JP2003115180A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent positional deviation from occurring between an upper shell and a transparent window in a disk cartridge in which the transparent window is molded in two colors at the upper shell. SOLUTION: This disk cartridge 1 is provided with a shell 2 housing a disk- shaped recording medium 3 in a rotatable way and consisting of upper and lower shells 21 and 22. The upper shell 21 is provided with the transparent window 24 within a window frame part 23. A first projecting part 25 and a second projecting part 26 overlapping on each other in a thickness direction are provided in a connection part between the upper shell 21 and the transparent window 24. The first projecting part 25 consists of a plurality of collar-shaped tongue pieces 25a to 25n disposed along the peripheral part of the transparent window 24 with prescribed intervals.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a shell for rotatably storing a disk-shaped recording medium is provided with a transparent window so that the disk-shaped recording medium can be seen through the transparent window.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a disk cartridge having a transparent window, for example, one shown in FIG. 33 is known. The disc cartridge 101 is a disc-shaped recording medium 10.
2 is rotatably accommodated, and a shell 105 including upper and lower shells 103 and 104 is provided.

The upper shell 103 is made of an opaque resin in a substantially rectangular shape, and has a transparent window 107 made of a transparent resin in a horseshoe-shaped window frame portion 106.

The upper shell 103 and the transparent window 107 have two
It is integrally formed by color molding.

As shown in FIG. 34, the upper shell 103 is formed.
The joining portion 108 of the transparent window 107 and the transparent window 107 is formed on a flat surface that is straight in the thickness direction. Therefore, when the urging force F1 in the vertical direction (thickness direction) acts on the transparent window 107, the transparent window 107 and the upper shell 103 may be displaced in the vertical direction at the joint portion 108.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35, a flange-shaped first convex portion 109 is provided on the inner periphery of the window frame portion 106 of the upper shell 103, and a flange-shaped second protrusion 109 is formed on the outer periphery of the transparent window 107. By providing the convex portions 110 and superimposing the first convex portions 109 and the second convex portions 110, even if a strong biasing force F1 is applied to the transparent window 107, the joint portion 108 can be easily vertical. Disc cartridges have also been developed that prevent misalignment in the direction. The first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 have a substantially uniform thickness t over the entire inner circumference of the window frame portion 106 of the upper shell 103 and the outer circumference of the transparent window 107. It has a width w.

[0007]

By the way, as described above, at the joint portion 108 of the upper shell 103 and the transparent window 107,
A conventional disk cartridge in which the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 are provided and the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 are overlapped with each other has the following problems. There was a point. (1) When a strong biasing force F1 acts on the transparent window 107, the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 effectively act, and the joint portion 108 is displaced in the vertical direction. However, when a horizontal (planar direction) urging force F2 acts on the transparent window 107, the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 move in the horizontal direction. The resistance force against the force F2 does not act effectively, and the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 are likely to be displaced. Particularly, as shown in FIG. 36, when the transparent window 107 is formed in a circular shape, the horizontal urging force F2 may cause the transparent window 107 to rotate. (2) Since the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 are formed over the entire circumference of the joint portion 108 between the upper shell 103 and the transparent window 107 (especially made of an opaque resin, Since the first convex portion 109 of the upper shell 103 is formed over the entire circumference of the window frame portion 106), as shown in FIG. 35, the first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 109 are The width w of the portion 110 becomes opaque, and the area of the transparent window 107 is accordingly narrowed. (3) The entire inner circumference of the window frame 106 and the transparent window 10
In order to mold the flange-shaped first convex portion 109 and the second convex portion 110 having substantially uniform thickness t and width w over the entire outer circumference of 7, the upper shell 103 is injection molded. In the molding die, it is necessary to form a cavity portion for forming the convex portion of, because the workability of the die manufacturing for forming the cavity portion for forming the convex portion over a wide range is poor, The cost of the injection mold is high. Therefore, the cost of the disc cartridge is affected to a considerable extent.

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above conventional problems.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a shell composed of upper and lower shells which rotatably accommodates a disk-shaped recording medium, and the upper shell is arranged in a window frame portion. And a transparent window made of a transparent resin, wherein the upper shell and the transparent window are provided with a first convex portion and a second convex portion that overlap each other in the thickness direction, The first convex portion is composed of a plurality of tongue pieces arranged at a predetermined interval along the peripheral edge of the joint portion of either the window frame portion of the upper shell or the transparent window, and the second convex portion Of the tongue pieces forming the first protrusion are provided along the peripheral edge of the other joint portion of the window frame portion of the upper shell or the transparent window. The overlapping portion overlapping with the first When a force in the thickness direction (vertical direction) acts on the transparent window, the tongue piece and its The overlapping portion that overlaps in the thickness direction prevents the joint portion from separating in the thickness direction, and when a force in the plane direction (horizontal direction) acts on the transparent window, it intervenes between the plurality of tongue pieces. The inter-tongue interpenetrating portion prevents the joint portion from being displaced in the plane direction.

Further, the plurality of tongue pieces are provided on the upper shell side, and the tongue pieces on the upper shell side and the overlapping portion overlapping in the thickness direction thereof on the transparent window side are interposed between the plurality of tongue pieces. By providing the interpenetrating portion between the tongues, the presence of the joint can prevent the area of the transparent window from being narrowed.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, the present invention will be described in detail in the following order. (1) Schematic configuration of the disc cartridge,
(2) Cartridge housing configuration, (3) Disc-shaped recording medium configuration, (4) Inner shell configuration, (5) Shutter configuration, (6) Disc cartridge assembly method,
(7) Operation of the disk cartridge and (8) Other embodiments of the upper shell will be separately described in order.

(1) Schematic Configuration of Disc Cartridge FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the disc cartridge seen from the upper shell side, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the shutter open state as seen from the lower shell side, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the disc cartridge 1 includes a disc-shaped recording medium 3
Is rotatably accommodated and has a first opening 6 for recording / reproducing on at least one side, and a cartridge housing 2 composed of upper and lower shells 21 and 22, and a first housing 6 having substantially the same shape as the first opening 6. An inner shell 4 having two openings 42, a shutter 5 connected to the inner shell 4 to open and close the first opening, a chucking plate 7, and the chucking plate 7 on the inner surface of the upper shell. The chucking plate holder 8 to be attached is provided.

The disc cartridge 1 is constructed by accommodating a disc-shaped recording medium 3, an inner shell 4 and a shutter 5 in a cartridge housing 2. When the inner shell 4 is rotated in one direction. When the shutter 5 is moved to the first position for closing the opening 6 provided in the cartridge housing 2 and the inner shell 4 is rotated in the other direction, the shutter 5 releases the opening 6 provided in the cartridge housing 2. To move to the second position.

The upper shell 21 is formed of an opaque resin in a substantially square shape and has a horseshoe shape (U shape) on the outer peripheral side.
The window frame 23 is provided. A transparent window 24 made of transparent resin is provided in the window frame portion 23. The upper shell 2
2 and the transparent window 24 are integrally formed by two-color molding. As shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the transparent window 24 has a bulged portion 21A that is raised upward.

A plurality of tongue pieces 25a to 25n, which will be described in detail below, are provided on the peripheral portion of the transparent window 24 at predetermined intervals.

(2) Construction of Cartridge Housing The cartridge housing 2 is formed by abutting the peripheral walls 21a and 22a of the upper and lower shells 21 and 22.

As shown in the plan view of the inner surface side of the upper shell 21 of FIG. 6 and the enlarged view of FIG. 7, the transparent window 24 is formed in a horseshoe shape, and the first convex portion 25 is formed on the inner and outer peripheral portions thereof. Is provided.

The first convex portion 25 has first to ninth tongue pieces 25a to 25a provided on the outer peripheral portion of the horseshoe-shaped transparent window 24.
25i and tenth to fourteenth tongue pieces 25j to 25n provided on the inner peripheral portion, for a total of 14 tongue pieces 25a to 25n.

The first to ninth tongues 25a to 25i on the outer peripheral side of the transparent window 24 are formed in an arc shape having a radius (R) = 20 mm, a protruding height (H1) = 1 mm and a thickness = 0.5 mm. Has been formed.

The first portion of the central portion on the inner peripheral side of the transparent window 24
The second tongue piece 25l is formed in a triangular shape having a protrusion height (H2) = 5 mm. The other tongue, the tenth, eleventh,
13th and 14th tongue pieces 25j, 25k, 25m, 25n
Has a radius (R) of 20 mm and a protrusion height (H3) of 3 m
It is formed in an arc shape with m and thickness = 1 mm.

In the upper shell 21, the transparent window 24 is first molded with transparent resin by a two-color molding die device,
It is formed by molding the remaining portion (upper shell main body portion) of the upper shell 21 with an opaque resin so as to surround the transparent window 24. The gate for molding the transparent window 24 is arranged on the twelfth tongue piece 25l. G is
Shows gate marks.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a second convex portion 26 that overlaps the first convex portion 25 of the transparent window 24 is provided on the peripheral portion of the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 22. ing.

The second convex portion 26 corresponds to the first convex portion 2
5 overlaps a plurality of tongues in the thickness direction (see FIG. 8), and a tongue interpenetrating portion 26b (between the plurality of tongues forming the first protrusion 25). (See FIGS. 9 and 10).

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when a vertical urging force F1 acts on the bulging portion 21A in the central portion of the upper shell 21, the peripheral portion of the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 22. The overlapped portion 26a of the second convex portion 26 provided on the above is engaged with the tongue pieces 25a to 25n of the first convex portion 25 of the transparent window 24 to prevent the vertical displacement. Also,
As shown in FIG. 10, when a horizontal urging force F2 is applied to the transparent window 24, the tongue pieces 25a to 25n of the first convex portion 25 of the transparent window 24 are the window frames of the upper shell 22. The second convex portion 26 provided on the peripheral portion of the portion 23 is engaged with the inter-tongue interpenetrating portion 26b to prevent the positional displacement from occurring in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the upper shell 2
1 is a thin plate-shaped member having a substantially quadrangular shape whose front side has an arc shape, and a peripheral wall 21a is provided at an outer peripheral edge portion.

The peripheral wall 21a is composed of a front edge portion 21b, a pair of side edge portions 21c and 21d, and a rear edge portion 21e. A positioning recess 21f for positioning with the lower shell 22 is provided at the center of the rear edge 21e.

The inside of the peripheral wall 21a, more specifically, the front edge portion 21
Each of b and the corner portion of the one side edge portion 21c, the corner portion of the one side edge portion 21c and the rear edge portion 21e, and the corner portion of the rear edge portion 21e and the other side edge portion 21d will be described below. A first dustproof wall 11b that overlaps with the inside of the first dustproof wall 11a of the lower shell 22 and constitutes the first dust intrusion prevention unit 11 together with the first dustproof wall 11a is provided.

An arcuate rib 14 having substantially the same height as the second dustproof wall 11b is formed in an arcuate shape so as to extend from one end to the other end of the second dustproof wall 11b. There is.

A ring-shaped rib 15 is provided inside the arc-shaped rib 14. The inside of the ring-shaped rib 15 serves as a storage portion 16 for the disk-shaped recording medium 3.

On the outside of the ring-shaped rib 15, there is provided a ring-shaped recess 17 into which the tip of the ring portion of the inner shell 4, which will be described in detail later, is fitted. A lift-up convex portion 18 for moving the inner shell 4 in a direction separating from the lower shell 22 is provided at a front-rear symmetrical position (a position shifted in phase by 180 °) on the bottom surface of the ring-shaped concave portion 17. . The lift-up convex portion 18 moves in a direction in which the inner shell 4 is separated from the upper shell 21 by the ride-up of the lift-up convex portion 46 on the inner shell side provided on the tip surface of the ring portion 41 of the inner shell 4. It is designed to be moved.

As shown in FIG. 11, the lower shell 22 is
Like the upper shell 21, the front side is formed of a thin plate-like member having a substantially square shape with an arc shape, and a peripheral wall 22 is provided at the outer peripheral edge portion.
a is provided.

The peripheral wall 22a includes a front edge portion 22b, a pair of side edge portions 22c and 22d, and a rear edge portion 22e.
A positioning convex portion 22f for positioning with the upper shell 21 is provided at the center of the rear edge portion 22e.

The inside of the peripheral wall 22a, more specifically, the front edge portion 22
b and the corner portion of the one side edge portion 22c, the corner portion of the one side edge portion 22c and the trailing edge portion 22e, and the corner portion of the trailing edge portion 22e and the other side edge portion 22d, respectively. It overlaps the outside of the dustproof wall 11b of No. 2,
A first dustproof wall 11a that constitutes the first dust intrusion prevention unit 11 together with the second dustproof wall 11b is provided.

The first dustproof wall 11a is integrally formed with the inner wall of the peripheral wall 22a of the lower shell 22 so as to project from the tip of the peripheral wall 22a of the lower shell 22.

As shown in FIG. 12, the first dustproof wall 11
The height H _{1 of a} is the height H of the peripheral wall 22a of the lower shell 22.
_2, are formed at heights of H ₃ a value obtained by adding the wall 21a of the upper shell _{21 (H 1 = H 2 +} H 3).

Inside the first dust-proof wall 11a, as shown in FIG. 11, an arc-shaped rib 19 having substantially the same height as that of the first dust-proof wall 11a is provided at one end of the first dust-proof wall 11a. Is formed in an arc shape so as to straddle the other end.

The inside of the arcuate ribs 19 ... 19 of the lower shell 22 is a storage portion for storing approximately half of the inner shell 4 in the thickness direction and the pair of shutters 5.

The upper and lower shells 21 and 22 are overlapped with each other with the peripheral walls 21a and 22a abutting each other with the positioning projection 22f fitted in the positioning recess 21f.

Then, when the upper and lower shells 21 and 22 are superposed, as shown in FIG.
The dustproof wall 11b overlaps the inner surface of the first dustproof wall 11a of the lower shell 22 with a clearance C of 0.1 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less to form the first dust intrusion prevention portion 11. On the inner side of the first dust intrusion prevention section 11 (on the side of the disk storage section), the arc-shaped rib 1 of the upper shell 21 is provided.
4 and the arcuate rib 19 of the lower shell 22 are overlapped with each other to form a dust invasion preventing portion.

As shown in FIG. 13, on the sliding contact surface (contact surface) between the lower shell 22 and the shutter 5, when the shutter 5 is in the first position for closing the opening 6, the disk is inserted from the opening 6. A crank-shaped second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 is provided to prevent dust from invading the recording medium 3 side.

The second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 has a rib-shaped convex portion 12 provided on the lower shell 22 so as to surround the opening 6.
a and a groove-shaped recess 12b provided on the shutter 5 and into which the rib-shaped projection 12a is fitted when the shutter 5 moves to a first position for closing the opening 6. There is.

The rib-shaped convex portion 12a and the groove-shaped concave portion 12b have inclined surfaces 12c at their ends in the width direction, and the opening 6 is opened from the first position where the shutter 5 closes the opening 6. When moving to the second position for release, the rib-shaped protrusion 12a
Easily come out of the groove-shaped recess 12b.

Further, a concave-convex third dust intrusion prevention portion 13 is provided further inside the crank-shaped second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 on the sliding contact surface between the lower shell 22 and the shutter 5. There is.

As shown in FIG. 11, the lower shell 22 is provided with an opening 6 from the center to the front edge 22b. The opening 6 is for allowing the turntable of the disc rotation drive mechanism and the optical head of the optical pickup device to face the disc-shaped recording medium 3, and is set to have an area that allows them to freely move in and out.

The rib-shaped convex portion 12a forming the second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 is formed in a substantially H shape in plan view so as to surround the opening portion 6 and has a height of approximately 0.5 mm. .
The first to the four end portions of the substantially H-shaped rib-shaped convex portion 12a are
Fourth tall portions (closed portions) 12d to 12g are provided. The first to fourth tall portions 12d to 12g are formed to have a height of about four times the height of the rib-shaped convex portion 12a. The four ends of the substantially H-shaped rib-shaped convex portion 12a are connected to the arc-shaped rib 19 through the first to fourth tall portions 12d to 12g. In addition, the inner surface of the lower shell 22 is provided with a boss-shaped (cylindrical) convex portion 20 to be inserted into the long holes 53 of the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b described later.
The boss-shaped convex portion 20 is the rib-shaped convex portion 12 having the substantially H shape.
One is formed on each side of the a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a part of the gear 43 on the outer peripheral surface of the inner shell 4 is exposed at approximately the center of one of the side edge portions 21d and 22d of the upper and lower shells 21 and 22. An opening window 30 is provided to allow the opening. The opening window 30 is formed by the upper shell side notch 30 provided in the upper shell 21.
a and the lower shell side notch 30b provided in the lower shell 22
It is formed by and. Furthermore, the upper and lower shells 21,
A guide groove 31 extending in the front-rear direction is provided on one of the side edge portions 21c, 22c of 22 along the joint surface thereof. The guide groove 31 is provided for the purpose of preventing erroneous insertion when the disc cartridge 1 is mounted in the disc recording / reproducing apparatus. The opening window 30 communicates with the guide groove 31.

As shown in FIG. 3, at the corner portion between the front edge portion 22b of the lower shell 22 and the one side edge portion 22d, the lock storage portion 33 in which the lock member 32 is rotatably stored.
Is provided. The lock storage portion 33 communicates with a storage portion such as an inner shell of the lower shell 22 and also communicates with the guide groove 31 via an opening hole 34 provided in one side edge portion 22d. Furthermore, the lower shell 22
A support shaft 35 that rotatably supports the lock member 32 is provided in the lock storage portion 33 so as to project toward the upper shell 21 side.

The lock member 32 is formed by a lever-shaped member that is rotatably fitted to the support shaft 35 and is swingable in the plane direction. A stopper portion 36 having a plurality of teeth is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the lock member 32,
An operation unit 37 is provided at the other end in the longitudinal direction. Further, the lock member 32 is integrally provided with a spring piece 38 protruding in the same direction so as to face the stopper portion 36.

The lock member 32 has the support shaft 35 with the stopper portion 36 facing the storage portion side such as the inner shell.
The spring piece 38 is brought into contact with the inner surface of the front edge portion 22b. By the spring force of the spring piece 38, the stopper portion 36
Is urged toward the storage portion such as the inner shell, and the operation portion 37 penetrates the opening hole 34 from the inside to guide the guide groove 31.
Projected inside. In addition, one side edge portion 2 of the lower shell 22
An erroneous erasure prevention member 92 for preventing erroneous erasure of information recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk is provided on an erroneous erasure prevention member attachment portion 91 provided at a corner portion of 2c and the rear edge 22e.
Is attached. (3) Configuration of disc-shaped recording medium As the disc-shaped recording medium 3, a reproduction-only optical disc in which various information signals such as a music signal as audio information, a video signal as video information, and a music signal are recorded in advance, or There is known a recordable type optical disc in which an information signal such as audio information or video information can be recorded only once (write once type) or can be repeatedly recorded as many times as possible (rewritable type). A feasible type optical disc (hereinafter, the disc-shaped recording medium is simply referred to as an optical disc) is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the optical disk 3 is composed of a thin disk-shaped recording member having a center hole 3a in the center thereof.

The optical disk 3 has a chucking plate 7
Thus, it is chucked on the turntable of the recording / reproducing apparatus, integrated in the direction of rotation, and rotated at a predetermined speed (for example, constant angular velocity for each zone).

On one surface of the optical disk 3, there are an information recording area 29a in which information can be recorded and an unrecorded area 29b in which information cannot be recorded, facing an optical head of an optical pickup device incorporated in the recording / reproducing apparatus. It is provided. The non-recording area 29b is an inner non-recording area 29b provided with a predetermined width on the outer side of the chucking plate 28 which is the inner side of the optical disc 3, and an outer non-recording area provided with a predetermined width on the outer peripheral edge of the optical disc 3. 29b. An information recording area 29a is provided between the inner and outer non-recording areas 29b and 29b.

The optical disc 3 is rotatably accommodated in the ring portion 41 of the inner shell 4 described below. The material of the substrate of the optical disc 3 is, for example, polycarbonate (PC), polymethacrylate (PMM).
Although synthetic resins such as A) are suitable, it goes without saying that other synthetic resins can be used, and other than synthetic resins,
Various materials such as glass materials and aluminum alloys can be used.

The disk-shaped recording medium is not limited to an optical disk, but a magnetic disk in which a magnetic thin film layer is formed on the surface of a thin disk to store information according to the magnetization state at a specific position. A magneto-optical disk or other storage medium in which information is written or read by using an optical head and a magnetic head can be applied to the formed magnetic thin film layer.

(4) Structure of Inner Shell As shown in FIG. 3, the inner shell 4 has a flat portion 40 made of a thin disc-shaped plate and a ring portion continuously provided on the outer peripheral edge of the flat portion 40. 41 and 41. An opening 42 is formed in the plane portion 40 of the inner shell 4. The opening 42 is formed to have substantially the same shape and size as the opening 6 of the lower shell 22.

The ring portion 41 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the ring-shaped rib 15 of the upper shell 21, is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the ring-shaped rib 15, and its tip is It is adapted to be inserted into a ring-shaped recess 17 provided outside the ring-shaped rib 15. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the ring portion 41, a gear portion 43 having a large number of teeth over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction is provided. The gear portion 43 is set to have an angular range slightly larger than the rotation angle of the inner shell 4. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 is tilted to the maximum with respect to the opening 6 of the lower shell 22, and the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b described below are completely closed, One end of 43 in the circumferential direction is exposed to the opening window 30. Further, as shown in FIG. 14, when the inner shell 4 is rotated by a predetermined angle so that the opening 42 and the opening 6 are overlapped with each other and the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are completely opened, the gear portion 43 is rotated. The other end in the circumferential direction is exposed to the opening window 30.

On both sides of the gear portion 43 of the inner shell 4, stopper portions 44a and 44b for limiting the rotational movement amount of the inner shell 4 are provided so as to project radially outward.

Thus, the gear portion 43 and the stopper portion 44 are
Since a and 44b project outward from the outer peripheral surface of the ring portion 41, the corresponding portions of the upper shell 21 and the lower shell 22 are prevented from contacting with the stopper portions 44a and 44b and the passage thereof is allowed. Relief grooves 45a and 45b are provided respectively.

As shown in FIG. 14, the inner shell 4
When the opening 42 of the lower shell 22 and the opening 6 of the lower shell 22 are overlapped with each other, one end of the stopper 44a is provided with the escape groove 45.
It engages with a stopper engaging portion 45c provided at one end of a to prevent the inner shell 4 from further rotating. In addition, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 is tilted to the maximum with respect to the opening 6 of the lower shell 22, one end of the stopper portion 44 b is provided at one end of the opening 6. The inner shell 4 is engaged with the mating portion 45d.
Prevent further rotation of the.

Further, on the tip end surface of the ring portion 41, lift-up convex portions 46 are provided at two locations in the circumferential direction. Lift-up protrusions 4 on the inner shell side
6 shows the ring shape of the upper shell 21 as shown in FIG. 22 when the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 is tilted to the maximum with respect to the opening 6 of the lower shell 22 as shown in FIG. Lift-up convex portion 1 provided in the concave portion 17 of the
It is designed to ride up to 8. Further, as shown in FIG. 14, a pair of shutter members 5a and 5b for supporting the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b rotatably in the plane direction is provided on the surface of the plane portion 40 of the inner shell 4 opposite to the ring portion 41. Support shaft 4
9,49 are provided. This pair of support shafts 49, 4
The 9s are provided one by one so as to be point-symmetrical with respect to the opening 42. Further, in the vicinity of the pair of support shafts 49, 49, a trapezoidal projection 48 for trapping the fitting having a substantially same height as the rib-shaped projection 12a having a substantially H shape provided on the lower shell 22,
48 are provided. These projections 48 for releasing the fitting,
Reference numeral 48 denotes a rib when the shutter members 5a and 5b move from the position (first position) of FIG. 15 where the opening 6 is closed to the position (second position) of FIG. 14 where the opening 6 is released. This is for extracting the convex portion 12a in the shape of a groove from the concave portion 12b.

The trapezoidal protrusions 48, 48 for releasing the fitting are
At the position shown in FIG.
It is located on the side of the second and fourth tall portions 12e and 12g provided at the end of the rib-shaped convex portion 12a.

(5) Structure of Shutter As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the shutter 5 is composed of a pair of shutter members 5a and 5b formed in substantially the same shape and size. The pair of shutter members 5a, 5b are formed by a plate body having substantially the same plate thickness as the heights of the first to fourth tall portions 12d to 12g of the rib-shaped convex portion 12a having a substantially semicircular shape. . A step portion 50 formed in a predetermined length in a direction orthogonal to the chord line is provided at a substantially central portion of the chord side of each of the shutter members 5a and 5b. Convex side joint 50a
And a concave side joint portion 50b are formed. Further, the joint portions 50a, 50b of the shutter members 5a, 5b have an eaves portion 51a, which protrudes in an eaves shape in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the strings.
51b are provided respectively. Thus, in the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b, the protrusion-side joint 5
0a and the end surface of the concave-side joint portion 50b face each other, and the eaves portion 51a of the convex-side joint portion 50a is connected to the concave-side joint portion 50.
They are overlapped with the eaves portions 51b of b. Bearing holes 52 are provided in the shaft assembling portion 50c, which is the end portion of the shutter members 5a and 5b on the convex joint portion 50b side of the chord side.

At the ends of the shutter members 5a and 5b on the concave joint portion 50b side of the chord side, approximately H of the lower shell 22 is provided.
Notch 50d for introducing the second tall portion 12e or the fourth tall portion 12g provided at the end of the rib-shaped convex portion 12a
Is provided.

A support shaft 49 of the flat portion 40 is provided in the bearing hole 52.
The shutter members 5a and 5b are rotatably attached to the inner shell 4 by fitting with each other. At this time, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are attached with their chord sides facing each other. as a result,
As shown in FIG. 18, when the pair of shutter members 5 a and 5 b are rotated so as to be separated from each other to the outside, the shutter members 5 a and 5 b have the openings 4 of the inner rotor 4 respectively.
It is placed so as to overlap on both sides of the sandwiching member 2.
On the other hand, by rotating the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b inward to bring the respective joint portions 50a and 50b into contact with each other, as shown in FIG. 19, the central portion of the opening portion 42 has a pair of shutter members. It is closed by 5a and 5b.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 16 to 19, on the concave joint portion 50b side of the shutter members 5a and 5b, a long hole (opening / closing groove) 53 for opening and closing the shutter members 5a and 5b. Are provided respectively. Each long hole 53
Are formed so as to extend in the radial direction around the bearing holes 52 of the shutter members 5a and 5b in which they are provided. The boss-like convex portion 20 of the lower shell 22 is slidably engaged with the long hole 53. Further, an elastic piece 54 formed by making a cut in the periphery and a concave portion 53a for allowing the boss-shaped convex portion 20 to escape are provided at the outer end portion of each elongated hole 53. Also, the shutter member 5
A convex piece 55 for closing is provided on the side of the arc of a and 5b. As shown in FIG. 21, when the shutter is closed, the convex piece 55 of the shutter member 5a abuts on the first tall portion 12d of the lower shell 22 and the shutter member 5b.
The convex piece 55 of the abutting member abuts on the third tall portion 12f of the lower shell 22 to close the gap between them.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the sliding contact surfaces of the shutter members 5a and 5b with the lower shell 22 include:
A groove-shaped concave portion 12b which is engaged with the substantially H-shaped rib-shaped convex portion 12a and constitutes the second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 is provided. In the groove-shaped recess 12b, the shutter members 5a, 5
In the state where b closes the opening 42, the lower shell 2
The rib-shaped convex portion 12a of No. 2 is fitted.
Further, inside the second dust intrusion prevention portion 12, a third dust intrusion prevention portion 13 having a large number of irregularities is provided.

As the material of the shutter members 5a and 5b,
For example, ABS resin (acrylonitrile butadiene
Styrene resin), HIPS (high impact polystyrene),
A synthetic resin such as POM (polyacetal) is used, and a material of a type having slidability is preferable. However, it goes without saying that other synthetic resins can be applied, and aluminum alloy, stainless steel, and other metal materials can also be used.

(6) Assembling Method of Disc Cartridge The assembling work of the disc cartridge 1 having the above-mentioned structure is performed in the following steps. First, the chucking plate 7 and the chucking plate retainer 8 are attached to the central portion of the inner surface of the upper shell 21. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper shell 21 to which the chucking plate 7 and the chucking plate retainer 8 are attached is placed on the workbench with the inner surface facing upward. Next, the upper shell 21
The optical disk 3 is placed in the disk storage portion 16 at the center of the. At this time, the optical disk 3 is housed in the disk housing with the surface on the chucking plate 28 side facing down.

Next, the ring portion 41 of the inner shell 4 is fitted to the outside of the ring-shaped rib 15 of the upper shell 21 so as to cover the optical disc 3. As a result, the optical disc 3 is rotatably housed between the inner shell 4 and the upper shell 21. At this time, the direction in which the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 extends is aligned with the front-back direction of the upper shell 21, and one end of the gear portion 43 is exposed to the opening window 30.

Next, the shutter 5 is assembled to the inner shell 4. In this, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are made to face each other on their chord sides, and in this state, the bearing holes 52 are fitted to the support shafts 49 of the flat surface portion 40 of the inner shell 4, respectively. Then, the respective shutter members 5a and 5b are separated from each other, and overlapped on both side portions of the opening 42 of the inner shell 4, respectively. At the same time or before or after this, the lock member 32 is attached to the support shaft 35 of the lock storage portion 33. At this time, the spring piece 38 of the lock member 32 is attached to the upper shell 2
1 is brought into contact with the inner surface of the front edge portion 21a, and the spring force of the spring piece 38 moves the input portion 37 from the opening hole 34 to the guide groove 3a.
It is made to project in 1.

Next, the inner shell 4 including the shutter 5
When the lower shell 22 is put on the upper shell and the lower shell 22 is superposed on the upper shell 21, as shown in FIG. 12, the first and second shells provided inside the peripheral wall portions of the upper shell 21 and the lower shell 22 are provided. The first dustproof invasion preventing portion 11 is configured by overlapping the dustproof walls 11a and 11b with a clearance C of 0.1 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, and between the contact surfaces of the lower shell 22 and the shutter members 5a and 5b. An uneven third dust intrusion prevention portion 13 is formed on the inside. Upper and lower shells 21,22
When overlapping, the positioning projections 22f of the lower shell 22 are fitted into the positioning recesses 21f of the upper shell 21. As a result, the lower shell 22 is automatically positioned with respect to the upper shell 21. At this time, by arranging the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b at the positions described above,
The pair of boss-shaped protrusions 20, 20 provided on the lower shell 22 can be opposed to the pair of elongated holes 53, 53, respectively. Therefore, without worrying about the positions of the pair of elongated holes 53, 53, the pair of boss-shaped protrusions 20, 20 can be formed by simply overlapping the lower shell 22 with the upper shell 21.
3, 30 can be engaged.

After that, the lower shell 22 is fastened and fixed to the upper shell 21 by using a plurality of fixing screws. As a result, the assembling work of the disc cartridge 1 is completed. In this case, the joining surface of the upper shell 21 and the lower shell 22 may be directly joined by using, for example, an adhesive agent without using a fixing means formed of a separate member such as a fixing screw. As described above, according to the disk cartridge of the present embodiment, the number of components used is small, and the assembling work can be performed very easily. FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing the assembling work of the disc cartridge 1.

When the lower shell 22 is overlapped with the upper shell 21 as described above, the opening 6 of the lower shell 22 and the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 overlap with each other, and the optical disk is inserted through these openings 6 and 42. The recording surface of No. 3 is exposed to the outside.

Then, by operating the gear portion 43 on the outer periphery of the inner shell 4 in this state to rotate the inner shell 4 in one direction, as shown in FIG. 21, the joint portions of the shutter members 5a and 5b are joined. 50a and 50b overlap,
The opening 6 of the lower shell 22 is in a closed state.

In this case, as described above, the joint portions 50a and 50b of the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are provided with the eaves portions 51a and 51b having a thickness of about half, respectively. The configuration is such that 51b enters below the other joints 50a and 50b. Therefore, since the entire joint portions 50a and 50b are appropriately overlapped with each other, a labyrinth effect is produced, and a structure in which dust hardly enters along the entire length of the joint portions 50a and 50b. Moreover, when the joint portions 50a and 50b are rotated and pressed inward, the external force applied to the joint portions 50a and 50b is received by the eaves portions 51a and 51b located inside. Therefore, the eaves portions 51a and 51b can strengthen the engagement state between the joint portions 50a and 50b, so that the deformation of the shutter member can be prevented and the intrusion of dust can be prevented more reliably.

Furthermore, when the opening 6 of the lower shell 22 is closed by the shutter members 5a and 5b, the lower shell 22 is inserted into the groove-shaped recess 12b provided in the shutter members 5a and 5b.
The substantially H-shaped rib-shaped convex portion 12a is fitted to form a crank-shaped second portion between the lower shell 22 and the shutter members 5a and 5b.
The second dust invasion preventing portion 12 of the lower shell 22 surrounds the peripheral portion of the opening 6 of the lower shell 22.
And, it is more reliably prevented from entering the optical disc 3 side through the contact surfaces of the shutter members 5a and 5b.

As described above, the disc cartridge 1
Before the disk is mounted on the disc recording / reproducing apparatus, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b of the shutter 5 has a lower weight of the lower shell 22 due to its own weight and a frictional force generated between the lower shell 22 and the inner shell 4. The opening 6 and the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 are maintained in a completely closed state.
Further, the two lift-up protrusions 46 of the inner shell 4 are in a state of riding on the two lift-up protrusions 18 provided in the ring-shaped recess 17 of the upper shell 21. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22A, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b includes the upper shell 21 and the inner shell 4
It is pinched from both sides by.

Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the lock member 3
The stopper portion 36 is engaged with the gear portion 43 of the inner shell 4 by the spring force of the second spring piece 38. Therefore, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are in a double locked state. Therefore, the closed state of the openings 6 and 42 by the shutter 5 can be reliably held, and the shutter 5 can be reliably prevented from being accidentally opened due to vibration or the like.

The disc cartridge 1 in such a state
As shown in FIG. 20, the lock member 3 is inserted into the disc recording / reproducing device 60 by a shutter opening / closing mechanism provided in the disc recording / reproducing device 60.
The lock state of 2 is released. After that, the shutter 5 is opened by this shutter opening / closing mechanism, and the openings 6, 42
Is opened. The opening / closing operation of the shutter 5 will be described in the next section of the disc cartridge.

(7) Operation of Disk Cartridge Next, the operation of the disk cartridge will be described together with the structure of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus. Disc recording / reproducing device 60
As shown in FIG. 20, is configured by including an outer case 61 formed of a hollow casing, a recording / reproducing apparatus main body (not shown) housed in the outer case 61, and the like. The outer case 61 includes a case body 62 that is opened on the upper surface and the front surface, a case lid 63 that is detachably attached to the upper portion so as to close the upper surface of the case body 62, and the case body 62 and the case lid 63. A front panel 64 and the like detachably attached to the front portion so as to close the front surface are provided.

Legs 62a projecting downward are provided at four positions of the case main body 62. These legs 62a
The disk recording / reproducing device 60 is supported by the.
The front panel 64 is made of a horizontally long plate-shaped member, and a horizontally long cartridge inlet / outlet 65 is provided on the upper portion thereof. The cartridge inlet / outlet port 65 is formed to have substantially the same size as the size of the front side of the disc cartridge 1. The cartridge entrance / exit 65 is normally closed by an opening / closing door 66 disposed inside thereof.

The opening / closing door 66 is used for the disc cartridge 1
Press the front part of the and insert it to the specified position. As a result, the disc cartridge 1 is automatically loaded by a loading mechanism (not shown). Then, the disc cartridge 1 conveyed by the loading mechanism is positioned and fixed at a predetermined position in the disc recording / reproducing device 60. Simultaneously with or before or after this, the shutter 5 is operated by the shutter opening / closing mechanism provided in the disc recording / reproducing device 60, and the openings 6 and 42 are opened.

When the disc cartridge 1 is inserted to a predetermined position, as shown in FIG. 21, the rack rod 70 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism incorporated in the disc recording / reproducing device 60 is shown.
Enter into the guide groove 31 provided on one side surface of the disc cartridge 1. As a result, the operation portion 37 of the lock member 32 protruding into the guide groove 31 is pushed into the lock storage portion 33 by the pressing force of the rack rod 70 against the biasing force of the spring piece 38. Furthermore, rack bar 7
The forward movement of 0 relatively causes the tip of the gear portion 70a to mesh with the gear portion 43 of the inner shell 4.

This gear portion 43 is the gear portion 7 of the rack rod 70.
By meshing with 0a, the inner shell 4 is rotated according to the amount of movement of the rack rod 70.

FIG. 21 shows a state before the gear portion 70a of the rack rod 70 meshes with the gear portion 43 of the inner shell 4. In this state, the pair of shutter members 5
The convex-side joint portion 50a and the concave-side joint portion 50b of a and 5b are butted against each other and in close contact with each other. At this time, since the opening 42 of the inner shell 4 is at a position inclined with respect to the opening 6 of the lower shell 22, only the overlapping central portion of both openings 6 and 42 is opened. The part is closed by a pair of shutter members 5a and 5b. Therefore, there is no possibility that dust will enter the disc storage portion from the overlapping portion of the openings 6 and 42.

Further, a shaft mounting portion 50c of the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b is interposed in a portion where the opening portion 6 and the opening portion 42 are close to each other at an acute angle.
c is the rib-shaped convex portion 12a of the second and fourth tall portions 12e,
It is located inside 12 g and eliminates the gap. Also,
A projecting piece 55 for closing is provided inside the first and third tall portions 12d and 12f to eliminate the gap. Further, the long holes 53 provided in the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are closed by the lower shell 22 on which the shutter members 5a and 5b overlap. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 22A and 13, the substantially H-shaped rib-shaped convex portion 12 a provided on the lower shell 22 so as to surround the opening 6 is provided on the shutter member 5 a,
A crank-shaped second dust intrusion prevention portion 12 is formed by fitting in a groove-shaped recess 12b provided in 5b, and inside the second dust intrusion prevention portion 12, the shutter member 5a,
Since the labyrinth-like third dust intrusion prevention portion 13 formed of a large number of irregularities provided in 5b is formed, the opening portion 6,
There is no possibility that dust will enter the disk storage portion through 42.

From this state, when the rack rod 70 enters the guide groove 31 in response to the insertion operation of the disc cartridge 1 and the gear portion 70a of the rack rod 70 and the gear portion 43 of the inner shell 4 start to mesh with each other, the inner The shell 4 is rotated counterclockwise. In this case, the inner shell 4
21 and 22 in the initial state in which the rotating operation starts.
As shown in A, a state in which the lift-up convex portion 46 of the inner shell 4 rides on the lift-up convex portion 18 of the upper shell 21 and holds the pair of shutter members 5 a and 5 b with the inner shell 4. Therefore, a relatively large force is required to rotate the inner shell 4. By rotating the inner shell 4 against the large frictional force caused by the riding of the lift-up convex portions 18 and 46 against each other, the mutual engagement of the lift-up convex portions 18 and 46 is prevented as shown in FIG. 22B. The disengagement frictional force disappears.
Therefore, the rotation operation of the inner shell 4 thereafter is
It is extremely light and can be performed smoothly.

By rotating the inner shell 4, a trapezoidal convex portion 4 provided on the bottom surface of the inner shell 4 for releasing fitting.
8, 48 are the first and second rib-shaped convex portions 12a of the lower shell 22.
Riding on the third tall portion 12d, 12f, the lower shell 2
The inner shell 4 is lifted with respect to 2, and the shutter members 5a and 5b are also raised, so that the groove-shaped recess 12b is pulled out from the rib-shaped projection 12a.

At this time, the bearing holes 52 of the shutter members 5a and 5b are similarly rotated by the rotation of the inner shell 4, while the elongated shell 53 provided on the other end side is provided with the lower shell 2.
Two boss-shaped convex portions 20, 20 are slidably engaged with each other. The pair of boss-shaped protrusions 20 and 20 are provided on the lower shell 22 and do not move. On the other hand, the long hole 53 includes the bearing hole 52 and the boss-shaped convex portion 20 so as to be able to move relative to the boss-shaped convex portions 20 and 20 in accordance with the rotation of the shutter members 5a and 5b. Since it extends in the connecting direction S, the boss-shaped convex portion 20 relatively moves in the elongated hole 53 toward the bearing hole 52 side according to the amount of rotation of the shutter members 5a and 5b. As a result, the shutter members 5a, 5
In b, the bearing hole 52 moves to the corresponding boss-shaped convex portion 20 side. As a result, from the state of FIG.
6 and FIG. 27, as shown in FIG. 28, the shutter members 5a and 5b are connected to the opening 42 of the inner shell 4.
Move to both sides of. As a result, the upper and lower openings 6, 4
2 is completely open. Therefore, a part of the optical disc 3 stored in the disc storage portion is exposed by the openings 6 and 42.

As a result, it becomes possible for the disc recording / reproducing apparatus 60 to reproduce or record the information signal in the information recording area 29a of the optical disc 3. After the reproduction or recording of the information signal is completed, for example, a cartridge eject button (not shown) provided in the disc recording / reproducing device 60 is operated, whereby the disc cartridge 1 is operated by the loading mechanism. It is ejected from the recording / reproducing device 60. That is, when the disc cartridge 1 is moved to the cartridge entrance / exit 65 side by the ejection operation of the loading mechanism, the rack rod 70 is relatively retracted.

By the backward movement of the rack rod 70, the inner shell 4 and the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b perform an operation opposite to the above-described insertion. That is, from the state where the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b shown in FIG. 28 are completely opened, the inner shell 4 and the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b are opened.
b rotates clockwise, and changes to the state of FIG. 24 through the states of FIG. 27, FIG. 26, and FIG. 27 to 2
In the state of No. 4, since the lift-up convex portion 46 of the inner shell 4 is not in contact with the lift-up convex portion 18 of the lower shell 22, the inner shell 4 can be rotated with a light force F. .

Next, when the inner shell 4 changes from the state of FIG. 24 to the state of FIG. 21, the lift-up convex portion 46 of the inner shell 4 rides on the lift-up convex portion 18 of the lower shell 22. Therefore, after that, the above-mentioned frictional force is applied to the rotation of the inner shell 4. on the other hand,
The elongated hole 53 moves to the outermost portion with respect to the boss-shaped convex portion 20, contacts the elastic piece 54, and suppresses it. As a result, the spring force X is generated in the elastic piece 54 by the pressing force of the boss-shaped convex portion 20. Due to the spring force X of the elastic piece 54, the other shutter member 5a or 5b is attached to the central step portion 50.
A pressure contact force Y that acts on is generated.

This pressing force Y is generated by the pair of shutter members 5
Since it is generated in both a and 5b, the sealing force of the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b is further enhanced by the pressure contact force Y of each other. Therefore, it is possible to improve the dustproof property at the joint portion of the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b, and to more effectively prevent dust and the like from entering the disc storage portion.

After that, after the gear portion 70a of the rack rod 70 is disengaged from the gear portion 43, the rack rod 70 is opened.
The operation portion 37 of the lock member 32 is projected into the guide groove 31 from the opening hole 34 by passing through the. At the same time, the stopper portion 36 moves inward and meshes with the gear portion 43. As a result, the inner shell 4 is locked by the lock member 32 and its rotation is stopped. Then, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 21, the pair of shutter members 5a and 5b completely close the entire openings 6 and 42.

(8) Other Embodiments of Upper Shell FIGS. 29 to 32 show a second embodiment of the upper shell 21. In this embodiment, the first convex portion 25 is formed by providing a plurality of tongue pieces 25 a to 25 n on the peripheral portion of the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 22, and the second convex portion 26 is the transparent window 24. Is formed on the peripheral edge of the. Then, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 22.
The first convex portion 25 provided on the peripheral portion of the transparent window 24 overlaps the second convex portion 26 provided on the peripheral portion of the transparent window 24.

The second convex portion 26 corresponds to the first convex portion 2
5, overlapping portions 26a (see FIG. 30) of the plurality of tongues that overlap in the thickness direction and inter-tongue interpenetrating portions 26b that are interposed between the plurality of tongues that form the first convex portion 25.
(See FIGS. 31 and 32).

Then, as shown in FIG. 30, when the urging force F1 in the vertical direction acts on the transparent window 24, the overlapping portion 2 of the second convex portion 26 provided on the peripheral portion of the transparent window 24.
6a engages with the tongue pieces 25a to 25n as the first convex portions 25 provided on the peripheral edge portion of the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 22 to prevent the positional displacement in the vertical direction. Also,
As shown in FIG. 32, when a horizontal urging force F2 is applied to the transparent window 24, the tongue interpenetrating portion 26b of the second convex portion 26 of the transparent window 24 becomes the window of the upper shell 22. The transparent window 24 is prevented from being displaced in the horizontal direction by engaging with the tongue pieces 25a to 25n provided on the peripheral portion of the frame portion 23.

In the second embodiment, the plurality of tongue pieces 25a to 25n as the first convex portions 25 are provided in the window frame portion 23 of the upper shell 21 of the opaque resin. The transparent window 24 that overlaps with .about.25n becomes opaque, but the transparent state can be maintained between the plurality of tongues, and the range through which the inside of the cartridge can be seen is enlarged accordingly. The upper shell 21 of the second embodiment
Is formed by first molding the upper shell 21 having the window frame portion 23 with an opaque resin using a two-color molding die device, and then molding the transparent window 24 in the window frame portion 23.
Since the other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals and the duplicate description will be omitted.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the horseshoe-shaped window frame 2
3 to 1 or 9 arranged on the outer peripheral side of the transparent window 24
The height H1 (size) of the tongue pieces 25a to 25i of the ten tongue pieces 25a to 25i arranged on the inner peripheral side.
The height is set to be lower than the heights H2 and H3 (size) of the window frame. This is because the outer peripheral side of the window frame portion 23 is reinforced by the peripheral wall 21a so that the window frame portion 23 is not easily deformed, and is restricted in space. However, even if the first to ninth tongues 25a to 25i arranged on the outer peripheral side and the tenth to fourteenth tongues 25a to 25i arranged on the inner peripheral side have the same size and thickness. Good. Further, the number of tongues arranged on the outer peripheral side may be the same as the number of tongues arranged on the inner peripheral side,
The number does not matter.

[0100]

The present invention has the following effects. (1) When a force in the thickness direction (vertical direction) is applied to the upper shell and the transparent window, the tongue and the overlapping portion overlapping in the thickness direction prevent the joint from being displaced in the thickness direction. However, when a force in the plane direction (horizontal direction) is applied to the transparent window or the like, the joining portion causes a position shift in the plane direction at the inter-tongue intrusion portion interposed between the plurality of tongue pieces. Prevent. (2) A plurality of tongue pieces is provided on the upper shell side, the tongue piece on the upper shell side and the overlapping portion overlapping in the thickness direction thereof on the transparent window side, and the tongue interpenetrating portion interposed between the plurality of tongue pieces. Since the provision of the joint portion prevents the presence of the joint portion from narrowing the region of the transparent window. (3) Since the first convex portion is composed of a plurality of tongue pieces, compared with the case where the conventional first convex portion is formed to have a substantially uniform thickness and width over the entire outer circumference of the transparent window, The manufacturing of the injection mold for injection molding the upper shell becomes easy, and the manufacturing cost of the injection mold and the product cost of the upper shell manufactured using the injection mold can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disc cartridge as viewed from the top side.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the disc cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the disc cartridge as seen from the lower surface side.

5 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the inner surface side of the upper shell.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part.

8 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the inner surface side of the lower shell.

12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

13 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a state where the inner shell is assembled to the lower shell and the positions of the openings of both are aligned.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a state in which the inner shell is assembled to the lower shell and the positions of the openings of both are shifted.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the shutter member seen from the upper surface side.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the shutter member seen from the lower surface side.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a state in which a shutter member is attached to an inner shell and an opening is opened.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a state in which the shutter member is attached to the inner shell and the opening is closed.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a disc recording / reproducing device.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an operational relationship between the cartridge housing and the shutter mechanism, showing a state in which the opening is completely closed by the shutter member.

FIG. 22A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lift-up convex portion of the inner shell rides on the lift-up convex portion of the upper shell, and FIG. 22B is a sectional view showing the lift-up convex portion of the inner shell and the upper shell. Sectional drawing which shows the state which the engagement of the convex part was disengaged.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an assembling process.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the inner shell is slightly rotated and the pair of shutter members is slightly opened from the state of FIG. 21.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the inner shell is rotated further a little from the state of FIG. 24 and the pair of shutter members is further opened slightly.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view showing a state where the inner shell further rotates from the state of FIG. 25 and the pair of shutter members further opens.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing a state where the inner shell further rotates from the state of FIG. 26 and the pair of shutter members further opens.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory view showing a state where the inner shell further rotates from the state of FIG. 27 and the pair of shutter members are completely opened.

FIG. 29 is a plan view of another example.

30 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GG of FIG.

31 is a cross-sectional view taken along line HH of FIG.

32 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 31.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view of a conventional disc cartridge.

34 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line JJ of FIG.

FIG. 35 is a cross-sectional view of another conventional example.

FIG. 36 is a perspective view of a disc cartridge having a transparent window formed in a circular shape.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Disk cartridge, 2 ... Cartridge housing, 3
Optical disc (disc-shaped recording medium), 4 inner shell, 5 shutter mechanism, 6 opening, 21 upper shell, 22 lower shell, 23 window frame, 24 transparent window, 2
5 ... 1st convex part, 25a-26n ... 1st-14th tongue piece, 26 ... 2nd convex part, 26a ... overlapping part.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Sadako Hoshi             6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Soni             -Inside the corporation

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A shell comprising upper and lower shells rotatably accommodating a disk-shaped recording medium, wherein the upper shell comprises a transparent window made of a transparent resin in a window frame portion, and the upper shell and the transparent window are joined together. In the disk cartridge, wherein the first projection and the second projection are provided on the portion, the first projection and the second projection overlapping each other in the thickness direction, wherein the first projection is either the window frame portion of the upper shell or the transparent window. The plurality of tongue pieces are arranged at a predetermined interval along the peripheral edge of one of the joint portions, and the second protrusion is joined to either the window frame portion of the upper shell or the transparent window. Between the plurality of tongues that form the first protrusion and the overlapping portions that are provided along the peripheral edge of the portion and that overlap in the thickness direction of the plurality of tongues that form the first protrusion. It is composed of an intervening part between the tongues that is interposed. Disk cartridge characterized by 2. The first convex portion is provided on the transparent window, and the second convex portion is provided on a window frame portion of the upper shell. Disc cartridge. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the transparent window is formed in a horseshoe shape. 4. A plurality of tongues are formed on each of the inner and outer peripheral portions of the horseshoe shape, and the tongue at the central portion among the plurality of tongues provided on the inner peripheral side of the transparent window. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a gate is arranged. 5. The disk according to claim 1, wherein a shutter that opens and closes an opening provided in the lower shell and an inner shell that opens and closes the shutter are provided inside the shell. cartridge.