WO1999016066A1

WO1999016066A1 - Cd changer

Info

Publication number: WO1999016066A1
Application number: PCT/KR1998/000284
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hag-Ryeol Kim
Original assignee: Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 1997-09-20
Filing date: 1998-09-17
Publication date: 1999-04-01

Abstract

A CD changer comprises a tray movable in/out of the CD changer body. A roulette is installed rotatably on the tray and on which a plurality of CDS is placed. A driving motor is mounted on the tray. A rotating member rotates by the driving motor. A first gear supported axially on the rotating member rotates by rotation of the rotating member. A second gear gears into the first gear. A third gear is installed on an edge area of bottom of the roulette and gears into the second gear to rotate thereby, rotating the roulette eccentrically. Therefore, when the CD place portion of the roulette is positioned at an edge of the body frame, the center of the roulette moves to a relatively wide-spaced side against an inner wall of the edge of the body frame, so that a total rotational diameter is reduced.

Description

CD Changer

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a compact disk changer (hereinafter referred to as a "CD changer"), and more particularly to a CD changer for moving a center of a roulette to a relatively wide-spaced side to reduce a total rotational diameter, when a CD place portion that is formed on an edge of the roulette on which a plurality of CDS are placed is positioned on an edge of CD changer body.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, a CD changer is a device that contains a plurality of CDs (compact disks) . A roulette for placing a plurality of CDs is installed at CD changer, and an optic pick-up device reproduces data stored on CD placed at the roulette. The roulette is of rotary-type, and the CD placed on the CD place portion moves to the optic pick-up device by rotation of the roulette.

A conventional CD changer having the above rotary- typed roulette, as shown in FIGs . 1 and 2, comprises a body frame 110, a plate-shaped tray 120 moving slidably in/out of the body frame 110, a roulette installed rotatably on the tray 120 and on which a plurality of CDs is placed, a rotating device portion installed on the tray 120 for rotating the roulette 130, and a drive unit 140 mounted with an optic pick-up device for reproducing data stored on CD placed on the roulette 130.

Three CD place portions 138 re formed radially on the roulette 130 installed on the tray 120. The roulette 130 rotates on criterion center area between each CD place portion 138, so that the CD place portion 138 of the roulette 130 on which CD is placed is positioned above the drive unit 140.

The rotating device portion is comprises a driving motor 132 mounted on the tray 120, a connecting gear 134 rotated by the driving motor 132, and a circular gear 136 installed fixedly below rotational center of the roulette 130 to gear into the connecting gear 134 to rotate, thereby rotating the roulette 130.

By the above structure, the roulette 130 rotates by driving of the driving motor 132 so that the CD place portion 138 on which CD is placed is positioned above the drive unit 140. At this time, the drive unit 140 rises by driving of the motor (not shown) to chuck the CD.

However, the roulette 130 rotates in an inner space of a body frame 110 to move the CD to the drive unit 140. The inner space of the body frame 110 has a size for containing geometric circle that an edge of the CD which is placed on the CD place portion 138 rotates within the inner space of the body frame 110. Therefore, the body frame 110 has a predetermined size such it limits the production of smaller size CD changers.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed to overcome the above described problems in the prior art, and accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a CD changer for moving a center of a roulette to a relatively wide-spaced side to reduce a total rotational diameter, when a CD place portion, formed on an edge of the roulette on which a plurality of CDS are placed, is positioned on an edge of CD changer body .

To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a CD changer comprising a tray slidably movable in/out of the CD changer body; a roulette for placing a plurality of CDs installed rotatably on the tray; a driving motor mounted on the tray; a rotating member rotated by the driving motor; a first gear supported axially on the rotating member to be rotated by rotation of the rotating member; a second gear which gears into the first gear to be rotated; a third gear installed on an edge area of bottom of the roulette and gears into the second gear to rotate, thereby rotating the roulette eccentrically. Here, preferably the CD changer further comprises a circle-shaped guide gear installed on the tray, gears with an outer surface of the first gear via an inner surface to guide rotation of the first gear. More preferably the first gear, the second gear and the third gear are supported axially on the rotating member rotated by rotation of the rotating member. A first pulley mounted on the driving motor is connected to a second pulley mounted on the rotating member by a belt, thereby the rotating member rotates by rotation of the driving motor. A sub-gear which gears into the second gear is formed integrally on the first gear.

The rotating member is shaped of disk, a gear tooth is formed on an outer surface of the rotating member, a worm gear mounted on a rotating shaft of the driving motor gears into the outer gear tooth so that the rotating member rotates by driving of the driving motor, the first gear is installed on the tray positioned at a center area of the rotating member to extend upward through a bottom of the rotating member, the second gear and the third gear is installed adjacent to the first gear on the bottom of the rotating member to rotate integrally with the rotating member around the first gear.

Therefore, a center of a roulette moves to a relatively wide-spaced side to reduce a total rotational diameter, when a CD place portion, formed on edge of the roulette on which a plurality of CDS are placed, is positioned on an edge of CD changer body, making it possible for CD changers to be produced in smaller sizes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional CD changer,

FIG. 2 is a plane view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of main portion of a first embodiment of CD changer in accordance with the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plane view of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a plane view of CD changer showing a state when the roulette is positioned at position A,

FIG. 6 is a plane view of CD changer showing a state when the roulette is positioned at position B, FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of main portion of a second embodiment of CD changer in accordance with the present invention, FIG. 8 is a plane view of FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a plane view of CD changer showing a state when the roulette is positioned at position C,

FIG. 10 is a plane view of CD changer showing a state when the roulette is positioned at position D.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings .

A CD changer in accordance with the present invention comprises a body frame, a plate-shaped tray 10 slidably movable in/out of the body frame, a roulette installed rotatably on the tray 10 on which a plurality of CDS is placed, a rotating device portion installed on the tray 10 for rotating the roulette 70, and a drive unit 80 mounted with an optic pick-up device for reproducing data stored on CD placed on the roulette 70.

Three CD place portions 72 are formed radially on the roulette 70 installed on the tray 10. The roulette 70 rotates on criterion center area between each CD place portion 72, so that the CD place portion 72 of the roulette 70 on which CD is placed is positioned above the drive unit 80.

The rotating device portion comprises a plurality of gears to rotate the roulette 70 by driving force of the driving motor 20. The rotating device portion further comprises a rotating member 30, a first gear 40, a second gear 50 and a third gear 60.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of main portion of a first embodiment of CD changer in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a plane view of FIG. 3. A circle-shaped guide gear 12 is installed horizontally on the tray and a tooth is formed on an inner surface of the guide gear 12. A rotating member 30 having a plurality of frames is installed in the guide gear 12, and a second pulley 32 is installed below the rotating member 30 to be connected to a first pulley 22 mounted on the driving motor 20 by a belt 24, so that the driving force of the driving motor 20 is transmitted to the rotating member 30. Here, the second pulley 32 is positioned apart from a center of the rotating member 30, thereby the rotating member 30 rotates eccentrically.

And, the first gear 40, the second gear 50 and the third gear 60 is installed axially on the rotating member 30 so that they rotate integrally with the rotating member 30. An outer surface of the first gear 40 gears into the tooth formed on the inner surface of the guide gear 12 so that the first gear 40 simultaneously rotates integrally with the rotating member 30 guided by the guide gear 12. The second gear 50 gears into the first gear 40, and the third gear 60 gears into the second gear 50 to be rotated. A sub-gear 42 which gears into the second gear 50 directly is formed integrally on the first gear 40. The third gear 60 is installed at a center area of the bottom of the third gear 60 so that the roulette 70 rotates integrally with the third gear 60.

A described in the above embodiment, if three CD place portions 72 is formed on the roulette 70, the ratio of gear of the first gear 40, the second gear 50 and the third gear 60 is adjusted for rotating the roulette 70 three times when the roulette 70 revolves once. Because three CD place portion 72 is formed in an angle of 120 so that whenever the roulette 70 revolves to 60 °, one CD place portion 72 of the roulette 70 is extruded to wall of the body frame, thereby the roulette 70 moves right/left to reduce the rotational diameter of the roulette 70 whenever the roulette 70 revolves to 60 °.

Hereinbelow, the operation and the effect of CD changer of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention is described in datail. When user places a plurality of CDs on the CD place portion 72 of the roulette 70 and pushes the tray 10, the tray 10 slides into the body frame to be ready reproducing data stored on the CD. At this time, the CD place portion 72 on which CD is placed is positioned above the drive unit 80, and the drive unit 80 rises so that the optic pick-up device mounted on the drive unit 80 reproduces data stored on the CD.

After the optic pick-up device reproduced the data stored in CD, the drive unit 80 descends. And, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the roulette 70 rotates from point A to point B to transfer other CD to reproducing position.

Mechanism for rotating the roulette 70 is as follows .

When the driving motor 20 rotates, the driving force is transmitted to the rotating member 30 by the belt 24 so that the first gear 40, the second gear 50 and the third gear 60 rotate integrally with the rotating member 30 in the guide gear 12. While the first gear 40 is guided by the guide gear 12, the first gear 40 rotates and revolves simultaneously. Also the third gear 60 rotates and revolves with the first gear 40 by mediation of the second gear 50. Accordingly, the roulette 70 mounted on the third gear 60 rotates and revolves simultaneously . When the roulette 70 rotates to move from point A to point B, the CD place portion 72 of the roulette 70, positioned at the closest position from the center of a roulette 70, moves to the inner wall of the edge of the body frame, and the center of the roulette 70 moves to a relatively wide-spaced side against the inner wall of the edge of the body frame, so that a total rotational diameter is reduced. Accordingly, the roulette 70 rotates freely not contacting the inner wall of the body frame in the relatively small space which the roulette 70 forms. Therefore, the CD changer can be produced in a smaller size than the conventional sizes.

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of main portion of a second preferred embodiment of CD changer in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a plane view of FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the rotating member 3 is shaped of disk to be installed rotatably on the tray 10. A gear tooth is formed on an outer surface of the rotating member 3. A gear tooth gears into a worm gear mounted on a rotating shaft of the driving motor 20 installed adjacent to the rotating member 3 on the tray 10, so that the rotating member 3 rotates by driving of the driving motor 20.

The first gear 4 is installed on the tray 10 positioned at a center area of the rotating member 3 to extend upward through a bottom of the rotating member 3. The second gear 5 and the third gear 6 are installed adjacent to the first gear 4 on the bottom of the rotating member 3 to rotate integrally with the rotating member 3 around the first gear 4. Consequently, the third gear 6 on which the roulette 70 is mounted above, rotates eccentrically around the first gear 4. In this embodiment, the ratio of gear of the first gear 4, the second gear 5 and the third gear 6 is adjusted as the first embodiment for rotating the roulette 70 three times when the roulette 70 revolves once. Hereinbelow, the operation and the effect of CD changer of the second preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention is described.

When the driving motor 20 rotates, the driving force is transmitted into the rotating member 3 by the worm gear 22 so that the rotating member 3 rotates around the first gear 4 on the tray 10. Therefore, the second gear 5 and the third gear 6 installed on the rotating member 3 rotates integrally with the rotating member 3 around the first gear 4. At this time, the third gear 6 revolves by mediation of the first gear 4 and the second gear 5, thereby the roulette 70 mounted on the third gear 6 rotates and revolves simultaneously.

As shown in FIGs . 9 and 10, when the roulette 70 rotates to move from point C to point D, the CD place portion 72 of the roulette 70, positioned at the closest position from the center of the roulette 70, moves to the inner wall of the edge of the body frame, and the center of the roulette 70 moves to a relatively wide-spaced side against the inner wall of the edge of the body frame,' so that a total rotational diameter is reduced.

Accordingly, the roulette 70 rotates freely not contacting the inner wall of the body frame in a relatively small space which the roulette 70 forms. Therefore, the CD changer can be produced in a small size . As described above, by CD changer, when the CD place portion of the roulette is positioned at the edge of the body frame, the center of the roulette moves to a relatively wide-spaced side against the inner wall of the edge of the body frame, so that a total rotational diameter is reduced. Therefore, the CD changer can be produced in smaller sizes compared to the existing conventional sizes.

In the above, the present invention is described in detail by using the preferred embodiment, but the invention is not limited to the above embodiment. It should be obvious to people skilled in the conventional art that modifications can be made to the invention as described above without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. However the invention is limited by the accompanying claims as below.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A CD changer comprising: a tray slidably movable in/out of the CD changer body; a roulette for placing a plurality of CDs installed rotatably on said tray; a driving motor mounted on said tray; a rotating member rotated by said driving motor; a first gear supported axially on said rotating member to be rotated by rotation of said rotating member; a second gear which gears into said first gear to be rotated; a third gear installed on an edge area of bottom of said roulette and gears into said second gear to rotate, thereby rotating said roulette eccentrically.

2. The CD changer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a circle-shaped guide gear installed on said tray, gears into an outer surface of said first gear via an inner surface to guide rotation of said first gear.

3. The CD changer as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first gear, said second gear and said third gear are supported axially on said rotating member rotated by rotation of said rotating member.

4. The CD changer as claimed in claim 3, wherein a first pulley mounted on said driving motor is connected to a second pulley mounted on said rotating member by a belt thereby, said rotating member rotates by rotation of said driving motor.

5. The CD changer as claimed in claim 4, wherein a sub-gear which gears into said second gear is formed integrally on said first gear.

6. The CD changer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotating member is shaped of disk, a gear tooth is formed on an outer surface of said rotating member, a worm gear mounted on a rotating shaft of said driving motor gears into said outer gear tooth so that said rotating member rotates by driving of said driving motor, said first gear is installed on said tray positioned at a center area of said rotating member to extend upward through a bottom of said rotating member, said second gear and said third gear is installed adjacent to said first gear on the bottom of said rotating member to rotate integrally with said rotating member around said first gear.