Patent ID: 7136330

Claim:
An optical disc apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information, comprising: a supporting assembly; a spindle motor, associated with the supporting assembly, having a spindle with a spindle axis for rotating an optical disc supported by the spindle about the spindle axis; and an optical lens unit associated with the supporting assembly for scanning an information surface of said optical disc, said optical lens unit comprising: a focussing lens assembly with a focussing lens having a focussing lens area bounded by a focussing lens periphery and a focussing axis intersecting said focussing lens area, said focussing lens assembly being adapted for focussing an optical beam on said information surface; and a swing arm assembly comprising a generally elongate swing arm structure supporting said focussing lens assembly at a free end, the swing arm assembly being rotatable about a swing axis spaced from said free end and directed substantially perpendicularly to the swing arm structure and generally parallel to said spindle axis, the swing arm assembly also comprising a movable magnetic focussing means provided near said free end of the swing arm assembly for driving said focussing lens along said focussing axis so as to focus said optical beam on the optical disc information surface, the optical disc apparatus also comprising: a stationary magnetic focussing means associated with the supporting assembly for magnetically cooperating, through an intermediate air gap, with said movable focussing means in order to generate a magnetic force vector having a vector component parallel to said focussing axis so as to drive the focussing lens assembly along said focussing axis, wherein the stationary magnetic focusing means and the movable magnetic focussing means are disposed and cooperate such that said force vector component intersects said focussing lens area, and wherein the optical lens assembly comprises, near said free end of the arm assembly, a perpendicularly-reflecting optical element connected to the focussing lens, said perpendicularly-reflecting optical element having a reflective surface facing a side of the focussing lens situated away from the information surface of the optical disc, when supported by the spindle, and causing reflection of a laser beam travelling in a general direction between the swing axis and the focussing axis so as to travel through the focussing lens generally along the focussing axis, and wherein the movable magnetic focussing means is connected to the perpendicularly-reflecting optical element in a position on a side of said perpendicularly-reflecting optical element opposite from said reflecting surface.