Drive for storage medium
AssigneeAlpine Electronics, Inc.
InventorsShoji Suzuki, Hitoshi Shirashima
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drive unit resiliently supported on a raising/lowering base via a damper includes a locking member to lock the drive unit when a storage medium such as a disc is loaded to or ejected from the drive unit. The locking member is provided with a cross-shaped rotating body provided on the raising/lowering base, and the drive unit is formed with a through hole. With the rotating body placed within the through hole, when the rotating body is rotated about 45° by a first switching member, the cross-shaped locking portion of the rotating body is pressed against an inner wall of the through hole so that the drive unit is locked in the X and Y directions.
Claims24
A drive apparatus for driving a storage medium comprising:
- a base;
- a drive unit for recording on or reproducing from the storage medium, wherein said drive unit is supported on the base via a resilient member;
- and
- a locking device for locking said drive unit on the base when the storage medium is loaded to said drive unit or when the storage medium is ejected from the drive unit;
- said locking device including:
- one of a through hole and a non-through recess formed on one of said drive unit and the base,
- a rotating body provided on the other of said drive unit and the base to be placed in said through hole or the recess, and
- a mechanism for rotating said rotating body;
- wherein said rotating body is rotationally switched between a locking position where at least one portion of said rotating body comes in contact with an inner wall of said through hole or the recess to lock the drive unit on the base and a lock released position here said rotating body comes off said inner wall within said through hole or the recess.
A drive apparatus for driving a storage medium comprising:
- a magazine having a plurality of discs stored therein, and an enclosure for housing said magazine;
- a base movably mounted with respect to said enclosure;
- a drive unit supported with respect to said base via a resilient member for recording on and reproducing from said storage medium;
- and
- a locking device for locking said drive unit on said base when the storage medium is loaded to or ejected from the drive unit;
- said locking device comprising:
- one of a through hole or a non-through recess provided on one of said drive unit and the base;
- a rotating body provided on the other of said drive unit and the base to be placed in said through hole or the recess;
- and
- a mechanism for rotating said rotating body;
- wherein said rotating body is rotationally switched between the locking position where at least one point thereof comes in contact with an inner wall of said through hole or the recess to lock the drive unit on the base, and a lock releasing position where the rotating body comes off said inner wall in said through hole or the recess.
A drive apparatus for driving a storage medium comprising:
- a base;
- a drive unit for recording on or reproducing from the storage medium, wherein said drive unit is supported with respect to the base by at least one resilient member;
- and
- a locking device including:
- a rotatable body provided on one of said drive unit and the base, wherein said rotatable body includes at least one locking portion extending outwardly therefrom, and
- the other of said drive unlit and the base includes at least one wall portion facing and in close proximity to said rotatable body;
- wherein the rotatable body is selectively rotated to bring said at least one locking portion into or out of engagement with said at least one wall portion, and the locking device does not substantially project outside the drive unit in a lateral direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.