Patent Application
20060080693
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-77870, filed Sep. 30, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc recording/reproducing apparatus and a controlling method for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a disc recording/reproducing apparatus used to record and/or reproduce information with respect to a disc may be one of such apparatuses as, for example, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) driver, a video disc device, a digital audio disc device, and a digital versatile disc (DVD) player.
Such a disc recording/reproducing apparatus comprises a disc tray moving in and out with respect to a main body of the apparatus to thereby load and eject a disc, a turn table on which to seat the loaded disc, a chucking unit to fix the disc seated on the turn table, a spindle motor to rotate the turn table together with the disc, and an optical pickup to record and/or reproduce information with respect to the disc being rotated.
The chucking unit is fixed to an upper part of the main body. Therefore, an ascending/descending unit to elevate the turn table, spindle motor, and optical pickup up to the chucking unit is provided, thereby enabling the disc to be chucked between the turn table and the chucking unit.
The ascending/descending unit comprises an ascending/descending lever mounted in the main body to move up and down, a cam slider slidably mounted in the main body to move the ascending/descending lever, a driving motor to selectively move the cam slider, and a plurality of gears. The ascending/descending lever supports the spindle motor, which supports the turn table, and the optical pickup.
According to the structure described above, when the disc received in the disc tray is loaded into the main body, the cam slider is moved in a certain direction by the driving motor, thereby elevating the ascending/descending lever. Accordingly, the spindle motor and the turn table, which are supported by the ascending/descending lever, are lifted together, so that the loaded disc can be rotatably chucked between the chucking unit and the turn table.
Conversely, in order unload the disc, the cam slider is moved in the opposite direction by the driving motor. The ascending/descending lever is lowered, and, accordingly, the spindle motor and the turn table are lowered together, and the chucking unit is released from the turn table. Therefore, the disc placed back on the disc tray. By withdrawing the disc tray, the disc can be unloaded from the apparatus.
However, in a conventional disc recording/reproducing apparatus having the structure described above, the driving motor is driven constantly until the cam slider reaches a certain limit because an elevating distance of the ascending/descending lever is not determined. Therefore, even while the disc is being fixed or released by the chucking unit, the normal operation of the driving motor moving the ascending/descending lever is maintained, generating excessive noise.
An aspect of the present invention is to solve the above and/or other problems and/or disadvantages, and to provide advantages as described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a disc recording/reproducing apparatus capable of reducing noise generated when a disc is loaded and unloaded, and a method of controlling the same.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
In order to achieve the above-described and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a disc recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a turn table rotatably provided to a spindle motor to seat a disc; a chucking unit to fix the disc seated on the turn table; a driving unit to move the disc between a disc-chucking position and a disc-releasing position; and a controlling unit to control a driving speed of the driving unit according to a position of the disc.
The controlling unit may comprise a sensor part to detect the position of the disc between the disc-chucking position and the disc-releasing position; and a controller to vary a speed of the driving unit according to a signal, denoting the position of the disc, received from the sensor part.
The sensor part may comprise a first sensor to detect the disc-chucking position; and a second sensor to detect the disc-releasing position and a predetermined position adjacent to the disc-chucking position. The first and second sensors may both be activated in the disc-chucking position
The controller may selectively increase or decrease the driving speed of the driving unit between the disc-chucking unit and the adjacent position.
The controller may gradually increase the speed of the driving unit in response to the disc moving from the disc-chucking position to the adjacent position.
The controller may gradually decrease the speed of the driving unit in response to the disc moving from the adjacent position to the disc-chucking position.
The first and second sensors may each comprise an on/off switch operated according to the position of the disc.
The driving unit may comprise an ascending/descending member to support the spindle motor, provided to move vertically in a main body of the apparatus; a cam slider slidably mounted to the main body to vertically move the ascending/descending member; and a driving motor to supply power to move the cam slider.
The controlling unit may comprise a sensor part to detect a position of the cam slider between the disc-chucking position and the disc-releasing position; and a controller to vary a speed of the driving unit according to a signal, denoting the position of the cam slider, received from the sensor part.
The sensor part may comprise a first sensor to detect the cam slider at the disc-chucking position; and a second sensor to detect the cam slider at the disc-releasing position and a predetermined position adjacent to the disc-chucking position. The first and second sensors may both be activated in the disc-chucking position.
The controller may gradually increase the speed of the driving motor while moving the cam slider from the disc-chucking position to the adjacent position.
The controller may gradually decrease the speed of the driving motor while moving the cam slider from the adjacent position to the disc-chucking position.
The first and second sensors may each comprise an on/off switch operated in association with the movement of the cam slider.
The cam slider may comprise a first interference part to interact with the first sensor in response to moving in and out of the disc-chucking position; a second interference part to interact with the second sensor in response to moving in and out of the disc-releasing position; and a third interference part to interact with the second sensor in response to moving in and out of the adjacent position.
The first and the second sensors may be disposed substantially adjacent to each other and perpendicularly to a motional direction of the cam slider.
In order to achieve another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a disc recording/reproducing apparatus, the method comprising loading a disc onto a turn table, chucking the loaded disc, releasing the chucked disc to a loading position, and controlling variably a speed of moving the disc in at least one of the chucking the loaded disc and the releasing the chucked disc.
The chucking the loaded disc may comprise moving the disc at a first predetermined speed up to a predetermined position in which the disc is adjacent to a disc-chucking position; and decreasing the speed of moving the disc to a second predetermined speed from the adjacent position to the disc-chucking position.
The chucking the loaded disc may further comprise detecting the disc moving to the adjacent position and thereby determining whether to decrease the speed of moving the disc.
The releasing the chucked disc may comprise moving the disc at a first predetermined speed in response to the disc moving from the disc-chucking position to a predetermined position adjacent to the disc-chucking position; and increasing the speed of moving the disc to a second predetermined speed in response to the disc moving from the adjacent position.
The releasing the chucked disc may further comprise detecting the released disc moving to the adjacent position and thereby determining whether to increase the speed of moving the disc.
In order to achieve another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disc recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a sensing unit to determine a position of a disc; and a controlling unit to variably control a speed of moving the disc to and from a chucked position according to a signal received from the sensing unit.
The controlling unit may decrease the speed of moving the disc to the chucked position in response to the disc being in a position adjacent to the chucked position, and may increase the speed of moving the disc from the chucked position in response to the disc moving from a position adjacent to the chucked position.
The sensing unit may comprise a first sensor to determine the disc is in the chucked position, and a second sensor to determine the disc is in a position adjacent to the chucked position.
The disc recording/reproducing apparatus may further comprise a driving unit to move the disc to and from the chucked position, a first interference part provided on the driving unit to interact with the first sensor; and a second interference part provided on the driving unit to interact with the second sensor.
The disc recording/reproducing apparatus may further comprise a third interference part provided on the driving unit to interact with the second sensor; wherein the second sensor determines the disc is in a released position according to the interaction with the third interference part.
The first and second sensors may be sensitive to contact with, or proximity to, the first and second interference parts, respectively.
In order to achieve another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a disc recording/reproducing apparatus, the method comprising sensing a position of a disc; and variably controlling a speed of moving the disc to and from a chucked position according to the sensed position of the disc.
The variably controlling the speed may comprise decreasing the speed of moving the disc to the chucked position in response to the disc being in a position adjacent to the chucked position, and increasing the speed of moving the disc form the chucked position in response to the disc moving from a position adjacent to the chucked position.
The sensing the position of the disc may comprise determining the disc is in the chucked position with a first sensor; and determining the disc is in a position adjacent to the chucked position with a second sensor.
The method may further comprise moving the disc to and from the chucked position with a driving unit having first and second interference parts; determining the disc is in the chucked position due to an interaction between the first sensor and the first interference part; and determining the disc is in the adjacent position due to an interaction between the second sensor and the second interference part.
The method may further comprise determining the disc is in a released position according to an interaction between the second sensor and a third interference part of the driving unit.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
In the following description, drawing reference numerals may be repeated to describe repeated elements in different drawings. Some matters may be defined in the description along with a detailed construction, however, these elements are merely provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Thus, it is apparent that the present invention may be carried out without those particularly described elements. Also, well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail, so as to not obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.
Referring to
The main body 10 includes a movable disc tray (not shown) to receive a disc. The disc tray (not shown) is moved in and out of the main body 10 by the driving unit 40. Since the structure of the disc tray is generally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
A disc D, being received in the disc tray and loaded in the main body 10, is seated on the turn table 30. The turn table 30 is rotatably supported by the spindle motor 20. The turn table 30 is disposed under the chucking unit 50.
The chucking unit 50 comprises a supporting bracket 51 connected to an upper part of the main body 10, and a clamper 53 movably mounted to the supporting bracket 51. The clamper 53 extends toward the turn table 30 to clamp the disc D on the turn table 30. Therefore, the disc D chucked between the clamper 53 and the turn table 30 can be rotated integrally with the turn table 30 and the clamper 53.
The driving unit 40 comprises an ascending/descending member 41 to support the spindle motor 20, a cam slider 43 which moves in association with the ascending/descending member 41, a driving motor 45, and a power transmitter 47.
Referring to
Referring to
The cam slider 43 has a cam slit 43a to receive of the guide pin 41a of the ascending/descending member 41. Also, the cam slider 43 has a rack gear part 43b thereof, which is selectively connected and separated with respect to the loading gear 49 that will be described hereinbelow.
A cam projection 43c is provided on the cam slider 43. The cam projection 43c is selectively guided by the disc tray being loaded and unloaded, thereby enabling connection and separation of the rack gear part 43b with respect to the loading gear 49.
The cam slider 43 comprises first to third interference parts s1 to s3. The first and the second interference parts s1 and s2 are provided at a predetermined distance from each other. The third interference part s3 is disposed between the first and the second interference parts s1 and s2, preferably, though not necessarily, near the first interference part s1. The interference parts s1 to s3 will be described in greater detail hereinbelow.
The driving motor 45 is mounted in the main body 10 to supply power to allow a reciprocating motion of the cam slider 43 and a loading/unloading operation of the disc tray.
The power transmitter 47 comprises a pulley gear 48 connected to the driving motor 45 through a belt 46, and a loading gear 49 operated in association with the pulley gear 48. The loading gear 49 comprises a driving gear part 49a coupled to the pulley gear 48, and a driving gear part 49b coupled to the rack gear part 43b.
The controlling unit 60 comprises a sensor part 63 to detect a disc-chucking position and a disc-releasing position, and a controller 65 to control a driving speed.
The sensor part 63 comprises first and second sensors 61 and 62 to respectively detect the disc-chucking position and the disc-releasing position by sensing a shift of the cam slider 43. The first and the second sensors 61 and 62 are preferably, though not necessarily, implemented by an on/off switch disposed to interact with the interference parts s1 to s3 of the cam slider 43. Therefore, the first and the second sensors 61 and 62, while approximately adjacent to each other, are arranged perpendicularly to a motional direction of the cam slider 43.
The first sensor 61 senses the disc-chucking position, that is, completion of the chucking operation, as shown in
As shown in
In
As shown in
Accordingly, the disc D can be detected in both the disc-chucking position and the disc-releasing position, as well as another position adjacent to the disc-chucking position, through the sensors 61 and 62. In other words, time points before and after the disc D is chucked can be detected using the sensors 61 and 62.
In addition, the controller 65 controls the driving direction and speed of the driving motor 45 based on the position of the disc D, which is detected by the sensors 61 and 62.
Hereinbelow, a method of controlling the disc recording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
First, the disc tray (not shown) is inserted in the main body 10 by the loading gear 49, thereby loading the disc D (S10).
After loading of the disc D, gear connections between the disc tray and the loading gear 49 are released. The disc tray interacts with the cam projection 43c of the cam slider 43, thereby moving the cam slider in the ‘B’ direction. Therefore, the rack gear part 43b, which is initially separated from the loading gear 49, as shown in
After the disc D is loaded, the controller 65 operates the driving unit 40 to chuck the disc D (S20).
During the disc-chucking operation, the controller 65 rotates the driving motor 45 clockwise at a normal speed, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 (S21) and 6. In the beginning of the disc-chucking operation, the first sensor 61 is in the off-state, while the second sensor 62 is switched from the on-state to the off-state.
The controller 65 monitors whether the second sensor 62 is turned on again (S22). When the cam slider 43 is moved in the ‘B’ direction by a predetermined distance to reach the position that is adjacent to the disc-chucking position, as shown in
Then, the controller 65 decreases the speed of the driving motor 45 (S23). Here, the speed of the driving motor 45 may be decreased according to a predetermined deceleration slope, or decreased to a predetermined lowest speed.
As shown in
Upon receiving the on-signal from the first sensor 61, the controller 65 determines that the disc D is completely chucked (S24). Therefore, the controller 65 stops the driving motor 45 to finish the disc-chucking operation (S25).
As shown in
The disc D remains in the disc-chucking position until a signal to release the disc D is input. In this position, the turn table 30, the disc D, and the clamper 53 integrally rotate.
Upon receiving the disc-releasing signal (S30), the controller 65 controls the driving unit 40 to perform the disc-releasing operation (S40).
Operation S40 will be described in more detail with reference to
In the disc-chucking position, as shown in
While controlling the speed of the driving motor 45, the controller 65 monitors the disc-releasing position using the signals input from the first and the second sensors 61 and 62. More specifically, the controller 65 confirms that the first sensor 61 is turned off when the driving motor 45 is initially driven (S42). Then, as shown in
As described above, when releasing the disc D, the controller 65 drives the driving motor 45 at variable speeds other than the normal speed until the first sensor 61 and the second sensor 62 are sequentially turned off. If a signal denoting the off-state of the second sensor 62 is input in operation S43, the controller 65 determines that the disc has moved beyond the adjacent position from the disc-chucking position. From this time, the controller 65 drives the driving motor 45 at the normal speed (S44).
As shown in
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, using the disc recording/reproducing apparatus and the method of controlling the same according to embodiments of the present invention, the speed of the driving motor 45 can be controlled variably when chucking and releasing the disc D.
As a result, by decelerating the driving motor 45 to below the normal speed between the disc-chucking position and an adjacent position, the disc-chucking operation and the disc-releasing operation can be more gently performed. Accordingly, the noise generated when the disc is suddenly chucked and released can be reduced.
Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2004-77870 | Sep 2004 | KR | national |
