Abstract:
A laser disk player which can sequentially perform the loading and chucking operations of a disk tray and the tilting operation of an optical apparatus by transferring the rotary power of a main motor to a rotary member is disclosed. The laser side player comprises a chucking apparatus mounted at a chassis for performing the loading and chucking operation of a disk tray, a rotary member for sliding the disk tray by rotation of first and second tray gears receiving the rotary power of a main motor, a lever operated in response to the motion of the rotary member for chucking a disk by guiding a bracket tray of the chucking apparatus using a side plate, and a tilt gear mounted on a deck and engaged with the rotary member for tilting an optical apparatus, wherein the management of assembly part is simplified so that the productivity is improved and the production cost is reduced.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to laser disk players and, more particularly, to a laser disk player which improves the productivity and reduces the production cost through simplification of each part, by performing the loading and chucking operation of a disk tray and the tilting operation of an optical instrument by the rotation of only a main motor simultaneously. 
     In general, laser disk players in which an optical pickup projects a laser beam on a disk and detects the reflected beam in order to read out the recorded information, employ a spindle motor for rotating a disk and a feeding motor for moving an optical pickup of an optical apparatus. In the case of horizontal loading laser disk players, especially, a loading motor for sliding the disk tray is also used. The disk is tilted due to deformations such as bending according to operational environments or mechanical chucking state. This makes it difficult to accurately play back information recorded on the disk. Accordingly, in order to keep the distance between the disk and the optical pickup constant, a motor for tilting the optical apparatus is further necessary. Since four motors are employed for performing all functions while playing back the recorded information in the laser disk players, mechanical construction becomes very complicated and the production cost is raised, thereby degrading the productivity and providing many problems in making the laser disk players compact. 
     Recently, laser disk players employ only three motors to solve these problems. The spindle and feeding motors which are used are identical to the ones used past conventional laser disk players. Then, they use a cam gear instead of a tilting motor so that the optical apparatus is tilted by the loading motor which slides the disk tray. In such conventional laser disk players, however, many screws are used to assemble each part to a case and the structure of the parts mounted on a deck, which are used to transfer the rotary power of the cam gear, becomes complicated, thereby making the overall structure of the laser disk players complicated. Also, since a disk tray for loading the disk and clamps for the chucking operation are separately assembled to the case, a large number of assembly processing steps is required and is difficult to manage, increasing the production cost. Moreover, the size and the shape of the case is restricted, making the fabrication of various products difficult. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves these problems and provides a laser disk player which can perform the loading and chucking operations of a disk tray and the tilting operation of an optical apparatus by transferring the rotary power of a main motor to rotary members and can also simplify the management of assembly parts by easily mounting each part on a chassis and separating each part from the chassis again, and by assembling a chucking apparatus with a deck after completing them in individual processing steps, thereby improving the productivity and reducing the production cost. 
     Also, the present invention allows making a variety of products since the size and shape of a case can be easily changed. 
     According to the present invention, a laser disk player is provided for playing back information recorded on a disk by using an optical pickup, comprising a chucking apparatus mounted at a chassis for performing the loading and chucking operation of a disk tray, a rotary member for sliding the disk tray by rotation of first and second tray gears receiving the rotary power of the main motor, a lever operating according to the motion of the rotary member for chucking the disk by guiding the bracket tray of a chucking apparatus using a side plate, and a tilt gear mounted on the deck and engaged with the rotary member for tilting an optical apparatus. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partial top view of a laser disk player according to the present invention, representing a part of an unloading state; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the laser disk player according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the laser disk player according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial top view of the laser disk player according to the present invention, representing a part of a loading state; 
     FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the laser disk player according to the present invention, representing an assembled state of a chucking apparatus; 
     FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the laser disk player according to the present invention, representing an assembled state of a lever; 
     FIGS. 7A and 7B show top and cross-sectional views, respectively, of a chucking apparatus of the laser disk player according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of the laser disk player according to the present invention, representing an assembled state of a deck and an optical apparatus; 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B show top and bottom views, respectively, of the first tray gear of the laser disk player according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C show top, bottom and cross-sectional views, respectively, of a rotary member of the laser disk player according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 11 is a top view of a lever of the laser disk player of the present invention; and 
     FIGS. 12A and 12B show perspective and cross-sectional views, respectively, of a tilt gear of the laser disk of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIGS. 1 to 4 show each part of a laser disk player according to the present invention. 
     A chucking apparatus 200 for performing loading and chucking operations of a disk tray 202 is mounted on a chassis 100 and a deck 300 is positioned under the chucking apparatus. On the deck 300, an optical apparatus is mounted for playing back information recorded on a disk 201 using an optical pickup. In the chassis 100, a body consisting of a side frame 101 and a lower frame 102 is formed by injection molding. At the side frame 101, may bar-type guiding slots 103 are formed and, below these guiding slots, guiding pieces 105a and 105b with a slot 104 are formed. At both sides of the side frame 101, a bracket 106 is fixed. Many underpinning pieces 107 are formed at the upper side of the lower frame 102 and bosses 108a and 108b are formed at the center of the lower frame 102. Also, a side plate 10 is inserted into the guiding slot formed at the side frame 101. A plurality of shaped guiding holes 11 are formed in the side plate 10. At the end of the guiding holds 11, an assembly slot 12 is formed and connected to the upper side of the guiding holes 11. Along the border of the guiding holes 11, guiding ribs 13 are also formed. A linking hole 14 is formed at the lower side of the side plate 10. 
     On the other hand, in a chucking apparatus 200, shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a disk tray 202, which can load a disk of 80, 120, 200 or 300 mm in diameter, is mounted to a bracket tray 203. A plate 204 is assembled on the bracket tray 203. At both sides of the bracket tray 203, guiding axes 206 are formed. The bracket tray 203 also has a space part 205. The guiding axes 206 are inserted into both the guiding slot 103 of the chassis 100 and the guiding hole 11 of the side plate 10 through the assembly slot 12 of the side plate 10. A spring 207 fixed by a holder 208 is mounted at the center of the plate 204. Also, a clamp 209 is mounted at the holder 208 to press the disk 201. 
     At this time, since the chucking apparatus 200 can be mounted on the side frame 101 of the chassis 100 after assembling the bracket tray 203 and the plate 204 in individual processes. It is easy to manage assembly parts and thus the efficiency of assembly is improved. At a predetermined portion of the chassis 100 in FIG. 1, a pulley 16 for rotating the rotary member 30 by receiving the rotary power of the main motor 15, and gears 17A and 17B are mounted to be engaged with each other. The rotary power of the rotary member 30 is transferred to the first and second tray gears 20 and 25, the second tray gear 25 being mounted below the bracket tray 203 and engaged with the rack part 202A formed along side of the disk tray 202. 
     As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, first and second gear parts 21 and 22 are formed at the exterior border of the upper and lower parts of the tray gear 20 and a locking face 23 is formed between the upper and lower parts. At a part of the locking face 23, a triangular type of mark 21a is formed at a predetermined part shown in the figures on the left of the first gear part 21 that is apart from Y-Y&#39; axis by an angle of 50°. The second gear part 21 of the first tray gear 20 is engaged with the gear part 26 of the second tray gear 25. 
     As shown in FIGS. 10A to 10C, a cam slot 31 divided into a moving section I, a chucking section II and a tilting section III, is formed at the upper side of the rotary member 30. At one end of the cam slot 31, a wide space part 31a is formed. A rib 32 with a bending part 32a is formed at a predetermined part of the exterior border of the cam slot 31 with the bending part 32a located apart from Y1-Y1&#39; axis by an angle of about 4°. As shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, first, second, and third cam slots 33a, 33b, and 33c have assembling holes 34a, 34b, and 34c, respectively, and are formed at the lower side of the rotary member 30. Also, a first gear part 35 is formed at the exterior border of the third cam slot 33c to be engaged with the gear 25b. Subsequently, the second and third gear parts 36 and 37 are formed at the exterior border of the rotary member 30. The second gear part 36 of the rotary member 30 is engaged with the second gear part 22 of the first tray gear 20. The guiding pin 41 of lever 40 is inserted into the cam slot 31. 
     As shown in FIG. 11, sliding parts 42 are formed at both ends of the lever 40 so that they are linked with the holes 14 of the side plate 10. Long slots 43 and 44 are formed at the predetermined parts of the lever 40. To these long slots 43 and 44, assembling holes 43a and 44a are connected so that the lever 40 can easily be assembled to or separated from fixing pins 45a and 45b. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, guiding pins 51a, 51b, and 51c formed at switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c are inserted into the first, second, and third cam slots 33a, 33b, and 33c, respectively. At the center parts of the switching lever 50a, 50b, and 50c, fixing pins 52a, 52b, and 52c are respectively formed, so that they are freely moved on the deck 300. The other ends of the switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c are in contact with the buttons 54 of the mode switch 53 mounted on the deck 300, performing an ON/OFF operation. 
     As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, a tilt gear 60 on which tilting slots 61a, 61b, and 61c are connected to each other in a spiral form and under which a gear part 62 is formed at the exterior border of the lower part of the tilting gear, is engaged with the third gear part 37 of the rotary member 30. A supporting piece 63 and a hanging piece 64 are formed between the gear part 62 of the tilt gear 60, where the supporting piece 63 is in contact with the exterior border of the rotary member 30, while the handing piece 64 is in contact with one end of a lever 70. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, the lever 70 is formed on the deck 300 so as to be pivoted around the fixing pin 71. A hanging piece 72a is formed at one end of the lever to fix one end of a spring 73 and the other end of the spring 73 is fixed to another hanging piece 72b on the deck 300, applying the resilient force to the tilt gear 60. An operating piece 401 formed at one side of the optical apparatus 400 is inserted into the first, second, and third tilting slots 61, 61b, and 61c of the tilt gear 60. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, a feeding motor 405 for driving the optical pickup 404 a guiding axis 403, is mounted on the optical apparatus 400. Also, a turn-table 406 is mounted on the spindle motor 402 for safely receiving the disk 201. In order to detect a distance between the disk 201 and the optical pickup 404, a sensor (not shown) is also provided at a predetermined position on the optical apparatus 400. This optical apparatus 400 is mounted at the deck 300 so as to be freely tilted around the fixing axis 407. 
     Now, the present invention is explained in detail in its sequence of steps for assembling major parts of the laser disk player. 
     The deck 300 provided with the optical apparatus 400 is mounted at the upper face of the lower frame 102 of the chassis 100, while the rotary member 30 is mounted at the boss 108a of the lower frame 102. The side plate 10 is mounted to the guiding slot 104 formed at the side frame 101 of the chassis 100. 
     At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the assembling slot 12 connected to the guiding hole 11 of the side plate 10 must agree with the guiding slot 103 of the side frame 101. Also, when the rotary member 30 is mounted at the upper surface of the chassis 100, the rotary member 30 is joined with the boss 108a after the assembling holes 34a, 34b, and 34c formed in the first, second, and third cam slots 33a, 33b, and 33c of the rotary member 30 agree well with the guiding pins 51a, 51b, and 51c, respectively, of the respective switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c formed on the deck 300. By such a method, the guiding pins 51a, 51b, and 51c of the respective switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c, can accurately be inserted into the first, second, and third cam slots 33a, 33b, and 33c of the rotary member 30. After the locking face 23 of the first tray gear 20 is mounted at the boss 108b of the lower frame 102 so as to be in contact with the exterior border of the rotary member 30, the second gear part 22 of the first tray gear 20 is mounted and engaged with the second gear part 36 of the rotary member 30. 
     At this time, after the mark 21a formed at the upper face of the first gear part 21 of the first tray gear 20 is accurately positioned at the bending part 32a of a rib 32 formed at the upper face of the rotary member 30, the fixing pin 45a is assembled with the boss 108a of the lower frame 102. 
     On the other hand, a sequence of steps for assembling the lever 40 to operate the side plate 10, is shown in FIG. 6. 
     After inserting the assembling holes 43a and 44a of the lever 40, the fixing pins of 45a and 45b of the lower frame 102 into respectively, the lever 40 is pulled in a direction of arrow &#34;W&#34; as shown in FIG. 6. Then, the fixing pins 45a and 45b are guided to the long slots 43 and 44 connected to the assembling holes 43a and 44a. 
     Since the guiding pin 41 of the lever 40 is positioned at the space part 12 (&#34;A&#34; in FIG. 10A) connected to the cam slot 31 of the rotary member 30, as shown in FIG. 10A, the lever can be moved easily, thereby making the assembling process easier. Each of the sliding parts 42 of the lever 40 is inserted into a linking hole 14 of the side plate 10. 
     After inserting the guiding axis 206 formed at the bracket tray 203 of the chucking apparatus 200 into both the guiding slot 103 formed at the side frame 101 of the chassis 100 and the guiding hole 11 formed at the side plate 10, the rotary power is applied to the pulley 16 from external through the space part 205 of the bracket tray 203. Then, the rotary member 30 is rotated by the gears 17a and 17b and the guiding pin 41 of the lever 40 is positioned at the starting point (&#34;B&#34; in FIG. 10A) of the cam slot 31 according to the rotation of the rotary member 30. Here, the lever 40 moves the side plate 10 on the guiding slot 104 of the side frame 101. Then, the guiding axis 206 of the bracket tray 203 is hung to the shaped guiding hole 11 of the side plate 10, so as not to break away from the guiding hole 103 of the side frame 101. 
     At this time, the state that the guiding pin 41 of the lever 40 is positioned at the starting point of the cam slot 31 formed at the rotary member 30 is the unloading state of the laser disk player such that the rotation of the rotary member 30 is limited or completed by the operation of the mode switch 53 according to the switch levers 51a, 50b, and 50c. Thus, the disassembling of the chucking apparatus 200 and the lever 40 is possible only when the guiding pin 41 is positioned at the empty part 31a of the cam slot 31 by applying the rotary power to the pulley 16, in contrary to the assembling process. 
     Accordingly, each part of the laser disk player can easily be mounted to or separated from the chassis 100. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, if the disk tray is pushed due to the external mode switch or the external physical force after loading the disk 201 on the disk tray 202, the main motor 15 connected to a limit switch (not shown) is rotated, transferring the rotary power to the pulley 16 and the gears 17a and 17b. Then, the rotary member 30 is also rotated. At this time, the rotary power of the rotary member 30 is transferred to the first and second tray gears 20 and 25 and then the disk tray 202, of which the rack part 202a is engaged with gear part 26, is loaded by the transferred rotary power of the second tray gear 25. This loading operation is performed by the guiding pin 41 of the lever 41 in the loading section I formed at the rotary member 30. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, by the continuous rotation of the rotary member 30, the guiding pin 41 of the lever 40 is guided to the chucking section II of the rotary member 30. Thus, the long slots 43 and 44 of the lever 40 are guided according to the fixing pins 45a and 45b, respectively, and the sliding part 42 of the lever 40 is guided according to the underpinning piece 107 formed at the lower frame 102 of the chassis 100, moving the side plate 10 in the guiding slot 104 of the side frame 101. The side plate 10 is guided by the guiding pieces 105a and 105b of the side frame 101. Also, the shaped guiding hole 11 of the side plate 10 guides the guiding axis 206 of the bracket tray 203 to the guiding slot 103 of the side frame 101 according to the guiding rib 13, moving the chucking apparatus 200 downward. 
     The gear part 26 of the second tray gear 25, mounted at the lower face of the bracket tray 203, is guided according to the first gear part 21 of the first tray gear 20 and the rack part 202a of the disk tray 202 is guided according to the first gear part 21 of the first tray gear 20 to the gear part 26 of the second tray gear 25, being moved downward. At this time, the second gear part 22 of the first tray gear 20 is disjointed from the second gear part 36 of the rotary member 30 and the locking face 23 is in contact with the outside of the rotary member 30. 
     Since the chucking apparatus 200 is moved downward, the clamp 209 presses on the upper face of the disk 201 to chuck the disk 20 on the turn-table of the spindle motor 402. Also, the clamp 209 prevents the slip of the disk 201 by the resilient force of the plate spring 207. The rotary member 30 guides the guiding pins 51a, 51b, and 51c of the switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c inserted into the first, second, and third cam slots 33a, 33b, and 33c, according to each operation state. The switching levers 50a, 50b, and 50c are moved, centered on the fixing pins 52a, 52b, and 52c, respectively, according to the buttons 54 of the mode switch 53. Then, the buttons are turned on or off. Thus, an ON or OFF signal is transferred to the driving devices (not shown), stopping the main motor 15. 
     Subsequently, the spindle motor 402 of the optical apparatus 400 rotates the disk 201 and the feeding motor 405 moves the optical pickup 404 according to the guiding axis 403 to play back the information recorded in the disk. Here, the sensor of the optical apparatus 400 detects a distance between the disk 201 and the optical pickup 404 to rotate the electrically connected main motor 15. Then, the main motor 15 transfers the rotary power sequentially to the pulley 16 and the gears 17a and 17b, thereby rotating the rotary member 30. 
     According to the rotation of the rotary member 30, the supporting piece 63 is in contact with the outside of the rotary member 30 and the gear part 62 of the tilt gear 60 is engaged with the third gear part 37 of the rotary member 30 by the moving force of the lever 70. That is, the lever 70 tends to move by the elastic force of the third gear part 37, centered on the fixing pin 71, and this force is transferred to the tilt gear 60 through the handing piece 64. Thus, the guiding pin 41 of the lever 40 is guided within the tilting section III of the cam slot 31 formed at the rotary member 30 and the tilt gear 60 is rotated by the rotary member 30, guiding the operating piece 401 of the optical apparatus 400 on the first, second, and third tilting slots 61a, 61b, and 61c. Then, the optical apparatus 400 is tilted along the direction of the tilt gear 60 (direction &#34;X&#34; in FIG. 2) and thus the distance between the disk 201 and the optical pickup 404 is kept constant. 
     On the other hand, if any external mode is selected to convert the mode during the playback of the information in the disk 201, the main motor 15 is rotated by the driving device, rotating the rotary member 30. Then, the disk tray 202 is moved down by the rotary member 30 and returns to its original position to protect the disk 201. 
     In the case of picking out the disk 201 from the disk tray 202 after completing the playback of the disk 201, the ejecting mode is again selected to rotate the main motor in an opposite direction to the loading operation. Then, the rotary member 30 is rotated in a direction to the tilting and chucking operations and thus each part enters an unloading state. 
     As described hereinabove, the laser disk player according to the present invention sequentially performs the loading, chucking and tilting operation of the disk tray by using the main motor. Also, each part is easily mounted to or separated from a chassis, simplifying the manufacturing process. Accordingly, the productivity is improved and the manufacturing expense is decreased. Furthermore, the feature and size of the case can easily be varied, making a variety of products.