Abstract:
A device for storing optical discs is disclosed. The device includes a housing, a carousel arranged in the housing for movement relative to the housing, the carousel having a plurality of storage compartments each for storing a disc, an opening in the housing through which a disc can pass, drive means for driving the carousel relative to the housing to align each of the storage compartments and a disc stored in that storage compartment in registry with the opening, and an ejection system to eject a disc from a storage compartment and through the opening in said housing. The ejection system is powered by a motor and a clutch system, and control means is provided to cause said carousel to rotate and to cause the ejection system to operate as instructed by a user.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to computers and other electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a storage device for storing programmed or programmable media in disc form, such as a CD ROM, DVD or a music CD, which is to be used with a computer such as a personal computer or another device such as a DVD player or music CD player  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     As is well known, information stored on DVD&#39;s, CD ROM discs, music compact discs and the like are commonly used with computers and audio and video equipment. Typically, such optical discs are stored in a storage rack or box and the receiving device includes an optical drive into which a disc is inserted.  
         [0003]     Generally, in order to use an optical disc, the operator will insert the disc into the receiving device and initiate its operation.  
         [0004]     However, before inserting the disc into the receiving device, the operator must manually locate the relevant optical disc and insert it into the optical disc reader of the receiving device. If the receiving device is a computer, the computer can then read and/or write onto the disc and run the program in accordance with the software contained on the CD ROM. If the receiving device is of another type, the device can interact with data or software contained on the disc under the control of software or data included in the receiving device.  
         [0005]     The handling of optical discs, particularly if an operator has a large number of optical discs, can be time consuming and bothersome because of the number of optical discs which need to be stored and then the number which may have to be manually searched through in order to provide the data, file, or other information or material the operator wishes to access.  
         [0006]     A CD storage device aimed at solving these problems is described in International Patent Application number PCT/AU01/0063 1, titled “CD ROM Storage Device” filed 28 May 2001 and published 5 Dec. 2002 under international Publication Number 02/097808 A1, by applicant Project Lab Pty Ltd. With reference to  FIG. 1 , the Project Lab application teaches a CD storage device which includes a case  10  in which a circular storage member  12  is supported for rotation in the case. The circular storage member  12  has a number compartments  14  formed between ribs  16  each for storing a CD  18 . The device includes a controlling circuit board, not shown, which can couple with a computer so that CD&#39;s can be stored and retrieved by inputting information into the computer which causes the circular storage member to rotate to present the storage compartment having the required CD at an opening  20  for discharge. The device includes an ejector for ejecting CDs from a storage compartment  14 . However, in some circumstances the ejector disclosed in the Project Lab patent application has shortcomings, and improvements to the ejector system are desirable.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A device for storing optical discs is disclosed. The device includes a housing, a carousel arranged in the housing for movement relative to the housing, the carousel having a plurality of storage compartments each for storing a disc, an opening in the housing through which a disc can pass, drive means for driving the carousel relative to the housing to align each of the storage compartments and a disc stored in that storage compartment in registry with the opening, and an ejection system to eject a disc from a storage compartment and through the opening in said housing. The ejection system is powered by a motor and a clutch system, and control means is provided to cause the carousel to rotate and to cause said ejection system to operate as instructed by a user.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.  
         [0009]     In the drawings:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of a prior art device.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a partially exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a partially exploded view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with the top removed.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a view of a roller of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of view of a roller system of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a partially exploded view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with the top removed.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with the top removed.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is another partially exploded view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with the top removed.  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is an isometric view of a pulley of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  is a cross section of the pulley of  FIG. 9 , taken along line  10 - 10 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 11  is a top view of a cam of the present embodiment.  
         [0021]      FIG. 12  is a side view of a cam of the present embodiment.  
         [0022]      FIG. 13  is a bottom view of a cam of the present embodiment.  
         [0023]      FIG. 14  is a top, isometric view of a cam of the present embodiment.  
         [0024]      FIG. 15  is a bottom, isometric view of a cam of the present embodiment.  
         [0025]      FIG. 16  is a cut away side view of the device of  FIG. 7  taken along line  16 - 16 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0026]     Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the context of a storage and retrieval device for optical discs. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0027]     In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.  
         [0028]     Turning now to  FIG. 2  the present embodiment is shown in exploded form. The device includes a housing  30  which includes a housing base  32  and a housing cover  34 , and an opening  36  is formed in the front of the housing  30  to permit CD&#39;s to be inserted into and removed from the device.  
         [0029]     In  FIG. 3  the device is shown with the housing cover  34  removed, and partially in exploded form. A carousel  40  is mounted for rotation on a post  42  located in the housing base  32 , and a carousel cap  44  is mounted to the post  42  on top of the carousel to hold the carousel  40  in place. The carousel includes a plurality of slots  46  located radially around the carousel to hold discs, and the carousel is mounted to the post  42  so that the carousel can rotate. A carousel drive system, not shown, is mounted to the housing base  32  to controllably rotate the carousel  40 , and a roller assembly  48  is mounted to the front side of the housing base  32 .  
         [0030]     Turning to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the roller assembly  48  is shown comprising a chassis  50  with a vertically oriented slot  52  formed in the center. A roller mount  54  is located on one side of the slot  52 , and roller  60  is rotatably connected to mount  54 . A second roller mount, not shown, is connected to the opposite side of slot  52  and a second roller  56  is rotatably connected to the second roller mount. The second roller mount is solidly connected to the chassis  50 , and roller mount  54  is coupled to a side of slot  52  by two springs  55  so that the roller  60  is biased toward roller  56 . The rollers comprise a drive roller  56  and an idler roller  60  and the drive roller  56  has a roller pulley wheel  62  attached to its lower end. Thus, when the roller pulley wheel  62  is rotated, the drive roller  56  rotates which in turn causes the idler roller  60  to rotate, and if a disc is engaged between the rollers, the disc is moved either into or out of the device. A sensor PCB assembly  64  is connected to the chassis  50  to sense when a disc is entering or leaving the rollers, and electrical cable  66  is connected to the sensor PCB assembly  64  to convey signals to a control circuit, not shown.  
         [0031]     Turning now to  FIGS. 6-8  a drive system  70  is shown mounted to the housing base  32 , and the drive system  70  includes a roller drive belt  72 , which is an endless belt having a square cross section. One end of the roller drive belt  72  is connected to the roller pulley wheel  62 , and the other end is connected to the drive system  70 . An ejector arm  74  is connected to the housing base  32 , and the ejector arm  74  is driven by the drive system  70 . The ejector arm  74  includes two posts  76  which are connected to form a hinge with posts  80 , molded in the base  32 , and the ejector arm  74  includes a lifting member  78  mounted at the end of the arm  74  opposite the posts  76 . The ejector arm  74  also includes a follower  82  mounted between the lifting member  78  and the posts  76 . Accordingly, when the follower  82  is moved up or down, the ejector arm  74  pivots about the hinges  80 , and the lifting member  78  moves up and down as well.  
         [0032]     The ejection system also includes a clutch system which includes a clutch shaft  84  mounted to the housing base  32 , and a clutch pulley  86  is mounted to the clutch shaft  84 . As best shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the clutch pulley  86  has an upper V-shaped section  90  and a lower V-shaped section  92 . One belt runs in each of the V shaped sections  90  and  92 . At the top of the clutch pulley  86  is a first disc  100  and below the first disc  100  is a second disc  102  which has a larger diameter than the first disc  94 . A motor  104  is connected to the housing base  32 , the shaft of the motor  104  is connected to a pulley drive belt  106 , and the opposite end of the pulley drive belt  106  is located in the lower V-shaped section  92  of the clutch pulley  86 . The roller drive belt  72  has one end located in the upper V-shaped section  90  of the clutch pulley  86 , and the opposite end of the roller drive belt  72  is connected to the roller pulley wheel  62 . Thus it can be understood that the motor  104  can drive the clutch pulley  86  to rotate which in turn drives the drive roller  56  to rotate.  
         [0033]     On the top of the second disc  102  of the clutch pulley  86  is mounted a slipping washer  110  fabricated of a material with appropriate frictional characteristics. In the present embodiment, felt is the preferred material, although other materials could be used in appropriate circumstances. Above the slipping washer  110  is mounted a cam  112 , a spring  114 , a washer  116  and a retainer  118 . The spring  114 , washer  116  and retainer  118  are designed to provide downward force on the cam  112  to result in desired frictional relationship between the cam  112  and clutch pulley  86 .  
         [0034]     As best shown in  FIGS. 11-15  the cam  112  includes a generally cylindrical, hollow body  120  which is closed at the bottom and open at the top, and a hole is formed in the top to accommodate the clutch shaft  84 . A helical shelf  122  is affixed to the outer surface of the body  120 . A stop  124  is affixed to the body and the stop  124  terminates the ends of the helical shelf  122 .  
         [0035]     The operation of the device can now be understood. Initially, optical discs are located inside the housing in slots  46  of the carousel  40 . Each disc is supported by the carousel  40 , and the carousel is constructed with slots so that part of the disc protrudes downward through the carousel  40  as illustrated in  FIG. 16 . At this time the cam  112  is in its most clockwise position so that the portion of the helical shelf  122  supporting the follower  82  is at its lowest position, and thus the lifting member  78  is at its lowest position, as illustrated in  FIG. 16 . At this time the lifting member  78  does not contact a disc  18 . When the operator desires to eject a disc from the device, the operator instructs his computer to cause the device to operate so that the carousel  40  rotates and the desired disc is aligned with the opening  36  in the housing  30 . Then the motor  104  operates so that its shaft rotates thereby causing the ejection system to operate, and the clutch pulley  86  and the cam  112  rotate. The rotation of the clutch pulley  86  causes the drive roller  56  to rotate although at this time no disc is between the rollers. Simultaneously, the cam  122  rotates in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed from above) which raises the portion of the helical shelf which supports the follower  82 , which in turn causes the lifting member  78  to rise and contact a disc thereby moving the disc upward and outward toward the roller assembly  48 . Once the lifting member  78  has reached its maximum height, the disc has been engaged by the rollers. At this time the stop  124  of the cam  112  contacts the follower  82  and the cam  112  stops rotating. However, the motor  104  continues to operate and the clutch pulley  86  continues to rotate relative to the cam  112  because slippage occurs against the slipping washer  110 . The clutch pulley  86  continues to rotate until the disc has been substantially ejected from the device by the rollers, at which time the sensor PCB assembly  64  senses the absence of a disc and the control system stops the motor  104 . The disc is retained in the rollers to a small extent so that it does not fall but is easily removed by the operator pulling the disc forward the last small amount. Once the sensor board detects that the disc has been completely removed from the rollers the control system reverses the direction of the motor and resets the cam  122  to its most clockwise position so that the follower  82  is in its lowest position.  
         [0036]     When a user inserts a disc, essentially the opposite process takes place. The sensor board detects a disc approaching the rollers which causes the rollers to rotate and move the disc into the carousel slot.  
         [0037]     While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.