Patent ID: 7155731

Claim:
An optical disc drive, comprising: a main body which includes a frame having a top portion, side portions, a bottom portion and a front side, a box-shaped metal housing which houses the frame therein, and a front bezel having an opening and provided on the front side of the frame wherein the metal housing has a bottom plate for covering the bottom portion of the frame, side plates for covering the side portions of the frame and a top plate for covering the top portion of the frame; means for rotating an optical disc, the rotating means provided inside the main body and including a turn table on which the optical disc is to be placed, a disc clamp for clamping the optical disc between the turn table and the disc clamper and a spindle motor for rotating the turn table; a disc tray having a disc holding portion in which the optical disc is to be placed, the disc tray being movable with respect to the main body through the opening thereof; and means for preventing deformation of the optical disc caused by turbulence in air flow which is generated at a high speed of rotation of the optical disc by the rotating means, the deformation preventing means comprising at least one convex portion integrally formed on the top plate so as to protrude towards the disc holding portion of the disc tray in a state which the disc tray is fully inserted into the main body at a position near the outer periphery of the optical disc placed on the disc holding portion wherein the convex portion has an elliptical cross-sectional shape so that a horizontal cross-sectional area of the convex portion decreases gradually toward a tip thereof to form an inclined peripheral surface, and the convex portion is arranged so that along axis of the convex portion is aligned with a radial direction of the optical disc in which the inclined peripheral surface thereof faces a direction of the rotation of the optical disc wherein the angle defined by the inclined peripheral surface and the top plate is in the range of 110° to 150°.