JP2000331448A - Disk case and disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk case and a disk cartridge capable of easily performing the loading/unloading work of a disk-like recording medium with respect to the disk case and also easily handling by means of preventing the information recording surface of the disk-like recording medium from being scratched or making the water content, dust, etc., attached to the finger hardly stick to the medium. SOLUTION: The subject devices are provided with a lower case 18 having a disk placing part 22 placing an optical disk 13 thereon and a lower bearing part 34a, an upper case 19 laminated with the lower case 18 while having a shaft part 47b attachable/detachable to the lower bearing part 34a, and a shaft cover 20 having an upper bearing part 50a for freely turnably supporting the shaft part 47b while being engaged with the lower bearing part 34a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk and the like capable of recording (writing) and / or reproducing (reading) information signals such as audio information, video information or computer data information. The present invention relates to a disk case capable of detachably storing a disk-shaped recording medium, and a disk cartridge which is inserted into and removed from an electronic device such as a disk recording / reproducing apparatus while the disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably stored in the disk case. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a disk cartridge in which a disk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk is rotatably housed in a disk case, for example, a disk cartridge as shown in FIG. 17 is known. FIG. 17 shows the disk case 2
Of the optical disc 3 from the case body 4
1 shows a state in which is taken out. The disc cartridge 1 includes an optical disc 3 on which information signals are recorded and / or reproduced by an optical pickup device, and a disc case 2 for rotatably storing the optical disc 3.

[0003] The disk case 2 is composed of a case body 4 composed of an upper case 4a and a lower case 4b which are overlapped with each other.
A case lid 5 for opening and closing a disk entrance 6 provided on one surface of the case body 4;
And a slide shutter 7 slidably mounted on the slide shutter 7. The case body 4 is formed of a thin rectangular housing, and a disk entrance 6 is opened on one of the side surfaces surrounding the four sides. The case lid 5 for opening and closing the disk entrance 6 is rotatably supported by the case body 4. The optical disk 3 is rotatably accommodated in a space surrounded by the case lid 5 and the case body 4.

The upper case 4a of the case body 4 has
An upper opening for inserting a chucking plate (not shown) is provided, and a lower opening for inserting an optical head of a turntable and an optical pickup device (not shown) is provided in the lower case 4b. These upper and lower openings can be opened and closed by a slide shutter 7 slidably attached to the case body 4. By sliding the slide shutter 7 to open the upper and lower openings, the upper and lower surfaces of a part of the optical disk 3 stored in the case body 4 are exposed.

According to the disk cartridge 1 having such a structure, it can be used as an information recording medium in a cartridge in which the optical disk 3 is housed in the case main body 4 and contribute to recording or reproduction of information signals. Also,
By rotating the case cover 5 to open the disk entrance 6, the single optical disk 3 can be used as an information recording medium to contribute to the recording or reproduction of information signals.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional disk cartridge 1, the disk entrance 6 provided in the case main body 4 is openable and closable by the case lid 5. 3 was taken in and out. Therefore, when the optical disc 3 is taken in and out, the information recording surface of the optical disc 3 may be rubbed by the peripheral edge of the disc entrance / exit 6, and the information recording surface is easily damaged.

Further, when the optical disk 3 is ejected by opening the disk entrance 6 to take out the optical disk 3, the user can easily touch the information recording surface of the optical disk 3 by sticking to the user's finger. There is a problem that moisture, dust and the like adhere to the information recording surface and become dirty. Further, the external shape of the disc cartridge 1 is 3.
Because it is very similar to a 5 inch floppy disk, and the difference in appearance between them is not clear,
The presence was thin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and enables a simple operation of taking a disk-shaped recording medium into and out of a disk case, as well as inserting or removing a disk-shaped recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk case and a disk cartridge in which the information recording surface is less likely to be damaged at the time and dirt attached to a finger is less likely to adhere to the information recording surface.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk case having a disk mounting portion on which a disk-shaped recording medium is mounted. A first case member provided with a first bearing portion; a second case member having a shaft portion detachable from the first bearing portion and being superimposed on the first case member;
A shaft support member provided with a second bearing portion that is engaged with the first bearing portion and cooperates to rotatably support the shaft portion.

[0010] A disk case according to a second aspect is provided on at least one of the first case member and the second case member and has a turntable on which a disk-shaped recording medium is mounted and a disk-shaped disk mounted on the turntable. An opening through which a head unit of a pickup device for recording and / or reproducing an information signal on and from a recording medium is inserted and removed;
And a slide member for opening and closing the opening.

The disk case according to claim 3 is characterized in that the first case member and the second case member have a substantially square planar shape and one side thereof has a convex arc shape.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the disk case, there is provided an elastic body for urging the slide member in a direction to close the opening.
The elastic body is covered with a shaft supporting member.

The disk cartridge according to claim 5 is
A disk-shaped recording medium on which information signals can be recorded and / or reproduced by a head unit of the pickup device; and a disk mounting part on which the disk-shaped recording medium is mounted, and a first bearing unit is provided. A first case member, a second case member having a shaft portion detachably attached to the first bearing portion and overlapping the first case member, and a second case member engaged with the first bearing portion; And a shaft support member provided with a second bearing portion that works to rotatably support the shaft portion.

[0014] The disk cartridge according to claim 6 is
A turntable provided on at least one of the first case member and the second case member and having a disk-shaped recording medium mounted thereon, and an information signal recorded and / or reproduced on the disk-shaped recording medium mounted on the turntable. And a slide member that opens and closes the opening.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the disk cartridge of the first aspect.
The case member and the second case member are characterized in that the planar shape is a substantially quadrangular shape and one side is a convex arc shape.

The disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that an elastic body for urging the slide member in a direction to close the opening is provided, and the elastic body is covered by a shaft supporting member.

According to the above-described structure, in the disk case according to the first aspect, the first case member has the first
After the shaft portion of the second case member is engaged with the bearing portion, the two case members are rotatably connected by overlapping the second bearing portion of the shaft support member with the first bearing portion. Disk case is obtained. The disc case is opened by rotating the second case member with respect to the first case member, and is closed by rotating and overlapping the two case members.

In the disk case according to the second aspect, the first
The turntable and the head portion can be inserted from the opening provided in the case member or the second case member,
Thus, the head can be operated while holding the disk-shaped recording medium on the turntable to contribute to the recording and / or reproducing operation of the information signal, and the opening can be opened and closed by the slide member.

In the disk case according to the third aspect, the first
Since both sides of the case member and the second case member are formed in a convex arc shape, the space in the surface direction occupied by the disk case can be reduced.

In the disk case according to the fourth aspect, the opening can be covered with the slide member when not in use by the function of the elastic body provided to bias the slide member in the direction to close the opening.

In the disk cartridge according to the fifth aspect, after the shaft of the second case member is engaged with the first bearing of the first case member, the second bearing of the shaft support is moved to the second bearing. A disk case in which both case members are rotatably connected to each other is obtained by superimposing on one bearing portion. The disc case is opened by rotating the second case member with respect to the first case member, and is closed by rotating and overlapping the two case members. Then, by storing the disk-shaped recording medium in both the case members, it can be used as an information recording medium.

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the turntable and the head can be inserted from the opening provided in the first case member or the second case member, thereby enabling the disk-shaped recording medium to be inserted. By operating the head while holding the turntable, it is possible to contribute to the recording and / or reproduction operation of the information signal, and by opening and closing the opening by the slide member, dust and the like can enter the disk mounting portion. Can be prevented or suppressed.

According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, both sides of the first case member and the second case member are formed in a convex arc shape, so that the space in the surface direction occupied by the disk case can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to reduce the size of an electronic device such as a disk recording / reproducing device.

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the opening can be covered with the slide member when not in use by the function of the elastic member provided to bias the slide member in the direction to close the opening. Can be effectively prevented or suppressed from entering the disk mounting portion.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 12 show a first embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where a disk cartridge is opened, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a disk case, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the disk case is closed, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the lower case with the slide shutter opened, FIGS. 9A to 9C are left side views of the lower case, and FIG.
10A to 10D are front views of the lower case, DD cross sectional views of FIGS. 7A and 7B, EE cross sectional views and rear views thereof, and FIGS. 11A to 11C are plan views of the upper case. 12A to 12C are a right side view, a left side view, and a GG line sectional view of FIG. 11A of the upper case.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which the disk cartridge of the first embodiment is inserted into the cartridge holder, FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the cartridge holder shown in FIG. 13, and FIG. FIG. 16A and FIG.
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before and after chucking of the disk cartridge of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a disk cartridge 11 according to this embodiment has a disk case 12 and an optical disk, which is a specific example of a disk-shaped recording medium removably stored in the disk case 12. 13. As a disk-shaped recording medium, not only an optical disk (recordable optical disk) that can record (write) only once but also reproduce (read) various information signals such as audio, video, and computer data information. An optical disk dedicated to reproducing information signals (reproduction-only optical disk), an optical disk capable of recording and reproducing both information signals (rewritable optical disk), a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, and other disk-shaped recording media. Can be applied.

As shown in FIG.
Comprises a case body 14, a chucking plate 15, a slide shutter 16, and a torsion coil spring 17. The case main body 14 is formed of a flat and thin casing having a substantially quadrangular shape, and a lower case 18 showing a specific example of a first case member and an upper case 19 showing a specific example of a second case member.
And a shaft cover 20 showing a specific example of the shaft support member. This case body 14
An optical disk 13 is housed therein so that it can be inserted and removed. As shown in FIG. 3, one side of the insertion side of the case main body 14 is an arc portion 14a having an arc-shaped curve whose center is convex. The disk cartridge 11 is inserted into an electronic device such as a disk recording / reproducing apparatus from the cartridge insertion port with the arc portion 14a first.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer appearances of the lower case 18 and the upper case 19 are substantially similar in shape. That is, the lower case 18 has a lower surface portion 18a, a front surface portion 18b, left and right side surface portions 18c and 18d, and a rear surface portion 18e, and the upper case 19 has an upper surface portion 19a, a front surface portion 19b, and left and right side surface portions 19c and 19d. And a rear surface portion 19e. The front portion 18b of the lower case 18 and the front portion 19b of the upper case 19 are the above-described arc portions 14a.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, a front surface 18b, left and right side surfaces 18c and 18d, and a rear surface 18e are formed on the periphery of a substantially rectangular lower surface 18a having an arc shape on one side. It is formed so as to protrude. This lower part 1
8a, a partition piece 2 is formed so as to surround the central portion in a circular shape.
The disk mounting portion 22 is set inside the partition piece 21. The inner diameter of the partition piece 21 is formed slightly larger than the diameter of the optical disk 13 mounted on the disk mounting portion 22. Disk mounting part 22
Has a two-stage structure with its inner circumference lowered one step,
An annular support surface 22a is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the optical disk 13 so as to contact the non-recording area provided on the outer peripheral edge of the optical disk 13 and support it from below.

Further, on the lower surface portion 18a of the lower case 18,
An opening 23 is provided in which a turntable and an optical head unit of an optical pickup device, which is a specific example of a pickup device (not shown), are inserted. This opening 23
Has a center hole 23a into which the turntable is inserted, as shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, and the center hole 23a is set at a substantially central portion of the lower surface portion 18a. Opening 23
Extends from the center hole 23a toward the one side surface portion 18c and reaches the partition piece 21.

Opening 23 in lower surface 18a of lower case 18
As shown in FIG. 8, a lower surface concave portion 24a for a shutter, which is set one step lower than other portions, is provided in the peripheral edge of the lower surface of. The bottom recess 24a is provided on one side 18c.
, And extends to the vicinity of the rear surface portion 18e, and the slide shutter 16 is slidable within the bottom surface concave portion 24a. This bottom recess 2
A support groove 31 for slidably supporting the distal end of the slide shutter 16 is provided at the distal end on the other right side surface 18d side of 4a.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 10B, the support groove 31 includes a space formed in an L-shape. The support groove 31 supports the leading end of the slide shutter 16 to prevent the shutter piece from lifting up. The entry of dust and the like into the portion 23 is suppressed.

In the vicinity of both corners of the lower surface portion 18a on the front surface portion 18b side, columnar protrusions 26, 26 are provided. The pair of projections 26, 26 are provided with positioning holes 27a, 27b opening to the lower surface side. The pair of positioning holes 27a and 27b are for positioning the disc cartridge 11 at a predetermined position in the disc recording / reproducing apparatus when the disc cartridge 11 is inserted into the disc recording / reproducing apparatus. The disk cartridge 11 is positioned at a predetermined position in the apparatus main body by fitting the positioning pins provided on the apparatus main body side into the pair of positioning holes 27a and 27b.

The front part 18b of the lower case 18 has
A step portion 28a having an inner side raised by one step is provided. At a substantially central portion of the front portion 18b, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 10A and the like, a cutout portion 29 opened in the insertion direction in which the disc cartridge 11 is inserted into and taken out of the disc recording / reproducing apparatus is provided. I have. The notch 29 reaches the front end of the lower surface 18a, and its front surface is an arc-shaped convex surface 29a. Claw receiving portions 29b, 29b with which a pair of lock claws described later of the upper case 19 are engaged are provided at both left and right ends of the cutout portion 29, respectively. These claw receiving portions 29b, 29b are
It is formed by providing a step by retreating the tip of the lower surface portion 18a with respect to b.

FIG. 2 shows a left side portion 18c of the lower case 18.
7 and the like, as shown in FIG.
Is provided with a side recess 24b for a shutter that is continuous with the shutter. A notch 32a extending in the insertion direction is provided at an upper portion of the left side surface portion 18c, thereby forming a guide rail 32 for a shutter. The slide shutter 16 is fitted into the guide rail 32. Furthermore,
The left side face portion 18c is provided with an operation groove 33 into which a shutter operation piece of a cartridge holder described later is inserted. One end of the operation groove 33 is opened to the front surface portion 18b side, and the other end extends to a middle portion in the insertion direction to form a step portion 33a. The step portion 33 a of the operation groove 33 serves as a stopper for restricting the movement of the slide shutter 16 to the rear end side.

The right side surface 18d of the lower case 18 is provided with a step 28b whose inside is raised by one step similarly to the step 28a of the front part 18b. The front end of the step 28b is continuous with the step 28a of the front part 18b, and the rear end is the rear part 18b.
It is formed so as to reach the vicinity of e. A concave portion 28c that opens forward and sideward is provided at a front portion of the right side surface portion 18d.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the rear case 18e has a recess 18f substantially at the center of the rear surface 18e. On the peripheral edge of the concave portion 18f, there is provided a rising piece 34 having a U-shaped planar shape which is raised upward like the rear surface portion 18e. A pair of lower bearing portions 34a, 34a forming a concave first bearing portion opened upward are provided on left and right side portions of the rising piece 34 parallel to the left and right side portions 18c, 18d. Have been. A pair of shaft portions described later of the upper case 19 are rotatably engaged with the pair of lower bearing portions 34a, 34a. Further, relief grooves 34b, 34b for preventing contact with the ribs of the upper case 19 are provided at both ends of a rear surface portion of the rising piece 34 parallel to the rear surface portion 18e.

As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of pin receiving portions 35, each having a cylindrical shaft shape for detachably fixing the shaft cover 20, are provided on the rear surface portion 18e side of the lower surface portion 18a of the lower case 18. 35 are provided. A spring receiving portion 36 for locking and positioning one spring piece 17b of the torsion coil spring 17 is provided at a corner on the left side surface portion 18c side on the rear surface portion 18e side of the lower surface portion 18a. The spring receiving portion 36 has an L-shape in plan view, and is arranged so that a corner thereof is opposed to a corner of the lower case 18.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the upper case 19 has a front surface portion 19b and left and right side surface portions 19a on the periphery of an upper surface portion 19a having a substantially rectangular shape with one side being an arc.
c and 19d are formed continuously so as to protrude downward. At substantially the center of the lower surface of the upper surface 19a, a support shaft 38 is provided so as to protrude downward. The chucking plate 15 is movably attached to the support shaft 38 within a predetermined range in a plane direction and a direction intersecting the plane direction. This chucking plate 15
The optical disk 13 is held in cooperation with the turntable 41, and the optical disk 13 is driven to rotate at a predetermined rotation speed (for example, constant linear speed).

As shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, the turntable 41 is formed of a rotating member formed in a disk shape, and has an annular mounting portion 41a on which the optical disk 13 is mounted on an outer peripheral portion.
Is provided. An annular friction sheet 42 is affixed to the mounting portion 41a, and the friction sheet 42 increases the frictional force generated between the mounting portion 41a and the optical disk 13. On the inner peripheral side of the mounting portion 41a of the turntable 41, a protruding portion 41b protruding upward from the mounting portion 41a is provided. This protrusion 41
The reference numeral b designates the positioning by fitting into the center hole 13a of the optical disk 13, and is formed in an annular shape corresponding to the center hole 13a. Further, the protruding portion 41b is formed such that its height is larger than the thickness of the optical disc 13. Therefore, when the optical disk 13 is placed on the mounting portion 41a, the tip of the protruding portion 41b is
Is slightly protruded above the surface.

On the inner peripheral side of the protruding portion 41b of the turntable 41, an annular concave portion 4 recessed on the opposite side to the protruding portion 41b is provided.
1c is provided. An annular magnet 43 for attracting the chucking plate 15 and a similarly annular yoke plate 44 for suppressing the magnetic resistance of the magnet 43 are housed in the recess 41c. Have been. Further, a cylindrical shaft portion 41d having a hole penetrating in the thickness direction of the turntable 41 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the concave portion 41c. The rotation shaft 45a of the spindle motor 45 is fitted into the hole of the cylindrical shaft portion 41d, whereby the turntable 41 is fixed to the rotation shaft 45a and is integrated in the rotation direction.

The chucking plate 15 for holding the optical disk 13 in cooperation with the turntable 41 is formed by a rotating member also having a disk shape. On the outer peripheral portion of the chucking plate 15, an annular holding portion 15a for holding the peripheral portion of the center hole 13a of the optical disk 13 with the mounting portion 41a of the turntable 41 is provided. An annular positioning projection 15 protruding toward the turntable 41 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the holding portion 15a.
b is provided. The chucking plate 15 is positioned with respect to the turntable 41 by fitting the positioning protrusion 15b into the recess 41c of the turntable 41.

On the inner peripheral side of the positioning projection 15b of the chucking plate 15, a boss 15c having a through hole 39 penetrated in the center is provided. This boss 15c
A support shaft 38 having a smaller diameter than the diameter of the through hole 39 and having a predetermined gap is inserted through the through hole 39. A retaining ring 40 is mounted on the tip of the support shaft 38, and the retaining ring 40 prevents the chucking plate 15 from falling off. Thus, the support shaft 38
A gap of a predetermined size is provided between the chucking plate 39 and the through hole 39, and the position and posture of the chucking plate 15 sucked to the turntable 41 can be corrected by being configured to be movable by a predetermined amount in the axial direction. It can be. As a result, the positioning of the chucking plate 15 with respect to the turntable 41 can be performed accurately.

The front portion 19b and the left and right side portions 19c and 19d of the upper case 19 are formed continuously on three sides of the upper portion 19a like a ridge. A front part 18b and left and right side parts 18 which are also formed continuously like a ridge on three sides of a lower part 18a of the lower case 18 are formed.
c and 18d are formed so as to overlap each other in the vertical direction. At a substantially central portion of the front portion 19b of the upper case 19, as shown in FIG. 6 and the like, a member is detachably engaged with a cutout portion 29 provided on the front portion 18b of the lower case 18. A dowel portion 46 is provided. At both ends of the inner surface of the engagement claw portion 46, a pair of lock claws 46 are provided.
a, 46a are provided. These lock claws 46
a and 46a are detachably engaged with the pair of claw receiving portions 29b and 29b in a state where the upper case 19 is overlaid on the lower case 18.

As shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C, the upper case 19
The upper half 3 of the above-described operation groove 33 is provided on the left side surface portion 19c.
3a is provided. Then, on the right side surface portion 19c,
A recess 19e corresponding to the above-described recess 28c is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 12, the upper case 1
A rotating shaft 47 is integrally provided substantially at the center of the rear portion of the rear portion 9 in the left-right direction. The rotating shaft 47 is connected to the upper surface 19.
It is arranged so as to protrude rearward and downward at the rear end of a. Rib portions 47a, 47a are provided at both ends in the axial direction of the rotating shaft portion 47, and the rib portions 47a are provided.
It is formed integrally with the upper surface portion 19a in a state reinforced by. Further, a pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b protruding in the axial direction are provided at both ends of the rotating shaft portion 47, respectively. The pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b are formed by a pair of lower bearing portions 34 provided on the rising piece 34 of the lower case 18.
b and 34b are rotatably engaged. This pair of shafts 4
The shaft cover 20 is attached to the lower case so as to cover 7b and 47b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shaft cover 20 is formed of a plate having an arc-shaped concave portion 20a provided on one side, and the lower case 18 is provided on the side opposite to the concave portion 20a. An overlapping rear surface portion 20b is provided. This shaft cover 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a shape capable of covering the upper surface of the rear half of the partition piece 21 of the lower case 18, and the front edge of the concave notch 20 a in a state where the rear surface 20 b is overlapped with the rear surface 18 e of the lower case 18. Are in contact with the back surface of the partition piece 21 in an arc shape.

The rear surface portion 20b of the shaft cover 20 is formed as shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the trough shape has an arc-shaped cross section opened on the lower surface side, and a square concave notch portion 20c with which the rotating shaft portion 47 of the upper case 19 is engaged is formed at the center thereof. Is provided. Further, an upper bearing portion 50a forming a second bearing portion for automatically supporting the upper surfaces of the pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b of the upper case 19 is provided at an end of the rear surface portion 20b on the side of the concave notch portion 20c. , 50a are provided. The pair of upper bearing portions 50a, 50a are formed by concave cutouts opened downward, and are supported by the upper and lower bearing portions 50a, 34a so as to be rotatable while sandwiching the shaft portion 47b from above and below. A bearing member is configured. This shaft cover 20
Is superimposed on the upper case 19, the height of the rear surface portion 20 b is set to be substantially flush with the upper surface of the upper case 19.

On the lower surface of the shaft cover 20, there are provided the same number of mounting pins 51 which are respectively engaged with the plurality of pin receiving portions 35 of the lower case 18 described above. Further, a torsion coil spring 1 is provided at one corner of the lower surface of the shaft cover 20.
7 is provided with a spring stopper 52 for pressing the spring 17b on the case side. The spring stopper 52 is attached to the lower case 18.
Is installed so as to enter the inside of the spring receiving portion 36. At both ends of the square recess 20c of the shaft cover 20, escape grooves 50b, 50b for avoiding contact with the ribs 47a, 47a of the upper case 19 are provided. And
An arc-shaped recess 20a and a square recess 20c are formed in the shaft cover 20.
The reinforcement rib 53 is attached to the lower surface of the shaft cover 20 in order to reinforce the thinned portion due to the provision of.

The opening 23 provided in the lower case 18 described above
Is openable and closable by a slide shutter 16. As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the slide shutter 16 is a shutter piece 1 that opens and closes an opening 23 of the lower case 18.
6a, a holding piece 16b provided in parallel with the shutter piece 16a, and a connecting piece 16c for connecting the holding piece 16b and the shutter piece 16a.

The shutter piece 1 of the slide shutter 16
6a is sized and shaped to cover the entire opening 23 of the lower case 18. Then, at an end of the shutter piece 16a opposite to one end where the connection piece 16c is located,
A guide piece 16d slidably engaged with the support groove 31 of the lower case 18 is provided. The holding piece 16b is provided with a spring receiving piece 16e and a plurality of locking pieces 16f, 16f. The shutter piece 16a and the connecting piece 16c
The slide shutter 16 is slidably attached to the lower case 18 so as to surround the guide rail 32 from three sides with the holding piece 16b. At this time, the connecting piece 16c
It is arranged so as to cross the operation groove 33. This connecting piece 16
A bent piece 16g is formed by bending a part of the holding piece 16c and the holding piece 16b inward. The bent piece 16g is inserted into the step 33a of the lower case 18,
The step portion 33a prevents the slide shutter 16 from falling down, so that a smooth sliding operation can be ensured. At this time, the locking piece 16f of the holding piece 16b is engaged with the inner edge of the guide rail 32, thereby preventing the slide shutter 16 from dropping from the lower case 18.

The spring receiving piece 1 of the slide shutter 16
The distal end of one spring piece 17a of the above-described torsion coil spring 17 is engaged with a hole provided at the distal end of 6e. The other spring piece 17b of the torsion coil spring 17 is engaged with a spring receiving piece 36 of the lower case 18. The spring piece 17b is connected to the shaft cover 20 as shown in FIG.
Are fixed so as not to be depressed by the spring stopper piece 52 and come off the spring receiving piece 36. The slide shutter 16 is constantly urged in the direction to close the opening 23 by the spring force of the torsion coil spring 17. The slide shutter 1 resists the spring force of the torsion coil spring 17.
6 in the direction of the double dashed line,
8 changes to the state shown in FIG. 8, and the opening 23 is opened. As a result, a part of the optical disk 13 accommodated in the disk case 12 is
Exposed from

As the recordable optical disk 13 that is partially exposed by the sliding operation of the slide shutter 16, for example, a phase-change optical disk can be used. In this phase-change optical disk, the phase of the film is changed from a crystalline state to an amorphous state by applying heat to the GeTeSb-based recording film, and an information signal is recorded using a difference in light reflectivity due to the phase change. At the same time, this can be detected by the optical head to reproduce the information signal. FIG.
As shown in the figure, a non-recording area of a predetermined width is provided around a center hole 13a provided in the center of the optical disc 13, and a non-recording area of a predetermined width is also provided on the outer peripheral part. . An information signal recording surface on which an information signal has already been recorded or a new information signal can be recorded is provided between the inner and outer non-recording areas.

As a material for the lower case 18, the upper case 19 and the shaft cover 20, for example, plastic such as ABS resin (acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene resin) is preferable, but metal such as aluminum alloy is used. Can also. As a material of the slide shutter 16, a metal such as stainless steel is preferable.
Plastic such as BS resin can also be used. Further, as the material of the chucking plate 15, a metal made of a magnetic material such as stainless steel which is attracted by a magnet is preferable.

The disk cartridge 11 having the above-described configuration is mounted on a cartridge holder 60 of a disk recording / reproducing apparatus and used for recording and / or reproducing information signals, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, the cartridge holder 60 has an upper surface 60 a that is slightly larger than the disk cartridge 11 and has a substantially quadrangular shape in which the rear portion has an arc shape on the convex side.
And left and right side portions 60b and 60c formed to protrude downward on both sides in the lateral direction of the upper surface portion 60a, and are formed so as to be developed inward with an appropriate width continuously below the lower portions of the respective side portions 60b and 60c. Left and right support parts 60d, 60e, 6
0f.

The upper surface portion 60a and the left and right side surface portions 60
A cartridge storage portion is formed by a space surrounded by b, 60c and the left and right support portions 60d, 60e, 60f, and a cartridge insertion opening 61 is set at the front of the cartridge storage portion. This cartridge insertion slot 61
The disk cartridge 11 is inserted into and removed from the disk cartridge, and the disk cartridge 11 is mounted at a predetermined position of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus in a state of being stored in the cartridge storage section.

The upper surface portion 60 of the cartridge holder 60
A is provided with a plurality of opening windows 62a, 62b, and 62c for the purpose of seeing through the cartridge storage section. Further, a plurality of restricting pieces 63a, 63b, 63 for restricting the insertion amount of the disk cartridge 11 and performing positioning in the cartridge storage section are provided at the rear end of the upper surface section 60a.
c is provided. A shutter operation piece 64 for opening the slide shutter 16 of the disk cartridge 11 is provided at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction of the one side surface portion 60b of the cartridge holder 60. The shutter operation piece 64 is formed by folding out a part of the side surface part 60b and protruding inward. The shutter operation piece 64 enters the operation groove 33 of the disk cartridge 11 and presses the connection piece 16c of the slide shutter 16 to open the opening 23.

Although not shown, an erroneous erasure prevention mechanism may be provided in the disk case 12. This erroneous erasure prevention mechanism can be composed of, for example, an erroneous erasure prevention hole and an operation knob. By opening and closing the erroneous erasure prevention hole by operating the operation knob, it is possible to select a state in which writing on the optical disk 13 is possible and a state in which writing is disabled.

The disk case 1 having the above configuration
The disk cartridge 2 and the disk cartridge 11 can be assembled, for example, as follows. First, a case where the disc case 12 is assembled will be described. At this time, the chucking plate 15 is attached to the upper case 19 in advance. The chucking plate 15 is used for the upper case 1
Boss 1 of chucking plate 15 on supporting shaft 38
After passing through the through hole 39 provided in 5c, the retaining ring 40 can be attached to the support shaft 38 by attaching it.

Next, while inserting the guide piece 16d of the slide shutter 16 into the support groove 31 provided on the back surface of the lower case 18, the holding piece 16b is elastically deformed so that the locking claw 16 is formed.
f is passed over the guide rail 32 of the side surface portion 18c of the lower case 18. Thereby, the slide shutter 18
The shutter piece 16a and the connecting piece 16c
The lower case 18 is attached so as to be slidable along the shutter concave portions 24a and 24b.

Next, the torsion coil spring 17 is mounted on the slide shutter 16 and the like. In this case, one spring piece 17a of the torsion coil spring 17 is
After engaging with the hole of the spring receiving piece 16e, the other spring piece 17b is engaged with the spring receiving portion 36 of the lower case 18.
Then, the entirety of the torsion coil spring 17 is
In a space provided at the rear of the partition piece. Thereby, the slide shutter 16 is slidably attached to the lower case. Then, the slide shutter 16 is urged by the spring force of the torsion coil spring 17, and the opening 23 of the lower case 18 is closed from the outside by the shutter piece 16a.

Next, the upper case 19 is mounted on the lower case 18, and the shaft cover 20 is further mounted thereon. That is, the lower case 18 is placed on a flat surface with the disk mounting portion 22 facing upward. Next, with the surface on which the chucking plate 15 is attached facing upward, the rotating shaft portion 47 of the upper case 19 is turned on.
Face the recess 18 f of the lower case 18. A pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b protruding from both ends of the rotation shaft portion 47.
Is engaged with a pair of lower bearings 34a, 34a provided on the rising piece 34 surrounding the recess 18f. As a result, the lower case 18 and the upper case 19 are rotatably connected via the pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b and the lower bearing portions 34a, 34a.

Next, the shaft cover 20 is placed above the upper and lower cases 19 and 18 with the pair of upper bearings 50a and 50a facing downward. Then, the pair of upper bearing portions 50a, 5
0a is superimposed on the pair of lower bearing portions 34a, 34a, and the shaft cover 20 is fitted into a predetermined position behind the partition piece 21 of the lower case 18. Thereby, the pair of upper and lower bearing portions 50a,
50a and 34a, 34a, a pair of shaft portions 47b,
47b is rotatably held. In this case, the shaft cover 2
Rear surface portions 20b set on both sides of the square concave portion 20c
Are overlapped on the upper surface of the rear surface portion 18e set on both sides of the concave notch portion 18f of the lower case 18.

At this time, the spring stopper 52 of the shaft cover 20
The spring piece 17 on the lower case 18 side of the torsion coil spring 17
b, and the tip of the spring piece 17b is
6. At the same time, the slide shutter 16
The torsion coil spring 17 bridged between the spring receiving piece 16e of the lower case 18 and the spring receiving portion 36 of the lower case 18
0 to prevent the torsion coil spring 17 from coming off.

In this manner, the case body 14 including the lower case 18, the upper case 19, and the shaft cover 20 is assembled, and the disk case 12 before the optical disk 13 is stored is constructed. By storing the optical disk 13 in the disk case 12, the disk case 12
And a disk cartridge 11 composed of an optical disk 13.

Optical disk 1 for disk case 12
3 can be performed, for example, as follows. First, the optical disk 13 is placed in the disk case 12.
Will be described. As shown in FIG.
When the upper case 19 is open, the optical disk 13 is mounted on the disk mounting portion 22 of the lower case 18. Next, the upper case 19 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 around the shaft portions 50a and 50b as a rotation center, and overlaps with the lower case 18.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper case 19 and the lower case 18 are in a state of being overlapped. As a result, the disk cartridge 11 in which the optical disk 13 is stored in the disk case 12 is configured, and can be used as the disk cartridge 11. At this time, when the engaging claw portion 46 of the upper case 19 enters the notch portion 29 of the lower case 18, the pair of lock claws 46 a provided on both sides of the distal end of the engaging claw portion 46 become the notch portion 29.
Are engaged with a pair of claw receiving portions 29b, 29b provided on both sides. Thus, the pair of lock claws 46a, 46a are locked by the pair of claw receiving portions 29b, 29b, and the disk case 12 is held in a closed state.

Next, a case where the optical disk 13 is taken out of the disk cartridge 11 and used as an optical disk 13 alone in an electronic device such as a personal computer will be described. In this case, first, an upward force is applied to the upper case 19 to lock the claw 46a by the claw receiving portion 29b.
Is released, and the engaging claw portion 46 is pulled out of the notch 29. Then, the upper case 19 is opened by rotating around the pair of shaft portions 47b, 47b, and the disk mounting portion 22 is opened.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper case 19 and the lower case 18 are opened, and the lower case 1
Thus, the optical disk 13 can be taken out from the disk mounting portion 22 of FIG. The optical disk 13 thus taken out can be used as a single unit mounted on an electronic device such as a personal computer. Further, another optical disk 13 is mounted on the disk mounting portion 22 of the disk case 12 and the upper case 19 is closed as described above, so that another optical disk 1 is mounted.
3 can be used as a disk cartridge 11 having a recording medium.

Next, a case where the disk cartridge 11 is used as a recording medium of a disk recording / reproducing apparatus such as a personal computer or a digital video camera will be described. In this case, it is assumed that a cartridge holder 60 shown in FIG.

When the disc cartridge 11 is inserted into the cartridge holder 60, as shown in FIG.
The upper case 19 is inserted into the cartridge insertion opening 61 of the cartridge holder 60 from the arc portion 14a side with the upper case 19 facing upward. When the disc cartridge 11 is inserted by a predetermined amount, the shutter operation piece 64 provided on one side surface 60 b of the cartridge holder 60 enters the operation groove 33 provided on one side surface of the disc cartridge 11. This makes it possible to know that the disk cartridge 11 has been inserted into the cartridge holder 60 from the correct direction.

On the other hand, the disk cartridge 11
If the disk cartridge 11 is inserted in an incorrect posture, the insertion operation of the disk cartridge 11 becomes impossible during the insertion, and it can be known that the insertion state is incorrect. For example, when the disk cartridge 11 is inserted upside down from the arc portion 14a, the other side surface of the disk cartridge 11 is flat and has no operation groove. Abuts on the front corner of the arc portion 14a. Also,
When the disc cartridge 11 is inserted upside down from the back, the operation groove is not opened on the back of the disc cartridge 11.
Is inserted by a predetermined amount, the shutter operation piece 64 comes into contact with the rear corner of the case body 14.

As described above, when the shutter operation piece 64 comes into contact with the corner of the circular arc portion 14a on the side of the case body 14 where the operation groove 33 is not provided or the rear corner of the case body 14, the shutter operation piece 64 causes Subsequent insertion operations are prevented. Thereby, the user can know that the disk cartridge 11 is inserted in an incorrect posture. In this case, the insertion operation is temporarily stopped, the disk cartridge 11 is removed, the posture of the disk cartridge 11 is corrected, and the insertion operation is performed again.

When the disc cartridge 11 is inserted in the correct posture and the shutter operation piece 64 enters the operation groove 33 and abuts against the side surface of the connecting portion 16c of the slide shutter 16, the urging force of the torsion coil spring 17 is used as a reaction force by the user. Is given to Then, when the user applies a force larger than the urging force of the torsion coil spring 17 to the disc cartridge 11, the slide shutter 16 slides against the urging force. As a result, the locking claw 16f of the holding piece 16b is guided by the guide rail 32 of the lower case 18 slidably engaged, and the slide shutter 16 is moved rearward.

As a result, the opening 23 closed by the shutter piece 16a is opened, and the center hole 13a of the optical disk 13 and a part of the information recording surface are exposed through the opening 23. At this time, the disk cartridge 1
16A, the turntable 41 faces the center hole 23a of the opening 23, and the optical head portion of the optical pickup device faces the portion where the information recording surface is exposed.

Thereafter, when the disk cartridge 11 moves downward and changes from the state shown in FIG. A to the state shown in FIG. B, the turntable 41 and the optical head section are opened.
Of the disk cartridge 11 from below. Then, the protrusion 41 b of the turntable 41 is fitted into the center hole 13 a of the optical disc 13. At about the same time,
The chucking plate 15 is moved by the magnetic force of the magnet 43 housed in the recess 41 c of the turntable 41.
Is sucked, and the positioning projection 15b is fitted into the recess 41c.

Thus, the center hole 1 of the optical disc 13
The periphery of 3a is sandwiched between the mounting portion 41a of the turntable 41 and the sandwiching portion 15a of the chucking plate 15, and the optical disk 13 is integrated with the turntable 41 and becomes rotatable. At about the same time, the optical head faces the information recording surface of the optical disc 13, and writing (recording) and reading (reproduction) of an information signal on the information recording surface becomes possible.

The ejection operation of the disk cartridge 11 is executed by an operation reverse to the above-described insertion operation. That is, in order to take out the disk cartridge 11,
When the disc loading operation of the disc loading mechanism is performed, the disc cartridge 11 is moved toward the cartridge insertion port 61 with respect to the cartridge holder 60.
As a result, the restriction by the shutter operation piece 64 is released, and the slide shutter 16 is biased by the spring force of the torsion coil spring 17 to move in the direction to close the opening 23. As a result, when the disk cartridge 11 moves a predetermined distance toward the cartridge insertion port 61 and becomes ready for the user to take out, the slide shutter 1
6, the opening 23 is completely closed.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the lower case 18 is provided with the concave notch 18f so that the upper case 1
Although the rotating shaft 47 is provided on the lower case 9, the lower case may be provided with a rotating shaft and the upper case may be provided with a concave notch. Further, in the above embodiment, the pair of shaft portions 47
Although an example in which b and 47b are formed integrally with the upper case 19 by injection molding has been described, other methods, for example,
A member serving as a shaft may be prepared and attached to both ends of the rotating shaft portion by press fitting or screwing or other fixing means.
By penetrating the shaft member through the rotating shaft portion, both ends can be protruded to form a shaft portion. Also, an example has been described in which the torsion coil spring 17 is used as an elastic body that biases the slide shutter 16 to one side.
Of course, spring materials such as leaf springs, tension or compression coil springs can be used.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the chucking plate 15 is supported by the upper case 19 has been described. However, an opening is also provided in the upper case 19, and the chucking plate is moved in and out of the opening. , The optical disk 13 may be sandwiched between the optical disk 13 and the turntable 41. Further, as an example of a method of pressing a disk-shaped recording medium to a turntable, an example in which an adsorption method in which a chucking plate is adsorbed to a turntable by the magnetic force of a magnet is described. Various pressure bonding methods such as a disk self-weighting method using the weight of an optical disk can be applied. Thus, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit thereof.

[0081]

As described above, according to the disk case of the first aspect of the present invention, the first case member and the second case member are formed by engaging the shaft portion with the first bearing portion. And the second bearing portion of the shaft cover is overlapped on the first bearing portion so that the two bearing portions rotatably support the shaft portion. By
The disc mounting portion can be opened by opening the first case member and the second case member, or the two case members can be overlapped and closed. Therefore, the opening / closing operation can be performed easily and reliably, and the effect of providing a disk case with less possibility of damaging the disk-shaped recording medium to be taken in and out can be obtained.

According to the disk case of the second aspect,
An opening is provided in at least one of the first case member and the second case member, and a slide member that opens and closes the opening is provided. Therefore, the turntable and the head can be inserted through the opening. It is possible to contribute to recording and / or reproduction of the information signal by operating the head while holding the disk-shaped recording medium on the turntable, and by closing the opening with the slide member when not in use, The effect of being able to provide a disk case that can prevent or suppress dust and the like from entering the case body can be obtained.

According to the disk case of the third aspect,
Since both sides of the first case member and the second case member are formed to have a convex arc shape, the space in the plane direction occupied by the disk case can be reduced, and the arc shape can be changed from a substantially quadrangular portion. The effect of being able to provide a disk case capable of effectively utilizing the removed space is obtained.

According to the disk case of the fourth aspect,
Since the elastic member is provided to bias the slide member in the direction to close the opening, the elastic member can always cover the opening with the slide member when not in use by the function of the elastic member, preventing dust and the like from entering the case body. The effect is obtained that a disk case that can be prevented or suppressed can be provided.

According to the disk cartridge of the fifth aspect, the shaft is engaged with the first bearing to connect the first case member and the second case member, and the shaft is connected to the first bearing. Since the second bearing portion of the cover is overlapped, the shaft portion is rotatably supported by the two bearing portions, and the disc-shaped recording medium is placed on the disc placement portion of the first case member.
A disk case can be opened and closed by rotating both case members about a shaft portion, so that a disk-shaped recording medium can be easily taken in and out, and a disk-shaped recording medium can be stored in both case members. As a result, an effect of being able to be used as an information recording medium is obtained.

According to the disk cartridge of the sixth aspect, an opening is provided in at least one of the first case member and the second case member, and a slide member for opening and closing the opening is provided. The turntable and the head portion can be inserted from the opening, and thereby the head portion can be operated while holding the disk-shaped recording medium on the turntable, thereby contributing to recording and / or reproduction of information signals. By closing the opening with the slide member when not in use, an effect is obtained that a disk cartridge that can prevent or suppress dust and the like from entering the case body can be provided.

According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, since both sides of the first case member and the second case member are formed into a convex arc shape, the space in the surface direction occupied by the disk case is reduced. This makes it possible to effectively use the space except for the arc shape from the substantially quadrangular portion, and to provide a disk cartridge capable of housing the mechanism of the electronic device in the space. can get.

According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the elastic member for urging the slide member in the direction to close the opening is provided, the opening is always covered with the slide member when not in use by the function of the elastic member. It is possible,
The effect of being able to provide a disk cartridge that can prevent or suppress dust and the like from entering the case main body is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention, showing a state where an upper case is opened and a disk-shaped recording medium is mounted on a disk mounting portion of a lower case.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a disk case of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where an upper case of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is closed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross section taken along line AA shown in FIG. 3 and exploded.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a method of fixing one spring piece of the torsion coil spring with the lower case and the shaft cover according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line BB shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a lower case of the disk cartridge according to the present invention, in which an opening is closed by a slide shutter.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the lower case of the disk cartridge according to the present invention, showing a state where an opening is opened by sliding a slide shutter.

9A and 9B show a lower case according to the present invention, wherein FIG. A is a left side view, FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 7, and FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a lower case according to the present invention.
7 is a front view, FIG. 7B is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 7, FIG. 7C is a sectional view taken along line EE of FIG. 7, and FIG.

FIG. 11 shows an upper case according to the present invention.
Is a bottom view, FIG. B is a front view, and FIG. C is a sectional view taken along line FF of FIG.

FIG. 12 shows an upper case according to the present invention.
Is a left side view, FIG. B is a right side view, and FIG.
It is G sectional drawing.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the disk cartridge and the cartridge holder shown in FIG. 1;

14 is a bottom view of the cartridge holder shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the cartridge holder shown in FIG.

16 is a sectional view showing the relationship between the disk cartridge and the turntable shown in FIG. 1; FIG. A is a sectional view showing a state before chucking of a disk-shaped recording medium, and FIG.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a conventional disk cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 disk cartridge, 12 disk case, 13 optical disk (disk-shaped recording medium), 1
4 case main body, 14a arc portion, 16 slide shutter, 17 torsion coil spring, 18 lower case (first case member), 18f concave notch portion, 19
Upper case (second case member), 20-axis cover (shaft support member), 20c square concave notch, 21 partition piece,
22 disc mounting portion, 23 opening portion, 32 guide rail, 33 operation groove, 34a lower bearing portion (first bearing portion), 36 spring receiving piece, 47 rotating shaft portion, 4
7b Shaft, 50a Upper bearing (second bearing)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A first case member having a disk mounting portion on which a disk-shaped recording medium is mounted and provided with a first bearing portion, and a shaft portion detachable from the first bearing portion. A second case member, which is overlapped with the first case member, and a second bearing which is engaged with the first bearing portion and cooperates to rotatably support the shaft portion. A disk case, comprising: a shaft support member provided with a portion. 2. A turntable provided on at least one of the first case member and the second case member, on which the disk-shaped recording medium is mounted, and information on a disk-shaped recording medium mounted on the turntable. 2. The disk case according to claim 1, further comprising an opening through which a head of a pickup device for recording and / or reproducing a signal is inserted and removed, and a slide member that opens and closes the opening. 3. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein each of the first case member and the second case member has a substantially square planar shape and one side thereof has a convex arc shape. . 4. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein an elastic body is provided for urging the slide member in a direction to close the opening, and the elastic body is covered with the shaft support member. 5. A first bearing having a disk-shaped recording medium on which information signals can be recorded and / or reproduced by a head of a pickup device, and a disk mounting portion on which the disk-shaped recording medium is mounted. A first case member provided with a portion, and a shaft portion detachable from the first bearing portion;
A second case member overlapped with the first case member; and a shaft support provided with a second bearing portion rotatably supporting the shaft portion by being engaged with and cooperating with the first bearing portion. A disk cartridge comprising: a member; 6. A turntable provided on at least one of the first case member and the second case member, to which the disk-shaped recording medium is mounted, and an information signal on a disk-shaped recording medium mounted on the turntable. 6. The disc cartridge according to claim 5, further comprising: an opening through which a head of a pickup device for recording and / or reproducing the recording medium is taken in and out; and a slide member that opens and closes the opening. 7. The disk cartridge according to claim 5, wherein each of the first case member and the second case member has a substantially quadrangular planar shape and one side thereof has a convex arc shape. . 8. The disk cartridge according to claim 5, wherein an elastic body is provided for urging the slide member in a direction to close the opening, and the elastic body is covered with the shaft support member.