JP2004152396A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to clean the surface of a disk 5 with a liner 13 before using a disk cartridge in which the liner 13 is stuck on the inner surface of the upper and lower shutter members 7U, 7D of a rotary shutter faced to the surface of the disk 5 in which the center core 10 is fixed to the center part. <P>SOLUTION: Cleaning is carried out by being linked with opening operation of the rotary shutter at the time of loading the disk cartridge 1 by providing the inner periphery of the center hole 10a of the center core 10 with a plurality of engaging concave parts 15 which are engaged with the tip part 11 of a pivotally supporting member of the upper shutter member 7U when the center core 10 is put to one side at the time of loading and can engage the disk 5 in no rotary state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a small disc cartridge in which an information recording disc having a center core fixed at the center is accommodated in a housing, and in particular, a rotary shutter provided rotatably in the housing to open and close an opening for recording / reproducing head access. The present invention relates to a structure of a center core in a disk cartridge in which a liner as a cleaning member for the disk surface is attached to an inner surface facing the disk surface.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a disk system using a rotating disk such as a floppy (R) disk as a recording medium, cleaning of the recording / reproducing head and the disk is an extremely important item for obtaining reliability and durability, and is currently used. In a magnetic disk system, the magnetic head is generally cleaned by a cleaning mechanism provided on the drive device side, and the magnetic disk is generally cleaned by a liner provided on the disk cartridge. As a tendency of the future disk system, it is inevitably necessary to increase the capacity and the density, and cleaning is considered to become even more important.
[0003]
In parallel with the trend toward higher capacity and higher density, the disk system is also becoming smaller, and the space for providing the head cleaning mechanism on the drive device side is becoming increasingly narrow. For example, in a magnetic disk cartridge having a 1.8 inch (about 46 mm) disk called “click! (R)” as described in Patent Document 1, a space for providing a head cleaner on the card type drive device side. Therefore, the present situation depends on only the cleaning of the disk by the liner on the cartridge side.
[0004]
In the above-mentioned magnetic disk cartridge called “click! (R)”, a rotary shutter is rotatably provided in the housing to open and close the head access opening formed in the upper and lower shell housings, and the disk surface of the rotary shutter A liner as a cleaning member is affixed to the inner surface opposite to.
[0005]
When the cartridge is loaded and unloaded in a manner in which the cartridge is inserted into the slot of the card type drive device, the rotary shutter rotates about 60 degrees to open and close the head access opening. It is configured as follows.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1] US Pat. No. 6,256,168
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, it is ideal to clean the disk before use when foreign matter adheres to the disk of the disk cartridge, but the liner does not perform its cleaning function unless the disk rotates, so the disk must be removed before use. It is impossible to clean. If the disk is not cleaned before use, there is a possibility that foreign matter may get caught in the head immediately after the cartridge is loaded, which may cause a serious quality failure.
[0008]
In the magnetic disk cartridge called “crik! (R)” described above, the rotary shutter and the disk are rotated together by the frictional action of the liner rotated about 60 degrees in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the rotary shutter of the disk cartridge. As a result, there is no relative rotation between the liner and the disk, so that it is impossible to clean the disk before use.
[0009]
In view of the above-described circumstances, the present invention is a disc-shaped information in which a center core having a center hole is fixed to a central portion in a housing having an upper shell and a lower shell, as in “crik! (R)”. A recording disk is a disk cartridge accommodated in such a manner that the center core is exposed to the outside from an opening formed in the center portion of the lower shell, and the head access opening formed in the housing is formed in the disk cartridge. A disc in which a rotary shutter that opens and closes in conjunction with loading and unloading operations is rotatably supported by the housing, and a liner as a cleaning member for the disc surface is attached to the inner surface of the rotary shutter that faces the disc surface. Rotary operation of the rotary shutter during loading in the cartridge With it, it is an object to provide a disk cartridge which has made it possible to clean the disk surface by the liner.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the tip end portion of the shaft support member of the rotary shutter provided in the upper shell is interposed in the center hole of the center core, and the loading / unloading operation of the disk cartridge is started. Along with this, the center core is configured to be offset until the tip end portion of the shaft support member comes into contact with the inner peripheral edge of the center hole of the center core, and the center core is arranged on the inner peripheral edge of the center hole of the center core. A plurality of engaging recesses that can engage with the tip of the shaft support member and lock the disk in a non-rotating state when it is biased are formed.
[0011]
The shaft support member of the rotary shutter provided in the upper shell can be constituted by a cylindrical body protruding from the inner surface of the upper shell, and the engagement recess is fixed by a retaining member fixed to the tip of the cylindrical body. The engaging means can be configured.
[0012]
The plurality of engaging recesses are preferably formed along the inner peripheral edge of the center hole of the center core while maintaining an equiangular interval of 20 degrees to 30 degrees.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the center core engages with the distal end portion of the shaft support member when the center core is shifted to the inner peripheral edge of the center hole of the center core as the loading / unloading operation of the disk cartridge starts. By forming the plurality of engagement recesses to be obtained, at the time of loading, any one of the engagement recesses engages with the tip end portion of the shaft support member to prevent the disk from rotating and the disk is stationary. Since the rotary shutter rotates in the opening direction together with the liner, the surface of the disk is cleaned by the liner during this relative rotation. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the possibility that foreign matter is caught in the head immediately after the cartridge is loaded.
[0014]
When the disk cartridge is loaded into the drive device, the center core is centered by being fitted to the drive spindle, so that interference between the engaging recess and the tip of the shaft support member does not occur.
[0015]
In addition, when the position of any one of the engaging recesses coincides with the tip end portion of the pivot support member during loading, the engagement recess portion and the tip end portion of the pivot support member immediately engage with each other, and the disc is Since the rotary shutter is locked so as not to rotate, when the rotation angle of the rotary shutter is set to 60 degrees, for example, the liner rotates relative to the disk at the time of loading to clean the surface of the disk.
[0016]
On the other hand, even when the position of any one of the engaging recesses does not coincide with the tip end portion of the shaft support member during loading, the plurality of engaging recesses are maintained at an angular interval of, for example, 20 degrees. Assuming that the center core and the disc rotate together with the rotary shutter at a maximum of 20 degrees, the tip end portion of the shaft support member is engaged with any one of the plurality of engaging recesses. Since the disk is locked together, the liner rotates relative to the disk at least 40 degrees to clean the surface of the disk.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
1A and 1B are a plan view and a bottom view showing a disk cartridge according to the present invention. 2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the central portion along the line II-II in FIG. 1B, and FIG. 3A is a bottom view of the main part as viewed from the direction of arrow III in FIG. FIG. The basic structure of this disk cartridge is the same as that of the magnetic disk cartridge called “click! (R)” described above.
[0019]
The magnetic disk cartridge 1 is a flat frame having a width of 50 mm, a depth of 55 mm, and a thickness of 1.95 mm, which is constituted by a resin frame 2 including a pushing portion 2a, and an upper shell 3 and a lower shell 4 made of a thin metal plate. A magnetic disk 5 having a storage capacity of 40 MB and a diameter of 1.8 inches (45.7 mm) is rotatably accommodated in the housing. A center core 10 having a center hole 10a is fixed to the center of the magnetic disk 5.
[0020]
The magnetic disk cartridge 1 is configured to be loaded in an insertion format into a slot provided in a TYPE II PC card type drive device (not shown) having an outer size of 53 mm in width, 85 mm in depth, and 5 mm in thickness. The shells 3 and 4 are formed with V-shaped openings 6 for allowing the recording / reproducing magnetic head provided in the drive device to access the surface of the magnetic disk 5, and inside the upper and lower shells 3 and 4, A rotary shutter 7 provided with an opening 7a for opening and closing the opening 6 in a rotational manner is provided in such a manner that it is urged in a closing direction by a spring member (not shown).
[0021]
The rotary shutter 7 includes upper and lower shutter members 7U and 7D engaged with each other. As shown in FIG. 2A, the upper shutter member 7U is a small-diameter cylinder that protrudes inward from the lower surface of the upper shell 3. A retaining member 11 called a center pin for preventing the upper shutter member 7U from being pulled out from the cylindrical body 3a is welded to the tip of the cylindrical body 3a so as to be rotatably supported by the body 3a. The center pin 11 intervenes in the center hole 10 a of the center core 10.
[0022]
A circular opening 4a that allows the center core 10 to face the outside is formed at the center of the lower shell 4, and a large diameter that is loosely fitted around the periphery of the opening 4a of the lower shell 4 at the center of the lower shutter member 7D. A cylindrical body 7Da projects downward, and the lower shutter member 7D is rotatably supported by the lower shell 4 by the cylindrical body 7Da, and the tip end portion of the cylindrical body 7Da is crimped to form a lower shutter. A flange 12 that prevents the member 7D from being pulled out from the lower shell 4 is formed.
[0023]
Further, the lower shell 4 is formed with an arcuate groove 4b concentric with the rotary shutter 7, and the lower shutter member 7D protrudes from the arcuate groove 4b as shown in FIG. A shutter knob 7b that moves along the groove 4b to open and close the rotary shutter 7 is fixed. As the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is loaded into the drive device, the engagement wall surface of the drive device engages with the shutter knob 7b, and the rotary shutter 7 makes its opening 7a coincide with the opening 6 of the upper and lower shells 3 and 4. The magnetic disk 5 is exposed from the opening 6 of the upper and lower shells 3 and 4 by being rotated about 60 degrees to the position.
[0024]
Liners 13 as cleaning members are respectively affixed to the inner surfaces of the upper shutter member 7U and the lower shutter member 7D facing the magnetic disk 5, and the magnetic disk 5 and the center core 10 are shown in FIGS. The magnetic disk cartridge 1 can be moved within a range parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 1 within a range in which the inner edge of the center hole 10a of the center core 10 contacts the center pin 11 from the center position shown in FIG. When loaded into the apparatus, the center core 10 is centered by being fitted to the center core 10 on the drive spindle.
[0025]
The center pin 11 as a retaining member of the upper shutter member 7U intervenes in the center hole 10a of the center core 10 as shown in FIG. 2A, but as shown in FIG. The disk cartridge 1 is elongated in the insertion / ejection direction with respect to the drive device, that is, in the front-rear direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1, left-right direction in FIGS. 2 and 3). A plurality of engaging recesses 15 that can be engaged with the front end portion 11a and the rear end portion 11b of the center pin 11 are formed on the inner peripheral edge of the center hole 10a of the center core 10, preferably at equal angular intervals of 20 degrees to 30 degrees. And is formed along the inner periphery.
[0026]
In the above configuration, the bottom surface 10b of the center core 10 protrudes slightly downward from the opening 4a of the lower shell 4, and when the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is inserted and loaded into the drive device toward the left in FIG. When the bottom surface 10b of the center core 10 slides on the member of the drive device, the center core 10 is moved together with the magnetic disk 5 to the trailing side (right side) in the insertion direction as shown in FIG. The inner peripheral edge of the hole 10 a is pressed against the front end portion 11 a of the center pin 11.
[0027]
At this time, if the position of any one of the plurality of engaging recesses 15 of the center core 10 coincides with the front end portion 11a of the center pin 11, the front end portion 11a of the center pin 11 is moved as shown in FIG. The magnetic disk 5 is locked by engaging with the engaging recess 15. Since the rotation of the rotary shutter 7 in the opening direction is started almost simultaneously with this, the liner 13 attached to the inner surface of the rotary shutter 7 while the rotary shutter 7 rotates, for example, 60 degrees to the open position. As a result, the surface of the magnetic disk 5 is cleaned.
[0028]
Further, when the inner peripheral edge of the center hole 10 a of the center core 10 is pressed against the front end portion 11 a of the center pin 11, the position of any one of the plurality of engaging recesses 15 of the center core 10 coincides with the front end portion 11 a of the center pin 11. Even if the rotary shutter 7 starts to rotate, the magnetic disk 5 is rotated together with the rotary shutter 7 by the frictional force of the liner 13 with respect to the magnetic disk 5, so that it is at most 30 degrees (actually less). ) During rotation, since one of the engaging recesses 15 is always coincident with the front end portion 11a of the center pin 11, the magnetic disk 5 is locked. Therefore, the surface of the magnetic disk 5 is cleaned by the liner 13 while the rotary shutter 7 is rotated at least 30 degrees.
[0029]
Such a cleaning operation is also performed when the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is ejected from the drive device toward the right in FIG. 2 during unloading. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2C, the center core 10 is moved together with the magnetic disk 5 toward the trailing side (left side) in the ejection direction, and the inner peripheral edge of the center hole 10a is the rear end portion 11b of the center pin 11. The rear end portion 11b of the center pin 11 is engaged and locked with one of the engaging recesses 15 of the center core 10 in the same manner as when loading, and the magnetic force is returned while the rotary shutter 7 returns to the closed position. The surface of the disk 5 is cleaned.
[0030]
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the center core 10 is shifted to the inner periphery of the center hole 10a of the center core 10 as the loading / unloading operation of the magnetic disk cartridge 1 starts. By forming a plurality of engaging recesses 15 that can engage with the center pin 11 when being loaded, the magnetic disk together with the center core 10 is engaged with one of the center pin 11 and the engaging recess 15 during loading. Since the rotary shutter 7 rotates in the opening direction together with the liner 13 in this state, the surface of the magnetic 5 disk is cleaned by the liner 13 during this relative rotation.
[0031]
Therefore, it is possible to avoid the possibility that foreign matter is caught in the head immediately after the cartridge is loaded.
[0032]
In the above-described embodiment, the engaging recesses 15 of the center core 10 are formed with an equiangular interval of 30 degrees. However, it is preferable that the engaging recesses 15 have a larger number. The shape of the center pin 11 that engages 15 may be arbitrarily selected according to the shape of the engagement recess 15.
[0033]
Although the present embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to a magnetic disk cartridge, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to other disk cartridges.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and a bottom view showing an embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 2B and 2C are enlarged cross-sectional views showing a state where the center core is offset from the position shown in FIG. 2A. FIG. ) Is a bottom view of the main part when viewed from the direction of arrow III in FIG. 2A, and FIGS. 3B and 3C show the state in which the center core is offset from the position shown in FIG. b) Bottom view of relevant parts shown corresponding to (c) [Explanation of symbols]
3 Upper shell 3a Cylindrical body (axial support member)
4 Lower shell 5 Magnetic disk 7 Rotary shutter 7U Upper shutter member 7D Lower shutter member 10 Center core 10a Center core center hole 11 Center pin (tip end of shaft support member)
13 Liner 15 Engaging recess

Claims (3)

A disc-shaped information recording disk in which a center core having a center hole is fixed to the center in a housing having an upper shell and a lower shell is exposed to the center core through an opening formed at the center of the lower shell. A disk cartridge accommodated in a manner, wherein a rotary shutter that opens and closes a head access opening formed in the housing in conjunction with loading and unloading operations of the disk cartridge is rotatably supported on the housing. A disc cartridge in which a liner as a cleaning member for the disc surface is attached to the inner surface of the rotary shutter facing the disc surface;
The tip portion of the shaft support member of the rotary shutter provided in the upper shell is interposed in the center hole of the center core, and the center core is loaded with the start of the loading / unloading operation of the disc cartridge. The center core is configured to be biased until the tip end portion of the shaft support member comes into contact with the inner periphery of the center hole of the center core
A plurality of engaging recesses are formed on the inner peripheral edge of the center hole of the center core so as to engage with the tip end of the shaft support member when the center core is biased to lock the disk in a non-rotating state. A disc cartridge characterized by that. A shaft support member of the rotary shutter provided on the upper shell is formed of a cylindrical body projecting on the inner surface of the upper shell, and a retaining member fixed to the tip of the cylindrical body is in contact with the engagement recess. 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the disk cartridge comprises an engaging means. 3. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of engaging recesses are formed along an inner peripheral edge of a center hole of the center core at an equiangular interval of 20 degrees to 30 degrees.

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