JP2005108322A - Tray - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of a reduction in the loading accuracy of a RAM cartridge and a BD cartridge caused by the necessity of lowering a side wall to load both the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: The tray 1 having a pair of side walls 3 and 4 erected from a cartridge loading surface 2, and a front side wall 5 disposed successively from the side walls 3 and 4, on which a RAM cartridge and a BD cartridge are loaded, is provided with a pair of side wall projected parts 9 and 10 in which a distance from the cartridge loading surface 2 is larger than a distance between the tops of the pair of side walls 3 and 4 and the cartridge loading surface 2. Thus, when the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge are loaded on the tray 1, they are stably loaded by sliding the side face of the cartridge on the side wall projected part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a disc that is an information recording medium for video, music, computer data, and the like or a tray on which a cartridge containing the disc is placed.

  In recent years, DVD-VIDEO discs on which content such as movies are recorded, bare discs that are not inserted into cartridges such as CD-RWs for recording and reproducing computer data, and recordable information media such as PD discs or DVD-RAM discs Disk devices that can be selectively loaded with a cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a RAM cartridge) in which the cartridge is contained have become widespread.

  By the way, the RAM cartridge stores a recordable information medium (that is, a PD disk, a DVD-RAM disk, etc.) rotatably between an upper half and a lower half of a substantially rectangular shape, and the recording is performed on each of the upper half and the lower half. A pair of side surfaces each having an opening window that exposes a part of the type information medium, and provided with a shutter that opens and closes the opening window in each of the upper half and the lower half; And a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface.

  The shutter performs an opening / closing operation by pressing a depression or a protrusion provided on the front side surface and sliding the main surfaces of the upper half and the lower half in a direction perpendicular to the pair of side surfaces. Further, a shutter restricting portion for restricting the position of the shutter to a position where the opening window portion is opened is provided on the side surface portion so as to protrude higher than the shutter sliding surfaces of the upper half and the lower half by the thickness of the shutter.

  Further, the RAM cartridge has front and back detection holes formed in a concave shape in a direction from one side surface to the other side surface (hereinafter referred to as a width direction), and front and back detection convex portions respectively protruding from the pair of side walls of the tray. It is loosely inserted into the front and back detection holes. The form of the front and back detection holes varies depending on the type of recording information medium contained in the RAM cartridge. That is, the recording type information medium having information layers on both sides detects the front and back sides so that the RAM cartridge can be placed on either side of the tray from the necessity of recording and reproducing information signals on the information layers provided on both sides. The hole is formed with a so-called through-hole that penetrates from the upper half to the lower half, but the single-sided type with the information layer only on one side does not allow the recording / reproducing operation to be performed on the side that does not have the information layer of the recording type information medium. The hole is a so-called hole that does not pass through the upper half (hereinafter referred to as a front / back detection hole). The front and back detection holes not only detect the front and back of the RAM cartridge by engaging with the front and back detection convex portions, but also play a role of regulating a rough position on the cartridge mounting surface. The front and back detection holes are generally provided near the rear side surface.

For example, Patent Document 1 is known as a disk device in which such a bare disk and a cartridge can be loaded. Patent Document 1 discloses a cartridge mounting surface for mounting a RAM cartridge, a disk mounting surface provided with a step from the cartridge mounting surface for mounting a bare disk, and the thickness of the RAM cartridge from the cartridge mounting surface. A pair of substantially equal side walls, a front wall connected to the side walls, the outer periphery and the center hole of the bare disk are held, the bare disk is inserted into and removed from the disk mounting surface, and the upper and lower halves of the RAM cartridge are held to mount the cartridge. There is disclosed a tray provided with a notch in a substantially central portion of a front wall and a cartridge placement surface connected to the central portion of the front wall so as to take out the cartridge from the placement surface.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-199089 (paragraph numbers 0024 to 0028, 0050, FIGS. 1, 3, 17, and 18)

  When the height of the pair of side walls and the front wall of the tray from the cartridge mounting surface is substantially the thickness of the RAM cartridge as disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the RAM cartridge is mounted at a predetermined position of the tray, Although it is preferable because positioning is easy, the information layer of the bare disk is likely to come into contact with the front wall or side wall when placing the bare disk, and the bare disk is also placed on the front wall or side wall when removing the bare disk from the tray. From the standpoint of the bare disk, it is preferable that the height of the side wall and / or the front wall is low. For the reasons described above, the tray configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not ideal.

  In recent years, Blu-ray discs (hereinafter referred to as BDs) having a recording density five times higher than DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD + R and DVD + RW (hereinafter referred to as recordable DVDs) as recordable information media. And a dedicated cartridge (hereinafter referred to as BD cartridge) has been proposed for the BD. The BD has a configuration in which an information layer that causes phase change by irradiating blue light is provided on an interface obtained by bonding a 1.1 mm thick substrate and a 0.1 mm thick substrate. Irradiate from 1 mm thick substrate side.

  The BD cartridge includes an upper half and a lower half. The substrate side having a thickness of 0.1 mm is the lower half side, and an opening that exposes a part of the BD is provided only in the lower half. Further, the basic shape of the surface parallel to the BD of the upper half and the lower half of the BD cartridge is a substantially square shape, and before engaging with a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half and a shutter for opening and closing the opening. The side surface is a shape in which the pair of side surfaces are connected in a kamaboko shape, and the rear surface facing the front surface is a shape in which three flat surfaces are connected.

  The opening of the BD cartridge is opened and closed by rotating the shutter. Since this is an opening / closing operation by rotation, a configuration is adopted in which a shutter opener provided in a disk device for recording / reproducing BD is engaged with rotation at a substantially central portion in the cartridge thickness direction on one side surface of the BD cartridge.

  Further, as described above, since the BD is a single-sided type in which recording and reproduction is performed from the substrate side having a thickness of 0.1 mm, the shutter of the BD cartridge is provided only in the lower half as described above, and it is not necessary to turn the BD cartridge over. Therefore, the front and back detection function is essential so that the BD cartridge is not placed upside down on the tray, and the function is the same as the RAM cartridge containing the single-sided recording type information medium described above, and does not penetrate to the upper half. A so-called hole-shaped front and back detection hole that penetrates is provided in a concave shape in the direction from one side surface to the other side surface, that is, in the width direction. The front and back detection holes also serve to regulate the approximate position of the BD cartridge with respect to the cartridge placement surface, similarly to the front and back detection holes in the RAM cartridge. Note that the front and back detection holes of the BD cartridge are also generally provided near the rear side surface in the same manner as the RAM cartridge.

  On the other hand, since a disk device for recording / reproducing BD handles BD cartridges, it is advantageous to have a configuration including a tray in terms of cartridge loading, and the same disk device can accommodate not only BD cartridges but also RAM cartridges and bare disks. Is required. However, the external dimensions of the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge are such that the distance between the front side surface and the rear side surface (hereinafter referred to as the distance in the length direction) is longer in the RAM cartridge, and the distance between the pair of side surfaces, that is, in the width direction. The distance is longer for the BD cartridge.

  As described above, since the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge have different dimensions, the tray for handling the BD cartridge, the RAM cartridge, and the bare disk has a different cartridge mounting surface area as compared with the tray for handling the RAM cartridge and the bare disk. Since the engagement for performing the shutter opening operation is different between the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge as described above, and the BD cartridge has an engagement portion that engages with the shutter at a substantially central portion of one side surface, the cartridge mounting surface It is necessary to set the height of the side wall standing up from about 1/3 to 1/4 of the thickness of the BD cartridge.

  As described above, when the side wall is lowered, it is advantageous when placing the bare disk. However, since it is difficult to guide the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge with the side wall, the user places the RAM cartridge and / or the BD cartridge. When you do this, do not realize that the cartridge is not placed correctly on the cartridge placement surface, perform the loading operation, and the mismounted cartridge will be caught in the tray inlet of the disk device during loading. There is a problem that may not be possible.

  This problem is more likely to occur in the RAM cartridge than in the BD cartridge. That is, when the BD cartridge is mounted on the tray, the side surface of the front side surface of the BD cartridge is slid to the side of the notch portion inserted into the optical pickup or spindle motor provided on the cartridge mounting surface. When mounted on the tray, the problem of riding on the side wall of the tray can be made relatively low, but the protrusions of the shutter restricting portions provided in the upper half and the lower half of the RAM cartridge are notched only by contacting the cartridge mounting surface. This is because when the height of the side wall of the tray is low, there is a high possibility that the user performs a loading operation in a state where the RAM cartridge is erroneously mounted on the side wall of the tray.

  In addition, even if the BD cartridge is unlikely to run on the side wall having a low standing height as described above, the user does not always have the side of the cutout portion of the tray when mounting it on the cartridge mounting surface of the tray. There is no guarantee that the front side wall of the BD cartridge slides along the cartridge, and it is assumed that the front side wall is mounted so as to float from the cartridge mounting surface. In this case, the BD cartridge is mounted on the side wall rather than mounting the above-mentioned RAM cartridge. There is a high possibility of getting on. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that a RAM cartridge will be mounted while sliding on the cartridge mounting surface. Therefore, in any case where the side wall is configured to be low in consideration of the mountability of the bare disk, or the side wall is configured to be low because the BD cartridge and the RAM cartridge are mounted in common, the RAM cartridge and / or Alternatively, when the BD cartridge rides on the side wall, a cartridge erroneously placed in the tray pull-in port is caught, and the tray cannot be pulled out or pulled in, which may cause damage to the tray, the cartridge, or the disk device itself.

  Furthermore, the material used for the RAM cartridge and the BD cartridge is a resin having a relatively high hardness such as ABS resin or AS resin, but distortion occurs in the resin molding process or the bonding process between the upper half and the lower half. In many cases, the cartridge warps due to distortion. Although the warpage of the cartridge is defined by the standard, a warpage of 0.25 mm at the maximum is allowed in the standard. In addition, in a disk device in which a cartridge is placed on a tray, for example, in order to prevent the cartridge from swinging on the tray due to disturbance or vibration caused by a spindle motor or the like, The disk device has a pressing means for pressing the cartridge. The cartridge is also bent by the pressing force applied to the pressing means, and the cartridge is warped on the tray. Moreover, since the tray is also manufactured by resin molding, warping occurs as in the cartridge. Therefore, the cartridge warpage, the pressing force of the pressing means, and / or the warpage and the warpage of the tray are combined to deteriorate the mounting accuracy of the cartridge on the tray, the front / back detection hole or the front / back detection hole and the front / back detection. There is also a problem that the loose insertion relationship with the convex portion cannot be maintained.

  Further, in order for the pair of front and back detection convex portions to be loosely engaged with the front and back detection holes provided in the BD cartridge, the inner distance of the front and back detection convex portions is longer than the outer method of the pair of side surfaces of the BD cartridge. If the detection hole is less than the depth in the BD cartridge width direction, the loose engagement relationship can be maintained. Incidentally, as described above, the RAM cartridge has a configuration in which the width of the RAM cartridge is narrower than the width of the BD cartridge. It can be maintained even if the distance is less than the outside distance of the side surface. However, if the inner distance between the pair of front and back detection convex portions is less than the distance of the width of the RAM cartridge, the front and back detection function of the RAM cartridge and the rough positioning function of the RAM cartridge are impaired, and if the distance is equal, There is a problem that the side surface of the RAM cartridge is fitted between the front and back detection convex portions and the RAM cartridge cannot be removed from the tray.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tray structure that can improve the placement accuracy of a RAM cartridge and / or a RAM cartridge and a BD cartridge with respect to the tray.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the tray of the present invention includes an upper half and a lower half having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses an information medium in a rotatable manner, and a part of the upper half and the lower half cut out. A window part that exposes a part thereof, a shutter that slides on the upper half and the lower half and opens and closes the window part, a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half, and the pair of side faces A front side surface that engages with the shutter, a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface, a shutter engagement portion that slidingly engages the shutter and regulates a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, A tray on which a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting an opening position of the shutter by abutting engagement with the shutter is placed, and the cartridge placing surface on which the first cartridge is placed An opening that engages with the window and cuts out a part of the cartridge mounting surface; a pair of side walls that are erected from the cartridge mounting surface; and the rear side surface that is connected to the pair of side walls. The pair of side walls includes a front wall to be joined, and side wall protrusions that have a longer distance from the cartridge placement surface to the top than the distance from the cartridge placement surface to the top of the front wall. .

  Further, the tray of the present invention exposes a part of the information medium by notching a part of the upper half and the lower half and having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses the information medium in a rotatable manner, and a part of the upper half and the lower half. A window portion that slides on the upper half and the lower half, opens and closes the window portion, a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, and the shutter that connects the pair of side surfaces. A front side surface that engages with the front side surface, a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface, a shutter engagement portion that slidingly engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and a contact member that contacts the shutter A tray on which a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting an opening position of the shutter by being combined, a cartridge placing surface on which the first cartridge is placed, and the window portion Engaged with An opening that cuts out a part of the cartridge mounting surface, a pair of side walls erected from the cartridge mounting surface, a front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with the rear side surface, In the vicinity of the pair of side walls in the opening portion, a groove portion that is recessed from the cartridge mounting surface and into which the shutter restricting portion is recessed is provided.

  Further, the tray of the present invention exposes a part of the information medium by notching a part of the upper half and the lower half and having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses the information medium in a rotatable manner, and a part of the upper half and the lower half. A window portion that slides on the upper half and the lower half, opens and closes the window portion, a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, and the shutter that connects the pair of side surfaces. A front side surface that engages with the front side surface, a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface, a shutter engagement portion that slidingly engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and a contact member that contacts the shutter A tray on which a first cartridge including a shutter restricting portion for restricting an opening position of the shutter by combining the cartridge, a cartridge placing surface on which the first cartridge is placed, and the window portion Engaged with A part of the cartridge mounting surface cut out, a pair of side walls standing from the cartridge mounting surface, a front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with the rear side surface, The cartridge mounting surface in which the front side surface and the rear side surface are in contact with each other from the cartridge mounting surface in which a substantially intermediate portion between the front side surface and the rear side surface is in contact with the vicinity of the pair of side walls of the cartridge mounting surface. It has the structure provided with the circular arc-shaped recessed part.

  Further, the tray of the present invention exposes a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the upper half and the lower half and a part of the upper half and the lower half having a substantially rectangular plane that encloses the information medium rotatably. A window portion that slides on the upper half and the lower half, opens and closes the window portion, a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, and the shutter that connects the pair of side surfaces. A front side surface that engages with the front side surface, a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface, a shutter engagement portion that slidingly engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and a contact member that contacts the shutter And a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting an open position of the shutter, an upper half and a lower half having a substantially square plane containing an information medium, and a part of the lower half A window part that exposes a part of the cutout information medium, a shutter that opens and closes the window part, a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, and a shutter that connects the pair of side faces and A tray on which a second cartridge having a front side surface to be engaged and a rear side surface facing the front side surface is placed, the cartridge placement on which the first cartridge and the second cartridge are placed. A surface, an opening that engages with the window and cuts out a part of the cartridge mounting surface, a pair of side walls standing from the cartridge mounting surface, and is connected to the pair of side walls, A front wall that engages with the rear side surface of the first cartridge and the rear side surface of the second cartridge, and the first cartridge in the vicinity of the rear side surface, and standing from either the upper half or the lower half You The first pair of front and back detection holes respectively formed in a concave shape from one side surface of the pair of side surfaces to the other side surface, and the vicinity of the rear side surface of the second cartridge and standing from the lower half The first cartridge and the second cartridge on the cartridge mounting surface are engaged with a second pair of front and back detection holes respectively formed in a concave shape from one side surface to the other side surface of the pair of side surfaces. A pair of front and back detection convex portions for regulating the front and back surfaces of the cartridge are provided on the pair of side walls of the cartridge mounting surface, and an inner distance between the pair of front and back detection convex portions on the cartridge mounting surface is the first distance It has a configuration that is longer than the outer distance of the pair of side surfaces of the cartridge and less than the inner distance of the second pair of front and back detection holes.

  Since the tray of the present invention has a side wall protrusion on the side wall that is longer from the cartridge mounting surface to the top of the front wall than the distance from the cartridge mounting surface to the top of the front wall, the first cartridge is mounted on the tray. In the festival, the side wall protruding portion serves as a guide, and there is an effect that the first cartridge can be accurately mounted on the tray.

  The tray of the present invention is mounted with a first cartridge that has an outer shape of the upper and lower halves that is substantially rectangular and includes a shutter restricting portion that protrudes from the side walls of the upper and lower halves to restrict the opening position of the shutter that slides on the upper and lower half surfaces. In order to provide a groove portion recessed from the cartridge placement surface in the vicinity of the side wall of the opening of the tray, the shutter restricting portion is immersed in the groove portion, and the engagement area between the side surface and the side wall of the first cartridge is increased. Since it can be increased, there is an effect that the mounting accuracy of the first cartridge can be improved.

  Further, the tray of the present invention has an arc-shaped recess extending from the cartridge mounting surface where the substantially daytime portion of the front side surface and the rear side surface of the first cartridge abuts to the cartridge mounting surface where the front side surface and the rear side surface abut each other. Therefore, even when warpage, distortion, etc. are present in the cartridge and / or tray, the cartridge can be placed along an arc-shaped recess provided on the cartridge placement surface, and the cartridge on the cartridge placement surface There is an effect that it is possible to suppress cartridge positioning failure and / or front / back detection failure due to floating.

  Also, on the cartridge mounting surface of any one of the trays, the upper half and the lower half have a substantially square outer shape, a pair of side walls standing from the upper and lower halves, and a kamaboko-shaped front side wall connecting the pair of side walls. If the second cartridge having the cartridge can be placed, there is an effect that a plurality of cartridges having different outer shapes can be handled.

  In the cartridge of the present invention, the distance between the outer surfaces of the pair of side surfaces is shorter in the first cartridge than in the second cartridge, and the pair of front and back detection convex portions provided on the pair of side walls of the tray is the first cartridge. And a pair of front and back detection holes and front and back detection holes provided in each of the second cartridges, and the inner distance of the pair of front and back detection convex portions is greater than the outer distance of the pair of side surfaces of the first cartridge. Is longer than the inner distance of the second pair of front and back detection holes, so that the front and back of the first cartridge and the second cartridge can be accurately detected on the tray, and at the same time, the side surface of the first cartridge There is an effect that it is possible to eliminate the problem of being fitted between the front and back detection convex portions and being unable to be inserted and removed from the tray.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a tray of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an example of an information medium and a cartridge that can be placed on the tray of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2A shows, for example, a CD audio disk on which music information is recorded in advance, a CD-RW or CD-R recordable disk on which a computer program and data can be additionally recorded, and a long-time moving image such as a movie. The center of the bare disk is a bare information medium (hereinafter referred to as a bare disk) 100 which is not stored in a cartridge such as a recorded DVD video disk or a so-called recordable DVD which can record a long-time moving image such as a movie. Includes a central hole 101 which is mounted on a turntable of a recording / reproducing and / or erasing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a disk apparatus) and rotates an information medium. Bare disks are mainly distributed in diameters of 12 cm and 8 cm.

  FIG. 5B is a plan view for explaining an example of the first cartridge. The cartridge 200 rotatably includes an information medium 201 such as a recordable DVD and exposes a part of the information medium 201. A shutter 202 that opens and closes, a front side 203 standing upright from the upper and lower halves having the substantially rectangular outer shape, and a shutter protrusion that projects from the front side 203 and connects the shutter 202 that slides on the shutter sliding surface. Part 204, a pair of side surfaces 205 and 206 erected from the upper and lower halves, and an opening position of the shutter 202 that protrudes about the thickness of the shutter 202 from the upper and lower half shutter sliding surfaces at the end portions of the side surfaces 205 and 206. Shutter regulating portions 207 and 208 to be operated, the rear side surface 209 facing the front side surface 203, and the front and back of the cartridge 200 are detected. Detecting holes 210 and 211, cartridge 200 and an alignment hole 212 and 213 alignment pin inserted to the positioning of the turntable and the optical head of the disk drive. Since the information medium 201 is a so-called double-sided type having information layers on both sides, the front and back detection holes 210 and 211 are through holes because the cartridge 200 needs to be turned over and placed on the tray. The upper and lower halves are formed in the same shape as the plan view shown in FIG. The opening / closing operation of the shutter 202 with respect to the window portion is in the direction of the side surface 205 or 206 (hereinafter referred to as the width direction) by engaging the shutter opener of the disk device with the protruding side portion of the shutter protruding portion 204. .

  3A and 3B show an example of a first cartridge different from that shown in FIG. 2B. FIG. 3A shows a direction in which the cartridge 300 is placed on a tray (generally referred to as a lower half). (B) is a plan view seen from the upper half facing the lower half. The information medium 301 contained in the cartridge 300 is a so-called single-sided type having an information layer only on one side. It is an information medium. The cartridge 300 also includes a shutter 302, a front side surface 303, a shutter protruding portion 304, side surfaces 305 and 306, and shutter regulating portions 307 and 308, as in FIG. However, since the information medium 301 is a single-sided type, the front and back detection holes 310 and 311 are placed on the tray in the same figure (A), but it is necessary to avoid placing on the tray in FIG. Both alignment holes 312 and 313 are non-through holes. Therefore, the shapes of the upper and lower halves constituting the cartridge 300 differ only in the configuration of the front and back detection holes 310 and 311 and the alignment holes 312 and 313, and the external dimensions and the like are the same. Note that the opening / closing operation with respect to the window portion of the shutter 302 is in the width direction of the cartridge 300 as in the case of the shutter 202.

  4A and 4B show an example of a second cartridge having an outer shape different from any of the above cartridges, and FIG. 4A shows the cartridge 400 viewed from the lower half on which the cartridge 400 is placed on the tray. The top view and the same figure (B) are the top views seen from the upper half which opposes a lower half, and the upper and lower half of the cartridge 400 has a square shape fundamentally. An information medium 401 included in the cartridge 400 is an information medium (hereinafter referred to as a BD) that records, reproduces, and / or erases with blue light having a recording density five times higher than that of the information media 100, 200, and 300. The side of FIG. (A) includes a 0.1 mm thick substrate, the side of FIG. (B) includes a 1.1 mm thick substrate, and the information layer is provided only on the side of the 0.1 mm thick substrate. The cartridge 400 also has a pair of side surfaces 402 and 403 erected from the upper and lower halves, the front side surface 404 connecting the side surfaces 402 and 403 has a semi-cylindrical shape, and the lower half includes a window portion that exposes a part of the BD 401. A shutter 405 that opens and closes the window engages with the front side surface 404. The opening / closing operation of the shutter 405 is performed by a rotating operation by engaging a shutter opener of the disk device with a rotating recess formed at a substantially central portion of one side surface (402 in the drawing). Three rear side surfaces 408, 407, and 409 having a flat plate shape are connected to the rear surface opposite to the front surface 404 having a semi-cylindrical shape. Since the BD 401 is a single-sided type as described above, it is essential that the front and back detection holes 410 and 411 for detecting the front and back of the cartridge 400 are non-through holes like the cartridge 300, and similarly the alignment holes 412 and 413. Is also non-penetrating. Hereinafter, the front and back detection holes 410 and 411 and the alignment holes 412 and 413 of the cartridge 400 are referred to as front and back detection holes and alignment holes, respectively, in order to distinguish them from the front and back detection holes 310 and 311 and the alignment holes 312 and 313. The differences in the external shapes of the cartridges 200 and 300 and the cartridge 400 are the shape of the upper and lower half, the length in the width direction (the cartridge 400 is about 5 mm longer), and the front side wall and the rear side perpendicular to the width direction. The length of the cartridge 400 is about 4 mm when measured at the most protruding portion of the front side surface, about 6 mm when measured with the shutter restricting portion provided in the cartridges 200 and 300, and about 9 mm when measured with the shutter protruding portions 204 and 304. Is short).

  Next, an embodiment of the tray of the present invention will be described. As an example of the first cartridge to be applied, a cartridge 300 containing a single-sided type information medium and a cartridge 400 as an example of the second cartridge will be described.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tray applicable to the present invention. 1 is a tray, 2 is a cartridge mounting surface on which a cartridge 300 and a cartridge 400 are mounted, and 3 and 4 are cartridge mounting surfaces 2. Side walls 5 erected from the front side 5 are front side walls connected to the side walls 3 and 4, and the front side wall 5 is divided at the center. Reference numeral 6 denotes a notch into which a turntable and an optical pickup of a disk device (not shown) are inserted. Reference numeral 7 denotes a bare disk mounting surface on which the bare disk 100 is mounted. As described above, the bare disk 100 corresponds to 12 cm and 8 cm. Therefore, a two-stage configuration is adopted, and each bare disk mounting surface is about 1.5 mm including a slope portion having a height of about 0.2 mm. Reference numeral 8 denotes a shutter opener that engages with the shutter protrusion 304 and performs an opening / closing operation of the shutter 302. Reference numerals 9 and 10 denote side wall protrusions that are farther from the cartridge mounting surface than the side walls 3 and 4 and the front side wall 5. is there. 11 and 12 are front and back detection holes 310 and 311, front and back detection convex portions that are loosely inserted into the front and back detection holes 410 and 411 (12 is hidden by the side wall protruding portion 10), and 13 is a cartridge mounting for mounting the cartridge 400. The mounting surface, 14 is a side of the notch constituting the notch 6, and 15 is a slider for biasing the cartridges 300 and 400.

  The operation of the tray of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described. FIGS. 5A and 5B are views for explaining a state in which the cartridge 300 is placed on the tray 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 5A is a plan view of the main part and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the main part. When the cartridge 300 is mounted on the tray 1, since the tray 1 has come out of the tray insertion / removal opening of the disk device (not shown), the tray 300 is lowered to the tray insertion / removal opening side (Y2 direction in FIG. 1). In many cases, the lowered direction of the cartridge 300 is slid or close to sliding.

  However, for example, since the shutter opening / closing operation is shared with the cartridge 400 which is performed from the side wall, when the side wall 3 is lower than the thickness of the cartridge 300 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, even if the cartridge 300 is tilted in a state close to sliding, the cartridge 300 cannot be mounted along the side wall 300 and the cartridge may run on the upper surface of the side wall 3 or 4. As described above, when the loading operation for pulling the tray 1 into the disk device is started without the user noticing that the cartridge 300 is on the side wall 3 or 4, the cartridge 300 is on the side wall 3 or 4. The cartridge 300 abuts on the tray insertion / removal opening, and the tray cannot be pulled in. At the same time, the tray cannot be carried out, and the apparatus or the cartridge 300 may be damaged.

  In the tray 1 of this embodiment, when the cartridge 300 is inclined and attached to the tray 1, the side surface 305 of the cartridge 300 is interposed between the side wall protrusions 9 and 10 (only 9 is shown) as shown in FIG. And 306 can be mounted straight on the cartridge 300 with respect to the tray 1, and the above-mentioned unexpected situation can be suppressed. After the cartridge 300 is normally mounted on the tray 1, the front and back detection holes 310 and The front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 are engaged with 311, and an alignment pin (not shown) is also accurately engaged with the alignment holes 312 and 313, and the cartridge 300 slides the slider 15 to place it accurately. can do.

  Further, when the cartridge 400 is mounted, the front side surface 404 is mounted while sliding on the cut-out side 14 as described above, so that it is less likely to ride on the side walls 3 and 4 than the cartridge 300. Since the front side surface 404 is not always slid on the notched side 14, the cartridge 300 can be mounted on the tray 1 with the same action, and the cartridge 400 is normally mounted on the tray 1. Thereafter, the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 are engaged with the front and back detection holes 410 and 411, and an alignment pin (not shown) is accurately engaged with the alignment holes 412 and 413, so that the cartridge 400 slides the slider 15. It can be moved and placed accurately.

(Embodiment 2)
Another embodiment according to the tray of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a perspective view for explaining the tray 21 of the present embodiment, and components having the same functions as those in FIG. The tray 21 of the present embodiment is different from the tray 1 of the first embodiment in that the side wall protrusions 9 and 10 of the tray 1 are removed, the top surfaces of the side walls 3 and 4 are flush, and the front and back detection convex portions 11 and Groove portions 24 and 25 which are recessed from the cartridge mounting surface 2 in the vicinity of the side wall 3 and 4 on the slider 15 side (side provided with the notch 6) of the tray 21. It is a point provided.

  8A and 8B illustrate a state in the middle of mounting the cartridge 300 on the tray 21. FIG. 8A is a plan view and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view. As shown in FIG. 5B, the protrusions of the shutter restricting portions 308 and 307 (in the case of 308 in the figure) of the cartridge 300 enter the groove portion with respect to the groove portions 24 and 25 (only 24 is shown), so that the groove portion The engagement area between the side walls 3 and 4 and the side surfaces 306 and 305 is increased by the depth of 24 and 25, the side surface 305 or 306 of the cartridge 300 is displaced from the side wall 3 or 4, and the cartridge 300 is placed on the side wall 3 or 4. The problem of getting on can be solved. The depth of the grooves 24 and 25 is, as an upper limit, exceeding the length that the shutter restricting portions 307 and 308 protrude from the front side 303 (not the protruding length because they are engaged obliquely). Since 303 only slides with the cartridge mounting surface 2, it may be about 3 mm. The lower limit is effective if there is a slight groove depth, but the depth to bring out a remarkable effect is about 0.5 mm. Because. As shown in FIG. 5C, when the tray 1 shown in the first embodiment is provided with the groove portion 24 of this embodiment, the side wall is simultaneously positioned with the groove portions 24 and 25 and the side walls 3 and 4. Combined with the effect of the position of the cartridge 300 by the protrusions 9 and 10, even if the height of the side walls 3 and 4 from the cartridge mounting surface 2 is lower as shown in FIG. The problem that the cartridge rides on the side wall 3 or 4 can be avoided.

(Embodiment 3)
Another embodiment according to the tray of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In order to place the two types of cartridges 300 and 400, in order to detect the front and back of the cartridges 300 and 400, as described above, the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 (11, 12 , 22 or 23, but 11 and 12 are representatively shown), and the relationship between the inner distance L1 and the width L2 of the cartridge 300, which is narrower than the cartridge 400, is important. . That is, when L1 is wider than L2, the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 cannot detect the front and back of the cartridge 300, and when L1 is equal to L2, the tray can also correspond to the cartridge 400. The inner distance between the side walls 3 and 4 is larger than the outer distance on the side surface of the cartridge 300. When the cartridge 300 is mounted on the tray, if the mounting direction is bent, the cartridge 300 is moved away from the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12. There is a problem that the cartridge 300 cannot be removed from the tray due to the fitting between them. At the same time, the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 need to be loosely engaged with the front and back detection holes 410 and 411 of the cartridge 400. In order to satisfy this requirement, the inner distance L1 between the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 needs to be within the inner distance L3 of the front and back detection holes 410 and 411. However, if the distance of L1 is equal to the distance of L3, it can be detected in principle, but in practice there are fitting problems and manufacturing errors, etc., so it is better to make L3 less than L1. ing. The cartridges 300 and 400 are engaged with the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 to roughly regulate the position of the spindle motor and the optical pickup via the tray. To be precise, the alignment holes 312 and 313 and the alignment hole 412 are used. And 413 and the alignment pin, and at the same time, the alignment holes 312 and 313 and the alignment holes 412 and 413 also have a front / back detection function. For example, the front / back detection function for the cartridge 300 of the front / back detection convex portions 11 and 12 is ignored. The functions of the front and back detection convex portions 11 and 12 with respect to the cartridge 300 are also assumed to serve as a guide when the cartridge 300 is attached to the tray. In this case, L1 may be less than L2.

(Embodiment 4)
Another embodiment according to the tray of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The cartridges 300 and 400 are shaped with a resin having a certain degree of hardness as described above, but the upper half and the lower half are bonded to each other during the formation (for example, heat fusion, screwing, etc. are generally applied). In some cases, the cartridge is distorted during the process, and the cartridge is warped due to the distortion. FIG. 11A is a side sectional view showing an ideal mounting relationship of the cartridge 400 with respect to the cartridge mounting surface 2. The lower half of the cartridge 400 is flush with the cartridge mounting surface 2. 400 is also engaged with the mounting surface 13 in a flush manner, and the front / back detection convex portion 11 is also loosely engaged with the front / back detection hole 410. The amount of warping of the cartridge is defined as 0.25 mm or less in the standard, and therefore the standard is satisfied even if it is 0.25 mm. FIG. 5B shows the case where the cartridge 400 is warped more than the standard, but only a part of the lower half is placed on the cartridge placement surface 2, and the cartridge placement surface 13 and the front and back detection protrusions are shown. The part 11 is not engaged. This is a case where the warpage of the cartridge 400 is out of specification, but the warpage of the cartridge also occurs due to the warpage of the tray and the mechanism that urges and presses the cartridge 400 against the tray. That is, the tray is also a resin-molded product, and because of the light weight and thinness of the disk device, there is a demand for thinness of the tray itself (in order to meet this demand other than the presence of the shutter engaging portion of the cartridge 400 on the side wall, 4 and the height of the front side wall 5 are required to be lower), the molding distortion is more likely to occur, and the tray itself is more likely to warp. However, warping of about 0.2 mm tends to be allowed as a manufacturing error. In addition, the cartridges 300 and 400 may swing on the tray, causing a shift in the engagement between the information medium contained therein and the turntable, and the danger that the objective lens of the optical pickup contacts the information layer of the information medium contained therein. For this reason, the cartridge is urged and fixed to the tray. This urging force also causes personnel to warp the cartridge. For example, when the cartridge is urged at the center part in the front side wall and rear side wall direction (hereinafter referred to as the vertical direction) of the cartridge, the warp is about 0.2 mm. Such warpage is corrected when it works in the opposite direction, but is added when it works in the same direction, and the cartridge 300 and / or 400 screen contact may not be placed on the cartridge placement surface 2 in some cases.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, in consideration of the warpage of the cartridge 400 itself, the warpage of the tray itself, and the biasing force acting on the cartridge 400 against the tray, as shown in 32 and 33 of FIG. By providing arc-shaped concave portions 32 and 33 on the front side wall and slider side of the tray from the vicinity where the central portion of the cartridge engages with the cartridge mounting surface, as shown in FIG. The cartridge mounting surface 13 and the front and back surfaces of the cartridge 400 can be mounted and loosely engaged with the detection convex portion 11 even if the cartridge 400 does not have a warp as shown in FIG. Since the vicinity of the detection convex portions 11 and 12 does not include the arc-shaped concave portions 32 and 33, the placement relationship and the loose engagement relationship can be maintained normally.

  The present invention relates to a disk device using a disk that is an information recording medium for video, music, computer data, etc. or a cartridge containing a disk, and more particularly to a tray that allows a plurality of types of cartridges to be mounted. The availability is high.

The perspective view of the tray which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention (A) is a plan view of an example of a bare disk, (B) is a plan view of an example of a first cartridge. (A) is a plan view of another example of the first cartridge, (B) is a back view of the cartridge. (A) is a plan view of an example of the second cartridge, (B) is a back view of the cartridge. (A) is a top view explaining the middle of mounting | wearing with the 1st cartridge based on the embodiment to a tray, (B) is the same sectional side view. (A) is a top view explaining the middle of mounting | wearing with the 2nd cartridge which concerns on the embodiment to a tray, (B) is the same sectional side view. The perspective view of the tray which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. (A) is a plan view for explaining the mounting of the first cartridge according to the embodiment on the tray, (B) is a sectional side view, (C) is the first cartridge according to another embodiment on the tray Cross-sectional side view explaining the mounting process (A) is sectional drawing explaining the state which mounted normally the 1st cartridge which concerns on other embodiment of this invention, (B) is the state which mounted the 1st cartridge based on the embodiment reversely (C) is sectional drawing explaining the state which mounted normally the 2nd cartridge based on the embodiment, (D) mounted the 2nd cartridge based on the embodiment reversely Sectional view explaining the state The perspective view of the tray which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. (A) is sectional drawing explaining the state which mounted the 2nd cartridge in the conventional tray, (B) is sectional drawing explaining the state which mounted the 2nd cartridge which has distortion on the conventional tray, ( C) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the second cartridge having distortion is placed on the tray according to the embodiment, and (D) illustrates a state in which the second cartridge is placed on the tray according to the embodiment. Cross-sectional view

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tray 2 Cartridge mounting surface 3, 4 Side wall 5 Front side wall 6 Notch 7 Bare disk mounting surface 9, 10 Side wall protrusion part 11, 12 Front / back detection convex part 13 2nd cartridge mounting surface 15 Slider 24, 25 Groove part 32, 33 Arc-shaped recess 200, 300 First cartridge 400 Second cartridge

Claims (5)

An upper half and a lower half having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses the information medium in a freely rotatable manner, a window that exposes a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the upper half and the lower half, and the upper half And a shutter that slides with the lower half to open and close the window, a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface that connects the pair of side surfaces and engages the shutter, A rear side facing the front side, a shutter engaging part that slides and engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and abuts and engages the shutter to open the shutter. A tray on which a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting a position is placed,
A cartridge mounting surface for mounting the first cartridge;
An opening that engages with the window and cuts out a portion of the cartridge mounting surface;
A pair of side walls erected from the cartridge mounting surface;
A front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with the rear side surface;
2. The tray according to claim 1, wherein the pair of side walls are provided with side wall protrusions that have a longer distance from the cartridge placement surface to the top than the distance from the cartridge placement surface to the top of the front wall. An upper half and a lower half having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses the information medium in a freely rotatable manner, a window that exposes a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the upper half and the lower half, and the upper half And a shutter that slides with the lower half to open and close the window, a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface that connects the pair of side surfaces and engages the shutter, A rear side facing the front side, a shutter engaging part that slides and engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and abuts and engages the shutter to open the shutter. A tray on which a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting a position is placed,
A cartridge mounting surface for mounting the first cartridge;
An opening that engages with the window and cuts out a portion of the cartridge mounting surface;
A pair of side walls erected from the cartridge mounting surface;
A front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with the rear side;
A tray comprising a groove portion that is recessed from the cartridge mounting surface and into which the shutter restricting portion is recessed in the vicinity of the pair of side walls in the opening. An upper half and a lower half having a substantially rectangular surface that encloses the information medium in a freely rotatable manner, a window that exposes a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the upper half and the lower half, and the upper half And a shutter that slides with the lower half to open and close the window, a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface that connects the pair of side surfaces and engages the shutter, A rear side facing the front side, a shutter engaging part that slides and engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and abuts and engages the shutter to open the shutter. A tray on which a first cartridge having a shutter restricting portion for restricting a position is placed,
A cartridge mounting surface for mounting the first cartridge;
An opening that engages with the window and cuts out a portion of the cartridge mounting surface;
A pair of side walls erected from the cartridge mounting surface;
A front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with the rear side;
The cartridge mounting surface where the front side surface and the rear side surface are in contact with each other from the cartridge mounting surface where a substantially middle portion between the front side surface and the rear side surface is in contact with the vicinity of the pair of side walls of the cartridge mounting surface. A tray having an arcuate recess on its surface. An upper half and a lower half having a substantially square plane containing the information medium on the cartridge mounting surface, a window part that cuts out a part of the lower half and exposes a part of the information medium, and the window part A shutter that opens and closes, a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface that connects the pair of side surfaces and engages the shutter, and a rear side surface that opposes the front side surface The tray according to claim 1, wherein the second cartridge is also placed. An upper half and a lower half having a substantially rectangular plane that rotatably includes the information medium, a window portion that exposes a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the upper half and the lower half, and the upper half And a shutter that slides with the lower half to open and close the window, a pair of side surfaces standing from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface that connects the pair of side surfaces and engages the shutter, A rear side facing the front side, a shutter engaging part that slides and engages the shutter and restricts a position in a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing operation direction, and abuts and engages the shutter to open the shutter. A first cartridge comprising a shutter restricting portion for restricting the position;
as well as,
An upper half and a lower half having a substantially square plane containing the information medium; a window portion exposing a part of the information medium by cutting out a part of the lower half; and a shutter for opening and closing the window portion; A second cartridge having a pair of side surfaces erected from the upper half and the lower half, a front side surface connecting the pair of side surfaces and engaging the shutter, and a rear side surface facing the front side surface is mounted. A tray to be placed,
A cartridge mounting surface for mounting the first cartridge and the second cartridge;
An opening that engages with the window and cuts out a portion of the cartridge mounting surface;
A pair of side walls erected from the cartridge mounting surface;
A front wall connected to the pair of side walls and engaged with a rear side surface of the first cartridge and a rear side surface of the second cartridge;
A first pair formed in a concave shape from one side surface of the pair of side surfaces standing from either the upper half or the lower half to the other side surface in the vicinity of the rear side surface of the first cartridge. Front and back detection holes, and a second pair of recesses formed in the vicinity of the rear side surface of the second cartridge and recessed from one side surface of the pair of side surfaces standing from the lower half toward the other side surface. A pair of front and back detection convex portions that engage with the front and back detection holes and regulate the front and back of the first cartridge and the second cartridge on the cartridge mounting surface are the pair of side walls of the cartridge mounting surface. In preparation for
The inner distance of the pair of front and back detection convex portions on the cartridge mounting surface is longer than the outer distance of the pair of side surfaces of the first cartridge, and the inner distance of the second pair of front and back detection holes A tray having a configuration of less than a modulo distance.

Images