JP3402813B2 - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical disc,
The present invention relates to a disc cartridge that accommodates a disc such as a magneto-optical disc and a magnetic disc and that has an opening for recording and / or reproducing an information signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a disk cartridge of this type, a disk-shaped disk such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a magnetic disk is freely rotatable in a cartridge body formed by abutting an upper case and a lower case together. It is stored in. The cartridge main body accommodating the disc is provided with an opening from which the pickup for recording and / or reproducing the information signal faces from the substantially central portion in the radial direction of the disc. A disk table of a disk drive device that rotationally drives the disk together with the pickup is housed in the opening. Further, a shutter formed of a thin metal plate or a hard synthetic resin for opening and closing the opening is slidably attached to the cartridge body.

8 and 9 show a part of such a disk cartridge, in which the cartridge body 1 is
The upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are butted and joined together,
It is formed in a substantially box shape. And this cartridge body 1
In the inside, a disc (not shown) is rotatably housed.

In addition, openings (not shown in the figure for convenience of illustration) are formed in the upper and lower cases 1a, 1b of the cartridge body 1 in the radial direction from the center of rotation of the disk. . And, in the cartridge body 1,
The shutter 2 is attached to one side of the opening (not shown) slidably in the direction of the arrow. Shutter 2
The pair of shutter pieces 2b are integrally coupled in a substantially U-shape with the connecting piece 2a sandwiched therebetween. Inside the connecting piece 2a, a pair of elastically deformable sandwiching claws 2c and 2d are arranged in the sliding direction. A plurality of them are formed with a predetermined interval.

The lower case 1b of the cartridge body 1
Has a rail-shaped shutter guide portion 1c formed on one side where an opening (not shown) is provided, and the shutter guide portion 1c has sandwiching claws 2c, 2 of the connecting piece 2a of the shutter 2.
d is slidably elastically engaged.

With the above structure, the shutter 2 is slidably disposed on the cartridge body 1 in which the sandwiching claws 2c and 2d of the connecting piece 2a are elastically engaged with the shutter guide portion 1c of the cartridge body 1. When the shutter 2 is mounted on the disc recording / reproducing apparatus shown in the drawing, first, the shutter opening / closing means slides the shutter 2 to both ends (left or right) of the cartridge body 1 to open the cartridge body 1 (not shown). Open up. Here, a turntable (not shown) penetrates into the cartridge body 1 through an opening (not shown) so that the disc can be driven, and a disc (not shown) is driven to rotate by a pickup (not shown). Information signals are recorded and / or reproduced on a disc (not shown).

By the way, in such a disc cartridge, a disc (not shown) such as an optical disc is housed in the cartridge body 1, and an opening (not shown) of the disc is closed by a shutter 2 for safe disc storage. The shutter (2) is slid to expose the disc (not shown) in the cartridge body 1 from the opening (not shown) so that recording and / or reproduction can be performed. To realize semi-permanent use.

However, in the above disc cartridge,
In order to repeatedly use the cartridge body 1 for a long period of time, for example, when handling the cartridge body 1 including the operation of attaching / detaching the cartridge body 1 to / from the disk recording / reproducing apparatus, the cartridge body 1 is accidentally dropped or struck, and the upper and lower parts are struck. The cases 1a and 1b may be damaged and the shutter operation may become difficult.

Therefore, even in relatively rough handling,
It is required to be configured so as to realize a highly reliable and highly accurate shutter operation for a long period of time. In this case, it is not enough just to make the cartridge body robust,
It is necessary to secure small size and light weight.

[0010]

As described above, the conventional disc cartridge has a problem that the cartridge body is damaged and the shutter operation becomes difficult. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge having a simple structure, improved durability, and long life.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a disc having a signal recording surface is rotatably accommodated and an opening facing a pickup for recording and / or reproducing an information signal on the accommodated disc is provided. A cartridge body provided with the shutter body, a shutter guide portion formed on one side of the cartridge body provided with an opening, a connecting piece having a sandwiching portion movably sandwiching the shutter guide portion, and the connecting piece. A first position having a shutter piece continuous with the shutter body, the sandwiching portion being slidably mounted along the shutter guide portion and attached to the cartridge body, and closing the opening of the cartridge body with the shutter piece. And a shutter that controls a second position for opening the opening, and the shutter guide portion of the cartridge main body sandwiched between the shutter and the shutter. It is obtained by constituting the disk cartridge and a slidably protective wall sandwiched the KyoSobu.

[0012]

With the above structure, the shutter guide portion of the cartridge body is isolated from the outside by being surrounded by the protective wall when the opening portion is closed by the shutter, and allows the shutter to slide in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the shutter. . Therefore, the shutter guide portion of the cartridge body is effectively protected, and highly reliable and highly accurate shutter operation is realized for a long period of time.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The upper case 10a and the lower case 10b, which are formed by molding a synthetic resin, for example, in a substantially flat plate shape and are rectangular, are butted against each other, and are joined and fixed to each other to form a substantially box shape (see FIG. 2). Then, in the cartridge body 10, a disc-shaped disc 1 such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc.
1 is stored rotatably.

In the upper and lower cases 10a and 10b,
Openings 12a, 12b (only one is shown in FIG. 2,
3) is formed so as to face the signal recording surface of the disc 11 and to face each other in the radial direction from the center of rotation of the disc 11, and the optical pickup (not shown) is formed through the openings 12a and 12b. The information signal is recorded and / or the recorded information signal is reproduced by being opposed to the signal recording surface.

Further, the opening 12 of the cartridge body 10
A shutter 13 is slidably attached to one side corresponding to a and 12b. As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 13 is formed in a substantially U-shape in which a pair of shutter pieces 13b are integrally joined with a connecting piece 13a interposed therebetween.
An elastically deformable sandwiching piece 13c and a sandwiching claw 13d are provided in the inside of 3a so as to be opposed to each other at predetermined intervals at the ends in the sliding direction. On the other hand, the sandwiching claw 13d is arranged near one shutter piece, and the key portion at the tip thereof is directed to the other shutter piece side, and the other nail 13d is arranged near the other shutter portion, and the key portion at the tip thereof is on the opposite side. It is facing the shutter side.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a rail-shaped shutter guide portion 10c is integrally formed on one side of the lower case 10b of the cartridge body 10 so as to close the tips of the openings 12a and 12b. It In FIG. 4, the shutter guide portion 10c on the left side across the opening 12b is
Groove portion 1 in which the key portion of the sandwiching claw 13d of the shutter 13 is locked
0d is provided toward the front, and the opening 12
The shutter guide portion 10c on the left side of the b is sandwiched by the sandwiching claw 13
A groove portion 10e (see FIGS. 6 and 7) in which the key portion of d is locked is provided in the opposite direction.

The upper and lower cases 10a and 10b of the cartridge body 10 have a protective wall 14 on one side thereof.
a and 14b are formed to face each other with the shutter guide portion 10c interposed therebetween. The protection walls 14a and 14b are provided on one side except the openings 12a and 12b with a shutter guide portion 10c.
The shutter 13 has openings 12a, 12
In the state of being separated from b (the state of opening the opening), the shutter pieces 13a, 13a of the shutter 13 and the holding pieces 13c,
It penetrates into the space between the sandwiching claw 13d and allows the shutter 10 to be opened (see FIG. 1). That is, the sandwiching claw 13d is inserted between the shutter guide portion 10c on the left side and the protection wall 14b with the opening 12b sandwiched therebetween, and the key portion at the tip thereof is the groove portion 10.
Also, the sandwiching piece 13c is inserted between the shutter guide portion 10c and the protective wall 14a. Similarly, the shutter guide portion 10c on the right side of the opening 12b and the protective wall 1
The sandwiching piece 13c is inserted between 4b, and the sandwiching piece 13c is inserted between the shutter guide portion 10c and the protective wall 14a, and the key portion at the tip thereof is locked in the groove portion 10e.

The upper and lower cases 10a and 10b are integrally resin-molded using a mold. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the lower case 10b has a protective wall 14b in advance.
Also, a plurality of windows 15a and 15b are provided at the bases of the shutter guide portion 10c and the protection wall 14b so that the shutter guide portion 10c can be integrally molded. Then, the lower case 10b is attached to the upper mold 2 as shown in FIGS.
0, the lower mold 21 and the slide mold 22 are integrally molded.

FIG. 6 (a) shows a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG. 5 together with a mold for molding that portion.
The upper die 20 is provided with a convex portion 20a for molding the window portion 15a and the groove portion 10e of the shutter guide portion 10c, and the lower die 21 is formed with the window portion 15b and the groove portion 10d of the shutter guide portion 10c. A convex portion 21a for doing so is provided. Further, the slide mold 22 is formed with a convex portion 22a so as to be orthogonal to the convex portions 20a and 21a of the molds 20 and 21. The tip of the convex portion 20a of the mold 20 is the protection wall 14
The projection 21a of the die 21 reaches the inner wall of a and has a dimension such that the tip reaches the inner wall of the groove 10d, and the tip of the projection 22a of the die 22 is set to reach the edge of the groove 10d. ing. As a result, the shutter guide portion 10c located on the left side of the opening 12b and the protective wall 14 in FIG.
b is formed integrally with the lower case 10b. Figure 6 (b)
Shows a cross section taken along the line BB of FIG.
a is desired. The window portion 15a is covered with the upper case 10a and is not exposed to the outside when the cartridge 10 is assembled.

FIG. 6 (c) shows a cross section taken along the line C--C of FIG. 5 together with a mold for molding that portion. The upper mold 20 has a convex shape for molding the groove 10e. The portion 20b is provided, and the lower mold 21 is provided with a convex portion 21b for molding the window portion 15c. This allows
In cooperation with the slide mold 22, the opening 12b in FIG.
Shutter guide portion 10c located on the right side of the
4b is formed integrally with the lower case 10b. Figure 6 (d)
Shows a cross section taken along the line DD of FIG. The window portion 15c is provided to maintain a design balance with the window portion 15b, has no function of itself in molding, and may be deleted.

FIG. 7 shows the cross section taken along the line EE of FIG. 5 together with the mold, so that the convex portions 20 of the upper and lower molds 20 and 21 are shown.
a and 21b are combined so as to mesh with each other, and the window portion 1
It can be seen that 4a and 15b are staggered. That is, the convex portions 20a and 21b of the upper and lower molds 20 and 21 have the groove portions 10d in which the sandwiching claws 13d are locked on the surface of the shutter guide portion 10c facing the protective wall 14b depending on the projecting dimension and the width dimension. It is provided continuously in 10 slide directions. In addition, the upper and lower molds 20 and 21 have convex portions 20b and 2
1b is provided, a plurality of windows 15c, and a continuous groove 1
It can be seen that 0e is provided.

The protective wall 14a is also integrally resin-molded on the upper case 10a. In this case, however, since the shutter guide portion 10c does not exist, it can be realized by a general molding method. Here, detailed description thereof is omitted.

In the above structure, the cartridge body 10
Is connected to the shutter guide portion 10c by the connecting piece 13 of the shutter 13.
The sandwiching claws 13ca and 13d of a are elastically engaged with each other and slidably disposed on one side of the cartridge body 10, and the shutter piece 13b of the shutter 13 is used for the upper and lower cases 1.
The openings 12a and 12b of 0a and 10b are closed. In the closed state of the shutter 13, the shutter guide portion 10c of the lower case 10b of the cartridge body 10
Is shielded by being sandwiched between protective walls 14a and 14b formed on the upper and lower cases 10a and 10b, respectively. When the cartridge body 10 is mounted on a disc recording / reproducing apparatus (not shown), its shutter 13 is slid to both ends (left or right) of the upper and lower cases 10a by shutter opening / closing means (not shown). , 10b
The openings 12a and 12b are opened. At this time, in the shutter 13, the holding piece 13c and the holding claw 13d are guided along the shutter guide portion 10c of the lower case, and the shutter guide portion 10c and the protective wall 1 are slid to a predetermined position.
4a, 14b and the shutter guide portion 10c
It is sandwiched between the protection walls 14a and 14b and guided by sliding. Then, in the cartridge main body 10, the shutter 13 is slid and guided to a predetermined position so that the openings 12a, 12 are formed.
When b is opened, a turntable (not shown) penetrates through the openings 12a and 12b to hold the disc 11 in a drivable state, and the disc 11 is rotationally driven there to pick up (not shown). The recording and / or reproduction of the information signal is performed on the disc 11 in step (3).

As described above, the disc cartridge is provided with the shutter guide portion 10c on one side of the cartridge body 10 in which the disc 11 is rotatably accommodated, and the opening portions 12a and 12b of the shutter guide portion 10c.
A pair of protective walls 14a and 14b that shield the shutter guide portion 10c so as to sandwich the shutter guide portion 10c are provided on both sides of the shutter guide portion 10c.
c, the sandwiching claw 13d is slidably elastically attached and attached, so that the sandwiching piece 13c and the sandwiching claw 13d of the shutter 13 are slidably guided along the shutter guide portion 10c, and the opening 12a of the cartridge body 10, 12b is opened and closed, and when the shutter 13 is opened and closed,
The sandwiching piece 13c and the sandwiching claw 13d of the shutter 13 are slidably sandwiched and guided by the shutter guide portion 10c and the protection walls 14a and 14b.

According to this, when the shutter 13 is closed, the shutter guide portion 10c that slides and guides the shutter 13 is surrounded by the protection walls 14a and 14b and is isolated from the outside, so that the damage is prevented. By effectively achieving the above, the shutter opening / closing operation of the shutter 13 can be realized with high accuracy over a long period of time.

In the above embodiment, the shutter guide section 1
Although the case where 0c is formed in the lower case 10b has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the case may be formed in the upper case 10a.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a disk cartridge which has a simple structure and can be improved in durability, and whose life is promoted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram shown for explaining the internal structure of the shutter of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of the upper and lower cases of FIG.

5 is a diagram showing details of a main part of the lower case of FIG.

6 is a diagram shown for explaining a resin molding process of the lower case of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram shown for explaining a resin molding process of the lower case of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a main part of a conventional disc cartridge.

9 is a diagram showing an appearance of a main part of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Cartridge body. 10a, 10b ... Upper and lower cases. 11 ... Disk. 12a, 12b ... Openings. 13 ... Shutter. 13a ... connecting piece. 13b ... Shutter piece. 13c ... sandwiching piece 13d ... Clamping claw. 14a, 14b ... Protective wall. 15a, 5b ... Windows. 20, 21, 22 ... Top, bottom and slide molds. 20a, 20b ... Convex portion. 21a, 21b ... Convex parts. 22a ... convex portion.

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cartridge main body having a disc having a signal recording surface rotatably accommodated therein and having an opening facing a pickup for recording and / or reproducing information signals on the accommodated disc, and the cartridge main body. A shutter guide portion formed on one side of the main body provided with an opening; a connecting piece having a sandwiching portion for movably sandwiching the shutter guide portion; and a shutter piece continuous with the connecting piece.
A first position at which the sandwiching portion is slidably mounted along the shutter guide portion and is attached to the cartridge body, and the opening portion of the cartridge body is closed by the shutter piece and the opening portion is opened. in between the two positions
A movable shutter and an integral part of the cartridge body
A disc cartridge comprising: a pair of protection walls that are provided to face each other with the shutter guide portion interposed therebetween and slidably sandwich the sandwiching portion of the shutter . 2. A cartridge main body having a disc having a signal recording surface rotatably accommodated therein and having an opening facing a pickup for recording and / or reproducing information signals on the accommodated disc, and the cartridge main body. A shutter guide portion formed on one side of the main body provided with an opening; a connecting piece having a sandwiching portion for movably sandwiching the shutter guide portion; and a shutter piece continuous with the connecting piece.
A first position at which the sandwiching portion is slidably mounted along the shutter guide portion and is attached to the cartridge body, and the opening portion of the cartridge body is closed by the shutter piece and the opening portion is opened. in between the two positions
A movable shutter and an integral part of the cartridge body
A disc cartridge comprising: a pair of protection walls that are provided to face each other with the shutter guide portion interposed therebetween and slidably sandwich the sandwiching portion of the shutter . 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge body is formed by integrally molding the shutter guide portion and the protective wall. 4. The cartridge body is composed of first and second halves that are arranged to face each other, and a shutter guide portion is formed on one of the first and second cases, and the first and second halves are formed. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein protective walls are formed on both sides of the case so as to face each other with the shutter guide portion interposed therebetween. 5. The sandwiching portion of the shutter includes a first sandwiching claw having a key portion facing one surface of the cartridge body,
The first pinching claw provided with a predetermined space
And a second sandwiching claw having a key portion facing the other surface of the cartridge body,
The second sandwiching claw is provided with a second gap provided at a predetermined interval.
A second sandwiching portion composed of a sandwiching piece and a sandwiching piece which is attached to the cartridge body so that the shutter guide portion is slidably sandwiched between the sandwiching claw and the sandwiching piece. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, wherein 6. The shutter guide portion has a groove portion formed by a plurality of windows provided alternately from both surfaces between the shutter guide portion and the protective wall, and the sandwiching claw of the shutter is provided in the groove portion. The disk cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the disk cartridge is locked.