JP6063229B2 - Disc stack and disc cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk stack and a disk cartridge.

  In recent years, with an increase in the amount of information handled by computers, it is desired to further increase the capacity of storage devices that store information. Examples of the storage device mainly include a disk-shaped storage medium such as a hard disk and an optical disk, and a tape-shaped storage medium such as a magnetic tape.

  A disk-shaped storage medium has a smaller total recording area than a tape-shaped storage medium. For this reason, when the recording density is the same, it is difficult to make the recording capacity per disk cartridge larger than the recording capacity per tape cartridge.

  In view of this, a method for increasing the recording capacity by stacking and storing a large number of discs in one disc cartridge in a vertical direction has been developed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 increases the number of thin discs that can be accommodated by combining a small cartridge that houses a stack of 10 thin discs and a large cartridge that can contain 10 small cartridges. A configuration in which a spacer is interposed between each thin disk is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a disk laminate in which air-permeable spacers are inserted between thin disks and stacked so that the thin disks do not directly contact each other (for example, Patent Document 2). reference).

  Further, in the disk changer having the disk cartridge and the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, after the uppermost thin disk of the disk stack of the disk cartridge is taken out by the transport operation of the suction transport member, the thin film The disc is transported to the disc tray of the optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus, so that a large amount of information can be recorded / reproduced.

  In the above Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the disk of the disk cartridge is transported to the disk tray of the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus, first, the spacer placed on the top of the disk stack is sucked by the suction cup of the suction transport member. It is transported to the spacer stocker installed at the location. Thereafter, the uppermost disk of the disk stack is sucked by the suction cup of the suction conveying member and conveyed to the disk tray of the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus.

  However, when the spacer or the thin disk is sucked by the suction cup of the suction conveyance member as described above, the spacer and the thin disk may be in close contact with each other. In that case, if the suction conveyance member adsorbs the spacer or the thin disk and lifts it upward, the spacer and the thin disk which are in close contact with each other rise together, which causes a problem that the conveyance work cannot be performed efficiently.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a disk stack and a disk cartridge that solve the above problems.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following means.

The present invention is a disk laminate in which a plurality of thin disks and a plurality of spacers sucked and transported by a suction transport member are alternately stacked one by one,
At least one or more air inflow holes for allowing air to flow between the thin disk and the spacer in an area closer to the center than an area where the suction conveyance member contacts among areas facing the thin disk of the spacer It is characterized by being provided in.

  According to the present invention, air flows into the space between the thin disk and the spacer through the air inflow hole provided in the spacer and air permeability is improved. The spacer and the thin disk can be prevented from being conveyed together. As a result, the spacer and the thin disk can be sucked separately, and the spacer and the thin disk can be smoothly taken out by the sucking and transporting member, and the transport efficiency when transporting the thin disk from the disk cartridge to the recording / reproducing apparatus. Can be increased.

It is a perspective view for demonstrating schematic structure of the disk changer to which Embodiment 1 of the disk laminated body and disk cartridge by this invention was applied. FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining a state in which the disk tray of the disk cartridge is pulled out. It is a side view for demonstrating a disk laminated body. It is the top view which looked at the thin optical disk from the upper part. It is a top view for demonstrating the spacer produced in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the suction cup of a disk conveyance mechanism. It is a top view for demonstrating the suction cup contact area | region in a thin optical disk. It is a top view for demonstrating the suction cup contact area | region in the spacer produced in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (the 1) of a disc conveyance mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (the 2) of a disc conveyance mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (the 3) of a disk conveyance mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (the 4) of a disk conveyance mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (the 5) of a disk conveyance mechanism. It is a top view for demonstrating the spacer produced in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a top view for demonstrating the spacer produced in Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a schematic configuration of a disk changer to which Embodiment 1 of a disk laminate and a disk cartridge according to the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the direction perpendicular to the floor on which the disk changer 10 is installed is defined as the Z-axis direction, and the two directions perpendicular to each other in the plane parallel to the floor are defined as the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. And

  The disk changer 10 includes a disk transport mechanism 100, a disk cartridge 700, four drive devices 800, a control device (not shown), and the like.

  The control device includes a CPU, a program written in a code decodable by the CPU, a ROM storing various data of the program, a RAM as a working memory, and a host device (for example, a personal computer). It has a communication interface for controlling communication.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining a state where the disk tray 710 of the disk cartridge 700 is pulled out. As shown in FIG. 2, the disk cartridge 700 includes, for example, 10 stages of disk trays 710 stacked in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction). Further, the disk cartridge 700 is provided with a door 730 that rotates in the vertical direction to open and close the front side (+ X axis direction side) of each disk tray 710. In addition, the disc tray 710 is provided with a placement portion 712 made of a circular recess on which the disc stack 20 is placed, and a U-shaped opening 714 extending from the front side to the vicinity of the center. As will be described later, the disk laminate 20 according to the present invention is laminated with spacers between the thin disks so that the thin disks do not adhere to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each disk tray 710 is provided so as to be movable in the horizontal direction (X-axis direction), and can be accommodated at a recording / reproducing position in the housing 720 of the disk cartridge 700. It is possible to move to a disk replacement position pulled out from 720. Further, in the disk cartridge 700, the drive devices 800 are arranged to face each other in the direction in which the disk tray 710 is pulled out (X-axis direction).

  When a disk is exchanged, an arbitrary disk tray 710 is pulled out in a direction close to the drive tray 810 of the drive device 800 (+ X axis direction). Then, the disk transport mechanism 100 sucks and transports the uppermost thin optical disk of the disk stack 20 placed on the disk tray 710 to the drive tray 810 pulled out from the drive device 800.

  FIG. 3 is a side view for explaining the disk stack 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the disk stack 20 has, for example, ten thin optical disks (thin disks) 21 and spacers 22 stacked alternately. In the disk stack 20, the spacer 22 is also disposed at the lowest position (−Z axis direction side) in contact with the disk tray 710. Therefore, in the disk stack 20 mounted on the mounting portion 712 of the disk tray 710, the lowermost spacer 22 comes into contact with the mounting portion 712, and the lowermost thin optical disk 21 directly contacts the disk tray 710. It is configured not to. In this embodiment, the case where a thin optical disk is used will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a thin disk made of a magnetic disk, for example, may be used.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view of the thin optical disk as viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 4, the thin optical disk 21 is formed in a disk shape having an outer diameter L11 as an example, and has a center hole 21b having a diameter L12 at the center of a disk-shaped plane 21a. In this embodiment, as an example, the outer diameter of the thin optical disk 21 is L11 = 120 mm, and the inner diameter of the center hole 21b is L12 = 15 mm.

  The thin optical disk 21 is formed by laminating a recording film on a plastic film having a thickness of about 0.2 mm, and has no air permeability. Moreover, the disk-shaped flat surface 21a is formed in the smooth surface without an unevenness | corrugation in the surface.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining the spacer produced in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the spacer 22 is formed in a disk shape having an outer diameter L21 as an example, and has a center hole 22b having a diameter L22 at the center of a disk-shaped plane 22a. In the first embodiment, as an example, the outer diameter of the spacer 22 is L21 = 123 mm, and the inner diameter of the center hole 22b is L22 = 15 mm. Therefore, the spacer 22 is formed so that the outer diameter L21 is larger than the outer diameter L11 of the thin optical disk 21 (L21> L11), and can cover the entire disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21.

  The spacer 22 is made of, for example, paper having a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, or any resin film such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyolefin, polyacetal, polyester, polystyrene, polyvinyl, polyamide, polyurethane, acrylic, butyral, and epoxy.

  Further, the spacer 22 is provided with a plurality of air inflow holes 22 c for allowing air to flow between the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 around the center hole 22 b. In the first embodiment, as an example, ten air inflow holes 22c having an inner diameter L23 are provided at positions on a concentric circle having a radius of 17 mm (diameter L24 = 34 mm) from the center. Further, the air inflow holes 22c are arranged at equal intervals on the same radius formed in the circumferential direction. In the present embodiment, the air inflow holes 22c are provided at intervals of an angle θ = 36 °. Note that the number of air inflow holes 22c is not limited to the above ten, and it is sufficient that at least one air inflow hole 22c is provided.

Since the inner diameter L23 of each air inflow hole 22c in this case is set to 5 mm, the total opening area of all the air inflow holes 22c is 196.25 mm ² , which corresponds to the area of the disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21. The area ratio of all the air inflow holes 22c is 1.767%.

  Further, as the step of drilling each air inflow hole 22c in the disc-shaped flat surface 22a of the spacer 22, a forming method by pressing a jig having a plurality of cylindrical blades with a press machine or a punching method is more desirable. . By punching each air inflow hole 22c by this die cutting method or punching method, a burr along the peripheral portion of each air inflow hole 22c is generated in the punching direction. That is, a minute gap (between the disk-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disks 21 and the disk-shaped flat surface 22a of the spacer 22 stacked on each other due to the presence of burrs protruding in the stacking direction from the peripheral portion of each air inflow hole 22c. An air layer) is formed. Therefore, the air permeability between the spacers 22 and the thin optical disks 21 to be stacked is improved by the burrs of the air inflow holes 22c protruding in the stacking direction, and the adhesion with the thin optical disks 21 is suppressed.

  In the disk laminate 20, the plurality of thin optical disks 21 and the plurality of spacers 22 are stacked so that their center holes 21b and 22b coincide with each other in plan view.

  Here, returning to FIG. 1 described above, the drive device 800 will be described. In the present embodiment, four drive devices 800 are stacked in the vertical direction. A spacer stocker 400 including a circular recess for temporarily storing the spacer 22 taken out from the disk stack 20 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 820 of the uppermost drive device 800.

  Each drive device 800 includes a drive tray 810 on which the thin optical disk 21 is placed, and a drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the drive tray 810 in the horizontal direction (X-axis direction). Each drive device 800 is arranged to face the front side of the disk cartridge 700, and is arranged so that the drive tray 810 is pulled out in the direction close to the disk cartridge 700 (−X axis direction).

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining a suction cup of the disk transport mechanism 100. As shown in FIG. 6, the disk transport mechanism 100 includes a lifting shaft 110 extending in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), and a block shape attached to the lower end (−Z-axis direction side end portion) of the lifting shaft 110. The suction cup holding member 120 and three suction cups (adsorption conveyance members) 130 as adsorption conveyance members are provided. Each suction cup 130 is held on the lower surface (surface on the −Z axis direction side) of the suction cup holding member 120 so as to face downward (−Z axis direction), and is arranged to have the same radius with respect to the vertical axis. Has been. In addition, although the example which has arrange | positioned the three suction cups 130 is shown in this embodiment, it is not restricted to this, You may arrange | position three or more suction cups 130. FIG.

  The disc transport mechanism 100 connects a drive system (not shown) for moving (lifting) the lifting shaft 110 in the Z-axis direction, a vacuum pump (not shown) for evacuating the suction cup 130, and connecting the vacuum pump and each suction cup 130. An adsorption mechanism including a pipe (not shown), a solenoid valve (not shown) provided in the middle of the pipe, and the like is included.

  The disc transport mechanism 100 can suck the thin optical disc 21 or the spacer 22 by vacuum by opening the suction electromagnetic valve so that a negative pressure by a vacuum pump is introduced to each suction cup 130. Further, by closing the suction electromagnetic valve of the disc transport mechanism 100, the atmosphere is introduced to each suction cup 130, and the suction of the thin optical disc 21 or the spacer 22 can be released.

  Further, the disc transport mechanism 100 has an arm mechanism (not shown) for moving in the horizontal direction. This arm mechanism moves the disk transport mechanism 100 above the disk tray 710 or the drive tray 810 when the thin optical disk 21 or the spacer 22 placed on the disk tray 710 or the drive tray 810 is sucked or released.

  The disk transport mechanism 100 further includes a mechanism (not shown) for inserting / removing each disk tray 710 into / from the housing 720 of the disk cartridge 700.

  FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining the suction cup contact area in the thin optical disk 21. As shown in FIG. 7, the ring-shaped region having the diameters L13 to L14 that is the peripheral portion of the center hole 21b in the thin optical disc 21 is a region that is not used for recording / reproducing information. Each sucker 130 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is arranged so as to adsorb a ring-shaped region having a diameter L13 to L14 on the thin optical disc 21 as a sucker contact region 21c.

  In the suction cup contact area 21c of the present embodiment, for example, the inner boundary is set to a position with a radius of 20 mm from the center, and the outer boundary is set to a position with a radius of 25 mm. That is, the suction cup contact area 21c is set to a diameter L13 (= 40 mm) to L14 (= 50 mm). Further, the setting range of the suction cup contact area 21c is not limited to the range of 40 mm to 50 mm in diameter, and is set as appropriate according to the recording / reproduction standard for the thin optical disk 21.

  FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining the suction cup contact region in the spacer 22 produced in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the sucker contact area 22 d corresponding to the sucker contact area 21 c of the thin optical disk 21 is set in the spacer 22. As with the suction cup contact area 22c of the thin optical disc 21, the suction cup contact area 22d is set, for example, at a position where the inner boundary is a radius of 20 mm from the center and an outer boundary is a position where the radius is 25 mm.

  The spacer 22 is provided with ten air inflow holes 22c at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in a region 22e near the center of the center that is closer to the center than the suction cup contact region 22d. Each air inflow hole 22 c allows air to flow between the disk-shaped flat surface 21 a of the thin optical disc 21 and the spacer 22 when the suction cup contact region 22 d is attracted to each suction cup 130 of the disc transport mechanism 100. Therefore, when pressed by each suction cup 130, the spacer 22 does not adhere to the disk-shaped flat surface 21 a of the thin optical disk 21. Therefore, the spacer 22 is easily peeled off from the thin optical disk 21 and separated from the thin optical disk 21 as the disk transport mechanism 100 is raised. Similarly, when the thin optical disk 21 is sucked and transported by the disk transport mechanism 100, the spacer 22 is also prevented from coming into close contact with the lower surface side of the thin optical disk 21.

Next, a transport procedure by the disk transport mechanism 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
A. [Conveying procedure when the thin optical disk 21 is conveyed from the disk stack 20 of the disk cartridge 700 to all the drive devices 800 and recording or reproduction is performed on the thin optical disk 21]
(Procedure A1) The disk tray 710 is pulled out from the disk cartridge 700.
(Procedure A2) The disk transport mechanism 100 is moved above the pulled-out disk tray 710 (+ Z-axis direction side).
(Procedure A3) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is lowered and the thin optical disk 21 at the top of the disk stack 20 is sucked by the three suction cups 130. Thus, when the suction cup contact area 21c (see FIG. 7) of the thin optical disk 21 is attracted to each suction cup 130 of the disk transport mechanism 100, the thin optical disk 21 is pressed downward. However, air flows between the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 through the air inflow holes 22 c provided in the lower spacer 22. Therefore, even if the thin optical disk 21 is pressed downward by the respective suction cups 130, the thin optical disk 21 does not come into close contact with the lower spacer 22 and floats from the spacer 22 through a minute gap.
(Procedure A4) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is raised to separate the sucked thin optical disk 21 from the disk stack 20 (see FIG. 9).
(Procedure A5) Pull out the drive tray 810.
(Procedure A6) The disk transport mechanism 100 that has attracted the thin optical disk 21 is moved directly above the drawn out drive tray 810 (see FIG. 10).
(Procedure A7) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 adsorbing the thin optical disc 21 is lowered to release the vacuum. Thus, the thin optical disk 21 is placed on the drive tray 810 (see FIG. 11).
(Procedure A8) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is raised.
(Procedure A9) The drive tray 810 is accommodated in the housing 820 of the drive device 800.
(Procedure A10) The disk transport mechanism 100 is moved above the pulled-out disk tray 710 (+ Z-axis direction side).
(Procedure A11) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is lowered, and the three suction cups 130 are brought into contact with the suction cup contact area 22d (see FIG. 8) of the spacer 22 at the top of the disk stack 20, and the spacer 22 is adsorbed. Thus, when the suction cup contact area 22 d of the spacer 22 is adsorbed to each suction cup 130 of the disc transport mechanism 100, air is introduced between the disc-shaped flat surface 21 a of the thin optical disc 21 and the spacer 22 by each air inflow hole 22 c. Inflow. Therefore, even if the spacer 22 is pressed downward by each sucker 130, the spacer 22 does not adhere to the disc-shaped flat surface 21 a of the thin optical disk 21 and is in a state of floating from the thin optical disk 21 through a minute gap.
(Procedure A12) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is raised, and the adsorbed spacer 22 is separated from the disk stack 20. At this time, since the spacer 22 is not in close contact with the thin optical disk 21, only the spacer 22 is sucked and transported by the suction cup 130 of the disk transport mechanism 100.
(Procedure A13) The disk transport mechanism 100 that has attracted the spacer 22 is moved directly above the spacer stocker 400 (see FIG. 12).
(Procedure A14) The disk transport mechanism 100 adsorbing the spacer 22 is lowered to release the vacuum suction to the suction cup 130. As a result, the spacer 22 is placed on the spacer stocker 400 (see FIG. 13).
(Procedure A15) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is raised.
(Procedure A16) The position of the arm in the Z-axis direction is adjusted according to the position of the next drive tray 810 in the Z-axis direction.

  Thereafter, the processes of (Procedure A1) to (Procedure A16) are repeated so that the thin optical disk 21 is set in the drive trays 810 of all the drive devices 800.

Each drive device 800 performs recording or reproduction on each conveyed thin optical disc 21.
B. [Procedure for transporting thin optical disc 21 after recording or reproduction to disc cartridge 700]
(Procedure B1) The position of the arm in the Z-axis direction is adjusted according to the position in the Z-axis direction of the drive tray 810 of the drive device 800 located on the uppermost side (+ Z-axis direction side). Here, the position of the arm in the Z-axis direction is the highest position.
(Procedure B2) The drive tray 810 of the drive device 800 is pulled out.
(Procedure B3) The disk transport mechanism 100 is moved above the drive tray 810 (on the + Z-axis direction side).
(Procedure B4) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is lowered and brought into contact with the suction cup contact area 21c (see FIG. 7) of the thin optical disk 21 on the drive tray 810 with the three suction cups 130. Adsorb. At this time, the thin optical disk 21 is sucked by the suction cups 130 of the disk transport mechanism 100 at the suction cup contact area 21c.
(Procedure B5) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is raised to separate the sucked thin optical disk 21 from the drive tray 810.
(Procedure B6) The drive tray 810 from which the thin optical disk 21 has been taken out is accommodated in the housing 820 of the drive device 800.
(Procedure B7) The disk transport mechanism 100 that has attracted the thin optical disk 21 is moved directly above the disk tray 710.
(Procedure B8) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 adsorbing the thin optical disc 21 is lowered.
(Procedure B9) The suction of the suction cup 130 of the disk transport mechanism 100 that sucks the thin optical disk 21 is released. As a result, the thin optical disk 21 is placed on the disk tray 710.
(Procedure B10) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is raised.
(Procedure B11) The disk transport mechanism 100 is moved directly above the spacer stocker 400.
(Procedure B12) The suction cup holding member 120 is lowered, and the spacers 22 on the spacer stocker 400 are sucked by the three suction cups 130. At this time, a minute gap (air layer) is formed between the spacers 22 by burrs protruding in the stacking direction from the peripheral portions of the air inflow holes 22c. Therefore, the spacers 22 are prevented from coming into close contact with the burrs of the air inflow holes 22c.
(Procedure B13) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is raised, and only the uppermost spacer 22 adsorbed is separated from the spacer stocker 400.
(Procedure B14) The disc transport mechanism 100 that has attracted one spacer 22 is moved directly above the disc tray 710.
(Procedure B15) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 adsorbing the spacer 22 is lowered.
(Procedure B16) The vacuum of the suction cup 130 of the disk transport mechanism 100 that is sucking the spacer 22 is released. Accordingly, the spacer 22 is placed on the uppermost thin optical disc 21 of the disc stack 20 placed on the disc tray 710.
(Procedure B17) The suction cup holding member 120 of the disc transport mechanism 100 is raised.
(Procedure B18) The position of the arm in the Z-axis direction is adjusted according to the position of the next drive tray 810 in the Z-axis direction.

Thereafter, the above (procedure B1) to (procedure B18) are performed so that the thin optical disks 21 on the respective drive trays 810 of all the drive devices 800 and all the spacers 22 on the spacer stocker 400 are placed on the disk tray 710. ) Is repeated.
(Procedure B19) The disc tray 710 is stored in the cartridge 700.

  The above operation is programmed and stored in the ROM of the control device. That is, the above operation is executed by an instruction from the control device.

  As described above, the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 that are attracted and transported by the disk transport mechanism 100 are placed so as to overlap when stored in the disk tray 710, but are separated individually when recording and reproduction are performed. Are transported one by one.

  Therefore, the disk transport mechanism 100 must suck the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 from the disk stack 20 one by one. Here, there are roughly two transport operations by the disk transport mechanism 100. One is operation 1 when the disk transport mechanism 100 sucks the thin optical disk 21, and the other is operation 2 when the disk transport mechanism 100 sucks the spacer 22.

[Operation 1 when the disc transport mechanism 100 sucks the thin optical disc 21]
First, a case where there is a conventional spacer that is not provided with the air inflow hole 22c immediately below the thin optical disk 21 will be described. Since the thin optical disk 21 is a very smooth and non-breathable film-like member, when the three suction cups 130 adsorb the thin optical disk 21, the vicinity of the central portion that is closer to the center than the suction cup contact area 22d (see FIG. 8). The region 22e is sealed and decompressed. Therefore, when the suction cup holding member 120 is raised, a negative pressure is generated between the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 immediately below, and the two remain in close contact with each other. For this reason, as the thin optical disc 21 is raised, the spacer 22 directly below is also raised together, and a phenomenon called “pickup error” occurs. For example, if the suction cup holding member 120 of the disk transport mechanism 100 is raised at a speed of about 3 cm within one second, the spacer 22 directly below may be lifted together with the thin optical disk 21.

  Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the spacer 22 and the thin optical disk 21 are stacked by providing a plurality of air inflow holes 22c on the center side (circumferential side) from the suction cup contact region 22d with which each suction cup 130 contacts. An experiment was conducted to determine whether the so-called lifting phenomenon due to the close contact between the two was eliminated.

  As the thin optical disk 21, a recording film was formed on a polycarbonate film having a thickness of 120 μm by sputtering, and a protective film made of an ultraviolet curable resin was formed.

  Further, the present inventors have carried out forced charging by a corona charger on each of the thin optical disc 21 and the spacer 22 in consideration of the influence of static electricity on the error phenomenon. However, there was no correlation between the presence or absence of charging and the adsorption phenomenon, and it was confirmed that the electrical resistance of the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 was not involved.

  As the number of air inflow holes 22c drilled in the spacer 22 increases, the air inflow effect increases. However, on the other hand, there is a problem that the strength of the central portion of the spacer 22 is reduced and suction conveyance becomes difficult. Therefore, the present inventors have experimentally confirmed by providing holes having various shapes and areas, and the ratio of the total opening area of the air inflow holes 22c to the disk area is in the range of 0.05 to 15%. It was confirmed that it is preferable to drill the air inflow hole 22c. If it is smaller than this range (less than 0.05%), it is difficult to obtain the effect of the air inflow hole 22c, and if it is more than this range (15% or more), it has been found that the spacer strength is lowered and the vacuum conveyance is affected. . The spacer 22 has an area ratio of the total air inflow hole 22c to the area of the disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21 as described above, and is 1.767%. Therefore, the spacer 22 is within the desired 0.05 to 15% range. is there.

  Therefore, when performing the experiment, 10 sets of the disk laminate 20 in which the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 are laminated were prepared. The disc stack 20 was placed on the disc tray 710, and the disc transport mechanism 100 lifted the disc stack 20 to a height of 3 cm in 0.4 seconds, and then held it for 2 seconds.

  Here, when the thin optical disk 21 is lifted by the disk transport mechanism 100, the spacer 22 is lifted together, and after the disk transport mechanism 100 is stopped, the spacer 22 is in close contact with the thin optical disk 21 for one second or more. Is determined that the spacer 22 is “lifted”. As a result, the number of occurrences of lifting is confirmed every 1000 disk movements, and the error rate is obtained. For practical purposes, the error rate is less than 0.5% within the usable range.

  In this experiment, the error rate was confirmed for the spacer 22 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 and the spacers 22A and 22B of the second and third embodiments shown in FIGS.

[About the processing method of the air inlet hole]
Each of the air inflow holes 22c, 22f, and 22g can be processed by a known method such as mechanical drilling, die cutting, punching, chemical etching, sand blasting, electron beam processing, electric discharge processing, and laser drilling. However, it has been found that an inexpensive method is preferable to a costly special processing method, and in particular, a die-cutting method or a punching method that tends to leave burrs after drilling is more preferable. This is presumed to be because a minute gap is formed between the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 due to the presence of burrs, and it is difficult for the pressure to be reduced at the time of adsorption, making it difficult for the two to adhere to each other.

  When the thickness of the spacer 22 is greater than 0.2 mm, the stack thickness (height) of the disk stack 20 is increased, and the number of thin optical disks 21 that can be stored in the disk tray 710 is reduced, so that the disk cartridge 700 The total recording capacity per one is reduced. Therefore, the thickness of the spacer 22 has an upper limit. Actually, it is considered to be equivalent to the thickness of the thin optical disk 21 or up to about twice the thickness, and therefore, the spacer 22 having a thickness of 0.2 mm is considered to be practically suitable.

〔ディスク搬送機構１００がスペーサ２２を吸着するときの動作２について〕
本実施形態の各スペーサ２２（２２Ａ、２２Ｂ）の通気性は、ＪＩＳ−Ｌ−１０９６Ａ法の通気性定義に定められているフラジールＡ法の評価に準拠している。すなわち、圧力差が１２５Ｐａになったときの通過流量を通気性としている。このとき、スペーサ２２の直下には薄型光ディスク２１がある。スペーサ２２の通気性が大きいと、吸盤１３０による真空吸着が不可能となり、ディスク搬送機構１００はスペーサ２２を持ち上げることができない。

[Operation 2 when the disc transport mechanism 100 sucks the spacer 22]
The air permeability of each spacer 22 (22A, 22B) of the present embodiment complies with the evaluation of the Frazier A method defined in the air permeability definition of the JIS-L-1096A method. That is, the passage flow rate when the pressure difference becomes 125 Pa is made air permeable. At this time, the thin optical disk 21 is located directly under the spacer 22. If the air permeability of the spacer 22 is large, vacuum suction by the suction cup 130 becomes impossible, and the disk transport mechanism 100 cannot lift the spacer 22.

  Further, when the exhaust capacity of the vacuum pump is increased, the negative pressure extends to the thin optical disk 21 stacked immediately below the spacer 22, and when the spacer 22 is adsorbed, the thin optical disk 21 directly below may be adsorbed.

As a result, the air permeability of the spacer 22 is preferably 1 cm ³ / cm ² / sec or less, more preferably about 0.5 cc / cm ² / sec. In the case of this embodiment, the error occurrence rate due to rotation of the thin optical disk 21 was 0.1%.

On the other hand, as a comparative example, a spacer 22 made of a polyester nonwoven fabric having a breathability of 2 cm ³ / cm ² / sec was created, and when an experiment under the same conditions as the above experiment was performed, the error rate was 0.8%. It has been found that the thin optical disc 21 is hindered in conveyance.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 14 is a plan view for explaining the spacer produced in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the spacer 22 </ b> A of the second embodiment is provided with one air inflow hole 22 f on the center side (circular side) with respect to the suction cup contact region 22 d with which the three suction cups 130 are in contact. The center distance L26 between the center hole 22b and the air inflow hole 22f is set to 15 mm. Further, since the inner diameter of the air inflow hole 22f is set to L25 = 8 mm, the total opening area of the air inflow hole 22f is 50.24 mm ² , and the air inflow with respect to the area of the disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21 The area ratio of the holes 22f is 0.446%.

  In addition, the area ratio of the total air inflow hole 22c to the area of the disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21 in the spacer 22A is 0.446%, and therefore falls within the desired 0.05 to 15% range.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 15 is a plan view for explaining the spacer produced in Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 15, the spacer 22 </ b> B of the third embodiment is provided with three air inlet holes 22 g on the center side (circumferential side) from the suction cup contact region 22 d with which the three suction cups 130 come into contact. The air inflow holes 22g are provided at intervals of 120 ° at a radius of 15 mm (L28 = 30 mm) from the center. Further, since the inner diameter of the air inflow hole 22g is set to L27 = 6 mm, the total opening area of each air inflow hole 22g is 84.78 mm ² , and the air with respect to the area of the disk-shaped plane 21a of the thin optical disk 21 The area ratio of the inflow hole 22f is 0.756%.

  In addition, the area ratio of the total air inflow hole 22c to the area of the disc-shaped flat surface 21a of the thin optical disk 21 in the spacer 22B is 0.756%, and therefore is within the desired 0.05 to 15% range. The number of air inflow holes 22g is not limited to three, and may be three or less or three or more. Further, the arrangement intervals of the air inflow holes 22g are not limited to equal intervals, and may be arranged at irregular intervals.

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above, the disk changer 10 according to the present embodiment includes the disk transport mechanism 100, the disk cartridge 700, the four drive devices 800, the control device, and the like. In addition, a disc stack 20 in which a plurality of thin optical discs 21 are stacked by inserting spacers 22 between the respective thin optical discs 21 is placed and stored in the disc tray 710 of the disc cartridge 700.

The spacer 22 is a material having a diameter larger than that of the thin optical disk 21 and air permeability of 1 cm ³ / cm ² / second or less. In addition, air inflow holes 22c, 22f, and 22g are formed in the vicinity of the center portion 22e on the center side (center side) with respect to the suction cup contact area 22d with which the three suction cups 130 of the spacer 22 are in contact with each other to ensure air permeability. Can be improved. Thereby, the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 can be reliably separated from the disk stack 20 one by one, and at the same time, troubles when transporting the plurality of thin optical disks 21 and the spacers 22 can be prevented.

  Further, by making the outer diameter L21 of the spacer 22 larger than the outer diameter L11 of the thin optical disk 21, it is possible to prevent the thin optical disks 21 from rubbing with each other. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the following effects can also be obtained.

  (1) When the thin optical disk 21 is adsorbed and lifted by using the spacers 22, 22A, and 22B that have the air inflow holes 22c, 22f, and 22g and have ensured air permeability in the vicinity of the circular center portion 22e, The vacuum adsorption between the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 can be suppressed, and the so-called lifting phenomenon of the spacer 22 immediately below the thin optical disk 21 can be prevented.

  (2) Since the air permeability of the spacer 22 itself is low, when the vacuum suction is performed by the suction cup 130 and the spacer 22 is sucked, the generated negative pressure acts only between the suction cup 130 and the spacer 22. The working range of negative pressure is limited. Therefore, negative pressure is not exerted on the thin optical disk 21 below. Therefore, when the disk transport mechanism 100 sucks and lifts the spacer 22, the thin optical disk 21 immediately below the spacer 22 is not lifted together with the spacer 22.

  (3) Since the spacer 22 has an outer diameter larger than that of the thin optical disk 21, the thin optical disks 21 do not directly touch each other when a plurality of thin optical disks 21 are stacked via the spacer 22. Thereby, sticking of the thin optical disks 21 can be prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the case where each disk transport mechanism 100 has three suction cups 130 has been described, but the number of suction cups 130 is not limited to three. In the embodiment described above, the sucker 130 of the same disk transport mechanism 100 sucks the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 individually. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the disk sucker and the spacer sucker are separately provided. It is good also as a structure provided in.

  For example, each disk transport mechanism 100 has a distance from the center of the suction cup holding member 120 as a first distance, three suction cups that suck the thin optical disk 21, and a distance from the center of the suction cup holding member 120 as a second distance. Thus, a configuration having three suction cups for adsorbing the spacers 22 may be adopted. That is, the distance from the center of the disk stack 20 may be different between the circular area 21c of the thin optical disk 21 and the suction cup contact area 22d of the spacer 22. For example, the suction cup contact region 22d in the spacer 22 has been described in the above embodiment when the inner diameter is set to 40 mm and the outer diameter is set to 50 mm. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the inner diameter is 70 mm and the outer diameter is 80 mm. Also good.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where each adsorption | suction mechanism adsorb | sucks the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 using the suction cup 130, it is not limited to this. It is sufficient if the thin optical disk 21 and the spacer 22 can be sucked and held and released.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the disk laminated body 20 contains the 10 thin optical disks 21, it is not limited to this.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the disk cartridge 700 has the 10-stage disk tray 710 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where a thin disc was a thin optical disc, it is not limited to this. For example, the thin disk may be a thin magnetic disk.

10 Disc changer 20 Disc stack 21 Thin optical disc (thin disc)
21a Disc-shaped plane 21b Center hole 21c Suction cup contact area 22, 22A, 22B Spacer 22a Disc-shaped plane 22b Center holes 22c, 22f, 22g Air inflow hole 22d Suction cup contact area 22e Center area vicinity area 100 Disk transport mechanism 110 Elevating shaft 120 Suction cup holding member 130 Suction cup (adsorption conveyance member)
400 Spacer stocker 700 Disc cartridge 710 Disc tray 712 Placement unit 800 Drive device 810 Drive tray

JP 2011-204311 A JP 2011-243236 A

Claims (8)

A disk laminate in which a plurality of thin disks and a plurality of spacers sucked and transported by a suction transport member are alternately stacked one by one,
At least one or more air inflow holes for allowing air to flow between the thin disk and the spacer in an area closer to the center than an area where the suction conveyance member contacts among areas facing the thin disk of the spacer A disk laminate characterized by being provided in the above.   2. The disk laminate according to claim 1, wherein the air inflow hole is drilled in a region in the vicinity of a central portion surrounding a central hole that is closer to a center side than a region in contact with the suction conveyance member. The air inflow hole, the the facing surface of the spacer opposed to the thin disc, the disc laminate according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the burrs are provided.   The disk laminate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the air inflow hole has a total opening area in a range of 0.05% to 15% with respect to an area of the thin disk. The thickness of the spacer is 0.2mm or less, wherein passing temper that put on the spacer, breathable definition of JIS-L-1096A method, which is characterized in that at ^1cm 3 / ^{cm 2} / sec or less Item 5. The disk laminate according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The disk laminated body according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an outer diameter of the spacer is equal to or larger than an outer diameter of the thin disk. A housing;
A disc tray attached to the housing in a removable manner;
A disk cartridge comprising: the disk stack according to claim 1 mounted on the disk tray.   The disk cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the lowermost spacer of the disk stack is in contact with a mounting portion of the disk tray.

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