U.S. patent application number 10/975624 was filed with the patent office on 2005-04-21 for scalable and portable disc player for various optical disc sizes.
Invention is credited to Hunter, Charles L., Taugher, Lawrence N..
Application Number | 20050086676 10/975624 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24806955 |
Filed Date | 2005-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050086676 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hunter, Charles L. ; et
al. |
April 21, 2005 |
Scalable and portable disc player for various optical disc
sizes
Abstract
A scalable and portable disc player or recorder for containing
and transferring audio, video or computer data to and from an
optical disc of various sizes. The casing of the disc player
provides a case scaling mechanism having a set of pivotal wings and
slidable sleeves that can be adjusted to accommodate various
optical disc sizes. This same process changes the structural size
of the disc player casing.
Inventors: |
Hunter, Charles L.;
(Loveland, CO) ; Taugher, Lawrence N.; (Loveland,
CO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
Intellectual Property Administration
P.O. Box 272400
Fort Collins
CO
80527-2400
US
|
Family ID: |
24806955 |
Appl. No.: |
10/975624 |
Filed: |
October 27, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10975624 |
Oct 27, 2004 |
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09698862 |
Oct 27, 2000 |
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6862739 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
720/655 ;
G9B/33.004 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 33/025 20130101;
G11B 17/0545 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
720/655 |
International
Class: |
G11B 017/03; G11B
017/04 |
Claims
1. (Canceled)
2. (Canceled)
3. (Canceled)
4. (Canceled)
5. (Canceled)
6. (Canceled)
7. (Canceled)
8. (Canceled)
9. (Canceled)
10.
11. (Canceled)
12. A portable disc player having a casing for containing various
disc sizes, the casing comprising: a top and bottom shell movably
attached to allow the insertion and removal of a disc within a
cavity of the casing; a data transfer device ("DTD") attached to
the bottom shell for transferring data; and a mechanism for scaling
the overall size of the player through independent movement of two
sides of the player and a front side of the player away from and
towards a securing platter that engages with the disc, and wherein
the two sides connect a back side and the front side of the
casing.
13. The casing of claim 12, further including a I/O port coupled
between an exterior surface of the disc player and the DTD to
transfer audio, video or computer data from the disc to a speaker,
video display or a processor, via the DTD.
14. The casing of claim 12, wherein the disc may be a CD or DVD
having a size selected from the group including 120 mm and 80
mm.
15. The casing of claim 12, wherein the top and a bottom shell
further include a first wall having a first height that extends
along a portion of the shell perimeter.
16. The casing of claim 15, wherein the top shell further includes
a second wall having a second height along a portion of the sides
of the disc player.
17. The casing of claim 16, wherein the top and the bottom shell
further includes two mounting posts adjacent a back side, and the
mechanism further includes: a top and bottom sleeve movably coupled
to an interior surface of the top and bottom shell, respectively,
each sleeve having two guide slots and a flange along a front side
of the casing; a top and bottom pair of wings, each wing providing
a guide pin and a flange along either the left or right side of the
casing, wherein the shells hingeably couple together, each wing
pivotally attaches to the respective cover and movably couples to
the respective shell by the guide slot to accommodate the varying
size discs being coupled to the DTD.
18. The casing of claim 17, wherein the top and bottom shell,
sleeve and set of wings are made from a flexible material such as
plastic.
19. The casing of claim 17, wherein the difference in height
between the first and the second wall is similar to the thickness
of the disc and the top and bottom pair of wings.
20. A process for containing an optical disc within a casing of a
portable disc player or recorder having a case scaling mechanism,
the process comprising: opening a top portion of the casing to
expose a shell cavity; securing the disc to a data transfer device
("DTD") within the shell cavity; adjusting the size of the casing
to accommodate the relative size of the disc through independent
movement of two sides of the casing and a front side of the casing
away from and towards a securing platter that engages with the
disc, wherein the two sides connect the back side and the front
side of the casing; and closing the top portion to contain a
portion of the disc within the shell cavity.
21. (Canceled)
22. The process of claim 20, wherein the step of adjusting further
includes pulling or pushing on a sleeve of the case scaling
mechanism to increase or decrease, respectively, the shell cavity
and a structural size of the disc player for containing a disc.
23. The process of claim 20, further including the step of coupling
the disc player to a device selected from the group including a
processor, a video display and a speaker to view the computer,
video and audio data of the disc, respectively.
24. (Canceled)
25. A portable disc player having a casing for containing various
disc sizes, the casing comprising: a top and bottom shell movably
attached to allow the insertion and removal of a disc within a
cavity of the casing; a data transfer device ("DTD") attached to
the bottom shell for transferring data; and a mechanism for scaling
the overall size of the player through expansion and contraction of
the casing along two axes depending on the size of said disc.
26. The casing of claim 25, further including a I/O port coupled
between an exterior surface of the disc player and the DTD to
transfer audio, video or computer data from the disc to a speaker,
video display or a processor, via the DTD.
27. The casing of claim 25, wherein the disc may be a CD or DVD
having a size selected from the group including 120 mm and 80
mm.
28. The casing of claim 25, wherein the top and the bottom shell
further includes two mounting posts adjacent a back side, and the
mechanism further includes: a top and bottom sleeve movably coupled
to an interior surface of the top and bottom shell, respectively,
each sleeve having two guide slots and a flange along a front side
of the casing; a top and bottom pair of wings, each wing providing
a guide pin and a flange along either the left or right side of the
casing, wherein the shells hingeably couple together, each wing
pivotally attaches to the respective cover and movably couples to
the respective shell by the guide slot to accommodate the varying
size discs being coupled to the DTD.
29. The casing of claim 28, wherein the top and bottom shell,
sleeve and set of wings are made from a flexible material such as
plastic.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to an optical disc player
and more specifically to a portable disc player/recorder that
provides a scalable casing for containing various disc sizes.
[0003] 2. Background of the Invention
[0004] Today, most electronic data, whether it is audio, video or
computer, is stored and transferred via an optical disc, such as a
compact disc (CD") or a Digital Versatile Disc ("DVD"). With this
growing use of the optical disc, many portable disc players for
reading these discs have been developed.
[0005] In general, a portable disc player or recorder may be a
peripheral component of a laptop computer or a stand alone portable
device that can be carried in the palm of a user's hand. With
either type, the player will provide a casing for containing a data
transfer device ("DTD") having various conventional mechanisms that
allow the player to read and/or write data to and/or from the disc.
At a minimum, the DTD will include a conventional optical pickup
unit ("OPU") having a sled motor, a spindle motor, and an actuator
or voice coil; and general electronics for encoding, decoding and
transferring the signal obtained from the optical disc by the OPU
to at least one input/output ("I/O") port. The I/O ports are also
conventional and may be used to couple the signal to anything from
a processor to a set of headphones. In some instances, the DTD may
also include a processor for translating the audio, video or
computer signal.
[0006] The casing of each optical disc player will also include a
mechanism for inserting the optical disc. One of the most common
mechanisms of a laptop for handling the insertion and removal of a
CD and/or DVD utilizes a tray. The tray is typically activated by
the user and requires the operation of various mechanical parts.
Another mechanism allows the user to position the CD and/or DVD
into a slot in the front of the drive. With either of these
mechanisms, the positioned disc must be picked up at some point in
the insertion process and positioned on a motor spindle of the OPU
for subsequent reading and writing operations. When ejection of the
CD is desired, the same mechanism removes the CD from the motor
spindle and ejects it to some position that resides partially
outside of the drive so that the operator can grasp the disc.
[0007] Although some portable hand-held disc players may use the
above mechanism to insert and remove a disc, most stand alone disc
players utilize the casing. More specifically, the casing in most
stand alone disc players, such as a CD player, provides a top
portion that is hinged to the bottom portion. Therefore, by using a
common latch system, the top portion of the casing can be secured
to the bottom portion to contain a disc, and opened to remove or
insert a disc. As with the laptop mechanisms, the disc would be
secured to the motor spindle of the OPU during the insertion
process.
[0008] Other elements that are typically associated with a portable
disc player include a power source or plug, LEDs for displaying
operational conditions, at least one operational button and a
central processing unit. Obviously, the stand alone disc player may
have numerous buttons to accommodate the various operations of the
player and may provide a LCD for displaying the progress of the
player while operating. Some of the buttons could be used for
operations selected from the group including play, stop, skip,
volume, forward, rewind, and pause. General directional arrows may
also be employed for menu options provided by a processing
unit.
[0009] When the above portable disc players are designed to
accommodate both 80 and 120 mm discs, the size of the casing is
always larger then a 120 mm disc. Consequently, when an 80 mm disc
is positioned within a disc player that can accommodate both 80 and
120 mm discs, the size of the disc player will not change. Since a
120 mm CD or DVD provides nearly twice the surface area as a 80 mm
CD, a player that only accommodates an 80 mm disc will have a much
smaller casing and therefore will be much easier to carry and stow.
However, such a device can only be used for a 80 mm disc.
[0010] Although most audio, video and computer data is sold today
on a 120 mm disc, the future of optical disc technology is moving
toward the much smaller 80 mm disc. Therefore, it would be
desirable to have a single portable disc player that could be
structurally scaled to accommodate a representative size of the
disc it accepts. The present invention is directed to overcoming
the above problems associated with conventional disc drives.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] In general, the present invention provides a disc player,
with optional recording capabilities, that can accommodate various
optical disc sizes. The case for the disc player includes a top and
bottom shell and a scalable mechanism. The shells pivotally couple
together and interact to form a cavity for containing the disc. The
scalable mechanism provides a set of wings and sleeves that pivot
and slide, respectively, while being coupled to the top and bottom
shells, to change the structural size of the disc player. The disc
player casing also includes an data transfer device ("DTD") that
attaches to the bottom shell for transferring data from the disc to
a desired I/O port.
[0012] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a portable
disc player casing that includes a top and bottom shell movably
attached to allow the insertion and removal of the disc within a
cavity of the casing; an data transfer device ("DTD") attached to
the bottom shell for obtaining and transferring data; and a
mechanism for accommodating the size of the disc and changing the
structural size of the player.
[0013] In still another embodiment, a process is provided for
reading/writing data to/from an optical disc. The process includes
the steps of: opening a disc player casing to expose a cavity and a
data transfer device ("DTD"); adjusting the size of the casing to
accommodate the size of the disc, securing the disc to the DTD;
closing the casing to contain the disc within the cavity, and
implementing the DTD to transfer data from the disc to an I/O port,
via the DTD.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become
apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon
reference to the drawings, in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of an optical disc
player while containing a 120 mm disc in accordance with the
invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view of the disc player of
FIG. 1 while containing a 80 mm CD;
[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates the disc player of FIG. 1 while
containing a 120 mm disc;
[0018] FIG. 4 illustrates the disc player of FIG. 2 while
containing a 80 mm CD;
[0019] FIG. 5 illustrates an isometric view of the top shell of
FIGS. 1-4;
[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates the disc player of FIG. 3 with the top
shell removed;
[0021] FIG. 7 illustrates the disc player of FIG. 4 with the top
shell removed; and
[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates an isometric view of the optical pickup
unit of FIGS. 1-4.
[0023] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications
and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown
by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in
detail. It should be understood, however, that the description
herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the
invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary,
the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and
alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention
as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described
below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual
implementation are described in this specification. It will of
course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual
embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made
to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with
system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary
from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be
appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and
time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for
those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this
disclosure.
[0025] Turning now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the
inventive optical disc player 10 in an open position providing a
first and second structural configuration for containing a 120 mm
CD or DVD 30 and a 80 mm CD 32, respectively. The disc player 10
includes a top and bottom shell or cover 12 and 22, a top and
bottom sleeve or tray 14 and 24, a top and bottom set or pair of
wings 16, 18 and 26, 28, and a data transfer device ("DTD") 40. As
will be discussed in more detail, the top and bottom set of wings
16, 18 and 26, 28 include a respective flange 16A, 18A and 26A and
28A, and the top and bottom sleeves 14 and 24 provide a respective
flange 14A and 24A. The DTD 40 connects to the bottom shell 22 to
receive the CD or DVD within the casing of the disc player 10 and
provides conventional mechanisms as described in the background of
the invention for obtaining and/or providing data to and/or from a
CD or DVD being contained by the disc player while operating.
[0026] In a preferred embodiment, the DTD 40 can be connected to a
compatible processing unit (not shown) by a known data cable and
conventional I/O ports. The I/O port(s) (not shown) would be
coupled between the DTD 40 and an exterior surface of the disc
player 10. As an example, the data cable for connecting the DTD 40
to a processing unit may be selected from the group including
serial, parallel, USB and the like. In addition, the top shell 14
would include a conventional LCD display and operational buttons
(neither shown) for controlling the operation of the disc player.
The operational buttons could be used for operations selected from
the group including play, stop, skip, volume, forward, rewind, and
pause. General directional arrows may also be employed for menu
options. In an alternative embodiment, the skilled artisan should
appreciate that the processing unit could be incorporated as a part
of the DTD 40 to assist with operational functions of the disc
player and associated buttons and LCD.
[0027] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the same disc player 10 of FIGS. 1
and 2 having the first and second structural position. However,
with these illustrations the top shell 12 is in a fully closed
position to secure the disc within the casing cavity. In addition,
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the sleeves 14, 24 and wings 16, 18, 26, 28 in a
fully expanded position to contain the 120 mm disc and in a fully
contracted position to contain the 80 mm optical disc,
respectively. In the closed position, flanges 16A and 18A of the
top set of wings 16 and 18 interact with flanges 26A and 28A of the
bottom set of wings 26 and 28 to enclose and protect the optical
disc adjacent a right and left side of the disc player 10. In
addition, flanges 14A and 24A of the top and bottom sleeves 14 and
24 interact with one another to enclose and protect the CD and DVD
adjacent a front portion of the disc player 10. In particular, the
sleeves 14 and 24 and wings 16, 18 and 26, 28 expand to closely
surround and protect the 120 mm CD or DVD of FIG. 1, and the
sleeves 14, 24 and wings 16,18 and 26, 28 contract to closely
surround and protect the 80 mm CD of FIG. 2.
[0028] Now that the basic components of the inventive disc player
have been described, FIGS. 5-8 will layout the functional elements
of each component and how they operate together to receive and
contain a CD or DVD for data transfer operations. In particular,
FIG. 5 illustrates the top shell 12 of the disc player 10 after
being removed from the disc player of FIGS. 1-4. FIGS. 6 and 7
illustrate the disc player 10 without the top shell 12 of FIG. 5,
and FIG. 8 illustrates a conventional DTD 40 as shown in FIGS. 1-2
and 6-7.
[0029] Before the detailed description for each element of the
shell is disclosed, it should be noted that the top sleeve 14 and
set of wings 16 and 18 provide a mirror image of the bottom sleeve
24 and set of wings 26 and 28 for all functional aspects and
structure. Similarly, the top shell 12 provides the same functional
aspects as the bottom shell 22 for the purposes of the present
invention. Therefore, any element of the top shell that would not
be mirrored on the bottom shell, such as additional mounting post
for the DTD 40 on the bottom shell, a conventional LCD, operational
buttons and accommodating circuitry for the top shell, and
conventional latch system components attached to the top and bottom
shell, would be contemplated by the present invention to other
known concepts associated with disc player.
[0030] Turning to FIG. 5, the top shell 12 includes two mounting
posts 50 and a wall 12A. The two mounting posts 50 reside near a
back region of the disc player 10 to receive complementing holes 56
of each set of wing 16, 18 and 26, 28 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). In a
preferred embodiment, each hole 56 of a wing surrounds a top
portion of a respective post 50 when attached. With this
arrangement, the top portion of the post would provide a smaller
diameter then the lower portion of the post 56 closest to the
surface of the top shell. Therefore, the hole of each wing would
rest on a ledge of the respective post while attached. If desired,
a securing element (not shown), such as a screw, could also be
positioned through the hole 56 and screwed into a reciprocating
hole of the post to attach each wing 16, 18, 26, and 28 to each
respective mounting post 50.
[0031] The wall 12A for the top shell 12 can be divided into three
sections: aback section 12A' and two side sections 12A". As
illustrated, the back section 12A' extends the entire length of a
back region and along a portion of a side region of the disc player
10. Each side section 12A" extends from the back section 12A',
adjacent the side region, to a predefined region near the front
side of the disc player as illustrated. The distance of the side
sections 12" will allow any portion of a CD being contained by the
disc player 10 to extend out of the shell for the wings and sleeve
to protect. In general, the difference in height between the wall
sections 12A' and 12A" will be greater then the thickness of the CD
or DVD and the wings.
[0032] As noted above, the bottom shell 22 is very similar to the
top shell 12. In particular, the bottom shell 12 provides two
mounting posts (not shown) adjacent a back region of the shell 10
that complements the posts 50 of the top shell 12. However, the
wall 22A for the bottom shell 22 provides only one height that
surrounds the entire parameter of the surface, and the height for
the bottom shell wall is greater then the height of the DTD 40 as
illustrated in FIG. 8.
[0033] Before the top or bottom wings 16, 18 and 26, 28 can be
attached to their respective mounting posts 50, the DTD 40 of FIG.
8 should be attached to the bottom shell 22 of the disc player 10
as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The DTD 40 can be secured to the
bottom shell 22 by a conventional means such as screws, glue or
rivets using the securing arms 46A, 46B and 46C illustrated in FIG.
8. The DTD 40 also secures a disc 30, 32 within the disc player 10
by a conventional securing platter 48. Besides the securing platter
48, the DTD 40 also includes the various conventional mechanisms
(not shown) selected from the group including an optical pickup
unit ("OPU") having a motor spindle, a sled motor, an actuator or
voice coil, and a power source; and general electronics for
encoding, decoding, and transferring the signal obtained from the
optical disc to an input/output ("I/O") port, via the OPU. The I/O
ports may be connected to a processor and will typically be
specifically designed for the type of electronic data that the
player will read or write, whether it is audio, video or computer.
Therefore, the inventive disc player may also provide the
associated I/O ports to accommodate the transfer of audio, video
and computer data to the appropriate device for using the same. In
addition, the power source could be a conventional battery pack
structure integrated within the bottom shell of the disc player, a
power cord, or both, using a conventional technique.
[0034] Other elements that are typically associated with a portable
disc player, but are not shown, include LEDs or a LCD for
displaying operational conditions, at least one operational button,
a speaker, and possibly a processing unit. In a preferred
embodiment, the disc player of the present invention would include
numerous buttons to accommodate the various operations of the disc
player and a LCD for displaying the progress of the player while
operating. The LCD and operational buttons could be conventionally
mounted on a front region of the disc player 10. The buttons would
be used for operations selected from the group including play,
stop, skip, volume, forward, rewind, pause, and general directional
arrows for menu options provided a processing unit, if used.
[0035] Once the DTD 40 is secured in place, the top and bottom
sleeves 14 and 24 should be positioned between the respective shell
12 and 14 and set of wings 16, 18 and 26, 28. Looking again at
FIGS. 5 and 6, the top sleeve 14 clearly shows a groove 60 adjacent
each back corner region of the disc player 10 for receiving a
complementing pin 62 on each wing 16, 18 and 26 and 28. With the
pin 62 positioned within the complementing groove 60 of a wing, the
wing can be pivotally attached to the shell by the mounting posts
50 as described above. Once each set of wings is attached to their
respective posts 50, a user can pull and push on the top and bottom
sleeve 14, 24 to create an area large enough for receiving and
containing a CD or DVD having a diameter of various sizes.
[0036] In other words, the inventive disc player 10 can provide a
first dimensional size when carrying a 120 mm optical disc as
illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 and a second dimensional size when
carrying a 80 mm optical disc as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6.
In particular, the disc player 10 provides a structural size that
is slightly bigger than the dimensions of the CD or DVD it
contains. Therefore, the inventive disc player can be scaled to be
smaller then conventional disc players for carrying an 80 mm CD. A
skilled artisan should appreciate that the inventive disc player is
not limited to the dimensions of a 80 mm and 120 mm optical disc,
and therefore could be modified to accommodate optical discs that
may be smaller, larger and thicker then a conventional CD or
DVD.
[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the top shell 12 is at least
partially transparent or translucent so that the user can read
labels or other identification on a contained CD or DVD. In
addition, the shells 12 and 22, the sleeves 14 and 24, and the set
of wings 16, 18 and 26, 28 are preferably made from a material such
as plastic. A conventional hinge system couples the top shell to
the bottom shell using the back wall sections of disc player. In
addition, a common latch system is also used to allow the front
region of the top shell to secure to the front region of the bottom
shell. Therefore, a top shell can be opened to remove or insert a
disc (see FIGS. 1 and 2) and closed to secure an optical disc
within the disc player (see FIGS. 3 and 4).
[0038] Now that the structural components of the present invention
have been described and their function, the process for using the
same will follow. Generally, the process includes the steps of:
opening a disc player to expose a cavity and an optical pickup
mechanism ("DTD"); adjusting the size of the disc player for
securing an optical disc to the DTD; closing the disc player to
contain the disc within the cavity; and implementing the DTD to
transfer data from the disc to an output terminal. As mentioned
above, the I/O port could be used to couple speaks to the disc
player to hear audio data, or to couple a video display to the disc
player to view video data, or to couple a personal computer to the
disc player to view video and computer data or listen to audio data
contained on a disc.
[0039] With the inventive disc player, the process step for
adjusting the disc player size involves a user slidably moving a
sleeve 14, 18 or pivotally moving one or both of the wings on the
top and bottom shell of the disc player until the size of the
optical disc to be inserted into the disc player will fit into the
cavity of the disc player and the protective area created by the
wings and sleeves. Consequently, while the inventive disc player is
adjusted to accommodate a 120 mm or a 80 mm CD, the overall size is
scaled as well.
[0040] In summary, the present invention provides a protective disc
player for an optical disc. The disc player is scalable to
accommodate 120 mm CDs and DVDs or 80 mm CDs. When used for a 80 mm
CD, the size of the disc player is small enough to be placed in a
typical shirt pocket. A disc may remain in the disc player during
transport, and for operational purposes, the disc player can be
coupled to a computer, speakers, and a video screen, such as a TV
or CRT, when desired. Preferably, the disc player is at least
partially transparent or translucent, so that labels or other
identification on a data storage medium can be read when a data
storage medium is present in the disc player.
[0041] A detailed listing of claims is presented below. Please
amend currently amended claims as indicated below including
substituting clean versions for pending claims with the same
number. In addition, clean text versions of pending claims not
being currently amended that are under examination are also
presented. It is understood that any claim presented in a clean
version below has not been changed relative to the immediate prior
version.
* * * * *