Patent Publication Number: US-2007107006-A1

Title: Optical disc drive

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 94138717, filed Nov. 4, 2005. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of Invention  
      The present invention relates to an optical disc drive. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical disc drive having cable protection structure located on the case.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      An optical disc has advantages such as low price, portability, large storage volume, easy preservation, long storage life, low cost and durability, the optical disc has gradually substituted the conventional magnetic memory medium and become an indispensable optical storage medium. As the widespread use of the optical disc, the optical disc player used for accessing the information stored in an optical disc has also become one of the common electronic products in our daily life.  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a conventional optical disc drive. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the optical disc drive  100  includes a case  110 , a first circuit board  120 , a tray  130 , a second circuit board  140  and a cable  150 . The case  110  includes an upper case  112  and a lower case  114 . The first circuit board  120  is disposed on the case  110 , and the second circuit board  140  is disposed on the tray  130 , wherein the tray  130  is movably disposed inside the case  110 . Two ends of the cable  150  are electrically connected with the first circuit board  120  and the second circuit board  140 , respectively. The cable  150  of the conventional optical disc drive  100  is a flexible printed circuit (FPC), and the circuitry is arranged as U-shaped.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , the two ends of the cable  150  are electrically connected with the first circuit board  120  and the second circuit board  140 , respectively. Moreover, the cable  150  near the first circuit board  120  folds, turns a U-shape, and then is connected with the second circuit board  140 . However, the cost of the U-shaped cable is high and the delivery period is long.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, the present invention is directed to provide an optical disc drive, suitable for a cable with low cost and short delivery period. In addition, the problem of the cable being abraded when the tray enters into/ejects from the case can be eliminated.  
      The present invention provides an optical disc drive, including a case, a first circuit board, a tray, a second circuit board and a cable. The first circuit board is disposed on the case and a cable protection structure is located on the case. The tray is movably disposed inside the case, and the second circuit board is disposed on the tray. Two ends of the cable are electrically connected with the first circuit board and the second circuit board, respectively. The cable has at least one folding portion located in the cable protection structure.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable includes a plurality of straight metal lines and an insulation material. The insulation material covers these straight metal lines. Wherein, these straight metal lines are parallel to each other and disposed on a same plane.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable may be a flexible flat cable or a flexible printed circuit.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable protection structure may be a concave portion, and the folding portion of the cable is disposed in the concave portion.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable protection structure may be a protrusion, and the folding portion of the cable is disposed near the protrusion portion.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable protection structure may be a thin portion, and the folding portion of the cable is disposed in the thin portion.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cable protection structure may be an opening, and the folding portion of the cable is disposed in the opening.  
      According to one embodiment of the present invention, the optical disc drive further includes a data access module disposed on the tray, and the second circuit board is electrically connected with the data access module.  
      As the optical disc drive of the present invention has a cable protection structure, straight cable can be used in the optical disc drive without worrying about the abrasion of the folding portion. Thus, the cost is reduced, and the delivery period is shortened.  
      In order to the make the aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, a preferred embodiment accompanied with figures is described in detail below.  
      It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a conventional optical disc drive.  
       FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  are a perspective view and a locally enlarged view of an optical disc drive according to one embodiment of the present invention, respectively.  
       FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4C  are the diagrams of cable protection structures according to the other three embodiments of the present invention, respectively.  
       FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  are the perspective view and the top view of the lower case and the cable according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively.  
       FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  are the perspective view and the top view of the lower case and the cable according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS  
       FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  are the perspective view and the locally enlarged view of an optical disc drive according to one embodiment of the present invention, respectively. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the optical disc drive  200  includes a case  210 , a first circuit board  220 , a tray  230 , a second circuit board  240  and a cable  250 . The case  210  includes an upper case  214  and a lower case  216  and has a cable protection structure  212 . The first circuit board  220  is disposed on the case  210 , and the second circuit board  240  is disposed on the tray  230  wherein the tray  230  is movably disposed inside the case  210 . Two ends of the cable  250  are electrically connected with the first circuit board  220  and the second circuit board  240 , respectively. The cable  250  has at least one folding portion  252  located in the cable protection structure  212 . The folding portion  252  of the cable  250  can be protected by the design of the cable protection structure  212  so as to avoid damage resulted from the abrasion of the tray  230  while the tray  230  enters into/ejects from the case  210 .  
      In addition, the optical disc drive  200  further includes a data access module  260 , disposed in the tray  230 , and the second circuit board  240  is electrically connected with the data access module  260 . The data access module  260  may include a pickup head  262  and a turntable  264 . In this embodiment, the cable  250  may be a flexible flat cable or a flexible printed circuit. In detail, taking the flexible flat cable as an example, the cable  250  includes a plurality of straight metal lines and an insulation material. The insulation material covers these straight metal lines. These straight metal lines are parallel to each other and disposed on a same plane. As the flexible flat cable has the advantage of low cost and short delivery period, the cost of the optical disc drive  200  can be reduced and the delivery period of the optical disc drive  200  can be shortened by using the cable  250 . Moreover, using the flexible flat cable as the cable  250 , although the folding portion  252  is relatively thick, the folding portion  252  can be protected by the cable protection structure  212  so as to avoid the folding portion  252  from being abraded by the tray  230  when the tray  230  is entering into/ejecting from the case  210 .  
      In the embodiment, the cable protection structure  212  may be an opening, and the folding portion  252  of the cable  250  is disposed in the opening.  
      The following will refer to  FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4C , which illustrate the cable protection structures according to other three embodiments of the present invention, respectively.  
      In  FIG. 4A , the cable protection structure  212   a  is a thin portion, and the folding portion  252   a  of the cable  250  is disposed in the thin portion. The formation method of the thin portion is by thinning the case  210   a  under the folding portion  252   a  to a downward depth without perforating the case  210   a.    
      In  FIG. 4B , the cable protection structure  212   b  is a concave portion, and the folding portion  252   b  of the cable  250  is disposed in the concave portion. The formation method of the concave portion is to punch the case  210   b  under the folding portion  252   b  to protrude downward.  
      In  FIG. 4C , the cable protection structure  212   c  is a protrusion portion, and the folding portion  252   c  of the cable  250  is disposed near the protrusion portion. The formation method of the protrusion portion is to punch the case  210   c  beside the folding portion  252   c  to protrude a part in the case  210   c . It is to be noticed that, when the cable protection structure  212   c  is a protrusion portion, the folding portion  252   c  of the cable  250  is disposed near the protrusion portion. Accordingly, the cable protection structure  212   c  can protect the folding portion  252   c.    
      Of course, the above mentioned different designs of the widths and the depths of the cable protection structures  212   a ,  212   b  and  212   c  can be adjusted according to the size of the folding portions  252   a ,  252   b  and  252   c.    
      Therefore, the preferred embodiments apply the design of the cable protection structure disposed on the case of the optical disc drive, so that the folding portion of the cable can be protected from the abrasion when the tray enters into/ejects from the optical disc drive.  
      In addition, referring to  FIG. 2 , the cable  250  may be folded once between one connection end of the cable  250  with the second circuit board  240  and the folding portion  252  in advance, so as to preserve a predefined length, so that the tray can recede a distance smoothly. In other words, when the tray  230  recedes a distance, the folding portion of the cable  250  can be straightened.  
       FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  are the perspective view and the top view of the lower case and the cable according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively. For the convenience of description,  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  only show the lower case and the cable of the optical disc drive; the upper case, the circuit board and the tray are omitted. Referring to  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B , the embodiment is similar with the embodiment in  FIG. 2 , and the difference is that: the cable  350  has two folding portions  352 ,  354 , and the case  310  has a cable protection structure  312  and a cable protection structure  314 . The two folding portions  352 ,  354  are disposed in the two cable protection structures  312 ,  314 , respectively. The cable  350  is folded twice in bevel to form the two folding portions  352 ,  354 . Also, the design of the cable protection structure  312 ,  314  can effectively prevent the cable  350  from abrasion when the tray  230  is entering into/ejecting from the case  310 .  
       FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  are the perspective view and the top view of the lower case and the cable according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively. For the convenience of description,  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  only show the lower case and the cable of the optical disc drive; the upper case, the circuit board and the tray are omitted. Referring to  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , the embodiment is similar with the embodiment in  FIG. 5A , and the difference is that: the case  410  has a cable protection structure  412  which can simultaneously cover both the folding portions  352 ,  354  and a part of the cable near the folding portions  352 ,  354 . As shown in  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , the two folding portions  352 ,  354  and the part of the cable  350  near the folding portions  352 ,  354  form a trapezium region, and the cable protection structure  412  is disposed under the trapezium. Therefore, the cable protection structure  412  can effectively prevent the cable  350  from abrasion by the tray  230 .  
      It can be learned from the above that, the cable protection structure  412  may be disposed at the suitable location on the case under the cable  350  to directly protect the cable  350  or to provide extra space for the extension of the cable  350 .  
      As the optical disc drive of the present invention has cable protection structure, the folding portion of the cable can be protected while the tray is entering into/ejecting from the optical disc drive so that the abrasion is reduced. In addition, as the optical disc drive of the present invention has the cable protection structure, the straight line cable can be used without worrying about the abrasion caused by the thickness of the folding portion. Furthermore, the cost can be reduced and the delivery period can be shortened.  
      It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.