Abstract:
The present invention seeks to provide a disc transfer apparatus, which permits increasing the disc kick-off extent while holding a constant distance between a transfer roller and a turntable. A disc transfer apparatus is disclosed, which can choose either one of a play-back base fixing mode, in which a transfer roller is held at a disc transfer position while restricting motion of the play-back base relative to a housing, thereby permitting loading/unloading of disc, and a play-back base release mode, in which the transfer roller is held at a non-disc transfer position while holding the play-back base in a floating state relative to the housing. At the time of switching the play-back base release mode over to the play-back base fixing mode, a movable number, which is mounted on the play-back base such as to have bearing on the choice of either one of the play-back base release and fixing modes, is brought into contact with part of the housing, thus permitting the play-back base to approach a disc in-outlet slot against buffering force of the buffer member.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates to a disc transfer apparatus, which permits ensuring sufficient disc kick-off extent.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     In a slot-in type disc transfer apparatus, in which a disc is inserted directly into it from a disc in-outlet slot, when playing back a disc, usually a play-back unit is held in a floating state in a housing, while when transferring the disc the play-back unit is held stationary relative to the housing.  
         [0005]     The play-back unit is held stationary relative to the housing when transferring the disc in order to preclude erroneous loading and unloading of the disc and also damage inflicted thereto. Hitherto, various means for holding the play-back unit stationary when transferring a disc has been proposed, as being described in Japanese patent disclosure No. 2003-317355.  
         [0006]     FIGS.  5 ( a ) and ( b ) are side views showing a prior art disc transfer apparatus.  
         [0007]      FIG. 5 ( a ) shows the apparatus in a state of playing back a disc. Reference numerals  101  and  102  in the Figure designate a top and a bottom, respectively, of a housing  103 . A play-back base  105  is supported in a floating state through a buffer member  104  in the housing  103 . The play-back base  105  has a turntable  106 , a clamper  107 , a pick-up (not shown), etc. A disc D 1  is clamped between the turntable  106  and the clamper  107 .  
         [0008]     Leftward of the play-back base  105  in the Figure, a roller support  109  supporting a transfer roller  108  for rotation thereof is mounted for rocking movement about its mounting site  110 . Displacement of a reciprocal member  111  mounted on the play-back base  105  to the left and right in the Figure, can cause rocking movement of the roller support  109 .  
         [0009]      FIG. 5 ( b ) shows the apparatus in a state of transfer in the disc. The disc D 1  is loaded and unloaded through a disc in-outlet slot  112 . When kicking off the disc, the reciprocal member  111  is displaced to the right in the Figure, whereby protuberances  113  and  114  as parts of the roller support  109  are engaged in engagement holes  115  and  116  formed in the top  101  and the bottom  102 , respectively, of the housing  103 . With this engagement, the play-back base  105  is held restricted against displacement relative to the housing  103 .  
         [0010]     In this disc transfer apparatus, however, the transfer roller is considerably spaced apart from the disc in-outlet slot. Therefore, when kicking off the disc, the disc is kicked off only to a small extent. The kick-off extent of the disc may be increased by disposing the transfer roller close to the disc in-outlet slot. By so doing, however, the transfer roller and the turntable are spaced apart too much, thus giving rise to the possibility that a small-size disc can not be transferred up to the turntable. Also, disposing the in-outlet slot to be closer to the transfer roller for increasing the disc kick-off extent, may result in too close disposition of the in-outlet slot to the turntable, and it is thus possible that a large-size disc being played back partly extends out of the in-outlet slot.  
         [0011]     The present invention seeks to solve the above problems, and its object is to provide a disc transfer apparatus, which is simple in arrangement and ensures sufficient disc kick-off extent when kicking off the disc without changing the distance between the transfer roller and the turntable.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     In the disc transfer apparatus according to the invention, at the time of switching of a play-back base release mode over to a play-back base fixing mode, a movable member supported in a play-back base to be reciprocally moved to have bearing on the choice of either of the play-back base release and fixing modes, is further moved with the state being into contact with part of a housing thereby to permit approach of the disc in-outlet slot by the play-back base against the buffering force of a buffer member.  
         [0013]     Suitably, the reciprocal member for causing rocking movement of roller support is adapted to serve as movable member as well, so that at the time of switching of the play-back base release mode over to the play-back base fixing mode, the reciprocal member is brought into contact with part of the housing to permit approach of the disc in-outlet slot by the play-back base against the buffering force of the buffer member.  
         [0014]     Also suitably, the roller support is adapted to serve as movable member as well, so that at the time of switching of the play-back base release mode over to the play-back base fixing mode, the roller support is brought into contact with part of the housing to permit approach of the disc in-outlet slot by the play-back base against the buffering force of the buffer member.  
         [0015]     With the disc transfer apparatus according to the invention, since at the time of switching of the play-back base release mode over to the play-back base fixing mode, the movable member is brought into contact with part of the housing to permit approach of the disc in-outlet slot by the play-back base against the buffering force, it is possible to cause disc kick-off in a state that the disc in-outlet slot has been approached by the disc in-outlet slot. Thus, the disc kick-off extent can be increased to permit ready pull-out removal of the disc.  
         [0016]     Also, since the play-back base itself can be caused to approach the disc in-outlet slot, a small-size disc can be transferred up to the turntable without any problem without change in the distance between the transfer roller and the turntable. Besides, in the play-back base release mode, the play-back base is restored to its initial position by the buffering force of the buffer member, and the distance between the disc in-outlet slot and the turntable is not changed, thus it is possible to ensure that a large-size disc is played back without extension of its edge out of the disc in-outlet slot.  
         [0017]     Furthermore, since the movable member is an existing part which is mounted on the play-back base and having bearing on the choice of either of the play-back base release and fixing modes, it is possible to increase the disc kick-off extent without adding any new part.  
         [0018]     Moreover, the reciprocal member or the roller support can be adapted to serve as movable member as well. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     The invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the outer view of an embodiment of disc transfer apparatus;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a side view showing part of the disc transfer apparatus;  
         [0022]     FIGS.  3 ( a ) to  3 ( d ) are side views for describing the operation of the embodiment at the time of disc kick-off;  
         [0023]     FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b ) are fragmentary side views illustrating the behavior of the roller support as movable member in a different embodiment; and  
         [0024]     FIGS.  5 ( a ) and  5 ( b ) are side views illustrating the behavior of a prior art apparatus at a disc loading time. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]     Now, the best embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.  
         [0026]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the internal arrangement of a car-mounted disc transfer apparatus. An outer housing  1  is shown by imaginary lines. A disc D 1  is inserted into the housing  1  from the front side thereof in the direction of arrow A.  
         [0027]     In the housing  1 , a play-back base  3  is supported in a floating state by buffer members  2 . The play-back base  3  carries a turntable  4  (shown by imaginary lines) mounted at its center, and also it carries a pick-up  5  mounted movably and directed toward one of its corners.  
         [0028]     The play-back base  3  has a left and a right side wall, in which reciprocal members  6   a  and  6   b,  respectively, are mounted as movable member made of plastic material for back-and-forth displacement.  
         [0029]     Above the turntable  4 , a clamper  7  is disposed, which is supported for rocking movement by a clamper support  8  formed from a metal sheet. The clamper support  8  can be driven by the reciprocal member  6   a  to cause rocking movement of the clamper  7  toward and away from the turntable  4 .  
         [0030]     In a front part of the housing  1 , a transfer roller  9  (shown by imaginary lines) is disposed for transferring a disc D. The transfer roller  9  has a gear  10  mounted at its one end and also has a collar(not shown) mounted at its other end, and its both ends are supported for rotation in roller supports  11 . The roller supports are mounted for rocking movement in the left and right side walls, respectively, of the play-back base  3 .  
         [0031]     The roller support  11  has a left and a right side wall parts  12 , respectively, which each have a hole  13 . The roller support  11  has the holes  13  fitted for rocking movement on the left and right side walls, respectively, of the play-back base  3 , and the rocking movement of the roller support  11  causes displacement of the transfer roller  9  between a disc transfer position and a non-disc transfer position.  
         [0032]     Above the play-back base  3 , a guide plate  14  formed from a metal sheet is disposed. The guide plate  14  cooperates with the transfer roller  9  to clamp the disc D and transfer the same with rotation of the transfer roller  9 . The housing  1  has a disc in-outlet slot  15  provided at its front. The disc D is inserted through the disc in-outlet slot  15  into a space between the guide plate  14  and the transfer roller  9 .  
         [0033]     Mounted atop the guide plate  14  are a pair of (i.e., left and right) sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b  capable of being horizontally rocked, a lock lever  17  for locking the sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b  at its open position when a large-size disc has been inserted, a movable plate  18  for advancing and retreating with rocking movement of the sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b , an interlock member  19  for synchronizing the motion of the sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b , and a torsion spring  20  biasing the two sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b  toward the respective closed positions thereof.  
         [0034]     The sensor levers  16   a  and  16   b  have stopper parts  21   a  and  21   b , respectively, which can be brought into contact with the edge of a mall-size disc during transfer thereof. A trigger lever  22  (shown by imaginary lines) is coupled to a rear part of the movable plate  18  such as to start and stop a disc transfer mechanism (not shown). This disc transfer mechanism is mounted on the play-back base  3 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 2  is a side view showing a right side part of the disc transfer apparatus in a state that a disc D is clamped between the turntable  4  and the damper  7 .  
         [0036]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the housing  1  (shown by imaginary lines) has a part serving as a contactable piece  23 . The cross section of the contactable piece  23  has a shape having a downwardly bent end part. The reciprocal member  6   a  has a contact piece  24  downwardly projecting from its rightward lower part in the Figure. The contact piece  24  of the reciprocal member  6   a  and the contactable piece  23  of the housing  1  constitute a play-back base displacing means  25 . Above the contact piece  24  are formed a cam groove  26  (shown by broken lines) and another cam groove  27  in the leftward part in the Figure. The cam groove  26  has an upper part  26   a,  a lower part  26   b , both parts extending horizontally, and a slant part  26 c connecting the upper and lower parts  26   a  and  26   b.  The leftward cam groove  27  has a rightward and downward slant shape in the Figure.  
         [0037]     Each of the left and right side walls  12  (here the right side wall) of the roller support  11  has an extension piece  28  extending downward from the site of the rocking center hole  13 , and also has an engagement protuberance  29  formed at the free end of a rearward (rightward in the Figure) extended portion. The side wall further has a raised part  30  formed above the engagement protuberance  29 . The engagement protuberance  29  is engaged in the cam groove  27  formed in the reciprocal member  6   a.    
         [0038]     The damper support  8  noted above is disposed in a rear part (rightward in the Figure) of the disc transfer apparatus. The damper support  8  has a rear curved part  32  having an axis  31  as center of rocking movement. The rocking center axis  31  is fitted for rocking movement in a mounting hole  33  formed in the play-back base  3 .  
         [0039]     The damper support  8  has a central protuberance  34 , which is formed in substantially the center thereof along the longitudinal direction and is engaged in the cam groove  26  formed in the reciprocal member  6   a.    
         [0040]     Although  FIG. 2  describes only the right side of the disc transfer apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 , the left side of the apparatus likewise has the reciprocal member  6   b  (including contact piece  24  and cam groove  27 ). Also, the left side wall  12  of the roller support  11  has the engagement protuberance  29  engaged in left side cam groove  27 . Furthermore, the left side of the housing  1  has the contactable piece  23 .  
         [0041]     The operation of the embodiment of the apparatus will now be described.  
         [0042]      FIG. 3 ( a ) shows the apparatus in a play-back base release mode, in which disc D is clamped between the turntable  4  and the damper  4 . In this state, the play-back member  3  is held in a floating state by the buffer members  2  shown in  FIG. 1 . The reciprocal member  6   a  is located at substantially the center of the housing  1  in the disc loading/unloading directions by the disc transfer mechanism (not shown). The engagement protuberance  29  of the roller support  11  is located at lower end of the cam groove  27  in the Figure. The transfer roller  9  is located in the non-disc transfer position and spaced apart from the disc D. The protuberance  34  of the damper support  8  is located in the lower part  26   b  of the cam groove  26 .  
         [0043]     When the disc kick-off operation is began in this state, the disc transfer mechanism (not shown) provided on the play-back base  3  is started and, as shown in  FIG. 3 ( b ), the reciprocal member  6   a  starts to be displaced in a direction opposite to the direction toward (i.e., rightward of, in the Figure) the disc in-outlet slot  15 . The displacement of the reciprocal member  6   a  causes upward displacement, along the cam groove  27 , of the engagement protuberance  29  of the roller support  11  engaged in the cam groove  27 . The roller support  11  is thus rocked counterclockwise about the hole  11 . Also, the protuberance  34  of the damper support  8  engaged in the cam groove  26  is displaced from the lower part  26  to the slant part  26   c  of the cam groove  26 , thus causing counterclockwise rocking movement of the damper support  8  about the rocking center axis  31 . With this rocking movement, the disc D is separated from the damper  7 .  
         [0044]     Furthermore, with the rightward displacement in the Figure of the reciprocal member  6   a,  as shown in  FIG. 3 ( c ), the contact piece  24  of the reciprocal member  6   a  is brought into contact with the contactable piece  23  of the housing  1 . At this time, the engagement protuberance  29  of the damper support  11  has been further displaced upward along the can groove  27 . Also, the protuberance  34  of the damper support  8  has reached the upper part  26   a  of the am groove  26 .  
         [0045]     When the reciprocal member  6   a  is further displaced rightward in the Figure toward the play-back base  3  in the state that the contact piece  24  of the reciprocal member  6   a  has been in contact with the contactable member  23 , the play-back base  3  approaches the disc in-outlet slot  15  against the buffering force of the buffer member  2  owing to the contact of the contact and contactable pieces  24  and  23  with each other.  
         [0046]     When the engagement protuberance  29  of the roller support  11  is displaced upward up to the upper end of the cam groove  27 , the roller support  11  is continually rocked counterclockwise about the hole  13  to eventually bring about the state in play-back base fixing mode as shown in  FIG. 3 ( d ). In this state, the free end of the extension piece  28  is in contact with the bottom of the housing  1 , and the raised part  30  is in contact with the top of the housing  1 . Thus, the play-back base  3  is restricted against vertical displacement relative to the housing  1 . Also, the transfer roller  9  has been brought to its transfer position by the rocking movement of the roller support  11 , so that the disc D is clamped between the guide plate  14  described before in connection with  FIG. 1  and the transfer roller  9 . In this state, the disc D can be transferred by counterclockwise rotation in the Figure of the transfer roller  9 .  
         [0047]     When the play-back base fixing mode is switched over to the play-back base release mode again, the play-back base  3  is restored to its initial position by the buffering force of the buffer member  2 .  
         [0048]     As shown above, in the play-back base fixing mode shown in  FIG. 3 ( d ), the play-back base  3  is brought to be closer to the disc in-outlet slot  15  than in the case of the play-back base release mode shown in  FIG. 3 ( a ) to  3 ( c ). Thus, the disc can be licked off in the state that the transfer roller  9  is closer to the disc in-outlet slot  15  to an extent corresponding to dimension L in the Figure. Also, since the play-back base  3  itself is brought to be closer to the disc in-outlet slot  15 , the distance between the transfer roller  9  and the turntable  4  is not changed. Thus, a small-size disc inserted can be transferred up to the turntable  4  without any problem. Of course, since the disc in-outlet slot  15  is not bought to be closer to the turntable  4 , a large-size disc can be played back without its partial extension out of the disc in-outlet slot  15 .  
         [0049]     The embodiment of the invention having been described above, is by no means limitable; for instance, while in the above embodiment the reciprocal members  6   a  and  6   b  have been used as movable member as well, the movable member is not limited to the reciprocal members, and it is possible to use any member, which can be mounted on the play-back base and such as to bear on the choice of either of the play-back base release and fixing modes.  
         [0050]     A different embodiment, in which a roller support  51  serves as movable member as well, will now be described with reference to FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b ). In the different embodiment shown in FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b ), parts which are the same in shape, function, etc. as those in the above embodiments are not described.  
         [0051]     FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b ) show the relation between the roller support  51  as movable member and housing  52  at the time of switching from the floating over to the play-back base fixing mode.  
         [0052]     In the play-back base release mode, each (i.e., here right side) roller support  51  is at the position shown by solid lines in  FIG. 4 ( a ). By causing the disc kick-off operation, the reciprocal member starts to be displayed toward the disc inserting direction, causing counterclockwise rotation in the Figure of the roller support  51  about rocking center axis  53 . The roller support  51  has extension piece  54 , which is longer in size than the extension piece  28  in the previous embodiment. With rocking movement of the roller support  51 , the extension piece  54  is thus inserted in slot  55  formed in part of housing  52 , as shown by imaginary lines in  FIG. 4 ( a ).  
         [0053]     With further rocking movement of the roller support  51 , as shown by solid lines in  FIG. 4 ( b ), the extension piece  54  is brought into contact with the end  56  of the slot  55 . Then, as the extension piece  54  pushes the end  56  of the slot  55 , the rocking center axis  53  is displaced (a distance L 2 ) toward the disc in-outlet slot, as shown by imaginary lines in  FIG. 4 ( b ). At the time of switching over to the play-back base fixing mode, like the previous embodiment, the play-back base can be caused to approach the disc in-outlet slot.  
         [0054]     As has been shown, at the time of switching the play-back base release mode over to the play-back base fixing mode, the play-back base can be cased, by utilizing the movement of the roller support  51 , to approach the disc in-outlet slot. It is thus possible to obtain the same effects as in the previous embodiment.