Abstract:
A disk drive having a body including: a spindle motor for rotating a disk; a pickup unit for accessing the disk; a tray for accommodating the disk, which retracts and extends from the body; and a front panel assembly mounted on the body, which allows the tray to retract and extend. The front panel assembly has a front panel with an entrance, through which the tray retracts and extends, a door rotationally assembled with the front panel to open and close the entrance in connection with movements of the tray, an elastic member that provides an elastic force to the door in the direction of closing the entrance, a door locking apparatus that selectively allows and prevents the rotation of the door in connection with the movements of the tray. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the door from opening while the tray is in a retracted state.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-38337, filed on Jul. 3, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a front panel assembly of a disk drive, and a disk drive incorporating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a front panel assembly of a disk drive having a door locking apparatus for selectively locking a door through which a tray comes in and out, and a disk drive incorporating the same. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Typically, a disk drive is an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and from an optical disk such as a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), or the like. The disk drive has a tray for accommodating a disk, which is loaded in or unloaded from a body, and a front panel assembly having an entrance through which the tray retracts and extends, which is mounted in front of the body. 
     FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a conventional front panel assembly of a disk drive, and  FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line A–A′ in  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is shown a body  110  of a disk drive, a tray  120 , a front panel  130 , a door  140 , and a torsion spring  150 . The tray  120  is assembled with the body  110  and retracts and extends in the directions of arrows B and C of  FIG. 1 . The front panel  130  is mounted in front of the body  110 . The front panel  130  includes an entrance  131  through which the tray  120  comes in and out, support members  132  and  133  to support the door  140 , and a fixing member  134 , to which an arm  151  of the torsion spring  150  is fixed. The door  140  closes the entrance  131  to cover the inside of the body  110  while the tray  120  is loaded therein. Hinge arms  141  are provided at the left and right ends of the door  140 . The hinge arms  141  are assembled with, and rotate in the support members  132  and  133 . Further, a limit member  142  is provided at the right hinge arm  141 . The torsion spring  150  is set around the right end of the hinge arm  141 . One arm  151  of the spring  150  is fixed to the fixing member  134  of the front panel  130 . The other arm  152  of the spring  150  provides an elastic force to the limit member  142  to rotate the door  140  in the direction of closing the door  140 , i.e., in the direction of an arrow D in  FIG. 1 . When the door  140  is closed after the tray  120  is loaded in the body  110 , the limit member  142  contacts the rear side of the front panel  130  and prevents the door  140  from excessively rotating in the direction of arrow D in  FIG. 1 . 
   With the structure as described above, while the tray  120  is in a retracted state, the door  140  is kept closed by the elastic force of the torsion spring  150 . However, when the tray  120  slides out in the direction of the arrow B in  FIG. 1 , for example, to accommodate a disk, the front side  121  of the tray  120  contacts and pushes the door  140 , and accordingly, the door  140  rotates in the direction of an arrow E in  FIG. 2 . Then, the tray  120  slides through the entrance  131 . When the tray  120  retracts again in the direction of the arrow C in  FIG. 1 , the door  140  rotates in the direction of the arrow D in  FIG. 1  by the elastic force of the torsion spring  150 , and then the door  140  closes again. 
   These days, disk drives are manufactured to have higher rotational speeds for faster data transfer, as well as a higher capacity for larger data storage. The rotational speed of a disk drive became significantly faster from 1× in the early stage through 16× and 32× to a recent 52×. The rotational speed or rate of a disk reaches around 3,600 RPM (revolutions per minute) in a 16× disk drive, and around 12,000 RPM in a 52× disk drive. However, a disk may be broken in such fast rotational environments if there exists even a tiny crack on the disk, and pieces of such broken disk would fly away in every direction at a very high speed. If any piece of the broken disk came out of the body  110 , a user could be critically harmed. The conventional disk drive as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  has a problem, however, in that it cannot sufficiently shield or block such pieces of the broken disk which have significant kinetic energy, because the door  140  is simply closed by the elastic force of the spring  150 . 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   To solve the above and/or other problems, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a front panel assembly of a disk drive having a door locking apparatus that prevents a door from opening while the tray is in a retracted state, and a disk drive incorporating the same. 
   According to an aspect, there is provided a front panel assembly mounted on a body of a disk drive for reading and/or writing information by accessing a disk, which has a front panel with an entrance through which a tray for accommodating the disk extends and retracts, a door that is rotationally assembled with the front panel to open and close the entrance in connection with movements of the tray, an elastic member that provides an elastic force to the door in the direction of closing the entrance, and a door locking apparatus that selectively allows or prevents the rotation of the door in connection with the movements of the tray. 
   According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk drive having a body including a spindle motor for rotating a disk, a pickup unit for accessing the disk, and a tray for accommodating the disk, which retracts into and extends from the body; and a front panel assembly mounted in front of the body, which allows the tray to retract and extend, wherein the front panel assembly comprises a front panel having an entrance through which the tray retracts and extends, a door that is rotationally assembled with the front panel to open and close the entrance in connection with movements of the tray, an elastic member that provides an elastic force to the door in the direction of closing the entrance, and a door locking apparatus that selectively allows or prevents the rotation of the door in connection with the movements of the tray. 
   Furthermore, according to still another aspect of the present invention, the door locking apparatus has: a hook member provided on a first side of the door; and a locking lever mounted on the front panel, which includes an elastically deformable locking member that engages the hook member to prevent the door from opening while the tray is in a retracted state, and a contact member that when contacted by the tray during extension and retraction of the tray, causes the locking member to elastically deform so that the locking member is released from the hook member. 
   Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a disk drive incorporating a conventional front panel assembly; 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line A–A′ of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a disk drive incorporating a front panel assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the front panel assembly of  FIG. 3 ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of the front panel assembly of  FIG. 3  for illustrating an unloading operation of a tray. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of a disk drive according to the present invention, and  FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of a front panel assembly of  FIG. 3 . Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , there is shown a body  210  of a disk drive and a front panel assembly  200  that is mounted in front of the body  210 . 
   The body  210  includes a spindle motor  211 , a pickup unit  215 , and a tray  220 . The spindle motor  211  rotates a disk  280 , and has a shaft with which a turntable  212  for accommodating the disk  280  is engaged. The pickup unit  215  moves in a radial direction of the disk  280  while the disk  280  is rotating, to read and/or write information on and from a recording area of the disk  280 . The tray  220  has a container  221  for accommodating the disk  280 . The tray  220  is assembled with the body  210  and slides in and out of the body  210  in the directions of arrows F and G in  FIG. 3 . According to one aspect, the spindle motor  211  and the pickup unit  215  are included in the tray  220 . 
   The front panel assembly  200  has a front panel  230 , a door  240 , a torsion spring  250 , and a locking lever  260 . The front panel  230  includes an entrance  231  having a longitudinal opening, a rear side  235  having a pair of support members  232  with which hinge members  241  of the door  240  are engaged, and a second support member  233 . Additionally, the front panel  230  has a fixing member  234  with which a first arm  251  of the torsion spring  250  is engaged, and a boss member  236  with which the locking lever  260  is engaged. 
   The entrance  231  has a longitudinal opening through which the tray  220  slides. The first support members  232  are provided at the left and right sides of the entrance  231  to support the hinge members  241  provided at the left and right sides of the door  240 . The second support member  233 , that projects inward from the rear side  235  of the front panel  230  and extends longitudinally, is provided at the lower side of the entrance  231 . 
   The door  240  closes the entrance  231 , so that the inside of the disk drive is not visible from outside. The door  240  also functions to protect a user from any piece of a broken disk  280 , as will be explained below. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the door  240  includes a lid  244  for closing the entrance  231 , a pair of hinge members  241 , a limit member  242 , and a hook member  243 . The hinge members  241 , having a cylindrical shape, are provided at the left and right ends of the lid  244 . One of the hinge members  241 , e.g., the right hinge member as shown in  FIG. 3 , has a limit member  242  that extends downward. After the door  240  closes, the limit member  242  contacts the rear side  235  of the front panel  230 , and prevents the door  240  from excessively rotating in the direction of closing the entrance  231 . 
   According to one aspect, the hook member  243  is provided at one corner, e.g., an upper-right corner as shown in  FIG. 3 , of the lid  244 . The hook member  243  projects from the rear side of the lid  244 , and is bent toward an adjacent side edge of the lid  244 . The hook member  243  engages a projection member  261  of the locking lever  260  while the tray  220  is in a retracted state, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   According to another aspect, the hook member  243  is provided on the rear side  235  of the front panel  230 , and the locking lever  260  is provided on a rear side  245  of the door  240 . 
   The torsion spring  250  provides an elastic force to the door  240  so that the door  240  rotates in the direction of closing the entrance  231 . The torsion spring  250  has the first arm  251  that engages the fixing member  234  that is provided on the rear side  235  of the front panel  230 , a second arm  252  that engages the limit member  242 , and a coil portion  253  set around the hinge member  241  with the limit member  242 , i.e., the right hinge member  241  in  FIG. 3 . While the torsion spring  250  is used in the present embodiment herein described, the present invention is not limited to use of such a torsion spring. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that any kind or type of elastic members may be used alternatively. Further, while the torsion spring  250  is used only with respect to one of the hinge members  241  in the present embodiment, an additional torsion spring may be used with respect to another one of the hinge members  241 . 
   The locking lever  260  has, in addition to the above mentioned projection member  261 , a contact member  262 , a joint member  263 , and an elastic member  264 , wherein each of the members  261  through  263  is formed integrally with, and extended from the elastic member  264 . According to one aspect, the locking lever  260  is made of a single piece of metal spring material by cutting and bending such metal piece to form each of the members  261  through  264 . According to another aspect, a material other than metal with adequate elasticity is used. 
   The projection member  261 , that engages the hook member  243  of the door  240 , extends from the elastic member  264 , and is bent toward the hook member  243 . The elastic member  264  and the projection member  261  form a locking member that prevents the door  240  from opening while the tray  220  is in a retracted state. The contact member  262  extends from the elastic member  264 , and is bent to have a predetermined slope. The contact member  262  extends beyond the width of the tray  220 , to interfere with the sliding of the tray  220 . The contact member  262  is positioned to contact the tray  220  before the tray  20  contacts the rear side  245  of the door  240 . Further, the position and the length of the projection member  261  are determined by the extent to which the projection member  261  is released from the hook member  243  by the deformation of the elastic member  264  at the time when the tray contacts the contact member  262  and reaches the rear side  245  of the door  240 . 
   The locking lever  260  is assembled with the front panel  230  by securing the joint member  263  to the boss member  236  with a bolt  270 . It will be understood that there may be various methods for assembling the locking lever  260  other than with a bolt. According to one aspect, the locking lever  260  is provided on both sides of the door  231  and, in such a case, the hook member  243  is provided on both sides of the rear side  245  of the door  240 . 
   A process for assembling the disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. 
   First of all, the door  240  is assembled with the front panel  230  by inserting the hinge members  241  into the support members  232  and  233 . Then, the door  240  can be rotated with respect to the hinge members  241  in the directions of arrows J and K in  FIG. 3 . Thereafter, the coil portion  253  of the torsion spring  250  is set around one of the hinge members  241 , and the first and the second arms  251  and  252  are engaged with the fixing member  234  and the limit member  242 , respectively. Then, the door  240  receives an elastic force by the torsion spring  250  in the direction of the arrow J. But when the door  240  completely covers or closes the entrance  231 , the limit member  242  contacts the rear side  235  of the front panel  230  and, accordingly, the door  240  is closed without any further rotation. Thereafter, the locking lever  260  is assembled with the rear side  253  of the front panel  230  by pushing the projection member  261  into the hook member  243 , putting the joint member  263  on the boss member  236 , and securing the joint member  263  with the bolt  270 . Then, the assembly of the front panel assembly  200  is completed. Thereafter, the front panel assembly  200  is mounted in front of the body  210  in which the spindle motor  211 , the pickup unit  215  and the tray  220  have been installed. Thus, the assembly of the disk drive is completed. 
   Now, operations and effects of an embodiment of the present invention having the structure shown in  FIG. 3 , will be described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
   While the tray  220  is in a retracted state, the door  240  is closed to cover the entrance  240  as shown in  FIG. 4 . At this moment, the door  240  is kept closed by the engagement of the projection member  261  with the hook member  243  and the elastic force of the torsion spring  250 . 
   When the tray  220  is extending, and slides out in the direction of the arrow F (see  FIG. 3 ), a side portion of the tray  220  contacts the contact member  262  of the locking lever  260 . While the tray  220  continues the extending operation, the elastic member  264  is elastically deformed in the direction of the arrow H, and the projection member  261  is released from the hook member  243 . Thereafter, a front side  222  of the tray  220  pushes the rear side  245  of the door  240  to rotate the door  240 , and the tray  220  keeps sliding out to complete the extending operation. 
   The tray  220  retracts, after the disk  280  is accommodated thereon, by sliding in the direction of the arrow G (see  FIG. 3 ) When the front side  222  of the tray  220  no longer contacts the rear side  245  of the door  240 , the limit member  242  contacts the rear side  230  of the front panel  235  and completely closes the door  240  due to the elastic force of the torsion spring  250 . As retracting of the tray  220  continues, once the tray  220  no longer contacts the contact member  262 , the projection member  261  engages with the hook member  243  due to the recovery of the elastic member  264  and, then, the door  240  is secured. 
   According to the present invention, since the door  240  is kept closed while the tray  220  is in a retracted state, any broken piece of the disk  280  is prevented from flying out of the door  240  in the event that the disk  280  is accidentally broken while the disk  280  is rotating at a high speed. Therefore, a safer disk drive can be implemented, by which a user is largely protected from harm. 
   Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.