Abstract:
A recording medium ejecting apparatus including a drive main body, a tray carrying a recording medium and being movable inwardly and outwardly of the drive main body; and a driving element for supplying power for the movement of the tray, even in a state where it is completely ejected from the drive main body, wherein the tray can be inserted and ejected to the position where the disk can be loaded and unloaded by using electric power in a thin and small tray-type disk drive as used for a notebook computer, enabling user&#39;s convenience.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a recording medium ejecting apparatus, and more particularly to a recording medium ejecting apparatus by which a tray usually inserted inwardly and ejected outwardly from a drive is sufficiently ejected by means of electric power to a position where a disk can be inserted or removed in a tray-loading type optical disk drive typically used in a notebook computer. 
     2. Description of the Conventional Art 
     A conventional tray-loading type optical disk drive  20  using a disk as a recording medium includes, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lower chassis  1  and an upper chassis  2  which are joined together to form an outer casing, and a disk is driven between the lower chassis  1  and the upper chassis  2 . 
     The conventional optical disk drive is constructed such that a tray  6  is slidably installed at an upper portion of the lower chassis  1  so as to be movable inwardly and outwardly to and from the drive  20 . 
     A turntable  7  upon which a disk D may be mounted is installed in the tray  6 . A damper  8  for preventing the disk K from dismounting during rotation after being inserted on the turntable  7  is installed at an upper surface of the turntable  7 . 
     At one side of the turntable  7 , there is provided an optical pick-up  9  for recording and reproducing signals onto and from the disk D, and a lead screw (not shown) being rotated by a sled motor (not shown) is installed to move the optical pick-up  9  in a radial direction of the disk D. 
     For convenience&#39;s sake, regarding explanations on the formation of the lower chassis  1  and the upper chassis  2 , and other elements combined thereto, hereinafter the direction in which the tray  6  is ejected from the drive  20  is referred to as the forward direction, while its opposite direction is referred to as the backward direction. 
     A driving plate  10  operable by the lead screw is installed at a lower surface of the front side of the tray  6 . 
     An eject lever  11  is installed to be operable according to the operation of the driving plate  10 . 
     In explanations hereinafter, of the both sides of the lower chassis  1  and the tray  6 , the opposite side to the side where the eject level  11  is positioned is referred to as the one side, while the side where the eject level  11  is positioned is referred to as the other side. 
     The eject lever  11  is rotatably installed centering around a hinge shaft  11   h  connected to a lower surface of the tray  6 , and a protrusion  11   s  is provided at a rear side of the hinge shaft  11   h . The protrusion  11   s  is engaged in an engaging portion  5  formed in the lower chassis  1  to thereby control the rotation of the eject lever  11 . 
     A spring  14  is installed at a predetermined portion of a lower surface of the tray  6  so that the tray  6  may have an elasticity in the forward direction when the tray  6  is completely inserted into the drive  20 . 
     An elastic support guide  13  is installed at an upper surface of the tray positioned outwardly of the spring  14 , so that the elastic support guide  13  is elastically and selectively supported by the spring  14  as being combined thereto. The guide  13  is selectively contacted with an elastic support plate  4  installed at an upper surface of the upper chassis  2 . 
     That is, when the tray  6  is positioned inside the drive  20 , as the elastic support guide  13  is contacted with the elastic support plate  4  and is moved backwardly, the spring  14  is put in a tensioned state. 
     Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 4, sliding legs  6   s  and  6   s ′ for guiding the tray  6  when it moves forward and backward to and from the drive  20  are formed along the entire length of both side edges of the tray  6 . 
     The sliding legs  6   s  and  6   s ′ are respectively inserted into guide rails  3  and  3 ′ that are installed along the entire length of both sides of the tray, and guide the movement of the tray  6  as they move along the guide rails  3  and  3 ′. 
     Support rails  3   s  and  3   s ′ for supporting the sliding legs  6   s  and  6   s ′ are installed between the guide rails  3  and  3 ′ and the sliding legs  6   s  and  6   s ′ so that the tray  6  can be extracted outwardly of the guide rails  3  and  3 ′. 
     The operation of the tray  6  for loading and unloading the disk D in the conventional disk drive constructed as described above will now be explained, largely focussing on the ejection of the tray  6  from the drive  20 . 
     When an eject button  12  combined with the other side of the front side of the tray  6  is pressed by a user, the optical pick-up moves to one side of the outer periphery of the disk D. 
     At the instant when the movement of the optical pick-up  9  toward the outer periphery of the disk D occurs, an overstroke occurs at the lead screw which moves the optical pick-up  9 , and the driving plate  10  is moved forwardly by the overstroke. 
     According to such movement of the driving plate  10 , the eject lever  11  is rotated counterclockwise centering around the hinge shaft  11   h , and then the engaging portion  11   s  is released from the engagement with the protrusion  5 . 
     With such operation, when the tray is released from the lower chassis  1 , as shown in FIG. 3, it is a bit (as long as a distance movement produced by the elasticity of the spring  14 ) protruded forwardly from the drive  20  due to the elasticity of the spring  14 . At this time, since the tray  6  is not sufficiently ejected outwardly to the position where the recording medium can be inserted or removed, the tray needs to be manually taken out from the drive  20  by the user to the position shown in FIG. 4 where the disk D can be inserted to or removed from the turntable  7 . 
     Then, after the disk D is inserted to or removed from the turntable  7 , the tray  6  needs to be manually pushed back into the drive  20  by the user. 
     By pushing the tray  6  into the drive  20  completely, the engaging portion  11   s  of the eject lever  11  is again engaged with the protrusion  5 , and then the tray  6  is fixed inside the lower chassis  1 . 
     Of course, as the tray  6  moves inwardly of the drive  20 , the elastic support guide  13  is moved backwardly by the elastic support piece  4 , rendering the spring  14  to be in a tensioned state. 
     Accordingly, when the spring  14  is in the tensioned state, the tray  6  is urged to be moved outward from the drive  20  by the spring  14 , nevertheless, the tray  6  won&#39;t move outwardly because the engaging portion  11 S is engaged with the protrusion  5 . 
     Reference numeral  39  denotes an insertion detection protrusion. 
     However, the conventional optical disk drive as described above is disadvantageous in that most operations of the tray for loading and unloading of the disk are manually done, causing users&#39;s inconveniences. 
     In detail, when the eject button is pressed, since the tray is not sufficiently ejected for the user to insert the disk onto the turntable or to remove the inserted disk therefrom, the user must use his or her hands directly to pull out the tray. 
     In addition, after the disk is inserted or removed, the user must again use his or her hands to push the tray into the drive for complete insertion. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium ejecting apparatus by which a loading tray can be automatically moved for loading and unloading of a disk with respect to a thin and small optical disk drive. 
     To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a recording medium ejecting apparatus including a drive main body, a tray for carrying a recording medium and being movable outwardly and inwardly of the drive main body, and a driving unit for movement of the tray, and also for movement of the tray even in a state that the tray is completely ejected from the drive main body. 
     There is also provided a recording medium ejecting apparatus which includes a driving unit for supplying a driving power for ejecting a tray, being positioned within a range corresponding to a radius of a recording medium taken at an opposite direction of ejection over a diameter of the recording medium orthogonal to an ejection direction of the tray. 
     Additionally, there is provided a recording medium ejecting apparatus including a driving unit for supplying a driving force enabling a tray to be inserted from a completely ejected state from a drive main body, being positioned between the drive main body and the tray. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional recording medium ejecting apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the conventional recording medium ejecting apparatus; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state that a tray is ejected by an elasticity of a spring in the conventional recording medium ejecting apparatus; 
     FIG. 4 is a plan showing a state that the tray is completely extracted outwardly in the conventional recording medium ejecting apparatus; 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of a recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a front-cross sectional view of the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a rear-cross sectional view of the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a plan view of a lower chassis of the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a front view of the lower chassis of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 is a plan view of a tray of the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention, 
     FIG. 11 is a front view of the tray of FIG. 10; 
     FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state that a movable bridge is installed at the tray in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state that the tray is ejected from the drive by a restoring force of a tension spring in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a state that the tray is ejected as a driving gear engaged with a rack gear moves according to the operation of the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a state that the tray is ejected as the driving gear engaged with a movable rack gear moves in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a state that only the tray keeps moving while the movable bridge is fixed in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 17 is a plan view showing a state that the recording medium ejecting apparatus is driven and the tray is completely ejected outwardly from the drive in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 18A is a partial plan view showing a state that a movement prevention plate and an interference prevention protrusion are not operated in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 18B is a partial front view showing a state that a movement prevention plate and an interference prevention protrusion are not operated in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 19A is a partial plan view showing a state that a movement prevention plate and an interference prevention protrusion are operated in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 19B is a partial front view showing a state that a movement prevention plate and an interference prevention protrusion are operated in the recording medium ejecting apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     The recording medium ejecting apparatus includes, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a lower chassis  100  and an upper chassis  101  which are joined together to form an outer casing, and a disk is driven (operation of recording and reproducing) between the lower chassis  100  and the upper chassis  101 . 
     The recording medium ejecting apparatus generally includes a drive main body, a tray and a movable bridge that are typically defined by the combination of the lower chassis  100  and the upper chassis  101 . 
     The disk drive  200  has a structure that a tray  120  is slidably installed at an upper surface of the lower chassis  100  so as to be movable inwardly and outwardly to and from the disk drive  200 . 
     That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 to  8 , guide rails  102  and  102 ′ for guiding the tray  120  are formed along the length of both sides of the lower chassis  100 . A rack gear  103  is provided extending lengthwise over most of the guide rail  102 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 9 and 18B, inside the guide rails  102 ,  102 ′, support rails  104  and  104 ′ are respectively provided bent from the lower sides of the guide rails  102 ,  102 ′. 
     Sliding legs  121  and  121 ′ movably disposed respectively inside the support rails  104  and  104 ′ are formed along the lengths of the respective side edges of the tray  120 . 
     Since the support rails  104  and  104 ′ are slidably installed at a predetermined interval inside the guide rails  102 ,  102 ′, even when the tray  120  is ejected outwardly from the drive  200 , the support rails  104  and  104 ′ can guide the movement of the tray without separating the tray  120  from the guide rails  102 ,  102 ′. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a movement prevention plate  105  is installed at a front end portion of the guide rail  102  having the rack gear  103 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 18A through 19B, the movement prevention plate  105  is provided with an operative portion  106  protruding inwardly of the drive  200 , which is selectively operative with the tray  120 . 
     A support plate  107  is formed bent inwardly toward the drive  200  at a rear end portion of the movement prevention plate  105 . A stopper  100 ′ is formed bent at a front end portion of the outside of the guide rail  102 . 
     The support plate  107  and the stopper  100 ′ are provided to prevent a movable bridge  140  (to be described later) from ejecting excessively beyond a predetermined distance outwardly from the drive  200 . 
     The construction of the tray will now be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. 
     A turntable upon which a disk is mountable to be rotated is installed at the center of the upper surface of the tray. 
     The turntable  122  is typically driven by a spindle motor (not shown). A damper  8  for clamping the disk so as to prevent it from releasing is formed at the upper surface of the turntable. 
     At one side of the turntable  122 , there is provided an optical pick-up  124  for recording a signal onto the disk or reproducing a recorded signal therefrom, and a lead screw (not shown) rotated by a sled motor (not shown) so as to move the optical pick-up  124  in a radial direction of the disk. 
     Other elements normally required for driving the optical pick-up  124  are installed at the bottom surface of the tray  120 . 
     An eject lever  125  is formed at a lower surface of the other end portion of the front side of the tray  120 , which is selectively engaged with a tray engaging plate  111  installed at the upper surface of the lower chassis  100 , so that the tray  120  may not be arbitrarily ejected from the drive  200 . 
     As shown in FIG. 8, an elastic support  109  is provided at a predetermined portion of the upper central surface of the lower chassis  100 . An elastic support lever  126  is installed at the lower surface of the tray  120 , at a position corresponding to the elastic support  109 . A tension spring  127  is provided at one side of the elastic support lever  126  to be connected to the elastic support lever  126 . 
     The elastic support lever  126  is supportedly contacted with the elastic support  109  when the tray is inserted into the drive  200 , so that the tray may be elastically urged toward the front side of the drive  200  by the tension spring  127 . 
     A loading motor  130  is installed at a rear side of the elastic support lever  126  on the lower surface of the tray  120 . 
     A worm gear  132  is engaged with a rotational shaft  130 ′ of the loading motor  130 , and a worm wheel  133  operative according to the movement of the worm gear  132  is engaged with the outside of the worm gear  132 . 
     A driving gear  134  is engaged between the worm wheel  133  and the rack gear  103 , so as to be driven and operated by the worm wheel  133  as being engaged therewith. 
     The driving gear  134  is formed thicker than the rack gear  103 , so that it can be engaged with a movable rack gear  141  (to be described later) of the movable bridge  140  (to be described later). 
     That is, a lower portion of an outer periphery of the driving gear  134  is engaged with the rack gear  103 , while the upper portion of the outer periphery thereof is engaged with the movable rack gear  141 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, a plurality of upwardly protruding guide ribs  135  are formed the tray  120 . 
     The guide ribs  135  guide the movement of the movable bridge  140  (to be described later). 
     As shown in FIG. 10, an interference prevention protrusion  137  for selectively pressing the movement prevention plate  105  is formed at a side of the tray  120  inserted into the guide rail  102 . 
     The interference prevention protrusion  137  is provided only at a predetermined portion of the rear side of the tray  120 . The front side and the rear side of the protrusion  137  are formed slanted so as to be easily contacted with the operative portion  106  of the movement prevention plate  105 . 
     An ejection detection sensor  136  for detecting whether the tray  120  is ejected outwardly from the drive  200  is provided at one rear side of the upper surface of the tray  120 . The ejection detection sensor  136  is turned on and off by an ON/OFF detection protrusion of the movable bridge  140  (to be described later). 
     Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 8, an insertion detection sensor  110  for detecting whether the tray  120  is inserted into drive  200  is provided at the upper surface of the other side of the lower chassis  100 , and as shown in FIG. 10, an insertion detection protrusion  139  is formed at a bottom surface of the tray  120 , at a position corresponding to the insertion detection sensor  110 , by which the insertion detection sensor  110  detects whether the tray  120  has been inserted into the drive  200 . 
     The construction of the movable bridge  140  will now be explained. 
     FIG. 12 shows the combination of the movable bridge  140  with the tray  120 . 
     A movable rack gear  141  having the same shape as the rack gear  103  of the guide rail  102  is provided at one side of the movable bridge  140 , for completely moving the tray  120  inwardly and outwardly to and from the drive  200  under the driving force of the loading motor  130 . 
     The movable bridge  140  provided at the upper surface of the tray  120  is elastically supported by a first elastic member  145 . 
     The first elastic member  145  serves to enable the driving gear  134  to be engaged with the movable rack gear  141  after the driving gear  134  is released from the rack gear  105  while the driving gear  134  is engaged with the rack gear  105  to be operated and the tray  120  is ejected, and also serves to enable the movable rack gear  141  to return to its original position on the tray  120  when the tray  120  is inserted into the drive  200 . 
     A plurality of guide slots  142  in which the guide ribs  135  of the tray  120  are insertedly guided are formed in the movable bridge  140  in a longitudinal moving direction of the tray  120 . 
     The guide slots  142  prevent the movable bridge  140  from drifting right and left when the movable bridge  140  is fixed at the tray  120 . 
     A protrusion  143  is formed at a rear end portion of the movable bridge  140 , that is, at the end portion of the movable rack gear  141 . 
     The protrusion  143  is engaged with the stopper  100 ′ when the tray  120  moves, so that the movable bridge  140  may not be excessively moved outwardly beyond a suitable extent from the drive  200 . 
     An ejection detection protrusion  144  for turning on and off the ejection detection sensor  136  is formed at a front end portion of the movable bridge  140 . 
     The operation of the recording medium ejecting apparatus constructed as described above will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 13 through 19B. 
     FIG. 5 shows a state that the tray  120  is inserted inside the drive  200 . 
     In this state, since the eject lever  125  installed at the lower surface of the tray  120  is engaged with the tray engaging plate  111 , the tray  120  won&#39;t be ejected outwardly from the drive  200 . Normally in this state, the reproducing and recording is performed on the disk. 
     At this time, the elastic support lever  126  is supported at the elastic support  109 , and thus, the tension spring  127  connected to the elastic support lever  126  is elongated, having the elasticity. 
     Accordingly, the tray  120  is urged to be ejected outwardly by the tension spring  127 , but, as explained above, since the eject lever  125  is engaged with the tray engaging plate  111 , the tray won&#39;t arbitrarily be ejected outwardly. 
     In this state, when the eject button  112  at the front side of the tray  120  is pressed by a user, as shown in FIG. 13, the eject lever  125  is rotated in the direction of the arrow ‘A’, according to which the eject lever  125  is released from the tray engaging plate  111 . 
     When the eject lever  125  is rotated, as shown in FIG. 13, the tray  120  is slightly ejected outwardly from the drive  200  by only a slight distance due to the restoring force of the tension spring  127 . 
     As the tray  120  is ejected, the insertion detection protrusion  139  is released from the insertion detection sensor  110 , by which the loading motor  130  starts operating. 
     When the loading motor  130  starts operating, the driving force of the loading motor  130  is transmitted to the worm gear  132 , the worm wheel  133 , and to the driving gear  134 , each being engaged therewith, according to which the driving gear  134  moves along the rack gear  103 . 
     Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 14, the tray  120  moves outwardly from the drive  200  along the guide rails  102 ,  102 ′. 
     At this time, as shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, the movement prevention plate  105  is in a state of having moved into the drive  200  due to the elasticity of the second elastic member  108 . 
     While the tray  200  is being moved, when the interference prevention protrusion  137  formed at a side of the tray  120  is contacted with the operative portion  106  of the movement prevention plate  105 , as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, the movement prevention plate  105  moves in the direction of the arrow ‘B’ in FIG. 14, so that it may not prevent the tray  120  from moving, more specifically, to allow the movement of the movable bridge  140 . 
     When the movement prevention plate  105  is in the state of having moved in the ‘B’ direction, it is urged by the elasticity of the second elastic member, and thus, the movement prevention plate  105  is forced to return to its original position, and this state is maintained until the interference prevention protrusion  137  is contacted with the operative portion  106  and the tray  120  is accordingly moved. 
     While the tray  120  is being ejected, when it reaches the state shown in FIG. 15, the protrusion  143  of the movable bridge  140  is engaged with the stopper  100 ′ formed at one side of the front portion of the lower chassis  100 . Then, the tray  120  keeps moving, while the movable bridge  140  does not move any longer together with the tray  120 . 
     Accordingly, by this time, the driving gear  135  has moved as being engaged with the rack gear  103 , signifying a state that the driving gear  135  reaches the end portion of the front side of the rack gear  103  and it is not engaged with the movable rack gear  141 . In this state, as the protrusion  143  of the movable bridge  140  is engaged with the stopper  100 ′, the movable bridge  140  is stopped and the tray  120  is ejected a bit more while the first elastic member  145  elastically supporting the movable bridge  140  is elongated, so that the driving gear  134  is released from the rack gear  134  so as to be engaged with the movable rack gear  141  of the movable bridge  140 . 
     Likewise, at the instant when the driving gear  134  is engaged with the movable rack gear  141  to be driven, a force works enabling the movable rack gear  141  to move in the direction of the arrow ‘C’ as shown in FIG. 15, due to the elasticity of the first elastic member  145 . 
     However, simultaneously, the operative portion  106  of the movement prevention plate  105  is released from the interference prevention protrusion  137 , according to which the movement prevention plate  105  moves to its original position (in the opposite direction to the arrow ‘B’ in FIG. 14) due to the restoring force of the second elastic member  108 . 
     Accordingly, the support plate  107  moves in the opposite direction to the arrow ‘B’ in FIG. 14 together with the movement prevention plate  105 , to thereby be positioned on a movement locus of the movable bridge  140  (refer to the position shown in FIG.  18 A). 
     That is, the support plate  107  is positioned at a rear side of the movable bridge  140  and the end portion of the rear side of the movable bridge  140  is supported by the support plate  107  of the movement prevention plate  105 . 
     Consequently, as shown in FIG. 16, the movable bridge  140  is fixed while only the tray  120  relatively keeps moving. 
     In this state, as the loading motor  130  is kept driving, as shown in FIG. 17, the tray  120  is completely ejected outwardly to the position where the disk can be inserted or removed. 
     When the tray  120  is completely ejected from the drive  200 , the ejection detection sensor  136  installed at the lower surface of the tray  120  is turned on by the ejection detection protrusion  144 , which stops the operation of the loading motor, thereby completing ejection of the tray  120 . 
     Inserting of the tray  120  into the drive  200  is done in the reverse order to the above described process, and thus, description thereof is omitted.(That is, when the tray is in the fully ejected position and a user presses the tray inwardly toward the drive until the ejection detection protrusion  144  no longer turns on the ejection detection sensor  136 , the loading motor is operated . . . . ) 
     As so far described, according to the recording medium ejecting apparatus of the present invention, since the movement of the tray for loading and unloading the recording medium, such as a disk, is performed automatically, acquiring a readiness in operating and a convenience for users&#39; sake. 
     In addition, the apparatus can be constructed in a small size, almost the same size as the disk, and is slim enough in overall size so as to be used for a notebook computer. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover such modifications and variations provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.