Patent ID: 7363641

Claim:
An aligning device for a disk recording medium, comprising: a turntable on which the disk recording medium is placed; a rotation shaft that rotates the turntable; the turntable having an upstanding guide portion which is positioned generally concentrically with respect to the rotation shaft; and an aligning member that contacts a center hole of the recording medium and aligns a center of the rotation shaft with a center of the recording medium; wherein the aligning member has an aperture therein which fits over the guide portion with a spacing between the guide portion and the aperture to form a sliding gap therebetween, the sliding gap thereby creating a sliding portion of the aligning member which allows a sliding action when the aligning member moves on the guide portion; wherein the sliding gap of the sliding portion is formed such that a leading end side sliding gap proximate a turntable side in a sliding direction of the aligning member differs in size from a trailing end side sliding gap proximate a disk recording medium side in the sliding direction, whereby the difference in size allows the alignment member to pivot relative to the turntable about an axis generally perpendicular to the axis of the rotation shaft; and wherein the leading end side sliding gap is formed smaller than the trailing end side sliding gap.