JP2000090623A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To strongly couple the halves together which constitute a disk cartridge. SOLUTION: A cartridge case in which a recording medium 3 is housed turnably is formed in such a way that a pair of a upper case half 1 and a lower case half 2 which are faced with each other and which are made of a rigid synthetic resin area faced so as to be ultrasonically welded. In the halves 1 and 2, a plate part 1a and a plate part 1b are provided, and a boss-shaped rise part 4 and a boss-shaped rise part 5 which are formed so as to protrude from opposite faces of the plate part 1a and the plate part 1b are provided. The rise part 4 comprises a recessed hole 6 which is recessed from its tip face. A step part 7 is formed peripherally at the inner circumferential edge in the entrance part of the recessed hole 6. A rib 8, for ultrasonic welding, whose height is large is installed on the bottom face 7b of the step part 7. The rise part 4 protrudes from the mating surface F of the half 1 with the half 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge used as a recording medium for an information recording / reproducing apparatus such as a floppy disk drive and an optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 5 to 7 are views showing a conventional disk cartridge, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view, and FIGS.
(B) is a diagram of each case half as viewed from the inside, and FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the upright portion.

[0003] A cartridge case in which a disk-shaped recording medium 3 is rotatably housed has a pair of upper and lower hard synthetic resin case halves (hereinafter abbreviated as "half") 1 and 2 facing each other. It is formed by ultrasonic welding. Each half 1 and 2 is a plate part 1a,
2a, and boss-shaped connecting upright portions 4 and 5 projecting from opposing surfaces of the plate portions 1a and 2a. The upright portion 4 has a concave hole 6 that is recessed from the tip surface thereof,
A step 7 is provided around the inner peripheral edge of the entrance of the concave hole 6. Reference numeral 7a denotes a bottom surface of the step 7, and 7b denotes a peripheral wall surface of the step 7. A rib 8 for ultrasonic welding is provided on a bottom surface 7a of the step portion 7. The ribs 8 are softened or melted by frictional heat generated during ultrasonic welding.

[0004] The upright portion 5 is provided with a concave hole 9 which is recessed from the front end surface. In order to join the halves 1 and 2, the upright portion 5 is inserted into the step portion 7 of the upright portion 4 as shown in FIGS. 7 (a), 7 (c) and 7 (d), and ultrasonic welding is performed by applying ultrasonic vibration. . The rib 8 is softened or melted by frictional heat with the tip surface of the upright portion 5, and the softened material or molten material of the rib 8 spreads between the step bottom surface 7 a and the tip surface of the upright portion 5. When the application of the ultrasonic vibration is stopped, the softened or molten material is cooled and solidified, and the connection between the upright portions 4 and 5 is completed.

The relationship between the raised portions 4 and 5 of the halves 1 and 2 and the mating surfaces of the halves 1 and 2 is as shown in FIG. It will be flush. Reference numeral 10 denotes an ultrasonic welding machine (particularly a horn).
Is shown.

[0006]

The height of the ribs 8 is increased as shown in FIG. 9 in order to increase the bonding force of the standing portions 4 and 5 by ultrasonic welding, and the softened or molten material generated during ultrasonic welding is formed. It is conceivable to increase the amount.

However, when the ribs 8 are simply raised in this way, the fitting depths of the upright portions 4 and 5 in the combined body of the halves 1 and 2 before ultrasonic welding become small, and the upstanding portions at the time of ultrasonic welding are reduced. There is a possibility that the fitting of the halves 4 and 5 may be disengaged and the halves 1 and 2 may be displaced from each other. (Because of this, the halves 1 and 2 may be ultrasonically welded to each other at an unexpected location, and burrs may protrude from the side end surface of the case.) As a countermeasure, as shown in FIG. It is conceivable to increase the depth of the portion 7 and correspondingly increase the length (height) of the upright portion 5. However, when the standing portion 5 is lengthened in this way, the ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the ultrasonic welding surface via the standing portion 5 is considerably attenuated, which may result in poor welding. Needs to increase the output of the ultrasonic welding machine 10.

An object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge which can make the connection between the upright portions of the case halves extremely strong without increasing the output of the ultrasonic welding machine.

[0009]

A disk cartridge according to the present invention is a disk cartridge in which a disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably housed in a cartridge case, the cartridge case comprising a pair of plate-shaped case halves. And each case half has a plate portion and a column-shaped coupling upright portion erected on an opposing surface of the plate portion. In the upright portion of the case half, a concave hole is formed in the distal end surface, a step is formed along the inner peripheral surface of the concave hole of the distal end surface, and the step is substantially parallel to the plate portion. The second case half is surrounded by a step bottom surface and a step peripheral wall rising from the bottom surface. The ultrasonically welded disc on the bottom In the cartridge, the standing portion of the first case half is characterized in that protrudes from the first and the mating surfaces of the second case half.

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, since the tip of the upright portion of the first case half projects beyond the mating surface of the halves, the position of the bottom surface of the step is equal to that of the conventional case. Even so, the depth of the step can be increased. Even if the height of the rib on the bottom of the step portion is increased, the fitting depth of the upright portion in the combined body of the halves immediately before the ultrasonic welding (the upright portion of the second case half is the step of the first case half) (Depth into the part) can be made sufficiently large.

From the above, according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the height of the ribs to increase the bonding force between the upright portions, and to fit the upright portions of the halves during ultrasonic welding. By making the joint depth sufficient, it is possible to prevent the displacement of the halves at the time of ultrasonic welding, the connection between the case halves is extremely strong, and the yield by ultrasonic welding is increased.

In the present invention, the upright portion of the first case half can be easily inserted into the step portion by forming the intersection between the peripheral wall surface of the step portion and the tip surface of the upright portion as a curved surface or a slope.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail.

1 to 3 show the structure of an ultrasonic welding portion of a disk cartridge according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which halves 1 and 2 are separated, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a state where the two are combined, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view after ultrasonic welding.

In this embodiment, the upright portions 4 of the halves 1 project beyond the mating surfaces F between the halves 1 and 2. In addition, the protruding height a is preferably 0.1 to 1.0 mm, particularly preferably 0.3 to 0.8 mm.

Other structures of the upright portions 4 and 5 and the halves 1 and 2 are the same as those of the conventional example shown in FIGS.

The disk cartridge is formed by ultrasonic welding so that the upright portions 4 and 5 are fitted to each other. However, since the upright portions 4 protrude from the mating surface F as described above, Even when the bottom surface 7a is arranged at the same position as the conventional example in FIG. 8, the depth of the step 7 can be made sufficiently large. Even if the height of the ribs 8 is much larger than that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the tip end surface of the upright portion 5 can be inserted sufficiently deep into the step portion 7 as shown in FIG. Of the halves 1 and 2 is prevented. In addition, by increasing the height of the rib 8, the amount of softening or melt generated at the interface between the upright portions 4 and 5 during ultrasonic welding can be increased, and the connection between the upright portions 4 and 5 can be strengthened. Moreover, the length (height) of the upright portion 5 itself is equivalent to the conventional example of FIG.
The upright portions 4, 5 can be reliably welded without increasing the output of the ultrasonic welding machine 10.

The height of the rib 8 is 0.1 to 0.7 mm.
It is particularly preferable that the thickness be 0.2 to 0.6 mm. The insertion depth of the upright portion 5 into the step portion 7 is 0.6 to 1.7 mm.
In particular, it is preferably from 1.0 to 1.5 mm.

In this embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (b), the inner peripheral edge on the distal end side of the upright portion 4 (the intersection between the distal end surface and the step-side peripheral wall 7b) is formed into an R shape or a C-chamfered shape, and the upright portion 5 is inserted into the step portion 7. Making it easier. When this corner edge is formed in an R shape (curved surface shape), the radius of curvature is 0.05
mm or more, especially 0.1 mm or more, and the dimension t of the R-shaped portion is 0.05 to 0.7 mm, especially 0.1 to 0.5 m
m is preferable.

When the corner portion is formed as a C-chamfered slope, the dimension t of the slope is preferably 0.05 to 0.7 mm, particularly preferably 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the halves constituting the disk cartridge are firmly connected to each other, and the durability of the disk cartridge is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration near an upright portion of a half of a disk cartridge according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view before combining the halves of FIG. 1 before ultrasonic welding.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a joint between the upright portions of the half of FIG. 1 after ultrasonic welding.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a tip of a standing portion.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional disk cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a half of a conventional disk cartridge.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a conventional half upright portion.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional half assembled before ultrasonic welding.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing another conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing still another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Half 4, 5 Standing part 6, 9 Concave hole 7 Step 7a Step bottom 7b Step peripheral wall 8 Rib 10 Ultrasonic welding machine

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A disk cartridge in which a disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably stored in a cartridge case, wherein the cartridge case is ultrasonically welded with a pair of plate-shaped case halves facing each other. Each of the case halves has a plate portion and a pillar-shaped connecting erection portion erected on the opposing surface of the plate portion. A recess is formed in the surface, and a step is formed along the inner peripheral surface of the recess at the tip end surface. The step has a step bottom surface substantially parallel to the plate portion, and a step portion rising from the bottom surface. The upright portion of the other second case half is enclosed by the peripheral wall surface, and the leading end of the upright portion of the second case half is fitted to the step portion, and the leading end surface is ultrasonically welded to the step bottom surface. The first case half Wherein the upright portion protrudes from the mating surface of the first and second case halves. 2. The first case half according to claim 1, wherein a rib is provided on a step bottom surface of an upright portion of the first case half, and the rib is provided with an ultrasonic wave with respect to a tip end surface of the upright portion of the second case half. A disk cartridge which is welded. 3. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein an intersection angle between a front end surface of the upright portion of the first case half and a step peripheral wall surface is a curved surface or an inclined surface.