JP3686536B2 - Cartridge for information recording disk - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cartridge for accommodating an information recording medium, and more particularly to a cartridge for an information recording medium having a wide label area and an increased rigidity of the cartridge.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Compact discs (CD), magneto-optical recording media (MO), digital versatile discs (DVDs) are available as information recording media capable of recording large amounts of digital information such as music, video, images, and computer data at high density. ) And magnetic recording media such as hard disks are used. Among these information recording media, there is a type of media that is stored in a cartridge and recorded / reproduced in order to prevent dust from adhering to or scratching the medium.
[0003]
A cartridge that accommodates this type of information recording medium is generally composed of a pair of cases, an upper case and a lower case. Both sides or one side of the cartridge are provided with an opening for inserting a drive shaft and an opening for head access for allowing a recording or reproducing head to access an information recording medium in the cartridge. The opening for inserting the drive shaft is provided at the center of the cartridge, and the head access opening is provided along the insertion direction when the cartridge is inserted into the recording / reproducing apparatus. The cartridge is further provided with a shutter that closes the entire opening so that dust and the like do not enter from the opening. The shutter has a U-shaped or L-shaped cross-sectional shape, and slides in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction when the cartridge is inserted into the recording / reproducing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as the cartridge insertion direction). It is possible to move. The shutter is movable only on either the left or right side of the cartridge center line in the cartridge insertion direction, or on both the left and right sides. When the cartridge is inserted into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter slides open, and when the cartridge is ejected from the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter closes.
[0004]
As a cartridge having such a structure, for example, a cartridge 200 having a drive shaft insertion opening 5 and a head access opening 6 continuously formed as shown in FIG. 7 is known. . The cartridge 200 shown in FIG. 7 is a type of cartridge in which the shutter is movable to the left and right sides with respect to the cartridge center line in the cartridge insertion direction. The cartridge 200 further includes a guide plate 7 ′. The guide plate 7 'is provided below the end of the opening 5 for inserting the drive shaft. A predetermined gap is formed between the guide plate 7 'and the surface of the shutter sliding area 8 of the cartridge. By inserting the front end portion 4f of the shutter into this gap, the front end portion 4f of the shutter is opened and closed. Guide in the direction. As shown in FIG. 7, when the cartridge is connected to the drive shaft insertion opening 5 and the head access opening 6 in the shape of a long hole, the length of the shutter 4 is such that the long hole-shaped opening is blocked. Therefore, when the cartridge 200 is in a horizontal state, the front end portion 4f of the shutter is easily warped and deflected by its own weight, but the front end portion 4f of the shutter is warped and bent by the guide plate 7 '. It is prevented.
[0005]
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-219479, a shutter pressing plate for preventing the free end of the shutter plate from being lifted is fixed to the cartridge case with a double-sided tape, so that the space between the shutter pressing plate and the concave surface of the cartridge case is fixed. There is disclosed a cartridge in which the size of the gap formed in is fixed and the slidability of the shutter is kept good.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the cartridge as shown in FIG. 7, a label area 9 ′ is provided at the lower part of the portion where the shutter slides. In the label area 9 ′, recorded contents recorded on the information recording medium in the cartridge can be displayed. However, in the cartridge shown in FIG. 7, in order to insert the front end 4a of the shutter into the guide plate 7, the length of the shutter in the vertical direction is longer than the length of the long hole-shaped opening. Since the shutter is configured, there is a problem that the label sliding area becomes narrow while the shutter sliding area becomes wide. In particular, when the information recording medium and the cartridge that accommodates the information recording medium are further downsized for the purpose of portability, the label area of the cartridge is further narrowed, and it is extremely difficult to display the recorded contents of the information recording medium sufficiently. Become. Therefore, there has been a strong demand for making the label area as wide as possible.
[0007]
Further, in the conventional cartridge, the cartridge surface portion on which the shutter slides is formed to be recessed to the same extent as the thickness of the shutter so that the shutter does not protrude from the cartridge surface. That is, the shutter sliding portion is thinner than the other portions by the thickness of the shutter. For this reason, as described above, the cartridge in which the opening for driving shaft insertion and the opening for head access are integrated, or the type in which the shutter can move on both sides with respect to the cartridge center line in the cartridge insertion direction. In the case of the cartridge, there is also a problem that the area of the thin portion is widened and the rigidity of the cartridge is weakened.
[0008]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a cartridge for an information recording medium capable of securing a wide label area.
[0009]
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge for an information recording medium in which the area of the thin portion is reduced and the cartridge rigidity is increased.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, in the cartridge for housing the information recording disk,
A cartridge case in which a first opening for inserting a drive shaft and a second opening for access by a recording or reproducing head of an information recording disk are formed;
A shutter for sliding on the surface of the cartridge case to open and close the first opening and the second opening;
A guide plate for guiding the end of the shutter on the first opening side between the cartridge surface and the guide plate,
A cartridge is provided, wherein the guide plate is provided adjacent to the first opening and has a shape cut out so as to expose the first opening.
[0011]
In the cartridge of the present invention, the guide plate is provided adjacent to the opening for inserting the drive shaft. The guide plate has a shape that exposes the opening for inserting the drive shaft. That is, since the guide plate has the notch 7b as shown in FIG. 1, even if the guide plate is provided closer to the drive shaft insertion opening than the conventional cartridge, the guide plate covers the opening. And will not interfere with the drive shaft. On the other hand, since both sides of the notch 7b of the guide plate 7 guide the shutter between the cartridge surface (the surface of the shutter sliding area 8), the guide plate sufficiently performs the guide function. By using such a guide plate, the label area can be enlarged by narrowing the distance between the guide plate and the end of the opening for inserting the drive shaft. Further, since the length of the shutter in the cartridge insertion direction can be made shorter than before, the area of the shutter sliding area is reduced, that is, the thin portion is reduced, and as a result, the rigidity of the cartridge is increased. Furthermore, the cartridge can be reduced in weight by shortening the shutter length.
[0012]
In the present invention, the term “guide plate” means any member that can be guided by being sandwiched between the end of the shutter on the drive shaft insertion opening and the cartridge case, and is fitted into the cartridge case. May be formed integrally with the cartridge case, or may be provided by being bonded to the cartridge case as a separate member, and may have any size and shape as long as the effects of the present invention are exhibited.
[0013]
In the cartridge of the present invention, the shape of the notched portion of the guide plate may be an arbitrary shape such as a V shape or a U shape as long as it does not cover the opening for inserting the drive shaft. Preferably, the shape is substantially the same as part of the opening for inserting the drive shaft.
[0014]
As the material constituting the cartridge of the present invention, particularly the cartridge case, any material such as hard vinyl chloride resin, polypropylene, polyethylene, ABS resin, polycarbonate, polyacryl methacrylic resin, silicone resin, plastic, and ceramic can be used. . As a material constituting the shutter, plastic such as polypropylene, ABS resin, polycarbonate, polyacetal, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, ceramic plate, and the like can be used. The shape of the shutter can be formed into an L shape or a U shape.
[0015]
The recording disk applied to the cartridge of the present invention includes a magneto-optical recording medium, a phase change optical recording medium, a rewritable recording medium such as a hard disk, a write-once optical recording medium such as a CD-R, a DVD, Any of read-only recording media such as CDs, magnetic disks, flexible disks, and magnetic cards may be used.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of an information recording medium cartridge according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
As a specific example of the cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a DVD-RAM cartridge, FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section viewed from the YY direction in the plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows a partially enlarged sectional view in which the vicinity is enlarged. The cartridge 100 includes a DVD-RAM 3 and a cartridge case 10 that accommodates the DVD-RAM 3. The DVD-RAM 3 has a diameter of about 80 mm and a thickness of 1.2 mm, and a center hole (not shown) into which a drive shaft (spindle) of a drive device (not shown) is inserted is formed in the center of the disk.
[0018]
The cartridge case 10 is composed of two case parts, an upper case 1 that appears in front of the sheet of FIG. 1 and a lower case 2 that exists on the side of the sheet of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper case 1 and the lower case 2 have a substantially symmetric structure with respect to a center line BB that bisects the cartridge case 10 in the thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 1, an opening 5a into which the drive shaft is inserted and a rectangular head access opening 6a formed so as to be connected to the opening 5a are formed in the central portion of the upper case 1. Is formed. Since the upper case 1 and the lower case 2 have a symmetrical structure as described above, the drive case insertion opening 5b and the head access opening 6b are also provided in the lower case 2 in the same manner as the upper case 1. Is formed.
[0019]
The cartridge 100 further includes a shutter 4 that can simultaneously open and close the head access openings 6a and 6b. As shown in FIG. 2, the shutter 4 includes shutter plates 4a and 4b that can cover the head access openings 6a and 6b, respectively, and a connecting portion 4c that connects the shutter plates 4a and 4b. . The shutter plates 4a and 4b are formed with dimensions that can cover the drive shaft insertion openings 5a and 5b and the head access openings 6a and 6b, respectively, when the shutter is closed. The front end portions 4c and 4d of the shutter plates 4a and 4b are formed thinner than other portions of the shutter plate so that they can be inserted into a guide plate described later. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the description will be made with the upper case 1 as the center, and the description of the lower case 2 having the same structure will be omitted as appropriate.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 1, the left and right regions of the head access opening 6a define a shutter sliding area 8 on which the shutter 4 slides. The surface of the shutter sliding area 8 is formed inwardly from the outer peripheral region 50 of the upper case 1 by the thickness of the shutter 4 in the thickness direction of the cartridge case 10. The length of the shutter sliding area 8 in the cartridge insertion direction is substantially the same as the length of the shutter plate 4a in the cartridge insertion direction.
[0021]
Inside the cartridge case 10, elastic members 60a and 60b made of a spring or the like are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the elastic member 60 a is locked to a locking portion (not shown) provided in the upper right portion of the shutter 4, and the other end is provided in the upper right portion of the cartridge case 10. It is locked to a locking portion (not shown). Similarly, one end of the elastic member 60b is locked to a locking portion (not shown) provided at the upper left portion of the shutter 4, and the other end is not provided at the upper right portion of the cartridge case 10. Locked to the illustrated locking portion. By these elastic members 60a and 60b, the shutter 4 is urged in the direction of closing the drive shaft insertion opening 5a and the head access opening 6a.
[0022]
A label area 9 is provided below the shutter sliding area 8 of the cartridge case 10. The label area 9 is formed so as to be recessed inward from the outer peripheral region 50 of the upper case 1 so that a sticker or the like indicating recorded contents recorded on the DVD-RAM can be attached. Between the shutter sliding area 8 and the label area 9, there is a boundary portion 70 having the same height as the outer peripheral area of the upper case 1 in order to divide the areas.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 1, a flat guide plate 7 is fitted on the surface of the upper case 1 below the drive shaft insertion opening 5a. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide plate 7 includes a support portion 7c, a guide portion 7d, and an embedded portion 7e. The support portion 7c is fitted so as to be continuous with the boundary portion 70, and the surface of the support portion 7c is formed so as to be flush with the surface of the boundary portion 70. Thus, the support portion 7c forms a part of the boundary portion 70. It is composed. The guide portion 7d extends upward from the support portion 7c, the back surface of the guide portion 7d is separated from the surface of the shutter sliding area 8, and the front end portion of the shutter plate is between the surface of the shutter sliding area 8. A gap into which 4c can be inserted is defined. On the other hand, the embedded portion 7 e extends from the support portion 7 c to the label area 9 side, and is formed so that the surface thereof is flush with the surface of the label area 9. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the guide plate 7 has a length longer than the lateral width of the shutter plate 4a in the direction perpendicular to the cartridge insertion direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the side edge portion 7a on the shutter side of the guide plate 7 has a cutout portion 7b cut out along the lower end of the drive shaft insertion opening 5a. The front end portion 4 c of the shutter plate is inserted into the gap between the shutter sliding area 8 and the guide plate 7, and the front end portion 4 c of the shutter plate slides along the guide plate 7. Accordingly, in the vertical direction of FIG. 1, the guide region 4g of the shutter 4 guided by the guide portion 7d of the guide plate 7 can be overlapped with the opening 5a. This makes it possible to shorten the length of the shutter in the vertical direction. Since the notch 7b is provided in the guide plate 7, the drive shaft (spindle) does not interfere with the guide plate 7 when inserted into the central opening of the disk in the cartridge. Since the mounting position of the guide plate is adjusted as described above, the label area can be widened as compared with the conventional cartridge. Further, since the length of the shutter can be shortened, a thin shutter sliding area can be reduced and the rigidity of the cartridge can be improved.
[0024]
Although the cartridge according to the present invention has been specifically described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a cartridge of a type in which the shutter moves in both directions with respect to the case center line passing through the drive shaft insertion opening and the head access opening, as shown in FIG. The present invention can also be applied to the type of cartridge 300 in which the shutter 34 moves only to one side with respect to the case center line YY.
[0025]
In the above embodiment, the guide plate 7 is formed by fitting into the cartridge case 10, but the guide plate 7 may be formed integrally with the cartridge case 10, or the guide plate 7 may be manufactured as a separate part. It is also possible to attach to the cartridge case 10 afterwards.
[0026]
As a modification of the above embodiment, for example, a holder 40 as shown in FIG. 5 is provided on the lower side surface of the cartridge case 10 in FIG. It is also possible to replace the information recording disk. The outlet portion of the holder 40 is formed so as to be narrower than the outer diameter of the disk 42, and prevents the disk 42 from falling from the holder 40 even if the disk 42 is inadvertently taken out. Further, the holder 40 is provided with a disc holding projection 41 for holding a side edge portion of the disc in the horizontal direction of the drawing. Thus, when the disk 42 is inserted into the cartridge case together with the holder 40, it does not interfere with the head access opening of the cartridge case.
[0027]
As yet another modification, a lid may be provided on the lower side surface of the cartridge case in FIG. 1 so that the information recording disk can be taken out from the lid.
[0028]
Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the guide plate as shown in FIG. 1, and various shapes of guide plates as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (c) can be applied. is there.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the cartridge of the present invention, the guide plate is adjacent to the drive shaft insertion opening formed in the cartridge case, and a part of the guide plate is cut out so as to expose the opening. Therefore, the position of the guide plate can be moved toward the center of the cartridge as compared with the prior art, and the area of the label area can be increased. Further, the length of the shutter can be shortened, the rigidity of the cartridge can be improved, and the weight of the cartridge can be reduced. Furthermore, since the guide plate is notched, the sliding area between the shutter and the guide plate is reduced, and the shutter can be slid with less force. Therefore, the cartridge of the present invention is very suitable for an information recording medium that is miniaturized for convenience of carrying, for example, a cartridge for accommodating an information recording medium having a diameter of about 50 mm to 130 mm.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a cartridge according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cartridge in FIG. 1 as viewed from the YY direction.
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a guide plate of the cartridge in FIG.
4 is a schematic plan view of a cartridge of a type in which a shutter moves to one side with respect to a case center line YY passing through a drive shaft insertion opening and a head access opening, which is a modification of the cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a cartridge case and a holder that is detachably provided so that an information recording disk accommodated in the cartridge can be replaced.
6 is a view showing a specific example of the shape of the guide plate in the cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 6 (a) is a guide plate having a semicircular cutout, and FIG. A guide plate having a V-shaped cutout, and FIG. 6C is a guide plate composed of two members.
FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a conventional cartridge.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper case 2 Lower case 3 Information recording disk 4 Shutter 4a, 4b Shutter board 4c, 4d Shutter board front-end | tip part 5a, 5b Drive shaft insertion opening 6a, 6b Head access opening 7 Guide plate 8 Shutter sliding area 9 Label area 100, 300, 500 Cartridge

Claims (11)

In a cartridge for accommodating an information recording disk,
A cartridge case in which a first opening for inserting a drive shaft and a second opening for access by a recording or reproducing head of an information recording disk are formed;
A shutter for sliding on the surface of the cartridge case to open and close the first opening and the second opening;
A guide plate for guiding the end of the shutter on the first opening side between the cartridge surface and the guide plate,
A cartridge characterized in that the guide plate is provided adjacent to the first opening and has a shape cut out so as to expose the first opening. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the notched portion of the guide plate has a shape similar to that of a part of the first opening. 3. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the guide plate is provided at a position partially overlapping with the first opening in a direction in which the first and second openings are connected. The guide area of the shutter guided by the guide plate has a dimension that partially overlaps the first opening in a direction connecting the first opening and the second opening. 4. The cartridge according to any one of 3. The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the guide plate is integrally formed on a surface of the cartridge case. The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first and second openings are respectively provided on both surfaces of the cartridge case. 7. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the shutter has a U-shaped cross section so that the first and second openings respectively provided on both surfaces of the cartridge case can be opened and closed simultaneously. A cartridge according to claim 1. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the shutter is movable to the left and right sides with respect to a case center line passing through the first and second openings. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein one side surface of the cartridge case is configured by an openable / closable lid. The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a holder that holds the information recording disk inside the cartridge and is detachable from the cartridge. The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising an information recording disk inside the cartridge.

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