Multi-disk player

Claim 2

A multi-disk player comprising: a housing; play-back means provided with a turntable and disposed in said housing; a magazine for carrying a plurality of disks and for individually moving said disks in a direction parallel to a main surface of each of said disks and for accommodating and arranging said disks in a stacked manner in a direction perpedicular to said main surface, said magazine being removably mounted on a predetermined mounting portion of said housing; a magazine mounting/demounting mechanism for mounting/ejecting said magazine onto/from said mounting portion; a disk conveying mechanism for selecting a desired one of said disks in said magazine, and for conveying the selected disk to a disk carrying surface from said magazine and for conveying said selected disk into said magazine from said disk carrying surface; a control unit for controlling said play-back means, said magazine mounting/demounting mechanism, and said disk conveying mechanism; said disk conveying mechanism including disk projecting/accommodating means for translating the disk in a direction parallel to the main surface thereof into said magazine, and disk displacing means for displacing the disk in the direction perpendicular to said disk carrying surface and having a disk carrying portion movable in said perpendicular direction for supporting the disk projected from said magazine; and said control unit including: (a) means for generating a magazine ejecting instruction in response to a manual ejection command; (b) means for detecting whether a disk is located on said disk carrying portion; (c) means for detecting whether said magazine is fully occupied with other said disks and; (d) means for generating said magazine ejecting instruction if said magazine is fully occupied with other said disks.

Claim 3

A multi-disk player comprising: a housing; play-back means provided with a turntable and disposed in said housing; a magazine arranged to be removably mounted on a predetermined mounting portion of said housing and for accommodating and arranging a plurality of disks in a stacked manner; a disk conveying mechanism for selecting a desired one of said disks in said magazine, and for conveying the selected disk to a disk carrying surface from said magazine and conveying said selected disk into said magazine from said disk carrying surface; and a clamp mechanism for clamping the disk on said turntable, said clamp mechanism including a pressing member arranged to come into contact with one surface of the disk mounted on said turntable at the other surface of the disk to perform a disk clamping operation in cooperation with said turntable, and a support arm arranged to be movable relative to said turntable between a clamping position and a non-clamping position and for rotatably supporting said pressing member, said supporting arm being movable along a plane parallel to said disk carrying surface.

Claim 4

A multi-disk player comprising: a housing; play-back means provided with a turntable and disposed in said housing; a magazine arranged to be removably mounted on a predetermined mounting portion of said housing and for accommodating and arranging a plurality of disks in a stacked manner; a disk conveying mechanism for selecting a desired one of said disks in said magazine, and for conveying the selected disk to a disk carrying surface from said magazine and conveying said selected disk into said magazine from said disk carrying surface; and a clamp mechanism for clamping the disk on said turntable, said clamp mechanism including a pressing member arranged to come into contact with one surface of the disk mounted on said turntable at the other surface of the disk to perform a disk clamping operation in cooperation with said turntable, and a support arm arranged to be movable relative to said turntable between a clamping position and a non-clamping position and for rotatably supporting said pressing member, said supporting arm being movable along a plane parallel to said disk carrying surface.

Claim 5

A multi-disk play comprising; a housing; play-back means provided with a turntable and disposed in said housing; a magazine arranged to be removably mounted on a predetermined mounting portion of said housing and for accommodating and arranging a plurality of disks in a stacked manner, said magazine including a disk projecting mechansim for projecting the disk out of said magazine in a direction parallel to a main surface of the disk, a holding mechanism for holding the disk, said disk being held in an accommodated position, and a trigger lever for actuating said disk projecting mechanism and said holding mechanism said disk projecting mechanism being comprised of a plate-like projecting arm swingably provided such that a free end of said arm engages an outer periphery of the disk; said holding mechanism including a holding arm rotatably provided for urging the disk toward a retained position by one end of said holding arm, and a holding force application means for applying holding force to said holding arm, the other end of said holding arm being exposed outside the body of said magazine; said trigger lever being biased toward one direction with respect to a disk projecting direction; disk detection means for detecting the existence of each of said disks in said magazine, said disk detecting means including a sensor for detecting said other end of said holding arm; a disk conveying mechanism for selecting a desired one fo said disks in said magazine, and for conveying the selected disk from said magazine to a disk carrying surface and for conveying said selected disk from said disk carrying surface into said magazine, said disk conveying mechanism including: (a) projecting/accommodating means for actuating said trigger lever to project the disk out of said magazine and for translating the disk into said magazine; and (b) a disk carrying portion for supporting a disk projected from said magazine; and (c) disk displacement means for moving said disk carrying portion in a direction perpendicular to said disk carrying surface, thereby displacing said carried disk in said perpendicular direction.

Claim 6

A multi-disk play comprising; a housing; play-back means provided with a turntable and disposed in said housing; a magazine arranged to be removably mounted on a predetermined mounting portion of said housing and for accommodating and arranging a plurality of disks in a stacked manner, said magazine including a disk projecting mechansim for projecting the disk out of said magazine in a direction parallel to a main surface of the disk, a holding mechanism for holding the disk, said disk being held in an accommodated position, and a trigger lever for actuating said disk projecting mechanism and said holding mechanism said disk projecting mechanism being comprised of a plate-like projecting arm swingably provided such that a free end of said arm engages an outer periphery of the disk; said holding mechanism including a holding arm rotatably provided for urging the disk toward a retained position by one end of said holding arm, and a holding force application means for applying holding force to said holding arm, the other end of said holding arm being exposed outside the body of said magazine; said trigger lever being biased toward one direction with respect to a disk projecting direction; disk detection means for detecting the existence of each of said disks in said magazine, said disk detecting means including a sensor for detecting said other end of said holding arm; a disk conveying mechanism for selecting a desired one fo said disks in said magazine, and for conveying the selected disk from said magazine to a disk carrying surface and for conveying said selected disk from said disk carrying surface into said magazine, said disk conveying mechanism including: (a) projecting/accommodating means for actuating said trigger lever to project the disk out of said magazine and for translating the disk into said magazine; and (b) a disk carrying portion for supporting a disk projected from said magazine; and (c) disk displacement means for moving said disk carrying portion in a direction perpendicular to said disk carrying surface, thereby displacing said carried disk in said perpendicular direction.