Patent ID: 7287262

Claim:
A disc drive apparatus comprising: a cabinet; a disc drive unit contained in the cabinet; and a circuit substrate carrying a drive control circuit for controlling the operation of driving the disc drive unit; the disc drive unit including: a disc rotary drive mechanism having a turntable for receiving an optical disc and a spindle motor for driving the optical disc placed on the turntable to rotate; an optical pickup for writing a signal on and/or reading a signal from the optical disc, irradiating the signal recording surface of the optical disc being driven to rotate by the disc rotary drive mechanism with a light beam converged by an objective lens; a pickup feed mechanism having a guide shaft for supporting the optical pickup so as to allow it to slide in a radial direction of the optical disc and adapted to feed the optical pickup in the radial direction of the optical disc; a base carrying the spindle motor and the guide shaft on one of the surfaces thereof, the spindle motor and the opposite ends of the guide shaft fitted thereto, and having an aperture formed to expose the turntable and the optical pickup to the outside from the other surface thereof; a flexible printed circuit board connected at an end thereof to the optical pickup and at the other end to the circuit substrate, the other end being folded toward the bottom surface section of the optical pickup, and adapted to displace the folded position thereof, following the movement of the optical pickup being fed; and a top cover fitted to the other surface of the base so as to hold down the flexible printed circuit board exposed to the outside through the aperture of the base and having an aperture for exposing the objective lens of the optical pickup to the outside, the optical pickup being fed in the radial direction of the optical disc; the disc drive unit being structurally so adapted as to hold down the lateral edge section of the flexible printed circuit board rising to a greater extent than the other lateral edge section as viewed in the longitudinal direction thereof at least at the folded position thereof while the flexible printed circuit board displaces the folded position, following the movement of the optical pickup being fed.