Patent ID: 6941564
Filing Date: 2005-09-06
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A disk insertion, biasing and alignment apparatus comprising: a first sliding member, slidable in directions intersecting a central line of a disk insertion direction and having, at one side with respect to said central line, a disk contacting part contacting one peripheral side of a disk that is inserted in the disk insertion direction; a second sliding member, slidable in directions intersecting the central line of said disk insertion direction and having, at the other side with respect to said central line, a disk contacting part contacting the other peripheral side of the disk that is inserted in the disk insertion direction; an urging means, urging said first and second sliding members in directions in which the respective disk contacting parts approach said central line; and a restricting means, having a plurality of rotation restricting parts and rack parts, positioned alternatingly at each of the first and second sliding members, and a rotating member, having a gear part engageable with the respective rack parts of the respective sliding members, positioned rotatably between the first and second sliding member, being arranged so that when the inserted disk is aligned along said central line, the gear part of the rotating member engages with the respective rack parts of the first and second sliding members, thereby making the rotating member rotate and the first and second sliding members slide synchronously in mutually opposite directions, and being arranged so that when the inserted disk becomes biased towards one side of said central line and just the disk contacting part of the one sliding member at the biased side is pushed by the disk and made to slide, the rotation of the rotating member is restricted by the contacting of the gear part of the rotating member with the rotation restricting part of the other sliding member, thereby restricting further sliding of the disk contacting part at the one side and aligning the disk along the central line and so that by the pushing and sliding of the disk contacting part at the other side by the disk that has been aligned along the central line, the contacting of the gear part of the rotating member with the rotation restricting part of the sliding member at the other side is released, thereby causing the gear part of the rotating member to engage with the respective rack parts of the first and second sliding members and the first and second sliding members to slide to enable the disk to be inserted along the central line.