Two Dimensional Actuator for Moving Optical Medium of Scanning Device

The present invention relates to a scanning device for an optical system, and, more particularly, to a scanning device for an optical system used in a video disc apparatus, a PCM audio disc apparatus and others.

In scanning devices of this kind, it is necessary to perform a focussing operation (in the direction of an optical axis) so that a light beam is focussed accurately on an information storing medium (namely, a disc), and it is also necessary to perform a tracking operation (in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis) so that a light spot which is formed by focussing the light beam on the disc, accurately follows an information track on the disc. Various optical scanning devices for performing the above-mentioned operations have been proposed. For example, a driving device has been known which can drive a focussing lens for focussing a light beam on a disc in two directions. However, this driving device cannot reproduce information stored in an inner circular portion of a small-sized disc such as a PCM audio disc, since the driving device is large in size. In a PCM audio disc, it is necessary to reproduce information stored in a circular portion having a radius of 25 mm. A motor which can give a well-controlled rotation to a disc of this kind, that is, a motor which does not introduce irregularities in rotation of the disc, is required to have an outer diameter of at least about 30 mm. Accordingly, an actuator for an optical system is subject to a dimensional restriction that the width of the actuator is equal to or less than 20 mm.

Further, the conventional driving device has a drawback that a lead wire of a driving coil generally breaks from fatigue since the lead wire is moved in accordance with a coil part when the coil part is operated.

Furthermore, in the conventional driving device, driving means for focussing operation and driving means for tracking operation are arranged separately from each other, and therefore the number of parts is large. This deteriorates the operation characteristic of the driving device.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an optical scanning device which has relatively few parts, is of a small size, and has a long service life.

A feature of the present invention which can attain the above object, resides in that both of a driving coil for focussing operation and a driving coil for tracking operation are arranged in one magnetic gap.

Another feature of the present invention resides in that these driving coils and an optical system are supported by four conductive suspensions.

Now, the present invention will be explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical scanning device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c are views for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical scanning device according to the present invention includes an optical system 1 for focussing a light beam from a light source (not shown) on a recording medium (namely, a disc), with the optical system 1 being fixed through a holder 2 to an upper portion of a coil group including coils 7 and 8a through 8d. The coil group is disposed in a magnetic gap 17 which is formed by two permanent magnets 4a and 4b and magnetic members 3a, 3b and 5. The magnetic member 5 has, at a central portion thereof, a through hole 6 for allowing a light beam to pass through the member 5. Further, the magnetic gap 17 is arranged in parallel to the direction of tracking operation. Accordingly, a motor for rotating the disc is placed on a line extending in the direction as indicated with an arrow. A focussing operation is carried out in the following manner. A driving coil 7 is made in the form of a hollow cylinder having a rectangular cross section. As seen in FIG. 2, a large gap is provided between the coil 7 and the magnetic member 5 so that the coil 7 can move in the direction of tracking operation and moreover the stroke of tracking operation can be made large. Four focussing plate springs 9a, 10a, 11a and 12a are fixed to a focussing-spring supporting member 14 fixed to a body (not shown). The four focussing plate springs are deformed by passing an electric current through the coil 7. At this time, an intermediate movable member 13, tracking plate springs 9b, 10b, 11b and 12b, and members 16a and 16b for fixing the tracking plate springs to the coil group are displaced in the direction of focussing operation. When the focussing operation is performed, the tracking plate springs 9b, 10b, 11b and 12b are not subjected to any deformation since these springs have a large rigidity in the direction of focussing operation, and therefore the intermediate movable member 13 is displaced together with the coil group.

As shown in FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c, the tracking operation is performed by four driving coils 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d for tracking operation, which are fixed to the outside of the driving coil 7. As shown in FIG. 3a, the driving coils 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d are fixed to the coil 7 in such a manner that only a portion, of each of the driving coils 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d is placed in the magnetic gap 17. Accordingly, when an electric current flows through the coils 8a and 8c in the direction indicated by the arrow .alpha. and flows through the coils 8b and 8d in the direction indicated by the arrow .beta., as shown in FIG. 3b, the coil group is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow .gamma. when the magnetic flux B exists in the direction as shown in FIG. 3a. On the other hand, when an electric current flows through the coils 8a and 8b in the direction indicated by the arrow X and flows through the coils 8b and 8d in the direction indicated by the arrow Y, as shown in FIG. 3c, the coil group is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow Z. In the tracking operation, the intermediate movable member 13 is not operated (that is, does not move) since each of the focussing plate springs 9a, 10a, 11a and 12a has a large rigidity in the direction of tracking operation, but the tracking plate springs 9b, 10b, 11b and 12b are deformed. Thus, only the coil group is operated in the direction of tracking operation.

As is evident from the above-mentioned explanation on the operation of the embodiment, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform both of the focussing and tracking operations using only a magnetic gap arranged in parallel to the direction of tracking operation. Therefore, the number of parts required to form a static magnetic field is small, and thus a small-sized optical scanning device can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, the plate springs are made of a conductive metal, each of four pairs of plate springs 9a and 9b, 10a and 10b, 11a and 11b, and 12a and 12b are united in a body, and the intermediate movable member is made of an insulating material to electrically isolate these pairs from each other. Therefore, the plate springs can be used as lead wires for causing a focussing current and a tracking current to flow. A conventional moving coil has a serious drawback that lead wires of the moving coil are broken from fatigue since the lead wires are deformed in accordance with the operation of a movable portion, and another drawback that the presence of the lead wires exerts an unfavorable influence upon the operation of the movable portion. On the other hand, the above-mentioned structure of the embodiment can provide longer service life, since no lead wire is required. Incidentally, reference numerals 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d in FIG. 1 designate wires for connecting the present embodiment to a driving circuit.

Further, according to the present invention, a width of an optical scanning device in the direction of tracking operation can be made equal to or less than one-half that of a conventional optical scanning system capable of moving in two directions.