JP3484666B2 - Cartridge ejection mechanism for collective optical disk drive - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cartridge housing for housing a plurality of optical disk cartridges therein.
The present invention relates to a collective type optical disc device having a function of carrying and inserting / removing an optical disc cartridge to / from a disc drive for writing / reading / reading information on / from an optical disc in each optical disc cartridge. It relates to an EXIT mechanism for carrying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical configuration example of an optical disc cartridge and an EXIT mechanism of the disc cartridge in a conventional collective type optical disc device will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6 shows an optical disk cartridge 60 used in the above apparatus, which is constructed by housing an optical disk 61, which is an information recording medium, in a cartridge 62. A groove 64 for gripping the optical disk cartridge 60 with a hand of a transport mechanism called an accessor described later is provided near the side rear end of the cartridge 62.
Is provided. At the front end side of the cartridge 62,
A slightly rounded taper 65 is formed to facilitate loading of the optical disk cartridge 60 into a disk drive or the like. A shutter 66 is slidably provided on the flat surface of the cartridge 62, and
When information is recorded on the recording medium 1, the recording head is opened to bring the reading head close to the recording medium.

An example of a configuration in which a plurality of such optical disc cartridges 60 are housed and housed so as to be exchangeable is a schematic projection of the inside of the optical disc device. FIG. 7A is a plan view thereof, and FIG.
Both (c) and (c) are elevation views.

The collective type optical disc device 70 has a housing 7
The optical disc cartridge 60, which is loaded into the apparatus through the cartridge loading port 72 provided in the opening 1, is horizontally transferred and conveyed to a predetermined position inside the apparatus.
The NTRY mechanism 73 and the ENTRY mechanism 73 at a predetermined position
The optical disk cartridge 60 is received from the optical disk cartridge 60 and transferred in the horizontal and vertical directions to be transported to a cartridge storage shelf 74 having a large number of cartridge storage chambers, or the optical disk cartridge 60 in the storage shelf 74 is selectively taken out, An accessor 76 for loading the disk drive 75 provided at the bottom of the storage shelf 74.
have.

When the optical disk cartridge 60 is held by hand, it is necessary to avoid the shutter 66, which is structurally weak, and to have the groove 64 formed therein. That is, when the operator inserts the optical disc cartridge 60 from the cartridge insertion port 72 at the upper front of the collective optical disc device of FIG.
The shutter 66 side of 0 is inserted first.

However, when the optical disk cartridge 60 is stored in the storage shelf 74 or loaded in the disk drive 75 inside the collective optical disk device 70,
Since the accessor holds the groove 64 provided in the optical disk cartridge 60, the direction must be reversed. In other words, it was necessary to reverse the optical disk cartridge 60 by 180 degrees at the stage of the ENTRY mechanism 73 interposed between the operator and the accessor 76.
As an example of an ENTRY mechanism that performs such an operation, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-211267 discloses "optical disc cartridge loading mechanism".

Contrary to the ENTRY mechanism, the EXI for loading an optical disk cartridge taken out by the accessor from a disk drive device or a storage rack in a storage box called a stocker and ejecting it to a position where an operator can easily handle it.
There is also an aggregate type optical disc device having a T mechanism. This EXIT mechanism includes a cartridge holder that temporarily holds an optical disk cartridge received from an accessor inside, a turn mechanism that rotates the cartridge holder and inverts the optical disk cartridge 180 degrees in a direction handled by an operator, and an optical disk from the cartridge holder. It is composed of an ejecting mechanism for ejecting the cartridge, a stacker for storing the ejected cartridge, and a lift mechanism for pushing up the optical disk cartridge ejected from the cartridge holder to the stacker.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the T mechanism, the optical disk cartridge transferred from the accessor is latched and held so as not to drop due to rotation or vibration of the cartridge holder. Therefore, when the optical disk cartridge is stored in the stocker, it is necessary to configure a complicated take-out mechanism that performs a take-out operation for releasing the latch holding.

Further, since the operation of handing over the optical disk cartridge to the next mechanism is performed in the order of the turn mechanism → the take-out mechanism → the lift mechanism, there is a problem that the time required for this operation becomes long.

Further, there is a design condition that the above-mentioned accessor must not interfere with the operating region, which has a great influence on the structure of the EXIT mechanism.

The present invention solves all of these problems by taking out a cartridge (EXI) for a collective type optical disk device.
T) To configure the mechanism.

[0013]

A cartridge take-out mechanism of a collective type optical disc apparatus according to the present invention is rotatably supported in a horizontal direction about a rotation shaft, fits and holds the optical disc cartridge, and integrally rotates. A holder part that exercises,
The clearance groove formed in the holder portion and the rotation area of the holder portion are provided, and when the optical disk cartridge and the holder portion rotate integrally, the clearance groove passes through the clearance groove and comes into contact with the optical disk cartridge. A fixing pin for releasing the fitting between the holder portion and the optical disk cartridge by the reaction of, and a support portion for supporting the optical disk cartridge when the rotation transfer mechanism is stopped after the fitting release by the fixing pin is completed, A rotary transport mechanism including a rotary drive unit that controls the rotation of the holder unit, and a lifter unit that pushes up and transports the optical disk cartridge supported by the support unit in a vertical direction,
The present invention is characterized by having a storage unit configured to store and store the optical disk cartridges transported by the lifter unit, and a lift mechanism that controls the lift of the lifter unit.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view for explaining the structure of an optical disk cartridge that is conveyed and taken out in this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, an optical disk cartridge 4
Is configured by accommodating an optical disc 41, which is an information recording medium, in a cartridge 42. Grooves 43 are provided near the rear ends of both sides of the cartridge 42 so that the hand of the transport mechanism called an accessor holds the optical disk cartridge 4. A slightly rounded taper 44 near the front end on both sides of the cartridge.
Is formed to facilitate loading of the optical disc cartridge 4 into a disc drive or the like. In addition, a small recess 45 for holding the latch is provided in the middle of both the tapered portions 44.
Are formed. A shutter 46 is slidably provided on the flat surface of the cartridge 42. When recording information on the optical disc 41, the shutter is opened to bring the read head close to the shutter. 2A is a plan view, FIG. 2A is a plan view, and FIGS. 2B and 2C are elevation views.

The cartridge take-out mechanism of this embodiment can be roughly divided into two mechanisms according to its operation. A turn mechanism 1 holds and conveys the optical disc cartridge ejected from an accessor (not shown) and transfers the optical disc cartridge 4 to the lift mechanism 2. Reference numeral 2 is a lift mechanism for performing an ascending / descending operation for loading the optical disk cartridges passed from the turn mechanism 1 on the stacker 3.

First, the structure and operation of the turn mechanism 1 will be described.

Reference numeral 4 is an optical disk cartridge which accommodates an optical disk which is an information recording medium. 5 is
The optical disc cartridge 4 provided in the turn mechanism 1 and temporarily ejected from the accessor is temporarily retained.
It is a cartridge holder having a "concave" shaped latch portion 51.

At the rear portion of the cartridge holder 5, there is provided a cutout hole 52 which is cut out to about half the thickness of the cartridge holder 5. The cartridge holder 5 is
On the side inner wall of the latch portion 51, there are two leaf springs 53 fixed at one end. The leaf springs 53 are bent at their non-fixed ends into a dogleg shape to form protrusions.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the fitting of the optical disk cartridge 4 and the cartridge holder 5.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the latch portion 51 of the cartridge holder 5 and the optical disk cartridge 4 are fitted together. At this time, due to the elasticity of the leaf spring 53, the protrusions of the leaf spring 53 are inserted into the holding recesses 45 formed on both side surfaces of the optical disc cartridge 4, and the optical disc cartridge 4 is sandwiched.

At this time, the urging force exerted by the leaf spring 53 on the optical disc cartridge 4 is
At the contact point with and, a force can be divided as shown in FIG. The horizontal component fx of the component force serves as a force for sandwiching and locking the optical disc cartridge 4, and the vertical component fy serves as a force for holding the optical disc cartridge 4 from the holding portion of the cartridge holder 5. As a result, even if an unexpected force such as vibration is generated, the optical disk cartridge 4 is held without being detached from the cartridge holder 5.

The latch portion 51 has a thin bottom portion. On this bottom surface, there are formed a key-shaped escape groove 53 which is continuously connected to a cutout hole 52 provided in the rear portion of the cartridge holder 5, and a large through hole 54 for passing a lift stage of a lift mechanism described later. There is.

The cartridge holder 5 is rotatably supported about the rotary shaft 6 shown in FIG. 2A so as to be rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow. A pulley 7A is attached to the rotary shaft 6. The pulley 7A is spanned by a belt 9 and a pulley 7B attached to a drive shaft of a motor 8 arranged in the turn mechanism 1, and transmits the driving force of the motor 8 to the rotary shaft 6. That is, the cartridge holder 5 is activated by activating the motor 8 so that the cartridge holder 5 shown in FIG.
Can rotate in the plane of the turn mechanism 1. The rotary shaft 6 is provided at a position where the centroid of the cartridge holder 5 is significantly displaced. The reason for this is to prevent both of them from jumping out to the accessor area shown by the hatched portion in FIG. 1 in the process of the rotation of the cartridge holder 5 and the optical disk cartridge 4, which will be described later, integrally.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view schematically showing the rotation of the cartridge holder 5 from the start to the end of rotation.

From the initial position shown in FIG. 4A, the cartridge holder 5 rotates about the rotation shaft 6 in the clockwise direction. Since the optical disc cartridge 4 is held by the latch portion 51 of the cartridge holder 5 as described above, the optical disc cartridge 4 rotates integrally with the latch portion 51 (FIG. 4B). In this way, the cartridge holder 5 is rotationally moved about the rotation axis 6 toward the position where the optical disk cartridge 4 is inverted in a point symmetrical manner. Then, when reaching a certain position, the fixing pin 10 provided in the turn mechanism 1 passes through the notch hole 52 of the cartridge holder 5 and abuts on the back surface of the optical disc cartridge 4 held by the latch portion 51 (Fig. 4 (c)).

When the cartridge holder 5 continues to rotate further, the fixing pin 10 passes along the clearance groove 53 formed in the latch portion 51 and applies a pressing force only to the optical disk cartridge 4. This pressing force is a force generated by the reaction of the rotational force of the optical disk cartridge 4 that rotates integrally with the cartridge holder 5.

Although the cartridge holder 5 still continues to rotate, the optical disk cartridge 4 that comes into contact with the fixing pin 10 cannot continue to rotate integrally with the cartridge holder 5. Therefore, the force (vertical component fy of the biasing force generated by the leaf spring 53) that holds the optical disk cartridge 4 so that it does not come off from the latch portion 51 of the cartridge holder 5 is gradually canceled by the pressing force of the fixing pin 10. Going away.

Further, the taper of the protrusion of the leaf spring 53 is
By being pushed by the edge of the recess of the optical disk cartridge 4, the biasing force weakens and the leaf spring 53 gradually opens (FIG. 4 (d)).

At a certain point, the optical disk cartridge 4 is released from the holding state of the latch portion 51 by the urging force of the leaf spring 53. After that, the optical disk cartridge 4 slides on the inner wall of the latch portion 51 and comes out of the cartridge holder 5 by a certain amount.

Inside the turn mechanism 1, a block 12 for releasing the latch is arranged. This block 12
When the optical disk cartridge 4 is held by the cartridge holder 5 and rotates integrally, the operation is not hindered, and the optical disk cartridge 4 is fixed by the fixing pin 10.
When a certain amount of is ejected from the cartridge holder 5,
It is provided at a position where the tip of the optical disc cartridge 4 abuts. Then, when the optical disk cartridge 4 is reversed by 180 °, the motor 8 is stopped and the cartridge holder 5 ends the rotation (FIG. 4 (e)).

In this way, the optical disk cartridge 4 transits from the state in which it is held by the biasing force of the leaf spring 53 to the state in which it is supported by the bottom surface of the latch portion 51, the fixing pin 10, and the block 12. Further, since the rotation shaft 6 is provided at a position largely deviated from the centroid of the optical disc cartridge 4, the optical disc cartridge 4 before and after the rotation moves to a point-symmetrical position where they do not partially overlap. , 180 ° reversed.

Next, the structure and operation of the lift mechanism 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5.

In FIG. 2B, a lift mechanism 2 is arranged below the turn mechanism 1. The lift mechanism 2 includes a lift stage 20 that can be moved up and down in the vertical direction when the lift motor 21 is activated.

The optical disk cartridge 4 is loaded and stored on the stacker floor 31 provided at a position above the lift mechanism 2 that does not interfere with the operation of the turn mechanism 1 (rotational operation of the cartridge holder 5 and the optical disk cartridge 4). A stacker 3 is arranged. A gap 32 is formed between both sides of the lower part of the stacker 3 and the stacker floor 31, and cartridge hooks 30 are arranged on both sides of the stacker 3, respectively.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 5, the cartridge hook 30 includes a base 33 and a coil spring 34.
, A mandrel 35, and a hook claw 36. A base 33 fixed to both sides of the stacker 3 and a coil spring 34
Penetrate with a mandrel. At one end of the mandrel 35, a flange portion 37 having a larger diameter than the hole provided in the base portion 33 is formed, and at the other end, a hook claw 36 is formed. The mandrel 35 is slightly longer than the width of the base 33, and the coil spring 34 is attached to the base 33.
The cartridge hook 30 always generates an urging force in the direction of the stacker 3 by setting the dimension slightly shorter than the width of the stacker 3.

The upper half of the hook claw 36 is the stacker 3.
, But the bottom half of the hook claw 36 is
Pass through the gap 32 at the bottom of the stacker 3 and slightly
Sticks out inside. Further, the hook claw 36 is formed with a taper 38 that widens toward the lower portion.

Usually, as shown in FIG. 5A, the lift stage 20 of the lift mechanism 2 stands by at an initial position in the turn mechanism 1 that does not interfere with the rotation operation of the optical disk cartridge 4 and the cartridge holder 5. ing. However, when the cartridge holder 5 finishes rotating and the optical disk cartridge 4 enters the state shown in FIG. 3E in the turn mechanism 1, the lift motor 21 drives the lift stage 20 to start rising. The lift stage 20
It contacts the optical disk cartridge 4 through the through hole 54 formed in the latch portion 51. At this point, the optical disc cartridge 4 is released from the biasing force of the plate spring 53, and the optical disc cartridge 4 is lifted by the lift stage 20 by further raising the lift stage 20 (FIG. 5B).

The optical disk cartridge 4 lifted by the lift stage 20 has the cartridge hook 3
The taper 38 of the hook claw 36 of 0 contacts. When the lift stage 22 continues to rise, the optical disc cartridge 4 gradually pushes the cartridge hook 30 left and right to open it.

When the lift stage 20 is still raised,
The optical disk cartridge 4 reaches the inside of the stacker 3 with the cartridge hook 30 being pushed left and right.
The lower surface of the optical disk cartridge 4 is the hook claw 3.
The cartridge hook 30 that has been pushed to the left and right after passing the taper 38 of No. 6 returns to its original state by the urging force of the coil spring 34. As a result, the optical disk cartridge 4 is supported by the cartridge hook and stored in the stacker 3. Next, the optical disc cartridge 4 lifted by the lift stage 20 is loaded into the stacker 3
From the bottom, the optical disk cartridges 4 previously stored are loaded and stored so as to be pushed up.

When the lift stage 20 finishes storing the optical disk cartridge 4 in the stacker 3, it starts descending and returns to the initial position. At this time, since the optical disc cartridge 4 is supported by the cartridge hook, it stays in the stacker 3 without dropping. When the lift stage 20 returns to the initial position, the motor in the turn mechanism 1 is reversely driven, and the cartridge holder 5 rotates counterclockwise. In this way, the cartridge holder 5 is also returned to the initial position, and the next cartridge holding / conveying operation becomes possible.

In the present embodiment, the object to be conveyed has been described as an optical disk cartridge, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the transported object may be a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, or the like in which a magnetic recording medium is covered with a cartridge. That is, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to all recording / reproducing devices having a function of carrying and storing a cartridge-shaped recording medium.

[0044]

As described above, the cartridge ejecting mechanism of the collective type optical disk device of the present invention applies an urging force to the optical disk cartridge so that the cartridge holder holds the optical disk cartridge and moves the optical disk cartridge. It is released by utilizing the reaction caused by the contact with. For this reason, the complicated take-out mechanism conventionally provided for releasing the holding of the optical disk cartridge becomes unnecessary. As a result, simplification of the device was realized.

Further, in the present invention, the holding of the optical disk cartridge is released at the moment when the rotation operation by the turn mechanism is completed, and the lift operation by the next lift mechanism is immediately started. As a result, the time required for transportation and storage can be greatly reduced.

Further, in the present invention, the movement of the cartridge holder is rotational movement, and the rotation axis is displaced from the center of the cartridge holder, so that the cartridge holder and the optical disk cartridge do not interfere with the operation area of the accessor. In addition, it can be efficiently inverted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical disc cartridge used in a collective type optical disc device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a plan view and (b) is an elevation view.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a cartridge take-out mechanism of the collective optical disc device according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
Is a plan view, and (b) and (c) are elevation views.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a fitted state of an optical disk cartridge and a cartridge holder in the cartridge take-out mechanism of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram that schematically shows the rotation of the turn mechanism from the start to the end of rotation in the cartridge take-out mechanism of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration and operation of a lift mechanism and a stacker in the cartridge take-out mechanism of this embodiment.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing a configuration of an optical disc cartridge used in a conventional collective optical disc device, in which FIG. 6A is a plan view and FIG. 6B is an elevation view.

7A and 7B are diagrams showing a configuration of a conventional collective type optical disc device, wherein FIG. 7A is a plan view, and FIGS. 7B and 7C are elevation views.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-turn mechanism 2 Lift mechanism 3 stacker 4 Optical disk cartridge 5 Cartridge holder 6 rotation axes 10 fixing pin 20 lift stage 30 cartridge hook 33 units 34 coil spring 35 mandrel 36 hook claws

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical disk cartridge, a holder portion that is rotatably supported in a horizontal direction about a rotation shaft, and that integrally fits and holds the optical disk cartridge to integrally rotate, and is formed in the holder portion. Provided in the rotation area of the holder portion and the escape groove, and when the optical disk cartridge and the holder portion rotate integrally, they pass through the escape groove and come into contact with the optical disk cartridge, and the holder portion reacts with the rotation. And a fixing pin for releasing the fitting between the optical disc cartridge and the optical disc cartridge, and a support portion for supporting the optical disc cartridge and a rotation of the holder portion when the fitting release by the fixing pin is completed and the rotary transport mechanism is stopped. A rotary transport mechanism including a rotary drive unit for controlling, and the optical disk cartridge supported by the support unit. The present invention is characterized by having a lift unit that pushes up in a vertical direction and conveys it, a container unit that accommodates the optical disc cartridges conveyed by the lift unit in a stacking manner, and a raising and lowering drive unit that controls the lifting of the lift unit. A cartridge ejecting mechanism for a collective type optical disc device. 2. The collective type according to claim 1, wherein the holder portion of the rotary transport mechanism performs a horizontal rotary motion of at least 180 degrees in a state where the optical disk cartridge is fitted and held. Cartridge ejection mechanism for optical disk device. 3. The holder part has an elliptical shape, and the rotation axis exists at the focal point of the holder part.
And a cartridge ejecting mechanism of the collective optical disc device described in 2.