Disk data reproducing method and apparatus for reading data at arbitrary speed

Claim 3

A method as in claim 1, wherein the disk is an optical disk.

Claim 4

A method as in claim 2, wherein step (c) comprises: (i) irradiating a laser beam onto a surface of the disk; (ii) transforming light reflected from the surface into an electric signal; and (iii) producing the reproduced signal in accordance with the electric signal.

Claim 5

A method as in claim 3, wherein step (d) comprises moving the actuator in a focusing direction.

Claim 6

A disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed of the disk and a position of the converting means; and phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; wherein the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed of the disk to reach the predetermined rotary speed.

Claim 7

A disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed of the disk and a position of the converting means; and phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; wherein the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed of the disk to reach the predetermined rotary speed.

Claim 8

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 5, wherein: the disk is an optical disk; and the converting means comprises an optical lens and an optical pickup, the optical pickup comprising means for (i) irradiating a laser beam through the optical lens onto the surface of the disk and (ii) transforming light reflected from the surface through the optical lens into the electric signal.

Claim 9

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 6, wherein the actuator means comprises means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in a focusing direction.

Claim 12

A method as in claim 8, wherein the disk is an optical disk.

Claim 13

A method as in claim 9, wherein step (c) comprises: (i) irradiating a laser beam onto a surface of the disk; (ii) transforming light reflected from the surface into an electric signal; and (iii) producing the reproduced signal in accordance with the electric signal.

Claim 14

A method as in claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises moving the actuator in a focusing direction.

Claim 15

A disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; fixed main clock signal oscillating means for generating a fixed main clock signal used to process the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed of the disk and a position of the converting means; and phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; wherein: the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed to reach the predetermined rotary speed; and the servo control means stepwise changes, after reading of the data is started, the frequency of the variable reference clock signal in a capture range of the PLL means until the frequency of the variable reference clock signal becomes substantially equal to a frequency of the fixed main clock signal.

Claim 16

A disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; fixed main clock signal oscillating means for generating a fixed main clock signal used to process the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed of the disk and a position of the converting means; and phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; wherein: the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed to reach the predetermined rotary speed; and the servo control means stepwise changes, after reading of the data is started, the frequency of the variable reference clock signal in a capture range of the PLL means until the frequency of the variable reference clock signal becomes substantially equal to a frequency of the fixed main clock signal.

Claim 17

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 12, wherein: the disk is an optical disk; and the converting means comprises an optical lens and an optical pickup, the optical pickup comprising means for (i) irradiating a laser beam through the optical lens onto the surface of the disk and (ii) transforming light reflected from the surface through the optical lens into the electric signal.

Claim 18

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the actuator means comprises means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in a focusing direction.

Claim 19

An optical disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; fixed main clock signal oscillating means for generating a fixed main clock signal used to process the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed and a position of the converting means; phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; and buffer means for temporarily storing therein the data read from the disk; wherein: the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed to reach the predetermined rotary speed; the servo control means stepwise changes, after reading of the data is started, the frequency of the variable reference clock signal in a capture range of the PLL means until the frequency of the variable reference clock signal becomes substantially equal to a frequency of the fixed main clock signal; and the servo control means stores in the buffer means the data read from the disk when the actuator means is moved from an outer circumferential side to an inner circumferential side of the disk and transfers the data to an external device when the quantity of the data thus stored in the buffer means becomes substantially equal to a predetermined data accumulation amount.

Claim 20

An optical disk driving apparatus comprising: driving means for driving rotation of a disk; sensing means for sensing a rotary speed of the disk; rotation control means for controlling the driving means to set the rotary speed of the disk to a desired rotary speed; converting means for reading data on a surface of the disk and producing an electric signal containing a data stream in accordance with the data; actuator means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in at least a tracking direction; signal processing means for amplifying the electric signal output from the converting means and thereby obtaining a reproduced signal; servo control means for conducting a servo control operation for the rotation control means and the actuator means on the basis of an output signal of the sensing means and the reproduced signal; fixed main clock signal oscillating means for generating a fixed main clock signal used to process the reproduced signal; variable frequency oscillating means for generating a variable reference clock signal having a frequency calculated on the basis of the rotary speed and a position of the converting means; phase-locked loop (PLL) means for controlling the rotation control means to synchronize the data stream with a synchronizing reference clock signal; and buffer means for temporarily storing therein the data read from the disk; wherein: the phase-locked loop (PLL) means employs the variable reference clock signal as the synchronizing reference clock signal in a time period after the actuator means starts an access operation until the rotary speed of the disk reaches a predetermined rotary speed for regular reproduction of the data and thereby starts to read the data from the disk prior to completion of a control operation for controlling the rotary speed to reach the predetermined rotary speed; the servo control means stepwise changes, after reading of the data is started, the frequency of the variable reference clock signal in a capture range of the PLL means until the frequency of the variable reference clock signal becomes substantially equal to a frequency of the fixed main clock signal; and the servo control means stores in the buffer means the data read from the disk when the actuator means is moved from an outer circumferential side to an inner circumferential side of the disk and transfers the data to an external device when the quantity of the data thus stored in the buffer means becomes substantially equal to a predetermined data accumulation amount.

Claim 21

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 15, wherein: the disk is an optical disk; and the converting means comprises an optical lens and an optical pickup, the optical pickup comprising means for (i) irradiating a laser beam through the optical lens onto the surface of the disk and (ii) transforming light reflected from the surface through the optical lens into the electric signal.

Claim 22

A disk driving apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the actuator means comprises means for movably supporting the converting means to be movable in a focusing direction.