Optimization of Seesaw Swing Arm Actuator Design for Small Form Factor Optical Disk Drive

Abstract

Many small form factor (SFF) optical pickup heads based on the swing arm design utilize a piezoelectric material or the slim metal plate to perform the focusing action. The seesaw-type actuator is a new mechanism used in the focusing action for SFF optical data storage devices. The swing arm nutates along a pivot instead of a hinge in the vertical movement. In this paper, an optimized design of a biaxial voice coil motor (VCM), in which the tracking and focusing VCMs are combined in the rear of the swing arm, is proposed. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design methodology by showing that the stress magnitude distribution characteristics, mechanism stiffness, and driving stability of the optimized design are enhanced in comparison with those of the original. (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics