Claims
- 1. An optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of an optical disk comprising:
(a) a base; (b) a disk bin coupled to said base for holding the optical disk; (c) a transfer mechanism slidably and rotatably coupled to said base for loading a disk from said disk bin and positioning the disk to be read; and (d) an optical disk reader attached to said base for loading a disk from said transfer mechanism and reading the disk.
- 2. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein the optical disk is a dual-sided DVD.
- 3. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said disk bin holds a first disk and a second optical disk, the first disk being substantially linearly coaxial with the center rotational axis of the second optical disk.
- 4. The optical disk changer of claim 3 wherein said disk bin has slots for holding a plurality of disks.
- 5. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said transfer mechanism has a first loading mechanism on a first side of said transfer mechanism and a second loading mechanism on a second side of said transfer mechanism.
- 6. The optical disk changer of claim 5 wherein the first loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of said transfer mechanism and the second loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of said transfer mechanism.
- 7. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said transfer mechanism includes an ejector arm for pushing the optical disk from said disk bin along a first direction.
- 8. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said transfer mechanism rotates about a vertical axis.
- 9. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said optical disk reader has a loading mechanism on a first side of said reader.
- 10. The optical disk changer of claim 9 wherein the loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into said optical disk reader.
- 11. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said optical disk reader is attached to said base so that the direction of loading into said reader is substantially perpendicular to the sliding of said transfer mechanism.
- 12. The optical disk changer of claim 1 wherein said optical disk reader is attached to said base so that the direction of loading into said reader is substantially parallel with the sliding of said transfer mechanism.
- 13. An optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of an optical disk comprising:
(a) a base; (b) a disk bin coupled to said base for holding the optical disk; and (c) an optical disk reader slidably and rotatably coupled to said base for loading a disk from said disk bin, reading the disk, and returning the disk to said disk bin.
- 14. The optical disk changer of claim 13 wherein the optical disk is a dual-sided DVD.
- 15. The optical disk changer of claim 13 wherein said disk bin holds a first disk and a second optical disk, the first disk being substantially linearly coaxial with the center rotational axis of the second optical disk.
- 16. The optical disk changer of claim 13 wherein said disk bin has slots for holding a plurality of disks.
- 17. The optical disk changer of claim 13 wherein said optical disk reader has a first loading mechanism on a first side of said optical disk reader and a second loading mechanism on a second side of said optical disk reader.
- 18. The optical disk changer of claim 17 wherein the first loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of said optical disk reader and the second loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of said optical disk reader.
- 19. The optical disk changer of claim 13 wherein said optical disk reader includes an ejector arm for pushing the optical disk from said disk bin along a first direction.
- 20. The optical disk changer of claim 17 wherein at least a portion of said optical disk reader rotates about a vertical axis.
- 21. An optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of an optical disk comprising:
(a) a base; (b) a disk bin coupled to said base for holding the optical disk; (c) a transfer mechanism slidably and rotatably coupled to said base for loading a disk from said disk bin and positioning the disk to be read; and (d) an optical disk reader slidably coupled to said base for loading a disk from said transfer mechanism and reading the disk.
- 22. The optical disk changer of claim 21 wherein the optical disk is a dual-sided DVD.
- 23. The optical disk changer of claim 21 wherein said disk bin holds a first disk and a second optical disk, the first disk being substantially linearly coaxial with the center rotational axis of the second optical disk.
- 24. The optical disk changer of claim 23 wherein said disk bin has slots for holding a plurality of disks.
- 25. The optical disk changer of claim 21 wherein said optical disk reader includes a disk turner and a reader unit.
- 26. The optical disk changer of claim 25 wherein the disk turner has a first loading mechanism on a first side of the disk turner and a second loading mechanism on a second side of the disk turner.
- 27. The optical disk changer of claim 26 wherein the first loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of the disk turner and the second loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into and out of the disk turner.
- 28. The optical disk changer of claim 21 wherein said optical disk reader includes an ejector arm for pushing the optical disk from said disk bin along a first direction.
- 29. The optical disk changer of claim 25 wherein at least a portion of the disk turner rotates about a vertical axis.
- 30. The optical disk changer of claim 25 wherein the reader unit has a loading mechanism on a first side of the reader unit.
- 31. The optical disk changer of claim 30 wherein the loading mechanism includes two substantially parallel cylinders that cooperatively rotate to move the optical disk into the reader unit.
- 32. A method of reading data from an optical disk comprising:
(a) holding the optical disk in a bin; (b) delivering the optical disk from the bin to a transfer mechanism by translating the optical disk in a first direction; (c) delivering the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to an optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in a first direction; (d) reading data from a first side of the optical disk; (e) delivering the optical disk to the transfer mechanism by translating the optical disk in a second direction; (f) rotating the transfer mechanism about a vertical axis; (g) loading the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to the optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in the first direction; and (h) reading data from a second side of the optical disk. (h) reading data from a second side of the optical disk.
- 33. The method of reading data from an optical disk of claim 32 further comprising the act of moving the transfer mechanism laterally relative to the disk bin to align the disk with the optical disk reader prior to translating the optical disk in the first direction when delivering the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to an optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in the first direction.
- 34. The method of reading data from an optical disk of claim 33 further comprising the acts of:
(a) delivering a second optical disk from the bin to the transfer mechanism by translating the second optical disk in the first direction after the act of delivering the first optical disk from the transfer mechanism to the optical disk reader, (b) delivering the second optical disk from the transfer mechanism to a second optical disk reader by translating the second optical disk in the first direction, and (c) reading data from a first side of the second optical disk.
- 35. A method of translating an optical disk having a first side and a second side comprising:
(a) holding the optical disk in a disk bin; (b) if data from a first side of the optical disk is to be read, then translating the optical disk to a first location in a first direction; and (c) if data from a second side of the optical disk is to be read, then translating the optical disk to a second location in the first direction, rotating the optical disk, and translating the optical disk to the first location in the first direction.
- 36. The method of translating an optical disk of claim 35 further comprising the act of translating the optical disk in a first direction to a second location within a transfer mechanism and moving the transfer mechanism laterally relative to the disk bin to align the disk with the optical disk reader prior to translating the optical disk in the first direction to a first location in the optical disk reader when data from the first side of the optical disk is to be read.
- 37. The method of translating an optical disk of claim 35 further comprising the act of translating the optical disk in a first direction to a second location within a transfer mechanism and moving the transfer mechanism laterally relative to the disk bin to align the disk with the optical disk reader prior to translating the optical disk in the first direction to a first location in the optical disk reader when data from the second side of the optical disk is to be read.
- 38. A method of reading data from an optical disk comprising:
(a) holding the optical disk in a disk bin; (b) if data from a first side of the optical disk is to be read, delivering the optical disk through a first side of an optical disk reader, and reading the data; and (c) if data from a second side of the optical disk is to be read, rotating the optical disk reader, delivering the optical disk through a second side of the optical disk reader, and reading the data.
- 39. A method of reading data from an optical disk comprising:
(a) holding the optical disk in a bin; (b) delivering the optical disk from the bin to a transfer mechanism by translating the optical disk in a first direction; (c) rotating the transfer mechanism; (d) delivering the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to an optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in a third direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction; (e) reading data from a first side of the optical disk; (f) delivering the optical disk to the transfer mechanism by translating the optical disk in a fourth direction substantially parallel with the third direction; (g) rotating the transfer mechanism about a vertical axis; (h) loading the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to the optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in the third direction; and (i) reading data from a second side of the optical disk.
- 40. The method of reading data from an optical disk of claim 39 further comprising the act of moving the transfer mechanism laterally relative to the disk bin to align the disk with the optical disk reader prior to translating the optical disk in the first direction when delivering the optical disk from the transfer mechanism to an optical disk reader by translating the optical disk in the third direction.
- 41. The method of reading data from an optical disk of claim 39 further comprising the acts of:
delivering a second optical disk from the bin to the transfer mechanism by translating the second optical disk in the first direction after the act of delivering the first optical disk from the transfer mechanism to the optical disk reader, delivering the second optical disk from the transfer mechanism to a second optical disk reader by translating the second optical disk in the fourth direction, and reading data from a first side of the second optical disk.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The subject matter of the U.S. patent application entitled “OPTICAL DISK CHANGER WITH SIDE SWITCHING CAPABILITIES,” filed concurrently herewith, application Ser. No. ______, and having Docket Number 98-01687 contains related subject matter.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09199768 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
10610771 |
Jun 2003 |
US |