G of the guide shaft 6a, the position of the optical pickup device 4 relative to the spindle motor 3 depends on the position of the rack 8 and the rack 8. The distance from the pinion 9 changes. As described above, when the distance between the pitches between the rack 8 and the pinion 9 fluctuates, if the distance between the pitches is reduced, the teeth of the rack 8 and the pinion 9
The pitch point at which the teeth of the drive motor 11
Load increases. As a result, when the pitch point becomes too deep and the tip circle of one tooth comes into contact with the root circle of the other tooth, there is a problem that both teeth may be locked and cannot move.

On the other hand, conversely, when the distance between the pitches of the rack 8 and the pinion 9 increases, the play at the pitch point between the two teeth increases. As a result, the rotational force between the rack 8 and the pinion 9 is not smoothly transmitted, and there is a problem that it is difficult to move the optical pickup device 4 smoothly.

As a conventional optical storage device provided with a countermeasure for solving such a problem, for example, a device having a configuration as shown in FIG. 9 is known. The rack and pinion gear of the optical storage device is configured such that the rack 14 is rotatably supported on the slide base 7 by a support shaft 15, and the attitude of the rack 14 can be changed about the support shaft 15.

The rack 14 is provided with a rack body 14a provided with a large number of teeth, an arm portion 14b protruding from the rear side of the rack body 14a, and both sides of the teeth of the rack body 14a in the direction of the pitch line R. A pair of projection pieces 14c, 14
d, and a bearing piece (not shown) provided at an intermediate portion between the two projecting pieces 14c and 14d.
a is slidably inserted. The projections 14c and 14d at both ends are provided with through holes 16a and 16b having a hole diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the guide shaft 6a. The guide shaft 6a is provided in these through holes 16a and 16b. It is loosely inserted while maintaining a predetermined gap.

Thus, the rack 14 is supported by the support shaft 15
The arm portion 14b and the rack body 14a can be rotated about the center. On the other hand, since both ends of the guide shaft 6a penetrating the bearing piece (not shown) are fixed to the chassis 1, the rack 14 is rotated around the support portion by the bearing piece. At this time, a relative rotation displacement occurs between the guide shaft 6a and the rack 14, but the rotation of the rack 14 with respect to the guide shaft 6a is caused by protrusions provided on both sides of the teeth of the rack body 14a in the direction of the pitch line R. Since the through-holes 16a and 16b of the pieces 14c and 14d allow the rotation, the above-described rotation operation is ensured.

According to the optical storage device having the feed mechanism having the rack and pinion gear, the rack 14 follows the pinion 9 so that the meshing state becomes appropriate.
Will rotate. As a result, it is possible to prevent the teeth of the rack 14 and the teeth of the pinion 9 from engaging with each other more deeply than necessary and to be locked.
Locking measures can be achieved.

However, in an optical storage device provided with a feed mechanism having such a rack-and-pinion gear, even if the drive motor 12 is locked, the rack 14 and the optical pick-up device 4 play back. The rotation force of the optical pickup device 4 cannot be smoothly transmitted to the rack 14, and the feeding of the optical pickup device 4 becomes unstable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has a structure in which a pinion of a rack and pinion gear is movably supported, and a pinion is urged to the rack by applying a preload by an elastic member. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem by absorbing a change in a distance between pitches generated between a rack and a pinion.

[0016]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and the like, and to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first aspect of the present invention is described.
The optical storage device according to the present invention includes a rotation drive mechanism that drives the optical storage medium to rotate, an optical pickup device that records and / or reproduces information signals on the optical storage medium, and an optical pickup device that moves the optical pickup device to the rotation drive mechanism. And a feed mechanism having a rack-and-pinion gear for moving closer to and away from the rack, the pinion of the rack-and-pinion gear is rotated by a rotating member rotatably supported by a member on the rotation driving mechanism side. The rack and the pinion gear are freely supported, and the rack of the rack and pinion gear is fixed to a member on the optical pickup device side, and an elastic member for biasing the pinion to the rack is provided.

An optical storage device according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises:
The elastic member is a coil spring whose one end is locked to the rotating member and the other end is locked to a member on the rotation drive mechanism side.

An optical storage device according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises:
The member on the rotation drive mechanism side is provided with a rotation restricting portion for restricting the amount of rotation of the rotating member, and the rotation restricting portion limits the bias of the pinion by the elastic member within a predetermined range. And

An optical storage device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises:
The rack-and-pinion gear is provided with large-sized teeth at both ends of the rack with tooth tips protruding toward the pinion in order to prevent disengagement with the pinion.

In the optical storage device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pinion supported by the rotating member is urged toward the rack by the elastic member. Can be absorbed. Therefore, the depth at which the teeth of the rack and the teeth of the pinion mesh with each other is kept substantially constant, so that the load on the drive motor is prevented from increasing, or the tip circle of one tooth becomes the root of the other tooth. It is possible to prevent the two teeth from locking and not moving due to contact with the circle, and to realize a stable feeding operation of the optical pickup device.

In the optical storage device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the pinion can be easily and reliably biased to the rack by forming the elastic member with a coil spring.

In the optical storage device according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the amount of rotation of the rotating member supporting the pinion is limited by the rotation limiting portion, the pinion is urged to the rack only within a predetermined range. Thus, it is possible to prevent the pinion from being urged against the rack with an excessive force, and to prevent the load on the drive motor from becoming larger than a predetermined value.

In the optical storage device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the large-sized teeth are provided at both ends of the rack, the optical pickup device is provided with an approaching end or a separating end of the rotary drive mechanism. , The pinion can be prevented from coming off by the large teeth provided at each end even if the pinion moves in the direction away from the rack due to the impact force at the time of the collision. As a result, the meshing state between the pinion and the rack is always ensured, and it is possible to prevent a malfunction such as a malfunction in the feed mechanism from occurring.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which a CD (Compact Disc) or a CD-R
Optical storage device capable of reproducing (reading) or recording (writing) an information signal, or both recording and reproducing, using an optical disk such as an OM (Read Only Memory) or a CD-R (Rewritable) as an optical storage medium. The present invention is applied to a disk recording / reproducing apparatus as the above.

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a disk recording / reproducing apparatus according to the optical storage device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a bottom view, FIG. 2 is a side view, and FIG. It is. Further, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged main part of FIG.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line YY of a main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged main part of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the disk recording / reproducing apparatus 20 includes a chassis 21 which is a member on the rotation drive mechanism side forming a substantially rectangular frame, and a rotation drive mechanism mounted on the chassis 21. Spindle motor 23 as
And an optical pickup device 24 movably mounted on the chassis 21, and a feed mechanism 25 for moving the optical pickup device 24 forward and backward with respect to the spindle motor 23 to approach and separate from the spindle motor 23.

An opening window 22 is provided at the center of the chassis 21.
A metal member such as a steel plate or a stainless steel plate is suitable as the material, but other materials such as plastic can also be used. At four corners of the chassis 21, there are provided insulator mounting holes 21a for mounting a mount insulator (not shown). These insulator mounting holes 21
Through the mount insulator attached to a
This chassis 21 is elastically supported by the apparatus main body.

The spindle motor 23 is disposed in the vicinity of the center of one of the frame sides of the chassis 21 in the longitudinal direction, and is fixed to the lower surface of the chassis 21 with a plurality of mounting screws 31. The rotating shaft 23a of the spindle motor 23 penetrates the hole of the chassis 21 and projects to the upper surface side.
A turntable 33 is integrally attached to the upper end.

The turntable 33 includes a disc fitting portion 33a fitted into a center hole provided at the center of an optical disc such as a CD or CD-R as an optical storage medium;
And a disk mounting portion 33b for supporting a peripheral portion of a center hole of the optical disk. Further, the disk fitting portion 33
A plurality of locking claws 33c protruding outward in the radial direction are attached to a so as to be able to advance and retreat. These locking claws 33c
Are projected above the periphery of the center hole of the optical disk mounted on the disk fitting portion 33a, and these locking claws 33
The optical disk is sandwiched between c and the disk mounting portion 33b, and is integrally held by the turntable 33.

The optical pickup device 24 configured to be able to approach and separate from the turntable 33 and the spindle motor 23 has two guide shafts arranged in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the chassis 21 and in parallel with each other. 2
6a and 26b are slidably supported. The two guide shafts 26a and 26b are arranged so as to straddle the opening window 22 in the longitudinal direction, and both ends are fixed to the chassis 21 and supported at both ends.

A slide base 27, which is a member on the optical pickup device side, is slidably attached to the two guide shafts 26a and 26b. This slide base 2
7 has a pair of front and rear bearing pieces 27a provided at one end and a locking piece 27b provided at the other end, and a pair of bearing pieces 27a are provided with a bearing hole having a common center line. The piece 27b is formed in a U-shaped cross section. One guide shaft 26a is slidably inserted into the bearing hole of the pair of bearing pieces 27a, and the other guide shaft 26b is slidably engaged with the locking piece 27b. This allows the slide base 27 to move linearly while being guided by the guide shafts 26a and 26b.

An optical pickup device 24 is mounted on the slide base 27. The optical pickup device 24 includes an optical head 24 having an objective lens facing an information recording surface of an optical disc mounted on a turntable 33.
a, and optical components such as a laser diode that emits a laser beam emitted to an information recording surface via an objective lens and a photodiode that receives return light. The connection portion provided at one end of the flexible printed wiring board 34 is connected to the terminal connection portion 24b of the optical pickup device 24, and the connection portion at the other end is connected to a printed wiring board (not shown) attached to the device body. It is electrically connected to a portable power supply such as a household power supply or a dry battery through the printed wiring board.

Further, a rack 28 constituting one of the rack and pinion gears is attached to the slide base 27. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the rack 28 has a rack body 28a having a straight bar and a large number of teeth arranged in a line, and a rack body 28a having a direction opposite to the teeth at a halfway portion in the longitudinal direction. And a stopper portion 28c provided to protrude in the same direction as the teeth at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the rack body 28a.

The base 28b of the rack 28 has a screw hole 35a through which a mounting screw is inserted, and a screw hole 35a.
And two dowels 35b for positioning are provided with a predetermined gap in the longitudinal direction so as to sandwich. To attach the rack 28 to the slide base 27, the two dowels 35b are fitted into dowel holes provided in the slide base 27 and positioned, and then, as shown in FIG.
This is carried out by tightening the mounting screw 36 inserted through a.

The pitch line R of the teeth of the rack 28 attached to the slide base 27 in this manner is
It is set substantially parallel to the axis G of 6a. This rack 28
As shown in FIG. 4, large teeth 28d having protruding tips and having a height h higher than the other teeth are provided at both ends of each tooth. These large teeth 28d are provided in order to prevent disengagement with the pinion 29. For example, the large teeth 28d are such that a force acting in a direction away from the rack 28 acts on the pinion 29 due to an impact at the time of movement or the like. Also in this case, it is possible to prevent the teeth of the pinion 29 from being disengaged from the teeth of the rack 28 by securing the meshing between them.

A stopper 2 is provided for the teeth of the rack 28.
8c is set with an appropriate gap in the tooth width direction. The stopper portion 28c limits the amount of movement of the slide base 27. The chassis 21 is provided with a movement restricting piece 21b that protrudes toward the opening window 22 corresponding to the stopper portion 28c.

The pinion 29 meshing with the rack 28 having such a structure is rotated by a link-shaped rotating member 36 rotatably supported by the chassis 21, as shown in FIGS. It is freely supported. The rotating member 36 is disposed near the center on the back surface side of one frame side in the width direction crossing the longitudinal direction of the chassis 21, and is supported on the chassis 21 by fixing means such as press-fitting.
It is supported rotatably.

The rotating member 36 has a cylindrical rotating shaft portion 36a and a supporting shaft portion 36b projecting to one surface at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction, and is supported by a hole of the rotating shaft portion 36a. Axis 3
7 are rotatably fitted. A retaining ring 37a is engaged with the tip of the support shaft 37, and the retaining ring 37a
The rotation member 36 is prevented from coming off. Further, the support shaft portion 36b of the rotation member 36 is set longer than the rotation shaft portion 36a, and the distal end portion of the support shaft portion 36b has a restriction hole 38 as a rotation restriction portion provided in the chassis 21.
Is loosely inserted. The restriction hole 38 and the support shaft 36
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a gap e having a predetermined size is set between b and b. Therefore,
The rotation member 36 can rotate within a range of the size of the gap e with the support shaft 37 as a rotation center.

The support shaft 36b of the rotating member 36
, A pinion 29 is rotatably supported, and the pinion 29 is engaged with the rack 28. A first intermediate gear 40 in which a small-diameter gear 40a and a large-diameter gear 40b are integrally provided is rotatably supported on the rotation shaft 36a of the rotation member 36. The small diameter gear 40a of the first intermediate gear 40 is meshed with the pinion 29, while the large diameter gear 40b is meshed with the second intermediate gear 42.
The second intermediate gear 42 is rotatably supported by a support pin 41 fixed to the chassis 21 by fixing means such as press fitting.

Further, the second intermediate gear 42 is meshed with a drive gear 45 attached to a rotary shaft 44a of a drive motor 44. The drive motor 44 is disposed on the upper surface of the chassis 21 and is fixed to the chassis 21 by fixing means such as mounting screws. The rotating shaft 4 of the drive motor 44
4a protrudes from the lower surface side through the chassis 21, and a drive gear 45 formed integrally with the flywheel 46 is attached to the protruding portion of the rotating shaft 44a.

Further, one end of a coil spring 47, which is a specific example of an elastic member, is locked at the free end of the rotating member 36. The coil spring 47 is a tension coil spring formed by winding a steel wire into a coil shape, and the other end is locked by a coil receiving piece 21 c provided upright on an edge of the chassis 21 on the side of the opening window 22. . This coil spring 47
Due to the spring force generated against the pulling force of
Is pulled toward the coil receiving piece 21c, and the pinion 29 is urged by the rack 28. Then, the moving amount of the rotating member 36 due to the spring force of the coil spring 47 is
It is limited by the restriction hole 38.

A gear train composed of a combination of a plurality of gears including the drive motor 44 and the drive gear 45 described above, a rack-and-pinion gear composed of a rack 28 and a pinion 29, and a pair of guide shafts 26a, 26b By
A feed mechanism 25 for moving the optical pickup device 24 forward and backward so as to approach and separate from the spindle motor 23 is configured.

The disk recording / reproducing apparatus 20 having such a configuration can be used, for example, as follows. First, after the optical disc is mounted on the turntable 33, the spindle motor 23 is driven to rotate the optical disc at a predetermined speed. The driving motor 44 of the feed mechanism 25 is driven so as to operate in conjunction therewith, and the rotational force of the rotating shaft 44 a is transmitted from the driving gear 45 to the pinion 29 via the second intermediate gear 42 and the first intermediate gear 40. .

When the rotational force of the pinion 29 is transmitted to the rack 28, the slide base 27 to which the rack 28 is fixed and integrated is divided into two guide shafts 26a, 2a.
6b, it is moved forward and backward so as to approach or separate from the spindle motor 23. As a result, according to the rotation direction of the pinion 29, the optical pickup device 24
Is moved inward or outward in the radial direction of the optical disk, and when the optical pickup device 24 moves outward in the radial direction, recording (writing) or reproduction (reading) of an information signal on the information storage surface of the optical disk is performed by the optical head 24a. Is done.

In this case, if the axis G of the guide shaft 26a for guiding the optical pickup device 24 is not parallel to the pitch line R of the teeth of the rack 28, the conventional disk recording / reproducing apparatus has the above-described configuration. Since the distance between the rack 8 and the pinion 9 changes depending on the relative position of the optical pickup device 4 with respect to the spindle motor 3, the pitch distance between the rack 8 and the pinion 9 changes. As a result, when the pitch-to-pitch distance is reduced, the depth (pitch point) at which the teeth of the rack 8 and the teeth of the pinion 9 engage with each other is increased, and the load of the drive motor 11 fluctuates greatly to realize a stable feeding operation. In some cases, the tip circle of one tooth abuts the root circle of the other tooth, and both teeth lock and cannot move.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pinion 29 meshing with the rack 28 is rotatably supported by the rotating member 36, and the coil spring 4
7, the pinion 29 is urged against the rack 28 by applying the spring force of 7, so that when the optical pickup device 24 moves and the relative position with respect to the spindle motor 23 fluctuates, the pinion 29 follows the movement. Rack 2
The pitch distance between the pinion 8 and the pinion 29 can always be kept substantially constant. Therefore, the load of the drive motor 44 for driving the pinion 29 can be always substantially constant,
The driving force is transmitted to the rack 28 by rotating and driving the pinion 29 with a constant force, and the optical pickup device 24 can be moved smoothly and with good stability.

Further, the first intermediate gear 40 for transmitting the rotational force of the drive motor 44 to the pinion 29 is rotatably supported by the rotating member 36 as in the case of the pinion 29.
The rotational distance of the first intermediate gear 40 can be reliably transmitted to the pinion 29 without changing the distance between the pitches of the pinion 29 and the first intermediate gear 40. In addition, the movement amount of the pinion 29 is limited to a predetermined range by the support shaft portion 36b of the rotating member 36 that supports the pinion 29 by the restriction hole 38 of the chassis 21. Usually, the pinion 29 is pushed to the rack 28. Since the pinion 29 is made to follow the rack 28 and is pressed only within a necessary range without applying the pressure, it is possible to prevent the extra pressure from being applied to the rack 28 from the pinion 29.

In this embodiment, the pinion 29 escapes from the rack 28 only when the pitch distance between the rack 28 and the pinion 29 is narrowed. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the pinion 29 is constantly pressed against the rack 28 by the spring force of the coil spring 47 so that the pinion 29 always follows the movement of the rack 28.

In the case where the slide base 27 on which the optical pickup device 24 is mounted abuts on the end on the approach side or the away side with respect to the spindle motor 23, in the conventional disk recording / reproducing apparatus, the pinion is caused by the impact force at the time of collision. In some cases, the teeth 29 were lifted, and their teeth were disengaged from the teeth of the rack 28. In such a case, the pinion 29 may not be able to mesh with the rack 28 thereafter, and in some cases, the teeth of the pinion 29 may be damaged.

On the other hand, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the large teeth 28d are provided at both ends of the rack 28, and only the tooth which is the last end of the engagement is raised in height to make the difference between the height h and the other teeth. Therefore, even when the pinion 29 is lifted up by an impact force when the pinion 29 comes into contact with the approaching side or the separating side, the teeth of the pinion 29 can be prevented from passing over the teeth of the rack 28. Therefore, even when the pinion 29 is lifted by an impact force or the like at the time of a collision, the pinion 29 does not come off the rack 28 and the pinion 2
The meshing state between the rack 9 and the rack 28 can always be ensured.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a C disk recording / reproducing apparatus using a CD-R as an optical storage medium. Although an example has been described, the present invention can be applied to a disk reproducing apparatus using a read-only CD, a CD-ROM, or the like, and a write-once disk recording / reproducing apparatus that can be written only once, or a magneto-optical disk as an optical storage medium. Disk recording and reproducing apparatus using
It can be applied to various other optical storage devices.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the restriction hole 38 is used as the rotation restricting portion has been described. However, the protrusion for restricting the movement of the support shaft portion 36b of the rotating member 36 may be integrally or separately provided on the chassis. 21 and this projection can be applied as a rotation restricting portion. Furthermore, although the example using the coil spring 47 as the elastic member has been described, other types of springs such as a leaf spring can be used, and rubber or a rubber-like elastic body can also be used.

Further, as a method of mounting the optical disk on the turntable 33, in the above embodiment, a plurality of locking claws 33c to be engaged with the center hole of the optical disk are provided in the disk fitting portion 33a, and these locking claws 33c are provided. The example in which the method of engaging and holding the peripheral portion of the center hole with the table mounting portion 33b has been described. In addition, for example, the chucking plate is attracted by the magnetic force of a magnet, and the chucking plate is A magnet attraction method in which the optical disk is held between the turntable and the optical disk, and various other crimping methods can be applied. Thus, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit thereof.

[0054]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the optical storage device according to the above, the pinion of the rack and pinion gear is rotatably supported by a rotating member rotatably supported by a member on the rotation drive mechanism side, and the rack of the rack and pinion gear is optically picked up. Since the elastic member for urging the pinion to the rack is provided while being fixed to the member on the device side, the fluctuation of the pitch generated between the rack and the pinion of the rack and pinion gear for moving the optical pickup device forward and backward is absorbed. The distance between the pitches can be kept substantially constant. Therefore, the depth of engagement between the teeth of the rack and the teeth of the pinion is kept substantially constant to prevent the load on the drive motor from becoming large, or the tip circle of one tooth becomes the root of the other tooth. It is possible to prevent the two teeth from being locked due to the contact with the circle and not moving, thereby achieving an effect that a stable feeding operation of the optical pickup device can be realized.

According to the optical storage device of the second aspect of the present invention, the elastic member is a coil spring whose one end is locked by the rotating member and whose other end is locked by the member on the rotary drive mechanism side. Accordingly, an effect is obtained that the pinion can be easily and reliably biased to the rack with a simple structure.

According to the optical storage device of the third aspect of the present invention, the member on the side of the rotary drive mechanism is provided with a rotation restricting portion for restricting the amount of rotation of the rotating member, and the rotation restricting portion is provided with an elastic member. By limiting the bias of the pinion to within a predetermined range, the pinion is urged to the rack only within the predetermined range, thereby preventing the pinion from being urged to the rack with an excessive force. The effect is obtained that the load on the drive motor can be prevented from becoming larger than a predetermined value.

According to the optical storage device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the rack and pinion gear has a large-sized tooth with a tooth tip protruding toward the pinion at both ends of the rack so as to prevent disengagement with the pinion. With the configuration in which the teeth are provided, when the optical pickup device abuts on the end on the approach side or the end on the separation side of the rotary drive mechanism, even if the pinion moves in the direction away from the rack due to the impact, the pinion is Can be prevented from coming off, and the meshing state between the pinion and the rack can always be ensured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a malfunction such as a malfunction of the feed mechanism or damage to the pinion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a disk recording / reproducing apparatus showing one embodiment of an optical storage device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line YY of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a first example of a conventional disk recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a first example of a conventional disk recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a second example of the conventional disk recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 disk recording / reproducing device (optical storage device), 21
Chassis (member on rotation drive mechanism), 23 spindle motor (rotation drive mechanism), 24 optical pickup device, 25 feed mechanism, 26a, 26b guide shaft, 27 slide base (member on optical pickup device side), 28 rack, 28d Large teeth, 29
Pinion, 33 turntable, 36 rotating member, 36b support shaft portion, 37 support shaft, 38 restriction hole (rotation restriction portion), 44 drive motor, 47 coil spring (elastic member)

Claims (4)

[Claims] A rotating drive mechanism for rotating an optical storage medium; an optical pickup device for recording and / or reproducing an information signal on and from the optical storage medium; A feed mechanism having a rack-and-pinion gear for moving toward and away from the optical storage device, wherein a pinion of the rack-and-pinion gear is rotatably supported by a member on the rotation drive mechanism side. An optical storage device, wherein the optical storage device is rotatably supported, and a rack of the rack and pinion gear is fixed to a member on the optical pickup device side, and an elastic member for urging the pinion against the rack is provided. 2. The optical storage device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is a coil spring whose one end is locked by the rotating member and whose other end is locked by a member on the rotation drive mechanism side. An optical storage device, characterized in that: 3. The optical storage device according to claim 1, wherein the member on the side of the rotation driving mechanism is provided with a rotation restricting portion for restricting the amount of rotation of the rotating member, and the elastic member is provided by the rotation restricting portion. Wherein the biasing of the pinion is limited within a predetermined range. 4. The optical storage device according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the rack of the rack and pinion gear are
An optical storage device comprising: a large tooth having a tooth tip protruding toward the pinion in order to prevent disengagement with the pinion.