An adaptor for holding a single disk for use in a multidisk player

Abstract: An adaptor (90) for holding a single disk (10) for being inserted and fitting into loading means of a multidisk player, comprising a first member (91) for being directly loaded into said loading means and ejectable therefrom, a second member (92) supported by and movable relative to said first member within a fixed range and being loadable with a single disk, means (97) for providing moving force to said second member and lock means for locking said second member to said first member in a locked state, including a lever member for releasing said locked state and being engagable with a fixed structure provided in the loading means to thereby release said locked state when the first member is loaded in the loading means.

Description: The present invention relates to disk holder for being inserted in a multidisk player as set forth in the preamble of claim 1. A disk holder of this type is known from EP-A-0 139 327. A multidisk player basically comprises a play back means including a turntable and a pick-up, and a magazine type disk holder for holding a plurality of disks and for being inserted and fitted in a loading means within a player housing, and a disk unloading/conveying mechanism for conveying a disk loaded on the disk holder to a play back position, i.e. onto the turntable. The afore-mentioned EP-A-0 139 327 describes a magazine adapted to be loaded into a multidisk player and comprising a plurality of disk holding trays and a combination of a multidisk player with such a magazine. The trays are formed and moved like drawers to transfer a disk onto a turntable of the multidisk player by means of loading means included in the multidisk player. There is no disclosure on how to load a single disk only other than by means of the afore-mentioned magazine. From EP-A-0 212 244 which is prior art in accordance with Article 54(3) EPC, a multidisk player is known comprising a housing, a playback mechanism, a magazine capable of containing a plurality of disks and detachably fitted in a predetermined magazine loader within the housing and a single disk adaptor being capable of being loaded with a single disk only, so that the multidisk player may be operated at the user's choice with a multidisk magazine or with a single disk adaptor. This adaptor comprises a first member to be installed in the magazine loader and a second member slidable within a fixed range along the direction in which the first member is fitted in the magazine loader and loaded with the disk. The first member is composed of a rectangular bottom plate and a ceiling plate provided with a semi-circular recess at its front end. The second member is composed of a slide plate slidably attached to the bottom plate of the first member and a tray for supporting the disk and pivotally mounted on a pin protruding from the right rear end of the side plate. The adaptor is equipped with a lock mechanism for locking the second member to the first member when the adapator has not been installed in the player body. This lock mechanism is released when the player body is loaded with the single disk adaptor. However, there is no disclosure of the structure of that lock mechanism. From US-A-4370738, a video disk player is known which is adapted to be operated in concert with a video disk caddy to be inserted into an input slot of the video disk player comprising loading means for supplying the disk housed in the caddy to the video disk player to allow the playback of the disk. The caddy comprises a first member for being directly loaded into the loading means and ejectable therefrom, a second member supported by and movable relative to the first member and loadable with a single disk and lock means for locking said second member to said first member in a locked state, said lock means including a lever member releasing said locked state, said lever member being engageable with a fixed structure provided in said loading means to thereby release said locked state caused by said lock means when said first member is loaded in said loading means. Whereas the aforementioned video disk player is adapted to be provided with a disk caddy housing a single disk only, a multidisk player gives reasons to specific desires of the user. It may happen that a user wants to play back only a single disk, so that use of a multidisk magazine type disk holder is impractical. Thus, there is some need for an adaptor which may be inserted into the loading means of the disk player and which is adapted to receive a single disk only to be conveyed onto the turntable. It is therefore the object of the invention to provide an adaptor which is compatible with a multidisk magazine type disk holder to be used in conjunction with a multidisk player. This object is attained by the features comprised in claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the dependent claims. The disk holder according to the present invention is capable of holding a disk which is not only replaceable but also detachable and attachable from and to a loading means in a multidisk player, the disk holder comprising a first member for being directly loaded to the loading means, a second member movable relative to the first member within a fixed range along the direction wherein the first member is loaded to the loading means, the second member being loaded with one disk, a means for providing the second member with moving force and a lock means for locking the second member to the first member, and said lock means includes a lever member for releasing the locked state and, when loaded to the loading means, the lever member mates with a predetermined mating means provided in the loading means to release the locked state caused by the lock means. The lever member is set back from the surface of the housing of the disk holder and equipped with a manual release butting for releasing the locked state caused by the lock means. The first member comprises a bottom plate and a top plate so positioned as to sandwich the second member with the bottom plate and coupled to the bottom plate; the second member is provided with a circular disk-holding face whose diameter is slightly larger than that of the disk; the top plate is supplied with a semicircular cutting whose curvature radius is slight larger than the radius of the disk, the semicircular cutting being provided at one end opposite to the direction wherein the second member is loaded to the loading means; and the arcuate portions of said circular disk-holding face and the semicircular cutting conform to each other while the second member to be ejected from the loading means moves relative to the first member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the whole body of a multidisk player for use selectively with an adaptor of the present invention. Figs. 2 through 6 are diagrams showing the single disk holder of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a description will be given of a multidisk player which may selectively used with a magazine-type multidisk holder or with a disk holder embodying the present invention. In the drawings, numeral 1 indicates the whole body of the multidisk player. As shown in Fig. 1, the front panel 3 of a player housing 2 is provided with a rectangular opening 3a for selectively accommodating a magazine 5 as a multidisk holder (as shown) or an adaptor 90 of the instant invention, as shown in Fig. 2, for holding a single disk, within the housing. The opening 3a extends both rightward and left-ward with respect to the forward direction indicated by the arrow Y, and the left-ward direction is indicated by the arrow X. The arrow Z indicates the upward direction. The front panel 3 is also provided with a group of control buttons 6 for manipulating the multi-disk player, and with a display 7. Figs. 2 to 6 illustrate an adaptor 90 which, as a substitute for a multidisk magazine, functions as a disk holder for holding a single disk. The adaptor 90 is detachably loaded into the magazine loading area in the multi-disk player 1 and which is capable of accommodating a single disk 10 in a replaceable manner. As shown in Fig. 2, the adaptor 90 is equipped with a first member 91 for being directly installed in the magazine-loading means and a second member 92 allowed to freely slide within a fixed range along the direction in which the first member is installed in the magazine-loading means and used to hold the disk. The first member 91 is a combination of a rectangular bottom plate 93 and a top plate 94 so positioned as to sandwich the second member 92 with the bottom plate and is provided with a semicircular cut 94a at its front end, the radius of curvature of the cut being slightly larger than the radius of the disk 10. Moreover, the second member 92 consists of a slide plate 95 slidably attached to (the bottom plate 93 of) the first member 91 and a tray C96 rotatable on a pin 95a projected from the rear right end of the slide plate 95 and used to hold the disk 10. A circular disk-holding face 96a whose diameter is slightly larger than that of the disk 10 is formed on the tray C96 as the member forming the second member 92. As shown in Fig. 2, the arcuate portions of the circular disk-holding face 96a and the semicircular cut 94a coincide with each other when the second member 92 moves relative to the first member 91 to position so as to eject from the loading means in the player housing 2. The dimension shown by dc of Fig. 2, i.e., the gap between the circular disk-holding face 96a and the top plate 94 is so arranged as to be greater than the thickness of the disk 10 and smaller than twice the thickness thereof. With this arrangement, the double insertion of the disk into the single adaptor can be prevented. As shown in Fig. 5, a plurality of steel balls 95c attached to an overhang 95b formed on the slide plate 95 forming the second member 92 smoothly abut against the surface of the bottom plate 93 forming the first member 91. In this case, a linear guide groove 93c extended in the longitudinal direction is formed in the center of the bottom plate 93 and the slide plate is guided as a pin 95d projected from the under surface of the slide plate 95 slides in the guide groove. A leaf spring 93d made of steel sheets is arranged in such a position as to sandwich the overhang 95b with the steel balls 95c and fixed to the body of the bottom plate 93 with a bolt 93e. The left spring 93d forms part of the bottom plate 93. The bottom plate 93 excluding the leaf spring 93d is made of plastics and the slide plate 95 excluding the steel balls 95c is also made of plastics. In other words, one side of the first and second member 91, 92 sliding on each other is made of plastics, whereas the other is metal. As shown in Fig. 3, a rail 93g extended in parallel to the linear guide groove 93c is formed on the bottom plate 93 and a slider 97a formed of a steel sheet is movably installed on the rail 93g. A coil spring 97b is stretched between the rear end of the slide 97a and the front end of the bottom plate 93. The coil spring 97b provides the second member 92 including the slide plate 95 with a forward biasing force. A damper 98 equipped with a control gear 98a is fixed to the slider 97a with bolts, and a rack 95e extended in the longitudinal direction and formed on the slide plate 95 engages with the control gear 98a. The control gear 98a also engages with a rack 93h extended in the longitudinal direction and formed on the bottom plate 93. The damper 98 provides control force by making use of the viscosity resistance of a viscous agent such as grease hold therein. As shown in Fig. 3, a press lever 101 extended roughly in the longitudinal direction (in the directions of the arrow Y and opposite thereto) is installed at the front left end of the slide plate 95 and is attached to the slide plate 95 through a pin 95f so as to freely rotate. The pin 95f is however extended in the vertical direction (in the directions of the arrow Z and opposite thereto). The rear end of the press lever 101 can smoothly mate with a cut out 96b formed at the free end of the tray C96. A spring member 101a for providing the press lever with pressing force mates with the press lever 101. The press lever 101 and the spring member 101a constitute the holding mechanism for holding the tray C96 in the containment position of the slide plate 95. As shown in Fig. 3, a lock member 103 is arranged at the right end of the bottom plate 93 and attached thereto so as to freely pivot by the smooth mating of a pair of pins 103a formed substantially in the center of the lock member in such a manner as to project in the transverse direction (in the directions of the arrow X and opposite thereto) with bearings 93j on the bottom plate 93. One end of the pivotal lock member 103 can mate with the lower surface and the front end 95i of a linear guide 95h extended in the longitudinal direction and formed on the lower surface of the slide plate 95. The lock member 103 is biased by a coil spring 104 in such a manner as to move close to the linear guide. The lock member 103 and the coil spring 104 constitute the lock means for locking the second member 92 including the slide plate 95 to the first member 91 including the bottom plate 93. In other words, the forward movement of the second member relative to the first member is regulated as the rear end 103b of the lock member 103 biased by the coil spring 104 mates with the front end 95i of the linear guide 95. A lever member 103c for releasing the locked state is incorporated in the other end, i.e., front end of the pivotal lock member 103. As shown in Fig. 4, the lever member 103c is projected from the adaptor 90 and, when the adaptor is installed in the loading means in the player housing, the lever member 103c is so arranged as to mate with the front end of the guide rail 2a (Fig. 1) installed in the loading means. When the lever member 103c mates with the front end of the guide rail 2a, the rear end 103b of the lock member 103 is so rotated as to depart from the front end 95i of the guide 95h of the slide plate 95, whereby the locked state induced by the lock means is released. As shown in Fig. 4, a linear guide groove 93 ℓ for guiding the adaptor 90 by mating with the guide rail 2a is formed on the lower side of the bottom plate 93 and the lever member 103c is positioned in the guide groove 93 ℓ. In other words, the lever member 103c is set back from the surface of the bottom plate 93 as the housing of the single adaptor 90. The lever member 103c thus arranged is prevented from mating with the surface of, e.g., a table on which the adaptor is inadvertently put by the user and the locked state of the second member 92 relative to the first member by means of the lock means is maintained. As shown in Fig. 3, a manual release button 103e for manually releasing the locked state of the second member 92 relative to the first member 91 by means of the lock means is incorporated in the front end of the lock member 103. As shown in Fig. 4, the manual release button 103e of the adaptor is exposed through an opening formed in the bottom plate 93 so that it can be pressed by the finger. Moreover, the surface of the manual release button 103e is set at the same lever as that of the bottom plate or otherwise recessed. Even if the user inadvertently places the adaptor on a table or the like, the manual release button 103e is prevented from being pressed by the surface of the table and the locked state of the second member 93 provided by the lock means relative to the first member 91 is maintained. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a recess 94c for receiving an overhang 64b protruded from one end of a pivotal lever (not shown) of the disk player 1 is provided at the left rear end of a top plate 94 as a member forming part of the adaptor 90. When the adaptor 90 is inserted and installed properly (as shown in Fig. 2) in the loading means of the player housing 2, said overhang is smoothly pressed by the adaptor. When the adaptor 90 is improperly installed in the vertically inverted state, however, said overhang is fitted into the recess 94c and the pivotal movement of the lever prevents the insertion of the adaptor into the loading means. The installation of the adaptor is thus checked. As shown in Fig. 3, a recess 95k for receiving one end of a revolving lock member (not shown) of the disk player 1 is formed in the right-hand face of the slide plate 95 forming part of the adaptor 90. As shown in Fig. 6, the first member 91 is also ejected out of the magazine-loading means in the player housing 2 when the second member 92 is moved relative to the first member 91 to load the disk 10 on (the tray C96 forming part of) the second member. However, the second member 92 is moved relative to the first member 91 by the coil spring 97b, whereas the first member 91 is ejected from the loading means by, e.g, aforementioned pivotal lever and an associated coil spring (not shown). The first and second members 91, 92 are locked by said lock member in the loading means. As shown in Fig. 6, it has been so arranged that the sum (125 mm) of the quantity (e.g. 50 mm) of the ejection of the first member 91 from the loading means and that (e.g., 75 mm) of the movement of the second member 92 relative to the first member 91 is slightly larger than the diameter (120 mm) of the disk 10. Accordingly, the U dimension shown in Fig. 6, i.e., the overlapped dimension of the first and second members 91, 92 is set relatively large when the second member is ejected from the loading means to attach and detach the disk 10 to and from (the tray C96 of) the second member 92. The position of one disk 10 contained in the adaptor 90 is made to correspond to that of the central one of the six disks contained in a multidisk magazine 5. In consequence, the disk-loading state relative to the adaptor is stabilized, which offers excellent external appearance while the first and second members 91, 92 are ejected from the magazine-loading means. In that case, the loading of the adaptor 90 onto the player body is also detected by switches (not shown) arranged in the disk player 1, i.e., switches for use in detecting whether a magazine 5 is loaded into the player body. More specifically, a recess is formed in the portion of the adaptor 90 at a location where the corresponding portion of a multidisk magazine 5 operates said switches. With the above arrangement, it becomes possible to determine whether an adaptor 90 or a magazine 5 has been loaded. Since the disk holder 90 detachable from and attachable to the predetermined loading means in the multidisk player holds a replaceable disk as set forth above, any one of the desired disks can instantly be loaded onto the multidisk player and the disk is also readily replaceable. Accordingly, its operability is by far improved. The disk holder 90 comprises the first member 91 for being directely loaded to the loading means, the second member 92 movable relative to the first member within a fixed range along the direction wherein the first member is loaded to the loading means, the second member being loaded with one disk, the means (the coil spring 97b) for providing the second member with moving force and the lock means (the lock member 103 and the coil spring 104) for locking the second member to the first member, and the lock means includes the lever member 103c for releasing the locked state and, when loaded to the loading means, the lever member mates with the predetermined mating means 2a provided in the loading means to release the locked state caused by the lock means. The reason for the provision of the lock means is that the listener is not invited to handle the disk holder only while the second member is kept movable relative to the first member. The locked state attributed to the lock means is then released when the disk holder is loaded to the loading means and the second member must be made movable relative to the first member fixed to the loading means to make the second member ejectable from and containable in the loading means. It is however troublesome for the listener to release the locked state manually each time the disk holder is loaded. In the disk holder according to the present invention, the locked state is, as aforementioned, automatically released simultaneously with the insertion of the disk holder into the loading means, so that the operability related to disk replacement is further improved. In the disk holder 90 according to the present invention, the lever member is set back from the surface of the housing of the disk holder. Even if the listener inadvertently places the disk holder on, e.g., a table, the lever member is prevented from mating with the surface thereof and the locked state of the second member caused by the lock means relative to the first member is maintained. In the disk holder according to the present invention, moreover, the manual release button 103e for manually releasing the locked state caused by the lock means is provided for the listener. There may arise a case where the listener desires to handle only the disk holder separately from the player body in order to move the second member relative to the first member. In that case, it is not always easy for the listener to operate the lever member retreated from the surface of the housing of the disk holder. The installation of such a manual release button makes such operation extremely easy. Further, the first member comprises the bottom plate 93 and the top plate 94 so positioned as to sandwich the second member 92 with the bottom plate and coupled to the bottom plate. The second member is provided with the circular disk-holding face 96a whose diameter is slightly larger than that of the disk. The top plate is supplied with the semicircular cutting (94a) whose curvature radius is slight larger than the radius of the disk, the semicircular cutting being provided at one end opposite to the direction wherein the second member is loaded to the loading means. The arcuate portions of the circular disk-holding face and the semicircular cutting conform to each other while the second member to be ejected from the loading means moves relative to the first member. Since the disk holder 90 is thus constructed, the circular disk-holding face and the semicircular cutting having arcuate portions conforming to each other from a so-called disk guide when a disk is loaded on the circular disk-holding face, so that the disk is accurately mounted on the circular disk-holding face. Accordingly, operability related to disk replacement is further improvable. Since the arcuate portions of the circular disk-holding face and the semicircular cutting conform to each other, the disk-loading means looks fine and stable in view of external appearance.

Claims: A disk holder comprising a housing for being inserted and fitted into a multidisk player (1) in concert with the actuation of said multidisk player (1) so as to allow the playback of a disk (10) held in said disk holder, said holder comprising a first member (91) for being directly loaded in a loading direction into said multidisk player (1) and ejectable therefrom, a second member (92) supported by and movable relative to said first member (91), said second member (92) being loadable with a single disk (10), characterized in that (i) that said disk holder is an adaptor (90) for receiving a single disk (10) only (ii) the second member (92) of the adaptor (90) is movable relative to the first member (91) within a fixed range along said loading direction along which the first member (91) is loaded into said multidisk player (1), (iii) the adaptor (90) comprises means (97b) for providing a moving force to said second member (92), (iv) the adaptor (90) further comprises lock means (103,104) for locking said second member (92) to said first member (91) in a locked state, said lock means (103,104) including a lever member (103b) for releasing said locked state, said lever member (103b) being engageable with a fixed structure provided in said multidisk player (1) to thereby release said locked state caused by said lock means (103,104) when said first member (91) is loaded in said multidisk player (1). An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lever member (103b) is disposed away from exterior surfaces of said housing. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said lever member (103b) is disposed away from surfaces of said housing, and further comprising a manual release button (103e) for releasing the locked state caused by said lock means (103, 104). An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface of said manual release button (103e) is flush with the surface of said housing. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface of said manual release button (103e) is positioned inwardly with respect to the surface of said housing.

Inventors: IKEDO YUJI C O PIONEER ELECTRO, MIYAKAWA TSUTOMU C O PIONEER E, MIYAKE MASAHIKO C O PIONEER EL, OKAJIMA TAKAHIRO C O PIONEER E, IKEDO, YUJI, C/O PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP., MIYAKAWA, TSUTOMU, C/O PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP., MIYAKE, MASAHIKO, C/O PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP., OKAJIMA, TAKAHIRO, C/O PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP.
Applicants: PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP, PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORPORATION
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G11B23
IPC codes: G11B17, G11B23