FR2733621A1 - Data storage diskette with protective plate - Google Patents

Abstract

The diskette has a flat plastic shell which houses the magnetic storage medium and has an access slot for the read/write head. The slot is closed by a sliding metal cover (20) which is displaced to allow access for the head when the disc is inserted into a suitable drive. The metal cover slides in a trough formed along one edge of the plastic shell. The trough has a groove (40a) formed along its inner edges. The edges of the metal cover are bent slightly inward and engage in this groove, which acts as a guide for the metal cover and also protects the edges of the cover from damage. The groove does not pass all the way through the wall of the plastic shell, preventing the edge of the metal cover coming into contact with the magnetic medium.

Description

 The present invention relates to data storage diskettes, and more particularly. a shutter mechanism for protecting a medium contained inside a casing of a data storage floppy disk.

 Data storage diskettes include a shutter mechanism to protect the media contained within the diskette housing.

The disk has a cover side and a base side which are attached to each other so as to form a unitary housing. The base and cover sides are usually made of plastic.

but they can be in other matters. The storage medium is mounted on a moveu aui through a moveu access opening formed in the base side. The moveu can be driven by a motor associated with a diskette unit so as to rotate the support for read and write operations. The cover and base sides each include a media access opening through which the read and write heads associated with the diskette unit can access the media.

 The shutter mechanism includes a movable shutter to cover and uncover the media access opening. The shutter typically includes a small rectangular sheet on top of which two elbows of at least ninety degrees are formed. The sheet is usually made of metal but it can be of other materials. The elbows produce an obturator which comprises a pair of lateral plates which extend substantially in parallel with one another. The shutter is mounted so as to overlap an edge of the flask housing, near the support access openings in the cover and base sides. A first side plate of the shutter extends over part of the side cover cover and the other side plate extends over a portion of the base side. Each side plate of the shutter may include a shutter opening. The shutter is mounted so that it moves along the edge of the floppy disk case. A spring ordinarily biases the shutter toward a closed position in which the shutter openings are not aligned with the support access openings in the cover and base sides. In the closed position, the shutter blocks all access to the media access openings and protects the media from contaminants. However, the shutter can be moved along the edge of the floppy disk case to align the shutter openings with the media access openings thereby providing access to the read and write heads of the floppy drive.

 At the end opposite the ninety degree elbows near the edge of the floppy case, the floppy shutters tend to protrude above a flat surface on the base or cover side of the floppy case. The projection of one of the side pads is particularly noticeable when pressure is applied to the opposite side pad. This projection provides an opening through which debris can enter the support access opening, contaminating the support. In extreme cases, the protrusion may even cause the shutter to lock while it is inside the floppy drive. The problems caused by the protrusion of the shutter are further compounded by tendencies towards thinner shutters and more flexible plastic cases from floppy disks. Therefore, there is a need for an improved shutter mechanism capable of eliminating the protrusion of the shutter which could otherwise lead to contamination of the support and blockage of the shutter.

 It is the object of the present invention to produce a data storage floppy disk which has an improved shutter mechanism which responds to the problems set out above.

 Generally, the improved shutter mechanism according to the present invention can be achieved by bending a portion of the shutter which is opposite the ninety-degree bends overlapping the floppy side edge toward the floppy disk housing. A groove is provided in the floppy disk housing, and the angled portion of the shutter can be oriented so as to move in this groove. In addition, a flange may be formed in the floppy disk housing near the groove so as to retain inside the groove the bent portion of the shutter. The combination of the angled part, the groove and the flange prevents the shutter from protruding away from the floppy disk case, so this combination eliminates the opening through which debris could otherwise enter the media access opening, and decreases the likelihood that the shutter will jam due to a protrusion when inserted into the diskette drive. Another advantage of these methods is that the bent part tends to give the shutter better structural stability.

More specifically, according to a first aspect, the invention produces a data storage disk comprising:
a diskette enclosure which contains a data storage medium, said diskette enclosure having a first main surface and a second main surface opposite said first main surface, said first main surface including a media access opening;
a shutter mounted on said floppy case, said shutter extending over a recessed portion of said first main surface of said floppy case, said shutter being movable relative to said floppy case so as to cover and uncover said opening access to support ;;
characterized in that
the floppy disk further comprises a first flange formed on said first main surface, said flange retaining said shutter inside said recessed part.

 Said first main surface may be made of plastic, said flange being molded in said first main surface.

 Said flange can be adhesively mounted on said first main surface.

According to a second aspect, the invention produces a data storage disk comprising:
a floppy diskette case contains a data storage medium, said floppy disk box having a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to said first main surface, said first main surface including a media access opening;
a shutter mounted on said floppy case, said shutter extending over a recessed portion of said first main surface of said floppy case, said shutter being movable relative to said floppy case so as to cover and uncover said opening access to support ;;
characterized in that
a part of said shutter is bent towards said first main surface,
a groove is formed in said first main surface,
the bent part of said shutter is oriented so as to move along said groove, and
the floppy disk further comprises a flange formed on said first main surface near said groove, and
said flange retains the bent part of said shutter inside said groove.

 Said first main surface can be made of plastic, said groove being molded in said first main surface.

According to a third aspect, the invention produces a data storage disk comprising:
a floppy disk case which contains a data storage medium, said floppy disk box comprising a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to said first main surface,
said first main surface including a first access opening to the support and said second main surface including a second access opening to the support,
a shutter which includes first and second side plates mounted so as to overlap an edge of said floppy disk housing,
said first side plate extending above the recessed part of said first main surface of said floppy case and said second side plate extending above a recessed part of said second main surface of said floppy case,
said shutter being movable along said edge of said diskette case so as to cover with a portion of said first side plate said first opening to access the support or to discover it, and so as to cover by means of said second side plate said second access opening to the support or to discover it,
characterized in that
part of said first side plate opposite said edge of said floppy case is bent towards said first main surface and part of said second side plate opposite said edge of said floppy case is bent towards said second main surface,
a first groove is formed in said first main surface. the bent part of said first side plate being oriented so as to move the length of said first groove,
a second groove is formed in said second main surface. the bent part of said second side plate being oriented so as to move the length of said second groove,
a first flange is formed on said first main surface so as to be adjacent to said first groove, said first flange retaining inside of said first groove the bent part of said first side plate, and
a second flange is formed on said second main surface so as to be adjacent to said second groove, said second flange retaining inside of said second groove the bent part of said second side plate.

Said first main surface and said second main surface may be made of plastic
said first flange being molded into said first main surface and said second flange is molded into said second main surface.

Said first main surface and said second main surface may be made of plastic,
said first groove being molded in said first main surface and said second groove being molded in said second main surface.

 The floppy disk can simultaneously present the two methods exposed at the moment.

 Said first and said second flanges can be adhesively mounted, respectively, on said first and said second major surfaces.

These aims, advantages and particularities of the present invention set out above, as well as others, will emerge more clearly from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, set out by way of example only and not by way of limitative, as well as drawings in which:
the Fiq. 1 is a top plan view of a prior art data storage disk;
the Fiq. 2 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along line A-A ', of the prior art data storage diskette shown in Fis. 1;
the Fis. 3 is a top plan view of a data storage disk which is provided with the improved shutter mechanism according to the present invention; and
the Fiq. 4 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along line B-B ', of the data storage diskette shown in FIG. 3.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an art data storage disk 10
prior. The data storage disk 10 may consist of a magnetic storage disk, conventionally called a "flexible disk", or other types of carrier disk which employ shutter mechanisms. The floppy disk
10 for data storage includes a diskette box 12 which contains the data storage medium 14, as shown in FIG. 2. The floppy disk case 12 includes a cover side 16a and a base side 16b, shown in Fis. 2. The cover and base sides 16a, 16b are usually made of plastic but they can be of other materials. The data storage medium 14 is mounted on a means not shown. The hub passes through a hub access opening made on the base side 16b. The hub can be driven by a motor associated with a floppy disk drive to rotate the media for data read or write operations. Openings 18a, 18b for accessing the support, of which only the opening 18b is shown in FIG. 2, are provided in the cover side 16a and the base side 16b, respectively, of the floppy disk case 12. The media access openings 18a, 18b serve as openings through which read and write heads associated with the diskette drive can access the data storage medium.

 A shutter 20 mounted on the floppy disk housing 12 protects the data storage medium 14 when the floppy disk is not loaded into a floppy disk drive. The shutter 20 includes a small rectangular sheet where two four-bend ten degree bends are formed so as to produce a pair of opposite side plates which extend substantially parallel to each other. The sheet is usually made of metal but it can be of other materials. The part of the shutter 20 in which the elbows are formed is mounted in such a way that the opposite side plates overlap an edge 22 on the side 12 of floppy disk.

The shutter 20 is movable along the edge 22. A first side plate 24a of the shutter 20 extends over a fraction of a first main surface 26 on the side 16a of the cover. while a second side plate 24b shown in Fis. 2, extends over a fraction of a second main surface 26b, shown in Fis. 2, on the base side 16b. The first side plate 24a of the shutter 20 is oriented so as to move inside a recessed area 28a formed in the first main surface 26a on the side 16a of the cover while a second side plate 24b is oriented way to move inside another hollowed out area 28b, shown in Fis. 2, formed in the second main surface 26b on the base side 16b. A hollow area 29a is formed in part of the first main surface 26a, while another hollow area not shown is formed in the second main surface 26b. It is therefore understood that the first and second main surfaces 26a and 26b may be entirely planar, or may on the other hand preferably include recessed areas such as these areas 28a, 28b, 29a shown in Fiq. 1 and 2.

 The first side plate 24a and the second side plate 24b of the shutter 20 are made so as to cover and uncover, when the shutter moves along the edge 22, the openings 18a and 18b for access to the support made in the side 16a of cover and side 16b of base, respectively. For this reason, the first side plate 24a and the second side plate 24b of the shutter have apertures 30a, 30b of the shutter shown in Fis. 2, respectively.

When the shutter openings 30a, 30b are aligned with the support access openings 18a, 18b, read and write heads associated with the diskette unit can access the data storage medium 14. When the apertures 30a, 30b of the shutter are not aligned with the openings 18a, 18b for accessing the medium, access to the data storage medium is generally blocked. A spring, not shown, ordinarily biases the shutter 20 towards a position preventing access, in which the openings 30a, 30b of the shutter are not aligned with the openings 18a, 18b for accessing the support. In this closed position, the first side plate 24a and the second side plate 24b of the shutter block access to the openings 18a, 18b of access to the support, by protecting to a certain extent the support 14 for storing data against contaminants . On the other hand, the shutter 20 can be moved in opposition to the bias of the spring along the edge 22 of the floppy disk housing 12, so as to align the openings 30a, 30b of the shutter with the access openings 18a, 18b to support. A malignancy of the openings 30a, 30b of the shutter with the openings 18a, 18b for accessing the support discovers the access openings to the support for access.

 The Fiq. 2 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along line A-A ', of the prior art data storage disk 10 shown in Fis. 1. In addition to the features of the data storage disk 10 shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 1 shows the data storage medium 14 contained inside the floppy disk case 12, the base side 16b which comprises the second main surface 26b, the opening 18b for accessing the support, the second side plate 24b of the shutter 20 and the recessed area 28b.

As shown in Fiq. 2, the side plates 24a, 24b of the shutter may tend to protrude, at the end opposite to the edge 22, outside the recessed areas 28a, 28b away from the first and second main surfaces 26a, 26b of the floppy disk case 12. This menaqe projecting position of the openings 32a, 32b through which debris 34a, 34b can enter the openings 18a, 18b to access the medium, contaminating the data storage medium 14. The projecting position may further cause blockage of the shutter 20 when it is inserted into a floppy drive.

 We will now describe, with reference to Fiq.

3 and 4, three preferred embodiments of the diskette of the invention, by keeping the same references for unchanging elements and by specifying the improvements with respect to the prior art.

 According to the present invention, there is provided an improved shutter mechanism capable of eliminating the projecting position of the shutter which could, otherwise, lead to contamination of the support and blockage of the shutter. The Fiq. 3 is a top plan view of a data storage disk 36 with an improved shutter mechanism according to the present invention. The Fiq. 4 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along line B-B ', of the data storage disk 36 shown in FIG. 3. The data storage disk 36 shown in Fiq. 3 and 4 corresponds substantially to the data storage disk 10 shown in Fiq. 1 and 2. Unlike the data storage disk 10, on the other hand, the data storage disk 36 includes a shutter 20, a portion of which is angled toward the disk housing 12 so as to prevent the side plates 24a , 24b of the shutter do not take a projecting position.

 According to a first embodiment. a retaining flange, 42a or 42b, can be formed on one of the first main surfaces 26a, 26b or, preferably, retaining flanges 42a, 42b can be formed on the two main surfaces 26a, 26b respectively, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, without neither the bent parts 38a, 38b, nor the grooves 40a, 40b, also shown in these cracks being produced. In this case, the retaining flanges 42a and 42b serve to confine the side plates 24a and 24b of the shutter to hollow areas 28a, 28b, or a single flange would play this role for a plate on a hollowed area. Using the retaining flanges 42a, 42b alone, it may be desirable to increase the depth of the recessed areas 28a, 28b in order to increase the clearance between the side plates 24a, 24b and the flanges. In this first embodiment, the retaining flanges 42a, 42b can also be fixed to the first and second main surfaces 26a, 26b by means of an adhesive, or be molded in one piece in the plastic material of the first and second main surfaces.

 According to a second embodiment, which is also shown in Fiq. 3 and 4 but does not imply the presence of the flanges 42a and 42b of the first embodiment, a part 38a, opposite the edge 22, of the first side plate 24a is bent towards the first main surface 26a on the side 16a of the cover, while a part 38b, opposite edge 22 and shown in Fiq. 4, the second side plate 24b is bent towards the second main surface 26b on the base side 16b.

 Grooves 40a, 40b, of which only the groove 40b is shown in FIG. 4, are respectively menaqées in the recessed areas 28a, 28b of the first and second main surfaces 26a, 26b. If the cover and base sides 16a and 16b are made of plastic, the grooves 40a, 40b can be formed directly by molding the grooves in the cover and base sides. The bent portions 38a, 38b can then be oriented so as to move along the grooves 40a, 40b, respectively. The bent portions 38a and 38b and the grooves 40a and 40b prevent the side plates 24a, 24b of the shutter from taking a projecting position relative to the recessed areas 28a and 28b, which prevents contamination of the data storage medium 14 and a blockage of the shutter 20 in a diskette drive.

At the Fiq. 3 and Fiq. 4 shows a third embodiment, which combines the features of the first two in that it includes both the pair of retaining flanges 42a and 42b as all the bent parts 38a, 3b and grooves 40a, 40b. The pair of retaining ledges 42a and 42b, of which only the ledge 42b is shown in the
Fiq. 4, is formed in recessed areas 28a and 28b, respectively, near the grooves 40a, 40b. The first and second retaining edges 42a and 42b increase the assurance that the side plates 24a, 24b of the shutter will not assume a projecting position relative to the floppy disk case 12, and this prevents contamination of the support 4 of storage of data and blocking of the shutter 20.

The first retaining rim 42a is formed in the recessed area 28a of a first main surface 26a near the groove 40a. The first retaining rim 42a retains inside the groove 40a, during a movement of the shutter 20, a bent portion 38a of the first side plate 24a of the shutter. The second retaining rim 42b is formed in the recessed area 28b of the second main surface 26b near the groove 40b. The second retaining rim 42b retains inside the groove 42b, during a movement of the shutter 20, the bent portion 38b of the second side plate 24b of the shutter. If the sides 16a and 16b of cover and base are made of plastic, the retaining edges 42a, 42b can be formed directly by molding. Alternatively, retaining flanges 42a and 42b could be discrete components which are adhesively mounted on the first and second major surfaces 26a and 26b, respectively. The retaining flanges 42a and 42b may extend over the entire length of the grooves 40a, 40b, respectively. As shown in the
Fiq. 3, it is however preferred that the retaining flanges 42a, 42b occupy only a part of the grooves 42a, 42b, respectively, sufficient to maintain contact with the bent parts 38a and 38b and thus retain the bent parts inside grooves during movement.

 After this description of embodiments of the present invention given by way of example, advantages and additional modifications will emerge directly to those skilled in the art when considering the description and implementation of the invention set out here. Consequently, the description and the examples should only be considered as examples, the scope and real spirit of the invention being indicated by the claims which follow.

Claims (10)

 1. Data storage diskette (36) comprising: a fl2 box! diskette (364 aui contains a data storage medium (14), said diskette housing (12) (36) having a first main surface (26a) and a second main surface (26b) opposite said first main surface (26a ), said first main surface (26a) including an access opening (18a) to the support (14);  a shutter (20) mounted on said floppy disk housing (12), said shutter (20) extending over a recessed portion (28a) of said first main surface (26a) of said housing (12) diskette (36), said shutter (20) being movable relative to said diskette housing (12) (36) so as to cover and uncover said access opening (18a) to the support (14);  characterized in that  the floppy disk (36) further comprises a first flange (42a) formed on said first main surface (26a), said flange (42a) retaining said shutter (20) inside said recessed part (28a).  2. Diskette (36) according to claim 1, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) is made of plastic and said flange (42a) is molded into said first main surface (26a).  3. Diskette (36) according to claim 1, characterized in that  said flange (42a) is adhesively mounted on said first main surface (26a).  4. Diskette (36) according to claim 1, characterized in that  it further comprises a groove (40a) formed in said first main surface (26a),  a portion (38a) of said shutter (20) is bent towards said first main surface (26a), the bent portion (38a) of said shutter (20) being oriented so as to move along the length of said groove (40a), and  said flange (42a) retains the bent part (38a) of said shutter (20) inside said groove  (40a).  5. Diskette (36) according to claim 4, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) is made of plastic and said groove (40a) is molded in said first main surface (26a).  6. Diskette (36) according to claim 1, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) includes a first access opening (18a) to the support (14) and said second main surface (26b) includes a second access opening (18b) to the support (14),  said shutter (20) includes first and second side plates (24a, 24b) mounted so as to overlap an edge (22) of said floppy disk housing (12),  said first side plate (24a) extends above the recessed portion (28a) of said first main surface (26a) of said floppy disk housing (12) and said second side plate (24b) extends above a recessed part (28b) of said second main surface (26b) of said floppy disk housing (12),  said shutter (20) is movable along said edge (22) of said floppy case (12) so as to cover with a portion of said first side plate (24a) said first access opening (18a) to the support (14) or to discover it, and so as to cover by means of said second side plate (24b) said second access opening (18b) to the support (14) or to discover it,  characterized in that  a part (38a) of said first side plate (24a) opposite said edge (22) of said floppy case (12) is bent towards said first main surface (26a) and a part (38b) of said second side plate (24b) opposite said edge (22) of said floppy disk housing (12) is bent towards said second main surface (26b),  a first groove (40a) is formed in said first main surface (26a), the bent part (38a) of said first side plate (24a) being oriented so as to move along the length of said first groove (40a),  a second groove (40b) is formed in said second main surface (26b), the bent part (38b) of said second side plate (24b) being oriented so as to move along the length of said second groove (40b),  said first flange (42a) is formed on said first main surface (26a) so as to be adjacent to said first groove (40a), said first flange (42a) retaining the bent part inside said first groove (40a) (38a) of said first side plate (24a), and  a second flange (42b) is formed on said second main surface (26b) so as to be adjacent to said second groove (40b), said second flange (42b) retaining the bent portion inside said second groove (40b) (38b) of said second side plate (24b).  7. Diskette (36) according to claim 6, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) and said second main surface (26b) are made of plastic,  said first flange (42a) is molded into said first main surface (26a) and said second flange (42b) is molded into said second main surface (26b).  8. Diskette (36) according to claim 7, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) and said second main surface (26b) are made of plastic, and  said first groove (40a) is molded in said first main surface (26a) and said second groove (40b) is molded in said second main surface (26b).  9. Diskette (36) according to claim 6, characterized in that  said first main surface (26a) and said second main surface (26b) are made of plastic, and  said first groove (40a) is molded in said first main surface (26a) and said second groove (40b) is molded in said second main surface (26b).  10. Diskette (36) according to claim 6, characterized in that  said first flange (42a) is adhesively mounted on said first main surface (26a) and  said second flange (42b) is adhesively mounted on said second main surface (26b).