Patent ID: 6842907

Claim:
A cartridge transfer device for a disk loading mechanism, comprising: a cartridge holder holding a disk cartridge containing a disk therein; an elevator capable of being moved vertically; a floating deck supported for vertical movement on the elevator, and provided with first and second locking pins; damping supports resiliently supporting the floating deck for vertical movement on the elevator; a turntable for rotating the disk contained in the disk cartridge, said turntable being supported on the floating deck; a reference pin for locating the disk cartridge at a fixed position relative to the turntable; a cartridge holder transfer unit adapted to transfer the cartridge holder between a cartridge holder storage position and the fixed position defined by the reference pin; and a floating deck locking unit including a first locking plate and a second locking plate, said first locking plate having a first engaging portion that selectively engages the first locking pin of the floating deck and said second locking plate having a second engaging portion that selectively engages the second locking pin, the first and second engaging portions simultaneously engage the first and second locking pins, respectively by a relative movement of the first locking plate with respect to the second locking plate to retract the floating deck away from the disk cartridge from its operating position to a locking position and to lock the floating deck at the locking position while the cartridge holder holding the disk cartridge is being transferred from its storage position to a position directly above the turn table.