JP2001160278A - Method for cleaning disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove the dust held on liners and shell halves, to suppress the generation of the dust which is the cause for drop-out, etc., in practicable use and enhance reliability by subjecting a disk cartridge after building of a recording medium therein or the shell halves before the assembly. SOLUTION: Impact, such as ultrasonic vibration, is applied to the disk cartridge which rotatably houses the recording medium 4 in a case C formed by joining the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 fixed with the liners 5 respectively on their inside surfaces, by which the dust sticking to the lines 5 or the shell halves is liberated and thereafter, the dust is sucked and removed from apertures 10 and 11 for head insertion in the state of rotating the recording medium 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge cleaning method for accommodating a disk-shaped recording medium in a case by joining upper and lower shell halves, and more particularly, to a method for cleaning a disk cartridge.
The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a liner portion after or before incorporating a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A disk cartridge has a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in a case formed by joining upper and lower shell halves. It is highly reliable to perform recording and reproduction on the recording medium by a head. Needs to be secured.

[0003] From the viewpoint of ensuring the reliability, it is important that dust which causes so-called dropout does not adhere to the recording medium. When the dust gets caught between the head and the recording medium during recording / reproducing, the recording surface may be damaged or a problem such as dropout may occur.

[0004] As the above-mentioned dust, there is a dust generated from a liner such as a nonwoven fabric fixed to the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shell halves. This liner has a function of wiping and removing dust adhered to the surface of the recording medium.However, in the manufacturing process, insufficiently fixed fiber chips or powders held in the liner may cause a problem when the upper and lower shell halves are joined. The recording medium is detached from the liner and adheres to the recording medium due to the vibration of the disc or the shock during actual use (such as a shock when the disc is mounted on a drive device or a drop). In addition, dust that has entered the case during the manufacturing process may adhere to the recording medium.

[0005] In addition, since the rotation speed is increased in response to the increase in the recording capacity of the recording medium, the dust on the surface of the recording medium can be sufficiently removed from the viewpoint of securing the stability of the driving torque and suppressing the increase in the torque capacity of the motor. It is difficult to provide a mechanism that can be used for the cartridge in the cartridge.

From the above point, it is known that cleaning is performed to remove dust before the disk cartridge is shipped as a product. For example, a cleaning process is performed by blowing or sucking air into the disk cartridge.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned cleaning method, the cleaning is insufficient and the influence of dust on the recording quality becomes severe. Is concerned.

In other words, the dust generated from the liner is insufficiently fixed fiber waste or powder held in the liner during the manufacturing process, and the dust is generated when the upper and lower shell halves are joined or when the actual use is performed. Accordingly, the dust is detached from the liner and adheres to the recording medium, and the blowing and suction of the air flow mainly removes dust adhering to the recording medium, and the dust retained inside the liner may be removed. Have difficulty.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and efficiently removes dust such as fiber debris of the liner and powder held in the liner, which may cause dropout, and improves reliability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of cleaning a disk cartridge which is enhanced.

[0010]

A cleaning method according to the present invention, which has solved the above-mentioned problems, has a disk formed by joining upper and lower shell halves each having an opening for inserting a head and having a liner fixed to an inner surface thereof. After applying a shock such as ultrasonic vibration to a disk cartridge rotatably storing a recording medium in a shape of a circle to release dust adhering to the liner or the shell half, the recording medium is rotated. The dust is sucked and removed from the opening.

Another cleaning method of the present invention is characterized in that the upper and lower shell halves before fixing the liner to the inner surface and incorporating the recording medium are ultrasonically cleaned in a cleaning liquid such as water or alcohol, and dried. Is what you do.

[0012]

According to the present invention as described above, the recording medium is rotated after an impact such as ultrasonic vibration is applied to the disk cartridge in which the recording medium is incorporated in the case of the upper and lower shell halves to which the liner is fixed. By suctioning the internal air from the opening in the state, the impact removes fiber dust, dust such as powder and dust attached to the inner surface of the case and the like held by the liner, and sucks and removes it. Dust inside the liner can also be efficiently removed, dropouts can be prevented without generating dust due to impact during actual use, and high recording quality can be ensured even at high recording densities to increase reliability. Can be.

According to another cleaning method of the present invention, the upper and lower shell halves to which the liner is fixed before the recording medium is incorporated therein are ultrasonically cleaned in a cleaning liquid and dried, so that the fiber waste held by the liner is removed. , Dust and dust adhering to the inner surface of the case can be reliably removed, dropouts can be avoided when using a disk cartridge, and high recording quality is ensured even at high recording density. Can be increased.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of upper and lower shell halves of a disk cartridge as an example to which the present invention is applied.

A disk cartridge (magnetic disk cartridge) is made of, for example, acrylonitrile-butadiene-
A flat case C (hard case) is formed by joining the upper shell half 1 and the lower shell half 2 formed of a synthetic resin such as a styrene copolymer. The disk-shaped recording medium 4 (magnetic disk medium) attached and held is rotatably accommodated. Liners 5 and 5 are provided above and below the recording medium 4, respectively.

The recording medium 4 has a disk-like base made of flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or the like, and has magnetic layers formed on both surfaces thereof.
A recording area 4a is set in an annular shape excluding the outer periphery and the inner periphery, and the inner and outer edges of the recording area 4a are non-recording areas 4b.

The upper shell half 1 and the lower shell half 2 have a substantially rectangular flat shape, and outer peripheral ribs 1a and 2a forming side walls are provided on the outer periphery. , 2b are provided, rectangular openings 10 and 11 for inserting a head are opened, and a circular hub hole 2c is formed in a central portion of the lower shell half 2 so as to face the center core member 3. At the center of the inner surface of the upper shell half 1, an annular projection 12 is provided so as to project inside the center core member 3, and this annular projection 12 is fitted on the inner peripheral side of the center core member 3 to form the recording medium 4. Restricts movement in the radial direction. Although not shown, a shutter member slidable in the left-right direction in the figure is assembled to open and close the openings 10 and 11 of the case C.

Further, on the flat inner surfaces of the upper shell half 1 and the lower shell half 2, upper and lower liners 5, each of which is made of a sheet-like non-woven fabric or the like, whose outer shape is substantially octagonal (or may be round).
5 is fixed by ultrasonic welding, bonding or the like. The inner ribs 1b, 2b are formed outside the liners 5, 5 along the shape thereof. The fixing of the liner 5 is as follows.
This is performed entirely or partially, and in particular, it may be provided so that a part thereof is partially fixed so as to be a free end, and the free end is raised during rotation so as to be in contact with the surface of the recording medium 4. .

The upper and lower liners 5, 5 have the same shape,
The portion overlapping the openings 10 and 11 is cut away, and a circular hole slightly larger than the outer diameter of the annular projection 12 or the hub hole 2c is also opened at the center.

The assembling of the disk cartridge is as follows.
Liners 5 and 5 are fixed to the inner surfaces of the upper shell half 1 and the lower shell half 2 respectively, and the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 are assembled in a lid-to-lid state with the recording medium 4 and other components housed therein, and ultrasonically welded. By joining.

The disk cartridge after assembly and before shipping is cleaned by the cleaning device 20 shown in FIG. Before setting the disc cartridge in the cleaning device 20, an impact such as ultrasonic vibration is applied to the disc cartridge to release dust contained in the liners 5 and 5. Thereafter, the dust is sucked and removed from the openings 10 and 11 while the recording medium 4 is rotated by the cleaning device 20.
The impact such as the ultrasonic vibration is performed by using the same ultrasonic horn as the ultrasonic welding device for fixing the liner or for fixing the shell half, and vibrating the case C and the liner 5 with a lower output than the welding. To give a drop impact or a hit impact.

The cleaning device 20 has a rotary drive shaft 21 that holds and rotates the center core member 3 of the recording medium 4. The rotary drive shaft 21 has a chuck portion 21a at the tip for receiving the center core member 4, a pin portion 21b projecting upward at the center of the upper surface thereof, and is rotatably supported by a bearing 22. It is rotationally driven in association with a drive motor (not shown).

Further, the cleaning device 20 includes upper and lower suction ducts 23, 23 which move toward and away from the opened upper and lower openings 10, 11 of the case C in the set disk cartridge. Is connected to a suction pump (not shown). Then, while the recording medium 4 is rotated by the rotation drive shaft 21, the internal air is sucked from the openings 10 and 11, and the dust adhered to the recording medium 4 and adhered to the liners 5 and 5 or retained inside. The cleaning process is performed by sucking and removing the dust and the dust floating in the internal space.

External air flows in through the hub holes 2c and the like of the case C with the suction by the suction ducts 23, 23, and clean air is supplied so that the inflow air does not contain dust.

In the above embodiment, dust contained in the liner or the like is floated or released by applying ultrasonic vibration or drop impact to the disc cartridge to facilitate discharge during suction. The inside air is sucked from the openings 10 and 11 while rotating the recording medium 4, but dust moves to the vicinity of the openings 10 and 11 with the rotation of the recording medium 4, and the dust is efficiently sucked and discharged. In addition, dust generated from the liner 5 and the like can be reliably removed. As a result, cleaning with high removal efficiency can be performed,
In an actual use state, it is possible to prevent dust from being generated from the liner 5 or the like due to an impact acting on the disk cartridge, thereby suppressing the occurrence of dropout and increasing reliability.

Next, in a cleaning method according to another embodiment, the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 before the recording medium 4 is mounted and the liners 5 and 5 are fixed to the inner surface thereof are superposed in a cleaning liquid such as water or alcohol. After the cleaning, the recording medium 4 is assembled, and the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 are ultrasonically bonded to form a disk cartridge.

The cleaning device 30 (ultrasonic cleaning tank) used in this cleaning method is, as shown in FIG.
Cleaning tank 3 containing cleaning liquid 31 (water or alcohol, etc.)
The cleaning tank 32 is provided with an ultrasonic vibration device 33 (details are omitted). Then, as described above, the shell halves 1 and 2 having the liners 5 and 5 fixed to the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 are immersed in the cleaning liquid 31 of the cleaning tank 32, and the cleaning liquid 31 is subjected to ultrasonic vibration. Device 33
And the upper and lower shell halves 1, 2 attached to the liner 5 or held therein.
Cleaning and removal of dust adhering to. Thereafter, the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 are taken out of the cleaning tank 32, and the cleaning liquid 31 is evaporated and dried by standing drying or heat drying.

In the present embodiment, dust on the liner 5 and the shell halves 1 and 2 can be removed at a high removal rate by ultrasonically cleaning the upper and lower shell halves 1 and 2 before assembling the recording medium 4. Moreover, by performing the ultrasonic cleaning in the state of the shell halves 1 and 2, dust removal and drying can be performed satisfactorily. Thus, in the actual use state, it is possible to prevent dust from being generated from the liner or the like due to the impact acting on the disk cartridge, thereby suppressing the occurrence of dropout and increasing reliability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an upper and lower shell half and a recording medium showing an example of a disk cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a cleaning state of a disk cartridge by a cleaning device that performs a cleaning method according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a cleaning state of a disk cartridge by a cleaning device that performs a cleaning method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper shell half 2 Lower shell half 3 Center core member C Case 4 Recording medium 5 Liner 10,11 Opening 20,30 Cleaning device 21 Rotary drive shaft 23 Suction duct 31 Cleaning liquid 32 Cleaning tank 33 Ultrasonic vibration device

Claims (2)

[Claims] An opening for inserting a head,
An impact such as ultrasonic vibration is applied to a disk cartridge rotatably storing a disk-shaped recording medium in a case formed by joining upper and lower shell halves each having a liner fixed to the inner surface, and adheres to the liner or shell half. A method for cleaning a disc cartridge, comprising: releasing dust that has been released, and sucking and removing the dust from the opening while the recording medium is rotated. 2. A method for cleaning a disk cartridge, wherein upper and lower shell halves before fixing a liner to an inner surface thereof and incorporating a recording medium are subjected to ultrasonic cleaning in a cleaning liquid such as water or alcohol and dried.