This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 94126101, filed Aug. 1, 2005, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an apparatus and a method of ejecting a disc for a disc drive, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method of ejecting a disc for a disc drive capable of halting and pushing up the disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a large variety of optical disc drives and optical disc recorders currently available on the market. In order to further improve the read/write speed, the rotation speed is thus designed to be faster and faster. However, in the course of unloading a disc, it is possible that the disc may be thrown off the tray if the disc is only subject to the momentum without being reduced the rotation speed. Therefore, the manufacturers of optical disc drives are dedicated to the research regarding the brake mechanism of the disc so as to assure the safety of use. Examples of disc braking technology include anti-friction plate which halts the disc by interfering with its peripheral. According to the disc drive disposed in a notebook, a disc is loaded on a spindle and then rotates. When the disc is to be unloaded, the user has to push up the disc from the spindle first, which is very inconvenient to the user.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and a method of ejecting a disc for a disc drive. In the course of ejecting the disc, both of the top and the bottom of the disc are interfered for halting the disc. Furthermore, the disc is pushed up directly, and the user does not need to push up the disc from the spindle first.
The embodiment of the invention achieves the above-identified object by providing an apparatus of ejecting a disc for a disc drive. The disc drive includes a bottom casing and a tray. The tray is used for carrying a disc. The disc ejecting apparatus for the disc drive includes a protruding portion and a brake pad. The protruding portion is disposed on the bottom casing. The brake pad is movably disposed at the tray. When the tray is moved with respect to the bottom casing for enabling the protruding portion to interfere with the brake pad, the protruding portion pushes the brake pad to project towards the disc for interfering with the disc so that the disc is halted and pushed up.
The embodiment of the invention further achieves the above-identified object by providing a disc loading method for a disc drive. The disc drive at least includes a bottom casing and a tray. The tray is used for carrying a disc. The disc loading method for a disc drive includes the following steps. Firstly, the tray is moved with respect to the bottom casing. The tray has a brake pad, and the bottom casing has a protruding portion. Then, the protruding portion interferes with the brake pad to push the brake pad. Next, the brake pad interferes with the disc.
The embodiment of the invention further achieves the above-identified object by providing yet another disc drive including a top casing, a bottom casing, a tray, and a disc ejecting apparatus. The tray is disposed between the top casing and the bottom casing for carrying a disc. The disc ejecting apparatus includes a protruding portion and a brake pad. The protruding portion is disposed on the bottom casing. The brake pad is movably disposed at the tray. When the tray is moved with respect to the bottom casing and the protruding portion interferes with the brake pad, the protruding portion push the brake pad to project towards the disc so that the disc is halted and pushed up.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the course of ejecting a disc, the embodiment of the invention uses a protruding portion to interfere with a brake pad and raise the brake pad for contact with the disc, so that the disc is halted and pushed up by the brake pad. The disc drive can be an optical disc drive or an optical disc recorder.
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According to the disc loading apparatus for a disc drive and method thereof disclosed in the above embodiment of the invention, in the course of ejecting a disc, a protruding portion and a brake pad interfere with each other for enabling the brake pad to be raised for contact with the disc so that the disc is halted and pushed up. Compared with the prior art which adopts the side interference of anti-friction plate, the method of the invention interferes with the disc from both the top and the bottom, not only halting the disc but also preventing the disc from being thrown off and causing harm to people nearby. Furthermore, the disc is raised and can be pushed up easily. The invention is featured by using simple elements for ejecting the disc to halt and raise the disc to be pushed up.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
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94126101 A | Aug 2005 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20070028248 A1 | Feb 2007 | US |