JP3438601B2 - Tray lock mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tray lock mechanism used in a disk drive device, etc.
The present invention relates to a technique for preventing the lock from being accidentally released when an external force such as a shock acts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a compact disk drive which can be incorporated in a compact notebook type personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) or the like. This disk drive is shown in FIG. In order to reduce the size of the disc drive 100, the tray on which the disc is placed is not driven by a motor to be moved in and out of the chassis, but the tray is manually moved in and out of the chassis. The disc drive 100 is configured such that the end surface of the tray 6 on the back side in the loading / unloading direction abuts on a spring (not shown) provided on the chassis (not shown) side for pushing the tray out. A lock mechanism 101 is provided to fix the tray 6 against the biasing force of the spring when the tray 6 is housed in the chassis.

The lock mechanism 101 is composed of the plunger 1
3, a solenoid 14, a lock lever 8 and a lock portion 15. The solenoid 14 and the lock lever 8 are arranged on the tray 6 side, and the lock portion 1
5 is arranged on the chassis side. Further, the lock lever 8 is rotatably provided around a fulcrum 11, a plunger 13 is coupled via a drive pin 12, and is rotated by a driving force of a solenoid 14. Then, when the tray 6 is completely stored in the chassis, the lock lever 8 engages with the lock portion 15, and the tray 6 is fixed in the chassis. When the lock is released, as shown in FIG. 4B, the solenoid 14 is driven to move the plunger 13 in the direction of arrow C to move the lock lever 8 to the direction of arrow A.
The lock lever 8 is disengaged from the lock portion 15 by rotating the lock lever 8 in the direction. As a result, the tray 6 is biased by the spring and pushed out in the direction of arrow B.

Further, in this type of tray lock device, there is known a device in which a plunger and a solenoid are obliquely arranged with respect to the moving direction of the tray in order to prevent the tray from popping out due to an impact applied to the tray. (See, for example, JP-A-9-44955).

[0005]

However, in the tray lock mechanism 101 shown in FIG. 4, the drive disk 100 is provided, although it is configured to be strong against an impact received from the inserting / removing direction of the tray 6. When a personal computer is carried, or when a shock is applied in a direction (direction of arrow C) that coincides with the moving direction of the plunger 13 of the solenoid 14, the plunger 13 moves and the lock lever 8 rotates in the direction of arrow A. However, the engagement between the lock lever 8 and the lock portion 15 may be released, and the tray 6 may jump out of the chassis.

Further, in the tray lock device as disclosed in the above publication, measures against the impact received from the tray loading / unloading direction are taken, but the impact in the same direction as the direction in which the plunger and the solenoid are attached is applied. When it is received, the problem that the tray is easily unlocked and the tray accidentally jumps out of the chassis cannot be solved.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when the tray is fixed to the chassis, the tray lock is hard to be disengaged even if a shock is applied from any direction. The purpose is to provide a mechanism.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 has a disk mounting position in which a mounted disk is mounted in a chassis, and a disk replacement position which is pulled out forward from the chassis. And a lock part provided on the chassis or the tray when the tray is inserted into the disc mounting position, and is disposed so as to be rotatable around a fulcrum on the tray or the chassis. A locking member that locks the movement of the tray by engaging with the
A solenoid having a plunger connected to the lock member by a drive pin, and driving the plunger to rotate the lock member when the lock is released to release the engagement between the lock member and the lock portion. In the tray lock mechanism, the lock member is provided with a weight on the side opposite to the drive pin across the fulcrum so that the forces applied to both sides of the fulcrum are equal.

In the above structure, since the lock member is balanced between the plunger and the weight with the fulcrum sandwiched therebetween, even if a shock is applied to the tray, no rotational moment is generated in the lock member. Therefore, even if an impact is received, the lock member does not move in the direction of releasing the engagement with the lock portion, and the lock does not accidentally come off.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the tray lock mechanism described in (3), the weight is attached to the lock member at a position approximately 180 degrees from the fulcrum and the drive pin, and the product of the distance from the fulcrum to the weight and the mass of the weight is the fulcrum. It is carried out at a position equivalent to the product of the distance from the plunger to the mass of the plunger.

In the above structure, the weight and the plunger are balanced with each other regardless of an external force such as an impact applied from any direction. Therefore, the rotation moment is not generated in the lock member, and the same operation as in claim 1 is achieved. Is obtained.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as claim 1
Alternatively, in the tray lock mechanism according to the second aspect, the lock member, the plunger, and the solenoid are provided on the tray side, and the lock portion is provided on the chassis side.

In the above structure, the lock member, the plunger and the solenoid can be arranged in the space under the tray, and when the tray is taken in and out of the chassis, a shock is easily applied to the tray, The impact prevents the lock from being inadvertently released.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claim 1.
The tray lock mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tray is applied to a thin disk drive for a notebook type personal computer.

In the above structure, an external force is apt to give an impact to a notebook-type personal computer having a portable tray, but the inadvertent unlocking does not occur.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A tray lock mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, a personal computer 1 is a notebook type personal computer in which a liquid crystal display 2 and a keyboard 3 are integrally provided on a chassis 4. A CD-ROM drive (small disc drive) 5 is provided on the front surface 4 a of the chassis 4.
This CD-ROM drive 5 has a tray 6 that can be inserted into and removed from the chassis 4 in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 2), and the top surface of the tray 6 has a disk (CD-ROM) mounting portion 6a. Are formed. A tray opening / closing button 7 is provided on the front surface portion 6b of the tray 6, and a lock lever (lock member) 8 for fixing the tray 6 to the chassis 4 is provided on the side surface portion 6c of the tray 6. In order to simplify the configuration, the CD-ROM drive 5 does not drive the tray 6 in and out of the chassis 4 by a motor,
The tray is configured to be manually inserted and removed from the chassis. Details of this structure and the structure of the lock lever 8 will be described later.

A mechanism for loading and unloading the CD-ROM drive 5 from the chassis 4 will be described with reference to FIG. A spring 9 for urging the tray 6 in the direction of pushing it out from the chassis 4 (front side) is in contact with the end surface portion of the tray 6, which is the back side in the loading / unloading direction of the tray 6.
The spring 9 is provided between the chassis 4 and the tray 6 and contacts the back surface of the tray 6 when the tray 6 is housed in the chassis 4 to bias the tray 6 to the front side. The tray 6 is provided with a lock mechanism (tray lock mechanism) 10 for fixing the tray 6 to the chassis 4 against the bias of the spring 9. The lock mechanism 10 includes a lock lever 8 rotatably provided around a fulcrum 11 on the tray 6 and a lock lever 8
It has a plunger 13 engaged with a drive pin 12, a solenoid 14 for driving the plunger 13, and a lock portion 15 provided on the chassis 4 side and engaged with the lock lever 8. Further, the tip end of the lock lever 8 is a claw portion 18 for engaging with the lock portion 15, and the rear end portion thereof has a balancer (weight) 19 for equalizing the forces applied to both sides of the fulcrum 11. Is provided. This claw 18 is
It has a shape having an engaging portion 18a that engages with the lock portion 15 and an inclined portion 18b that slides with the lock portion 15 when the tray 6 is housed in the chassis 4.

The plunger 13 is biased in the direction of the lock lever 8 (leftward in FIG. 2) by the spring 17,
Under normal conditions, the lock lever 8 is set in a posture parallel to the loading / unloading direction of the tray 6. Lock lever 8
Is configured to engage with the lock portion 15 in this posture. The drive start of the solenoid 14 is instructed by the tray open / close button 7. Lock part 1
The engagement between the lock lever 5 and the lock lever 8 is released as follows. When the solenoid 14 is driven based on the instruction from the tray opening / closing button 7, the plunger 13 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Move in the direction of arrow C indicated by. As a result, the lock lever 8 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the engagement between the lock lever 8 and the lock portion 15 is released.

The CD-ROM drive 5 having the above structure
When the tray 6 is housed in the chassis 4, the lock lever 8 is kept in a posture parallel to the tray 6 loading / unloading direction, so that the claw portion 18 and the lock portion 1 of the lock lever 8 are held.
5 and 5 are engaged with each other. As a result, the tray 6 is fixed in the chassis 4 against the bias of the spring 9 (disk mounting position). When pulling out the tray 6 from the chassis 4, as described above, the tray opening / closing button 7 is pressed to drive the solenoid 14, thereby rotating the lock lever 8 and releasing the engagement with the lock portion 15. When the engagement with the lock portion 15 is released, the tray 6 is pushed out of the chassis 4 (in the direction of arrow B) by the urging force of the spring 9. When the tray 6 exits the chassis 4 to some extent, the user manually pulls out the tray 6 from the chassis 4 (disk replacement position). The drive of the solenoid 14 is stopped after a certain period of time, and the lock lever 8 returns to the original posture.

Once the tray 6 that has come out of the chassis 4 is
When it is stored in the chassis 4 again, the user manually pushes the tray 6 into the chassis 4. At this time, the inclined portion 18b formed on the claw portion 18 of the lock lever 8 comes into contact with the lock portion 15, so that the lock lever 8 moves along with the movement of the tray 6 in the chassis 4. Is rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. When the lock portion 15 relatively passes through the inclined portion 18b, the lock lever 8 returns to the normal posture and the lock portion 15 and the engaging portion 18a are engaged with each other. As a result, the tray 6 is fixed in the chassis 4.

The balancer 19 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The balancer 19 has a lock lever 8
At the end opposite to the drive pin 12 with the fulcrum 11 in between, and is provided to equalize the forces applied to both sides of the fulcrum 11. Since the plunger 13 having a relatively large mass is attached to the lock lever 8 by the drive pin 12, a force corresponding to the mass of the plunger 13 is applied to the lock lever 8. Therefore, a balancer 19 is provided in order to apply a force equivalent to this force to the lock lever 8 on the opposite side of the fulcrum 11.

The mounting position of the balancer 19 on the lock lever 8 is roughly the same as the drive pin 12 with respect to the fulcrum 11.
At the position of 0 degree, the product of the distance L (W) from the fulcrum 11 to the balancer 19 and the mass W (W) of the balancer 19 is the distance L (P) from the fulcrum 11 to the plunger 13.
And the mass W (P) of the plunger 13 are equal to the product. That is, balancer 19 is set to L (W) · W
By providing the positions at (W) ≈L (P) · W (P), the forces on both sides of the fulcrum 11 are balanced. By providing the balancer 19 in this way, the fulcrum 1 of the lock lever 8
1 By balancing the forces on both sides, even when the chassis 4 and the tray 6 (including the plunger 13) are impacted when the personal computer 1 moves, a rotational moment is generated in the lock lever 8. Since it is difficult to do so, the posture of the lock lever 8 is maintained, and the engagement with the lock portion 15 becomes difficult to disengage.

In this way, the lock mechanism 10 of this embodiment is
According to the above, even if the tray 6 is impacted,
Since the rotation moment is unlikely to be generated in the lock lever 8, it is possible to prevent the engagement between the lock portion 15 and the lock lever 8 from being released by the impact. by this,
It is possible to eliminate the situation where the tray 6 accidentally jumps out of the chassis 4, and the CD-ROM drive 5
The reliability of can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, although the balancer 19 is provided integrally with the lock lever 8 in the above-described embodiment, a separate weight may be attached externally. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the solenoid 14 is attached to the tray 6 in a posture perpendicular to the tray 6 insertion / removal direction. However, by rotating the lock lever 8, the engagement with the lock portion 15 is released. If the lock mechanism is No. 2, the mounting posture of the solenoid 14 may be at another angle. Further, in the above embodiment,
Lock lever 8, plunger 13 and solenoid 14
Is provided in the tray 6 and the lock portion 15 is provided in the chassis 4, and the lower space of the tray 6 is effectively used for storing these, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration and the lock The lever 8, the plunger 13, and the solenoid 14 are provided on the chassis 4 side, and the lock portion 15 is provided.
May be provided on the tray 6 side.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, since the forces applied to both sides of the fulcrum of the lock member are equal, impact is applied to the tray. Even in this case, since the forces applied to both sides of the fulcrum are balanced, no rotation moment is generated in the lock member. Therefore, even when an impact is received, the plunger or the lock member does not move in the direction of releasing the engagement with the lock portion. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the situation where the tray stored in the chassis accidentally jumps out of the chassis,
The reliability of the disk drive can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the plunger and the solenoid are provided on the tray side, the space on the tray side can be effectively used for storing them, and at the same time, the tray and The lock will not be accidentally released even if external force is applied.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the tray is applied to a thin disk drive for a notebook type personal computer, so that the computer can be carried, and an external force such as an impact is received. Easy,
As a result, the tray lock is not inadvertently released, and the above-mentioned effect is remarkably obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a personal computer provided with a tray lock mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a lock mechanism portion in a CD-ROM drive.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a lock mechanism portion.

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a conventional lock mechanism portion in a CD-ROM drive, and FIG. 4B is a plan view showing a state where the lock mechanism is unlocked.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 personal computer 5 CD-ROM drive (small disk drive) 6 trays 8 Lock lever (lock member) 10 Lock mechanism (tray lock mechanism) 11 fulcrum 12 drive pins 13 Plunger 14 Solenoid 15 Lock part 19 Balancer (weight)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tray, on which a mounted disc is movable between a disc mounting position in a chassis and a disc exchange position pulled forward from the chassis , and a fulcrum on the tray or the chassis. and the locking member are rotatably arranged, which engages with the lock portion provided on the chassis or tray when said tray is inserted into the disk mounting position, locks the movement of the tray as, A plunger is connected to the lock member with a drive pin, and when the lock is released, the plunger is driven to rotate the lock member to release the engagement between the lock member and the lock portion. In a tray lock mechanism including a solenoid, the lock member is provided on a portion opposite to the drive pin across the fulcrum and on both side portions of the fulcrum. A tray lock mechanism in which a weight is provided so that the forces are equal. 2. The attachment of the weight to the lock member is at a position approximately 180 degrees from the drive pin with respect to the fulcrum, and the product of the distance from the fulcrum to the weight and the mass of the weight is The tray lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the tray lock mechanism is provided at a position equivalent to a product of a distance from the fulcrum to the plunger and a mass of the plunger. 3. The tray lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lock member, the plunger, and the solenoid are provided on the tray side, and the lock portion is provided on the chassis side. . 4. The tray lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the tray is applied to a thin disk drive for a notebook type personal computer.