This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 96126489, filed Jul. 19, 2007, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a wear-proof structure, and more particularly to a wear-proof structure for a flexible circuit electrically connected to a tray and a main board in a slim type optical disk drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional slim type optical disk drive employs a flexible circuit to electrically connect a movable tray to a fixed main board so as to provide power for the electric components on the tray as well as to control the signal transmission of data when reading and writing. As the tray moves in or out of the optical disk drive, it usually presses and rubs against the flexible circuit. Once the surface of the flexible circuit suffers wear and tear, the signal transmission is affected, reducing the reliability of the optical disk drive.
For the convenience of being carried around, the thickness of the slim type optical disk drive 1 used in a laptop computer is limited. As such, the protection plate 11 under the tray 4 is very close to the movable portion 7 of the flexible circuit 5 when sliding above the movable portion 7. Additionally, guide bars used for supporting the tray 4 to slide have larger tolerance of assembly in order to facilitate the sliding of the tray 4. Consequentially, when the tray 4 moving into the disk drive 1 endures press or vibration, the rear end of the protection plate 11 is forced to lean against or even scrape the surface on the movable portion 7 of the flexible circuit 5. And soon the conducting lines inside the flexible circuit 5 would become ruined, being unable to transmit signal properly. For preventing the rear end of the protection plate 11 from contacting with the surface on the movable portion 7 of the flexible circuit 5, a fillister 13 is formed on the casing 2 at the front end of the fixed portion 6 for receiving the folded end of the flexible circuit 5, so as to increase the distance between the flexible circuit 5 and the protection plate 11.
However, the fillister 13 is usually formed on the casing 2 by a punch press, increasing the manufacturing cost as well as the thickness of the disk drive 1. The size of the disk drive 1 could no longer be reduced in thickness, not satisfying the requirement for a slim type disk drive. In addition, the disposition of the protruding fillister does not maintain the surface flatness of the casing, causing difficulty to dealing with the flatness of the disk drive. Moreover, although the distance between the protection plate and the folded end of the flexible circuit is increased due to the fillister, the fillister only can be formed within a limited region considering the influence on the casing. Thus, the conventional way is not sufficient to thoroughly solve the problem of scraping the rear end of the flexible circuit.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a wear-proof structure for a flexible circuit in an optical disk drive. A wear-proof layer is disposed on the flexible circuit to enhance its wear-proof ability, protecting the conducting lines inside the flexible circuit from being damaged.
It is therefore another object of the invention to provide a wear-proof structure for a flexible circuit in an optical disk drive. A wear-proof layer of an appropriate thickness is directly covered on the flexible circuit, so as to simplify the assembling procedure as well as to reduce the manufacturing time and cost.
The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a wear-proof structure for a flexible circuit disposed within a casing of an optical disk drive. The casing has an entrance and receives a tray that has an underside covered by a protection plate. The protection plate has one end bent upwardly to form a tail with an arc-shaped cross-section. The fixed portion of the flexible circuit is immovably disposed on the casing. The movable portion of the flexible circuit is connected to one end of the fixed portion and extended toward the other end of the fixed portion to form a folded end with the fixed portion. The folded end is immovably disposed near the entrance. A wear-proof layer is covered on the folded end. Besides, the wear-proof layer has a wing that is outstretched the folded end and is pasted on the casing.
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.
The front side of the hollow casing 21 has an entrance 25. Each of the two sides of the casing 21 has a guide bar 26 disposed thereon. The main board 23 is disposed on the rear side of the casing 21. The tray 22 has two sides supported by the guide bars 26 to move in or out of the casing 21 through the entrance 25, so as to let a disk on the tray 22 be played or replaced. A spindle motor 27 is disposed at the center of the tray 22 for rotating the disk 28 (shown in
The flexible circuit 24 in the embodiment is a flexible and long sheet-shaped circuit. The flexible circuit 24 is, for example, a flexible flat circuit (FFC) that includes a fixed portion 32 and a movable portion 33. The fixed portion 32 has one end connected to the main board 23, and the rest of the fixed portion 32 is attached to the underside of the casing 21 in the direction toward the entrance 25. The fixed portion 32 can be pasted or riveted to the casing 21, and the length of the fixed portion 32 on the casing 21 is determined according to the moving distance of the tray 22.
The movable portion 33 is connected to the fixed portion 32 near the entrance 25. As shown in
The wear-proof structure for the flexible circuit in a slim type optical disk drive according to the embodiment of the invention includes a wear-proof layer covered on the flexible circuit to enhance the wear-proof ability thereof. One end of the protection plate in the disk drive is bent upward to form a tail with an arc-shaped cross-section for facilitating the motion of sliding and for avoiding damaging the conducting lines inside the flexible circuit. Moreover, the wear-proof layer of an appropriate thickness can be directly formed on the movable portion of the flexible circuit in the process of manufacturing the flexible circuit, so that the time for manufacturing and assembling the wear-proof layer is saved accordingly. Additionally, the surface of the casing needs no change and the wear-proof layer is formed as a thin film structure, thus the thickness of the slim type optical disk drive is not increased.
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.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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96126489 | Jul 2007 | TW | national |