JP3482513B2 - Tray type disc cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disc cartridge provided with a tray for loading and unloading a disc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Disc cartridges of this type are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-168563 and 6-16.
It is known in Japanese Patent No. 8566. There, the tray is pulled out linearly to expose the entire disc to the outside of the case, and then the disc is picked up from the tray. A circular recess for accommodating a disc is provided on the upper surface of the tray.

[0003]

As described above, in the disc cartridge in which the tray is linearly inserted into and removed from the case, the tray cannot be taken out unless the tray is pulled out until the entire disc is exposed to the outside of the case. Cannot be stored in a circular recess. If the amount of the tray pulled out from the case is insufficient, the disc that is being taken out may be caught by the case and may be removed to damage the board surface. The thin disc fits into the circular recess, making it difficult to take out, and the oil on the fingers easily sticks to the board surface. As described above, the conventional tray-type disc cartridge cannot be easily loaded and unloaded, and there is room for improvement in that the disc surface is easily soiled or scratched during loading or unloading. Especially A
In the case of an optical disk cartridge having a signal recording surface on each of the surface B and the surface B, it is easy to damage the back surface of the disk when handling the disk.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tray type disc cartridge in which the disc can be easily exposed to the outside of the case by devising a way to take the tray in and out of the case, and the disc can be attached to and detached from the tray securely and easily. To do. The purpose of this invention is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray-type disk cartridge suitable for loading and unloading a disk having a signal recording surface on each of the side B and the side B. An object of the present invention is to provide a tray-type disc cartridge which can be attached to and detached from a tray in a state where a disc is reliably captured, and which can sufficiently prevent stains and scratches on the disc surface when the disc is handled.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION A disc cartridge of the present invention comprises a disc 1, a tray 2 for supporting the disc 1, and a case 3 for accommodating the disc 1 and the tray 2.
It has and. The tray 2 can be linearly slid in and out from an inlet / outlet 7 opened on the peripheral side surface of the case 3. Tray 2
Is a storage position where the entire disc 1 is stored in the case,
The case 3 supports the disk 1 so that the disk 1 can be slid into and removed from the case 3 at an intermediate position where most of the disk 1 is exposed to the outside of the case. In abutment engagement with each other in the intermediate position,
A shaft 22 and a bearing hole 11, which connect the tray 2 and the case 3 to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other around a central axis orthogonal to the disk surface of the disk 1, are provided between one side of the tray 2 and the case 3. The tray 2 is at an intermediate position via the doorway 7 and an opening 8 which is continuous with the doorway 7 and which is open to the peripheral side surface of the case 3.
The disk 1 is provided so as to be reciprocally rotatable about the shaft 22 between the disk 1 and an open position where the disk 1 is exposed to the outside of the case.

Specifically, the tray 2 is provided with a loading table 13 which is inserted into and removed from the case 3, a loading recess 14 for the disk 1 which is formed in the loading table 13, and an operation at the leading edge of the withdrawal of the loading table 13. And a section 15. A shaft 22 is provided on one side of the loading table 13 near the extraction end. The case 3 is provided with a guide groove 10 for guiding the shaft 22 so as to be linearly slidable. A bearing hole 11 that allows the shaft 22 to rotate is provided at the end of the guide groove 10 on the inlet / outlet 7 side. The loading table 13 of the tray 2 is provided with a read / write window 16 which allows reading and writing of signals from the bottom side of the loading recess 14. The guide groove 10 is recessed in the inner surface of the case 3 so that the case 3 has a bilaterally symmetrical shape with the central axis of the read / write window 16 as the axis of symmetry. The shaft 22 is arranged on one side of the loading table 13, and the loading recess 14 is cut out on the other side of the loading table 13 so that the peripheral edge of the disk 1 is exposed from the side edge of the loading table 13.

[0007]

When the disc 1 is attached to or detached from the tray 2, the tray 2 is pulled out from the inlet / outlet 7 of the case 3 to an intermediate position. At the intermediate position, the shaft 22 and the bearing hole 11 are in abutting engagement with each other to connect the tray 2 and the case 3 so as to be relatively rotatable. After that, by swinging the tray 2 about the shaft 22, most of the tray 2 can be exposed to the outside of the case. In this state, the disc 1 is picked up from the tray 2 or mounted on the tray 2. To do. in this way,
According to the configuration in which the tray 2 is put in and taken out from the case 3 by the combination of the slide operation and the rotation operation about the shaft 22, the tray 2 can be largely projected to the outside of the case, and the disc 1 can be attached to and detached from the tray 2 through the doorway 7. It can be performed at a position far away from.

The shaft 22 is linearly slidably guided in the guide groove 10, and the bearing hole 1 is provided at the end of the guide groove 10 on the inlet / outlet 7 side.
According to the tray loading / unloading structure in which the tray 1 is provided, the tray 2 can be pulled out from the case 3, and the tray 2 can be rotated at the same time when the shaft 22 contacts the bearing hole 11, so that a series of tray opening operations can be performed continuously. Can be done promptly. When the guide groove 10 is recessed in the inner surface of the case 3, the guide groove 10 can be provided in the opening / closing area of the shutter 5 that opens / closes the read / write window 4 of the case 3, and the case 3 has the central axis of the read / write window 4 set. It can be formed symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry. This means that the signal recording surfaces are provided on the A side and the B side of the disc 1, and the loading mechanism and the shutter opening / closing mechanism on the player side are simplified in the usage mode in which the disc cartridge is loaded while being inverted with respect to the player. It means that you can do it.

According to the tray 2 in which the shaft 22 is provided on one side of the loading table 13 and the loading recess 14 is cut out on the other side to expose the peripheral edge of the disk 1 from the side edge of the loading table 13, The disc 1 can be reliably captured by placing a finger on the center drive hole 1a, and the loading recess 1
Can be attached to and detached from 4.

[0010]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of an optical disk cartridge according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the optical disk cartridge includes a disk 1 on which signals such as video, audio, and information are recorded on both upper and lower surfaces, a tray 2 for supporting the disk 1, a case 3 for accommodating the disk 1 and the tray 2, and a case 3. It is composed of a shutter 5 for opening and closing a read / write window 4 provided on each of the upper and lower walls. The shutter 5 can be slid left and right within a range of a slide recess 6 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the case 3, and can be locked and held at a central closed position by a lock mechanism (not shown). Reference numeral 1a is a drive hole provided in the center of the disk 1.

The case 3 is formed by joining and fixing a shell-shaped upper case 3a and a lower case 3b, which are plastic-molded, to each other in a lid-matching manner. The doorway 7 is opened. Further, an opening 8 is opened in the rear part of the right side wall adjacent to the entrance 7. At the rear edge of the case 3 facing the doorway 7, an operation recessed portion 9 that corresponds to the outline of the operation portion 15 of the tray 2 to be described later is cut out. A guide groove 10 parallel to the case side edge is vertically provided in a right wall adjacent to the slide recess 6 of the upper case 3a, and a bearing having a diameter larger than the width dimension of the guide groove 10 is provided at an end portion of the inlet / outlet 7 side. A hole 11 is provided.

1 and 2, the tray 2 has a loading table 13 which is inserted into and removed from the case 3, a loading recess 14 which is formed in the loading table 13, and a tray 2 which protrudes above and below the withdrawal starting edge behind the loading table 13. It is made of a plastic molded product that is integrally formed with the installed operation unit 15. The loading table 13 has a loading recess 1
4 is provided with a read / write window 16 that allows reading and writing of signals from the bottom side, and the window 16 divides the majority front portion of the loading recess 14 into right and left portions. The left edge of the loading recess 14 is notched so as to traverse the peripheral edge of the disk 1 back and forth. By providing this notch edge 17, the loading recess 1
The peripheral edge of the disk 1 fitted in the disk 4 can be exposed to the outside of the loading table 13. The reason will be described later.

The disc 1 mounted in the loading recess 14 has an arcuate restricting surface 18 formed along the upper surface of the loading base 13.
And the regulation surface 1 at the front end of the arm extending to the front left half of the loading table 13.
9 limits the floating limit in all radial directions. However, the vertical dimension of the latter restriction surface 19 is smaller than the vertical dimension of the former restriction surface 18, and is set to be equal to or slightly smaller than the thickness dimension of the disk 1. This is to facilitate the loading / unloading of the disc 1 into / from the loading recess 14.
As shown in FIG. 3, the thickness of the loading table 13 is set to be slightly smaller than the vertical distance between the inner surfaces of the upper and lower cases 3a and 3b.
At the rear portion of the right side edge thereof, a closing portion 20 that closes the opening 8 is provided in a protruding manner (see FIG. 2).

The tray 2 can be slid back and forth between a storage position where the entire disc 1 is housed in the case and an intermediate position where the disc 1 is pulled out from the case 3 and most of the disc 1 is exposed to the outside of the case. Further, the disk 1 can be horizontally rotated from the intermediate position to the open position (the state of FIG. 1) where the entire disc 1 is exposed to the outside of the case.

The case 3 is provided between the intermediate position and the open position.
In order to connect the tray 2 and the tray 2 relatively rotatably, the loading table 1
A shaft 22 is provided so as to project toward the right front portion of the upper step surface of the No. 3. Axis 22
Is composed of an elliptical shaft that is long in the front-rear direction, and is guided by the guide groove 10 so that only the front-rear slide can freely move. Tray 2 as shown in FIG.
When the shaft is pulled out to the intermediate position, the shaft 22
Enter and touch the inner surface. At this time, the loading platform 1
The front part of 3 and the front part of the disc 1 still remain in the case 3. When the tray 2 is rotated counterclockwise in this state, the tray 2 horizontally swivels about the shaft 22 as shown by an imaginary line, and the entire loading recess 14 of the case 3 is rotated as shown in FIG. The disk 1 can be attached / detached without being disturbed by the case 3 by extracting the disk 1 to an open position sufficiently separated from the entrance / exit 7. The rotation limit of the tray 2 can be changed depending on the position where the shaft 22 is formed and the range where the opening 8 is formed. If necessary, the tray 2 can be swung 90 degrees or more from the intermediate position.

When the tray 2 is pulled out to the open position, the upper space of the disc 1 is completely opened. Moreover, a part of the peripheral edge of the disc 1 is the loading recess 1 of the tray 2.
It projects laterally from 4. Therefore, the disk 1 is in a state in which the fingers are hooked on the central driving hole 1a and the peripheral portion,
It is possible to reliably capture without needing to touch the surface of the board, and the disk 1 can be reliably and easily attached to and detached from the tray 2. If the disc 1 is not sufficiently captured, the disc 1 may be mistakenly removed and the disc surface may be damaged, but such mistakes can be well prevented. After reloading the disk 1 into the loading recess 14, the tray 2 is returned and rotated to insert the loading table 13 into the doorway 7, and further push forward toward the front of the case 3 to load the tray 2 back to the storage position. be able to. In this state, the player or the disc drive is loaded with the optical disc cartridge to read and write signals.

The shaft 22 and the guide groove 10 may be modified as shown in FIG. Shafts 22 are provided to project above and below the loading table 13, and guide grooves 10 for guiding the shafts 22 are formed in the inner walls of the upper and lower cases 3a and 3b. A bearing hole 11 is provided at the end of the guide groove 10 on the inlet / outlet side, as in the above embodiment.

By providing the guide grooves 10 above and below the inner surface of the case 3 as described above, it is possible to prevent dust from entering through the guide grooves 10. Furthermore, since the guide groove 10 can be provided within the sliding range of the shutter 5 as required, the case 3 can be formed symmetrically with the central axis of the read / write windows 4 and 16 as the axis of symmetry. This is advantageous in that the loading mechanism and the shutter opening / closing mechanism of the player or the disc drive can be simplified when the lower surface is used upside down.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft 22 may be provided so as to protrude toward the rear edge of the inner surface of the case 3, and the guide groove 10 may be provided on the tray 2 side. In this case, the bearing hole 11 is provided at the front end of the guide groove 10.

In addition to the above, the tray 2 can be modified so as to be pulled out to either one of the left and right side edges of the case 3. If necessary, open the doorway 7 while straddling one side edge and the rear edge of the case 3, and slidably insert and remove the tray 2,
It can be configured to be pivotable toward the open position. The guide groove 10 is not always necessary, and when the tray 2 is pulled out to an intermediate position, the shaft 22 is set in the bearing hole 1
It is sufficient if it has a structure that goes inside 1. The tray 2 may be removed at the intermediate position as long as at least the second half of the disc 1 is exposed from the entrance 7.

[0021]

According to the present invention, after the tray 2 is pulled out to the intermediate position and slid, the entire tray 2 is rotated about the shaft 22 provided between the tray 2 and the case 3, and the disc 1 is moved to the case. 2 Allowed to be exposed to the outside.
Therefore, as compared with the conventional disc cartridge in which the disc is inserted and removed by simply inserting and removing the tray, the tray 2 is moved to a position sufficiently separated from the entrance / exit 7.
The disk 1 can be reliably and easily attached and detached without any obstacles in the periphery, and accidental accidental dropping of the disk 1 and contamination of the board surface can be prevented. Shaft 22 and guide groove 1
Slide guide at 0, and insert a bearing hole 11 at the end of the guide groove 10.
When the tray 2 is provided, the slide insertion / removal operation of the tray 2 and the shaft 2
It is possible to continuously and swiftly perform a rotation operation around two, and the tray 2 can be opened and closed smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a tray is pulled out of a case.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which a tray is being extracted.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an essential part showing the rotating structure of the tray.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the tray slide structure.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the tray slide structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 disc 2 trays 3 cases 7 gateway 8 opening 10 guide groove 11 Bearing hole 13 loading platform 14 Loading recess 22 axes

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-6-251530 (JP, A) JP-A-6-168566 (JP, A) JP-A-7-153221 (JP, A) JP-A-60-124074 (JP , A) Actually open 1-174775 (JP, U) Actually open 63-78388 (JP, U) Actually open 4-20674 (JP, U) Actually open 59-185777 (JP, U) Actually open 61-130069 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 62-3694 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 23/03

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A disc 1, a tray 2 for supporting the disc 1, and a case 3 for accommodating the disc 1 and the tray 2 are provided, and the tray 2 is linear from an inlet / outlet 7 opened on a peripheral side surface of the case 3. The tray 2 is a disc cartridge that can be slid in and out, and the tray 2 slides between a storage position where the entire disc 1 is housed in the case and an intermediate position where the disc 1 is pulled out from the case 3 and most of the disc 1 is exposed to the outside of the case. A shaft that is supported by the case 3 so that it can be inserted and removed, and that abuts and engages with each other at an intermediate position to relatively rotatably connect the tray 2 and the case 3 about a central axis orthogonal to the disc surface of the disc 1. A bearing 22 and a bearing hole 11 are provided between one side of the tray 2 and the case 3, and through the inlet / outlet 7 and an opening 8 that is continuous with the inlet / outlet 7 and opens on the peripheral side surface of the case 3. Between the intermediate position of the tray 2 and the open position where the entire disc 1 is exposed to the outside of the case,
A tray-type disk cartridge provided so as to be reciprocally rotatable around a shaft 22. 2. The tray 2 has a loading table 13 which is inserted into and removed from the case 3, a loading recess 14 for the disk 1 which is formed in the loading table 13, and an operating section 15 which is provided at the extraction start edge of the loading table 13. And a shaft 22 is provided on one side of the loading table 13 near the extraction end, and a guide groove 10 for linearly slidably guiding the shaft 22 is provided in the case 3. The tray-type disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a bearing hole (11) for allowing rotation of the shaft (22) is provided at the end on the entrance / exit (7) side. 3. A loading recess 13 in the loading base 13 of the tray 2.
Read / write window 1 that allows reading and writing signals from the bottom side of the
6. The tray according to claim 2, wherein the tray 6 is opened, and the guide groove 10 is provided in the inner surface of the case 3 so that the case 3 is formed in a bilaterally symmetrical shape with the central axis of the read / write window 16 as the axis of symmetry. Disc cartridge. 4. A shaft 22 is disposed on one side of the loading table 13,
4. The tray-type disc cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the loading recess 14 is notched so that the peripheral edge of the disc 1 is exposed from the side edge of the loading platform 13 on the other side of the loading platform 13.