JP2003085918A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk cartridge which easily recognizes whether the insertion direction of a cartridge case is erroneous on the mounting of a disk cartridge to a disk drive device. SOLUTION: When the cartridge case 30 is inserted into a cartridge holder in the direction opposite to the normal insertion direction, the tip part of a switching lever 128 advances into a dummy groove 114, is brought into contact with a stopper part 118 on the position of the front side of shutter open position and the movement to the shutter open side is limited. In the disk drive device, it is recognized that the disk cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 in the direction opposite to the proper direction by detecting that the switching lever 128 stops on the position corresponding to the stopper part 118 of the front side of the shutter open position.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a recording disk as an information recording medium is stored in a cartridge case. A disk cartridge such as a so-called 3.5-inch flexible disk (FD) or mini-disk (MD), in which a disk-shaped recording disk is housed in a cartridge case as a recording medium, When recording or reading information on the recording disk, the recording unit and the reading unit of the disk drive device access the recording disk from the window of the cartridge case. Further, the cartridge case is provided with a shutter member. In a normal state, the shutter member is in a closed position and closes the window portion. If necessary, the shutter member is moved by a shutter opening / closing mechanism of a disk drive device (hereinafter simply referred to as “drive device”) to reach an open position, and the window portion is opened. By the way, a cartridge case of a disk cartridge usually has a structure in which a pair of shell members are overlapped with each other along the thickness direction of the recording disk, and the shape (surface shape) along the surface direction is the same. It is almost rectangular. On the other hand, the mounting portion of the disk cartridge in the disk drive device has a width that is slightly wider than the size of the short side of the cartridge case and narrower than the long side of the cartridge case, for example. . As a result, when the disc cartridge is mounted in the drive device, the cartridge case is inserted into the drive device mounting portion in a state in which the cartridge case is rotated 90 ° with respect to the correct insertion direction, that is, in the direction starting from the long side of the cartridge case Is prevented. [0004] However, the user cannot remove the cartridge case 18 with respect to the correct insertion direction.
When the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion of the drive device after being rotated by 0 °, the cartridge case can be inserted into the mounting portion of the drive device in terms of dimensions. Therefore, in order to prevent such an erroneous insertion of the disk cartridge, a detecting means for detecting a cartridge case that is erroneously inserted into the mounting portion while being rotated 180 ° with respect to the correct insertion direction in the drive device. It is necessary to provide it. As such an erroneous insertion detection means, for example, an optical sensor, a magnetic sensor or the like is used to detect the insertion direction of the cartridge case. However, if such an erroneous insertion detection means is provided in the drive device, As the structure of the drive device becomes complicated, the number of parts increases and the device cost increases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge that can easily recognize that the cartridge case is inserted in the wrong direction when mounted in the disk drive device in consideration of the above facts. According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, the dummy groove extends from the both end portions to the center side on the other end surface of the cartridge case opposite to the guide groove. When the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion of the disk drive device in the direction opposite to the correct insertion direction, a part of the shutter opening / closing member is inserted into the dummy groove. The shutter opening / closing member is guided to move along the opening / closing direction of the shutter member, and the movement of the shutter opening / closing member to the open position is restricted. Accordingly, when the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion of the disk drive device in the opposite direction, the shutter opening / closing member cannot be moved during the movement from the closed position to the open position. If it is detected that the cartridge case has stopped before this, it can be recognized that the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion of the disk drive device in the direction opposite to the correct direction. Further, when the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion of the disk drive device in the opposite direction, it is possible to prevent a part of the shutter opening / closing member from colliding with the cartridge case or the like and damaging the disk drive device or the disk cartridge. Further, when the disk cartridge is inserted into the mounting portion of the disk drive device when the cartridge case is turned upside down from the time of the above insertion, the guide groove is opposite to the guide groove in the cartridge case. The shutter opening / closing member is surely inserted into the dummy groove since it is formed on the other end surface of the side so as to extend from both ends thereof to the center side. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (Structure of Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. A disk cartridge 12 is shown. In these drawings, an arrow FR, an arrow RE, an arrow UP, an arrow DW, an arrow RI, and an arrow LE are based on the insertion direction of the disk cartridge 12 into the disk drive device, respectively. Loading direction), rear direction, upper direction, lower direction, right direction, and left direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the disk cartridge 12 includes a pair of shell members 14, a pair of shutter members 16 provided corresponding to each of the shell members 14, and a pair of shutter members 16. One lock member 18 and one spring member 20 are provided in common. The pair of shell members 14 have the same shape,
It is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in plan view. The front-rear dimension of the shell member 14 is larger than the left-right dimension, and the disc cartridge 12 is prevented from being erroneously inserted along the width direction (left-right direction) with respect to the drive device (not shown). Yes. The shell member 14 has a circular hole 26 and a long hole 28 for positioning at predetermined positions, respectively. In the drive device, the circular pin 26 and the long hole 28 are provided with a reference pin (not shown) of the drive device. Is inserted, the disk cartridge 12 is positioned. A disk storage portion 24 corresponding to the disk-shaped recording disk 22 is formed at a position slightly shifted rearward from the approximate center of the shell member 14. As shown in FIG. 1, one shell member 14 is overlapped with the other shell member 14 while being rotated (inverted) around the symmetry axis J <b> 1 so that the pair of disk storage portions 24 face each other. A cartridge case 30 (see FIG. 1) for storing the recording disk 22 is constructed. A pair of bosses 32 and 34 are erected on the inner surface of the shell member 14. Further, fitting holes 36 and 38 respectively corresponding to the bosses 32 and 34 are formed at positions symmetrical with respect to the symmetry axis J1. In a state where the pair of shell members 14 are overlapped, the corresponding bosses 32 and 34 are respectively fitted into the fitting holes 36,
If it is made to fit in 38, the shell member 14 will be maintained in the overlapping state, and will not separate carelessly. The shell member 14 is formed with a window 44 for accessing the recording disk 22. In a state where the disk cartridge 12 is loaded in the drive device, the spindle of the drive device is inserted into the cartridge case 30 through the window 44 and the recording disk 2 is inserted.
The recording / reproducing head of the drive device can access the recording disk 22. In the disk cartridge 12 according to the present embodiment, the front and back surfaces of the recording disk 22 are recording surfaces on which information can be recorded and reproduced, respectively. A thin portion 50 is formed on the front edge portion of the shell member 14 so as to be partially thin from the inner surface side toward the outer surface side. As shown in FIG. 3, when the cartridge case 30 is configured by overlapping a pair of shell members 14, the guide groove 5 is formed on the front end surface of the cartridge case 30.
2 is formed, and a spring accommodating portion 54 is formed inside the guide groove 52. As shown in FIG. 1, the guide groove 52 extends over the entire width direction of the front end surface of the disk cartridge 12. In the spring storage portion 54, the spring member 20 formed from a metal strand is stored. When the shell member 14 is viewed from the inner surface side,
A convex portion 60 that protrudes from the thin portion 50 is formed at the left end portion of the guide groove 52, and as can be seen from FIG. 1, the entrance portion of the guide groove 52 is substantially narrowed. Yes. The front end surface of the convex portion 60 is a tapered surface 62 that approaches the mating thin portion 50 from the end in the width direction of the disk cartridge 12 toward the center in the width direction. Therefore, the opening / closing lever 112 is guided along the tapered surface 62 in the initial stage of entering the guide groove 52, and reliably presses the pressed piece 96 of the lock member 18 and the engaging piece 80 of the shutter member 16 described later. A thin plate-like shutter member 16 is disposed on the outer surface of the pair of shell members 14 constituting the cartridge case 30. The shutter member 16
The shutter body 66 is sized to be able to close the window 44, and is formed in a substantially L shape having a shutter guide 68 extending from the front side of the shutter body 66. A contact piece 70 standing up at a substantially right angle is erected from the shutter guide portion 68, and two guide pieces 72 and 74 are formed in parallel with the shutter guide portion 68 from the end portion of the contact piece 70. When the shutter member 16 is disposed at a predetermined position of the shell member 14, the contact piece 70 comes into contact with the front edge portion 14 </ b> A of the shell member 14, and the guide pieces 72 and 74 are opposite to the shutter guide portion 68 on the shell member 14. Opposite. Thus, the shutter member 16
Prevents falling off and rattling. Further, from the vicinity of the rear end of the shutter main body 66, it extends in the same direction as the shutter guide 68, rises at a right angle to the shutter main body 66, and the tip is parallel to the shutter main body 66. A guide piece 76 that is bent in a straight line is formed. A guide hole 78 is formed in the shutter member 16 along the left-right direction and through the shutter member 16 in the thickness direction.
6 is inserted into the guide hole 78 (see FIG. 1). This also prevents the shutter member 16 from falling off from the shell member 14 and rattling. The shutter member 16 is moved from the position (closed position) where the shutter main body 66 of the shutter member 16 shown in FIG.
While being guided by the guide pieces 72, 74, 76 to the position (open position) where the window portion 44 shown in FIG.
It is possible to slide. The outer surface of the shell member 14 is formed with a recess 82 corresponding to the moving region of the shutter member 16 so that the shutter member 16 does not protrude from the shell member 14 in the thickness direction (upward or downward). ing. An engaging piece 80 is erected from the vicinity of the front end of the shutter guide portion 68 of the shutter member 16 so as to be positioned in the same plane as the contact piece 70. The protruding length of the engaging piece 80 (the length in the vertical direction measured in the thickness direction of the shutter guide portion 68) is longer than the protruding length of the contact piece 70, and the engaging piece 80 faces the guide groove 52. So that it is supported. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, between the pair of shell members 14, a lock member 18 formed by processing (bending or the like) a plate material at a predetermined position is disposed. The locking member 18 includes a spring portion 84 formed by bending a plate material in a multilayer shape at the center in the left-right direction, and a rotating portion 86 extending in the left and right directions from the upper and lower ends of the spring portion 84, respectively. When viewed along the symmetry axis J1, the shape is axisymmetric. A shaft support hole 88 is formed in the rotating portion 86 in the vicinity of the spring portion 84, and a shaft support pin 90 erected from the inner surface (thin wall portion 50) of the shell member 14 is inserted.
Each of the rotating parts 86 rotates independently about the pivot pin 90, but the spring part 84 is deformed along with this rotation, so that an elastic force in a direction opposite to the rotating direction acts on the rotating part. To do. From the center in the longitudinal direction of the rotating portion 86, there is formed a lock convex portion 92 protruding forward.
On the other hand, the shutter member 16 is formed with a lock recess 94 by partially cutting the contact piece 70. As shown in FIG. 4, when the shutter member 16 is in the closed position, the lock projection 92 engages with the lock recess 94, so that the movement of the shutter member 16 is restricted, and the shutter member 16 is locked in the closed position. The On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the rotating portion 86 rotates about the shaft support pin 90 in the unlocking direction and the engagement of the locking convex portion 92 with the locking concave portion 94 is released, the shutter Member 16
Is also unlocked and can move toward the open position. In addition, since each rotation part 86 performs rotation operation independently, when one rotation part 86 rotates in the unlocking direction, the other rotation part 86 rotates in the unlocking direction. The lock projection 92 corresponding to this also maintains the engagement state with the lock recess 94. A pressed piece 96 is formed at the tip of the rotating portion 86, and in the guide groove 52, the shutter member 16.
The engagement piece 80 protrudes outward in the width direction. The pressed piece 96 is formed in a tapered shape that gradually inclines in the forward direction from the outer side in the width direction of the disk cartridge 12 toward the center in the width direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the spring housing 5
4 has two large loop portions 98 and two small loop portions 100 formed as a whole.
It is formed in a letter shape. At both ends of the spring member 20, hooks 106 are formed by bending metal strands upward or downward at substantially right angles. Further, the guide piece 72 of the shutter member 16 has a central side in the width direction,
A spring receiving portion 108 is formed by partially cutting the guide piece 72. The hook portion 106 engages with the spring receiving portion 108 in a state where the spring member 20 is assembled in the cartridge case 30 and the shutter member 16 is in the closed position. As a result, the shutter member 16 is always biased toward the closed position by the spring member 20. As shown in FIG. 2, a guide hole 110 penetrating in the thickness direction is formed in the thin portion 50 of the shell member 14. The guide hole 110 is formed in a long hole shape along the left-right direction, and a portion on the tip side of the hook portion 106 (further on the tip side than the portion engaged with the spring receiving portion 108) is inserted. Accordingly, the hook portion 106 of the spring member 20 is guided so as to move along the opening / closing direction of the shutter member 16. As shown in FIG. 6, the rear end surface of the shell member 14 has thin portions 1 at both ends along the width direction.
When the cartridge case 30 is configured by the pair of shell members 14, the dummy grooves 11 are respectively formed at both end portions along the width direction of the rear end surface of the cartridge case 30 by the pair of thin portions 112.
4 is formed. The dummy groove 114 is formed by the shutter member 1
6 is elongated along the opening / closing direction of FIG. 6, and the end on the outer side in the width direction is an opening 116 that opens near the corner of the cartridge case 30.
An end portion opposite to 16 is a stopper portion 118 formed by the outer surface portion of the shell member 14. Here, the stopper part 118 is located on the outer side in the width direction with respect to the engaging piece 80 of the shutter member 16 in the open position (see FIG. 5). Next, a brief description will be given of a drive device to which the disk cartridge 12 constructed as described above is detachably mounted. The drive device includes a cartridge holder 120 into which the disk cartridge 12 is inserted.
Is provided. The cartridge holder 120 is formed of a metal plate as a raw material, and as shown in FIG. 1, a bottom plate portion 122 on which the disc cartridge 12 is placed.
It has. An opening 123 corresponding to the window 44 of the disk cartridge 12 is formed in the bottom plate 122. Further, the cartridge holder 120 is formed with side plate portions 124 bent upward at both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate portion 122, and bent toward the inner side in the width direction at the upper end portions of these side plate portions 124. Further, upper guide portions 126 are respectively formed. Here, the dimension (opening width) between the pair of side plates 124 in the cartridge holder 120 is slightly larger than the outer dimension along the left-right direction of the cartridge case 30, but The outer dimension along the front-rear direction is narrower, and the dimension between the bottom plate part 122 and the upper guide part 126 in the cartridge holder 120 is slightly larger than the thickness of the cartridge case 30. Thereby, the cartridge case 30 has the cartridge holder 1 in the front-rear direction.
20 can be inserted into the cartridge holder 120 only when it coincides with the insertion direction of the cartridge 20. The drive device is provided with a stopper portion (not shown) for preventing the disc cartridge 12 from moving in the inserting direction when the disc cartridge 12 is inserted to a predetermined mounting position in the cartridge holder 120. A circular hole 26 on the lower surface side of the cartridge case 30
A pair of positioning pins (not shown) that are respectively inserted into the long holes 28 are arranged. As a result, the disk cartridge 12 inserted into the mounting position in the cartridge holder 120 is accurately positioned so as to have a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the spindle of the drive device and the recording / reproducing head. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the drive device is provided with an opening / closing lever 128 for opening and closing the shutter member 16 of the disk cartridge 12. The opening / closing lever 128 is supported so as to be movable along the width direction of the disk cartridge 12 by a shutter opening / closing mechanism (not shown). Here, the shutter opening / closing mechanism moves the opening / closing lever 128 from the standby position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 to the shutter opening position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5 when the disk cartridge 12 is mounted in the drive device. When the disk cartridge 12 is ejected from the drive device, the open / close lever 128 is moved from the shutter open position to the standby position. (Operation of Embodiment) Next, the operation of the disk cartridge 12 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described. When the disc cartridge 12 is mounted in the drive device, the disc cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 along the front-rear direction. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the disc cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 in such a direction that the front end surface of the cartridge case 30 in which the guide groove 52 is formed becomes the head. Disc cartridge 12
Is inserted to the mounting position in the cartridge holder 120, the circular hole 26 and the long hole 2 of the disk cartridge 12 are inserted.
A pair of positioning pins are respectively inserted into 8 and the disk cartridge 12 is fixed at the mounting position. The shutter opening / closing mechanism of the drive device moves the opening / closing lever 128 from the outer standby position to the shutter opening position side with respect to the disk cartridge 12 when the disk cartridge 12 is inserted into the mounting position in the cartridge holder 120. . As a result, the opening / closing lever 128 has its tip portion entered into the guide groove 52 and brought into contact with the pressed piece 96 of the lock member 18 as indicated by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the distal end portion of the opening / closing lever 128 is reliably brought into contact with the pressed piece 96 by being guided by the tapered surface 62 of the convex portion 60 provided at the entrance portion of the guide groove 52. Further, when the opening / closing lever 112 enters the shutter opening position side, the pressed piece 96 is pushed, and the rotating portion 86 is rotated by the elastic force of the spring portion 84 to rotate in the unlocking direction. The shutter member 16 is released from the lock recess 94 and unlocked. When the opening / closing lever 112 further enters the guide groove 52 toward the shutter opening position, it contacts the engaging piece 80 of the shutter member 16 and presses the shutter member 16 toward the opening position. Thereby, the shutter member 16 moves to the open position side while gradually deforming one side portion of the spring member 20. The shutter opening / closing mechanism stops the opening / closing lever 128 when the opening / closing lever 128 moves to the shutter opening position shown in FIG. The shutter member 16 is held in the open position by the opening / closing lever 128, and the window 44 is opened.
The spindle is inserted into the cartridge case 30 through the window 44.
By inserting it in and connecting it to the center hub 46,
The recording disk 22 can be rotated. Further, the drive device can apply a light beam, magnetism, etc. from the recording / reproducing head to the recording surface on the lower surface side of the recording disk 22 through the window portion 44, and write or read information on this recording surface. it can. In the opening operation of the shutter member 16 described above, only one shutter member 16 is opened independently. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the disk cartridge 12 of the present embodiment is completely symmetrical with respect to the axis of symmetry J1, so that information is written to or read from the recording surface on the opposite side of the recording disk 22. For this, the disk cartridge 12 may be turned upside down and loaded into the drive device. Further, when the disk cartridge 12 is to be mounted in the drive device, the cartridge case 30 is erroneously rotated by 180 ° with respect to the normal insertion direction, that is, the front end surface on which the guide groove 52 is formed. It can be considered that the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 with the rear end surface on the opposite side as the head. Also in this case, the disk cartridge 12 has a pair of side plate portions 124 (FIG. 1).
Therefore, the insertion into the cartridge holder 120 is not prevented, and the insertion into the cartridge holder 120 is possible. In the drive device, when the disk cartridge 12 is inserted to the mounting position in the cartridge holder 120 starting from the rear end surface, the shutter opening / closing mechanism is operated. As a result, the opening / closing lever 128 moves from the standby position to the shutter opening position. At this time, the guide groove 52 on the front end surface is formed on the rear end surface of the cartridge case 30.
Since the dummy groove 114 is formed in the portion corresponding to
Enter 4 The stopper 11 of the dummy groove 114
8 is located on the outer side in the width direction with respect to the engagement piece 80 of the shutter member 16 in the open position (see FIG. 5), and therefore the tip of the open / close lever 128 is at a position on the near side of the shutter open position. Abutting on the stopper 118, the movement toward the shutter opening position side is restricted. Therefore, in the drive device, the opening / closing lever 1
By detecting that 28 stops at a position corresponding to the stopper portion 118 in front of the shutter opening position, it can be recognized that the disk cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 in the direction opposite to the correct direction. . Further, when the disk cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 120 in the opposite direction, the shutter opening / closing mechanism and the disk cartridge 12 can be prevented from being damaged by the tip of the opening / closing lever 128 colliding with the cartridge case 30. The drive device according to this embodiment is
The disk cartridge 12 is a cartridge holder 120.
Although the opening / closing lever 128 is moved from the standby position to the shutter opening position side after being inserted to the mounting position in the inside, and the shutter member 16 is opened, other than such a shutter opening / closing mechanism, for example, a shutter In some opening / closing mechanisms, the shutter member 16 is opened by a shutter opening / closing member in conjunction with the insertion operation of the cartridge holder or the like into the mounting portion. Even when such a shutter opening / closing mechanism is used in the drive device, according to the disk cartridge 12 according to the present embodiment, the shutter opening / closing member is inserted into the dummy groove 114 during insertion into the mounting portion.
Since the disc cartridge 12 is prevented from being inserted into the mounting portion by contacting the stopper portion 118, it can be easily recognized that the user is inserting the disc cartridge 12 into the mounting portion in the opposite direction. As described above, according to the disk cartridge of the present invention, it can be easily recognized that the insertion direction of the cartridge case is wrong when the disk cartridge is attached to the disk drive device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention and a cartridge holder in a drive device to which the disk cartridge is mounted. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a disk cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an enlarged vicinity of a front end portion of a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the vicinity of the front end of the disk cartridge and the open / close lever according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state immediately before the shutter member is opened by the open / close lever. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the vicinity of the front end of the disk cartridge and the opening / closing lever according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which the shutter member is opened by the opening / closing lever. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the vicinity of the rear end of the disk cartridge according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of the rear end of the disk cartridge and the opening / closing lever according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Description of Symbols] 12 Disc cartridge 14 Shell member 16 Shutter member 22 Recording disc 30 Cartridge case 44 Window portion 52 Guide groove 112 Opening / closing lever (shutter opening / closing member) 114 Dummy groove 118 Stopper portion (dummy groove)

Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. A disk cartridge which stores a recording disk as an information recording medium in a cartridge case and is inserted into a mounting portion provided in the disk drive device, and has the same shape as each other. A pair of shell members superposed along the thickness direction of the recording disk to form the cartridge case, a window portion formed on the shell member so as to face an information recording surface on one side of the recording disk, and the window A shutter member arranged on the shell member so as to be movable between a closed position for closing the part and an open position for opening, and a side end face corresponding to an insertion direction of the cartridge case into the mounting part. It is formed so as to extend from the both end portions to the center side, and when inserted into the mounting portion, a shaft provided in the disk drive device. And a guide groove for guiding the shutter opening / closing member to move along the opening / closing direction of the shutter member, and on the other end surface of the cartridge case opposite to the guide groove. When the cartridge case is inserted into the mounting portion in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, a part of the shutter opening / closing member is inserted, and the shutter opening / closing member is inserted. A disk cartridge comprising: a dummy groove that guides a member to move along the opening / closing direction and restricts movement of the shutter opening / closing member to the open position.