Patent ID: 6404726
Filing Date: 2002-06-11
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An optical disk drive for use with an optical disk, comprising:a rotary motor; a first toothed gear mounted upon said rotary motor; an optical unit for illuminating a laser beam onto the optical disk, including an objective lens and an actuator mounted within said optical unit for moving said objective lens in both a focusing direction and a direction crossing tracks of said optical disk; a swing arm for supporting said optical unit; a second toothed gear mounted upon said swing arm, said second toothed gear being a sector gear and being configured and arranged to mesh with said first toothed gear, wherein said second toothed gear is divided into two associated gears that are associated together through at least one spring to eliminate backlash within the mesh between said first toothed gear and said second toothed gear, said at least one spring being used to apply a biasing force for rotating one of said associated toothed gears with respect to the other of said associated toothed gears, wherein said spring includes at least one leaf spring, and further wherein said at least one leaf spring is arranged so that a longitudinal direction of said at least one leaf spring is directed toward a central axis of a reference circle of said associated toothed gears; and a supporting means for supporting said swing arm to pivotally move along a plane parallel to a surface of said optical disk, wherein said swing arm is pivoted by rotation of said rotary motor conveyed through a gear train that includes said first toothed gear and said second toothed gear.