Patent Abstract:
An emergency ejection protecting module is disclosed to protect the emergency ejection device in an optical disc drive. When the optical disc drive reads/writes a disc, moving a protection door at the case to reveal an ejection hole causes an abnormal operation of the emergency ejection. The contact end protruded from the protection door activates a sensor to transmit an ejection signal to the optical disc drive, and the optical disc drive starts the ejection operation to protect the disc.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an emergency ejection protecting module, and more specifically, to an emergency ejection protecting module for an optical disc drive activated manually to eject a disc when a power failure occurs or the optical disc drive is broken. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    An optical disc drive cannot eject a disc automatically when a power failure occurs or the optical disc drive is broken. Therefore, the optical disc drive usually has an emergency ejection device for facilitating consumers to eject the disc manually without disassembling an external case of the optical disc drive, so as to increase the convenience of the optical disc drive. 
         [0005]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 1  is a diagram of an optical disc drive  10  disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,715 in the prior art. When the optical disc drive  10  is to eject an disc  13 , an ejection button  11  disposed at a front end of the optical disc drive  10  is pressed, and the optical disc drive  10  receives an ejection signal produced by the ejection button  11  to cut off power of a spindle motor  12  immediately. Therefore, the disc  13  clipped by the spindle motor  12  stops rotating, and then the disc  13  is ejected from the optical disc drive  10  for easily being taken by consumers. However, when a power failure occurs or the optical disc drive  10  is broken, the ejection button  11  cannot operate normally, and it only can use a rod  14 , such as a paper clip, to plug into an ejection hole  15  disposed at the front end of the optical disc drive  10 , so as to activate the emergency ejection device manually to unlock a self-locking transmission mechanism  16  to eject the disc  13 . 
         [0006]    However, the rod  14  can plug into the ejection hole  15  of the optical disc drive  10  anytime, so that the emergency ejection device cannot prevent from being activated improperly when the optical disc drive  13  is still reading or writing. Once the emergency ejection device is activated improperly, the rotating disc  13  with high speed will contact inner components inside the optical disc drive  10  and the disc  13  will be damaged or broken, even broken out to hurt users. Therefore, there are problems to be solved about the emergency ejection device of the optical disc drive. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    A purpose of the present invention is to provide an emergency ejection protecting module with a protection door to shade an ejection hole to prevent an emergency ejection device from being activated improperly. 
         [0008]    Another purpose of the present invention is to provide the emergency ejection protecting module with a sensor to sense that the protection door is not opened properly, so as to transmit an ejection signal to the optical disc drive immediately, for activating an ejecting operation to prevent the disc from being damaged. 
         [0009]    In order to achieve the above purposes, the emergency ejection protecting module includes an ejection hole on a sliding slot of a case. A protection door with a contact end is slidably installed inside the sliding slot to shade or reveal the ejection hole. The contact end activates a sensor to transmit an ejection signal. An emergency ejection device is disposed inside the optical disc drive and located in a position on an extension line of the ejection hole. A disc can be ejected manually. When the optical disc drive reads the disc and the protection door is moved to reveal the ejection hole, the contact end moves with the protection door to activate the sensor, so as to transmit the ejection signal to the optical disc drive to stop rotating the disc and to eject the disc automatically. 
         [0010]    When the optical disc drive is in normal operation, the protection door is in a position to shade the ejection hole, and the contact end presses the sensor, so that the sensor does not transmit the ejection signal to the optical disc drive. And when the optical disc drive detects that the contact end keeps pressing the sensor in order to ensure the protection door shades the ejection hole, the optical disc drive restores to normal operation. Besides, when the optical disc drive is broken down, the protection door is moved to reveal the ejection hole, and the sensor does not transmit the ejection signal. Therefore it is needed to activate the emergency ejection device via the ejection hole. The emergency ejection device includes a transmission motor for rotating a self-locking worm gear to drive a first transmission gear and a second transmission gear. And a clutch gear is linked to the first transmission gear for transmitting or cutting off power from the first transmission gear to the second transmission gear. The emergency ejection device further includes a ratchet connected to the second transmission gear for rotating the second transmission gear in an ejecting direction. The emergency ejection device further includes a rack for driving the ratchet. The emergency ejection device further includes a returning spring for returning the rack after the rack drives the ratchet. The emergency ejection device further includes a sliding board whereon a fixing groove is formed for fixing the clutch gear. An inclined surface is formed at an end of the sliding board, and the inclined surface is between the rack and the ejection hole. The emergency ejection device further includes a positioning spring for returning the sliding board after the sliding board slides obliquely to drive the clutch gear. 
         [0011]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of an optical disc drive in the prior art. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a top view of an emergency ejection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a partly enlarged drawing of part A illustrated in  FIG. 2  according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates a clutch gear separating from a second transmission gear according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a partly enlarged drawing of part B illustrated in  FIG. 4  according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  illustrates a rod activating an ejecting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 2  is a top view of an emergency ejection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a partly enlarged drawing of part A illustrated in  FIG. 2  according to the embodiment of the present invention. The emergency ejection protecting module includes a case  21  of an optical disc drive  20 , and a sliding slot  22  is formed on the case  21 . An ejection hole  23  is disposed on the sliding slot  22 . The emergency ejection protecting module further includes a protection door  24  slidably installed inside the sliding slot  22  to shade or reveal the ejection hole  23 , and the protection door  24  includes a contact end  25  protruding toward an inner of the optical disc drive  20 . The emergency ejection protecting module further includes a sensor  26  disposed on a travelling path of the contact end  25 , and the sensor  26  can be activated by the contact end  25  to transmit an ejection signal to the optical disc drive  20  as pressing a conventional ejection button. The emergency ejection protecting module further includes an emergency ejection device  30  disposed inside the optical disc drive  20  and located in a position corresponding to the ejection hole  23 . The position can be located on an extension line of the ejection hole  23 . The emergency ejection device  30  can be activated manually to eject a disc. When it is needed to eject the disc manually, a rod  27  can be used to insert through the ejection hole  23  to the inner of the optical disc drive  20 , so as to push the emergency ejection device  30  behind the ejection hole  23  to eject the disc. 
         [0019]    A following embodiment of the emergency ejection device  30  is only an example for describing operation of the emergency ejection protecting module. The emergency ejection protecting module is implemented for the following embodiment of the emergency ejection device  30 . Every emergency ejection device with the ejection hole  23  can be applied to the present invention. 
         [0020]    The emergency ejection device  30  includes a transmission motor  31  for providing power. The transmission motor  31  is for rotating a self-locking worm gear  32  to drive a first transmission gear  33  and a second transmission gear  34 . A clutch gear  35  is linked to the first transmission gear  33  for transmitting or cutting off power from the first transmission gear  33  to the second transmission gear  34 . The second transmission gear  34  receives the power to drive a loading and unloading mechanism to load or unload the disc (not shown in figures), and to drive a traverse  36  to rotate or separate the disc (not shown in figures). The loading and unloading mechanism and the traverse  36  are known, and therefore detailed description about them is omitted herein. 
         [0021]    The emergency ejection device  30  further includes a ratchet  37  connected to the second transmission gear  34  for rotating the second transmission gear  34  in an ejecting direction. A first guiding pin  38  is disposed on an axis of the ratchet  37 , and a second guiding pin  39  is disposed near the ratchet  37  obliquely. The emergency ejection device  30  further includes a rack  40  slidably aligned to the extension line of the ejection hole  23  for driving the ratchet  37 . The emergency ejection device  30  further includes a returning spring  41  for returning the rack  40  after the rack  40  drives the ratchet  37 . An end of the returning spring  41  is fixed on the rack  40 , and the other end of the returning spring  41  is fixed on the case  21 . The emergency ejection device  30  further includes a sliding board  42 . And a first inclined guiding groove  43 , a second inclined guiding groove  44  and a fixing groove  45  are disposed on the sliding board  42 . The first inclined guiding groove  43  and the second inclined guiding groove  44  respectively engage with the first guiding pin  38  and the second guiding pin  39 , and the fixing groove  45  engages with the clutch gear  35 . The sliding board  42  is obliquely moved along with the first guiding pin  38  and the second guiding pin  39 , so as to drive the clutch gear  35  to move. An inclined surface  46  is formed at an end of the sliding board  42 , and the inclined surface  46  is located on the extension line of the ejection hole  23  and between the rack  40  and the ejection hole  23 . The emergency ejection device  30  further includes a positioning spring  47  for returning the sliding board  42  after the sliding board  42  slides obliquely to drive the clutch gear  35 . An end of the positioning spring  47  is fixed on the sliding board  42 , and the other end of the positioning spring  47  is fixed on the case  21 . 
         [0022]    About operation of the emergency ejection device  30  will be described as follows. When the optical disc drive  20  is in normal operation, the protection door  24  is in a position to shade the ejection hole  23 , and the contact end  25  presses the sensor  26 , so that the sensor  26  does not transmit the ejection signal to the optical disc drive  20 . Please refer to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 4  illustrates the clutch gear  35  separating from the second transmission gear  34  according to the embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a partly enlarged drawing of part B illustrated in  FIG. 4  according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the optical disc drive reads the disc and the emergency ejection device  30  is operated improperly, the protection door  24  is moved to reveal the ejection hole  23 , and then the contact end  25  is moved with the protection door  24  to separate from the sensor  26 . As a result, the sensor  26  transmits the ejection signal to the optical disc drive  20  to stop rotating the disc and ejecting the disc automatically, even though users inserts the rod  27  into the ejection hole  23 , it would not damage the ejected disc. After that, the optical disc drive  20  restores to normal operation when the optical disc drive  20  detects that the contact end  25  keeps pressing the sensor  26  in order to ensure the protection door  24  shades the ejection hole  23 . 
         [0023]    When a power failure occurs or the optical disc drive  20  is broken, the protection door  24  is moved to reveal the ejection hole  23  and the contact end  25  is moved with the protection door  24  to separate from the sensor  26 . But the optical disc drive  20  does not work normally, and the sensor  26  cannot transmit the ejection signal to the optical disc drive  20  as usual. Next, the rod  27  can be used to insert through the ejection hole  23  to contact the inclined surface  46  of the sliding board  42  between the rack  40  and the ejection hole  23 . The rod  27  is moved along the inclined surface  46  and resists a resilient force of the positioning spring  47 , so as to drive the sliding board  42  to move along with the first guiding pin  38  and the second guiding pin  39  obliquely. And then, the rod  27  contacts against an edge of the inclined surface  46  to contact the rack  40  and constrain the sliding board  42  laterally. By the fixing groove  45  of the sliding board  42 , the sliding board  42  slides obliquely to separate the clutch gear  35  from the second transmission gear  34 , so as to release the second transmission gear  34  from the self-locking worm gear  32  and the first transmission gear  33 . Therefore the clutch gear  35  can rotate freely. The disc is ejected by the rod  27  inserting through the ejection hole  23  to activate the emergency ejection device  30 . 
         [0024]    Please refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  illustrates the rod  27  activating the ejecting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the rod  27  resists the resilient force of the returning spring  41  and keeps pushing the rack  40 , the rack  40  rotates the ratchet  37  to drive the non-self-locking second transmission gear  34  to eject the disc. When the rod  27  is drawn out, the rack  40  is returned by the resilient restoring force of the returning spring  41  and drives the ratchet  37  reversely. Because the ratchet  37  only can rotate in a single direction, the ratchet  37  does not rotate the second transmission gear  34 , so that the optical disc drive  20  can keep in an ejecting state to eject the disc. The operation of the ratchet  37  rotating the rack  40  depends on practical design. For example, a slot-in optical disc drive with a guide bar in the prior art needs to push the rack  40  in one to three times to eject the disc. Besides, it is needed to push the rack  40  in multiple times for a slot-in optical disc drive with a roller to eject the disc. Please refer to  FIG. 3  again, after emergency ejection has been finished, the optical disc drive  20  restores to normal operation only when the optical disc drive  20  detects that the contact end  25  keeps pressing the sensor in order to ensure the protection door  24  shades the ejection hole  23 . 
         [0025]    Therefore, the emergency ejection protecting module of the present invention can protect the emergency ejection device  30  by disposing the protection door  24  to shade or reveal the ejection hole  23 , and transmit the ejection signal to the optical disc drive  20  by the sensor  26  detecting the protection door  24  activated improperly, so as to eject the disc to prevent the disc from being damaged due to improper activation of the emergency ejection device  30 . 
         [0026]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6