Bizarre Patents
Pet Toilet-Like Water Disk and Food Storage
One pet-friendly inventor patented "a device for watering pets, e.g., a dog or cat." The device, he helpfully noted, "has the general shape of a toilet."
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8051440 | Optical read/write device According to one aspect, an optical read/write device for reading and/or writing an optical disc includes a base, optical pickup head, and a driving mechanism for slidably driving the optical pickup head. The driving mechanism includes a worm gear, a motor for rotat... | 11/01/2011 |
| 7890968 | Optical disc device having two optomechanical mechanisms An optical disc device has a first optomechanical mechanism, a second optomechanical mechanism, and a sled mechanism. The first optomechanical mechanism is located under an optical disc insertable into the optical disc device to optically access a bottom surface of ... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7861254 | Optical pickup An optical pickup includes: a slide base, having: a first surface; and a second surface; a first substrate fixed to the first surface; a standing frame disposed on the second surface; a second substrate facing the standing frame; a laser diode operable to emit a las... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7362564 | Docking assembly for coupling a nonvolatile memory device to an electronic device An apparatus, system, and method for a tray to receive and couple a nonvolatile memory device to an electronic device disposed within a housing, are disclosed herein. ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7328445 | Apparatus for transferring a pickup of a disc drive An apparatus for transferring a pickup of a disc drive which is movably installed on a pickup deck to move the pickup for recording/reproducing information by emitting light onto a disc. The appartus includes a lead screw rotatably installed at one side of the picku... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7310806 | Support mechanism and feeding unit including same A supporting mechanism for movably supporting a member to be supported along a supporting shaft, comprises supporting members and a pressing device. The supporting members are provided on the member to be supported. Each of the supporting members comes into contact ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7296279 | Transmitting device for feeding mechanism of information recording/reproducing apparatus A transmitting device for a feeding mechanism of an information recording/reproducing apparatus includes an engaging member adapted to be engaged with a power source of the apparatus for power transmission, a fixing member adapted to be fixed to a pickup module of t... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7289300 | Piezoelectric motor for moving a carriage along a guide In one embodiment, an actuator comprises a stationary guide, a carriage movable along the guide, and a piezoelectric motor operatively coupled to the carriage and pushing on the guide such that the motor when energized moves with the carriage along the guide. ... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7284253 | Optical pickup transferring apparatus of an optical disk drive An optical pickup transferring apparatus including a slider having a base, a floating portion elastically coupled to the base, the floating portion having on one side thereof at least one protuberance inserted into the external thread of a lead screw, and an elastic... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7260041 | Disk drive A disk drive includes a plurality of optical heads corresponding to a plurality kind of disks, and a disk distinction device for distinguishing whether a set disk is a first disk or a second disk when a disk is set on a disk tray, a first disk tray conveying mechani... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7218513 | Disc drive carrier unit A disc drive carrier unit installed on an installation surface of a computer casing is proposed. The installation surface has at least a first positioning piece and a first fixation piece, and both are perpendicular to each other. The disc drive carrier unit has a f... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7210153 | Disk apparatus having optical pickup A base of an optical pickup is provided with a bearing slidably supported by a guide shaft and an engagement portion guided by a guide rail. The bearing includes a pair of front and rear bearing elements. A concave portion and a pressing piece having a shape that en... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7184371 | Optical pickup driver having piezoelectric elements of different voltages at start and steady state The present invention is directed to a drive device comprising an electromechanical transducer (25) attached to one end of a drive shaft (24) and adapted to be expanded and contracted in the axial direction of the drive shaft (24) in accordance ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7131130 | Pickup mounting structure with pickup cable holder bridging periphery-ribbed opening The invention is a pickup mounting structure capable of executing with precision, positioning and moving position control of a pickup mounted on a base plate member, even if the thickness of the base plate member is rendered smaller. With the pickup mounting structu... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7124421 | Lead screw adjustment structure of disc drive A lead screw adjustment structure of a disc drive to adjust a lead screw which is rotatably installed on a pickup deck and reciprocates a pickup, which includes an incorporated elastic member installed on the pickup deck to apply an elastic force in an upward direct... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7124419 | Feed screw driver and information recorder/reproducer The present invention relates to a feed screw driving apparatus that moves a power transmission member, which engages a feed screw, in an axial direction of the feed screw by rotationally driving the feed screw using a driving source, such as an electric motor, and ... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7055161 | Optical pickup unit feeding apparatus and optical disc drive using the same An optical pickup unit feeding apparatus for moving an optical pickup unit by rotation of a lead screw with a spiral groove in an optical disc drive, including a guide member combined with the optical pickup unit, the guide member including one or more contact parts... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6983473 | Optical pickup device and recording and/or reproducing device This device has an optical pickup section, a first rack portion provided on the optical pickup section, a slide member having an opening/closing portion for opening/closing a facing surface of the objective lens to the optical disc and a second rack portion provided... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6971114 | Optical pickup device and recording and/or reproducing device This device has an optical pickup section, a first rack portion provided on the optical pickup section, a slide member having an opening/closing portion for opening/closing a facing surface of the objective lens to the optical disc and a second rack portion provided... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6971115 | Optical pickup apparatus The optical pickup moving mechanism includes: a feed screw and a guide shaft, which are arranged in parallel with each other, for movably supporting an optical pickup; and a drive motor for giving a drive force to the feed screw so that the optical pickup can be mov... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6968562 | Recording and/or reproducing apparatus A disc recorder/player that prevents foreign matter such as dust or the like from adhering to a drive shaft for assuring a highly accurate position control of the movable write and/or read unit. In the disc recorder/player, an electromechanical transducer is used as... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6922841 | Apparatus for connecting and driving optical pick-up The present invention relates to an apparatus for connecting a transmission device to an optical pick-up. The transmission device includes a connecting unit and a lead screw and a driving unit. The connecting unit includes a main portion, an elastic portion, a tooth... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6912723 | Disc drive for playing information recorded on an optical disc A disc drive includes a main body, a disc tray movable with respect to the main body between a loading position for loading an optical disc and an eject position, and a chassis on which a rotational drive mechanism for rotating a loaded optical disc is provided. The... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6880163 | Optical pickup device and recording and/or reproducing device This device has an optical pickup section, a first rack portion provided on the optical pickup section, a slide member having an opening/closing portion for opening/closing a facing surface of the objective lens to the optical disc and a second rack portion provided... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6859934 | Scanning device comprising a magnetically guided linear motor A scanning device for a disc-shaped information carrier about an axis of rotation having a linear motor that can displace the scanning unit in a radial direction. The linear motor comprises a first part and a second part guided with respect to each other in the radi... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6829776 | Engaging head for movement converting mechanism in optical disc drive An engaging head implemented in a movement converting mechanism to engage with a screwed rod comprises an attachment body, a gear part, and a resilient pre-loading element. The attachment body has a pushing sidewall. The gear part has an inner surface facing the pus... | 12/07/2004 |
| 6772427 | Motor securing structures and disc drive A structure for securing a spindle motor (15) supported on a motor substrate (32) to a chassis (13). The motor substrate (32) and the chassis (13) are coupled by at least three coupling sections (33). At least two of the cou... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6643249 | Disc ejecting apparatus The present invention relates to a disc ejecting apparatus for ejecting a disc by utilizing a pick-up drive motor. It is proposed to simplify the construction of the disc ejecting apparatus. A slip mechanism is provided in a route leading from the pick-up... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6058098 | Head driving device The head driving device of the invention is provided with a head unit guided by a guide member, which is provided movably along a recording medium, a screw shaft provided along a moving direction of the head unit, a driving unit for giving a torque to the... | 05/02/2000 |
| 5831962 | Optical pickup carrying system An optical pickup carrying system includes a base on which a turn table can be disposed rotatably for placing a disk thereon, an optical pickup movably disposed in the base for reading a signal recorded on the disk, a guide rail disposed in the base and p... | 11/03/1998 |
| 5828501 | Apparatus and method for positioning a lens to expand an optical beam of an imaging system An optical beam expander mechanism includes a plurality of lenses movably secured to a carriage of an imaging system for varying the magnification and adjusting the focus of an optical beam. A scanning means is also secured to the carriage for reflecting ... | 10/27/1998 |
| 5621718 | Compact disc playing mechanism having first and second operating positions A compact disc playing mechanism includes a body with respect to which at least first and second horizontal positions are provided for placing therein compact discs, a pick-up mechanism for playing the compact discs, and a unitary moving mechanism adapted... | 04/15/1997 |
| 5532989 | Seek actuator for optical recording An apparatus for optically reading or recording information on an optical disc which is rotatable about an axis of rotation. The apparatus includes a frame, a carriage, a carriage drive, an objective lens, an objective lens holder, a focus drive and a fin... | 07/02/1996 |
| 5517483 | Gear assembly for transporting a rotation force of a motor shaft to a lead screw The present invention relates to a gear assembly which comprises an eccentric member having a first cylindrical portion with a first center axis in accordance with a center axis of said eccentric member for receiving said shaft on a front side thereof fro... | 05/14/1996 |
| 5471453 | Information recording-reproducing apparatus In a separation type optical head which is divided into two portions, i.e., a fixed head portion and a carriage portion and which effects at least one of recording, reproduction and erasing on a disk-like recording medium by a light beam, optical parts co... | 11/28/1995 |
| 5450386 | Optical disk device including a support member for movably supporting an objective lens in focusing and radial directions with respect to an optical disk An optical disk device includes a light source, an objective lens, a box body and a supporting member. The light source is provided so as not to move to the apparatus body. The box body holds the objective lens. The box body is supported movably to the ap... | 09/12/1995 |
| 5303223 | Head carriage apparatus moved by a lead-screw shaft including resilient means for pressing the lead-screw shaft in a slanting direction toward the head carriage A head carriage apparatus includes a head carriage including a head being placed onto a disk for recording and reproducing information on the disk and having an extension and a connecting portion formed on the extension integrally with the head carriage, ... | 04/12/1994 |
| 5243591 | Protecting a read/write head from damage A disk storage device, such as a magnetic disk storage device, for reading data from and writing data to a magnetic data storage disk includes a spindle onto a base for rotating the magnetic storage disk and a read/write head for reading data from and wri... | 09/07/1993 |
| 5229669 | Compact linear motor drive unit A linear motor drive unit includes a rail, a slider, a plurality of rolling members interposed between the rail and the slider to provide a rolling contact between the slider and the rail, a pair of permanent bar magnets fixedly attached to the rail to pr... | 07/20/1993 |
| 5175723 | Direct drive mechanism for data pickup carriage with no direct attachment between motor and frame The present invention is directed to a compact disc pickup drive mechanism which eliminates any alignment problems between a drive screw, a drive motor and a supporting frame. The drive mechanism comprises a drive screw having one end rotationally secured... | 12/29/1992 |
