JP3489101B2 - Loading unit for magneto-optical disk drive - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magneto-optical disk drive using a disk housed in a cartridge as a medium, and more particularly to an improvement in a loading unit thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art A cartridge in which a disk serving as a recording medium is rotatably housed in a protective case and a shutter attached to the protective case is opened only during recording and reproduction is called a cartridge. A magneto-optical disk drive using this cartridge as a recording medium is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-252949. According to FIG. 2 of the publication, the magneto-optical disk apparatus employs a horizontal loading system in which the cartridge 2 is loaded horizontally. According to FIG. 12 (B), the external magnetic field generator 6 is arranged above the disk 1 and moves up and down at that position. [0003] Generally, the position of the operator's eyes is above the disk drive. Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to insert and remove the cartridge in the horizontal loading system as in the above-mentioned conventional magneto-optical disk device. Further, since the external magnetic field generator 6 is arranged above the disk 1 and moves up and down at that position, the height of the magneto-optical disk device increases,
Difficult to make compact. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that makes it easier to insert and remove a cartridge and that can reduce the height of the apparatus. [0004] moved to play a cartridge with a built-in disk position [SUMMARY OF], wherein a loading unit of the magneto-optical disk apparatus for exposing a magnetic head to the disk, the which is manually fed obliquely downward a cartridge carrier for holding the cart <br/> ridges, a center holder which movably receive and support the cart <br/> ridge carrier, having a fixed and a guide groove on a base the
A pair of side play for engaging and supporting the center holder
And a cartridge carrier having a long groove and a pin.
A pair of slide cam for engaging supporting, each of said scan
Ride the cam to each side plate and the center hole.
And a pair of slides to hold each between
A drive plate that spans the cam and each of the slides
Insert the docom pin into the guide groove on each side plate.
Each engaged, the disk the magnetic head while oscillating the center holder moves to the next the cartridge carrier to play a position above from the manual position of the Katori <br/> Tsu di from the inclined position to the horizontal position Face to the top of
Drive force for the pair through the drive plate
To the slide cam and the cartridge carrier
A loading unit for a magneto-optical disk drive, comprising: a transmission unit . When the operator inserts the cartridge obliquely downward, the loading mechanism is operated, the cartridge is pulled in via the cartridge carrier, the center holder is tilted to the horizontal position, and the cartridge is placed on the turntable. And place the magnetic head on the top of the disk. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a magneto-optical disk device according to the present invention. The magneto-optical disk device 1 includes a traverse unit TU and a loading unit LU. The traverse unit TU comprises a turntable 2, a turntable motor 3, an optical pickup 4, cartridge guide pins 5, 6 and the like mounted on a base 7, and the optical pickup 4 and a magnetic head (see FIG. 2) are shown in FIG. Play the role of moving in the front and back direction. On the other hand, the loading unit LU swings up and down about the swing shaft 8 by an angle α. Since the loading unit LU has a rather complicated configuration, it will be described in detail below. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the loading unit of the magneto-optical disk drive according to the present invention. The loading unit LU includes left and right side plates 11 and 12 fixed to the base 7 and slide cams inside these. 1
3 and 14, a drive plate 15 suspended between the slide cams 13 and 14, a center holder 17 having a magnetic head 16, a cartridge carrier 18 slidably contained in the center holder 17, and a center holder 17 Guide 1 mounted from below
9 Next, the engagement relationship between these components will be described. The head pin 14a of the right slide cam 14 is fitted in the guide groove 12a of the right side plate 12.
Thus, the right slide cam 14 moves up and down by sliding on the slope of the guide groove 12a. On the other hand, the center holder 17
The swing shaft 8 at the rear end (as shown in the figure, the operating side is referred to as "front" and the back is referred to as "rear") is swingably supported by the left and right side plates 11, 12. Pin 17 at the front end
a, 17a are vertically elongated holes 11 of the side plates 11, 12
b, 12b. Therefore, the center holder 17 can swing up and down in the range of the vertically long holes 11b and 12b.
Also, a magnetic head pin 16a penetrating the center holder 17
(Extended from the magnetic head 16) is inserted into the step groove 14 b of the slide cam 14. The two pins 14c and 14d protruding from the rear surface of the slide cam 14 are inserted into the lateral grooves 17c and 17d of the center holder 17. The cartridge guide 19 has a pin 19
b (only one pin 19b will be described for simplicity) is fitted into the U-groove 17e of the center holder 17 and then engages with the groove 14e of the slide cam 14. A bent piece 19c is formed at the rear of the cartridge guide 19, and the bent piece 19c is
7 corresponds to the bent piece 17f. On the other hand, a leaf spring 17g is attached to the lower surface of the front portion of the center holder 17. When the slide cam 14 is moved backward by the drive plate 15, the pin 19
b descends at the step 14f of the groove 14e of the slide cam 14. That is, the cartridge guide 19 descends with the bent piece 17f as a fulcrum. This descending operation is promoted by the leaf spring 17g. By this lowering operation, the cartridge 24 (see FIG. 1) is pressed and positioned by the cartridge guide pins 5 and 6 on the base 7 side. The drive plate 15 has its downward pin 1
5a penetrates through the center holder 17 and meshes with a lower cam gear (not shown) so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow, whereby the left and right slide cams 13 and 14 are driven. Reference numeral 15 is the reason why it is called a drive plate. The slide cam 14 moves up and down by the action of the guide groove 12a of the side plate 12 as described above. Although the detailed description is omitted, the left side plate 11 has the same action as the right side plate 12, and the left slide cam 13 is also the right slide cam 1.
This has the same effect as 4. In FIG. 1, SW1 and SW2 are a first switch and a second switch, and SW3 is a drive switch.
L2 and L3 are a first lever, a second lever, and a third lever, and the operation will be described later. FIG. 3 shows the cartridge carrier 18 of the present invention.
The cartridge carrier 18 is separately shown because it is difficult to understand in FIG. Cartridge carrier 18
, Cartridge locking claws 21 and 21 are attached to the left and right of the rear portion. These cartridge locking claws 21 and
1 is urged by a leaf spring 22 in the direction in which the cartridge is locked. The cartridge carrier 18 has a continuous horizontal guide groove 18a and a vertical guide groove 18b on the upper surface, and a gear portion 18c is formed beside the vertical guide groove 18b. The upright piece 18d at the end of the vertical guide groove 18b has a T-shaped head,
It engages with the center holder 17 of FIG. That is, the cartridge carrier 18 is suspended on the center holder 17 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction. FIG. 4 shows the cartridge carrier 18 of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view showing the relationship between the cartridge guide 19 and the cartridge guide 19. The cartridge guide 19 has a guide piece 19a (shown by an imaginary line since it is on the front side in the figure) for guiding a groove 24a of the cartridge 24 shown on the left side of the figure. And a member for receiving the manually inserted cartridge 24 and opening the shutter 26 (see FIG. 5). In the drawing, the cartridge guide 19 is almost stationary only by slightly swinging about a pin 19b (the pin 19b is attached to the center holder 17 as shown in FIG. 2), and the cartridge carrier 18 is left and right. Move in the direction. The locking recess 24b of the cartridge 24
The cartridge 24 is forcibly moved by the cartridge carrier 18 thereafter by being locked on the cartridge locking claw 21 of the cartridge carrier 18. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a cartridge according to the present invention. The cartridge 24 having a groove 24a and locking recesses 24b, 24b rotatably accommodates a disk 25 as a recording medium in a protective case 24c. The shutter 26 attached to the protective case is opened only during recording and reproduction. The window 24d is opened one by one at the top and bottom, and a total of two windows are opened. The optical pickup faces the lower window, and the upper window 24d.
A magnetic head faces d. It is not preferable that the shutter 26 be opened when being carried. Therefore, a shutter lock claw 27 is built in the cartridge 24. The shutter lock claw 27 contacts the fixed end 28 and is held at the position shown in the figure by the elastic force of the resin spring portion 27b.
a, one end of the shutter 26 is engaged with the shutter 2.
6 is locked. The shutter lock claw 27 is pushed by a guide piece 19a at the rear of the cartridge guide 19 shown in the upper right of the figure and rotates clockwise to be in an unlocked state. Subsequently, the guide piece 19a forcibly opens the shutter 26. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the loading mechanism of the present invention. The loading mechanism 30 which is the driving mechanism of the loading unit LU includes a first gear 31 disposed on the back surface of the center holder 17 (below the top plate). (They are rotated by a not-shown low-dig motor via a pulley.) A second gear 32 meshing with the second gear 32, and arc grooves 32 a of the second gear 32.
Third gear 3 having pins 33a, 33a inserted into 32a
3, a large-diameter cam gear 34 meshing with the third gear 33, a fourth gear 35 meshing with the cam gear 34, and a fifth gear meshing with this.
A gear 36, a gear plate 37 that meshes with the gear 36 and moves linearly
Consists of The pin 37 hanging from the gear plate 37
a engages with the horizontal guide groove 18a (or the vertical guide groove 18b) of the cartridge carrier 18, and the fifth gear 3
6 meshes with the gear portion 18c of the cartridge carrier 18. The cam gear 34 is provided with a drive groove 34a for driving the drive plate 15, a first groove 34b for the first switch SW1, and a second groove 34c for the second switch SW2. The phase relationship between the gears and the grooves in FIG. 6 is not accurate. The operation diagram described later is positive. As shown in FIG. 6, this embodiment is characterized in that the large and small gear groups related to the loading mechanism 30 are all arranged on the back surface of the center holder 17. Conventionally, many such gear groups are housed in a fixed chassis (corresponding to the base in FIG. 1). However, since the chassis contains the same drive mechanism as the optical pickup, various printed circuit boards, and the like, if a loading mechanism is added to the chassis, the volume of the chassis must be increased. In this regard, the present embodiment is different from FIG.
Since the loading unit LU and the traverse unit TU are divided up and down and the loading mechanism is housed in the loading unit LU as shown in, the chassis side can have a simple configuration, and therefore the overall height of the apparatus can be reduced. Can be. The operation of the loading unit of the magneto-optical disk drive having the above configuration will be described below. In FIG. 1, the cartridge 24 is manually inserted obliquely downward from above. Cartridges 24 that the cartridge guide 19 has passed <br/> as described in FIG. 4 the back of the cartridge carrier 18
Hit. At this time, the cartridge carrier 18 is pushed. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view when the cartridge is loaded. When the cartridge carrier 18 is pushed,
Each gear rotates in the direction of the arrow in the order of the fifth gear 36 → the fourth gear 35 → the cam gear 34. As a result, the first lever L1
Rotates left, and the first switch SW1 is switched (this state is referred to as the first switch SW1 being turned on). The loading motor (not shown) is started by the ON signal of the first switch SW1, and the first gear 31 → the second gear 32 → the third gear 33 → the cam gear 34 → the fourth gear 35 →
Each gear is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure in the order of the fifth gear 36. The fifth gear 36 moves the cartridge carrier 18 in the direction of the arrow via the gear portion 18c. During this time, the drive plate 15 remains stationary and the center holder 1
7 remains obliquely downward as in FIG. The second
The switch SW2 is switched only when the cam gear 34 rotates clockwise as compared to the figure, and the third switch SW3 is switched when the drive plate 15 moves forward and backward. Further, in FIG. 7, the second gear 32 and the third gear
It is characterized by having “play” between the gear 33 and the gear 33. As a result, the third gear 33 is rotated clockwise by manual feeding. Pin 33a of third gear 33 and second gear 3
There is a margin in the rotation direction between the second gear 32 and the second arc groove 32a, and the second gear 32 is not forcibly turned. In the present embodiment, the first gear 31 is a worm-type gear. However, by providing the above-mentioned "play", there is no fear of applying an excessive load to the gear train, and the SW1 can be switched with a light manual insertion force. FIG. 8 is a state diagram at the start of the movement of the drive plate. The pin 37a of the gear plate 37 moves from the vertical guide groove 18b to the horizontal guide groove 18a. As a result, the gear plate 37 starts engaging with the fifth gear 36. Thereafter, the gear plate 37 moves from left to right in the figure, and supports the lateral guide groove 18a during this time. As a result, the cartridge carrier 18 is stopped at a predetermined position (above the play position). On the other hand, the cam gear 34 continuously rotating in the counterclockwise direction
Starts pushing the pin 15a at the end of the drive groove 34a. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the completion of the movement of the drive plate. The drive plate 15 has been moved upward from the bottom of the figure by the action of the cam gear 34. This movement corresponds to the arrow in FIG. The slide cams 13 and 14 forcibly moved by 15 slide and descend along the guide grooves 12a. With this, the center holder 17
Is horizontal. At the same time, the step groove 14 of the slide cam 14
The action of b lowers the magnetic head pin 16a. The above operation will be described again simply again in the next figure. FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (d) are action diagrams of the loading unit of the present invention.
The cartridge 24 is manually inserted obliquely downward. The center holder 17 is in an inclined state, the magnetic head 16 is at a standby position, and the slide cam 14 is at a front position. FIG.
(B) shows that the cartridge 24 has reached the play position. FIG. 10C shows that the slide cam 14 is being slid, and FIG. 10D shows that the cartridge 24 has been mounted on the turntable 2 and the magnetic head 16 has moved down to approach the disk. The recording / reproducing operation is performed subsequently to FIG. As shown in FIG. 10A, since the cartridge 24 can be manually inserted obliquely downward, the operation becomes easier as compared with the conventional horizontal loading. Magnetic head 1
6 moves up and down.
And only the lower half of FIG. 10C → FIG. 10D operates alone. That is, the magnetic head 16
Self-elevation stroke is halved compared to the conventional one,
Accordingly, the height of the device can be reduced accordingly. FIG.
As shown in (a) to (d), the operator simply inserts the cartridge 24 lightly, and the loading unit LU performs a series of operations for retracting the cartridge, lowering the cartridge, and operating the magnetic headset. Is extremely easy. As described above, according to the present invention, since the cartridge can be manually inserted obliquely downward, the operation of charging and extracting the cartridge becomes easier as compared with the conventional horizontal loading . .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a magneto-optical disk drive of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a loading unit of the magneto-optical disk drive according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cartridge carrier of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing the relationship between a cartridge carrier and a cartridge guide of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a loading mechanism of the present invention. Explanatory drawing at the time of loading the cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a state diagram at the start of movement of the drive plate according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a state diagram at the completion of movement of the drive plate according to the present invention. FIG. Action Diagram [Description of References] 1 ... Magneto-optical disk drive, 11, 12 ... Side plate, 13, 14 ... Slide cam, 15 ... Drive plate, 16 ... Magnetic head, 17 Center holder, 18 ... cartridge carrier, 19 ... cartridge guide, 24
... Cartridge, 24a ... Protective case, 25 ... Disk, 26 ... Shutter, 30 ... Loading mechanism, 34 ...
Cam gear, LU: loading unit, TU: traverse unit.

Claims (1)

(57) The Claims 1. A cartridge with a built-in disk moves to play position, a loading unit of the magneto-optical disk apparatus for exposing a magnetic head to the disk,
A cartridge carrier for holding the cartridge, which is manually fed obliquely downward, said has a center holder which movably receive and support said cartridge carrier, a fixed and a guide groove on the base Sentaho
The cartridge carrier has a pair of side plates for engaging and supporting the holder , a long groove and a pin.
A pair of slide cams for supporting, and each slide cam, each side plate and the
To hold each between the pair of
A drive plate to be wound around the slide cam and a pin of each slide cam are connected to the
Respectively, and engage the cartridge carrier.
Passing said drive plate a driving force to face the magnetic head on the upper surface of the disk while swinging the tilted position the center holder moves to a play position above the next to the horizontal position from the manual position of the cartridge
The pair of slide cams and the cartridge carry
The loading unit of the magneto-optical disk apparatus characterized by comprising a transmitting means for transmitting the A.