Patent ID: 7409695

Claim:
A disc drive apparatus, comprising: a housing including a top plate; a disc-holding unit configured to hold an optical disc in the housing; a disc-driving mechanism configured to rotate the optical disc held by the disc-holding unit; an optical pickup configured to write signals in, and read signals from, the optical disc being rotated by the disc-driving mechanism; and a pickup-moving mechanism configured to move the optical pickup in a radial direction of the optical disc, wherein, when the optical disc is in the housing, the housing has an air-inlet portion which is located above the optical disc held by the disc-holding unit and through which air is drawn from outside by virtue of an airflow that develops as the optical disc is rotated, and air-outlet portions that are separate from the air-inlet portion and through which air is discharged from the housing, and wherein the air-outlet portions are provided near corners of the top plate.