Patent ID: 8127317

Claim:
A disc changer for storing a plurality of discs, transporting a disc selected from the plurality of discs, and performing recording/reproducing of an information signal on the disc, the disc changer comprising: a plurality of trays which respectively can be loaded with discs, can be moved substantially in a horizontal direction parallel to main surfaces of the discs, and are stacked substantially in a vertical direction perpendicular to the main surfaces of the discs; a tray driving gear unit which has a plurality of driving gears capable of respectively engaging with a rack provided on each tray, such that the tray driving gear unit is capable of shuttling the trays between a standby position in which the trays are stored in a mechanical chassis as a housing of the disc changer and a disc exchange position in which the trays are protruded outward from the mechanical chassis such that the discs can be put on the trays and removed from the trays; a gear driving mechanism driven by an electrical motor to generate a driving force for driving the tray driving gear unit; a tray triggering unit capable of locking/unlocking the trays in the standby position, the tray triggering unit being capable of pushing all trays at a same time so as to engage the rack provided on each tray with a respective driving gear of the tray driving gear unit after unlocking the trays; a recording/reproducing unit for recording and/or reproducing an information signal on a disc placed on a turntable; and an elevation unit capable of moving the recording/reproducing unit with the turntable in the vertical direction to align the recording/reproducing unit to a tray and place a disc on the tray onto the turntable, wherein the tray driving gear unit is configured such that, in a tray opening operation, the rack provided on each tray is engaged with a respective driving gear as the trays are pushed by the tray triggering unit, and all driving gears are driven at a same time as one body such that the tray driving gear unit moves all trays to protrude outward from the mechanical chassis to the disc exchange position at a same time, and wherein the tray driving gear unit is configured to, in a tray closing operation, individually and sequentially move the driving gears engaged with the respective racks from top to bottom, such that the tray driving gear unit is capable of individually and sequentially driving the trays from the disc exchange position to the standby position from top to bottom in the tray closing operation, whereby each disc on a topmost tray exists at the disc exchange position in the tray closing operation such that the disc on the topmost tray can be checked until the topmost tray is closed.