Patent ID: 7103895

Claim:
A recorder and/or player, comprising: an optical pickup having an objective lens supported movably along a substantially linear guide provided parallel to a radius of an optical disc; and a moving mechanism including: a feed screw provided substantially parallel to the radius of the optical disc; and a sliding member engaged at one end thereof on the feed screw, having formed at an other end a shutter that masks the objective lens, and being held on the optical pickup with an elastic material placed therebetween; the optical pickup being moved along with the sliding member as the sliding member is moved radially of the optical disc by the feed screw in rotation; when the optical pickup has moved along with the sliding member in one direction and arrived at a predetermined position, the optical pickup is limited from moving, and as the feed screw is further rotated, only the sliding member is moved in the one direction against the force of the elastic member, so that the shutter of the sliding member masks the objective lens; a detection switch provided on one of the base or the optical pickup to detect when the optical pickup has arrived at the predetermined position at the inner-circumference side of the optical disc and a switch counterpart provided on an other side of the optical disc; and a focusing controller to control focusing of the objective lense in relation to the optical disc, wherein when the optical pickup has moved along with the sliding member in the one direction and arrived at the predetermined position, the detection switch is turned on by the switch counterpart and a reversed voltage of a voltage applied for the focusing control is applied to the focusing controller, so that the focusing controller moves the objective lens along the optical axis thereof from a predetermined lens position to a lens position further away from the optical disc; and when the feed screw is further rotated for a predetermined length of time with the objective lens having been moved to the lens position further away from the optical disc, as the optical pickup is limited from moving, and only the sliding member is moved in the one direction against the force of the elastic member, the shutter of the sliding member masks the objective lens.