JP2506571Y2 - Cleaning Cartridge - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a cleaning cartridge for cleaning an objective lens of an optical pickup in a disk drive device in which an optical disk cartridge is mounted, for example.

[Outline of device]

The present invention is a cleaning cartridge applied to, for example, an optical disc cartridge system, which includes a cleaning member for cleaning an objective lens of an optical pickup, for example, a brush, and a regular insertion detection unit provided in an ordinary disc cartridge. With the structure not formed, the objective lens of the optical pickup can be easily cleaned without requiring an electric driving force.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, in an optical disc system, in order to protect the signal recording surface of the disc, the disc is housed in a cartridge, and the disc is inserted and mounted in the disc drive device in the state of being housed in the cartridge for recording or reproduction. The optical disk cartridge system described above has been put to practical use.

In this optical disc cartridge system, dust may adhere to the objective lens of the optical pickup in the disc drive device due to repeated mounting operations of the disc cartridge, which may interfere with normal recording or reproduction.

Therefore, recently, various cartridge type cleaners for cleaning the objective lens of the optical pickup, that is, various cleaning cartridges have been proposed.

As a conventional cleaning cartridge of this type, for example, a brush is planted on the outer surface of an ordinary disk cartridge, the cartridge is inserted into the disk drive device, and after the loading operation is completed, the optical pickup is moved to move the objective lens. Or a brush housed in a disc that is stored in a cartridge, insert this cartridge into the disc drive device, and after loading is completed, the disc is rotated to clean the objective lens. There are some such things.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, these conventional cleaning cartridges use a method of cleaning the objective lens by using the movement of the optical pickup or the rotation of the disk, and thus all of them require an electric driving force, that is, the disk drive. Cleaning cannot be performed unless the device is powered on. Further, the latter type using the rotation of the disk has a risk of damaging the objective lens with a brush because of its high speed of rotation, which is a serious problem in practical use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning cartridge in which the objective lens can be easily cleaned even when the power source of the disk drive is off, and the objective lens is not damaged. To aim.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a cartridge mounting portion into which a cartridge accommodating an optical disc as an optical information recording medium is inserted, and a light for emitting a light for recording or reproducing an information signal on the optical disc. A pickup, a lock means for locking the cartridge immovably in a state where the cartridge is inserted to a predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion, and a regular insertion formed on the cartridge when the cartridge is properly inserted. Detecting means for detecting the detecting portion, and when the regular insertion detecting portion is not detected by the detecting means, prevents the cartridge from being inserted to a predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion and prevents the locking means from locking. And a light of a disk drive device including: A cleaning cartridge for cleaning the backup, which has approximately the same external dimensions as the cartridge containing the optical disk, and is a cleaning for cleaning the optical pickup at a position corresponding to the optical pickup when it is inserted into the cartridge mounting part. The structure is such that the member is provided and the regular insertion detecting portion is not formed.

[Action]

When the cleaning cartridge having such a structure is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion of the disk drive device, the cleaning member operates so as to clean the optical pickup. Even if the cleaning cartridge is safely inserted up to a predetermined device position in the cartridge mounting portion, the cleaning cartridge cannot be completely inserted and is not locked because the regular insertion detecting portion is not formed. The optical pickup is ejected, and the optical pickup is cleaned by the insertion / ejection operation of the cleaning cartridge without relying on the electric driving force.

〔Example〕

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

First, before describing the configuration of the cleaning cartridge of the present invention, an optical disk cartridge system to which the cleaning cartridge of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a disc cartridge (1) normally used in this optical disc cartridge system is a disc cartridge (2) made of, for example, a disc as an optical information recording medium inside a cartridge casing (2). For example, a magneto-optical disk (3) is rotatably housed. The external dimensions of the disc cartridge (1) are currently internationally standardized as a so-called 5.25-inch optical disc cartridge.

This disc cartridge (1) is of a so-called double-sided type, that is, the disc (3) has signal recording surfaces on both upper and lower surfaces thereof, and openings corresponding to the upper and lower recording surfaces of the casing (2). (4) is formed, and when the disc cartridge is inserted into the disc drive device, a signal is written (recorded) or read (reproduced) through the opening (4) on the recording surface of the disc (3). The optical pickup is designed to face.

A shutter (5) for opening and closing the openings (4) on both the upper and lower sides is provided slidably in the lateral direction with respect to the casing (2). The shutter (5) is formed, for example, by bending a sheet metal material into a U shape along the front surface and the upper and lower surface portions of the box (2), and in a normal state, a closed position that covers the opening (4). It is in. An engaging hole (6) for opening and closing the shutter (5) is cut out on the front surface of the shutter (5), that is, the engaging hole (6) is on the side of the disk drive device described later. The shutter opening / closing operation of the shutter (5) is performed by inserting and engaging the shutter opening / closing pin arranged at.

Further, in correspondence with the engaging hole (6) of the shutter (5), a clearance is provided when the shutter opening / closing pin is inserted and engaged in the engaging hole (6) in the front surface portion (2a) of the box (2). A concave step (7) is formed.

Further, the front surface (2a) of the box (2) is formed with a concave portion (8) as a proper insertion detecting portion for preventing erroneous insertion of the disk cartridge as described later. The concave portion (8) is covered with the shutter (5) in a normal shutter closed state, but is provided at a position exposed when the shutter is opened.

Incidentally, (9) is a positioning hole when the disc cartridge (1) is mounted in the disc drive device, and (10) is a gripper concave portion for catching a finger when the disc cartridge (1) is taken out.

The disc cartridge (1) has a built-in shutter lock mechanism. When the shutter (5) is closed, the shutter (5) is locked by the shutter lock mechanism, and the shutter is opened and closed in the engagement hole (6). Although the shutter (5) is unlocked by the shutter lock mechanism when the pin is inserted, the shutter lock mechanism is not particularly relevant to the description of the present invention. Omit it.

Next, the structure of the disc drive device (11) into which the disc cartridge (1) is inserted and mounted will be described.

In FIG. 7, (12) is a turntable for rotating the disk (3) in the inserted disk cartridge (1), and (13) is arranged so as to face the recording surface of the disk (3), This shows an optical pickup that moves in the radial direction of the disc, and an objective lens (13a) provided on the upper surface side of the optical pickup (13) emits laser light for writing or reading a signal to or from the recording surface of the disc. To be done.

Also, (14) is the inserted disk cartridge (1)
The supporting substrate (14) is supported so as to move up and down with respect to the fixed substrate on which the turntable (12) and the optical pickup (13) are provided. Support rails (15a) and (15b) having a U-shaped cross section are fixed to opposite ends of the support substrate (14) on both left and right sides, and the disk cartridge (1) has the support rails (15a) and (15b). 15b) is inserted into the cartridge mounting part with both sides supported. In the state where the disc cartridge (1) is inserted up to a predetermined mounting position (the position where the center hole of the disc (3) corresponds to the turntable (12)) of the cartridge mounting portion, the disc cartridge (1) is illustrated. The cartridge lock mechanism (means) does not allow movement.

A first shutter opening / closing arm (16) for opening / closing the shutter (5) of the disc cartridge (1) is provided at the back of the support substrate (14) so as to face the insertion direction of the disc cartridge (1). The second shutter opening / closing arm (17) is pivotally supported so as to be symmetrically rotatable left and right.
The shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) are arranged so that their heights are offset from each other by a thickness greater than the thickness of the disc cartridge (1), that is, the first shutter opening / closing arm (16) is inserted. The second shutter opening / closing arm (17) is arranged below the disk cartridge (1), and the second shutter opening / closing arm (17) is located above the disk cartridge (1). A shutter opening / closing pin (16a) protruding from the second shutter opening / closing arm (1
At the free end of 7), the shutter open / close pin (17
a) is planted.

The shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a) of the shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) engage the engagement hole (6) of the shutter (5) to open the shutter (5) as described later. It is a member that opens and closes but also serves as a detecting means for detecting the recess (8) of the disc cartridge (1).

Further, spring locking portions (18) and (19) are provided at the base end portions of the shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) so as to project rearward, and the spring locking portions (18) and (19) are Due to the biasing force of the tension spring (20) stretched between the tip portions, both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) move to the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a).
The a) are rotationally biased in the directions in which they are separated from each other.

Further, both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) are locked and held at a predetermined rotation position by arm rotation restricting members (21a) and (21b) fixed on a supporting substrate (14), respectively. There is.

Further, cartridge insertion regulating protrusions (22a) and (22b) are provided upright on the inner side of the support substrate (14),
When the disc cartridge (1) is inserted to the predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion, the front face portion of the disc cartridge (1) is engaged and locked to the cartridge insertion restricting protrusions (22a) and (22b).

In addition, as will be described later, the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and ((a) of both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) are provided at the center of the back of the support substrate (14) when the disk cartridge (1) is erroneously inserted. A stopper (23) is provided which constitutes a blocking means for blocking erroneous insertion by abutting 17a).

The operation when the disc cartridge (1) is inserted into the disc drive device (11) configured as described above
Referring to FIG. 10 to FIG. 12, first, when the disc cartridge (1) is properly inserted from the case front (2a) side with one side (for example, so-called A side) facing upward, As shown in the figure, the shutter opening / closing pin (16a) of the first shutter opening / closing arm (16) is engaged with the engagement hole (6) of the shutter (5), while the shutter of the second shutter opening / closing arm (17) is opened. The opening / closing pin (17a) is brought into contact with the front surface portion (2a) of the disc cartridge (1). When the disk cartridge (1) is further pushed in from this state, both the shutter opening and closing arms (16) and (17) are rotated rearward against the biasing force of the tension spring (20) by this pressing force, At this time, the shutter opening / closing pin (16a) moves along with the rotation of the first shutter opening / closing arm (16).
The shutter opening / closing pin (17a) of the second shutter opening / closing arm (17) regardless of the opening operation of the shutter (5). Section, along the front of the shutter (5).

In this way, when the disc cartridge (1) is inserted to the predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion, the 11th
As shown in the figure, the shutter (5) is completely moved to the open position to open the opening (4) entirely. In this state, the shutter opening / closing pin (17a) of the second shutter opening / closing arm (17) not related to the opening operation of the shutter (5) has the recess (8) of the disc cartridge (1).
As a result, the disk cartridge (1) has a front surface (2a) in which the shutter opening / closing pin (17a) does not interfere with the cartridge insertion restriction protrusion (22a).
And (22b), that is, they are completely inserted into the predetermined mounting position.

When the disc cartridge (1) is completely inserted in this way, a cartridge locking mechanism (not shown) is actuated to lock the disc cartridge (1) immovably, and subsequently the support substrate (14) is entirely lowered. Then, the disk (3) in the disk cartridge (1) is placed on the turntable (12), and the loading operation is completed.

When the disc cartridge (1) is turned upside down, that is, when the surface (so-called B surface) opposite to the above is normally inserted from the front surface (2a) side, the second shutter opening / closing arm (17) ) Shutter opening / closing pin (17a) is engaged with the engagement hole (6) of the shutter (5), while the shutter opening / closing pin (16a) of the first shutter opening / closing arm (16) is on the front surface of the disc cartridge (1). It comes into contact with the portion (2a).

Then, from this state, the disc cartridge (1) is pushed further in order to open both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17).
Is rotated rearward, the second shutter opening / closing arm (1
Shutter (5) by the shutter open / close pin (17a) of 7)
Is operated to move in the opening direction, while the shutter opening / closing pin (16a) of the first shutter opening / closing arm (16) is irrelevant to the opening operation of the shutter (5). When the disc cartridge (1) is slid along the front surface of (5) and is inserted to the predetermined mounting position of the Cartrich mounting portion, the shutter opening / closing pin (16) not related to the opening operation of the shutter (5) is opened.
a) enters the recess (8), so that the disc cartridge (1) is fully inserted and locked in that position.

Also, without inserting the disc cartridge (1) from the front side (2a) side properly, the disk cartridge (1) is directed in the opposite direction, that is, the rear side
If the wrong insertion is performed from the b) side, the shutter (5) is not moved at all, and the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17b) simply cause the rear surface portion (2b) of the disc cartridge (1). ), Both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) are rotated rearward. When the disc cartridge (1) is fully inserted, the rear surface portion (2b) does not have a recess or the like into which the shutter opening / closing pin is inserted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22a) and (22
Both shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a) abut against the stopper (23) before abutting against b), that is, the shutter opening / closing pin (16a) is located between the disk cartridge (1) and the stopper (23). And (17a) are sandwiched. Therefore, the disc cartridge (1) has a shutter opening / closing pin (16
As a) and (17a) are obstacles, they cannot be completely inserted up to the specified mounting position. Therefore, since the cartridge lock mechanism does not operate, the disc cartridge (1) is ejected, which prevents erroneous insertion of the disc cartridge.

In addition, the above-mentioned configuration has already been described by the applicant of the present invention in "Practical Application Sho 59-180502".
No. ”.

The invention of the present application provides a cleaning cartridge for an optical pickup used in the disk drive device (11) of the optical disk cartridge system as described above, in which a cleaning member for cleaning the objective lens of the optical pickup is provided in a part of the cleaning cartridge. The disc cartridge does not have a recess or the like as a proper insertion detection portion.

That is, the casing (32) of the cleaning cartridge (31) of the present example is formed to have substantially the same outer shape as the ordinary disk cartridge (1) described above, as shown in FIGS. Although the case (32) has the gripper recess (10), it does not have a shutter or the like because the case (32) does not have a structure for accommodating a disk. In other words, the cleaning cartridge (31) is made of a plate-shaped resin molded body having an outer dimension that conforms to the international standard of a so-called 5.25-inch optical disc cartridge, and the front face portion (32a) of the box (32) is the disc described above. In the cartridge (1), the recess (8) and the step (7) provided for the shutter opening / closing pin to be removed are removed, that is, a flat surface.

On the bottom side of the box (32) of the cleaning cartridge (31), a plurality of brushes (33) as a cleaning member are planted along the cartridge insertion direction at a portion near the center front part. This brush (33)
Is provided at a position corresponding to the objective lens (13a) of the optical pickup (13) when the cleaning cartridge (31) is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion of the disk drive device (11), and its tip is The optical pickup (13) is formed to have a length sufficient for contact with the objective lens (13a).

In addition, this cleaning cartridge (31) case (3
2) is made thin to reduce weight,
(34) is a rib for the reinforcement.

When the cleaning cartridge (31) of this example configured as described above is inserted into the disk drive device (11),
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning cartridge (31)
When the shutter open / close pins (16a) and (17a) of both shutter open / close arms (16) and (17) come into contact with the front face part (32a) of the housing, and the cleaning cartridge (31) is further pushed, the pressing force is applied. Both shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) are symmetrically rotated rearward against the biasing force of the tension spring (20), and the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a) are moved to the cleaning cartridge (31). Front part of (3
2a) are slid close to each other.

When the cleaning cartridge (31) is inserted, as shown in FIG. 5, the tip of the brush (33) implanted on the bottom surface side of the cleaning cartridge becomes the objective lens (13a) of the optical pickup (13). The contact is made continuously, whereby dust and the like adhering to the surface of the objective lens (13a) are removed, that is, the objective lens is cleaned.

In this way, when the cleaning cartridge (31) is fully inserted while cleaning the objective lens (13a), the cleaning cartridge (31)
The shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, since there is no concave portion into which the a) enters, both shutter opening / closing pins (16a) are contacted before the cleaning cartridge (31) abuts on the cartridge insertion restricting protrusions (22a) and (22b). ) And (17a) collide with the stopper (23), that is, the cleaning cartridge (31)
The shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a) are sandwiched between the stopper and the stopper (23). So this state is
When the above-mentioned disc cartridge (1) is inserted incorrectly (12th
The state is the same as that shown in the figure). Therefore, the cleaning cartridge (31) cannot be completely inserted to the predetermined mounting position due to the obstacles of the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a).

Therefore, since the cleaning cartridge (31) is not locked in the inserted state, when the pressing by the hand is released, both the shutter opening / closing arms (16) and (17) by the tension spring (20).
Is pushed in the discharge direction by the biasing force of the forward rotation of
At this time, the tip of the brush (33) is again attached to the optical pickup (1
The objective lens (13a) of 3) is continuously contacted and cleaned.

As described above, the cleaning cartridge (31) of this example
Cannot be completely inserted into the disk drive device (11) because it does not have a recess or the like into which the shutter opening / closing pins (16a) and (17a) enter, and is ejected each time it is inserted. Thus, the objective lens (13a) of the optical pickup (13) is cleaned.

As described above, the cleaning operation by the cleaning cartridge (31) of the present example does not require any electric driving force such as moving the optical pickup or rotating the disk as in the conventional case. The objective lens (13a) of the optical pickup (13) can be easily cleaned manually regardless of whether the power of (11) is turned on or off. Further, this cleaning is performed at a low speed because it is performed by the moving operation of the cleaning cartridge (31) at the time of inserting and discharging, and therefore, there is an advantage that the risk of scratching the objective lens (13a) by the brush (33) is small.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in this embodiment and various changes and modifications are possible.

[Effect of device]

As described above in detail, according to the cleaning cartridge of the present invention, the objective lens of the optical pickup can be cleaned without requiring any electric driving force, so that it is easy even when the power supply on the disk drive side is off. The cleaning operation can be performed at a low speed, and since the cleaning operation is performed at a low speed due to the movement of the cleaning cartridge, there is little danger of damaging the objective lens, and the like, which has a great practical advantage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cleaning cartridge of the present invention seen from the lower side, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same seen from the upper side, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are for explaining the insertion operation of the cleaning cartridge of the present invention. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are the same side views, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a disk drive device, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a shutter of a normal disk cartridge is closed. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the same when the shutter is open, FIGS. 10 and 11 are plan views for explaining the proper insertion operation of the disc cartridge, and FIG. 12 is a plan view of the same when erroneous insertion. In the figure, (1) is a disk cartridge, (8) is a concave portion as a regular insertion detecting portion, (11) is a disk drive device, (13) is a pickup, (13a) is its objective lens, and (31) is a cleaning cartridge. , (33) are brushes as a cleaning member.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A cartridge mounting portion into which a cartridge accommodating an optical information recording medium is inserted, an optical pickup which emits light for recording or reproducing an information signal with respect to the optical information recording medium, Locking means for immovably locking the cartridge in a state where the cartridge is inserted to a predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion, and regular insertion detection formed on the cartridge when the cartridge is properly inserted. Detecting means for detecting a portion, and when the regular insertion detecting portion is not detected by the detecting means, the cartridge is prevented from being inserted to a predetermined mounting position of the cartridge mounting portion and locked by the locking means. To prevent the optical information recording medium from moving. A cleaning cartridge for cleaning the optical pickup of the optical pickup device, which has substantially the same outer dimensions as the cartridge storing the optical information recording medium, and corresponds to the optical pickup when inserted into the cartridge mounting portion. A cleaning cartridge, wherein a cleaning member for cleaning the optical pickup is provided at a position to be provided, and the regular insertion detecting portion is not formed.