Abstract:
A CD player is equipped with a CD inserting mechanism without loading plate; the CD inserting mechanism is equipped with single transmission gear set to be simple in structure and have reduced numbers of parts; the transmission gear set consists of a rubber roller, a tremor gear, and is a support; a belt is connected to a motor and the transmitting gear set so that rotation of the motor can be passed on to the gear set; a compact disk will come into contact with the rubber roller to be conveyed towards inside of the CD player by means of the rubber roller after it is inserted into the inserting mechanism.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a compact disk inserting mechanism of a CD player, more particularly one, which is not equipped with a loading plate for compact disks, and which is equipped with single transmission so as to be uncomplicated in structure, easy and less labor-costing to manufacturer, and of reduced faulty rate.  
           [0003]    2. Brief Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Conventional CD inserting mechanisms of CD players are equipped with a loading plate for compact disks. Loading plates of this kind are usually controlled with at least one button. A button is pressed for making a loading plate slide out of a CD player, and then a compact disk is positioned on the loading plate, and the button is pressed again for making the loading plate slide into the CD player; thus, the compact disk is inserted into the player.  
           [0005]    As can be easily seen, such way of inserting a CD into a player is not as convenient and time-saving as the way of inserting a CD into a player directly. In addition, with the above conventional inserting mechanism, the user has to make sure that a CD is positioned level on the loading plate, and that there is no objects in front of the outlet of the loading plate otherwise problems will probably be caused to loading of a CD.  
           [0006]    Referring to FIGS.  19  to  22 , a CD inserting mechanism of a CD player without use of a loading plate is developed, which includes a pulley  71 , a first transmission device  72 , a second transmission device  73 , a cam sliding member  75 , a rubber roller  76 , and a CD securing member  77 ; the cam sliding member  75  has two guide slots formed with sloping sections  753 ,  754 , through which a supporting post  761  of the rubber roller  76 , and a supporting post  771  of the CD securing member  77  are respectively passed. Movement of a motor (not shown) is passed on to the pulley  71  by means of a belt connected to the pulley  71 . The pulley  71  engages both a first reduction gear  721  of the first transmission device  72  and a first reduction gear  731  of the second transmission device  73  while the first reduction gear  721  effects rotation of both a second reduction gear  722  and an idle gear  723  of the first transmission device  72  such that the rubber roller  76  can be actuated to move a CD into the CD player.  
           [0007]    Then, the second transmission device  73  cooperates with the cam sliding member  75  and the CD securing member  77  to move the CD to a final position in the CD player so that the CD is secured in position by means of the CD securing member  77 ; the first reduction gear  731  of the second transmission device  73  effects rotation of both a second reduction gear  732  and a third reduction gear  733  of the second transmission device  73  such that when the CD is moved to the final position, force exerted on the CD by the rubber roller  76  is greater than force exerted on the cam sliding member  75  by a spring  751  connected to the member  75 , thus causing the cam sliding member  75  to slide, and toothed bar  752  of the cam sliding member  75  to engage the third reduction gear  733  of the second transmission device  73  accordingly; as a result of the last operation, the third reduction gear  733  effects movement of the cam sliding member  75 , and in turns, the sloping sections  753 , and  754  of the guide slots make the supporting posts  761 ,  771  move downwards along them respectively, and the rubber roller  76  becomes disengaged from the gear  723  to not turn any longer, and the CD securing member  77  moves downwards; thus, the rubber roller  76  stops moving the CD forwards, and a magnetic element (not shown) of the securing member  77  secures the CD in position, and a micro-switch is touched to make the motor stop.  
           [0008]    The CD inserting mechanism is more convenient without the use of a conventional CD loading plate. However, a disadvantage of the CD inserting mechanism is that it is relatively complicated in structure; two transmission devices are used, and in turns, the CD player costs much labor to assemble, and faulty rate would increase in production as well as in use.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is a main object of the present invention to provide a CD inserting mechanism of a CD player, which is not equipped with a loading plate for compact disks, and which is equipped with single transmission to be simple in structure, inexpensive and labor costing to manufacture.  
           [0010]    The CD inserting mechanism has a transmission gear set, which is actuated with a motor, and which has a rubber roller for conveying a compact disk to an in-use position. The CD inserting mechanism is further equipped with a tracking toothed plate capable of being pulled to an active position by means of a first spring when a compact disk is inserted into the CD player, thus making a toothed portion thereof coming into engagement with a micro-adjusting gear of the transmission gear set, and making the transmission gear set moving downwards along circular path. An L-shaped lever is provided to transform the up and down movement into left and right movement, which is then imparted to a cam plate slide, when the transmitting gear set is moving downwards along a circular path. The cam plate slide has slide trenches for making both a support of a CD securing mechanism and a CD securing base swing up and down on a course of the L-shaped lever transforming the up and down movement into left and right movement when the transmitting gear set is moving downwards along a circular path; thus, the compact disk is held in position. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a flow chart of operation of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation according to the present invention,  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is another horizontal sectional view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation according to the present invention,  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is yet another horizontal sectional view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is another partial perspective view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is a partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation according to the present invention,  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is another partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is yet another partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is a fourth partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is a fifth partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14 is a sixth partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15 is a seventh partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 16 is an eighth partial side view of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in operation,  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 17 is a view showing a CD being secured with the mechanism of the present invention,  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 18 is a view of a CD reading mechanism of a CD player according to the present invention,  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 19 is a flow chart of operation of the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player as described in the Background,  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the prior CD inserting mechanism,  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 21 is a side view of the prior CD inserting mechanism in operation, and  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 22 is a side view of the prior CD inserting mechanism in operation. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0034]    Referring to FIGS.  1  to  3 , a preferred embodiment of a CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in the present invention includes:  
         [0035]    a motor  21 , which is arranged near to an inlet of CD, and electrically connected to a micro-switch (not shown) such that it can be activated when a CD (compact disk) is inserted into the CD inserting mechanism;  
         [0036]    a transmitting gear set  22  disposed on one side of a main shell of the CD player or two transmitting gear sets  22  disposed on two sides of the CD player; each transmitting gear set  22  includes a rubber roller  221 , and a tremor gear  222 , and is fitted to a support  223 ; a belt  211  is connected to the motor  21  and the transmitting gear set  22 ; thus, the CD can be moved towards inside of the CD player by means of the rubber roller  221  when the motor  21  is activated; guiding posts  224  are provided, which project from inward sides of the supports  223 , as shown in FIGS.  8  to  11 ;  
         [0037]    left and right toothed co-moving rods  31 ,  31 , which are arranged above the inlet of CD in the CD player, and each of which has two holding posts  312 , and a toothed portion, and which are engaged with a common gear  311  at the toothed portions such that when the CD is being moved along, the holding posts  312  move along at the same pace, and in turns, movement path of the CD is properly controlled, as shown in FIG. 6;  
         [0038]    controlling plates  32 , which are arranged at upper rear portion of the inner room of the CD player, and are connected to the main shell of the CD player by means of springs  321 , as shown in FIG. 4; a connecting and detecting rod  33  is pivotally connected to a lower side of each controlling plate  32  so as to be capable of working as a lever; a detecting post  331  projects from a lower side of the other end of each detecting rod  33 , as shown in FIG. 4, and  7 ;  
         [0039]    a tracking toothed plate  41  arranged at one lateral side of the CD player or two tracking toothed plates  41 ,  41  arranged at left and right sides of the CD player; each tracking toothed plate  41  is connected to the main shell of the CD player at upper portion thereof by means of a spring  411 ; each tracking toothed plate  41  has a toothed portion  412  formed thereon to engage corresponding tremor gear  222 ; each tracking toothed plate  41  is formed with a guiding trench  413  on an inner side thereof;  
         [0040]    L-shaped levers  42 , which are pivotally connected to respective cam-slide plates  43  at first ends thereof; each combination of L-shaped lever  42  and cam-slide plate  43  is arranged near to inner sides of corresponding tracking toothed plate  41 ; second ends the L-shaped levers  42  are pivotally connected to corresponding ones of the guiding posts  224  of the support  223  to be capable of sliding within guiding trenches  413 ; each cam plate slide  43  is formed with a slide trench  431 , as shown in FIGS. 4, 12, and  13 ;  
         [0041]    a CD holding mechanism (clamper)  5  in the CD player; the CD holding mechanism  5  has a support  51  used for supporting it, and is pivoted to two lateral sides of the main shell of the CD player at first and second supporting parts  511  thereof, and has third supporting part  511  capable of sliding within the slide trench  431  of the cam plate slide  43 ; a holding base  52  is disposed in front of the support  51 , as shown in FIG. 13.  
         [0042]    Referring to FIGS.  1  to  3 , a CD will come into contact with the micro-switch to make it activate the motor  21  when inserted into the CD inserting mechanism. And, movement of the motor  21  is transmitted to every transmitting gear set  22  by means of the belt  211 , and the CD is moved towards appropriate in-use position by means of the rubber roller  221 . Because the toothed portions of the co-moving rods  31  engage the same gear  311 , the holding posts  312  will move along at the same pace when the CD is moved along, and in turns, path of movement of the CD is properly controlled, as shown in FIG. 6. Because force exerted on the CD by the rubber roller  221  is greater than the pulling force exerted on the controlling plate  32  by means of the spring  321  and because the connecting and detecting rod  33  is in the form of a lever, the controlling plate  32  will be moved forwards by means of the connecting and detecting rod  33  when the CD is moved along to push the detecting post  331  of the connecting and detecting rod  33 , and in turns, a space comes into existence for allowing the tracking toothed plate  41  to move therein.  
         [0043]    The tracking toothed plates  41  will be made to move forwards to an active position by means of the springs  411  as soon as they are provided with the space by means of forward movement of the controlling plate  32 , as shown in FIGS. 8, and  9 . At the same time, the rubber roller  221  turns counterclockwise to convey the CD inwardly of the main shell of the CD player, and in turns, the supports  223  of the transmitting gear sets  22  pivot counterclockwise downwards, as shown in FIG. 10, while the guiding posts  224  of the supports  223  come into engagement with guiding trenches  413  of the tracking toothed plates  41  to pull the tracking toothed plates  41  to appropriate position. And, the toothed portions  412  of the tracking toothed plates  41  come into engagement with the tremor gears  222  of the transmitting gear sets  22 , as shown in FIG. 11; the toothed portions  412  can come into engagement with the tremor gears  222  smoothly with unwanted disengagement between the teeth because the guiding posts  224  of the supports  223  have engaged the guiding trenches  413  to pull the tracking toothed plates  41  to appropriate position. Thus, the tremor gears  222  turn clockwise, and the transmitting gear sets  22  move along a circular path (counterclockwise downwards) together with the toothed portions  412  of the tracking toothed plates  41 , as shown in FIG. 12, and in turns, the rubber roller  221  separates from the CD so that the CD is no longer moved forwards, and can only be moved up and down within a space defined by the holding posts  312  of the co-moving rods  31 .  
         [0044]    When the transmitting gear sets  22  are moving along a circular path downwards, the L-shaped levers  42  will transform up and down movement into left and right movement, which is then imparted to the cam-slide plates  43 . Because the slide trenches  431  of the cam plate slides  43  are made so as to be capable of working like a cam, they make the support  51  of the CD holding mechanism  5  swing up and down with the first and second supporting parts  511  as the pivot, as shown in FIGS.  13  to  16 .  
         [0045]    The holding base  52  will be moved downwards together with the support  51  of the CD holding mechanism  5  in the downward stroke of the support  51 . And, a magnet (not shown) is used to secure the CD in position. In addition, the cam-slide plates  43  will push the controlling plates  32  when they are moving, thus making the holding posts  312  of the co-moving rods  31  separate from the CD, making the CD free to turn, and not possible to fall off. The controlling plates  32  come into contact with a micro-switch to make the power to the motor  21  cut off as soon as the above operations are completed, and a reading mechanism  6  of the CD player can be activated for playing the CD as shown in FIG. 18.  
         [0046]    From the above description, it can be easily understood that the CD inserting mechanism of a CD player in the present invention has advantages as followings:  
         [0047]    1. The CD inserting mechanism has fewer parts than the conventional one, allowing cost of manufacturing and assembling of a CD player to be reduced.  
         [0048]    2. The present CD inserting mechanism allows wider range of application of CD players, especially those that have to be positioned level for use.