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EP0485201A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Data storage/retrieval apparatus

Assignee: Olympus Corp
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Filing: 1991-11-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-11-06
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Abstract

Abstract An apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from an optical card (2) includes a shuttle (1) for carrying the optical card (2), an optical head (4) for projecting a writing and/or reading light beam onto the optical card, a linear motor (7) for moving the shuttle in a track direction at a constant speed during the recording and/or reproduction, a linear encoder (10) for detecting a movement of the shuttle in a track direction, and an optical card driving mechanism for inserting the optical card into the shuttle when the shuttle is indexed at a predetermined card loading position. In order to insert the optical card into the shuttle in a positive and correct manner, the movement of the shuttle from the card loading position is detected by counting pulses generated by the linear encoder, and when it is detected that the shuttle is moved, the linear motor is actuated such that the shuttle is moved back into the card loading position. In such apparatus the shuttle can be positioned accurately and reliably in the card loading position upon completion of card loading without the use of mechanical locking means.

Inventors

  • 👤 Akito Saito
  • 👤 Tsuyoshi Togawa

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-04 23:46
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B25/00; G11B25/04; G11B17/00

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim 213 words
Data storage/retrieval apparatus, for writing data onto or reading previously-written data from a data storage unit, which apparatus includes: a moveable carriage (1) for supporting such a storage unit (2) within the apparatus; a write/read head (4) operable to write data onto or read previously-written data from the said storage unit (2) when it is being supported by the said carriage (1); carriage drive means (7) connected with the said moveable carriage (1) for bringing about movement thereof relative to the said write/read head (4), thereby to permit the position at which the write/read head operates on the storage unit to be varied; and control means (5) connected with the said carriage drive means (7) for applying thereto drive signals to control such movement of the carriage; characterised in that when the said carriage (1) is in a predetermined loading position in the apparatus, to permit loading of such a storage unit onto the carriage, the control means (5) are operable to detect deviations of the carriage from that position and to apply to the said carriage drive means such drive signals as will tend to cause the carriage to be moved to counteract such deviations, thereby to ensure that the carriage is in its predetermined loading position on completion of such loading.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 117 words
An optical information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a movable means for carrying an optical record medium thereon; an optical head for projecting a recording and/or reproducing light beam onto the optical record medium placed on the movable means to perform information recording and/or reproduction; an optical record medium loading means for inserting the optical record medium into the movable means; a driving means for moving the movable means with respect to said optical head; and a control means for controlling said driving means such that said movable means is driven into a predetermined position by said driving means when said optical record medium is inserted into said movable means by said optical record medium loading means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 101 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said movable means includes a supporting means for carrying an optical card having a plurality of tracks which are extended in parallel with each other in a track direction, said driving means comprises a slider of a linear motor for moving said supporting means in the track direction, and said control means is constructed such that the supporting means is driven by an electromagnetic force into a predetermined card loading position at which the optical card is inserted into the supporting means during an operation for inserting the optical card into the supporting means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 97 words
An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said control means comprises a linear encoder for generating pulses in accordance with the position of the supporting means, an up-down counter for counting said pulses generated by said linear encoder to produce a count value which represents a deviation of the supporting means from the card loading position, and a driving signal generating means for producing a driving signal on the basis of the count value of the up-down counter, said driving signal being supplied to said linear motor to move the supporting means into the card loading position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 72 words
An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said driving signal generating means comprises a read only memory for storing data which represents mutual relationship between the count value of said up-down counter and a direction and an amount of the driving signal and producing a digital driving signal and a digital-analog converter for converting the digital signal into an analog driving signal, said analog driving signal being supplied to said linear motor.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 42 words
An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said read only memory stores data for stopping the supporting means at two standby positions at which the light beam is made incident on a portion on the optical card outside a data record region.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 42 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said card loading position is set to one of said two standby positions which is situated at an upsteam position viewed in a direction into which the optical card is inserted into the supporting means.

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