KR100498461B1 - Tray guide structure for optical disc drive - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a tray guide structure of an optical disc drive. The disclosed tray guide structure includes a rail coupling portion formed at both sides of the tray, a sliding rail coupled to both rail coupling portions of the tray to support the tray slidably, and fixedly installed at both corners of the lower case, respectively. A rail guide for guiding is provided. In addition, as a tray departure preventing means, a stopper is provided with a protrusion protruding upward near the rear end of one sliding rail, and an insertion groove protruding laterally at a predetermined position of one rail guide and inserting the protrusion on the moving path of the protrusion. It is provided. According to such a configuration, when the tray is moved a predetermined distance forward, the projection is inserted into the insertion groove so that the tray is caught by the stopper so that the tray is not released from the housing even if a significant impact and force act on the tray.

Description

Tray guide structure for optical disc drive

The present invention relates to an optical disk drive, and more particularly, to a tray guide structure that stably guides the reciprocating movement of a tray on which a disk is seated and prevents the tray from being separated.

In general, an optical disc drive is a device for recording information or reproducing recorded information by irradiating light onto a recording medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a digital video disc (DVD). Such an optical disk drive is mainly employed in a computer, and especially a notebook computer employs a slim optical disk drive having a very thin thickness.

1 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a structure of a conventional slim optical disk drive, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are views for explaining a problem of a conventional tray guide structure. It is an enlarged perspective view of the A site | part shown in FIG.

First, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a conventional slim optical disc drive includes a housing 10 including a lower case 11 and an upper case 12, and a tray 20 installed in and out of the housing 10. Equipped with. The main base 30 is coupled to the tray 20, and the main base 30 has a spindle motor 40 for rotating the disk D, and records / reproduces data on the rotating disk D. An optical pickup unit 50 and a transfer device (not shown) for reciprocating the optical pickup unit 50 in the radial direction of the disc are provided. At the top of the spindle motor 40, a turntable 42 on which the disk D is mounted is provided. As such, the spindle 20 is provided with the spindle motor 40 and the optical pickup unit 50, and they are brought into and out of the housing 10 together.

On the other hand, an eject button 62 for operating a tray takeout device (not shown) is provided in the front bezel 60 of the tray 20. The lower case 11 includes a main board printed circuit board 70 for interfacing the optical disk drive and an external device, and a spindle moving together with the fixed main board printed circuit board 70 and the tray 20. The motor 40 and the optical pickup unit 50 are electrically connected by a flexible printed circuit 72.

The optical disc drive is provided with a tray guide structure for guiding the reciprocating movement of the tray 20 as described above. The tray guide structure includes a rail coupling portion 22 formed at both sides of the tray 20, a sliding rail 24 slidably coupled to the rail coupling portion 22, and both sides of the lower case 11. The rail guide 26 is fixedly installed in the corner and guides the reciprocating movement of the sliding rail 24. Meanwhile, reference numeral 14 denotes a fixing plate for fixing the rail guide 26, and reference numeral 16 denotes a protrusion for guiding the sliding rail 24 not to deviate from the reciprocating movement path.

In a slim optical disc drive having such a configuration, when loading or unloading the disc D, the tray 20 is pushed out of the housing 10 by pressing the eject button 62. At this time, a means for preventing the tray 20 from being separated from the housing 10 is required. Conventionally, as a tray separation preventing means, a stopper 28 protruding horizontally is provided at a middle portion of the rail guide 26 in a longitudinal direction, and a protrusion protruding a predetermined height vertically near the rear end of the sliding rail 26 ( 29) is provided.

The operation of the tray departure preventing means will be described. As the tray 20 is taken out, the sliding rail 24 also moves forward along the rail guide 26, that is, in the takeout direction (arrow F direction). When the tray 20 reaches the position where the disc D can be replaced, the protrusion 29 of the sliding rail 24 is caught by the stopper 28 of the rail guide 26 so that the sliding rail 24 is no longer forward. You will not be able to move to.

By the way, in the conventional tray guide structure, there are some gaps necessary for the sliding movement between the sliding rail 24, the rail guide 26 and the rail coupling portion 22, respectively. In addition, the stopper 28 provided on the rail guide 26 has a thickness and protrusion to prevent interference with other components and interference with the sliding rail 24 when the sliding rail 24 is assembled to the rail guide 26. Width is limited. In addition, the height of the protrusion 29 provided on the sliding rail 24 is limited in order to avoid interference with other components.

Therefore, in the related art, when a certain amount of external impact or force is applied to the tray 20 in the ejecting direction, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the sliding rail 24 is shaken or bent, and the protrusion 29 is a rail guide ( The stopper 28 of 26 is easily released. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, the stopper 28 protrudes horizontally from the rail guide 26 and is generally made of plastic, whereas the protrusion 29 projects vertically from the sliding rail 24 and is generally Since it is made of a thin metal material, the end of the stopper 28 is damaged by the protruding portion 29, so that the protruding portion 29 leaves the stopper 28. As such, when the protrusion 29 of the sliding rail 24 is out of the stopper 28 of the rail guide 26, the tray 20 may be separated from the housing 10.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was created to solve the above problems of the prior art, and in particular, a tray guide structure of an optical disc drive having a tray departure preventing means capable of preventing the tray from being separated even when a significant impact or force is applied to the tray. The purpose is to provide.

The present invention to achieve the above object,

The rail coupling portion is formed in the longitudinal direction on both sides of the tray on which the disk is seated, the sliding rails are coupled to both rail coupling portions of the tray to support the tray so as to slidably, and fixedly installed at both corners of the lower case. In the tray guide structure of the optical disk drive having a rail guide for guiding the sliding rail,

A protruding portion protruding upward from a rear end portion of one sliding rail of the two sliding rails; And

And a stopper which protrudes laterally at a predetermined position of one of the rail guides of the both rail guides and an insertion groove into which the protrusion is inserted on the movement path of the protrusion.

When the tray is moved a predetermined distance forward, the projection is inserted into the insertion groove while being caught by the stopper to provide a tray guide structure of the optical disk drive, characterized in that the tray is not separated from the housing.

Here, the sliding rail is preferably inserted in the longitudinal direction from the front to the rail guide.

Preferably, the rail guide has an opening formed at a corner portion adjacent to the stopper. Therefore, when the sliding rail is inserted into the rail guide, the top and bottom deformation of the stopper is facilitated.

In addition, when the sliding rail is inserted into the rail guide, the side surfaces of each of the stopper and the protrusion which contact each other are inclined.

According to such a configuration, since the protrusion is inserted into the insertion groove of the stopper, the protrusion hardly escapes the stopper even if the sliding rail is bent, so that the tray is not detached from the housing even when a significant impact and force act on the tray.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the tray guide structure of the optical disk drive according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a slim optical disk drive employing a tray guide structure according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the assembled state of the tray guide structure shown in FIG.

4 and 5 together, the optical disk drive includes a housing 110 including a lower case 111 and an upper case 112, and a tray 120 installed in and out of the housing 110. The housing 110 is fixedly installed in the body of an electronic device employing a slim optical disk drive, such as a computer, in particular a notebook computer. The main base 130 is coupled to the tray 120. The main base 130 reciprocates the spindle motor 140 for rotating the disk, the optical pickup unit 150 for reproducing the data recorded on the rotating disk, and the optical pickup unit 150 in the radial direction of the disk. A conveying device (not shown) is provided. In addition, a turntable 142 on which the disk is mounted is provided at the upper portion of the spindle motor 140. As such, the spindle motor 140 and the optical pickup unit 150 are installed in the tray 120, and they enter and exit the housing 110 together.

On the other hand, the front bezel (160) of the tray 120 is provided with an eject button 162 for operating the tray takeout device (not shown). In addition, the lower case 111 is provided with a main board printed circuit board 170, the main board printed circuit board 170 is a spindle motor 140 and the optical pickup unit 150 through a flexible printed circuit 172. Is connected to.

In addition, the optical disc drive is provided with a tray guide structure for reciprocating movement of the tray 120 installed in the housing 110 to be accessible. The tray guide structure according to the present invention is a sliding rail which is slidably coupled to each of the rail coupling portion 122 formed on both sides of the tray 120 on which the disk is seated, and the rail coupling portion 122 of both sides of the tray 120. 124 and rail guides 126 fixed to both corners of the lower case 111 are provided.

The rail coupling portion 122 is formed long on both sides of the tray 120 in the longitudinal direction, that is, the reciprocating movement direction. The sliding rail 124 has a cross-section of approximately "C" shape to accommodate the rail coupling portion 122 of the tray 120, the thickness is about 0.5mm. In addition, the sliding rail 124 is made of a metal press material having a high strength to support the tray 120. The rail guide 126 serves to guide the reciprocating movement of the sliding rail 124 coupled to the inner side, and is made of a plastic injection molding having a thickness of about 1 mm to reduce friction noise with the sliding rail 124. It is made, it is fixed to both corners of the lower case 111 by the fixing plate 114 formed by bending the side wall of the lower case 111. In addition, the rail guide 126 also has a cross-section of a substantially "C" shape to accommodate the sliding rail 124. In addition, the rail guide 126 is formed with a protrusion 116 for guiding the sliding rail 124 not to leave the reciprocating path.

And, the tray guide structure is provided with a tray departure preventing means 180 which is a feature of the present invention. The tray departure preventing means 180 includes a stopper 182 provided in one of the rail guides 126 of two rail guides 126 installed at both corners of the lower case 111, and two rail guides ( The protrusion 186 provided on any one of the sliding rails 124 of the two sliding rails 124 coupled to the 126 is provided.

The protrusion 186 protrudes upward from the rear end of the sliding rail 124. The protrusion 186 may be formed by partially bending the upper plate of the sliding rail 124 made of a metal press. And. The height of the protrusion 186 is preferably formed slightly higher than the thickness of the rail guide 26 within the limit to avoid interference with other components. In addition, one side surface of the protrusion 186 may be formed as an inclined surface 188. This is to allow the sliding rail 124 to be assembled in the longitudinal direction from the front of the guide rail 126, which will be described in detail later.

The stopper 182 protrudes laterally from a side of the intermediate portion in a predetermined position of the rail guide 126, for example, in the longitudinal direction. The stopper 182 is preferably protruded as much as possible within the limit to avoid interference with the side surface of the tray 120, since the strength thereof may be higher. The stopper 182 may be integrally formed with the rail guide 126 during injection molding of the rail guide 126. In addition, the stopper 182 is provided with an insertion groove 184 into which the protrusion 186 may be inserted on the movement path of the protrusion 186. On the other hand, for ease of assembly, one side of the stopper 182 may also be formed as the inclined surface 185, the rail guide 126 may be formed with an opening 128 in the corner portion adjacent to the stopper 182. . This will be described later.

According to the tray departure preventing means 180 having the configuration as described above, while the tray 120 is taken out, the sliding rail 124 is also guided by the rail guide 126 and moves forward (arrow F direction), When the tray 120 reaches a position where the disc D can be replaced by moving a predetermined distance, the protrusion 186 of the sliding rail 124 is caught by the stopper 182 of the rail guide 126. Accordingly, since the sliding rail 124 and the tray 120 can no longer move forward, the tray 120 is prevented from being separated from the housing 110.

At this time, since the protrusion 186 is inserted into the insertion groove 184 of the stopper 182, the shaking in the left and right directions is limited. Accordingly, even when the sliding rail 124 is shaken or bent slightly due to a significant external impact or force applied to the ejection direction of the tray 120, the protrusion 186 does not escape the stopper 182, and also the protrusion 186. ) Does not cause a problem that the end of the stopper 182 is broken.

As described above, the tray guide structure provided with the tray detachment prevention means 180 according to the present invention has durability that can withstand a considerable external impact or force as compared with the prior art.

Hereinafter, a method of assembling the sliding rail 124 to the rail guide 126 will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

As shown in Figure 6, in the tray guide structure according to the present invention, the tray departure preventing means 180 has a structure capable of inserting the sliding rail 124 in the longitudinal direction from the front to the rail guide 126 It is desirable to have. To this end, as described above, one side of the protrusion 186, that is, the surface which comes into contact with the stopper 182 when the sliding rail 124 is inserted into the rail guide 126 in the direction of the arrow R, is inclined (188). Is formed. In addition, one side surface of the stopper 182 that is in contact with the inclined surface 188 of the protrusion 186 is preferably formed of the inclined surface 185.

According to this structure, when the sliding rail 124 is inserted into the rail guide 186 from the front in the direction of the arrow R, the inclined surface 188 of the protrusion 186 is in contact with the stopper 182, the stopper 182 ) Will be lifted upwards. Accordingly, the stopper 182 and the rail guide 126 around it are bent upward, so that the protrusion 186 can continue in the arrow R direction. At this time, when the opening 128 is formed at the corner portion adjacent to the stopper 182 of the rail guide 126, the sidewalls of the stopper 182 and the rail guide 126 are partially separated. Up and down deformation of the stopper 182 may be easily performed.

As described above, when the sliding rail 124 can be inserted from the front of the rail guide 126, the assembly of the sliding rail 124 and the rail guide 126 becomes easy, and the interference problem during assembly is avoided. There is an advantage that the size of the stopper 182 can be made smaller so as to improve its strength.

On the other hand, Figure 7 is a rear end perspective view of the tray and the tray shown in FIG. 4 upside down.

Referring to FIG. 7, a locking jaw 192 is formed inside the rear end of the rail coupling portion 122 of the tray 120, and a bent portion 194 is formed at the front end of the sliding rail 124. . When the tray 120 is moved forward (arrow F direction) to reach the disc detachment position, as described above, the protrusion is caught by the stopper so that the sliding rail 124 can no longer move forward, and also in FIG. 7. The latching jaw 192 of the illustrated tray 120 is caught by the bent portion 194 of the sliding rail 124 so that the tray 120 can no longer be moved forward.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiments, it is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims.

As described above, according to the tray guide structure according to the present invention, since the protrusion is inserted into the insertion groove of the stopper, even if the sliding rail is bent, the protrusion is hard to escape the stopper and the stopper is not easily broken. Accordingly, the tray does not move away from the housing even if a significantly larger impact and force act in the ejecting direction of the tray than in the prior art.

1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the structure of a conventional slim optical disk drive.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A shown in FIG. 1.

3A and 3B are enlarged perspective views of a portion A shown in FIG. 1 for explaining a problem of a conventional tray guide structure.

4 is an exploded perspective view showing an optical disk drive employing a tray guide structure according to the present invention.

5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the assembled state of the tray guide structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a method of assembling the sliding rail shown in FIG. 4 to a rail guide.

FIG. 7 is a rear end perspective view of the tray when the tray and the sliding rail shown in FIG. 4 are turned upside down.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110 ... housing 111 ... lower case

112.Top case 114 ... Fixed plate

116 ... Turning 120 ... Tray

122 ... Rail coupling part 124 ... Sliding rail

126 ... rail guide 128 ... opening

130 ... main base 140 ... spindle motor

142 Turntable 150 Optical pickup unit

160 ... Front Bezel 162 ... Eject Button

170 Main board printed circuit board 172 Flexible printed circuit

180 ... tray drop prevention means 182 ... stopper

184.Indentation groove 185,188 Slope

186 ... projection 192

194 Bends

Claims (5)

The rail coupling portion is formed in the longitudinal direction on both sides of the tray on which the disk is seated, the sliding rails are coupled to both rail coupling portions of the tray to support the tray so as to slidably, and fixedly installed at both corners of the lower case. In the tray guide structure of the optical disk drive having a rail guide for guiding the sliding rail, A protruding portion protruding upward from a rear end portion of one sliding rail of the two sliding rails; And And a stopper which protrudes laterally at a predetermined position of one of the rail guides of the both rail guides and an insertion groove into which the protrusion is inserted on the movement path of the protrusion. The tray guide structure of the optical disc drive, characterized in that when the tray is moved a predetermined distance forward, the projection is inserted into the insertion groove so as to catch the stopper so that the tray is not separated from the housing. The method of claim 1, The sliding rail is a tray guide structure of the optical disk drive, characterized in that inserted into the rail guide in the longitudinal direction from the front. The method of claim 2, The rail guide structure of the optical disc drive, characterized in that the opening is formed in the corner portion adjacent to the stopper so that the top and bottom deformation of the stopper when the sliding rail is inserted into the rail guide. The method of claim 2, And a side surface of the protrusion contacting the stopper when the sliding rail is inserted into the rail guide. The method of claim 4, wherein When the sliding rail is inserted into the rail guide, the side of the stopper in contact with the protrusion is inclined tray guide structure, characterized in that the inclined.