Optical information record/pickup head assembly
AssigneeMinolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsToshihiko Ueda, Kouitirou Tutiyasu, Kazuyuki Yoshida, Mitsutoshi Yagoto
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Abstract
An information record/pickup head assembly for an optical information recording and/or reproducing apparatus using an optical information storage disk, comprising a stationary optical unit and a movable optical unit movable with respect to the information storage disk loaded, wherein the stationary optical unit emits a beam of light toward the movable optical unit which then re-directs the incident beam toward the information storage disk while returning to the stationary optical unit the beam of light reflected from the information storage disk. A focusing operation is carried out in the stationary optical unit.
Claims23
An optical information record/pickup head assembly for an optical information recording and/or reproducing apparatus using an optical information storage disk, comprising a stationary optical unit which is fixedly disposed within the information record/pickup head assembly and a movable optical unit which is movable with respect to the information storage disk loaded into said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein said stationary optical unit is operative to emit a beam of light toward said movable optical unit, which then redirects the incident beam toward said information storage disk, while returning to said stationary optical unit the beam of light reflected from the information storage disk, said stationary optical unit comprising:
- a beam emitting means operative to emit a beam of light therefrom;
- first optical means for collimating the beam of light from the beam emitting means;
- light sensitive means responsive to the beam of light reflected from said information storage disk for obtaining focus-state information;
- path-of-light shifting means located in conjunction with said beam emitting means, said first optical means and said light along which the establishing a first path of light along which the beam of light from said beam emitting means is to be directed toward said movable optical unit and a second path of light along which the beam of light returned from said movable optical unit is to be directed toward said light sensitive means;
- focus control mean responsive to said focus-state information for driving said first optical means for movement along the optical axis of the first optical means, said movable optical unit comprising:
- carrier means carrying said movable optical unit thereon and movable with respect to said information storage disk so that the beam of light received from said stationary optical unit is to be directed at a desired location on said information storage disk, and
- second optical means fixedly mounted on said carrier means for directing toward and converging on said information storage disk the beam of light received from said stationary optical unit and further directing toward the stationary optical unit the beam of light reflected from said information storage disk, said second optical means having a single reflective focusing element which comprises a concave reflector mirror having an anamorphically curved reflective inner surface.
An optical head for use in an optical disk system, comprising a stationary unit which is fixedly disposed in said system and a movable unit which is movable with respect to an optical disk loaded into said system, wherein said stationary unit emits a beam of light toward said movable unit which directs the received beam toward the optical disk while returning the beam reflected from the optical disk to said stationary unit, said stationary unit comprising:
- emitting means for emitting the beam;
- collimating means for collimating the beam from said emitting means;
- light sensitive means for receiving the beam reflected from the optical disk and for producing focus-state information;
- guide means for directing the beam from said emitting means toward said movable unit and for directing the beam from said movable unit toward said light sensitive means, and
- focusing means responsive to said focus-state information for moving said collimating means along the optical axis, said movable unit comprising:
- carrier means being movable with respect to the optical disk so that the beam is directed to a desired location on the optical disk, and
- only a single reflecting member fixedly mounted on said carrier means for directing the beam received from said stationary unit toward the optical disk and for returning the beam reflected from the optical disk toward the stationary unit.
An optical head for use in an optical disk system, comprising a stationary unit which is fixedly disposed in said system and a movable unit which is movable with respect to an optical disk loaded into said system, wherein said stationary unit emits a beam of light toward said movable unit which directs the received beam toward the optical disk while returning the beam reflected from the optical disk to said stationary unit, said stationary unit comprising:
- emitting means for emitting the beam;
- collimating means for collimating the beam from said emitting means;
- light sensitive means for receiving the beam reflected from the optical disk and for producing focus-state information;
- guide means for directing the beam from said emitting means toward said movable unit and for directing the beam from said movable unit toward said light sensitive means, and
- focusing means responsive to said focus-state information for moving said collimating means along the optical axis, said movable unit comprising:
- carrier means being movable in a straight path radially of the optical disk along the path of the beam from said stationary unit so that the beam is directed to a desired location on the optical disk, and
- optical means fixedly mounted on said carrier means for directing the beam received from said stationary unit toward the optical disk and for returning the beam reflected from the optical disk toward the stationary unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.