Disc loading apparatus for disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus having arrangement which lowers disc onto disc setting surface as it is extracted from array

A disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

• a housing section housing a plurality of discs, said plurality of discs being arranged in a spaced relation with disc surfaces facing one another with a predetermined distance therebetween, said housing section being arranged within a main body of the apparatus for being vertically moved by lifting means in a direction substantially perpendicular to the disc surfaces,
• transfer means movable in a direction parallel to the surfaces of the discs housed within said housing section for selectively taking out a selected disc from among the plurality of discs housed within said housing section and for re-inserting the taken-out disc into said housing section,
• a main tray having a setting portion on which the disc taken out of the housing section by said transfer means is set, said main tray being movable in a direction parallel to the surfaces of the discs housed within said housing section between a first position protruded from the main body of the apparatus and a second position housed within the main body of the apparatus, and
• a recording and/or reproducing section for recording and/or reproducing the information on or from the disc set on said setting portion of the main tray moved to said second position, wherein
• the distance between the center of the setting portion of the main tray moved to said second position and the center of the disc housed within the housing section is selected to be shorter than the diameter of the discs housed within said housing section, and wherein
• the selected disc among the plurality of discs housed within the housing section which is raised or lowered by said lifting means relative to the transfer means and the main tray and which faces said transfer means is positioned at a position higher by a pre-set distance than the disc setting surface of said setting portion whereby the selected disc can be drawn out of the housing section and guided in a downwardly angled direction onto the disc setting surface in a manner which allows the selected disc to seat on the disc setting surface with the upper surface of the selected disc at a level which is lower than the lower surface of the selected disc when the selected disc is stored in the housing section, and in a manner which allows the selected disc to be lifted off the disc setting surface and raised above the disc setting surface by the predetermined distance by engagement with a selectively rotatable disc table and raised to a position above the disc setting surface wherein the selected disc can be rotated without engagement with a surface of another disc and enable the predetermined distance between the opposite surfaces of the plurality of discs to be minimized and an overall height of the housing section reduced.