JP2006079664A - Method for welding upper and lower shell halves of recording medium cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent occurrence of a gap at an abutted part at a side plane of upper and lower shell halves in a recording medium cartridge provided with a flat housing in which the upper and lower shell halves are butt-welded in a plurality of points of a peripheral wall and formed and which is provided with an opening for access for the incorporated recording medium, and a shutter attached to the housing movably to open and close the opening for access of this housing. <P>SOLUTION: The upper and lower shell halves are welded in a state that the vicinity of welding points W<SB>4</SB>and W<SB>5</SB>in a part facing to the opening 6 for access for the recording medium 5 of the housing is pressed with larger pressing force than other parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a flat housing having upper and lower shell halves butt welded at a plurality of locations on a peripheral wall and having an opening for accessing a built-in disk, and a housing for opening and closing the access opening of the housing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for welding upper and lower shell halves of a recording medium cartridge.

  Conventionally, in a mobile device such as a digital camera, an ultra-small recording medium cartridge called “crik! (Registered trademark)” is used as a recording medium (see Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIG. 7 (perspective view) and FIGS. 8A and 8B (plan view and rear view), this recording medium cartridge 1 has a pushing portion 2a to which a finger is applied when pushing into and loading the drive device. The upper shell half 3 and the lower shell half 4 having a flat main surface made of a resin frame 2 called a stabilizer and a metal thin plate (stainless steel plate having a thickness of 0.3 mm) fitted to the frame 2. A disk-shaped magnetic recording medium 5 having a storage capacity of 40 MB and a disk size of 1.8 inches (45.7 mm) is rotated in a flat housing having a width of 50 mm, a depth of 55 mm, and a thickness of 1.95 mm. It is housed freely. A hub (center core) 10 having a center hole 10 a is fixed to the center of the magnetic recording medium 5.

  This recording medium 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 outer dimensions of 53 mm in width, 85 mm in depth, and 5 mm in thickness. The housing is formed with a V-shaped opening 6 for allowing the recording / reproducing magnetic head provided in the drive device to access the surface of the magnetic recording medium 5, and between the housing and the magnetic recording medium 5. Is provided with a rotary shutter 7 having an opening 7a for opening and closing the opening 6 in a rotating manner. The rotary shutter 7 is configured to be urged in a closing direction by a spring member (not shown) and locked to a closed position by a lock member (not shown) attached to the upper shell half 3.

  7 and 8A and 8B show a state in which the opening 7a of the rotary shutter 7 has entered the housing and the rotary shutter 7 has closed the opening 6 of the housing, that is, in a closed position. Is shown.

  The rotary shutter 7 has upper and lower shutter halves 7U and 7D made of aluminum thin plates that are fitted to each other at the periphery as shown in FIG. 9 which is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. The upper shutter half 7U is rotatably supported by a small-diameter cylindrical body 3a that protrudes inward from the lower surface of the upper shell half 3, and the upper shutter half 7U is connected to the cylindrical body 3a at the tip of the cylindrical body 3a. A retaining member 11 called a center pin for preventing the member from being pulled out is welded and intervenes in the center hole 10 a of the hub 10. Liners 13 made of non-woven fabric for cleaning the surface of the magnetic recording medium 5 are attached to the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shutter halves 7U and 7D, respectively.

  A circular opening 4a is formed at the center of the lower shell half 4 so that the hub 10 faces the outside, and a large size is fitted around the periphery of the opening 4a of the lower shell half 4 at the center of the lower shutter half 7D. A cylindrical body 7Da having a diameter projects downward, and the lower shutter half 7D is rotatably supported by the lower shell half 4 by the cylindrical body 7Da, and the tip of the cylindrical body 7Da is crimped. A flange 12 that prevents the lower shutter half 7 </ b> D from coming out of the lower shell half 4 is formed.

  Further, as apparent from FIG. 8B, the lower shell half 4 is formed with an arc-shaped opening 4b concentric with the rotary shutter 7, and the lower shutter half 7D protrudes from the arc-shaped groove 4b and A shutter knob 7b that moves along the arcuate opening 4b to open and close the rotary shutter 7 is fixed. Then, with the loading operation (pushing operation) of the recording medium cartridge 1 with respect to the drive device, the lock at the closed position of the rotary shutter 7 is released by the lock member, so that the rotary shutter 7 can be rotated and the drive device. Is engaged with the shutter knob 7b, and the rotary shutter 7 is rotated about 60 degrees to the open position where the opening 7a substantially coincides with the opening 6 of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B (a plan view and a back view), the magnetic recording medium 5 is loaded into the drive device in a state of being exposed from the opening 6 of the housing.

  Further, the recording medium cartridge 1 loaded in the drive device can be ejected from the drive device by further pushing it toward the drive device, and the rotary shutter 7 is shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B by a spring member (not shown). ) To return to the closed position.

As shown in the right end of FIG. 9, the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 have both edges linearly butted on the side surface, and 13 welding points W ₁ shown in FIG. 8A along the butting line. assembled by spot welding using a laser beam in to _W-13.
US Pat. No. 6,133,544

  By the way, if there is a gap in the abutting part on the side surfaces of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4, the laser beam leaks into the housing through the gap during welding, or metal particles and impurities are moved into the housing due to boiling of the metal material at the moment of welding. The magnetic recording medium 5 may be damaged by being scattered inside, and even if it is a 30 μm gap, almost 100% welding failure occurs.

  Therefore, it is necessary to perform welding in a state where the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 are pressed from the upper and lower sides and the gap is minimized. Therefore, conventionally, the recording medium cartridge 1 of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 is placed on a cradle having a flat support surface, for example, with the lower shell half 4 on the lower side, and the upper half using the one pressing plate. Welding was performed with the main surface of the shell half 4 pressed from above and the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 pressed from above and below.

However, among the ₁₃ welded locations W _{1 to} W ₁₃ described above, there are locations where gaps are likely to occur and locations where gaps are less likely to occur, and the corner portion facing the opening 6 for access to the housing is the upper shell half. This is a place where a gap is likely to occur between 3 and the lower shell half 4.

  Therefore, the present invention has an object to effectively prevent a gap from being generated in the abutting portion on the side surface of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 by devising how to hold the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 during welding. To do.

The present invention provides a flat housing having upper and lower shell halves butt welded at a plurality of locations on the side surface and having an opening for accessing a built-in recording medium, and a housing for opening and closing the access opening of the housing. A method of welding upper and lower shell halves of a recording medium cartridge comprising a shutter movably attached to the recording medium cartridge,
The welding is performed in a state where the upper and lower shell halves are pressed from above and below in the vicinity of each of the plurality of welding locations by pressing means having different pressing forces depending on the welding locations.

  In this case, it is preferable that welding be performed in a state where the vicinity of the welded portion at the portion facing the access opening of the housing is pressed with a relatively large pressing force by the pressing means. Further, the housing has a frame provided with a pushing portion for pushing and loading the recording medium cartridge into the drive device, and upper and lower shell halves are fitted to the frame from above and below. When provided, it is preferable to perform welding in a state where the vicinity of the welded portion is pressed with a relatively large pressing force by the pressing means.

  Here, the “relatively large pressing force” means a pressing force larger than an average pressing force for pressing in the vicinity of other welding locations.

  Further, the pressing means is either one of the upper and lower shell halves, for example, a cradle provided with a support surface that supports at least the peripheral portion of the main surface of the lower shell half, and one of the upper and lower shell halves, that is, in this case It can comprise by the holding | suppressing rod which presses the vicinity of each welding location in the main surface peripheral part of an upper shell half with the respectively pressing force which can be adjusted.

  According to the present invention, the vicinity of each of the plurality of welding locations is welded in a state where the upper and lower shell halves are pressed in the vertical direction by the pressing means having different pressing forces depending on the welding locations. The dimensional accuracy of the entire cartridge can be improved. And, for example, in the corner portion facing the access opening of the housing, a gap between the upper and lower shell halves, where the gap is likely to occur, is pressed with a relatively large pressing force to prevent the gap from being generated. can do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining a welding method for upper and lower shell halves of a recording medium cartridge according to the present invention. The recording medium cartridge shown in FIG. 1 has the same configuration as the recording medium cartridge described in FIGS. 8A and 8B to FIGS. 10A and 10B. Thus, duplicate description is omitted.

In the welding method of the present embodiment, the vicinity of the welding points W ₄ and W _{5 at} the corner portion facing the access opening 6 of the housing is pressed with a larger pressing force than other welding points, as will be described later. The main aim is to weld with. Furthermore, it is preferable that the vicinity of the welded portions W ₁₂ and W ₁₃ at the fitting portions of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 with respect to the frame 2 is also welded in a state where it is pressed with a relatively large pressing force.

  2 is a plan view of the cradle 20 used for welding the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 of the recording medium cartridge 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view thereof.

  The cradle 20 is positioned at least on the periphery of the main surface of the lower shell half 4 when the recording medium cartridge 1 is positioned with the frame 2 side facing the right side of the drawing and the upper shell half 3 facing upward. A flat cartridge support surface 21 that is supported in close contact with the portion, and a space 22 having a fan-like planar shape that is open on the support surface 21. This space 22 becomes a rotation space of the shutter lever 30 for rotating the rotary shutter 7 of the recording medium cartridge 1 fixed on the receiving base 20 from the closed position to the open position shown in FIG. . Around the cradle 20 are fixed leaf spring side guides 23, 24 and 25 which elastically sandwich the peripheral walls of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 from the side.

  As shown in the side view of FIG. 4, the shutter lever 30 includes a boss portion 31 fixed to the rotation shaft 35, and a recording medium cartridge extending from the boss portion 31 in one direction and fixed on the cradle 20. And a lever portion 32 having a tip portion engaged with one shutter knob 7b from one side.

Each side guide 23, 24, 25 is elastically contacted with the peripheral walls of the upper and lower shell halves 3, 4, and in addition to a positioning function for preventing displacement of the butted portion in the peripheral walls of the upper and lower shell halves 3, 4, Has a function of closing the butted portion other than the welded portion so as not to enter the inside through the gap between the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4. For example, the side guide 23 has a welded portion W as shown in FIG. Slits S _{1 to} S ₃ are formed at positions corresponding to _{1 to} W ₃ , respectively, and laser welding is performed through these slits S _{1 to} S ₃ . Although illustration is omitted, the other side guides 24 and 25 are similarly provided with slits at positions corresponding to the welding locations.

FIG. 6A shows a pressing rod 40 for pressing the vicinity of the welding locations W _{1 to} W _{13 at} the peripheral edge of the main surface of the upper shell half 3, and the 13 pressing rods 40 are attached to the rod holding member 50. It has been.

Each holding rod 40 includes a rod main body 41 having a spherical lower end surface 41a that is brought into contact with a position in the vicinity of each of the welding locations W _{1 to} W _{13 in} the peripheral surface of the main surface of the upper shell half 3, and the rod main body 41 is moved up and down. An outer cylinder 42 that is slidably penetrated and is attached to a rod holding member 50 having a thread groove on the outer periphery so as to be vertically adjustable, a step portion 41b formed on the rod body 41, and a lower end of the outer cylinder 42. The coil spring 43 is compressed between the flange 42 a and an adjustment nut 44 screwed to the upper end portion 41 c of the rod body 41 in order to adjust the spring pressure of the coil spring 43.

6A includes a spherical lower end surface 41a on which the rod main body 41 hardly adheres to spatter, but has a relatively large area as shown in FIG. 6B. rod body 41 having a flat lower end surface 41c which can be pressed portions uniform is suitable for pressing the vicinity of the welding point W ₄ and W _5. Further, the rod body 41 shown in FIGS. 6 (c) and 6 (d) together with the bottom view is a guide-use type, and the rod body 41 in FIG. 6 (c) is a guide portion having a flat side surface for preventing rotation. Since the rod main body 41 of FIG. 6 (d) has the bifurcated guide portions 41e and 41e, it has the effect of preventing the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 from being displaced in particular. It is suitable for pressing the vicinity of the ₃ and W _9. Therefore, what is necessary is just to use properly according to the place which hold | maintains the rod main body 41 which has these various shapes.

  Since the 13 holding rods 40 having such a configuration are attached to the rod holding member 50, the relative position and the contact pressure of the lower end surface 41a of the rod body 41 with respect to the peripheral surface of the main surface of the upper shell half 3 are respectively determined. Individual adjustments can be made.

  In order to adjust the contact pressure over a wide range, a plurality of types of coil springs 43 having different spring constants may be prepared in advance in addition to the above adjustment method. In this embodiment, initial tensions of 30 gf, 100 gf, 200 gf, and 500 gf may be prepared.

  Next, a method for welding the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 using the cradle 20 and the holding rod 40 will be described.

  First, with the shutter lever 30 held at the initial position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the recording medium cartridge 1 is positioned on the cradle 20 with the lower shell half 3 facing down, and the side guides 23 to 25 are used. The side walls of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 are sandwiched from the side to eliminate the step.

  Next, as shown by the phantom line, the movable cradle 28 having the side guide 27 having the same configuration as the above-described side guides 23 to 25 rises to the space 22, and the space 22 of the lower shell half 4. The side guide 27 is closely attached to the side surfaces of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 while supporting at least the peripheral edge of the main surface portion inside.

At the same time, the rod holding member 50 is lowered from above, and the vicinity of the welded portions W _{1 to} W ₁₃ (see FIG. 8A) at the peripheral edge of the main surface of the upper shell half 3 is pressed by the 13 pressing rods 40. . Next, the lock of the rotary shutter 7 is released.

In this case, the contact pressure of the rod body 41 that presses the vicinity of the welding locations W _{1 to} W _3, W ₆ , and W ₇ may be set to about 200 gf on average, but in particular, the magnetic head access of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 fitting portion between both corner portion and the frame 2 facing the use opening 6, since the gap between the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 is the site prone, near the welding point W ₄ and W _5, and W ₁₂ and contact pressure of the rod body 41 for pressing the vicinity of the W ₁₃ is preferably adjusted to be approximately 500gf about twice or more of the above mentioned contact pressure. Meanwhile, since a portion near the outside from the cradle 20 movable from the cradle 28 of the welding point W _8, it was adjusted so that the contact pressure becomes about the lowest about 30 gf, further in the path of the shutter knob 7b the rod body 41 to press the welding point W ₉ to _W-11 near proximate also preferably adjusted to a relatively low approximately 100gf about contact pressure.

Thus, in the state where the peripheral surface of the main surface of the upper shell half 3 is pressed from above by the 13 pressing rods 40 individually adjusted so that the contact pressure of the rod body 41 becomes a preferable value, first, 10 performing laser welded to the welding portion _W 4 _{to W-13} places. Next, the movable cradle 28 is lowered, and the shutter lever 30 is rotated clockwise from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2 to the position indicated by the phantom line, so that the opening 7a of the rotary shutter 7 becomes the opening 6 of the housing. Almost match. Next, the movable cradle 28 is raised again into the space 22 to support the main surface of the lower shell half 4, and in this state, the side guides are provided to the remaining three welding locations W _{1 to} W ₃ . Laser welding is performed through 23 slits S _{1 to} S ₃ .

  Next, after the movable cradle 28 is lowered, when the shutter lever 30 is returned to the original position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the rotary shutter 7 is also moved by the biasing force of the spring member built in the housing, as shown in FIG. It returns to the closed position shown in a) and (b). Next, the rod support member 50 is raised to release the recording medium cartridge 1, and the welding process is completed.

  Note that the shutter lever 30 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 has a thin lever portion 32 whose tip is engaged from one side of the shutter knob 7b because the area of the void 22 is reduced as much as possible and the support surface 21 is widened. However, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, a shutter lever 30 ′ having a lever portion 32 ′ having a bifurcated tip that can be engaged from both sides of the shutter knob 7b may be used. In that case, there is an advantage that the rotary shutter 7 can be more reliably returned to the closed position.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, welding is performed with the lower shell half 4 facing downward, but welding can also be performed with the lower shell half 4 facing upward. In that case, it is necessary to dispose the shutter lever 30 above the recording medium cartridge 1, but there is an advantage that it becomes unnecessary to provide the empty space 22 in the cradle 20 and to prepare the movable cradle 28.

In the above description, the embodiment of the welding method of the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 according to the present invention has been clarified. However, according to the present embodiment, each of the ₁₃ welding points W _{1 to} W ₁₃ is described. Since the vicinity is welded in a state where the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 are pressed onto the cradle 20 from above by the pressing rod 40 whose pressing force is adjusted according to the welding location, the housing access opening 6 such as a corner portion facing the, by pressing with a relatively large pressing force is near the welding point W ₄ and W ₅ prone gap between the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4, the recording medium cartridge 1 as a whole dimensional accuracy Can be improved.

Further, in the case of welding the welding portions W ₁ to _W-3 facing the aperture 7a of the rotary shutter 7 in the closed position, when it welding, laser beam from the gap between the upper and lower shell halves 3 and 4 or leak into the housing When the metal material boils at the moment of welding, metal particles and impurities may scatter in the housing and damage the magnetic recording medium 5. However, the shutter lever 30 causes the opening 7a of the rotary shutter 7 to be damaged. by doing the welding of the welded portion W ₁ to _W-3 were allowed to rotate to a position not opposed to the welded portion W ₁ to _W-3, the magnetic recording medium 5 is shielded by the rotary shutter 7, during welding The risk of the magnetic recording medium 5 being damaged can be effectively avoided.

  The above-described embodiment is the case of “click!” Provided with the magnetic recording medium 5 having an outer diameter of 1.8 inches (about 46 mm), but the present invention is not limited to this and will be developed in the future. However, the present invention can be applied to a cartridge having a small and high-density 1 inch (about 25 mm) or 0.8 inch (about 20 mm) ultra-small high-density recording medium, and the recording medium is not limited to a disk. , Tape, hard disk, optical medium, semiconductor, and the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, the rotary shutter 7 is built in the housing, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a recording medium cartridge with a rotary shutter or a slide shutter.

It is a top view of the recording medium cartridge with which it uses for description of the welding method by this invention. It is a top view of the cradle used for implementation of the welding method of this invention. FIG. 3 is a front view of the cradle of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a side view of the shutter lever shown in FIG. 2. It is a top view which shows a deformation | transformation of a shutter lever. It is a front view of the rod used for implementation of the welding method of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a recording medium cartridge to which the welding method of the present invention is applied. FIGS. 8A and 8B are a plan view and a bottom view showing a state where the rotary shutter is in the closed position of the recording medium cartridge to which the welding method of the present invention is applied. It is an expanded sectional view of the principal part along 9-9 line of Drawing 8 (a). 10A and 10B are a plan view and a bottom view showing a state where the rotary shutter is in the open position of the recording medium cartridge to which the welding method of the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium cartridge 3 Upper shell half 4 Lower shell half 5 Magnetic recording medium 6 Housing opening 7 Rotary shutter 7a Rotary shutter opening 7b Shutter knob 7U Upper shutter half 7D Lower shutter half 10 Hub 20 Base 23, 24, 25, 27 side guides 28 movable pedestal 30 shutter lever 40 pressing rod 41 rod body W ₁ to _W-13 welding point

Claims (4)

A flat housing having upper and lower shell halves butt welded at multiple locations on the peripheral wall and having an access opening for a built-in recording medium, and movable to the housing to open and close the access opening of the housing A method of welding the upper and lower shell halves of a recording medium cartridge comprising a shutter attached to
The upper and lower sides of the recording medium cartridge are characterized in that the welding is performed in a state in which the upper and lower shell halves are pressed in the vertical direction by pressing means having different pressing forces depending on the welding points in the vicinity of each of the plurality of welding points. Shell half welding method.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the welding is performed in a state in which a vicinity of a welding portion at a portion facing the access opening of the housing is pressed with a relatively large pressing force by the pressing means.   The housing has a frame having a pushing portion for pushing and loading the recording medium cartridge into the drive device, and the upper and lower shell halves are fitted to the frame from above and below, and in the vicinity of a welding portion in the fitting portion. The method according to claim 2, wherein the welding is performed in a state where the pressure is pressed with a relatively large pressing force by the pressing means.   The pressing means includes a pedestal provided with a support surface that supports at least a peripheral portion of either one of the upper and lower shell halves, and each welding location on the other main surface peripheral portion of the upper and lower shell halves. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing rod that presses the vicinity with an adjustable pressing force.

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