JPH0110790Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a cassette that houses an optical disc that can be played by an optical disc player such as a compact disc player, and in particular, a cassette that can be played while still housed in a cassette case. The present invention relates to an optical disk cassette for use in electronic devices.

[Prior art]

Optical discs played by compact disc players are standardized to have a disc shape with a diameter of 120 mm and a thickness of 1.2 mm, with a central hole in the center having an inner diameter of 15.0 ^-1 _+0.1 mm. There is. This optical disc has digitized, for example, audio signals optically recorded on its surface, and if this recording surface becomes scratched or dirty, it will affect optical reading, so handling is not recommended. Sufficient caution is required. Therefore, these optical discs are sold and stored in a cassette case that opens and closes using one side as a fulcrum, and when playing, the cassette case must be opened, the optical disc taken out, and then loaded into a compact disc player. I'm starting to do that.

However, in order to play the above-mentioned optical disc, it is necessary to take it out of the cassette case and set it in the player, making the operation extremely complicated. Particularly in recent years, compact disc players have been installed in cars, and it is extremely difficult to remove and set an optical disc from the cassette case with one hand while driving a car, which is also a problem from a safety standpoint when driving a car. It is.

In order to solve these problems, the applicant of the present invention has previously proposed an optical disc cassette that can be set in a player while the optical disc is housed in the cassette case. This optical disk cassette case has a shaft in the center of the body of the disk cassette with a lid, and a disk-shaped clamp disk with a diameter slightly larger than the center hole of the optical disk is coaxially attached to this shaft so that it can rotate freely. It is being And on the back of this clamp disk,
By protruding coaxially with respect to the center of rotation, the disk clamper engages with the inner wall portion of the central hole of the optical disk, thereby fixing the optical disk. On the other hand, the portion of the lid facing the disc clamper is provided with a central hole through which a clamper grip for rotational coupling provided at the tip of the disc rotation shaft in the player passes. Further, a reading slit is provided in the movement range of the objective lens of the optical head when the lid is preset.

The optical disk cassette constructed in this way is configured so that the optical disk is stored in the cassette case, that is, the optical disk is fixed to the clamp disk by the disk clamper, and then the lid is closed and the optical disk is set together with the disk cassette case. insert. Then, the clamper grip provided at the tip of the disk rotating shaft connects to the disk clamper, rotates the optical disk integrated with the clamp disk, and regulates the center of rotation. In addition, the optical head irradiates a light beam from the objective lens through a slit provided in the lid of the cassette case onto the surface of the optical disk rotating inside the case, and detects the reflected light. The recorded information is then read.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the optical disk cassette having the above structure, the optical disk is rotated with the optical disk housed inside the disk cassette case, but the clamp disk that holds the optical disk is relatively loose and simply supported by the shaft. Since the disc is only mounted on the disc, the degree of freedom with respect to the center of rotation is low.
If a positional deviation occurs between the optical disk and the disk rotation axis, the rotational coupling between the two becomes difficult, making it impossible to stably rotate the optical disk.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, the optical disk cassette according to the present invention is
A conical spring whose diameter decreases from the clamp disk toward the disk cassette case is installed on the back side of the clamp disk that holds the optical disk inside the disk cassette case and around the shaft that supports the clamp disk. In addition, the diameter of the shaft hole is set so that the engagement with the shaft of the clamp disc is sufficiently loose, and a guide hole is provided on the surface of the disc clamper for guiding a centering core provided on the disc rotation shaft. be.

[Effect]

In the optical disk cassette constructed in this way, the clamp disk is loosely supported by the shaft and receives back pressure from a conical spring that contracts toward the base of the shaft. Some movement is possible while receiving a force in the direction of the axis. As a result, the shaft is normally kept centered, but when the conical centering core attached to the disc motor shaft is inserted into the guide hole provided in the disc clamper, the disc The clamper side, that is, the clamp disk, will be moved according to the axis misalignment between the two, and the center of rotation of the optical disk fixed to the clamp disk by this disk clamper will be aligned with the disk motor axis. .

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the optical disk cassette according to the present invention, and FIG.
It is an enlarged cross-sectional view of A′. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a disk cassette case, which is composed of a main body 2 having a space for accommodating an optical disk (compact disk) and a lid 3, both of which are connected by a shaft on one side. It is designed so that it can be opened and closed.

Here, a shaft 4 is provided at the inner central portion of the main body 2. A clamp disk 7 having a diameter sufficiently larger than the center hole 6 of the optical disk 5 housed in the disk cassette case 1 is loosely supported on the shaft 4. Here, a ring-shaped protrusion 8 is provided on the back side of the clamp disk 7, that is, on the outer periphery of the surface facing the main body 2. In addition, the shaft 4 has a spring pad 9 shaped like a shallow dish.
A conical spring 10, detailed in FIG. 3, whose diameter decreases toward the spring pad 9 is mounted between the spring pad 9 and the clamp disk 7. Furthermore, a disk clamper 11 is provided on the surface of the clamp disk 7 on the lid 3 side, which projects coaxially with respect to the center of rotation. As shown in detail in FIG. 3, this disc clamper 11 has claw-like bodies 12 that protrude in a ring-shaped arrangement, and a portion of the claw-like bodies 12 are bent inward and their tips are integrated. The claw-like portions have elasticity, and radial grooves are provided between each claw-like member. In addition, in the center of this disk clamper 11,
A guide hole 13 is provided into which a centering core of a connecting portion attached to a disc motor shaft of a disc player is inserted.

On the other hand, an opening 14 is provided in the center of the lid 3, through which a connecting part that engages with the disc clamper 11 passes when it is set in a disc player. , a reading slit (notch) 15 is provided.

The optical disc cassette constructed in this way has a disc clamper 11 in the central hole 7 of the optical disc 5.
After fixing by engaging the lid body 3, the lid body 3 is closed and stored. When playing an optical disc, for example, insert the disc cassette case 1 into the set with the lid 3 facing downward, that is, toward the side where the disc motor shaft and optical head of the disc player are installed. do. In this way, the disk cassette case 1 when set in the disk player becomes as shown in FIG. 4. In other words, when the disk cassette case 1 containing the optical disk 5 is set in a disk player, the stopper closes the shaft 4.
With the disk cassette case 1 aligned with the disk motor shaft 16, the disk cassette case 1 is lowered, and loading is completed.

In this case, a connecting portion 17 is provided at the tip of the shaft 16 of the disk motor. This connecting part 17
is composed of a rotary engaging body 18 fixed to the tip of the disk motor shaft 16, and a ring-shaped part 19 that slides around the rotary engaging body 18. The rotational engagement portion 18 includes a centering core 18a that protrudes coaxially with the disk motor shaft 16 and has a conical shape, and is located in a ring shape on the outer periphery of the centering core 18a. The clamper grip 18b has a radial projection that engages with a radial groove between the bodies 12.

Here, when the disk cassette case 1 starts to descend during loading, the spring 20 first
The tip of the disk part 19, which is urged in the protruding direction by to ensure a fixed state. In other words,
To prevent the optical disk 5 from floating up from the clamp disk 7 or from tilting the optical disk 5.

Next, when the disk cassette case 1 further descends against the repulsive force of the spring 20, the disk cassette case 19 is also pushed down accordingly. Then, the tip of the centering core 18a of the rotating engagement body 18 is connected to the disk clamper 1.
1, and the amount of insertion advances as the disk cassette case 1 descends. In this case, the disc clamper 11
The clamping disk 7, which is integral with the shaft 4, is loosely attached to the shaft 4 and is subjected to back pressure by a conical spring 10, so that the center of rotation can be moved and the center of rotation can be tilted.
Therefore, the centering core 18a is aligned with the guide hole 13.
As the disc clamper 11 and the clamp disc 7 are inserted into the disc, the positions of the disc clamper 11 and the clamp disc 7 are regulated, and the center of rotation of the optical disc 5 is finally aligned with the disc motor shaft 16. In other words, the disk motor shaft 16 and the optical disk 5 are aligned.

On the other hand, the clamper grip 18b is coupled in the rotational direction when its radial protrusion engages with the radial groove between the claw-like bodies 12 constituting the disk clamper 11. .

In this state, when the disk motor shaft 16 is rotated, the disk clamper 11, the clamp disk 7, and the optical disk 5 are integrated by the connection between the clamper grip 18b and the disk clamper 11, and the disk cassette case 1 It will be rotated inside. Further, since a ring-shaped disk part 19 is pressed by the spring 20 to the lid 3 side of the optical disk 5 coaxially with the rotation center, the rotation surface of the optical disk 5 is regulated and stable rotation is achieved. You will get it. Furthermore, the disk pad 19 prevents the optical disk 5 from shaking due to external vibrations. The optical disk 5 in this rotating state
is through the slit provided in the lid body 3,
The recorded information on the optical disk 5 is optically read out and reproduced by a light beam projected from the optical head.

It goes without saying that the lid body is not limited to an open/close type, but may be a sliding type.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the optical disk cassette according to the present invention has a clamp disk that holds an optical disk inside the disk cassette case, which is loosely supported by the shaft, and has a conical shape that decreases toward the base of the shaft. Since back pressure is applied by the spring, the center of rotation can be moved slightly while receiving force in the direction toward the axis. As a result, the shaft is normally kept centered, but when the conical centering core attached to the disc motor shaft is inserted into the guide hole provided at the center of the disc clamper, If there is an axial misalignment between the two, the disk clamper moves while being guided by the segment core, allowing the two to be aligned easily and reliably, resulting in stable rotation of the optical disk. Has excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an optical disk cassette according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the optical disk cassette shown in FIG. 1 taken along line A-A'.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship between the clamp disk, disk clamper, and conical spring 10 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing the optical disk cassette shown in FIG. 2 set in the disk player. It is a diagram. 1...Disk cassette case, 2...Main body, 3...
Lid body, 4... Axis, 5... Optical disk, 6... Center hole, 7
... Clamp disk, 8 ... Protrusion, 9 ... Spring pat, 10 ... Cone spring, 11 ... Clamper grip, 12 ... Claw-like body, 13 ... Guide hole, 1
4... Opening, 15... Slit, 16... Disk motor shaft, 17... Connecting portion, 18... Rotating engagement body, 18a
...Centering core, 18b...Clamper grip, 19...Disc part, 20...Spring.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A shaft is provided in the center of the main body of the disc cassette case with a lid, a clamp disc is loosely attached to this shaft and has a larger diameter than the center hole of the optical disc to be accommodated, and a a disk clamper that protrudes coaxially with respect to the optical disk to engage with the center hole of the optical disk to fix the optical disk in a stacked state on the clamp disk, and has a guide hole in the center of rotation; A conical spring that is arranged between the main bodies of the cassette case and around the rotating shaft and whose diameter decreases toward the main body, and an opening for rotational connection provided in the lid portion facing the disk clamper. An optical disc cassette comprising: a reading slit provided in a lid portion facing the movement range of the optical head when the optical disc cassette is set in a disc player.