2014 Volume 22 Issue 6 Pages 11-18
In this case study of the optimization of the disc clamping structure of an optical disc player, the generic functions were considered to be the relation between power consumption and rotational speed, which is a work quantity, and the relation between power consumption and time. Dust was taken as a noise factor, because the interiors of players in which the clamping mechanism fails due to excessive wear frequently show visible accumulations of dust, which is a factor causing wear. The key point in this study is the comparison of an evaluation by the S/N ratio with the results of lifb tests. When life tests were performed under the optimized conditions on actual equipment, it was confirmed that wear to the clamp mechanism was greatly reduced. The gains of the S/N ratio before and after the tests were found to be nearly identical, and the gain was reproduced in a confirmation test. A further result obtained was near-perfect agreement between the gain of the S/N ratio and the estimated life, showing the possibility of dispensing with repeated life tests and greatly reducing the number of man-hours of development work.
