OPTICAL PICK-UP FEEDING DEVICE

Abstract

An optical pick-up feeding device for easily adjusting an optical axis of an optical pick-up device to be perpendicular with respect to a surface of an optical disc. The optical pick-up feeding device includes a feeding section to feed the optical pick-up device, a guiding section to guide the optical pick-up device while it is fed by the feeding section, and an adjusting section to adjust the guiding section so that the optical axis of the optical pick-up device is perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc. The feeding section has a lead screw to feed the optical pick-up device and a stepping motor to rotate the lead screw. The guiding section has a pair of guide shafts, and is adjusted by adjusting holders engaged with each end of one of the guide shafts and one end of the other guide shaft. Also, the optical axis of the optical pick-up device is adjusted to be perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc so that the recording/reproducing of data thereto/therefrom by an optical disc player is smoothly performed. Advantages are apparent in that the perpendicularity of the optical axis of the optical pick-up device is easily adjusted, vibration of the optical pick-up device is prevented, and the optical pick-up device is accurately positioned at an expected position to access the optical disc.

Description

Summary of Invention

[0011] The present invention has been provided to overcome the above problems, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical pick-up feeding device for adjusting an optical axis of an optical pick-up device to be perpendicular with respect to a surface of an optical disc, and adjusting a parallelism of a lead screw and guide shafts easily so that the feeding of the optical pick-up device radially along the optical disc as well as recording/reproducing data to/from the optical disc are smoothly performed, vibration of the optical pick-up device generated while the latter is fed is reduced, and the optical pick-up device is positioned at an exact position to access the optical disc.

[0012] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0013] To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, an optical pick-up feeding device including an optical pick-up device movably mounted on a deck base, a feeding section for feeding the optical pick-up device, a guiding section for guiding the optical pick-up device, and an adjusting section for adjusting an optical axis of the optical pick-up device to be in a perpendicular relationship with respect to a surface of an optical disc.

[0014] The guiding section includes a pair of guide shafts connected to the optical pick-up device such that the optical pick-up device is fed therealong. The guide shafts are installed on the deck base while being spaced in parallel with each other by a predetermined distance.

[0015] The adjusting section includes adjusting holders rotatably installed on the deck base. The adjusting holders are formed with adjusting holes in a spiral shape whereinto ends of the guide shafts are respectively inserted. Through the rotation of the adjusting holders, the guide shafts are raised or lowered.

[0016] The feeding section includes a lead screw engaged with a side of the optical pick-up device and a stepping motor for rotating the lead screw. The side of the optical pick-up device is engaged with the lead screw, and the optical pick-up device is fed by the rotation of the stepping motor.

[0017] According to an aspect of the present invention, the optical pick-up feeding device has advantages that the optical axis of the optical pick-up device is easily adjusted to be perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc while parallelism of the guide shafts is also adjusted easily. In addition, the optical pick-up device is not vibrated during the feeding process thereof, and is precisely fed to an expected position for access to the optical disc.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0018] These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional deck base and an optical pick-up feeding device;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the deck base and the optical pick-up feeding device of FIG. 1;

[0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an optical pick-up feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a fixing section of FIG. 3;

[0023] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the fixing section of FIG. 4;

[0024] FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating an operation of the optical pick-up feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

[0025] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the optical pick-up feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

[0026] Reference will now made in detail to the present preferred embodiments 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 in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0027] FIGs. 3 to 5 show an optical pick-up feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the optical pick-up feeding device according to the embodiment of the present invention is movably installed on a longitudinal opening 10a of a deck base 10. The optical pick-up feeding device further includes an optical pick-up device 16 for recording/reproducing data to/from an optical disc (not shown), a feeding section for feeding the optical pick-up device 16, a guiding section for guiding the optical pick-up device 16, and an adjusting section mounted on the deck base 10 for adjusting the guiding section, thereby adjusting an optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 to be vertical (perpendicular) with respect to a surface of the optical disc.

[0028] The feeding section includes a lead screw 60 engaged with a side of the optical pick-up device 16, and a stepping motor 62 installed on the deck base 10 for rotating the lead screw 60. One end of the lead screw 60 is rotatably engaged with a screw fixing member 66 fixed on the deck base 10 and another end thereof is engaged with the stepping motor 62. The stepping motor 62 is mounted on the deck base 10 by a bracket 64. When the lead screw 60 is rotated by the stepping motor 62, the optical pick-up device 16 is fed in a radial direction of the optical disc.

[0029] The guiding section is installed on the deck base 10 in parallel with the lead screw 60. The guiding section includes a first and a second guide shafts 50 and 51 movably engaged with the optical pick-up device 16. The first guide shaft 50 is mounted on the deck base 10 as one end of the first guide shaft 50 is fixed by a guide fixing member 68, while the other end thereof is engaged with the adjusting section. The second guide shaft 51 is mounted on the deck base 10 by a guide bracket 52, with both ends engaged with the adjusting section.

[0030] The adjusting section is engaged with the guide shafts 50 and 51 of the guiding section and adjusts levels of the guide shafts 50 and 51, thereby adjusting an optical axis of optical pick-up device 16 to be perpendicular with respect to a surface of the optical disc. The adjusting section is also capable of adjusting the first and second guide shafts 50 and 51 to be parallel with the lead screw 60. As shown in FIGs. 4 and 5, the adjusting section includes first adjusting holders 54 rotatably mounted on the deck base 10, and second adjusting holders 56 engaged with the first adjusting holders 54 by screws 70. The first and second adjusting holders 54 and 56 have cylindrical shape forming adjusting holes 58 therebetween into which an end of the first guide shaft 50, and both ends of the second guide shaft 51 are respectively inserted. The adjusting holes 58 have a spiral shape. When the first and second adjusting holders 54 and 56 are rotated, the guide shaft 50 or 51 are raised or lowered in a vertical (perpendicular) direction, that is, in a Z-axis direction (see FIG. 4).

[0031] When the optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 is not perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc, the optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 is adjusted by the adjusting section as shown in FIGs. 4 and 5. First, the first guide shaft 50 is adjusted to be perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc. When the first and second adjusting holders 54 and 56 engaged with the first and second guide shafts 50 and 51 are rotated, the first and second guide shafts 50 and 51 are raised or lowered in the Z-axis direction shown in FIG. 4 by movement of the first and second adjusting holders 54 and 56. By doing so, the optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 is adjusted to be perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc.

[0032] Additionally, the first guide shaft 50 can be parallel with the lead screw 60 and the second guide shaft 51 can be parallel with the first guide shaft 50 through the above process.

[0033] In this manner, when the optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 is perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc, as shown in FIGs. 6 and 7, the stepping motor 62 is driven so that the optical pick-up device 16 is fed along the guide shafts 50 and 51 by the lead screw 60. At this time, since the optical axis of the optical pick-up device 16 is perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc, the laser beam from the optical pick-up device 16 is perpendicularly projected on the surface of the optical disc and since the lead screw 60 is directly engaged with the stepping motor 62, there is no vibration of the optical pick-up device 16 during the feeding process thereof until it is finally positioned at the exact position by the stepping motor 62. The lead screw 60 may be press-fitted into a rotor of the stepping motor 62.

[0034] According to the present invention described as above, the optical axis of the optical pick-up device is adjusted to be perpendicular with respect to the surface of the optical disc, the guide shafts for guiding the optical pick-up device is easily adjusted to be parallel with the lead screw, and the optical pick-up device is accurately positioned at the expected position to access the optical disc.

[0035] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for feeding an optical pick-up device in a radial direction of an optical disc so as to project a light beam on the optical disc to record and/or reproduce information from the optical disc, the apparatus comprising:

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guiding means comprises a pair of guide shafts spaced in a substantially parallel relationship with each other on said deck base, and said optical pick-up device is movably engaged with said guide shafts.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said guiding means further comprises brackets to mount said guide shafts on said deck base.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said adjusting means comprises:

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said first and second adjusting holders have a cylindrical shape, and each of the adjusting holes is formed in a spiral shape.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said adjusting means comprises:

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feeding means comprises:

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of said first and second adjusting holders is a cylinder having a base and a surface oblique to said base, and the oblique surface of each first adjusting holder faces the oblique surface of said respective second adjusting holder.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein said adjusting means further comprises a plurality of screws to respectively engage the first adjusting holders and the respective second adjusting holders through the axes of rotation of the respective first and second adjusting holders.

10. An apparatus for feeding an optical pick-up device in a radial direction of an optical disc so as to project a light beam on the optical disc mounted on a turntable to record and/or reproduce information from the optical disc, the apparatus comprising:

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said adjusting unit adjusts the position of said guide unit to be parallel with said feeding unit.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said adjusting unit adjusts portions of the guide unit in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the optical disc.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of said first and second adjusting holders is a cylinder having a base and a surface oblique to said base, and the oblique surface of said first adjusting holder faces the oblique surface of said second adjusting holder.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said feeding unit comprises:

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein each of said third and fourth adjusting holders is a cylinder having a base and a surface oblique to said base, and the oblique surface of each of the third adjusting holders faces the oblique surface of said respective fourth adjusting holder.

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said feeding unit comprises:

19. An apparatus for feeding an optical pick-up device in a radial direction of an optical disc so as to project a light beam on the optical disc mounted on a turntable to record and/or reproduce information from the optical disc, the apparatus comprising:

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said feeding unit comprises