Abstract:
A vibration absorbing apparatus for a disk player comprising a convey roller dispose at a disk gate between a housing and an upper chassis disposed on top of the housing and loading/unloading a disk, a hinge bracket pivotably supporting the convey roller and hinged on the upper chassis, a spring biasing the hinge bracket for the convey roller to be in close contact with the upper chassis, and a damper for absorbing vibration transferred from the hinge bracket to the housing.

Description:
This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean Patent Application No. 2002-35120, filed on Jun. 22, 2002, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention:  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a disk player, and more particularly, to a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player for absorbing vibration generated when a disk player is in operation.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art:  
           [0004]    As well known to those skilled in the art, a disk player is an apparatus for recording information on a compact disk (CD), CD-Rom, digital video disk (DVD) and DVD-Rom, and reproducing the recorded information. A typical disk player comprises an apparatus for loading a disk in the position where information can be recorded or reproduced from the disk. The disk inserted into a disk player is loaded on a turntable by a loading apparatus, and then clamped by a chucking unit and becomes turnable. While the disk is being turned, the optical pickup records information on the disk or reproduces the recorded information while moving in the radial direction of the disk.  
           [0005]    A motor vehicle disk player, in particular, employs a disk loading apparatus capable of direct disk loading without a tray due to its spatial limitation. In addition, the motor vehicle disk player uses a loading apparatus for distinctively loading two different sized disks, for example, 80 mm and 120 mm disks.  
           [0006]    Such motor vehicle disk player conventionally has the structure for enabling a disk to enter from the front of the housing. An upper chassis is disposed on top of the housing, and a convey roller for conveying an inserted disk is disposed inside the housing. A disk guide member is disposed on the upper chassis to correspond with the convey roller. The convey roller has a shaft and a rubber roller disposed around the shaft. The diameter of the rubber roller gradually reduces towards the middle and the rubber roller is fit around the shaft. The convey roller having such structure is rotatably disposed on the hinge bracket that is disposed on the upper chassis and becomes bi-directionally rotatable by receiving power from a predetermined driving source. The hinge bracket is pulled towards one side by a Spring to enable the convey roller to get as close as possible to the disk guiding member.  
           [0007]    In the above structure, the disk is sucked into the housing by the operation of the convey roller when it is inserted in between the convey roller and the disk guiding member. The inserted disk is conveyed inside until it is placed on the turntable and its place is decided by a stopper. Even when the disk is stopped by the stopper, the convey roller further rotates until the disk completely arrives at its position.  
           [0008]    However, if the convey roller continuously rotates when the disk is stopped by the stopper, slip occurs between the shaft and the rubber roller of the convey roller. In this case, vibration occurs due to the slip between the shaft and the rubber roller, and the vibration causes low noises as it is transmitted to the whole housing.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    An object of the invention is to solve at least the above problems and disadvantages, and to provide at least the advantages described below.  
           [0010]    Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to solve the foregoing problems by providing a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player for reducing the vibration occurring when the convey roller rotates.  
           [0011]    The foregoing and other objects and advantages are realized by providing a vibration absorbing apparatus for a disk player comprising a convey roller disposed at a disk gate between a housing and an upper chassis disposed on top of the housing for loading and unloading a disk, a hinge bracket pivotably supporting the convey roller and hinged on the upper chassis, a spring biasing the hinge bracket to enable the convey roller to be in close contact with the upper chassis, and a damper for absorbing vibration transferred from the hinge bracket to the housing.  
           [0012]    It is preferable that the damper is disposed on the hinge bracket and is a plate spring resiliently touching the housing.  
           [0013]    Moreover, the damper comprises a plate member connected to the hinge bracket, and a resilient member resiliently protruding at one side of the plate member and touching the housing.  
           [0014]    It is preferable that the plate member and the resilient member are integrally formed.  
           [0015]    The convey roller comprises a shaft that is rotated by power transferred and disposed on the hinge bracket, and a rubber roller covering the shaft or at least a portion of the shaft and having a diameter gradually reducing towards a center, such that vibration occurring due to slips between the rubber roller and the shaft is absorbed by the damper.  
           [0016]    Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practicing the embodiments of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a drawing enlarged the essential parts in FIG. 1;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example of a damper of a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to another embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views illustrating the damper of FIG. 4 being connected with a hinge bracket. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    The following detailed description will present a vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to an embodiment of the invention in reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0024]    Referring to FIG. 1 and  2 , the vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing to, an upper chassis  20  connected to the top of the housing  10 , a convey roller  30  for loading and unloading a disk  1  between the housing  10  and the upper chassis  20 , a hinge bracket  40  rotatably supporting the convey roller  30 , a spring  50 , and a damper  60 .  
         [0025]    A turntable  11  for a disk to be placed, and a spindle motor  13  for rotating the turntable, are disposed inside the housing  10 . In addition, an optical pick-up (not shown) for recording or reproducing information from the disk  1  rotating on the turntable  11  is removably disposed, and a motor  16  for rotating the convey roller  300  is also disposed inside the housing  10 .  
         [0026]    The upper chassis  20  is mounted to cover the top of the housing  10 , and a disk guiding unit (not shown) is disposed on the upper chassis. Underneath the upper chassis  20 , a disk guiding member  21  is disposed to correspond to the convey roller  30 . The guiding member  21  is horizontally formed to be overlapped with both ends of the convey roller  30 . Accordingly, the disk can be conveyed while being held between the convey roller  30  and the guiding member  21 .  
         [0027]    The convey roller  30  comprises a metal shaft  31 , and a rubber roller  33  covering the shaft  31  or at least a portion of the shaft  31 . The rubber roller  33  rotates with the shaft  31  by the friction that occurs in between them. The shaft  31  is rotatably supported by the hinge bracket, and a driven gear  71  is disposed at one end of the shaft. The driven gear  71  is driven by the gearing of a gear train  72 ,  73 ,  74  geared with the driving motor  21 .  
         [0028]    The hinge bracket  40  is pivotably supported on the bent-up supporting member  15  formed under the upper chassis  20  towards the inside of the housing  10 . When the hinge bracket  40  pivots on the hinge axis x, the shaft  31  is supported.  
         [0029]    The spring  40  pulls the hinge bracket  40  for the convey roller  30  to be in contact with the disk guiding member  21 . One end of the spring  40  is connected with the hinge bracket  40  and the other end with the upper chassis  20 .  
         [0030]    The damper  60  is for absorbing vibration transferred from the hinge bracket  40  to the housing  10  when the convey roller  30  rotates. It is preferable that such damper  60  is a plate spring connected to the hinge bracket  40 . The damper  60  comprises a plate member  61  connected to the hinge bracket  40 , a resilient member  63  resiliently protruding at one side of the plate member  61  and touching the housing  10  as shown in FIG. 3. It is preferable that the plate member  61  and the resilient member  63  are integrally formed. In other words, the resilient member  63  is formed as a part of the plate member  61  and is cut and resiliently protruded. The plate member  61  is clicked into the clamp  62  provided at one side of the hinge bracket  40 .  
         [0031]    According to the structure described above, the disk  1  is loaded inside the housing  10  to be positioned on the turntable  11  through between the convey roller  30  and the guiding member  21  as shown in FIG. 2. Although the center  1   a  of the disk  1  is positioned on the corresponding position of the turntable  11 , the convey roller  30  continues to rotate. Therefore, slips may occur between the rubber roller  33  and the shaft  31  of the convey roller  30 . Due to the slips, vibration occurs and the vibration is transferred to the hinge bracket  40 . The damper  60  disposed on the hinge bracket  40  acts for reducing the vibration transferred to the hinge bracket  40 . In particular, as most of the vibration transferred from the hinge bracket  40  to the hosing  10  is absorbed in the resilient member  63 , low noises through the housing  10  can be prevented. Moreover, slips may occur between the shaft  31  and the rubber roller  33  of the convey roller  30  when the disk is unloaded, and the vibration occurring by that operation can also be effectively absorbed through the damper  60 .  
         [0032]    In accordance with the vibration absorbing apparatus for an optical disk player according to the embodiments of the present invention described above, vibration occurring when the convey roller rotates can be effectively prevented from being transferred to the housing through the damper provided on the hinge bracket.  
         [0033]    As a result, credibility and high quality of the product can be maintained.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4 illustrates a damper  160  according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0035]    The damper  160  includes a plate portion  161 , a resilient portion  163  bent and extended from an end of the plate portion  161 , a plurality of resilient supporting portions  164 ,  165  and  166 , and a separation preventing portion  167 .  
         [0036]    The resilient portion  163  integrally extends from the plate portion  161  far enough to resiliently contact the housing  10 . A protrusion  163   a  is formed at an end of the resilient portion  163  for contacting the housing  10 . The resilient supporting portions  164  and  165  are formed by partially cutting away the plate portion  161  and then bending the remaining part of the plate portion  161  in a predetermined pattern. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the resilient supporting portions  164  and  165  make contact with the inner surface  41  of the hinge bracket  40 , thus clamping the hinge bracket  40  to the plate portion  161 . The resilient supporting portion  166  has the same or substantially the same shape as that of other resilient supporting portions  164  and  165 . The resilient supporting portion  166  is bent and extends from the upper end of the plate portion  161 . The resilient supporting portion  166  is passed through a passing hole  40   a  formed in the hinge bracket  40  and resiliently clamps the hinge bracket  40 .  
         [0037]    The separation preventing portion  167  is provided between the resilient supporting portions  164  and  165 , and is formed by partially cutting away the plate portion  161 . An end of the separation preventing portion  167  is bent to form a hooking portion  167   a  which is engaged in a hooking hole  40   b  of the hinge bracket  40 . The hooking portion  167   a  is engaged in the hooking hole  40   b  so that the separation preventing portion  167  and plate portion  161  are in contact with an outer surface  42  of the hinge bracket  40 . The hooking portion  167   a  thus prevents the damper  160  from being separated from the hinge bracket  40 . The contact of the hinge bracket  40  and the damper  160  is reinforced by the support of the resilient supporting portions  164 ,  165  and  166 , and thus eliminates the possibility of having loose engagement, or shaking of the hinge bracket  40  or of the damper  160 . As a result, vibration of the hinge bracket  40  is efficiently absorbed through the damper  160 .  
         [0038]    While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
         [0039]    Furthermore, the foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures.