Patent ID: 6426924
Filing Date: 2002-07-30
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from an optical record disk, said apparatus comprising:an optical head including a semiconductor laser for emitting a laser beam, an objective lens for projecting said laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser onto said optical record disk, a first photo-detecting means for receiving a return laser beam reflected by said optical record disk to produce an information signal, and a second photo-detecting means for receiving a part of light emitted by said semiconductor laser; a carriage having said optical head arranged thereon and being movable between innermost and outermost positions within a movable range over which said carriage is moved in a radial direction of said optical record disk; a disk driving means including a movable block arranged movably between a first position and a second position relative to said optical record disk, a movable block driving means for moving said movable block between said first position and said second position, a turntable for supporting said optical record disk, and a spindle motor secured to said movable block and having a driving shaft coupled with said turntable for rotating said turntable together with said optical record disk; a position detecting means for detecting a position of said movable block to derive a position signal when said movable block has been driven into said first position; and a control means for energizing said semiconductor laser after confirming that said position signal has been generated by said position detecting means, said optical record disk has been rotated and said carriage has been positioned in a predetermined position on an inner side of said optical record disk, and for initiating focus search after confirming that laser light emitted by said semiconductor laser has been received by said second photo-detecting means.