Abstract:
The present invention provides a disc drive and a flexible cable assembly therein. The disc drive includes a circuit board, a flexible cable assembly coupled to the circuit board, and an optical pick-up unit which the flexible cable assembly is electrically connected to. The flexible cable assembly includes a flexible cable and a protector partly attached to the flexible cable. When the optical pick-up unit processes the data on a disc, the protector keeps the flexible cable away from the disc.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a disc drive, and more in particular, to a disc drive that keeps a flexible cable away from a disc installed in the disc drive during the processing of data on the disc by an optical pick-up unit of the disc drive.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     In a conventional disc drive, a flexible cable transmits signals between the movable optical pick-up unit and a circuit board. One end of the flexible cable is electrically connected to the optical pick-up unit, and the other end is electrically connected to a connector of the circuit board. What flexible cables used usually are Flexible Print Circuits, Flexible Flat Circuits, and so on.  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing that the flexible cable  14  connecting the optical pick-up unit  10  with the circuit board  12  is in an ideal state. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the flexible cable  14  connecting the optical pick-up unit  10  with the connector  13  of circuit board  12  is bent into U-shaped.  
         [0006]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing the raised flexible cable  14  in conventional disc drives. As shown  FIG. 2 , a scar, often appears in position ‘a’, is made when the flexible cable  14  is inserted into connector  13 , or due to the movement of the optical pick-up unit  10 . The scar makes the flexible cable  14  raise and even rub against the disc  16 . When the optical pick-up unit  10  processes the data on the disc  16 , the raised flexible cable  14  scrapes the spinning disk  16  and even damages the disc  16 .  
         [0007]     Accordingly, the main objective of the present invention is to provide a disc drive to overcome the above problems, so as to avoid the flexible cable  14  rubbing against the disc  16 .  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a disc drive that keeps a flexible cable therein away from a disc installed in the disc drive when an optical pick-up unit of the disc drive processes the data on the disc.  
         [0009]     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible cable assembly which is applied in a disc drive. The flexible cable assembly employs a protector to shift a crooked part of a flexible cable of the flexible cable assembly out of the range that a disc installed in the disc drive projects so the protector prevents the flexible cable from contacting the disc. The protector partly attaches to the flexible cable.  
         [0010]     The present invention provides a disc drive including a circuit board, a flexible cable, an optical pick-up unit, and a protector. The flexible cable is via one end thereof electrically connected to the circuit board, and via the other end thereof electrically connected to the optical pick-up unit. The optical pick-up unit functions to process data on a disc installed in the disc drive. The protector partly attaches to the flexible cable. During the processing of data on the disc by the optical pick-up unit, the protector keeps the flexible cable away from the disc.  
         [0011]     The present invention provides a flexible cable assembly which transmits a plurality of signals between a first apparatus and a second apparatus. The flexible cable assembly includes a conductor, an insulator and a protector. The insulator substantially covers the conductor. The protector is partly fixed on the insulator.  
         [0012]     The advantage and spirit of the invention may be understood by the following recitations together with the appended drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing an ideal state of a flexible cable connecting an optical pick-up unit with a circuit board in a disc drive.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing that the flexible cable thereof exhibits a scar and becomes raised.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing a disc drive according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic diagram showing a first surface of the flexible cable in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 4B  is a schematic diagram showing a second surface of the flexible cable in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a detailed diagram illustrating the flexible cable assembly in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 6A  is a schematic diagram showing a first surface of a flexible cable according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 6B  is a schematic diagram showing a second surface of the flexible cable in  FIG. 6A .  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram showing how the flexible cable assembly of the present invention is used.  
         [0022]      FIG. 7A  is a schematic diagram showing the first surface of the flexible cable in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 7B  is a profile showing the flexible cable assembly in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 7C  is a schematic diagram showing the second surface of the flexible cable in  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing a disc drive  20  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The disc drive  20  comprises a circuit board  21 , a flexible assembly including a flexible cable  22  and a protector  26 , and an optical pick-up unit  24 . The flexible cable  22  is via one end thereof electrically connected to the circuit board  21 , and via the other end thereof electrically connected to the optical pick-up unit  24 . The optical pick-up unit  24  functions to process data on a disc  50  installed in the disc drive  20 .  
         [0026]     During the processing of data on the disc  50  by the optical pick-up unit  24 , the protector  26  keeps the flexible cable  22  away from the disc  50 , and the protector  26  shifts a crooked part of the flexible cable  22  out of the range that the disc  50  projects. In other words, the protector  26  prevents the flexible cable  22  from contacting the disc  50 . Referring to  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B ,  FIG. 4A  is a schematic diagram showing a first surface  34  of the flexible cable  22  in  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 4B  is a schematic diagram showing a second surface  36  of the flexible cable  22  in  FIG. 3 . The flexible cable  22  further includes a first conductive terminal  28 , a second conductive terminal  30 , and a fixing board  32 . As shown in  FIG. 4A , the first conductive terminal  28  and the second conductive terminal  30  are respectively disposed on the first surface  34  of the flexible cable  22 . The flexible cable  22  is electrically connected to the optical pick-up unit  24  via the first conductive terminal  28 , and electrically connected to the circuit board  21  via the second conductive terminal  30 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the fixing board  32  is disposed on the second surface  36  near the second conductive terminal  30  for assisting the attachment of the second conductive terminal  30  to the circuit board  21 . In one embodiment, the first surface  34  is opposite to the second surface  36 , and the fixing board  32  is disposed at the position on the second surface  36  opposite to that of the second conductive terminal  30  disposed on the first surface  34 .  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a detailed diagram of the flexible cable assembly in  FIG. 3  is illustrated. The protector  26  is disposed on the second surface  36  of the flexible cable  22  near the first conductive terminal  28 . The protector  26  is partly fixed on the flexible cable  22  so as not to affect the deformation of the flexible cable  22 . The fixing board  32  is disposed on the second surface  36  near the second conductive terminal  30  for assisting the attachment of the second conductive terminal  30  to the circuit board  21 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the protector  26  includes a joint part  38  and an extended part  40 . The joint part  38  is fixed on the flexible cable  22 . The extended part is joined together with the joint part  38  but separated from the flexible cable  22 . In one embodiment, the protector  26  is made of a plastic material.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B ,  FIG. 6A  is a schematic diagram showing a first surface  55  of the flexible cable  52  according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 6B  is a schematic diagram showing a second surface  56  of the flexible cable  52 . Differing from the flexible cable  22  shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , a first conductive terminal  51  and a second conductive terminal  54  are disposed on the first surface  55  and the second  56 , respectively. It is noted that the first conductive terminal  51  performs the same function as the first conductive terminal  28  shown in  FIG. 4A  and the second conductive terminal  54  performs the same function as the second conductive terminal  30  shown in  FIG. 4A .  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIGS. 7, 7A ,  7 B and  7 C, a flexible cable assembly according to the present invention connecting a first apparatus  62  with a second apparatus is illustrated.  FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram showing how the flexible assembly connects the first apparatus  62  with the second apparatus  64 .  FIG. 7A  is a schematic diagram showing a first surface  76  of the flexible cable  60  in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7B  is a cross-sectional view of the flexible cable  60  along the A-A line in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7C  is a schematic diagram showing a second surface  78  of the flexible cable  60  in  FIG. 7 . The flexible assembly functions to transmit a plurality of signals between the first apparatus  62  and the second apparatus  64 . The flexible assembly includes a flexible cable  60 , a conductor  66 , an insulator  67  and a protector  68 .  
         [0030]     The insulator  67  substantially covers the conductor  66 . The remainder of the conductor, not covered, forms a first conductive terminal  70  and a second conductive terminal  72 . In one embodiment, the conductor  66  is a copper foil, and the insulator  67  is a plastic component. The first apparatus  62  is an optical pick-up unit of a disc drive, and the second apparatus  64  is a circuit board of the disc drive. The description of this embodiment refers to the recitation with regard to  FIGS. 3 through 6 .  
         [0031]     The flexible cable assembly according to the invention is applied in a disc drive to connect an optical pick-up unit of the disc drive with a circuit board of the disc drive. From the above recitation, it is evident that the protector substantially covers the flexible cable to shift a crooked part of the flexible cable out of the range that the disc projects, so that the protector prevents the flexible cable from rubbing against the spinning disc. Therefore, the disc drive and the flexible cable assembly of the present invention efficiently prevent the flexible cable from contacting the disc.  
         [0032]     With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of the invention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.