JP3440570B2 - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention rotatably accommodates a disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter collectively referred to as an optical disk), such as an optical disk and a magneto-optical disk, on which information signals can be recorded or can be recorded. The present invention relates to a disk cartridge, and more particularly to a storage structure for a shutter spring that biases and holds a shutter member at a position that closes a recording / reproducing opening.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical disk is a recording medium in which desired information signals such as tone signals and video signals are recorded or can be recorded at high density, and is rotatably housed in a cartridge body. For example, an optical disc having a diameter of 64 mm or less enables recording of a tone signal of 74 minutes, and the thickness of the cartridge body is 6 mm, which is extremely small.

When the disk cartridge is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus, the center portion of the optical disk is mounted in the disk rotation driving device and is rotationally driven at high speed. Then, the optical disc housed in the disc cartridge is driven to rotate, and the information signal recorded in the information signal recording section formed on the main surface by the laser light emitted from the optical pickup device on the recording / reproducing device side is recorded. Is played. In addition, a recordable optical disc is applied with an external magnetic field that is magnetically modulated in accordance with an information signal to be recorded by an external magnetic field generator while the information signal recording unit is irradiated with laser light emitted from an optical pickup device. As a result, a desired information signal is recorded.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a conventional disc cartridge has an upper half 10 formed in a shallow dish shape.
1 and the lower half 102 are combined to form a cartridge body 100, and the optical disk 1 is rotatably housed inside the cartridge body 100. That is, in the upper half 101 and the lower half 102, rising peripheral walls are formed on the outer peripheral portions, and annular walls and a plurality of butt-fitting protrusions that are mutually abutted against each other to form a storage space portion of the optical disc 1. The parts are erected integrally. The upper half 101 and the lower half 102 are assembled by associating the rising peripheral wall and the annular wall facing each other, and subjecting each butt-fitting convex portion to ultrasonic welding to form the thin box-shaped cartridge body 100. .

Although not shown, the lower half 102 constituting the cartridge main body 100 is provided with a circular opening at a substantially central portion. The circular opening acts as a disk table entry opening into which the disk table that rotationally drives the optical disk 1 housed in the cartridge body 100 enters when the disk cartridge is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus. Specifically, this disc table entrance opening allows a magnetic plate for a magnet clamp provided by closing the center hole of the optical disc 1 to face outward.

In the upper half 101 and the lower half 102 constituting the cartridge main body 100, a part of the information signal recording portion provided on the main surface of the rotatably accommodated optical disk 1 is exposed to the outside over the inner and outer circumferences. Of course, rectangular recording / reproducing openings (not shown) into which the optical pickup device on the recording / reproducing device side is inserted are provided at positions facing each other. These recording / reproducing openings are formed as rectangular openings extending from the front surface of the cartridge body 100 to the center of the cartridge body 100 in the left-right direction and in the vicinity of the disk table entry opening.

The disk cartridge is an optical disk 1 in which dust or the like has entered from the recording / reproducing opening to be housed.
A shutter member 103 that opens and closes the recording / reproducing opening is attached to prevent the recording / reproducing opening from adhering to the shutter. The shutter member 103 is a member formed by pressing a thin metal plate, for example, and includes a first shutter portion and a second shutter portion facing each other that open and close the recording / reproducing opening, and these first and second shutter portions. It has a generally U-shaped configuration including a first shutter portion and a connecting portion that connects the base end portions of the second shutter portions. The second shutter portion located on the lower half 102 side has an outer dimension sufficient to open and close the disc table entry opening provided in the central portion of the lower half 102. The shutter is formed to be vertically long.

The shutter member 1 is provided on the main surfaces of the upper half 101 and the lower half 102 which constitute the cartridge body 100.
A shutter slide concave portion is provided in a region extending from the peripheral edge of the recording / reproducing opening in which the first shutter part and the second shutter part of 03 move to one side face part and a region extending to the front surface side of the cartridge body. . These shutter slide concave portions have a depth substantially equal to the plate thickness of the shutter member 103. Therefore, the shutter member 103 is flush with the main surface of the cartridge body 100 when assembled in the cartridge body 100, and the thickness dimension of the disc cartridge is prevented from increasing.

A shutter opening guide groove 104, into which a shutter opening member on the recording / reproducing apparatus is inserted when the disc cartridge is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus, is formed on the front surface of the cartridge main body 100 over substantially the entire area in the left-right direction. Has been done. A slider member 106 is movably assembled in the shutter opening guide groove 104. The slider member 106 is a member that is approximately rod-shaped and has a length dimension that is about twice the width dimension of the shutter member 103. The shutter member 103 has an inner surface of the connecting portion at one end side thereof. It is integrated by being joined.

A shutter spring 105 is provided at one corner of the front side of the cartridge body 100. As the shutter spring 105, a torsion spring is used in which both ends are projected in a substantially V shape from a coiled base. As shown in FIG. 9, one end of the shutter spring 105 is engaged with one end of the slider member 106 to which the shutter member 103 is fixed, and the other end of the shutter spring 105 is connected to the cartridge body 100.
Is abutted on the inner surface of the rising peripheral wall.

Therefore, the shutter member 103 is normally biased and held by the elastic force of the shutter spring 105 at the first position where the shutter portion closes the recording / reproducing opening. Further, in this state, as shown in FIG. 8, the other end of the slider member 106 has a shutter opening guide groove 10 at a corner portion opposite to the corner portion of the cartridge body 100 in which the shutter spring 105 is arranged.
It hits the end of No. 4.

The disk cartridge has a shutter member 1.
When 03 is moved to the second position for opening the recording / reproducing opening, the shutter spring 105 is compressed between the slider member 106 and the inner surface of the rising peripheral wall of the cartridge body 100. The shutter member 103 is moved from the first position to the second position by a lighter and more constant operating force because one end of the shutter spring 105 is engaged with the slider member 106 as described above. .

The disk cartridge has a shutter member 1.
In the process of moving 03 to the second position where the recording / reproducing opening is opened, the action point of the elastic force is gradually displaced, and the shutter member 103 or the slider member 106 is configured not to generate a rotational force. There is a need. That is, the rotational force acting on the shutter member 103 or the slider member 106 acts as a force for prying open the cartridge body 100 configured by combining the upper half 101 and the lower half 102.

Therefore, in the disc cartridge,
As shown in FIG. 9, a shutter spring engagement groove 107 is provided on one end surface of the slider member 106 with which the shutter spring 105 is engaged. The shutter spring engagement groove 107 is a groove provided toward the inner side of the cartridge body 100 at a substantially central portion in the thickness direction of the slider member 106, and the shutter member 103 opens the recording / reproducing opening. In the state in which the shutter spring 105 is moved to the position, the compressed shutter spring 105 relatively engages. The shutter spring 105 is relatively engaged with the shutter spring engagement groove 107 so that displacement of the point of application of the elastic force on the slider member 106 is restricted.

When the conventional disk cartridge configured as described above is inserted into the cartridge loading portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter opening member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side enters the shutter opening guide groove 104 and the slide member 106.
The sliding member 106 is relatively engaged with the shutter spring 105 against the elastic force of the shutter spring 105, and the shutter opening guide groove 1
Move along 04. Therefore, the shutter member 103 moves as the slider member 106 moves.
The shutter section moves from the first position where the recording / reproducing opening is closed to the second position where the shutter section opens the recording / reproducing opening. The disc table entrance opening, which is closed by the second shutter portion of the shutter member 103, is also opened at the same time.

The disc table on the side of the recording / reproducing apparatus enters into the opened disc table entrance opening, and the hub of the optical disc 1 housed in the cartridge body 100 is magnetically chucked. When a recording / reproducing operation is performed, the recording / reproducing apparatus irradiates the main surface of the optical disk 1 with the laser light emitted from the optical pickup device through the opened recording / reproducing opening, and records the information recorded in the information signal recording section. Play the signal. Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus applies an external magnetic field, which is magnetic field-modulated according to the information signal to be recorded by the external magnetic field generating apparatus, to the optical disc 1 through the other opened recording / reproducing opening, so as to obtain a desired information signal. Record.

[0017]

As described above, in the conventional disc cartridge, the thickness H of the cartridge body 100 is 6 mm, which is extremely thin. However, further thinning is demanded. For example, a disc cartridge having a thickness of 5 mm has been studied. The thickness dimension of the disk cartridge is provided on the upper half 101 and the lower half 102 that form the cartridge body 100, the thickness dimension of the shutter member 103 that is movably assembled to the cartridge body 100, and the front surface portion of the cartridge body 100. It is determined by the thickness dimension of the slider member 106 incorporated in the shutter opening guide groove 104.

Therefore, as a measure for reducing the thickness of the disk cartridge, for example, it is considered to reduce the wall thickness of the upper half 101 or the lower half 102 constituting the cartridge body 100. However, such measures cannot be adopted at all because the thickness dimension is close to the limit that guarantees the mechanical strength of the cartridge body 100 even with the current specifications. Similarly, with respect to the shutter member 103 as well, there is a problem in that the reduction in thickness from the current specifications does not guarantee the mechanical strength of the shutter member 103, and the shutter member 103 cannot move in a stable state. Give rise to points.

On the other hand, as a measure for reducing the thickness of the slider member 106, since the slider spring 106 is provided with the shutter spring engaging groove 107 as described above,
The slider member 106 and the shutter opening guide groove 104
However, there is a problem in that a sufficient guide structure is not provided on the slide surface facing to. That is, the guide structure is constituted by the guide convex portion and the guide concave portion which are provided in the both members and are engaged with each other, and moves the slider member 106 along the shutter open guide groove 104 in a stable state and at the same time, the slider member. The function of preventing the 106 from falling off the shutter opening guide groove 104 is exhibited.

Therefore, since it is difficult to secure a sufficient amount of fitting between the guide convex portion and the guide concave portion when the slider member 106 is made thin, the slider member 106 is stabilized along the shutter open guide groove 104. There is a problem that the slider member 106 is not moved in this state and the slider member 106 is easily dropped from the shutter opening guide groove 104. For example, the disk cartridge has a slider member 106 when a tensile force is applied to the shutter member 103.
Is damaged and the shutter member 103 is disengaged from the cartridge body 100.

On the other hand, as another method of reducing the thickness of the slider member 106, the guide structure provided in the slider member 106 and the shutter opening guide groove 104 is kept as it is, and the slider member 103 to the shutter spring engaging groove 107 are kept. It is considered to eliminate the above and reduce the thickness.
However, as described above, the shutter spring engagement groove 107 causes the elastic force of the shutter spring 105, which expands and contracts in accordance with the movement operation of the shutter member 103, to act on the slider member 106 at a fixed position, so that the shutter member 103 is released. Is an indispensable structure for the moving operation in a stable state, and cannot be simply removed from the slider member 103.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention has been proposed for the purpose of providing a disk cartridge which guarantees sufficient mechanical strength of the cartridge body and achieves thinning while maintaining stable opening / closing operation of the shutter member. It was done.

[0023]

A disk cartridge according to the present invention, which has achieved this object, is constructed by combining an upper half and a lower half, and a disc-shaped recording medium is rotatably accommodated and the disc-shaped recording medium is rotatably accommodated. Moves flush with the cartridge body in which the recording / reproducing opening for exposing at least a part of the recording medium outward in the radial direction is formed, and the shutter slide concave portion provided in the main surface of the cartridge body. A shutter member freely combined with a shutter opening guide groove formed on the front surface of the cartridge main body so as to be movable, and a shutter member integrally coupled to the shutter opening guide groove having a first position for closing the recording / reproducing opening. A slider member that is moved to a second position where the recording / reproducing opening is opened, and one end of the slider member is engaged with an engaging portion formed on one end side of the slider member. Rutotomoni other end is formed and a shirt motor spring abuts against the rising wall of the cartridge body to bias held in the first position for closing the recording and reproducing opening shutter member. Then, the slide guide portion of the slider member is provided with a thin engagement portion that forms a gap between the slide guide portion and the inner surface of one half via a step portion orthogonal to the shutter opening guide groove.

Further, in the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the stepped portion which is provided on the slide guide portion of the slider member and constitutes the thin engagement portion is gradually inclined toward the inner side of the cartridge body toward the center side. Configure as a face. Further, in the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the slider member is provided with the guide recess which is engaged with the guide rib integrally formed on the inner wall of the front side of the cartridge body along the shutter opening guide groove.

Furthermore, in the disk cartridge according to the present invention, the guide ribs provided on the inner wall on the front surface side of the cartridge body are provided on the inner walls of the upper half and the lower half which compose the cartridge body, and the guide ribs are relatively engaged with each other. The corresponding guide recesses are provided on one slide surface that faces the inner wall of one half of the step portion that extends toward the inside of the cartridge body and on the other slide surface that faces the inner wall of the other half. Configure.

[0026]

According to the disk cartridge of the present invention constructed as described above, the thin engagement portion provided through the step portion on the slide guide portion of the slider member with which one end portion of the shutter spring is engaged. In the gap between the thin engagement portion formed and the inner surface of the one half, when the shutter member is moved to the second position for opening the recording / reproducing opening, an elastic force is compressed and compressed. The end of the stored shutter spring on the slider member side is relatively engaged. The shutter spring is engaged with the gap formed between the thin engagement portion and the inner surface of the one half, so that the position of the point of application of the elastic force on the slider member is regulated to a constant state.

The step portion formed as an inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the center side toward the cartridge main body side is slightly deformed by being compressed and elastic force is accumulated. Avoid hitting the engaging part. Therefore, the point of application of the elastic force of the shutter spring on the slider member is held at a fixed position without changing by the movement of the shutter member.

With respect to the shutter member, the guide rib provided on the cartridge body side and the guide concave portion provided on the slider member side engage with each other, so that the slider member can move stably along the shutter open guide groove. Thus, the moving operation is performed in a stable state via the slider member.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the disc cartridge of the embodiment, a cartridge body 10 is formed by combining an upper half 11 and a lower half 12 formed of a synthetic resin material in a substantially shallow dish shape, and the optical disc 1 is rotatably mounted on the cartridge body 10. It is stored.

The optical disk 1 is composed of a disk substrate 2 and a magnet clamp hub 4 which is assembled in the center hole 3 of the disk substrate 2. The disk substrate 2 is formed in a disk shape by a glass plate or a transparent synthetic resin such as a polycarbonate resin, and has a center hole 3 at the center and an information signal recording section for recording an information signal around the center hole. They are concentrically arranged. The hub 4 is made of a magnetic material such as metal, and is composed of a bottomed tubular fitting portion 5 and an outer peripheral flange portion 6 that is formed so as to overhang the outer peripheral portion of the fitting portion 5.
A spindle shaft hole 7 into which a spindle shaft on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is fitted is provided at the center of the fitting portion 5.

On the upper half 11 and the lower half 12, a rising peripheral wall 13 and a rising peripheral wall 14 are respectively provided upright around the circumference, and when the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are combined, these rising peripheral wall 13 and The rising peripheral walls 14 are butted against each other to form an outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 10. The upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are configured as a plurality of arc-shaped standing walls located on the same circumference on the inner surfaces facing each other and inscribed in the rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall 14, respectively. 1
In a state where the two are combined with each other, an optical disk storage formation standing wall 15 and an optical disk storage formation standing wall 16 which are abutted against each other and constitute an optical disk storage portion are provided upright. Further, the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are provided with a plurality of butt-fitting projections 17 and butt-fitting projections 18 that are opposed to each other on the inner surfaces facing each other.

Therefore, the upper half 11 and the lower half 1
2, the rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall 14 and the optical disk storage forming vertical wall 15 and the optical disk storage forming vertical wall 16 are assembled so as to abut against each other, and the corresponding butt fitting projections 17 and butt fitting projections 18 are associated with each other. By fitting and ultrasonically welding these, they are integrated to form the rectangular thin box-shaped cartridge body 10.

The lower half 12 is provided with a circular disk table entry opening 20 located substantially in the center thereof. In the opening 20 for entering the disc table,
When the disc cartridge 10 is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the disc table on the recording / reproducing apparatus side that drives the optical disc 1 housed in the cartridge body 10 enters. Further, the disc table entrance opening 20 allows the hub 4 formed of a magnetic plate material for a magnet clamp provided by closing the center hole 3 of the optical disc 1 to face outward. It should be noted that the upper half 11 is provided with an annular hub holding wall 21 located at a substantially central portion corresponding to the disc table entry opening 20. The hub holding wall 21 regulates the outer peripheral portion of the hub 4 provided on the optical disc 1 so that the optical disc 1 can be smoothly rotated in the cartridge body 10.

The upper half 11 and the lower half 12 have a recording / reproducing opening for exposing at least a part of the information signal recording portion of the optical disc 1 rotatably accommodated in the optical disc accommodating portion to the outside over the inner and outer circumferences. 22 and opening 2 for recording and reproduction
3 are opened facing each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are substantially central portions in the left-right direction of the cartridge main body 10 from positions close to the hub holding wall 21 and the disc table entry opening 20. It is located in a square shape.

In the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 constituting the cartridge main body 10, a recording / reproducing opening 22 and a recording / reproducing opening 22 in which a first shutter portion 42 and a second shutter portion 43 of a shutter member 40 described later move. A region extending from the peripheral edge of the reproduction opening portion 23 to one side surface portion and the cartridge body 10.
A shutter slide recess 24 and a shutter slide recess 25 having a depth substantially equal to the plate thicknesses of the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 are provided in the region extending over the front surface side of the. The shutter slide recess 24 and the shutter slide recess 25 are formed by the shutter member 4
0 for the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 4
3 and the cartridge body 10 can be assembled so as to be flush with the cartridge body 10. Therefore, the thickness of the disc cartridge does not increase even if the shutter member 40 is assembled to the cartridge body 10.

As described above, on the upper half 11 and the lower half 12, the rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall 14 which form the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 10 are respectively provided upright around the circumference. The rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall 14 are not erected on the front surface side portion. Therefore, in the cartridge body 10, the shutter opening guide groove 2 into which the shutter opening member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side for moving the shutter member 40, which will be described later, moves is opened.
6 are configured. The upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are provided with left and right guide ribs 27 and 29 corresponding to the inner surfaces located slightly inside the front end where the shutter opening guide groove 26 is formed.

Further, in the upper half 11 and the lower half 12,
A guide recess 28 and a guide recess 30 in the left-right direction are provided inside the guide ribs 27 and 29 so as to correspond to each other. The guide rib 27 and the guide rib 29 have a rising dimension slightly smaller than that of the rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall 14, and the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 have the same dimensions.
In the state of being coupled with, the guide convex portion in the left-right direction for cooperatively guiding the slider member 50 described later is formed inside the cartridge body 10. Further, the guide concave portion 28 and the guide concave portion 30 cooperate with each other in the state where the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are coupled to each other to form a lateral guide convex portion for guiding the slider member 50, which will be described later, of the cartridge body 10. Configure inside.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the guide ribs 27 and 29 is formed as an inclined surface whose outer side surface has a gradually decreasing cross-sectional dimension with respect to the height direction.
The inner side surface is formed as a substantially vertical surface. In addition,
The guide recess 28 and the guide recess 30 are formed by the guide rib 27.
And the upper half 11 continuously on the vertical side surface of the guide rib 29.
And is formed on the inner surface of the lower half 12.

By the way, in the lower half 12, as shown in FIG. 2, the shutter slide recess 25 is shown continuously in the region of the rear side of the shutter slide recess 25 beyond the disc table entry opening 20. Not provided is a left and right shutter guide groove. The shutter guide groove is recessed in the main surface of the lower half 12 while being slightly stepped down on the bottom of the shutter slide recess 25. Then, in the shutter guide groove, the cartridge body 1
The bent tip guide portion 45 of the second shutter portion 43, which extends by closing the opening 20 for entering the disc table, of the shutter member 40 assembled to 0 is engaged.

The tip portion 45 of the second shutter portion 43 engaged with the shutter guide groove is held by the shutter pressing plate 39 joined to the joining recess 31 provided in the lower half 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the joint recess 31 is formed as a rectangular recess in the left-right direction having substantially the same depth as the shutter slide recess 25. In addition, the joint recess 3
1 is provided in the lower half 12 so that the width dimension in the left-right direction is slightly larger than the width dimension in the left-right direction of the shutter slide recessed portion 25, so that it extends in the left-right direction at the connecting portion with the shutter slide recessed portion 25. .

The shutter pressing plate 39 is, for example, a thin S
The material is made of a US material or the like and has a horizontally long rectangular shape, and has a thickness dimension substantially equal to the depth of the joint recess 31. The shutter pressing plate 39 has a double-sided adhesive tape cut slightly shorter than the length of the joint recess 31 attached to the back surface, and then joined and fixed to the joint recess 31 via the double-sided adhesive tape. The shutter pressing plate 39 is joined and fixed to the joining recess 31 with the side edge on the back side of the joining recess 31 as a reference, so that the front edge facing the shutter guide groove moves in the moving direction of the tip end portion 45 of the shutter member 40. The entire area is locked to prevent the shutter member 40 from rising.

In order to prevent dust and the like from entering the optical disk housing portion from the recording / playback opening portion 22 and the recording / playback opening portion 23 and adhering to the optical disk 1 housed in the cartridge body 10, these recording are performed. Playback opening 22
And a shutter member 40 for closing the recording / reproducing opening 23.
Is assembled. As will be described later, the shutter member 40 is integrally combined with a slider member 50 assembled in a shutter opening guide groove 26 formed in the front surface portion of the cartridge body 10, and has a recording / reproducing opening 22 and a recording / reproducing opening. The first state in which the portion 23 is closed, and the second state in which the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are opened
The moving operation is performed over the above state.

The shutter member 40 is a member formed by pressing a thin metal plate, and has a recording / reproducing opening 22.
And a first shutter portion 42 and a second shutter portion 43 having outer shapes sufficient to close the recording / reproducing opening portion 23, respectively, and base end portions of the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43. And a connecting portion 41 that connects the two.

The connecting portion 41 has a height substantially equal to the height of the front surface of the cartridge body 10. Further, the connecting portion 41 is provided with a pair of mounting holes 44A and 44B which are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction. The first shutter portion 42 is formed in a rectangular shape that is slightly longer in the front-rear direction and has an outer dimension sufficient to open and close the recording / reproducing opening 22 as described above. Further, the second shutter portion 43 has an outer dimension that is sufficient to close the recording / reproducing opening portion 23 and the disc table entry opening portion 20 from the front surface portion of the lower half 12, and is further larger than the first shutter portion 42. It is formed in a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction. The tip end of the second shutter portion 43 is bent toward the main surface side of the lower half 12 so that the tip end portion faces a slide guide groove 31 provided in the lower half 12 which will be described later in the left-right direction. It is configured as 45.

The shutter member 40 constructed as described above
Is a slider member 5 which will be described later and is pre-assembled into the shutter opening guide groove 26 formed on the front surface side of the cartridge body 10 through the mounting hole 44 provided in the connecting portion 41.
0 is assembled to form a shutter structure. Further, since the shutter member 40 has the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 sandwiching the upper and lower main surfaces of the cartridge body 10 via the connecting portion 41, the cartridge member may be dropped to drop the cartridge. Even when a large impact is applied to the main body 10, the phenomenon that the shutter member 40 or the slider member 50 comes off can be prevented. Further, the shutter member 40 is normally provided with the first shutter portion 42 by the elastic force of the shutter spring 70 arranged at one corner portion 32 on the front surface side of the lower half 12 which will be described later.
And the second shutter portion 43 is biased and held at the first position for closing the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23.

The disc cartridge is provided with an erroneous recording prevention mechanism for preventing the information signal recorded on the optical disc 1 from being erased by mistake. This erroneous recording prevention mechanism includes an erroneous recording prevention member 34 located at the rear corner portion 33 corresponding to the front corner portion 32 side where the shutter spring 70 of the lower half 12 is disposed, and the upper half 11.
And an erroneous recording detection hole 37 provided in the.

The erroneous recording prevention member 34 is moved along a guide hole 36 provided in parallel with the rear wall of the lower half 12, and the rising peripheral wall 13 and the rising peripheral wall on the rear side of the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are moved. The operation portion faces the operation opening portion 35 formed by cutting out a part of 14 and working together. The erroneous recording prevention member 34 operates the operating portion from the operation opening 35 to switch between the first position for closing the erroneous recording detection hole 37 and the second position for opening the erroneous recording detection hole 37. To be done.

The erroneous recording prevention member 34 has an erroneous recording detection hole 37.
In the state of being set to the first position for closing the recording medium, the recording operation of the information signal to the optical disc 1 is possible by preventing the recording error reproducing means provided on the recording / reproducing apparatus side from entering the recording error detecting hole 37. It will be in a state. Further, the erroneous recording prevention member 34 prevents the erroneous recording detecting means provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus from entering the erroneous recording detecting hole 37 in the state where the erroneous recording detecting hole 37 is set to the second position. When the permission is given, the recording operation of the information signal on the optical disc 1 is disabled.

The slider member 50 is a member formed of a synthetic resin material having abrasion resistance and sliding properties into a substantially rectangular rod shape, and has a width substantially equal to the width of the connecting portion 41 of the shutter member 40. It has twice the length dimension. As shown in FIG. 5, the slider member 50 is provided with a first slide guide portion 53 and a second slide guide portion 57 that integrally project to the back side at both ends of a rod-shaped base portion 51. The rod-shaped base portion 51 has a second slide guide portion 57.
The region side in which is formed is configured as a mounting portion for the shutter member 40, and mounting holes 52A, 5A corresponding to the mounting holes 44A, 44B provided in the shutter member 40 are formed in this mounting portion.
2B is provided.

The first slide guide portion 53 faces the shutter opening guide groove 26, and the upper half 11 and the lower half 12 are exposed.
In the state where the wedge-shaped guide portion 54 that is relatively engaged with the guide concave portion 28 and the guide concave portion 30 provided on the inner surface of the cartridge and the slider member 50 are assembled in the shutter open guide groove 26, the opened front surface of the cartridge body 10. It is composed of an engaging convex portion 56 which is substantially flush with the portion and is engaged with the shutter opening member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side. Guide part 54
The side surface facing the second slide guide portion 57 is formed as an inclined surface whose thickness dimension gradually increases toward the outside.

The second slide guide portion 57 also has guide ribs 2 provided on the inner surfaces of the upper half 11 and the lower half 12.
7 and the guide recess 29 are provided with a guide recess 61 and a guide recess 62 which are engaged with each other.
And a guide convex portion 63 and a guide convex portion 64 which are relatively engaged with the guide concave portion 30. In other words, the second
The slide guide portion 57 is provided with a left and right guide concave portion with which the guide convex portion on the cartridge body 10 side relatively engages, and a guide convex portion that relatively engages with the guide convex portion on the cartridge body 10 side. ing.

Further, the second slide guide portion 57 includes
As shown in FIG. 5, in the state where the slider member 50 is assembled to the cartridge main body 10, the thickness of the slider member 50 is reduced so that a part of the side surface portion facing the lower half 12 is opened to the side end. A thin engagement portion 59 that is approximately half the size is formed. Therefore, the slider member 5
In No. 0, a step portion 60 in the height direction is formed by forming a thin engagement portion 59 on the side end portion of the second slide guide portion 57.

As shown in FIG. 6, the step portion 60 gradually inclines toward the first slide guide portion 53 side toward the inside of the cartridge body 10 when the slider member 50 is assembled to the cartridge body 10. It is configured as an inclined surface. The thin engagement portion 59 has a spring retaining groove 58 which is located on the front surface side and which is opened to the side end portion.
Is provided. Therefore, the second slide guide portion 57 also acts as an engaging portion of the shutter spring 70.

The slider member 50 constructed as described above.
Is the guide concave portion 28 in which the guide portion 54 of the first slide guide portion 53 is located inside the shutter opening guide groove 26.
And the guide concave portion 30 relatively engage with the guide concave portion on the side of the cartridge body 10 which is configured in cooperation with each other. Further, in the slider member 50, the guide convex portion of the second slide guide portion 57 relatively engages with the guide concave portion on the cartridge body 10 side, and the guide convex portion on the cartridge body 10 side relatively engages with the guide concave portion. . Therefore, the slider member 50 is moved in the left-right direction of the cartridge body 10 along the shutter opening guide groove 26.

Further, in the slider member 50, as described above, the guide protrusion on the cartridge body 10 side has the inner side surface as the vertical surface, so that the first slide which is relatively engaged with the guide protrusion is formed. The guide portion 54 of the guide portion 53 and the guide convex portion of the second slide guide portion 57 are locked, and will not fall out of the shutter open guide groove 26.

The slider member 50 is the cartridge body 1
In the state of being assembled to 0, as shown in FIG.
A gap 66 in the front-rear direction having a distance W is formed between the thin engagement portion 59 of the second slide guide portion 57 and the inner surface of the lower half 12, specifically, the top surface of the guide rib 29. The gap 66 is configured to be slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension R of the shutter spring 70 described later. The gap 66 is engaged by the one end portion 72 side of the shutter spring 70 in a state where the shutter member 40 described later is moved to the second position where the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are opened. It acts as a mating shutter spring engagement groove.

The shutter member 40 is attached to the slider member 50 movably combined with the shutter opening guide groove 26 as described above. That is, the shutter member 40 includes the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 4
3, and the main surface of the cartridge main body 10 is sandwiched, and the inner surface of the connecting portion 41 is applied to the mounting portion of the slider member 50 assembled in the shutter opening guide groove 26. The shutter member 40 has mounting holes 44A, 44B that are aligned with each other and mounting holes 52A, 52 for the rod-shaped base 51.
By screwing the set screw 38 into B, it is integrated with the slider member 50 to form a shutter structure. In addition,
The combined structure of the shutter member 40 and the slider member 50 is
A method of using an adhesive or a method of integrally forming a dowel on the slider member 50 and subjecting this dowel to ultrasonic welding treatment is also adopted.

The shutter structure has a shutter opening guide groove 26 when the disk cartridge is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus.
The first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 close the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 by the shutter driving member of the recording / reproducing apparatus which enters the recording position. It is moved to the second position where the reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are opened.

In the shutter structure, the elastic force of the shutter spring 70 normally causes the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 of the shutter member 40 to close the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23. Is held in the first position. As the shutter spring 70, a torsion spring is used, which is formed by drawing out a base portion 71 in which a central portion of a piano wire or the like is wound in a coil shape so as to project both end portions 72 and 73 in a substantially V shape.
The shutter spring 70 has both end portions 7 opened in a substantially V shape.
The elastic force is accumulated by compressing so that the facing interval of 2, 73 is narrowed.

The shutter spring 70 is composed of the rising peripheral wall 13 on the side of the upper half 11 and the standing optical wall 15 for forming the optical disk storage section, and the rising peripheral wall 14 on the side of the lower half 12 and the standing wall 16 for forming the optical disk storage section which constitute the cartridge body 10. It is arranged at one corner 32 on the front side. The shutter spring 70 has the bent end portion of the one end portion 72 at the second slide guide portion 5 of the slider member 50.
7 is engaged with the spring retaining groove 58 provided in 7, and the other end is brought into contact with the inner surface of the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 10.

As described above, the shutter spring 70
Is a first position where the shutter member 40 closes the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 by the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 via the slider member 50 in the normal state. In order to hold the cartridge, the cartridge 32 is assembled in the corner portion 32 of the cartridge body 10 in a state of being slightly compressed and elastically stored. Therefore,
The elastic force of the shutter spring 70 causes the slider member 5 to move.
The action point 65 acting on 0 becomes the spring retaining groove 58 with which the tip end is engaged. When the disc cartridge of the embodiment configured as described above is inserted into the cartridge loading portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter opening member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side enters the shutter opening guide groove 26 to engage the slider member 50. It relatively engages with the side surface of the convex portion 56. Therefore, the slider member 50 is pushed toward the corner portion 32 side by the shutter opening member via the engagement convex portion 56 and moves along the shutter opening guide groove 26 against the elastic force of the shutter spring 70. As a result, the shutter member 40 integrated with the slider member 50 includes the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 4
3 is moved from the first position where the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are closed to the second position where the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are opened. .

During the above-described moving operation, the shutter member 40 is in a state in which the disc table entrance opening 20 is closed by the second shutter portion 43 from the closed state. In this case, the shutter member 40 is stable because the distal end portion 45 of the second shutter portion 43 moves while being locked by the shutter guide piece 39 in the entire shutter guide groove in the movement direction. Moves in the state.

The shutter spring 70 moves as the shutter member 40 moves toward the corner 32.
The opposing space between the two end portions 72, 73 opened in a substantially V shape is gradually narrowed and compressed to store an elastic force.
When the shutter member 40 reaches the second position in which the shutter member 40 opens the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23, the slider member 50 is provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge main body 10 and the second slide guide portion 57. The distance from the inner surface is close. The disc cartridge is locked and held by the shutter holding member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side at the second position where the shutter member 40 opens the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23.

In the shutter spring 70, the shutter member 40 has a recording / reproducing opening 22 and a recording / reproducing opening 23.
To the second position in which the slider member 5 is opened.
No. 0 second slide guide portion 57 and cartridge body 1
In the state where the distance between the outer peripheral wall of the second slide guide portion 57 and the inner surface of the outer peripheral wall of the second slide guide portion 57 is close to 0, as shown in FIG.
9 engages in a gap 66 defined between 9 and the inner surface of the lower half 12. Therefore, the shutter spring 70
Elastically deforms in a state of being regulated by the gap 66, and the acting direction of the elastic force on the slider member 50 is kept constant,
The slider member 50, in other words, the shutter structure is moved in a stable state.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the shutter spring 70 in a state where both end portions 71 and 72 are compressed has the second slide guide portion 57 constituting the thin engagement portion 59 side of the step portion 60 side. Slightly curved. The step portion 60 formed on the second slide guide portion 57 of the slider member 50 is configured as an inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the inner side of the cartridge body 10 toward the first slide guide portion 53. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a part of the one end portion 72 of the curved shutter spring 70 from colliding with each other on the way. Therefore, the shutter spring 70
The point of application 65 of the elastic force on the slider member 50 is such that the cartridge body 1 moves as the shutter structure moves.
By gradually moving to the inner side of 0, the action direction of the elastic force on the shutter member 40 or the slider member 50 is changed, and the phenomenon of acting in the rotational direction is prevented. As a result, the slider member 50, in other words, the shutter structure is moved along the shutter opening guide groove 26 in a stable state.

When the recording / reproducing operation is completed and the ejecting operation is carried out, the disk cartridge is taken out from the cartridge loading portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus. At that time, the shutter holding member holding the shutter member 40 is retracted. Operate. Therefore, in the shutter member 40, the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43 open the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 by the stored elastic force of the shutter spring 70. From the second position, the first shutter portion 42 and the second shutter portion 43
And return to the first position for closing the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23.

As described above, in the disk cartridge of the embodiment, the inner surface of the lower half 12 and the slider member 5 are
The one end portion of the shutter spring 70 is engaged with and regulated in the gap 66 formed between the thin slide engaging portion 59 integrally formed with the second slide guide portion 57 of No. 0. The elastic force of the shutter spring 70 acts on the shutter structure in a stable state. Therefore, the shutter structure is moved and operated in a stable state like the conventional disk cartridge. Further, unlike the slider member 106 of the conventional disk cartridge, the slider member 50 is not provided with the shutter spring engagement groove 107 with which the shutter spring 105 is engaged, and therefore corresponds to the width dimension of the shutter spring engagement groove 107. It can be configured by reducing the thickness dimension.
As a result, the embodiment disk cartridge is 5 mm.
The thickness dimension of is realized.

By the way, in the above-mentioned disc cartridge of the first embodiment, in order to move the slider member 50 along the shutter open guide groove 26 in a stable state, the guide rib 27 and the guide concave portion provided on the upper half 11 side are provided. 28 and the guide rib 29 provided on the lower half 12 side
The guide structure on the cartridge main body 10 side is constituted by the guide concave portion 30 and the guide concave portions 61 and 62 and the guide convex portions 63 and 64 are formed on the second slide guide portion 57 together with the first slide guide portion 53. A guide structure on the slider member 50 side is configured.

The shutter spring 70 is thinly engaged by elastically deforming the end portion 72 thereof in a state where the shutter structure is moved to the second position where the recording / reproducing opening 22 and the recording / reproducing opening 23 are opened. The second slide guide portion 57 forming the portion 59 is slightly curved on the stepped portion 60 side. For this reason, the step portion 60 has the shutter spring 7
It is formed as an inclined surface so that the end portion 0 of 0 does not abut.

In the disk cartridge of the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, the slider member 80 has a structure for surely avoiding the abutment of the elastically deformed end 72 of the shutter spring 70. There is. That is, the slider member 80 has substantially the same basic structure as the slider member 50 of the disk cartridge of the first embodiment described above. The second slide guide portion 81 has a thin engagement portion 83 in which a spring retaining groove 82 is provided via a step portion 84, and the slider member 80 serves as the cartridge body 1.
When assembled in the shutter opening guide groove 26 of 0, a gap 66 is formed between the thin engagement portion 83 and the inner surface of the lower half 12 so that one end of the shutter spring 70 is relatively engaged.

Guide recesses 85 and guide protrusions 87 are formed on the surface of the thin engagement portion 83 facing the upper half 11 so as to respectively engage with the guide ribs 27 and the guide recesses 28 on the upper half 11 side. . Slider member 80
The surface of the base 51 facing the lower half 12 has an inclined guide surface 86 corresponding to the guide rib 29 on the lower half 12 side.
Is configured as. Therefore, in the disc cartridge of the second embodiment, the step portion 84 is provided in the gap 66 formed between the thin engagement portion 83 and the inner surface of the lower half 12 with which the end portion 72 of the shutter spring 70 is engaged. not exist.

On the second slide guide portion 81 side of the slider member 80, the guide protrusion 87 of the thin engagement portion 83 and the guide recess portion 28 on the upper half 11 side are relatively engaged with each other, so that the shutter opening guide groove 26 is released. Is prevented from falling off. In addition, the slider member 80 reliably prevents the abutment at a portion other than the spring retaining groove 82 even when the end portion 72 of the shutter spring 70 is largely curved. As a result, the shutter structure is moved along the shutter open guide groove 26 in a stable state without changing the action direction of the elastic force from the shutter spring 70 as the movement moves.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned disk cartridge equipped with the 3.5-inch diameter optical disk, but can be applied to various disk cartridges to achieve a reduction in thickness.

[0074]

As described above in detail, according to the disk cartridge of the present invention, the gap between the slider member and the inner surface of one half of the slider member is restricted by the one end of the elastically displaced shutter spring. By configuring the space between them, the overall thickness can be reduced while maintaining the function, performance or mechanical strength almost equal to that of the conventional disk cartridge. Further, since the stepped portion provided on the slide guide portion of the slider member and forming the thin engagement portion is formed as an inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the inner side of the cartridge body, the shutter spring The point of action of the elastic force on the slider member of
The shutter member can be held at a fixed position without being changed by the movement operation of the shutter member, and the shutter structure can be moved in a stable state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view from the upper surface side illustrating an internal configuration of a disk cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view from the bottom surface side for explaining the internal configuration of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part for explaining a configuration of a front surface portion of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part showing a further enlarged configuration of a front surface portion of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a slider member and a shutter spring included in the disk cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a combined state of the slider member and the shutter spring, showing a state where the shutter spring is elastically deformed.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the disk cartridge according to the present invention and illustrating the configuration of the front surface portion of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional disc cartridge.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part for explaining the configuration of the front surface of the disk cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Optical disc (disc-shaped recording medium) 10 Cartridge body 11 upper half 12 Lower half 22, 23 Recording / playback openings 24, 25 Shutter slide recess 26 Shutter release guide groove 27, 29 Guide rib 28, 30 Guide recess 40 Shutter member 41 Connection 42 First shutter unit 43 Second shutter unit 50 Slider member 51 Bar-shaped base 53 First slide guide part 57 Second slide guide portion 58 Spring retaining groove 59 Thin engagement part 60 steps 61, 62 guide recess 63, 64 Guide protrusion 66 Gap 70 shutter spring 72, 73 Edge

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An upper half and a lower half are connected to each other, a disc-shaped recording medium is rotatably accommodated, and at least a part of the disc-shaped recording medium is exposed outward in a radial direction. Consists of a cartridge body with an opening for recording and reproduction, a shutter member that is movably combined flush with a shutter slide recess provided on the main surface of the cartridge body, and a front portion of the cartridge body. The shutter member, which is movably assembled in the shutter opening guide groove, is moved integrally between a first position for closing the recording / reproducing opening and a second position for closing the recording / reproducing opening. The slider member to be operated and one end of the slider member are engaged with an engaging portion formed on one end side of the slider member, and the other end of the slider member is brought into contact with the rising peripheral wall of the cartridge body to be shuffled. A shutter spring for urging and holding the member in a first position for closing the recording / reproducing opening, and the slide guide portion of the slider member is provided with a thin wall member via a step portion in a direction orthogonal to the shutter opening guide groove. The stepped portion , which is provided with a joint portion and constitutes the thin engagement portion, is
An inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the center toward the inside
And a shutter member configured to move between the thin engagement portion and the inner surface of the one half to a second position where the shutter member opens the recording / reproducing opening, and elastic force is accumulated in the shutter. A disk cartridge characterized in that a gap is formed in which an end portion of a spring on a slider member side is relatively engaged. The 2. A slider member, according to claim 1, wherein a guide recess for relative engagement with the guide rib formed integrally along the shutter opening guide groove on the inner wall of the front side of the cartridge body is provided Disc cartridge. 3. Guide ribs provided on the inner wall of the front side of the cartridge body are provided on the inner walls of the upper half and the lower half of the cartridge body that face each other, and the guide recesses with which these guide ribs engage are stepped portions. the billing for the one sliding surface extending to face the one half of the inner wall to the interior side of the cartridge body, characterized in the other half of the inner wall facing the other slide face that is recessed respectively Item 2. The disc cartridge according to Item 2 .