Information storage disk dispensing apparatus with a disk inclining member

An information storage disk dispensing apparatus includes a frame, a disk drive and a disk inclining member. The disk drive is connected to the frame and includes a tray. The tray includes a receiving area and has an ejected position. The disk inclining member is mounted on the frame over the receiving area of the tray when the tray is at the ejected position to incline a disk pulled by gravity to fall vertically.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information storage disk dispensing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information storage disk dispensing apparatus that vertically dispenses disks onto a tray of a disk drive with a disk inclining member to incline the dispensed disk to prevent the dispensed disk from colliding with the drive before the dispensed disk contacts the tray.

2. Description of Related Art

Information storage disks, such as compact disks (CDs) including Compact Disc-Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disc ReWritable (CD-RW), DVD recordable (DVD-R) etc. are popular and are used to store digital information in a variety of formats. Disk dispensing apparatus has been developed to provide or feed one disk once for disk replication devices, disk vending machines etc. to use or sell.

For convenient purposes, automatic disk dispensing apparatus becomes more common. The automatic disk dispensing apparatus uses a disk feeding mechanism or a robot arm to transport or feed one disk such as a blank compact disk onto a tray to duplicate or sell. One kind of the automatic disk dispensing apparatus feeds the disk vertically onto the tray i.e. the disk is pulled by gravity to fall down onto the tray when the disk is released from the disk feeding mechanism or the robot arm.

Refer toFIG. 1. For example, for an automatic disk duplication system, a disk drive100such as a compact disk drive or a burner is positioned under the disk dispensing apparatus to receive a fallen disk200in its tray110so that the disk drive100could read or write the disk200. The tray110is retractably mounted in a body120of the disk drive100and has a receiving area111to receive and hold the disk200in position. The receiving area111is generally a circular recess with a diameter grater than the diameter of the disk200. Typically, when the tray110is ejected out of the body120, the receiving area111is not completely exposed out of the body120. A small inside portion112is still hidden by the body120.

However, the disk200has to be aligned with the receiving area111so as to be exactly received and held in the receiving area111when the disk200is pulled to fall vertically by gravity. Since the hidden inside portion112and the needs of alignment between the disk200and the receiving area111, the edge of the falling disk200will collide with the top corner121of the body120before the disk200contacts with the tray110. Hence, the falling disk200deviates from its path of motion and cannot be received by the receiving area111. Automatic operations are stopped following the collision and cannot be executed.

Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved disk dispensing apparatus for information storage disks to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide a disk dispensing apparatus for information storage disks that supplies a disk onto a tray with smooth and exact positioning effect.

An information storage disk dispensing apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises a frame, a disk drive and a disk inclining member. The disk drive is connected to the frame and comprises a tray. The tray comprises a receiving area and has an ejected position. The disk inclining member is mounted on the frame over the receiving area of the tray when the tray is at the ejected position to incline a disk pulled by gravity to fall vertically.

When using a disk-feeding mechanism to gradually and sequentially feed the disk onto the tray (only one single disk is fed once), the disk is eventually pulled down by gravity after the disk is released by the disk-feeding mechanism. When the falling disk touches the disk inclining member, the disk is inclined by the disk inclining member because of gravity until a lower portion of the edge of the disk touches the receiving area of the tray. Gravity continuously pulls the disk so that the lower portion of the edge of the disk slides on the receiving area of the tray toward the inside of the disk drive while an upper portion of the of the edge of the disk slides simultaneously on the disk inclining member. The disk is eventually received in the receiving area of the tray after the upper portion of the of the edge of the disk slides out of the disk inclining member, and the disk is pulled by gravity to fall onto the receiving area. Since the lower portion of the edge of the disk slides initially on the receiving area of the tray, the lower portion never collides with the disk drive. Thus, the receiving area of the tray receives the disk smoothly and precisely. Smooth and precise positioning effects for feeding the disk onto the receiving area of the tray can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Refer toFIG. 2andFIG. 3. An embodiment of a disk dispensing apparatus300comprises a frame310, a disk drive320, a disk-feeding mechanism330and a disk inclining member340. The frame310supports the disk drive320and the disk-feeding mechanism330.

The disk drive320comprises a body321and a tray322. The tray322is retractably mounted in the body321between an ejected position and a retracted position. The tray322comprises a receiving area323that is typically a circular recess with a diameter grater than the diameter of a disk.

Further refer toFIG. 4. The disk-feeding mechanism330is mounted on the frame310to supply vertically one disk400onto the receiving area323of the tray322when the tray322is ejected at its ejected position. In the embodiment, the disk-feeding mechanism330comprises a disk-feeding body331, multiple disk-feeding wheels332and a disk-guiding device333.

The disk-feeding body331is mounted on the frame310and has a through hole334aligned with the receiving area323of the tray322as the tray322at its ejected position. The disk-feeding wheels332are rotating members, are mounted in the through hole334and are partially extended in the through hole334. The amount of disk-feeding wheels332depends on design requirements. In the embodiment, there are three disk-feeding wheels332. Those three disk-feeding wheels332have a triangular arrangement.

The disk-guiding device333is mounted on the disk-feeding body331around the through hole334to align the stacked blank disks400in position. The disk-guiding device333comprises two or more than two guiding posts335. In the embodiment, the disk-guiding device333comprises three guiding posts335.

The disk inclining member340is mounted on the frame310under the through hole334and over the receiving area323of the tray322when the tray322is ejected at its ejected position. The disk inclining member340may be a flexible strip, a rigid strip, a nub etc. and is partially extended toward the center axis of the receiving area323.

Refer toFIG. 4andFIG. 5atoFIG. 5c. When using the disk-feeding mechanism330to gradually and sequentially feed the disk onto the trays (only one single disk is fed once), a controller controls rotations of the disk-feeding wheels332. Rotations of the disk-feeding wheels332move the bottom disk400of the disk stack. The disk400is eventually pulled down by gravity after the disk passes through the through hole334. When the bottom disk400departs from the disk-feeding wheels332and falls, the wheels332stop. Thus, the disk-feeding mechanism330controls feeding a single disk onto the tray at a time.

When the falling disk400touches the disk inclining member340, the disk400is inclined by the disk inclining member340because of gravity until a lower portion410of the edge of the disk400contacts with the receiving area323of the tray322(as shown inFIG. 5a). Gravity pulls continuously the disk400so that the lower portion410of the edge of the disk400slides on the receiving area323of the tray322toward the inside of the body321of the disk drive320while an upper portion420of the of the edge of the disk400slides simultaneously on the disk inclining member340as denoted by the arrows inFIG. 5b. The disk400is eventually received in the receiving area323of the tray322after the upper portion420of the of the edge of the disk400slides out of the disk inclining member340, and the disk400is pulled by gravity to fall onto the receiving area323as shown inFIG. 5c. Since the lower portion410of the edge of the disk400slides initially on the receiving area323of the tray322, the lower portion410never collides with the top corner of the body321of the disk drive320. Thus, the disk400is smoothly and exactly received and held in the receiving area323of the tray322. The tray322is retracted inward to read or write the disk400.

Refer toFIG. 6. Another embodiment discloses uses an automatic robot arm500as a disk-feeding mechanism to convey a disk400and supplies the disk400to the tray322of the disk drive320. Likewise, when the robot arm500positions disk400over the receiving area323of the tray322and releases the disk400, the disk400is pulled by gravity to fall. The falling disk400is inclined by the disk inclining member340as previously described and eventually received and held in the receiving area323of the tray322to process.