JP2000191076A - Disk cartridge storage case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store two disk cartridges, make easy the taking-in-and-out operations and improve the productivity of a storage case. SOLUTION: A disk cartridge storage case is provided with two half-split cases 11 and 12. The half-split cases 11 and 12 are provided with upper faces 19 and 25 and front faces 20 and 26 respectively opened thereon and provided with storage recesses 11a and 12a storing the disk cartridges D to be taken in and out individually from the front faces 20 and 26 in the front and rear direction. The half-split cases 11 and 12 are connected each other to be opened and closed by a foldable integrally molded hinge section 13. The half-split cases 11 and 12 forming the upper and lower overlappingly closed state can be held by an integral molding locking member 14. All of the half-split cases 11 and 12, the integrally molded hinge section 13 and the integrally molded locking member 14 are integrally plastic molded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage case for storing a disk cartridge represented by a magneto-optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One of such disk cartridges is a mini disk. The storage case for the mini-disc is formed as a book case having an entrance on the front side by joining plastic upper and lower cases in a lid-to-lid manner.
A pair of lock members are incorporated inside the left and right side walls of the storage case, and a mini disk is inserted from the entrance and the positioning recesses on both sides of the bottom surface of the mini disk are fitted into and engaged with both lock members. Can be prevented from getting out of the doorway (see, for example,
-258887).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned storage case, it is necessary to form the upper and lower cases and the lock member separately, and after the lock member is assembled to one of the upper and lower cases, the upper and lower cases are removed. This requires time and labor for assembling, and not only increases the cost of forming and assembling, but also lowers productivity. In addition, since only one mini disk can be stored, it is inconvenient to carry two spare disks in a bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem. A disk cartridge storage case capable of storing two disk cartridges and improving portability and productivity. Is to provide.

[0005]

The storage case according to the present invention comprises:
As shown in FIG.
Two plastic half-type cases 11, 12 having storage recesses 11a, 12a which are open at 0 and 26 and are capable of individually storing the disk cartridges D from the front surfaces 20 and 26 in the front-rear direction. Split case 11,
An integrally formed hinge portion 13 which is integrally formed so as to be bent between the two so as to open and close both half-shaped cases 11 and 12 in a left-right opened state and a vertically closed state, and two half-shaped cases 11 and 12. The upper and lower half cases 11 and 12 are integrally formed on one of the upper and lower half cases 11 and 12, and the upper and lower half cases 11 and 12 are engaged with the other half case 11 (or 12) so as to be detachably engaged with each other. One-piece lock member 1
4 is provided.

Further, it is preferable that the half-type cases 11, 12 and the convex portion 31 adopt the following specific configurations. The half cases 11 and 12 have left and right side walls 16 and 17,
From the upper ends of the cartridges 22 and 23, the cartridge holding flanges 30 are formed so as to protrude above the storage recesses 11a and 12a. Inner bottom surfaces 15a, 2 of half-split cases 11, 12
On the inner left and right sides of 1a, convex portions 31 are formed integrally with the left and right positioning concave portions 7, 7 which are provided on the bottom surface of the disc cartridge D so as to be freely engaged and disengaged. The convex portion 31 is formed such that the cross-sectional shape in the front-rear direction is rounded or tapered, and a straight portion 31 a is formed at the base of the convex portion 31. When the index card C is stored together with the disk cartridge D, the index card C is laid on the inner bottom surfaces 15a and 21a of the half cases 11 and 12. Notches 33 engaging with straight portions 31a
To form

[0007]

The two half-shaped cases 11, 12, the integrally formed hinge portion 13, and the integrally formed lock member 14 are all integrally formed as a single molded product by plastic molding.
Unlike the conventional storage case, it is not necessary to mold several parts and assemble them, so that productivity can be improved.

The two half-shaped cases 11 and 12 can be folded compactly by being vertically closed via a bendable integrally formed hinge 13 so that they are excellent in portability. Two half-split cases 11, 12
Since the vertically closed state is held by the integrally-formed lock member 14, it does not accidentally open.

The two halves 11 and 12 are released from the locked state by the integrally formed locking member 14 and then opened to the left and right via the foldable integrally formed hinge 13 so that the left and right halved cases 11 and 12 are split. The disk cartridge D can be easily inserted into and removed from the mold cases 11 and 12.

The left and right side walls 16 of the half cases 11 and 12
The cartridge holding flange 30 provided at the upper end of each of the cartridges 17, 22, and 23 stores the disc cartridge D in the recess 1.
It is stored and held so that it does not come out from the inside of 1a, 12a. Accordingly, the disk cartridge D is loosened in the storage recesses 11a and 12a during the operation of changing the half-split cases 11 and 12 from the vertically closed state to the left and right opened state and vice versa. It can be prevented from sticking or jumping out of the storage recesses 11a and 12a, and the opening and closing operation of the half-split cases 11 and 12 can be performed smoothly. In the vertically closed state of the half-split cases 11, 12, it is possible to prevent the upper and lower disk cartridges D, D from rubbing against each other or being damaged.

The storage and holding function of the disk cartridge D by the cartridge holding flange 30, the convex portions 31 of the half-split cases 11, 12 and the disk cartridge D
The disc cartridge D can be prevented from inadvertently falling out of the front faces 20, 26 of the half-shaped cases 11, 12 in combination with the engagement action with the positioning recess 7.

By forming the convex portion 31 to have a rounded or tapered cross section, the positioning concave portion 7 of the disk cartridge D easily goes over the convex portion 31 when the disk cartridge D is inserted and removed in the front-rear direction. Can be performed smoothly. If the notch 33 of the index card C is engaged with the straight portion 31a at the root of the convex portion 31, the frictional resistance between the index card C and the bottom surface of the disk cartridge D when the disk cartridge D is inserted and removed in the front-rear direction. And the index card C is advantageously prevented from being taken out when the disk cartridge D is taken out.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a storage case for a disk cartridge according to the present invention will be described. 1 and 3
The disk cartridge D to be stored is, for example, a mini disk, and a disk 1 such as a magneto-optical disk for recording information signals is rotatably stored in the cartridge case 2.

The cartridge case 2 is formed in a rectangular box shape by joining an upper case 2a and a lower case 2b, each of which is plastically molded, in a lid-to-lid manner. A signal reading / writing window 3 is opened on one of the left and right sides of the upper and lower cases 2a, 2b. The window 3 can be opened and closed by a shutter 4 slidably mounted on the cartridge case 2 in the front-rear direction. The shutter 4 is urged to move freely by a spring 5 and is locked and held by a lock member 6 in the closed position. Positioning recesses 7.7 are formed on both the left and right sides of the bottom surface of the lower case 2b. When the disk cartridge D is loaded into the disk drive, the positioning members on the disk drive engage with the positioning recesses 7.7 to move the disk cartridge D to a predetermined position. Will be retained.

A storage case P capable of storing two disk cartridges D is a plastic integral molded product as a whole. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two half-type cases 11, 12 and a half-type The case 11 includes an integrally formed hinge portion 13 integrally formed between the cases 11 and 12 so as to be freely bendable, and an integrally formed lock member 14 integrally formed on one half-shaped case 11.

One half-type case 11 has a lower bottom wall 15
And right and left side walls 16 and 17 connected to the left and right ends of the lower bottom wall 15.
And a rear wall 18 connected to the rear end of the lower bottom wall 15 so as to have a storage recess 11a in which an upper surface 19 and a front surface 20 are opened, and the front surface 20 serves as an entrance for the disk cartridge D. ing. The other half-shaped case 12 is formed in substantially the same shape as the half-shaped case 11 and has an upper bottom wall 21.
And left and right side walls 22 and 23 connected to the left and right ends of the upper bottom wall 21.
And a rear wall 24 connected to the rear end of the upper bottom wall 21. The upper surface 25 and the front surface 26 are formed to have a storage recess 12a which is open. It has become the entrance of.

The integrally formed hinge portion 13 is connected to the lower end of the right side wall 17 of one half-type case 11 and the other half-type case 1.
2 and a thin portion 27.2 that can be bent with the lower end of the left side wall 22.
8 are integrally connected. The unfolding operation of the thin portions 27 and 28 of the integrally formed hinge portion 13 allows the half-shaped cases 11 and 12 to open from side to side.
By the folding operation of 7.28, the half case 12 having the other upper bottom wall 21 is overlaid on the half case 11 having the one lower bottom wall 15 in a closed state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the integrally formed lock member 14 has a protruding piece shape having a hook portion 14a at the tip, and is formed on the right side wall 23 of the half mold case 12 having one upper bottom wall 21. It is integrally protruded upward from the upper end. An engaging recess 29 is formed on the outer surface of the left side wall 16 of the other half case 11 as shown in FIG.
Half case 1 having integrally formed lock member 14 on top
As shown in FIG. 4, the integrally formed lock member 14 engages with the engagement recess 29 through its elastic deformation, and the half-shaped case 1
The vertically closed state between the first and the second 12 is locked.

In the storage case constructed as described above, the disk cartridge D is stored in the half-split cases 11 and 12 so that they can be freely inserted and removed from the front surfaces 20 and 26 in the front-rear direction. At this time, the disk cartridge D can be independently inserted into and removed from each of the storage recesses 11a and 12a even when the half-split cases 11 and 12 are open left and right as shown in FIG. 1 or when they are closed vertically as shown in FIG. As described above, the cartridge holding flanges 30 are respectively formed from the upper ends of the left and right side walls 16 and 17 of the half case 11 and from the upper ends of the left and right side walls 22 and 23 of the half case 12 respectively. It is formed to project upward. Each storage recess 11a, 12 of the cartridge holding flange 30
The height of “a” from the inner bottom surfaces 15 a and 21 a is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of the disk cartridge D.

Each of the storage recesses 11 of the half cases 11 and 12
The disk cartridge D accommodated in each of the inner bottom surfaces 15a and 21a and the cartridge holding flange 3
It is held in the vertical direction between 0 and 0. Therefore, the disk cartridge D can be stored in the storage recess 11 even when the half-type cases 11 and 12 are open left and right or when they are closed vertically.
a, 12a can be prevented from escaping upward. In the vertically closed state of the half-type cases 11, 12, the cartridge holding flanges 30, 30 are interposed between the disk cartridges D, D accommodated therein, so that the disk cartridges D, D may rub against each other. There is no hurt.

The inner bottom surface 15 of each of the half cases 11 and 12
Convex portions 31 are integrally formed on the left and right inner sides of a and 21a to prevent the disc cartridge D from accidentally slipping forward. In this convex portion 31,
When the disk cartridge D is stored, the left and right positioning recesses 7 on the bottom surface are engaged. When the disc cartridge D is inserted and removed in the front-rear direction, the positioning recesses 7 of the disc cartridge D easily pass over the projections 31 so that the engagement and disengagement operations can be performed smoothly.
Is formed to have a cross-sectional shape in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. 6 or a tapered shape such as a trapezoid as shown in FIG.

The engagement state of the positioning concave portion 7 of the disk cartridge D with the convex portion 31 is held by the holding function of the disk cartridge D by the cartridge holding flange 30. The case 11 and 12 can be prevented from slipping forward from the front surfaces 20 and 26. The convex portion 31 having the above-described cross-sectional shape has a simple shape and the inner bottom surfaces 15a, 21a.
The height of the projection from the mold is made as low as possible so that there is no problem when removing the molded product from the mold when integrally molding the storage case.

An index card C is stored in each of the half cases 11 and 12 together with a disk cartridge D. In this case, the index card C is prevented from moving due to frictional resistance with the bottom surface of the disk cartridge D when the disk cartridge D is inserted and removed in the front-rear direction. For this purpose, a straight portion 31a is formed at the base of the convex portion 31 by the thickness of the index card C, while the notch portions 33 are formed at the left and right edges of the index card C.
33 are provided, and the notches 33
1a. This prevents the index card C from being taken out when the disk cartridge D is taken out.

A notch 34 is formed at the front end of each of the lower bottom wall 15 and the upper bottom wall 21. When the disc cartridge D is housed, a part of the take-out side end of the disc cartridge D is cut out. 34 so as to be exposed. By grasping the exposed portion of the disk cartridge D, the disk cartridge D can be easily taken out.

[0025]

According to the storage case of the present invention, two disk cartridges D can be stored, and the disk cartridge D can be easily put in and taken out by changing to the left and right open state, and the disk cartridge D can be closed vertically. By changing, there is an advantage that it can be made compact and excellent in portability, and that the productivity can be improved with an integrally molded product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a storage case, a disk cartridge, and an index card shown in a left-right opened state.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a storage case shown in a vertically closed state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge as viewed from the bottom side.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion B in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment corresponding to FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Positioning recess 11, 12 Half-type case 11a, 12a Storage recess 13 Integrally formed hinge portion 14 Integrally formed lock member 15a, 21a Inner bottom surface 16, 22 Left side wall 17, 23 Right side wall 19, 25 Top surface 20, 26 Front surface 30 Cartridge holding flange 31 Convex part 31a Straight part 33 Notch C Index card D Disk cartridge

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Mikihisa Inoue 1-1-88 Ushitora, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Hitachi Maxell Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masashi Adachi 1-1-88 Ushitora, Ibaraki City, Osaka Hitachi Within Maxell Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Oyama 1-1-88 Ushitora, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka F-term within Hitachi Maxell Co., Ltd. (reference) 3E036 AA10 BA01 CA10 FB01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An upper surface 19, 25 and a front surface 20,
26, two plastic half-type cases 11, 12 having storage recesses 11a, 12a capable of individually storing the disk cartridge D in the front-back direction from the front surfaces 20, 26, respectively. An integrally formed hinge portion 13 which is integrally formed so as to be freely bent between the half-shaped cases 11 and 12 so that the two half-shaped cases 11 and 12 can be opened and closed between a left-right opening state and a vertical closing state; Is formed integrally with one of the half-shaped cases 11 and 12 and is engaged with the other half-shaped case 11 (or 12) in a vertically closed state with the other half-shaped case 11 (or 12). A storage case for a disc cartridge, comprising: an integrally formed lock member 14 for maintaining the vertically closed state. 2. Left and right side walls 16 of half-type cases 11, 12
2. The disk cartridge storage case according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge holding flanges 30 are formed so as to protrude above the storage recesses 11a, 12a from the respective upper ends of 17, 22, 23. 3. An inner bottom surface 15 of each of the half cases 11 and 12.
The projections (31), which engage with the left and right positioning recesses (7) already provided on the bottom surface of the disc cartridge (D), are integrally formed on the inner left and right sides of the a and 21a. 2. The storage case for a disk cartridge according to 2. 4. The storage case for a disk cartridge according to claim 3, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the convex portion 31 in the front-rear direction is formed into a rounded or tapered shape, and a straight portion 31a is formed at a root of the convex portion 31. 5. An inner bottom surface 15 of each of the half cases 11 and 12.
a, disk cartridge D in a state of being laid on
5. The storage case for a disk cartridge according to claim 4, wherein notch portions 33, 33 engaging with the straight portions 31a of the convex portions 31, 31 are formed at left and right end edges of the index card C stored together with the index card C.