JP2006172521A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the appearance of a disk cartridge by hiding a gate mark or the like in appearance when at least either of halves constituting a cartridge main body is a two-color molding. <P>SOLUTION: The disk cartridge is provided with an optical disk 2 and the cartridge main body 5 which houses the optical disk 2 rotatably and is provided with an opening 13 for head. The cartridge main body 5 is constituted by butting and coupling a pair of halves 3, 4, a lower half 4 is a two-color molding in which a transparent plate 4b molded from transparent second synthetic resin is arranged in an outer frame 4a molded by an opaque first synthetic resin. Anchor pieces 35, 36 are formed projectingly outward in the transparent plate 4b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk cartridge that stores a disk such as an optical disk in which a cartridge body is two-color molded.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-228707 discloses a two-color molding of a cartridge main body that stores a recording medium. For example, one half of the cartridge body is configured such that a substantially transparent main face plate is coupled to an opaque outer frame. When molding a synthetic resin, a gate mark is always generated on the molded product. Since the gate mark deteriorates the appearance, it is necessary to make the gate mark invisible or inconspicuous. When performing two-color molding, the inner member is first molded, and then the outer frame is molded. Therefore, after molding the inner member, it is necessary to move the inner member to a fixed mold for molding the outer frame while holding the inner member on the movable mold.

Japanese Patent No. 3182865

  An object of the present invention is to provide a novel disk cartridge capable of solving the problems of the conventional disk cartridge as described above.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a disc that can prevent appearance of an anchor piece, a gate mark, or the like when the at least one half constituting the cartridge body is a two-color molded product, and can improve the appearance. To provide a cartridge.

  The disc cartridge according to the present invention is a cartridge provided with a disc and a recording and / or reproducing opening that accommodates the disc in a rotatable manner and allows a part of the disc to face outward over the inner and outer circumferences. A body is provided. The cartridge body is formed by abutting and joining a pair of halves. The at least one half is a two-color molded body in which a main surface plate molded from the second synthetic resin is disposed in the outer frame molded from the first synthetic resin. An anchor piece protrudes outward from the main face plate.

  In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, since the anchor piece for holding the main face plate in the fixed mold is covered with the frame body, it is possible to prevent the overall appearance from being deteriorated. Further, by using the anchor piece portion as a gate portion when the main surface plate is molded, it is possible to make the gate for molding the main surface plate invisible.

  Hereinafter, a disk cartridge to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The disk cartridge 1 according to the present invention will be described. The disk cartridge 1 is a disk-shaped recording medium in which, for example, an optical disk 2 is rotatably stored. As shown in FIGS. The cartridge body 5 is formed by abutting and joining the halves 3 and 4, and the optical disk 2 is rotatably accommodated in the cartridge body 5. The upper and lower halves 3 and 4 are two-color molded products, and are molded so that the outer side is opaque and the inner side is transparent.

  The disc cartridge 1 contains, for example, an optical disc 2 on which program data for executing a television game and video data are recorded, and is configured to be extremely small. The disc cartridge 1 contains, for example, a small-diameter optical disc 2 having a diameter of about 60 mm, and is formed in a size that can be accommodated in the palm of one hand.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cartridge main body 5 constituting the disk cartridge 1 is one side surface serving as an insertion end side to a disk recording and / or reproducing apparatus in which the disk cartridge 1 is loaded and unloaded. The front side is formed as an arcuate portion 7. As shown in FIG. 3, the arcuate portion 7 is formed in a substantially semicircular arc shape with the radius R ₁ being constant with the center P ₀ being the center of the optical disc 2 accommodated in the disc accommodating portion 6 of the cartridge body 5. Has been. That is, the arcuate portion 7 is formed as a semicircle that faces a portion corresponding to a semicircle of the optical disk 2 stored in the cartridge body 5.

  Opposite side surfaces that are continuous with the arcuate portion 7 of the cartridge body 5 are formed as side surfaces 8 and 9 that are parallel to each other, and the back side that faces the arcuate portion 7 is a curved portion 10 that is gently curved and continuous. Is formed. That is, the back surface side of the cartridge body 5 is a curved portion 10 having a smaller curvature than the arc-shaped portion 7 having a larger radius than the semicircular arc-shaped portion 7 formed on the front surface side of the cartridge body 5.

  Since the disk cartridge 1 has a substantially semicircular arc-shaped portion 7 which is substantially curved as compared with the other surface, the front surface which is one side which is the insertion end side is inserted and removed by a slot-in method through the cartridge insertion / removal port. It is possible to easily discriminate insertion into the disc recording and / or playback apparatus to be performed. In particular, in the case of the disc cartridge 1 that is small enough to be housed in the palm, it is possible to identify the insertion direction even with a hand gripping feeling. It can also be attached to a playback device. Moreover, the disc cartridge 1 can be easily inserted into a slot-in type disc recording and / or reproducing apparatus, and can be surely inserted. Further, the disc cartridge 1 has a substantially semicircular arc-shaped portion 7 on the insertion end side and a curved portion 10 on the back surface facing the arc-shaped portion 7. Has been realized.

  The disc cartridge 1 according to the present invention is arranged at the center of the lower half 4 constituting the lower surface side of the cartridge body 5 and at the center of the optical disc 2 accommodated in the cartridge body 5 as shown in FIGS. The formed center hole 11 and a circular drive portion opening 12 are formed so that the periphery of the center hole 11 faces the outside. For example, a turntable that enters a part of a disk rotation driving mechanism provided on the disk recording and / or reproducing apparatus side on which the disk cartridge 1 is mounted enters the driving unit opening 12. That is, the driving unit opening 12 functions as an opening into which a part of a mechanism for rotating the optical disc 2 enters.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower half 4 is formed with a head opening 13 that constitutes a recording and / or reproducing opening. The head portion opening 13 is located on the side surface 8 side of the cartridge body 5 and is formed in a rectangular shape from the position close to the drive portion opening 12 to the side surface 8. That is, the head opening 13 is formed in a rectangular shape that is large enough to allow a part of the signal recording area of the optical disc 2 housed in the cartridge body 5 to face outward over the inner and outer circumferences. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the head opening 13 is formed by opening the side located on one side surface 8. Thus, by opening the side surface 8 side of the opening 13 for the head part, the scanning area of the head part can be made to the outermost peripheral position of the optical disk 2, so that the signal recording area of the optical disk 2 can be enlarged, and the optical disk 2 recording capacity can be increased. Further, the head opening 13 is not continuous with the drive opening 12 but is formed so as to leave a connecting portion between the opening 12 and the mechanical strength of the lower half 4. Can be maintained.

  The lower half 4 has a transparent plate 4b disposed inside an opaque outer frame 4a by two-color molding so that the inner optical disk 2 can be visually observed.

  The surface facing the optical disk 2 of the upper half 3 constituting the upper surface side of the cartridge body 5 while being butted and joined to the lower half 4 is a flat surface without an opening or the like as shown in FIG. Yes. The upper half 3 is provided with a transparent plate 3b inside an opaque outer frame 3a so that an optical disk stored therein can be visually observed. For example, the user can view the content printed on the surface of the optical disc 2 through the upper half 3.

  The outer peripheral wall 15 constituting the peripheral surface of the cartridge body 5 is formed by abutting rising peripheral walls 16 and 17 formed on the abutting surface side of the upper and lower halves 3 and 4. The upper and lower halves 3 and 4 are integrally coupled by thermally or ultrasonically welding the front end surfaces of the rising peripheral walls 16 and 17.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower half 4 is engaged with a positioning pin provided on the apparatus side, which becomes a mounting reference surface when the disk cartridge 1 is mounted on a disk recording and / or reproducing apparatus. First and second positioning holes 18 and 19 are provided. The first and second positioning holes 18 and 19 are respectively provided in the left and right regions surrounded by the disc storage portion 6 and the bending portion 10 formed in a circular shape.

  The disc cartridge 1 may be formed with a plurality of disc identification portions on the lower half 4 side for identifying the recording capacity of the optical disc 2 accommodated and the type of the optical disc 2. For example, the disc identification unit can be formed in an area surrounded by the disc storage unit 6 and the bending unit 10 as shown in FIGS. Here, the disc identification portion provided in the region surrounded by the disc storage portion 6 and the curved portion 10 forms a through hole or a bottomed concave portion in a part of the lower half 4, and dust or the like is formed in the disc storage portion 6. It is good to be constructed so that no enters.

  The disk cartridge 1 configured as described above is configured without providing a shutter member that opens and closes the head opening 13, thereby reducing the number of components. By the way, when this disc cartridge 1 is mounted on a cartridge mounting device provided in a disc recording and / or reproducing device to which a disc cartridge to which a compatible shutter member is attached can also be mounted, the disc of the cartridge mounting device One side surface 8 of the cartridge body 5 is directly pressed by the shutter opening operation mechanism provided in the cartridge holder for holding the cartridge 1. Further, even when the cartridge holder is mounted at a predetermined position, the cartridge holder is kept in a state of receiving the pressing force by the shutter opening operation mechanism. That is, since the shutter member is not present in the disk cartridge 1, the shutter opening operation mechanism directly presses the cartridge body 5.

  Therefore, when the disk cartridge 1 is mounted on a cartridge holder in which a disk cartridge having a shutter member compatible with the disk cartridge 1 is mounted, the pressing force for avoiding the pressing force from the shutter opening operation mechanism. An avoidance unit 23 is provided. The pressing force avoiding unit 23 is provided at a position facing the shutter opening operation mechanism when the disk cartridge 1 is mounted at a predetermined mounting position of the cartridge holder.

  The pressing force avoiding portion 23 is formed as a recess in a portion on the lower half 4 side of one side surface 8 of the cartridge body 5. Since the pressing force avoiding portion 23 is for avoiding the pressing force from the shutter opening operation mechanism, the pressing force avoiding portion 23 is formed as a concave portion having a shape and a depth for preventing the shutter opening operation mechanism from contacting the cartridge body 5. Has been.

  That is, the pressing force avoiding portion 23 is formed as a concave portion so that the shutter opening operation mechanism is not easily pulled out once engaged. Then, when the pressing force avoiding unit 23 is engaged, it engages so as to ride on one rising portion of the pressing force avoiding unit 23 while elastically displacing the leaf spring of the shutter opening operation mechanism. Accordingly, the disk cartridge 1 is mounted on a cartridge mounting apparatus in which a shutter member for opening and closing the head opening 13 is provided and a disk cartridge provided with a mechanism for holding the shutter member in the closed position is mounted. In this case, it can be mounted in a stable state without receiving a load from the shutter opening operation mechanism.

  As described above, in the disk cartridge 1 as described above, the upper and lower halves 3 and 4 constituting the cartridge body 5 are two-color molded so that the inner optical disk 2 can be viewed from the outside. ing. Therefore, the configuration of the lower half 4 will be described below as an example.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the lower half 4 has a transparent plate 4b disposed inside an opaque outer frame 4a. For example, the opaque outer frame 4a is molded from a first synthetic resin such as opaque polycarbonate, and the transparent plate 4b is molded from a second synthetic resin such as transparent polycarbonate.

  The opaque outer frame 4a is formed with an opening 31 formed over substantially the entire area where the transparent plate 4b is disposed. A rising peripheral wall 17 that forms the outer peripheral wall 15 of the cartridge body 5 is formed around the outer frame 4a. The rising peripheral wall 17 constitutes a disc storage portion 6 that stores the optical disc 2 on the arcuate portion 7 side of the cartridge body 5. Further, the lower half 4 is formed with a disk storage wall 6 a that forms a disk storage part 6 in a substantially arc shape inside the rising peripheral wall 17 on the curved part 10 side of the cartridge body 5. As shown in FIG. 5, first welding ribs 17 a are formed to protrude from the front end surface of the rising peripheral wall 17 at a plurality of locations. The first welding rib 17a is formed so as to protrude sharply from the front end surface of the rising peripheral wall 17 by about 0.2 mm, for example.

  The rising peripheral wall 17 is formed such that an end portion 17b adjacent to the head portion opening 13 is slightly higher than other portions. For example, when the height of the rising peripheral wall 17 in other portions is 2.15 mm, the height of the end portion 17b is formed to be about 0.1 mm higher than this. This end portion 17b is not formed with the first welding rib 17a, but is formed higher than the other portions, so that it is adjacent to the head portion opening portion 13 of the rising peripheral wall 16 of the upper half 3 as a counterpart. It is press-contacted with the edge part to carry out by especially high pressure, a clearance gap is lose | eliminated, and it can prevent that a dust etc. penetrate | invade into the disc storage part 6.

  A second welding rib 6c is formed at an end portion 6b adjacent to the head portion opening 13 of the disk storage wall 6a constituting the disk storage portion 6 positioned inside the end portion 17b. Therefore, the upper and lower halves 3 and 4 can be reliably coupled even in the vicinity of the head portion opening 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a second positioning hole 19 apart from the head opening 13 is formed in the disk storage wall 6 a constituting the disk storage 6 formed on the curved portion 10 side of the cartridge body 5. A first notch 32 is formed in the vicinity. The first notch 32 is coupled with a first anchor piece 35 that bites the transparent plate 4b into the movable mold when the lower half 4 is two-color molded. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a second notch 33 is formed in the disk storage wall 6 a in the vicinity of the first positioning hole 18 from the head opening 13. When the lower half 4 is two-color molded, the second notch 33 is coupled with a first anchor piece 35 and a second anchor piece 36 that bites the transparent plate 4b into the movable mold.

  Further, the outer frame 4a is injected into the outer frame 4a in a region surrounded by the rising peripheral wall 17 and the disk storage wall 6a and in the vicinity of the second positioning hole 19 away from the head portion opening 13. An outer frame gate portion 34 for molding is formed. The outer frame gate 34 is provided on the inner surface of the lower half 4 so that the outer appearance of the disk cartridge 1 can be made invisible. Moreover, the outer frame gate part 34 can be filled in the cavity with the first synthetic resin for easily molding the outer frame 4a by setting the outer frame gate part 34 on the side opposite to the head part opening 13.

  The transparent plate 4b is attached to the outer frame 4a as described above so as to close the opening 31. The transparent plate 4b is formed with a first anchor piece 35 to be inserted into the first cutout 32 described above. The first anchor piece 35 is used to bite the transparent plate 4b into the movable mold when the lower half 4 is two-color molded. The first anchor piece 35 is formed with a transparent plate gate portion 35a when the transparent plate 4b is injection-molded. Moreover, the 2nd anchor piece 36 inserted in the 1st notch part 33 mentioned above is formed in the transparent plate 4b. The second anchor piece 36 is also used to cause the transparent plate 4b to bite into the movable mold when the lower half 4 is two-color molded.

  Next, a molding method when the lower half 4 in which the transparent plate 4b is combined with the outer frame 4a is two-color molded will be described. As shown in FIG. 7A, the molding apparatus 101 of the lower half 4 clamps the movable mold 104 to the primary fixed mold 103 to which the primary resin supply cylinder 102 is connected, and the transparent plate 4b. After the transparent second synthetic resin 105 is injection molded, the movable mold 104 is released from the primary fixed mold 103 and gate-cut.

  Here, when the transparent plate 4b is molded, the transparent second synthetic resin 105 is injected from the transparent plate gate portion 35a of the first anchor piece 35 away from the head portion opening 13. The transparent second synthetic resin 105 flows and merges from both sides of the driving portion opening 12 toward the arcuate portion 7 as shown by an arrow X in FIG. 4 from the transparent plate gate portion 35a. Further, when releasing the movable mold 104 from the primary-side fixed mold 103, the transparent plate 4b is held by the movable mold 104 by the first and second anchor pieces 35 and 36. In the transparent plate 4 b, the first anchor piece 35 is formed at a position with a high mechanical strength apart from the head opening 13, so that the movable mold 104 is released from the fixed mold 103. In doing so, it can be prevented from being deformed or broken.

  Next, the molding apparatus 101 moves the movable mold 104 to the secondary fixed mold 106 side, and then moves the movable mold 104 to the secondary fixed mold 106 as shown in FIG. The mold 104 is clamped, the opaque first synthetic resin 107 of the outer frame 4a is injection-molded around the transparent plate 4b molded with the second synthetic resin 105, and the secondary fixed mold 106 is movable. The mold 104 is released and gate-cut. The movable mold 104 is connected to a secondary side resin supply cylinder 108 that supplies the first synthetic resin 107.

  Here, when the frame 4b is formed on the transparent plate 4b, as shown in FIG. 4, the first synthetic resin 107 which is opaque from the portion of the outer frame gate 34 apart from the head opening 13 is injected. Is done. The opaque first synthetic resin 107 flows from the portion of the outer frame gate portion 34 in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 4, covers the first and second anchor pieces 35 and 36, and further the head portion opening 13. The outer frame 4a is integrated with the transparent plate 4b when it flows to both ends and solidifies.

  According to the manufacturing method of the lower half 4 as described above, when the transparent plate 4b is molded, the first anchor piece 35 at a position having a mechanical hardness away from the head portion opening 13 and further the second half. Since the anchor piece 36 holds the movable mold 10 when it is released from the fixed mold 103, the transparent plate 4b can be prevented from being deformed or damaged. Further, when the outer frame 4a is molded on the transparent plate 4b, the first and second anchor pieces 35 and 36 are covered with the outer frame 4a, and thus the anchor piece 35 necessary for two-color molding. 36 can be concealed in appearance. Moreover, since the transparent plate gate part 35a at the time of molding the transparent plate 4b is formed on the first anchor piece 35, it can be prevented from appearing on the appearance when the lower half 4 is completed.

  The case where the lower half 4 is two-color molded has been described above, but this method can also be applied when the upper half 3 is two-color molded. In the present invention, if the first anchor piece 35 at a position away from the head opening 13 is provided on the transparent plate 4b, it is not particularly necessary to provide the second anchor piece 36. Also, when the second anchor piece 13 is provided, the position is not particularly limited.

  The disc cartridge 1 configured as described above is inserted into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus with the arcuate portion 7 of the cartridge body 5 as an insertion end, and is positioned and mounted on the mounting portion. At the same time, the optical disk 2 accommodated in the disk cartridge 1 is mounted on a turntable provided in the mounting section, and can be rotated by a disk rotation driving mechanism. At this time, the optical head portion faces the optical disc 2 through the opened head portion opening 13. In this state, the disk rotation driving mechanism is driven to operate the optical head unit, whereby the information signal recorded on the optical disk 2 can be reproduced.

  In the above description, the present invention has been described with reference to an example in which a read-only optical disk is stored. Can be applied, and the same advantages as when applied to the disk cartridge described above can be obtained.

  Further, in the above description, in order to realize further miniaturization of the disk cartridge, an example in which the front side of the cartridge body is an arcuate portion has been described as an example of the cartridge body. The present invention is not limited to one using a main body, and can also be applied to a disk cartridge using a rectangular cartridge main body that has been widely used conventionally.

It is the perspective view which looked at the disc cartridge concerning the present invention from the upper half side. It is the perspective view which looked at the disc cartridge concerning the present invention from the lower half side. It is the top view which looked at the disc cartridge concerning the present invention from the lower half side. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lower half of the disk cartridge according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the standing | starting surrounding wall of the said lower half. It is AA sectional drawing of the lower half shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the shaping | molding apparatus of a lower half, (A) shows at the time of shaping | molding of a transparent board, (B) shows at the time of shaping | molding of an outer frame.

Explanation of symbols

  1 disc cartridge, 2 optical disc, 3 upper half, 4 lower half, 4a outer frame, 4b transparent plate, 5 cartridge body, 13 head opening, 31 opening, 32 first notch, 33 second notch 34, outer frame gate, 35 first anchor piece, 35a transparent plate gate, 36 second anchor piece, 101 molding device, 102 primary side resin supply cylinder, 103 primary side fixed mold, 104 movable Mold, 105 Second synthetic resin, 106 Secondary side fixed mold, 107 First synthetic resin, 108 Secondary side resin supply cylinder

Claims (7)

A disc,
A cartridge main body provided with a recording and / or reproducing opening that accommodates the disk in a rotatable manner and allows a part of the disk to face outward across the inner and outer circumferences,
The cartridge body is formed by abutting and joining a pair of halves,
The at least one half is a two-color mold molded body in which a main surface plate molded from the second synthetic resin is disposed in the outer frame molded from the first synthetic resin.
2. A disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said main face plate is formed with an anchor piece protruding outward. The recording and / or reproducing opening is provided on the insertion end side of the cartridge main body into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus,
2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the anchor piece is formed on a side opposite to the recording and / or reproducing opening.   2. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge main body is formed so that an insertion end side to the recording and / or reproducing apparatus has an arc shape.   2. A drive opening for rotating the disk is formed in a substantially central portion of the one half, discontinuously with the recording and / or reproducing opening. Disc cartridge.   2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a gate portion for molding the main face plate is formed on the anchor piece.   2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a gate portion for molding the outer frame is formed in the vicinity of the anchor piece of the outer frame.   2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the main surface plate is formed to be transparent or translucent.

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