Abstract:
A tray ejection apparatus for a disk drive which comprises a casing, a tray adapted to be movable into and out of said casing, a lead screw mounted for rotation on said tray, a pickup unit operatively engaged with said lead screw, driving means operatively connected to said lead screw for rotating said lead screw which in turn moves the pickup unit back and forth along said lead screw, a tray stopper extending from the casing, an ejection lever rotationally installed at the tray and in biased engagement with said tray stopper, and an ejection gear operatively engaged with said lead screw for rotation therewith, wherein upon the inputting of an ejection signal, the advance of the pickup unit is discontinued whereby the ejection gear engages the ejection lever, freeing it from the tray stopper and releasing the tray from the casing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a disk drive, in particular to a tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive which is capable of ejecting a tray by using the driving force of a sled motor for transferring a pickup. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In general, a disk drive performs data reproducing/recording of a disk by using a pickup. It widely comprises a casing which is a mainframe of a drive, and a tray installed at the casing so as to be movable back and forth which performs the loading/unloading of the disk. 
     The general disk drive comprises a tray ejection apparatus which fixes the position of the tray, while data reproducing/recording is performed, after it is inserted inside of a casing, and ejects the tray from the casing when the fixed position, of the tray is released after the disk reproducing/recording is finished. 
     The conventional tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive will now be described with reference to FIG.  1 . 
     First, a solenoid  1  as the driving source and a driving plate  3  driven by the solenoid  1  are installed at the bottom surface of a tray T′ where a disk is mounted. 
     Herein, the driving plate  3  is elastically supported by a spring  4  and the side of the spring is connected to an actuator  2  of the solenoid  1 . 
     In addition, the spring  4  is connected between the tray T′ and the driving plate  3  and provides elasticity to the driving plate  3 . 
     Rotating slots  3 A,  3 B for rotating a connecting lever  6  and a bridging lever  10  are installed at the driving plate  3 . Herein, the connecting lever  6  is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ so as to be rotational, centering around a hinge shaft  6 H, and is driven by the driving plate  3 . 
     The connecting lever  6  includes a rotating protrusion  8  inserted into the rotating slot  3 A of the driving plate  3  sliding along the rotating slot  3 A, and a driving pin  9  for driving the bridging lever  10  formed at the end of the rotating protrusion  8 . 
     The bridging lever  10  is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ so as to be rotational, centering around a hinge shaft  10 H, and is driven by the connecting lever  6 . 
     An interlocking rib  11  for interlocking with the driving pin  9  of the connecting lever  6  is formed at the end of the bridging lever  10 , and the hinge shaft  10 H is inserted into the rotating slot  3 B of the driving plate  3 . 
     In addition, the bridging lever  10  and connecting lever  6  are elastically supported by the spring  7 ,  12  separately so as to be rotational, centering around the hinge shafts  6 H and  10 H, respectively. 
     A returning lever  13  for returning the connecting lever  6  and the bridging lever  10  driven by the solenoid  1  to their initial position is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′ adjacent to the bridging lever  10  so as to be rotational around the hinge shaft  13 H. In addition, the returning lever  13  is elastically supported by a spring  9  (not shown) so as to be rotational around the hinge shaft  13 H in a counter-clockwise direction. 
     A stopper  15  is formed at the front side of the casing C′ for hanging and fixing the bridging lever  10  in order to prevent the tray T′ from ejecting to the outside of the casing C′ when the tray T′ is inserted into the casing C′ and when reproducing/recording data on a disk is performed. 
     In addition, the tray T′ is elastically supported by an ejector spring  17  biased toward the outside of the casing C′; namely, in the tray ejection direction. 
     The non-described reference numeral  19  is a supporting protrusion formed the bottom surface of the tray T′ for supporting the end of the springs  7 ,  12  which support the connection lever  6  and the bridging lever  10 . 
     The operation of the conventional tray eject apparatus of the disk drive will now be described. 
     First, when an eject button is pushed by a user, a signal for operating the solenoid  1  is generated. The solenoid  1  is driven by the signal and the actuator  2  is projected to the rear side. 
     Likewise, when the actuator  2  of the solenoid  1  operates, the driving plate  3  connected to the actuator  2  is horizontally transferred to the rear side. After that, the rotating protrusion  8  of the bridging lever  6  inserted into the rotating slot  3 A of the driving plate  3  slides along the rotating slot  3 A by the movement of the driving plate  3 , and the connecting lever  6  rotates around the hinge shaft  6 H in the counter-clockwise direction. 
     As described above, when the connecting lever  6  rotates, the driving pin  9  of the connecting lever  6  pushes the interlocking rib  11  of the bridging lever  10 , and the bridging lever  10  rotates around the hinge shaft  10 H in counter-clockwise direction. 
     After that, when the bridging lever  10  escapes from the stopper  15 , after rotating a certain amount in the counter-clockwise direction, the force restricting the tray T′ is removed and, accordingly, the tray T′ ejects to the outside of the casing C′ to a certain degree by the ejector spring  17 . 
     As described above, when the tray T′ projects to the outside of the casing C′ to a certain degree, the user can pull the tray T′ by hand until it is completely removed to the outside of the casing C′ where a disk can be unloaded from a tray or mounted in a tray T′. 
     Herein, when the tray T′ completely projects to the outside of the casing C′, the return lever  13  operates to make the solenoid  1  return to its initial position. 
     The return process of the solenoid  1  by the return lever  13  will now be described in detail. 
     When the tray T′ is transferred toward the outside of the casing C′, the left end portion of the return lever  13  hangs on the stopper  15 , and the return lever  13  rotates around the hinge shaft  13 H in a clock-wise direction. 
     As described above, when the return lever  13  rotates, the right end of the return lever  13  pushes the driving plate  3  to the front side, and the actuator  2  of the solenoid  1  moves into the solenoid  1  by the movement of the driving plate  3 . 
     On the contrary, when the user pushes the tray T′ into the casing C′, the bridging lever  10  engages the stopper  15  and, accordingly, the position of the tray T′ is fixed. 
     In more detail, the user loads a disk on the tray T′ or unloads a disk mounted on the tray T′, and pushes the tray T′ into the casing C′. 
     When the tray T′ is pushed into the casing C′, the bridging lever  10  overcomes the elasticity of the spring  12  by being pushed by the stopper  15  and rotates a small amount in the counter-clockwise direction. The side of the bridging lever  10  in its rotated state is transferred in accordance with the stopper  15 . 
     The tray T′ is then pushed continually, so that when the end portion of the bridging lever  10  passes the stopper  15 , the bridging lever  10  rotates around the hinge shaft  10 H by the elasticity of the spring  12 , and the end portion of the bridging lever  10  engages the inside of the stopper  15 . Accordingly, the tray T′ is received inside of the casing C′. 
     As described above, the solenoid  1 , the driving plate  3 , the bridging lever  10 , the connecting lever  6  and the return lever  13  all represent the conventional tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive and are all installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′, which is a moving unit. Accordingly, the construction complexity of the moving unit, and the electricity consumption required for transferring the moving unit increase due to the increase in load. Also, the assembly of the tray T′ is very complicated because most of the parts are installed at the bottom surface of the tray T′. 
     In addition, the conventional tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive requires a solenoid  1  as an additional operation unit, and flexible cable for transmitting operational signals to the solenoid  1  installed between the casing C′ and tray T′ in order to connect them together. This causes an increase in the cost of parts and, accordingly, the manufacturing costs of the disk drive increases. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive which is capable of ejecting the tray by using the driving force of a sled motor for transferring a pickup, thereby minimizing the construction parts required for the tray ejection apparatus. 
     The tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive of the present invention comprises a tray installed at the inside of a casing so as to be transferred back and forth for inserting into and extending from the casing. A driving unit is installed at the tray which provides the driving force for transferring a pickup. A transferring member is provided which transfers the pickup by rotating, using the force transmitted from the driving unit. A stopper member is protrusively formed at the front of the casing; a bridging member fixes and releases the tray through the bridging operation with the stopper member, and a releasing member is installed at the side of the transferring member so as to be interlocked with the transferring member which operates the bridging member in order to make the fixed tray position selectively releasable. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating the conventional tray ejection apparatus of a disk drive; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the operational state of the tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a guide feed returning to a screw thread of a lead screw of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of a tray eject apparatus of a disk drive according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive according to the present invention, when the tray T is inserted into a casing C, the position of the tray T is fixed so as not to extend to the outside of the casing C. However, when a user inputs an ejection signal in order to get the tray T to project to the outside of the casing C, the fixed state of the tray T position is released. 
     Herein, a sled motor  51  for providing the driving force in order to transfer a pickup unit P is installed at the lower side of the tray T. In addition, a lead screw  59 , which is installed at the bottom surface of the tray T and is operatively connected to the sled motor, transfers the pickup unit P by rotation caused by the driving force received from the sled motor  51 . 
     The sled motor  51  and lead screw are connected by a motor gear  53  attached to the sled motor  51 , an idler gear  55  in rotating engagement with the motor gear  53 , and a feed gear  57  in rotating engagement with the idler gear  55 , which is connected to the lead screw  59 . Thus the driving force of the sled motor  51  is transmitted to the lead screw  59 . 
     The screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59  for transmitting the driving force through engagement with a guide feed  61  of a pickup unit P is formed at the outer circumferential surface of the lead screw  59 , and both ends thereof are supported by supporting tips  58 A,  58 B. 
     A worm unit  59   b  is formed at one end of the lead screw  59 , and a parallel groove unit  59   c  is provided at the other end thereof for restricting the further transferring of the pickup unit P. The parallel groove unit is formed at the other end of the lead screw  59 , opposite from the worm unit  59   b.    
     The pickup unit P is installed at the tray T so as to be transferred in a straight line in accordance with rotation of the lead screw  59  using the guide feed  61  which is engaged with the screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59 . Herein, the transfer of the pickup unit P is guided by two guide shafts  63 ,  65  installed parallel to each other. 
     A pickup stopper  67  protrudes from the tray T to limit the transferring section of the guide feed  61 , and at the same time generates a returning force to make the pickup unit P return to the screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59  after restricting the transfer of the pickup unit P within the parallel groove unit  59   c  of the lead screw  59 . 
     An ejection gear  71  is rotationally engaged with the worm unit  59   b  of the lead screw  59 . Thus the ejection gear  71  interlocks with the lead screw  59  because its gear unit is engaged with the worm unit  59   b.    
     In addition, a protruding arm  73  is formed at the side of the ejection gear  71  so as to be rotational with the ejection gear  71 . 
     An ejection lever  75  is installed at the tray T for fixing and releasing the position of the tray T through interlocking engagement with the ejection gear  71 . 
     The ejection lever  75  is installed at the tray T to be rotational around a hinge shaft  75 H and is elastically supported by an ejector spring  77  fixed at the tray T. 
     A tray stopper  79  protrudes at the front of the casing C in order to fix the position of the tray T by engaging the ejection lever  75  when the tray is inserted into the casing C. 
     A bridging end  75   a  is formed at the side of the ejection lever  75  which fixes the position of the tray T by engaging the tray stopper  79 . A driving end  75   b  is formed at the other side of the ejection lever  75  for engagement with the protruding arm  73  in order to release the fixed state of the tray T by freeing the bridging end  75   a  due to the rotation of the ejection lever  75 . 
     The ejection spring  77  elastically supports the ejection lever  75  to bias the ejection lever  75  for engagement of the bridging end  75   a  with the tray stopper  79 . 
     Deceleration of the ejection gear  71  is established so as not to get the protrusion arm  73  interlocked with the ejection lever  75  in the pickup unit P transferring section. 
     The operation of the tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive of the present invention will now be described. 
     When the sled motor  51  operates, the driving force of the sled motor  51  is transmitted to the lead screw  59  through the motor gear  53 , the idler gear  55  and the feed gear  57 . When the lead screw  59  rotates, the guide feed  61  engages with the screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59  and the pickup unit P is transferred in a straight line and direction in accordance with the lead screw  59 . The straight transferring of the pickup unit P is guided by two guide shafts  63 ,  65 . 
     FIG. 2 illustrates the signal recording/reproducing state while the pickup unit is transferred. 
     As described above, while the pickup unit P is transferred by the lead screw  59 , the ejection gear  71  is rotatably engaged with the rotation of the worm unit  59   b  of the lead screw  59  and reverse-rotates, i.e., rotates back and forth repeatedly within the worm gear section so as not to cause the protruding arm  73  to contact and drive the ejection lever  75 . 
     When the eject signal is inputted by the user, the guide feed  61  is advanced into the parallel groove unit  59   c  of the lead screw  59  by the operation of the sled motor  51 , and the pickup unit P is not further transferred. 
     The lead screw  59  rotates by the continuing operation of the sled motor  51 , causing the ejection gear  71  to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction, whereby the protruding arm  73  of the ejection gear  71  engages the driving end  75   b  of the ejection lever  75  and pushes the driving end  75   b.    
     When the ejection lever  75  is engaged by the protruding arm  73  of the ejection gear  71 , the ejection lever  75  is caused to rotate clockwise around the hinge shaft  75 H, overcoming the elastic bias of the ejector spring  77 . 
     As described above, when the ejection lever  75  rotates clockwise, the bridging end  75   a  of the ejection lever  75 , which is engaged with the tray stopper  79 , escapes from the tray stopper  79 , thereby releasing the fixed state of the tray T. The tray T is then projected to the outside of the casing C by the release of the spring bias of the tray relative to the casing. Likewise, when the tray is projected to the outside of the casing C, a disk can be loaded on the tray T, or a disk is unloaded from the tray T. 
     Meanwhile, when the ejection lever  75  is driven by the ejection gear  71 , the guide feed  61 , in the parallel groove unit  59   c  of the lead screw  59  is returned to the screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59  by the elasticity of the guide feed  61  itself and the operation of the pickup stopper  67 . 
     In other words, after a protrusion  61   a  of the guide feed  61  is advanced into the parallel groove unit  59   c,  the lead screw  59  rotates in the ejection direction, the guide feed  61  is transferred to the B direction of FIG. 4, and an elasticity unit  61   b  of the guide feed  61  contacts the pickup stopper  67 . 
     The end of the screw thread  59   a  of the lead screw  59  continually pushes the protrusion  61   a,  whereby the elasticity unit  61   b  is elastically transformed, the guide feed  61  moves elastically toward the C direction of FIG. 4, and the protrusion  61   a  is always in contact with the end of the screw thread  59   a.    
     After loading of the tray T, when the pickup unit P operates, the lead screw  59  rotates opposite to the ejection direction, the protrusion  61   a  is always in contact with the end of the screw thread  59   a  by the elasticity force of the elasticity unit  61   b,  the protrusion  61   a  easily engages the screw thread  59   a,  and the pickup unit P is transferred in accordance with transferring of the protrusion  61   a  by the screw thread  59   a.    
     As described above, the tray ejection apparatus of the disk drive of the present invention is capable of minimizing construction parts of the disk drive by ejecting the tray T using the sled motor  51  which transfers the pickup unit P as a driving unit. 
     Accordingly, since an additional driving unit is not required, the present invention can provide a simplified assembly process with a decrease in manufacturing cost. 
     In addition, parts installed at the tray T as a moving unit decreases; that is, the structure of the moving unit can be simplified and the load can be reduced. Accordingly, the operation efficiency and credibility is increased, and the quantity of the electricity used for transferring of the driving unit decreases. 
     The present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.