Optical disk drive apparatus with means for accurate disk positioning.

摘要

A front-loading optical disk drive (60) is disclosed that registers an optical disk (100) about the spindle (90) precisely relative to the optical head (50). First, the spindle (90) and the corresponding clamping assembly have means to accurately register the disk onto the spindle. Second, the critical components of the optical disk drive such as the spindle, the clamping assembly, the optical head, and the guides and stops for the optical disk, are all positioned relative to a single point (23) in the disk drive. This eliminates the build up of manufacturing tolerances between the critical components. By precisely registering the optical disk onto the spindle, and precisely positioning all the critical components relative to a single point, the optical disk will be precisely registered to the optical head.