JP2000123518A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To thin and miniaturize a disk drive by an amount equivalent to the amount of a dead space by dissolving the generation of the dead space at the side of a disk drive in a state in which a disk cartridge is loaded on the disk drive. SOLUTION: This disk cartridge has a square shaped case main body 2 and a disk 1 to be housed in the main room part 10 demarcated in the inside of the case. Spatial places 15 opening downward are provided at the lower surfaces of adjacent corner parts among four corner parts at sides outer than the pripheral wall 9 of the main room part 10. Protrusions 17 provided with positioning holes 16 are provided in these spatial places 15. Then, it is dissolved that a dead space is generated in the downward of the under surface of the disk cartridge by taking-in protruding dimensions of receiving bases 20 with the spatial places 15 in a state in which the positioning holes 16 are engagingly held with positioning pins P of the side of a disk drive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a disk cartridge represented by a magneto-optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A disk cartridge of this type generally comprises a disk for recording an information signal, a case body for accommodating the disk, a shutter for opening and closing a signal reading / writing window, and the like. The case body is formed of a rectangular thin hollow case in which the upper and lower cases are joined together in a lid-like manner, and has a circular section for accommodating a disk therein. A pair of positioning holes are opened toward the lower case side at the front and rear corners of the radially outer surface of the rib surrounding the partition. By using these positioning holes, the disk cartridge loaded in the disk drive is positioned and held.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Disc drives, especially portable disc drives (disc players), are one of the important product specifications in which compactness, thinness and light weight are important. Even in current products, miniaturization has been realized to a state close to the limit due to miniaturization and high integration of electric circuit components, high-density arrangement of mechanical components, and the like. Nevertheless, there is a strong demand for miniaturization, thinning and weight reduction, and in the product development process, different departments in charge compete for space in units of millimeters or less.

Incidentally, when the disk cartridge is loaded in the disk drive, the positioning pins are engaged with the positioning holes to position the disk cartridge in the front-rear, left-right directions, and simultaneously perform the vertical positioning. I have. Specifically, a receiving seat is formed in a protruding manner at the base end of the positioning pin in the form of a flange, and the bottom surface of the case is received and supported by the upper end surface of the receiving seat. In such a positioning structure, it is inevitable that a dead space equal to the projecting dimension of the receiving seat is generated between the bottom surface of the disk cartridge and the bottom wall of the loading portion. The inventor of the present invention has noticed that simply eliminating the dead space can greatly contribute to a reduction in the thickness of a disk drive, and has proposed the present invention.

An object of the present invention is to form a downwardly open space in a thin rectangular box-shaped case body by using four corners other than a main chamber for accommodating a disk, and to utilize this space. Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge capable of realizing a smaller and thinner disk drive by arranging devices on the disk drive side, or improving the degree of freedom in designing the device layout.

Another object of the present invention is to improve a structure for engaging a positioning pin of a case main body to minimize a gap between a bottom surface of a disk cartridge and a bottom wall of a mounting portion when the disk cartridge is mounted. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize a thin and compact disk drive by an amount corresponding to the reduced gap.

[0007]

A disk cartridge according to the present invention comprises a disk 1 for recording information signals, and a case body 2 in which a main chamber 10 accommodating the disk 1 is partitioned inside the case. ing. The case body 2 includes a thin rectangular box-shaped upper case 2a having an opening on the lower surface side, and a lower case 2b having a main chamber portion 10 opening upward and being internally fitted to the upper case 2a from the lower surface side. To form a thin square box. The lower case 2 b includes a bottom wall 8 and a peripheral wall 9 that divide the main chamber portion 10, and a joining wall 11 that is continuously formed laterally at the upper end of the peripheral wall 9. The joining wall 11 is joined to the inner surface of the upper wall 5 of the upper case 2a, and at least one corner of the lower surface of the four corners of the case main body 2 is formed with a cavity 15 allowing entry of a device on the disk drive side opening downward. .

A cavity 15 is formed in the lower surface of two adjacent corners of the case body 2, and each of the two spaces 15 is provided with a projection 17 having a positioning hole 16 opening downward. On the periphery of the opening of the positioning hole 16, a seat 2 for the positioning pin P is provided.
A reference surface 19 which is received and supported at 0 is provided. Reference plane 1
The vertical dimension h between the lower surface 9 and the lower surface of the bottom wall 8 is set slightly smaller than the projecting dimension H of the receiving seat 20.

The joining wall 11 of the lower case 2b and the upper case 2
The upper case 5a and the lower case 2b are integrally welded to each other by welding the upper wall 5 at the joint surface of the two 5 and 11.

[0010]

The space 15 is provided in at least one corner of the lower surface of the four corners of the case body 2, so that on the disk drive side, mechanical parts and electric parts can be arranged by using the space 15, and the disk drive can be used by that much. Can be reduced in size and thickness. In many cases, the disk cartridge engages with the positioning pins while moving down in the final step of the loading operation. In order to satisfy such a loading operation, the cavity 15 is formed in a state of opening downward.

The projection 17 provided with the positioning hole 16 is
5, if the vertical dimension h associated with the reference surface 19 of the positioning hole 16 is set slightly smaller than the projection H of the seat 20, most of the projection H of the seat 20 can be absorbed in the space 15. The gap between the bottom surface of the bottom wall of the case body 2 and the bottom wall 21 of the disk drive loading section can be minimized, and the disk drive can be made thinner by that amount. The projection 17 may be formed integrally with the upper case 2a or may be formed integrally with the lower case 2b.

The joining wall 11 of the lower case 2b is connected to the upper case 2a.
According to the disk cartridge welded to the upper wall 5, the joint wall 11 and the upper wall 5 reinforce each other's wall surfaces to be joined to each other. Is avoided. Upper and lower case 2a
-Since the joining area at the joining portion of 2b is increased, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering through the joining gap between both cases 2a and 2b.

[0013]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention. In the bottom view of FIG. 2, the disk cartridge comprises a disk (magneto-optical disk) 1 for recording information signals and a case body 2 for accommodating the disk 1 in a rotatable state. The disk 1 has a hub at the center of the lower surface of the disk body, and can record information signals on one or both sides of the disk body.

The case body 2 is formed of a case in which the upper case 2a and the lower case 2b, each of which is formed by plastic molding, are joined, and the plan view is a square. Upper and lower cases 2a and 2b
A signal reading / writing window 3 is opened at one side of the window 3, and the window 3 is slidably opened and closed by a shutter 4. The shutter 4 is a lock mechanism (not shown) in the closed position.
Is locked.

In FIG. 3, the upper case 2a is formed of a thin rectangular box having a rectangular upper wall 5 and peripheral side walls 6 provided at four peripheral portions thereof and having an open lower surface side. A shallow slide recess 7 for the shutter 4 is formed, and the signal read / write window 3 is provided on one side thereof. The vertical dimension of the peripheral side wall 6 is set to be the same as the total thickness dimension of the case main body 2.

The lower case 2b has a main chamber portion 10 defined by a circular bottom wall 8 and a peripheral wall 9, and the joining wall 11 projects horizontally from the upper end of the peripheral wall 9. A main chamber 10 for accommodating the disk 1 is open upward, and a drive hole 12 for rotating and driving the disk 1 through a hub is provided at the center of the bottom wall 8.
Is open. The signal read / write window 3 is provided adjacent to the drive hole 12. Like the upper case 2a, the lower case 2
A slide recess 7 is also provided on the lower surface side of b (see FIG. 2).
A joining wall 11 is formed to protrude around the main chamber portion 10 excluding the slide concave portion 7. The joining wall 11 is formed so as to be joined to the upper wall 5 along the inner surface of the peripheral side wall 6. In this embodiment, a structure is adopted in which the joining walls 11 at the four corners continuously project in a flange shape.

Disk 1 and shutter 4 are placed in lower case 2b.
The upper case 2a is fitted over the lower case 2b, and the upper wall 5 and the joining wall 11 are welded to each other to form the case body 2. For this purpose, as shown in FIG.
Some 4 are provided. By joining and fixing the joining wall 11 to the upper wall 5, a cavity 15 that opens downward is formed on the lower surface of each corner of the case body 2.

A positioning hole 16 is provided in each of the cavities 15 adjacent to the long side edge of the case body 2 among the cavities 15 described above. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a boss (projection) 17 protrudes downward from the inner surface of the upper wall 5 of the upper case 2a, and a positioning hole 16 is formed in the boss 17. In the joint wall 11 of the lower case 2b, a through hole 18 that allows the boss 17 to pass through is formed. Of the pair of positioning holes 16,
One is formed as a round hole, and the other is formed as an oblong hole (see FIG. 2).

When the disk cartridge is loaded in the disk drive, the positioning pins P provided on the loading portion of the disk drive engage with the respective positioning holes 16 as shown in FIG. Hold. At the same time, the reference surface 19 at the lower end of the boss 17 is received by the seat 20 provided at the base end of the positioning pin P, and the positioning of the case body 2 in the case thickness direction is also performed. In this positioning state, the projecting dimension of the boss 17 is set as follows in order to avoid a dead space below the bottom surface of the case body 2.

In FIG. 1, the projection of the boss 17 is defined so that the vertical dimension h between the reference surface 19 and the lower surface of the bottom wall 8 is slightly smaller than the projection H of the seat 20.
In other words, the projection size of the receiving seat 20 is absorbed by using the space 15, and the bottom wall 8 can be arranged as close to the loading portion bottom wall 21 as possible.

According to the disk cartridge constructed as described above, mechanical parts, electric parts, and the like can be arranged in the loading portion of the disk drive by utilizing the space 15 formed on the lower surface of the case. Further, the thickness of the disk cartridge can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the size of the protrusion of the receiving seat 20, so that the overall size and thickness of the disk drive can be simultaneously reduced. Further, since the joining wall 11 and the upper wall 5 are welded to each other to reinforce the wall surfaces to be joined to each other, the strength and rigidity of the case main body 2 due to the provision of the cavity 15 can be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the boss structure. FIG.
The boss 17 shown in (a) is formed such that its lower end surface is flush with the bottom surface of the case body 2, and a second hole 23 having a larger diameter is provided at the lower end of the positioning hole 16. , Second
The reference surface 19 is provided at the upper end of the hole 23. That is, the receiving seat 20 is fitted in the second hole 23 to perform positioning in the case thickness direction.

The boss 17 shown in FIG.
and was formed integrally with b. More specifically, a boss 17 is protruded from the lower surface of the joining wall 11, and a hole that penetrates the boss 17 vertically is provided as a positioning hole 16. The boss 17 can be formed as a non-circular projection continuous with the peripheral wall 9 of the main chamber 10 or the peripheral wall 6 of the upper case 2a.

In the above embodiment, the peripheral surface of the main chamber 10 is defined only by the peripheral wall 9 provided on the lower case 2b, but this is not necessary. As shown in FIG. 4B, a peripheral wall 9a provided on the inner surface of the upper wall of the upper case 2a and a peripheral wall 9b provided on the lower case 2b
Thus, the peripheral surface of the main chamber 10 can be partitioned. In addition to the above embodiment, the void 15 may be provided at at least one of the four corners of the case body 2.

[0025]

According to the present invention, a cavity 15 that opens downward is formed in the dead space formed at the four corners of the case body 2 radially outside the main chamber portion 10 that houses the disk 1. . Therefore, by arranging electric circuit components, mechanical components, and the like in the space corresponding to the space 15, the disk drive can be reduced in size or thickness. Further, a projection 17 having a positioning hole 16 is provided in the cavity 15, and a protrusion H of the receiving seat 20 of the positioning pin P is provided.
Can be absorbed in the space 15, the dead space corresponding to the projecting dimension of the receiving seat 20 can be prevented from being generated in the loading portion of the disk drive, so that the disk drive can be further thinned accordingly. It can be shaped and miniaturized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a case main body.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the projection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Disc 2 Case main body 5 Top wall 8 Bottom wall 9 Peripheral wall 10 Main chamber part 11 Joining wall 15 Empty space 16 Positioning hole 17 Projection (boss) 19 Reference plane 20 Receiving seat P Positioning pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A disc 1 for recording an information signal
And a case body 2 in which a main chamber 10 for accommodating the disk 1 is partitioned inside the case. The case body 2 has a thin rectangular box-shaped upper case 2a having an open lower surface, and an upward opening. Lower case 2 which has a main chamber portion 10 and which is internally fitted and joined to upper case 2a from the lower surface side.
b, the lower case 2b includes a bottom wall 8 and a peripheral wall 9 that divide the main chamber portion 10, and a joining wall 11 that is formed to extend laterally continuously from the upper end of the peripheral wall 9. The joining wall 11 is joined to the inner surface of the upper wall 5 of the upper case 2a,
A disk cartridge in which at least one corner of the lower surface of the four corners of the case main body 2 is formed with a space 15 that allows entry of a device on the disk drive side opening downward. 2. A space 15 is formed in the lower surface of two adjacent corners of the case body 2, and each of the two spaces 15 is provided with a projection 17 having a positioning hole 16 that opens downward. In the periphery of the opening of the positioning hole 16, the seat 2 for the positioning pin P is provided.
Reference surface 19 is provided which is received and supported at 0. The vertical dimension h between reference surface 19 and the lower surface of bottom wall 8
2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion dimension is set slightly smaller than a protrusion dimension H of the disk cartridge. 3. The joint wall 11 of the lower case 2b and the upper wall 5 of the upper case 2a are welded to each other at the joint surface of the two 5 · 11, so that the upper case 2a and the lower case 2b are integrated so that they cannot be separated. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: