Patent ID: 7287263

Claim:
A disc apparatus comprising: a casing having an opening through which a disc may be inserted or ejected; a rotator to which a disc may be clamped; a disc-transferring member operable to transfer the disc between the opening and the rotator; a head positioned to face a recorded side of a disc clamped to the rotator, the head being movable toward and away from the center of the disc; a rack with gear teeth, the rack being movable together with the head; a first pinion gear engageable with the gear teeth of the rack; a motor operable to drive the first pinion gear; a switching member that moves between a transmission position and a cut-off position, the switching member connecting a power transmission path operable to transmit a driving force of the motor to the disc-transferring member when the switching member is in the transmission position, the switching member cutting off the power transmission path when the switching member is in the cut-off position; and a biasing member disposed between the head the rack, the biasing member biasing the rack towards the outer periphery of the disc; wherein when the rack moves towards the inner portion of the disc when the disc is not clamped to the rotator, a moving force of the rack allows the switching member to move from the cut-off position to the transmission position such that the driving force of the motor is transmitted to the disc-transferring member; and wherein when the switching member starts moving towards the transmission position in response to the movement of the rack towards the inner portion of the disc for connecting the power transmission path, the switching member forces the rack to move against the biasing force of the biasing member such that the rack is pulled towards the inner portion of the disc, whereby the gear teeth of the rack become disengaged from the first pinion gear.