Optical recording/reproducing apparatus for cards with reproduction light beam axes from a source and into a detector being parallel to the card

Claim 1

A recording and reproducing apparatus for an optical recording card comprising: an optical recording card provided with an optical planar recording medium; an optical recording system including a recording light source for recording an information signal on said recording medium, scanning means for scanning a light beam emitted from said recording light source in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of said card, a first focusing lens for coverting a scanning light beam from said scanning means into a small diameter beam for recording on said recording medium; and an optical reproducing system including a reproducing light source for reproducing said information signal recorded on said recording medium, a line sensor for reading out said information signal with the light beam reflected by said recording medium which is emitted from said reproducing light source, and a second focusing lens for focusing the light beam emitted from said reproducing light source and reflected by said recording medium onto said line sensor; the optical axis of the light beam emitted from said reproducing light source and the optical axis of the light beam incident on said line sensor being substantially parallel to each other and substantially parallel to the plane of said card.