JP2000132938A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the limitation of an insertion direction for a recording/ reproduction device, to enable insertion and loading from an arbitrary direction, at the same time, to prevent a shutter for opening and closing an opening window from being carelessly opened and closed, and to securely protect a disk- shaped storage medium to be accommodated in a disk cartridge for accommodating the disk-shaped storage medium. SOLUTION: In a disk cartridge, a cartridge body for accommodating a storage medium disk D is formed in a disk shape by incorporating front and back halves 3 and 4 with disk-shaped main plate parts 3a and 4a, a shutter 13 is rotatably built into a cartridge body 2, where the shutter opens and closes opening windows 12 and 10 corresponding to a head being formed at the main plate parts 3a and 4a of the front and back halves 3 and 4, and the cartridge body and the shutter 13 are relatively rotated and operated, thus opening and closing the opening window corresponding to the head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge containing a disk-shaped recording medium serving as a recording medium for information signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a disk cartridge in which a disk-shaped recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk is rotatably housed in a cartridge body, for example, those shown in FIGS. The disk cartridge 1 is a disk-shaped recording medium having a diameter of 64 mm, that is, a so-called mini disk (MD: trade name). There are two types of disk cartridges for this mini-disc: reproduction-only and recording / reproduction. The mini-disc recording / reproduction disk cartridge 111 shown in FIGS.
Is composed of a cartridge body 112 and a magneto-optical disk D, and a read-only disk cartridge (not shown) is composed of a cartridge body and an optical disk.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a cartridge body 112 of a recording / reproducing disk cartridge 111 is formed by combining a pair of front and back halves 113, 114, and a disk housing formed in both halves 113, 114 is provided. A magneto-optical disk D is rotatably housed in the section. The cartridge main body 112 has a rectangular shape in a plan view, and as shown in FIG.
An insertion opening 114b for the drive shaft is provided at the center of the above-described disk storage section, and a chucking hub d fixed to the center of the magneto-optical disk D faces. An opening window 114a is provided between the front side and the part on the recording surface side of the magneto-optical disk D, which is radially desired. On the other hand, the front half 113 is also shown in FIG. Window 113a is provided so that a part of the surface opposite to the recording surface of the magneto-optical disk D faces in the radial direction.

[0004] The cartridge body 112 slides along the front side, and the opening window 1 on the front half 113 side is opened.
A shutter 116 is provided for opening and closing the opening window 114a on the side 13a and the back half 114. This shutter 1
Reference numeral 16 denotes a cover plate 116a, which is formed of a thin metal plate and has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and which corresponds to the two open windows 113a, 114a.
116b and a front part 116c connecting front edges of the two cover plate parts 116a and 116b. One side of the front part 116c, that is, the side opposite to the opening direction is extended to form the engaging part 116d. When the shutter 116 is closed, the shutter 116 is engaged with a lock member (not shown) provided on the cartridge main body 112 so that the shutter 116 is locked with respect to the cartridge main body 112.

Various detecting portions and locking portions are formed on the peripheral portion of the cartridge body 112 from the lower surface side to the peripheral surface side. A detecting portion 112a is provided with a cartridge detecting pin inserted therein to detect the type of the cartridge. The groove is formed to be shallow because the disk cartridge 111 is used for recording and reproduction, and 112b is a locking concave portion with which a locking piece of the lock mechanism is engaged. In addition, positioning holes 112c and 112d are formed on the lower surface of the cartridge main body 112 so as to be engaged with guide pins of the chassis substrate 1 (not shown).

In the disk cartridge 111 constructed as described above, the disk recording / reproducing apparatus has a rear half 114 side of the cartridge main body 112 on the surface of the front half 113 corresponding to a rotary driving device and an optical head. Insert from the direction of. As a result, in the disk cartridge 111, the lock of the shutter 116 with respect to the cartridge body 112 by the lock member is released by the operation member provided in the cartridge insertion portion of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus, and the operation member is moved to the engagement portion 116d of the shutter 116. And the shutter 116 is locked, and the cartridge body 112 is further inserted in this state, so that the opening windows 113 of the halves 113 and 114 are opened.
a and 114a are released.

In this state, a turntable as a drive mechanism is inserted from the insertion opening 114d of the drive mechanism on the back half 114 side of the cartridge body 112, and the magneto-optical disk D
Are chucked via the chucking hub d, the optical head of the optical pickup device is provided on the opening window 114a on the back half 114 side, and the magnetic field head of the overwrite head device is provided on the opening window 113a on the front half 113 side. And recording and / or reproduction of the magneto-optical disk 3 is performed.

[0008]

Incidentally, in the above-mentioned disk cartridges, not only MD media disk cartridges but also various disk cartridges such as audio media disk cartridges, data media disk cartridges, etc. Despite the shape, the main surface of the cartridge main body is formed in a thin housing shape having a substantially square shape.

Therefore, in these disk cartridges, there is a designation of an insertion direction into a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing an information signal on / from a recording medium disk, and it is difficult to determine the insertion direction, and erroneous insertion often occurs. there were. In addition, this type of disk cartridge tends to be downsized. When the disk cartridge is downsized, it becomes more difficult to determine the insertion direction, and even if the insertion direction is checked each time, considerable stress accumulates.

Further, as the recording density of information signals on the recording medium disk of the disk cartridge is increased, there is a need for a disk cartridge that can reliably prevent dust from adhering to the recording medium disk and damage to the recording medium disk. .

However, in the conventional disk cartridge, the shutter having the U-shaped cross section as described above is slidably fitted to the outer surface of the cartridge body, and the two cover plates correspond to the heads of the front and back halves. Although it is configured to open and close the opening window, since both cover plate portions are merely overlapped on the outer surface side, the free end side is raised and a gap is easily generated, and through this gap, the opening window enters the cassette body from the opening window. There is a problem that dust easily enters.

Further, since the two cover plates of the shutter are raised, there is a possibility that a finger or the like may be caught on the edge of the cover plate and the shutter may be opened carelessly. When the cartridge is opened, dust may enter the cartridge body, and the recording medium disk may be easily stained or damaged, and the recording of information signals may be lost or deteriorated.

Further, since the two cover plates of the shutter of the disk cartridge are raised, when the disk cartridge is removed from the state of being inserted and loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter is caught in the apparatus and cannot be removed. Therefore, there is a possibility that not only the disk cartridge but also the recording / reproducing device cannot be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims at improving the closeability of an opening window by a shutter, reliably preventing intrusion of dust into a cartridge body, and preventing erroneous opening / closing operation of a shutter. The present invention provides a disk cartridge which can cope with an increase in recording density by ensuring protection of a recording medium disk to be accommodated, and eliminates limitations on the direction of insertion into a recording / reproducing apparatus, thereby facilitating handling. The purpose is to:

[0015]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems and achieve the above object, a disk cartridge according to the present invention is provided with a disk-shaped main plate portion and a peripheral portion provided around the main plate portion. A cartridge body formed by combining a pair of front and back halves each having a peripheral surface portion, a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in the cartridge body, and an opening corresponding to a head formed in each main plate portion of the front and back halves; Windows and
An insertion opening of a rotary drive mechanism formed at the center of one main plate portion of the front and back halves, and a shutter for opening and closing at least an opening window corresponding to the head in the cartridge body,
The opening window corresponding to the head is configured to be opened and closed on the inner side by a shutter.

In the above configuration, the shutter is rotatably built in the cartridge main body, and the opening window is opened and closed by relative rotation with the cartridge main body.

In the above configuration, the shutter is configured to rotate around the center of the main plate portion of the cartridge body as a rotation center to open and close the opening window.

Further, in the above configuration, an operation port for opening the shutter can be provided on at least one of the peripheral surfaces of the front and back halves.

In the above configuration, it is preferable that a shutter for opening and closing an opening corresponding to the head and an insertion opening of the rotary drive mechanism is provided in the cartridge body.

In the above construction, the engaging portion of the rotation positioning means of the recording / reproducing apparatus is provided on at least one of the main plate portions of the front and back halves of the cartridge body, and the positioning of the cartridge body is regulated by the rotation positioning means. The shutter is configured to be opened and closed.

Further, in the above configuration, it is preferable that the shutter forms a protective surface portion corresponding to a peripheral portion of the disk-shaped recording medium.

[0022]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, a disk cartridge according to the present invention is configured as a disk cartridge containing a magneto-optical disk such as a mini disk which can be recorded and reproduced as a disk-shaped recording medium.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a disk cartridge according to an embodiment. The cartridge main body 2 of the disc cartridge 1 has circular main plate portions 3a and 4a, respectively.
And a peripheral surface portion 3 provided around the main plate portions 3a and 4a.
A pair of halves 3 and 4 having b and 4b are joined together by abutting their peripheral surfaces 3b and 4b. A magneto-optical disk (hereinafter, referred to as a recording medium disk) D as a disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably housed in the cartridge body 2.

Each half 3, 4 of the cartridge body 2
Is manufactured by injection molding using a plastic material such as ABS resin or PC (polycarbonate). The main plate portions 3a and 4a of the halves 3 and 4 are disk-shaped corresponding to the shape of the recording medium D and are formed to have a diameter larger than the diameter of the recording medium disk D by a required size. Arc-shaped guide ribs 5 and 6 each having a diameter slightly larger than that of the medium disk D and lacking a required portion described later are formed.

Also, one half, in this embodiment, the peripheral surface 4b of the back half 4 has a part,
A portion corresponding to an opening angle around the center of approximately 90 ° is omitted to form an operation opening 7, and a guide rib 6 formed on a main plate portion 4 a of the back half 4 also has an operation opening 7. A cutout portion 6a is formed at a position facing the surface, more specifically, such that a substantially half portion faces the operation port portion 7.

In the center of the main plate portion 4a of the back half 4, an insertion opening 8 for a turntable as a rotary drive mechanism is formed in a circular shape through the main plate portion 4a. An annular rib 9 is formed on the inner peripheral edge of 8. The main plate 4a of the back half 4 is located between the operation port 7 and the insertion port 8 and is long in the radial direction. An opening window 10 having a required width is formed so as to reach a portion facing the operation port 7.

On the other hand, the notch 5a of the guide rib 5 formed on the inner surface side of the main plate 3a of the front half 3 is
It is formed so as to correspond to the notch 6a of the guide rib 6 on the side.
Annular rib 1 corresponding to the annular rib 9 at the side center portion
1 is formed. And the main plate portion 3 of the front half 3
The opening window 12 is also formed in a corresponding to the opening window 10 on the back half 4 side. That is, the opening window 12 on the main plate portion 3a side of the front half 3 is formed to have a required width with a length extending from the vicinity of the annular rib 11 to one half of the notched portion 5a of the guide rib 5.

The front half 3 and the rear half 4 formed in this way form a cartridge body 2 by accommodating the recording medium disk D in the guide ribs 5 and 6 to form a cartridge body 2. A shutter 13 for opening and closing the opening windows 12 and 10 is built in. The shutter 13 has a pair of closing plates 13a and 13b having a width slightly larger than the radius of the recording medium disk D and having a width for closing the opening windows 12 and 10 and having a substantially fan shape in plan view. Each of the closing plate portions 1 is formed with a gap substantially equal to the gap between the inner surfaces and connected between the leading edges by a connecting plate portion 13c facing the peripheral surface of the recording medium disk D as a protection surface portion.
At the base ends of 3a and 13b, the aforementioned annular ribs 11,
Annular shaft supports 13d and 13e rotatably fitted to the shaft 9 are formed. Further, the connecting plate portion 1 of the shutter 13
A lock piece 13f is formed by extending a portion of one end of 3c near the closing plate 13b.

The shutter 13 formed in this way moves the recording medium disk D radially in the direction of the closing plate portions 13a, 13b.
The annular shaft support 13d on the one closing plate portion 13a side is fixed to the annular rib 11 on the front half 3 side, and the annular shaft support portion 13e on the other closing plate portion 13b side is fixed to the back half 4 in a state of being sandwiched between the two.
And the two halves 3, 4
Are rotatably positioned in the cutout portions 5a, 6a of the guide ribs 5, 6. The shutter 13 has one closing plate 13a in the opening window 12 of the front half 3 and the other closing plate when the shutter 13 is rotated to one half of the notched portions 5a, 6a of the guide ribs 5, 6. Part 13b is back half 4
Corresponding to each of the opening windows 10,
Is closed from the inner surface side. From this state, the shutter 13 is rotated to the other half of the notched portions 5a, 6a of the guide ribs 5, 6, so that the closing plate portions 13a, 13b are separated from the opening windows 12, 10 of the front and back halves 3, 4. The opening windows 12 and 10 are opened.

The shutter 13 that rotates in this manner to open and close the opening windows 12 and 10 of the halves 3 and 4 is
The cartridge body 2 is provided with a shutter lock body 14 so as to be locked in a closed state corresponding to 10. That is, the shutter lock body 14 is mounted on the inner surface side of the main plate 4 a of the back half 4, on one end side of the operation port 7, at the outside of one end of the notch 6 a of the guide rib 6. . The shutter lock body 14 is formed of a resin material having elasticity. The shutter lock body 14 is substantially V-shaped as a whole, with one side formed as a lock piece 14a and the other side formed as an elastic piece 14b. Part of the shaft support 1
4c, the lock piece 14a is relatively rigid and has a lock piece 1
Engaging portion 14a ₁ which engages the 3f is formed, whereas, the elastic piece 14b has a hemispherical head is formed in a thin shape so as to possess a required elasticity to the outer surface side tip, also, the shaft Branch 14
c is formed in a cylindrical shape.

The shutter lock body 1 thus formed
4, the elastic piece 14b is pivotally attached to the above-described position of the main plate portion 4a of the back half 4 at the pivot support portion 14c, and the elastic piece 14b is brought into contact with the outer surface side of the guide rib 6 at the hemispherical head at the tip thereof. locking piece 14a is arranged so as to correspond the tip engaging portion 14a ₁ on the inner side of the lock piece portion 13f of the shutter 13.

The cartridge main body 2 is provided with a frame 15 for preventing erroneous erasure. The frame 15 for preventing erroneous erasure is movably fitted to a frame 16 formed between the peripheral surfaces 3b, 4b of the front and back halves 3, 4 and the guide ribs 5, 6. The detection through holes 17 are provided on the main plate portions 3a and 4a of the front and back halves 3 and 4 corresponding to the half portion.
a, 17b are drilled and opened and closed by the movement of the piece 15,
A recordable / non-recordable state can be detected and visually confirmed. This erroneous erase prevention piece 15
Is performed through an operation / detection window 18 formed over the peripheral surface portions 3b and 4b of the front and back halves 3 and 4.

In this embodiment, the main body 3a of the front half 3 of the cartridge body 2 is formed with an engaging portion 19 of a rotation positioning member, which will be described later, in a concave or through hole shape.

When the thus constructed disk cartridge 1 is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 as shown in FIG. 5, the shutter 13 closes the opening windows 12, 10 of the front and back halves 3, 4 of the cartridge body 2. Parts 13a, 13
It is loaded in a state closed by b. The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 is provided with, for example, a rotation support mechanism 32 for rotationally positioning the disk cartridge 1 in the disk cartridge loading section, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
Is a rotating shaft 33 driven by a motor (not shown).
Body 34 provided with a plurality of arms 34a in the radial direction
And an engaging element 35 elastically engaged with the engaging section 19 of the disc cartridge 1 at the tip of the arm section 34a.
Is configured.

The lock piece 13f of the shutter 13 is located at the periphery of the rotation support mechanism 32, that is, at a predetermined position on the rotation trajectory of the disk cartridge 1 supported by the rotation support mechanism 32. The release claw member 36 that engages with the disc cartridge 1 is disposed, and the release claw member 36 is elastically biased by a required elastic force in the rotation locus direction of the disk cartridge 1.

In the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 configured as described above, when a disk cartridge is loaded from the insertion slot 31a, the rotating body 34 of the rotary support mechanism 32 is engaged with the engaging element 35 at the tip of the arm 34a. Of the front half 3 is rotated in one direction in a state of contact with the surface of the main surface plate 3a of the front half 3 with a required elasticity, and the engagement member 35 is formed on the main plate 3a of the front half 3 by the rotation of the rotating member 34. The engagement is performed corresponding to the engagement portion 19. Accordingly, the entire disc cartridge 1 is rotated with the rotation of the rotating body 34 in a state where the relays claw member 36 is in sliding contact with the peripheral surface portion 4b of the back half 4. Then, by the rotation of the disk cartridge 1, the distal end side of the release claw member 36 becomes the peripheral surface of the cartridge body 2, more specifically, the peripheral surface portion 4 of the back half 4.
The shutter 13 is unlocked by being inserted into the operation port 7 on the b side with a required elastic biasing force and pressing the lock piece 14a of the shutter lock body 14 and separating the lock piece 14a from the lock piece 13f of the shutter 13. At the same time, the distal end of the release claw member 36 engages with the lock piece 13 f of the shutter 13 to stop the shutter 13.

That is, at this time, only the cartridge body 2 is further rotated while the shutter 13 is stopped, and the shutter 13 is moved by the rotation of the cartridge body 2.
And both opening windows 12 and 10 on the cartridge body 2 side are opened. When the opening windows 12 and 10 are opened, a part of the stored recording medium disk D is exposed, and this is detected by a detecting device (not shown), so that the rotational angle position of the disk cartridge body 2 is detected. Alternatively, the positions of the opened windows 12 and 10 are detected, the drive motor of the rotation support mechanism 32 is stopped, and the rotation of the rotating body 34 is stopped. At this time, when the cartridge body 2 is stopped at a predetermined position, the opening windows 12 and 10 are opened and the head device, that is, the opening window 12 on the side of the front half 3 is magnetically driven by an overwrite head device (not shown). The opening window 10 on the side of the back half 4 corresponds to the optical head of an optical pickup device (not shown). In this state, the shutter 13 is maintained in a state in which the release claw member 36 keeps the engagement of the lock piece 13f and the opening windows 12, 10 are opened.

As described above, the cartridge main body 2 of the disc cartridge 1 is in a state where both open windows 12, 10 are stopped at the positions corresponding to the heads, respectively.
The magnetic head is inserted from the opening window 12 on the front half 3 side, while the optical head faces the opening window 10 on the rear half 4 side. From the center insertion opening 8 of the main plate portion 4a of the back half 4, a turntable as rotation driving means (not shown) for rotating the recording medium disk D by holding and rotating the hub d of the recording medium disk D is provided. It is inserted into the cartridge body 2.

Then, the turntable rotates the recording medium disk D, and each head corresponds to the recording medium disk D through the opening windows 12 and 10 of the front and back halves 3 and 4, whereby the information signal for the recording medium disk D is obtained. Is recorded and reproduced.

When taking out the disk cartridge 1 from the recording / reproducing apparatus 31, the respective heads and turntables are separated from the disk cartridge, and the rotating body 34 of the rotary support mechanism 32 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction. 2 is rotated in the opposite direction to that described above, and the two opening windows 12, 10 correspond to the two closing plate portions 13a, 13b of the shutter 13 locked by the release claw member 36, respectively. 10 is in a closed state. At this time, the lock piece 14a of the shutter lock body 14 is once pressed by the distal end of the release claw member 36 and is elastically biased inward. When the cartridge body 2 is further rotated in this state, the shutter lock body 14 separates from the release claw member 36, and the lock piece 14a returns to engage with the lock piece portion 13f of the shutter 13. Locked when closed. In this state, the disk cartridge 1 is ejected from the recording / reproducing device 31.

As described above, since the disk cartridge 1 of this embodiment has a disk shape as a whole, the disk cartridge 1 can be loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 from any direction as long as the front and back are distinguished, and the head can be mounted on the head. Corresponding opening window 1
The shutter 13 that opens and closes the cartridge main body 2 and 10
Since the shutter 13 is built in and is opened and closed on the inner surface side, it is difficult to touch the shutter 13 from the outer surface side of the cartridge body 2, thereby preventing the shutter 22 from being inadvertently opened. Further, the shutter 13 does not float up from the outer surface side of the cartridge body 2 and is inadvertently opened due to an external impact or hooking, and it does not become impossible to take out from the recording / reproducing device 31, and it is as if a coin is handled. Thus, recording and reproduction can be performed by inserting and loading the recording and reproduction device 31 so as to be inserted.

The disk cartridge 1 of this embodiment has a shutter 13 built in the cartridge body 2.
Denotes two obstruction plate portions 13 sandwiching the recording medium disk D
a, 13b, the opening windows 12, 1 of the front and back halves 3, 4
0 is opened and closed, but in a disk cartridge in which the recording medium disk is a read-only disk and only one of the front and back halves of the cartridge body has an opening window corresponding to the head. ,
In the shutter, only one closing plate portion may be formed corresponding to this one opening window. In this case as well, an annular support portion for rotational support is formed at the base end portion of the closing plate portion, and a protection surface portion corresponding to the peripheral surface of the disk instead of the connection surface portion is formed at the tip end portion. The surface portion is extended in one direction to form a lock piece. The shutter thus formed is opened and closed similarly to the shutter 13 described above.

The disk cartridge 1 of this embodiment has a recording medium disk D in which either one of the front and back halves 3 and 4, for example, the whole or half or a part of the front half 3 is formed transparently or translucently and accommodated. The disk cartridge can be configured as a so-called see-through type disk cartridge that can see through the disk cartridge.

In the disk cartridge 1, the cartridge main body 2 is formed of a metal such as aluminum, and can be formed in a coin shape with a metallic feeling as a whole. Further, the number of the opening windows corresponding to the heads formed on the front and back halves 3 and 4 or any one of the halves of the cartridge body 2 is not limited to one, and a plurality of windows may be formed and the storage disks may face outward from a plurality of places. Is also good.

In the disk cartridge 1 of this embodiment, the engaging portion 19 to be engaged with the rotation support mechanism 32 of the recording / reproducing device 31 is formed on the main plate portion 3a of the front half 3 of the cartridge body 11. May be formed on the peripheral surface. Further, a magnetic plate piece is embedded in the main plate portion 3a, 4a or one of the main plate portions of the front and back halves 3, 4 of the cartridge main body 2 of the disk cartridge 1, and the disk cartridges 1 are attracted to each other, overlapped and connected. It may be configured so that storage and carrying can be simplified.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a shutter built in a cartridge body of a disk-shaped disc cartridge is used to insert a rotary drive mechanism together with an opening window corresponding to a head. The mouth also opens and closes.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the disk cartridge 21 has a cartridge body 22 formed in a disk-like shape as in the disk cartridge 1 of the above-described embodiment. Although the shutter 23 is built in, the shutter 23 has an opening window formed in the front half (omitted in FIG. 6) of the cartridge body 22 and an opening window 25 and a back half 24 corresponding to the head formed in the back half 24. It is configured to open and close an insertion opening 26 into which a turntable as a rotation drive mechanism formed at the center is inserted.

That is, the shutter 23 is located outside the guide rib 25 on the inner peripheral edge of the circular main plate portion 24a of the back half 24 and provides a rotation center, and the shutter 23 is closed from the insertion opening 26 at the center to the opening window 25. The plate portion 23a and the closing plate portion 23b corresponding to the opening window on the front half side are formed by being connected to the peripheral surface of the recording medium disk D by a connecting plate portion 23c facing the protection surface portion as a protection surface portion. A lock piece 23e is formed extending from a rotation center 23d which is a base end of the closing plate 23a. In addition, since only the opening window on the front half side needs to be opened and closed, the closing plate portion 23b on the front half side is formed to be shorter than the closing plate portion 23a on the back half 24 side.

The shutter 23 has an axial projection 27 projecting from the back half 24 at the above-described position at the rotation center 23d.
As in the case of the above-described shutter 13, the lock piece 23e is locked and held in the closing operation state by the shutter lock body 28 provided on the back half 24 side. The shutter lock body 28 includes a lock piece 28a and an elastic piece 28 similarly to the above-described sham lock body 14.
is composed of a b and a shaft support 28c, the locking piece 28a is relatively high rigidity, the engaging portion 28a ₁ that engages with the lock piece portion 23e in the front end portion outer surface is formed, the elastic piece 28b is required elasticity It is formed to be thin so as to retain a force, and has a hemispherical head at its outer end to reduce frictional resistance. The shutter 23 may be provided with a torsion spring 29 mounted on a shaft support portion so as to be constantly rotationally biased in the closing direction, as shown by a chain line in FIG.

Further, the disk cartridge 21 of this embodiment is also provided with an erroneous erasure prevention mechanism 30 similarly to the disk cartridge 1 described above. The piece 30a of the erroneous erasure prevention mechanism 30 is movably fitted to a frame 30b formed on the peripheral surface of the front half of the cartridge body 22 and the peripheral surface 24b of the back half 24.
A detection through hole 30c is formed in the main plate portion 24a of the front half 24 and the main plate portion 24a of the back half 24 corresponding to one half of the front half. The detection through-hole 30c is opened and closed by the movement of the piece 30a so that recording is possible, and the unrecordable state can be detected and visually confirmed. Further, the movement operation of the piece 30a is performed by the peripheral portion of the front half. Peripheral surface 24 of back half 24
The operation / detection window 30d formed over the area b is performed.

When the thus constructed disk cartridge 21 is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus in the same manner as the above-described disk cartridge 1, the cartridge main body 22 is rotated by the rotation support mechanism provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the shutter 23 is rotated. With the relay claw member engaged with the lock piece 23e of the above, the further rotation of the cartridge main body 22 in a state where the shutter 23 is stopped causes the shutter 23 to move relative to the cartridge main body 22 around the shaft support portion by the shaft projection 27. The front half opening window and the back half 24 opening window 2 are brought into a state of being rotated (state of a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6).
5 and the insertion opening 26 are opened.

In this state, the rotation of the rotation support mechanism is stopped, and the disc cartridge 21 is positioned at a predetermined position, that is, each opening window corresponds to the head, and the insertion slot 26 corresponds to the turntable as the rotation driving mechanism. The recording and reproduction of the recording medium disk D is performed in the same manner as described above. Also, when the disk cartridge 21 is taken out from the recording / reproducing apparatus, the operation is performed in the same manner as in the case of taking out the disk cartridge 1 described above.
Closes the opening window of the front half and the opening window 25 and the insertion opening 26 of the back half 24, and in this state, the shutter lock body 28
Is locked and ejected.

In the disk cartridge 21 of this embodiment configured as described above, not only the opening window of the front half and the opening window 25 of the back half 24 corresponding to each head of the cartridge main body 22, but also the rotary drive mechanism is inserted. The insertion slot 26 is also closed by the shutter 23, so that when not in use, the inside of the cartridge body 22 is sealed, almost completely preventing intrusion of dust and touching the stored recording medium disk D. It becomes impossible, and the recording medium disk D is more reliably protected, and can be used as a recording medium disk for high-density recording.

The cartridge body 22 of the disk cartridge 21 of this embodiment can also take various forms of the cartridge body 2 of the disk cartridge 1 described above.

As described above, the disk cartridge according to the present invention has a disk shape corresponding to the shape of the recording medium disk to be housed, and is formed in a disc shape with an unnecessary shape, without waste of materials such as resin and the like. It is easy to mass-produce, can reduce the cost, and can be configured as a small and large-capacity disk cartridge. Therefore, not only audio and video signals but also all information signals such as data information It is very useful because it can be widely applied as a storage medium.

The disk cartridge according to the present invention is not limited to an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk as a recording medium disk, and may be configured to use a magnetic disk, and the size of the recording medium disk is limited. Instead, it can be configured as a disk cartridge for storing disks of various sizes.

In the disk cartridge and the cartridge bodies 2 and 22, the main plate portion of each half has a semicircular portion corresponding to almost half the shape of the recording medium disk, and the diameter of the recording medium disk as a long side. It is also possible to form a shape in which a rectangular portion having a rectangular side with a radius is continuous via sides corresponding to the respective disk diameters, that is, a round and square shape.

[0059]

As described above, in the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the cartridge body for accommodating the disk-shaped recording medium is formed into a disk shape by combining a pair of front and back halves having a disk-shaped main plate portion. A built-in shutter that opens and closes a required opening window formed in half in the cartridge body, and is configured to open and close the opening window on the inner surface side, so that there is no limitation on the insertion direction into the recording / reproducing apparatus.
At the time of insertion loading, if only the front and back sides are distinguished, it can be inserted and loaded into the insertion slot of the recording / reproducing device from any direction, and it is easy to handle because there is no need to check the insertion direction display etc. Can be used easily.

Since the shutter for opening and closing the opening window is built in the cartridge body, it is hard to touch from the outside, and careless opening and closing can be prevented, and the stored disk-shaped recording medium can be reliably protected. There is no need to store the shutter in the protective case, and there is no danger that the shutter will be caught in the recording / reproducing apparatus and cannot be taken out.

The cartridge body has the same shape as the disk-shaped recording medium to be housed therein, and is formed in a disc shape having a shape obtained by cutting off an extra form from the conventional quadrilateral cartridge body. There is no waste in molding materials such as synthetic resin for molding the front and back halves forming the main body, and it is easy to manufacture, mass-produced, and cost can be reduced.

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the shutter is rotatably built in the cartridge body, and the opening window is opened and closed by relative rotation with respect to the cartridge body. Can be opened and closed more smoothly.

Further, in the disk cartridge according to the present invention, a shutter is provided in the cartridge main body so as to be rotatable so as to open and close an opening window corresponding to a head formed on the cartridge main body side and an insertion opening of a rotary drive mechanism. With this configuration, the inside of the cartridge body can be held almost completely in a sealed state, the intrusion of dust is reliably prevented, and the disk-shaped recording medium to be stored is more securely protected.
Deterioration of recording / reproducing characteristics due to adhesion of dust to the disk-shaped recording medium and damage to the recording medium can be prevented, and the recorded information can be safely stored.

That is, the present invention prevents the intrusion of dust into the cartridge body and keeps the disk-shaped recording medium housed without complicating the structure, maintaining the ease of manufacturing and the ease of opening and closing the shutter. An object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge which ensures the protection of a medium, can cope with an increase in the recording density of a disk-shaped recording medium, and has greatly improved the simplicity of handling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disc cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is viewed from the front side with a shutter opened.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the back side with a shutter closed.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 in which a front half has been removed and a part of a shutter has been cut away;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is inserted into a recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of another embodiment of the disk cartridge according to the present invention, in which a front half is removed and a part of a shutter is cut away.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional disk cartridge viewed from the front side with a shutter closed.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

9 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 7 with the shutter open, facing the front side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,21 ‥‥ disk cartridge, 2,22 ‥‥ cartridge body, 3 ‥‥ front half, 4,24 ‥‥ back half, 9,26 ‥‥ insertion opening, 10, 12, 25 ‥‥ opening window, 13, 23 ° shutter, 13a. 13b, 23
a, 23b {close plate portion, D} recording medium disk

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge body formed by combining a pair of front and back halves each having a disk-shaped main plate portion and a peripheral surface portion provided around the main plate portion, and rotatable inside the cartridge body. A disk-shaped recording medium housed in the front and back halves, an opening window corresponding to a head formed in each main plate portion of the front and back halves, and an insertion opening of a rotary drive mechanism formed in the center of one main plate portion of the front and back halves. And a shutter built in the cartridge main body and opening and closing at least the opening window, wherein the opening window is opened and closed on the inner surface side by the shutter. 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said shutter is rotatably built in said cartridge body, and said opening window is opened and closed by relative rotation with respect to said cartridge body. Characterized disk cartridge. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the shutter is rotated about a center of a main plate portion of the cartridge body as a center of rotation to open and close the opening window. cartridge. 4. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein an operation port for opening the shutter is provided on at least one peripheral surface of the front and back halves. 5. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: a shutter for opening and closing the opening window and the insertion opening in the cartridge main body. 6. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein at least one main plate of the front and back halves of the cartridge main body is provided with an engagement portion of rotation positioning means on the recording / reproducing apparatus side, and the cartridge main body is provided with the cartridge main body. A disk cartridge characterized in that positioning is regulated by a rotary positioning means and the shutter is opened and closed. 7. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the shutter has a protective surface corresponding to a peripheral portion of the disk-shaped recording medium.