Patent ID: 7609593

Claim:
A disc drive apparatus capable of loading and ejecting: a first disc which has a light shielding effect; a second disc whose outside diameter is smaller than that of the first disc and which has a light shielding effect; a third disc whose outside diameter is almost same as the first disc and which has a light shielding effect and a hollow hole whose outside diameter is almost same as the second disc in central; and a fourth disc whose outside diameter is almost same as the first disc, which has a small data area whose diameter is almost same as the second disc in central and has a light shielding effect, and whose rest area except the small data area is transparent; said apparatus comprising: a disc inserting and discharging portion having a width sufficient to receive the first disc along its outside diameter, the disc inserting and discharging portion allowing the second disc to be inserted and discharged anywhere along the width; a first detector for detecting a disc passing through one end of the disc inserting and discharging portion by physically contacting with the disc wherein the first detector comprises a mechanical switch; a second detector for detecting the disc passing by the light shielding of the disc; and a disc identifier for identifying type of the disc based on a detected result by the second detector when the first detector detects the disc, wherein said second detector is arranged on a position where said second detector is capable of detecting the fourth disc when the first detector detects the fourth disc, and where said second detector does not detect the third disc when the first detector detects the third disc, wherein, in the position where said second detector is arranged, said second detector does not detect the second disc when the first detector detects the second disc in response to the second disc being inserted anywhere along the width of the disc inserting and discharging portion.