JPH01236445A - Magneto-optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a compact magneto-optical disk device at a low cost by using a drive mechanism for an external magnetic field part which drives with rotation a magnet unit to a prescribed revolving position from a parallel position where the magnet unit is held approximately in parallel to a magneto-optical disk. CONSTITUTION:An external magnetic field part is formed with a magnet unit 85 where the magnets are set at both sides of a rotary shaft 87. A drive mechanism for an external magnetic field 93 drives with rotation the unit 85 to a prescribed revolving position form a parallel position where the unit 85 is held approximately in parallel with a magneto-optical disk 10. Furthermore a magnet unit position control means is provided to hold the revolving unit 85 at the parallel position when the recording is carried out to the disk 10 or in the action modes except an erasion mode and then at the revolving position in a record or erasion state of the disk 10 respectively. Thus the overall size can be reduced for the external magnetic field part and a magneto-optical disk device respectively. At the same time, the production cost of said disk device can be reduced with use of the comparatively inexpensive magnets.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention provides a magneto-optical disk with an improved configuration of an external magnetic field section that applies a magnetic field from the outside to a magneto-optical disk that can be written and erased any number of times. Regarding equipment.

(Prior Art) Generally, optical disks with a high recording density per unit area have been widely used as information storage media for information processing devices. In addition, the mainstream of this type of information storage media used to be write-once optical disks that could be written only once, but recently, devices that make full use of magneto-optical disks that can be written and erased any number of times have become available. It has been developed and is being put into practical use. Among these, magneto-optical disks and magneto-optical disk devices that utilize the Faraday effect and the Kerr effect are being actively developed.

In this type of magneto-optical disk device, a magnet (external magnetic field section) as a magnetic field generating means for recording and erasing is placed on the side facing the optical head across the magneto-optical disk, and the magneto-optical disk is set with S polarity. The structure is such that magnetic fields of N polarity are alternately applied. During recording or erasing, radiation waves such as laser beams irradiated from the optical head are focused on a minute area on the recording film of the magneto-optical disk, and the radiation waves such as the laser beams are used to form the recording film on the magneto-optical disk. At the same time, a magnetic field is applied from an external magnetic field section having lines of magnetic force perpendicular to the disk surface to arbitrarily fix the magnetization direction of the local region. Furthermore, when reproducing recorded information, a laser beam is applied to the recording film on the magneto-optical disk, and the magnetic Kerr effect, which is the interaction between light and magnetism, is used to read out changes in light intensity due to rotation of polarized light. ing.

Further, an information storage medium such as a light disk or a magneto-optical disk is housed in a cartridge. The magneto-optical disk is inserted into the disk insertion/ejection slot of the magneto-optical disk device along with the cartridge, thereby improving operability and protecting the magneto-optical disk.

The cartridge is also provided with a shutter that opens and closes a window that exposes a portion of the magneto-optical disk. Then, the magneto-optical disk inserted into the disk insertion/ejection slot along with the cartridge is automatically horizontally loaded into a predetermined position by the disk loading/loading mechanism, and at this time, the shutter of the cartridge is opened and magneto-optical. The center of rotation is opened to expose a portion of the disk. Furthermore, after this, the magneto-optical disk is automatically mounted on the turntable by being displaced downward perpendicular to the disk insertion direction.

By the way, as examples of this type of magneto-optical disk device, there are those shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-8345, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-14352, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-222001. This uses round bar-shaped or square permanent magnets as the external magnetic field section of a magneto-optical disk device. In this case, in order to obtain a sufficient magnetic field on the magneto-optical disk mounted on the turntable, it is necessary to arrange the magnets of the external magnetic field part in close proximity to the magneto-optical disk, separated and facing each other. However, if the magnets of the external magnetic field section are placed close to and facing the magneto-optical disk, the cartridge of the magneto-optical disk will hit the external magnetic field section when the magneto-optical disk is inserted into or removed from the magneto-optical disk device. or the cartridge may be damaged. Therefore, in the case of the conventional structure, an external magnetic field moving mechanism is provided to evacuate the entire external magnetic field group to a standby position out of the movement trajectory of the magneto-optical disk cartridge when not recording or erasing. This prevents the magneto-optical disk cartridge from hitting the external magnetic field when the magneto-optical disk is inserted into or removed from the magneto-optical disk device, and also moves the entire external magnetic field group from the standby position to the predetermined set position during recording or erasing. I was trying to move it up to Therefore, there is a problem that the entire external magnetic field group tends to become relatively large due to the attachment of the external magnetic field section moving mechanism, and the entire external magnetic field group is moved from a predetermined set position to a standby position within the magneto-optical disk device. Since it is necessary to provide a space for movement, there is a problem in reducing the size of the entire magneto-optical disk device.

In addition, by generating a strong magnetic field using a magnet made of rare earth elements and increasing the distance between the set position of the magnet in the external magnetic field section and the magneto-optical disk during recording or erasing, the optical It may be possible to prevent the magneto-optical disk cartridge from hitting the external magnetic field when the magneto-optical disk is inserted into or removed from the magnetic disk device, but in this case, a magnet made of relatively expensive rare earth elements is used. This has led to the problem of high costs.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In the conventional configuration, an external magnetic field section moving mechanism is provided,
When not recording or erasing, the entire external magnetic field group is evacuated to a standby position outside the moving orbit of the magneto-optical disk cartridge. It tends to be relatively large, which poses a problem in reducing the overall size of the magneto-optical disk device.In addition, magnets made of rare earth elements are used to generate a strong magnetic field, which can cause problems during recording or erasing. If the distance between the set position of the magnet in the external magnetic field section and the magneto-optical disk is increased, a magnet made of relatively expensive rare earth elements must be used, which raises the problem of high costs. there were.

This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the size of the entire external magnetic field group and the entire magneto-optical disk device main body, and also allows the use of relatively inexpensive magnets. It is an object of the present invention to provide a magneto-optical disk device that can reduce costs.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) This invention forms an external magnetic field section by a magnet unit in which magnets are arranged on both sides of a rotating shaft, and this single magnet unit is connected to a magneto-optical disk. An external magnetic field drive mechanism is provided that rotates the magnet unit from a parallel position held in a substantially parallel state to a predetermined rotational position, and the magnet unit is rotated from the parallel position to the magneto-optical position when not recording or erasing on the magneto-optical disk. A magnet unit position control means is provided for holding the magnet unit in a rotated position at the time of recording or erasing on the disk.

(Function) By holding the magnet unit in a parallel position except when recording or erasing on the magneto-optical disk, it is possible to prevent the magneto-optical disk cartridge from hitting the magnet unit when transporting the magneto-optical disk, and When recording or erasing on a magneto-optical disk, the magnet unit is rotated to a rotational position around the rotation axis, and one magnet of the magnet unit is placed perpendicularly facing the disk surface of the magneto-optical disk. The distance between the disk surface of the magneto-optical disk and one of the magnets of the magnet unit is made close to each other.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a schematic configuration of main parts of a magneto-optical disk device 1 as an information processing device shown in FIG. 3. FIG. In FIG. 3, 2 is a magneto-optical disk (hereinafter simply referred to as a disk) 1 handled by the magneto-optical disk device 1.
0 cartridge. The magneto-optical disk device 1 has the following configuration. That is, 3 is the main body of the apparatus, and a disk cartridge insertion/ejection opening 5 which can be opened and closed by a shutter 4 is formed in the upper front surface of the main body, and a drive base mechanism part 6. Loading mechanism section (transport mechanism)7. and a control circuit (not shown) for driving these. In addition, the device main body 3
A status display section 8 and an eject switch 9 for ejecting the cartridge are disposed at the lower right portion of the front surface of the cartridge.・In addition, the cartridge 2 has a disk 10 with a diameter of, for example, about 13.0+u built-in, and can be used on both sides, A side and B side, and can also be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a shutter 11 is slidably provided to open and close a window 2b that exposes a portion of the disk 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the drive base mechanism section 6 includes a disk rotation septa (spindle motor) 16 for holding and rotationally driving the disk 10 on the disk base 15. The optical head 18 is moved in the radial direction of the disk 10 by a linear motor 17 to perform information processing on the recording film of the disk 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the loading mechanism section 7 includes three main components: a cartridge holder (hereinafter simply referred to as holder) 2 that holds the cartridge 2;
0, a cam member 21 as a movable member for taking in and moving the holder 20 to a predetermined position, and a guide member 22 for guiding the cam member 21 and the holder 20.

A shutter opening/closing mechanism 23 for opening and closing the shutter 11 of the cartridge 2 is incorporated in the holder 20.

Further, the guide member 22 is provided with a cam member driving means 24 (not shown in detail) for driving the cam member 21, and an optical detecting means 25 for detecting opening/closing of the shutter 11. ID button switch for detecting the ID hole 26 (see FIG. 3) of the cartridge 2; 27. Stop switch when inserting a cartridge 29. A stop switch 30 and the like are attached when the cartridge is ejected.

Further, on the side surface of the holder 20, as shown in FIG. 6, snappers 31, 31 made of plate springs are provided. When the cartridge 2 is manually inserted into the holder 20, these snappers 31, 31 are disposed. A snap catch on the side of the cartridge 2 is adapted to fit elastically into a portion 32, 32 (see FIG. 3) so that the cartridge 2 is retained.

At this time, when the cartridge 2 presses the actuator of the cartridge insertion detection switch 28 (see Fig. 5) attached to the tip of the snapper 31, it is determined that the cartridge 2 is correctly inserted into the holder 20, and the cam is driven. Means 2
4 starts the operation.

Note that when the cartridge 2 is inserted backwards, the rear end corner 2 of the cartridge 2 will be attached to the rising part (not shown) of the snapper 31.
a T 2 a (see Figure 3) collides and prevents further insertion, and since the actuator of the cartridge insertion detection switch 2B is not pressed, automatic loading by the means described later is not performed and the reverse occurs. Insertion can be reliably prevented.

Further, both side frame portions 33 a of the base 33 of the holder 20 *
33a, guide pins 35 and 36 are respectively protruded, and these guide pins 35 and 36 are connected to the first pins 35 and 36 formed on both side frame portions 21a and 21a of the cam member 21, respectively. After passing through the second cam groove (not shown), both side frame portions 22a of the guide member 22.

It is in a state of being guided by guide grooves 39 and 40 formed in 22a.

In addition, guide pins 41 and 42 are respectively protruded from both side frame parts 21g and 21a of the cam member 21, and these guide pins 41 and 42 are attached to the both side frame parts 21g and 21a of the guide member 22.
a * 22 Guide grooves 43 and 44 formed in a
, and the cam member 21 is movable along the direction in which the cartridge 2 is inserted.

When the cartridge 2 is inserted to the position where the cartridge insertion detection switch 28 is activated, the motor of the cam member driving means 24 is activated, and the cam member 21 is moved in the depth direction, whereby the holder 20 is also moved in the horizontal direction. Move to. At this time, the shutter 11 is opened as shown in FIG. 15 by the action of a shutter opening/closing mechanism which will be described later. When the holder 20 is taken in to a predetermined position, the horizontal movement of the holder 20 is restricted, and only the cam member 21 continues to move, so that the holder 20 begins to vertically descend, and the disk 10 is mounted on the disk rotation motor 16.

At this time, the insertion stop switch 29 is operated by the protrusion provided on the cam member 21, and the cam member driving means 24 is brought into a stopped state.

Further, when the cartridge 2 is ejected, the cam member driving means 24 is operated in response to the cartridge ejection signal and moves in the direction of the disk cartridge insertion/ejection opening 5. As a result, the holder 20 moves up and the disc 1 is moved in the opposite direction to the insertion.
0 from the disk rotation motor 16. Thereafter, the cartridge 2 returns to a state where a part of it is projected from the disk cartridge insertion/ejection opening 5, and in this state, the cartridge 2 is stopped by pressing the ejection stop switch 30.

On the other hand, during this return operation, the shutter opening/closing mechanism 23 operates, and as described later, the shutter 11 of the cartridge 2 closes, and the protrusion of the elastic lever engages with the locking window of the shutter 110, so that the shutter 11 is locked. It will be done.

Next, the shutter opening/closing mechanism 23 that opens and closes the shutter 11 of the cartridge 2 will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, a shutter opener 50 for the A side and a shutter opener 51 for the B side are provided on the back side of the base 33 of the holder 20, and when these are in the home position, these Engagement parts 50a, 51
a is adapted to engage with a recess 11a of the shutter 11.

That is, when the cartridge 2 is on the A side, the engaging part 50a of the shutter opener 50 engages with the recess 11a of the shutter 11, and when the cartridge 2 is on the B side, the engaging part 51a of the shutter opener 51 engages with the recess 11a of the shutter 11. It has a structure that can be engaged with the position 11a.

In addition, the shutter opener 50 for the A side includes a base 33.
A guide pin 52.53 is provided protrudingly to engage with a guide groove 54.55 formed in the base 33.
Guide pins 56, 57 that engage with the shutters 8, 55 are protruded, and these shutter openers 50, 51 are movable in the opening and closing direction of the shutter 11, respectively. Also,
These shutter openers 50.51 include an engaging portion 50a,
A leaf spring 60.51a is attached to the base 33.
60, it is biased toward the cartridge 2 side.

Further, the shutter opener 50, 51 is configured to be moved by an opener moving means 70.

As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7, and FIG.
．． After passing through the pulleys 72 and 73 as guide members attached to the guide pins 53 and 57 integrated with the guide pins 51 and 51, they intersect in an X shape and are arranged as two new guide members in the holder 20. The pulleys 76 as two new guide members are disposed in the holder 20 so as to surround the pulleys 74 and 75 and intersect again in an X-shape.
．． 77, and its both ends are fixed to a stay 80 as a fixing member via tension coil springs 78 and 79 as spring members, respectively.

Further, in the center of the base 33 of the holder 20, a magnet unit (external magnetic field section) is provided as a recording/erasing magnetic field generating means.
An opening 86 is formed to allow the disk 85 to face the disk 10.

Furthermore, the magnet unit 85 includes a magnet holder 8 that is rotatably driven around a rotating shaft 87 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Permanent magnets 89 and 90 are arranged on both sides of the magnet 8, respectively. In this case, the permanent magnets 89 and 90 on both sides of the magnet holder 88 are bonded to each other in a state in which the polarities of the surfaces to be joined to the magnet holder 88 are different from each other. For example, one permanent magnet 89 (first magnet) has an S pole on the side where it joins with the magnet holder 88, and the other permanent magnet 90 (second magnet) has an N pole on the side where it joins with the magnet holder 88. There is. Furthermore, the rotating shaft 87 of this magnet holder 88 is rotatably supported by a bearing portion 91, as shown in FIG. Further, a gear 92 is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 87. This gear 92 is equipped with a stepping motor (external magnetic field drive mechanism).
A gear 95 fixed to a rotating shaft 94 of 93 is meshed with it.

The stepping motor 93 drives the magnet 22 to rotate from a parallel position where the magnet 85 is held substantially parallel to the disk 10 to a predetermined rotational position where the magnet 85 is held substantially perpendicular to the disk 10. It is supposed to be done. Further, this stepping motor 93 is controlled by a control circuit (not shown), and when the stepping motor 93 is not recording on the disk 10 or erasing, the magnet unit 85 is placed in a parallel position as shown in FIG. When erasing or erasing, as shown in Figure 1, the magnet unit 8
5 are held in their respective rotated positions.

Further, one of the shutter openers 50 and 51 is locked depending on whether the cartridge 2 is on the A side or the B side.

9 and 10 show a state in which the cartridge 2 is inserted in the A-simple state, and the B-side shirt opener 51 is in a locked state. When the holder 2G holding the cartridge 2 moves in the direction of arrow A, the wire 71
An external force acts on the A-side shutter opener 50, which is freely movable, and moves in the direction of opening the shutter 11. Also, during a horizontal movement operation in which the cartridge 2 inserted from the disk cartridge insertion/ejection port 5 moves horizontally together with the holder 20 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 11, and as shown by the arrow in FIG. During the downward movement in which the holder 20 taken into the position is vertically lowered, the magnet unit 8
5 is held in a parallel position. In this case, cartridge 2
and the magnet unit 85 during horizontal movement of the holder 20.
The gap 2 between the holder 20 and the holder 20 is set to about 0.5 to 1 u.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, when the shutter 11 is transported to the final take-in position, the shutter 11 is completely opened. At this time, as shown in FIG.
A magnet unit 85 serving as a recording/erasing magnetic field generating means is opposed to the disk 10 through an opening 86 formed in the center of the base 33 .

Furthermore, when recording on or erasing the disk 10, the first
As shown in Figure B, the magnet unit 85 is rotated to a predetermined rotational position where it is held substantially perpendicular to the disk 10, and in this state information is recorded on or erased from the disk 10.

At this time, one of the magnets of the magnet unit 85, for example, the first
The tip of the magnet 89 is inserted into the interior of the cartridge 2 through the opening 86 of the holder 20 and the window 2b of the cartridge 2, and is placed close to the recording film surface of the disk 10 at a distance of 11.

Note that if a magnet made of Alnico (an alloy of aluminum, nickel, cobalt, iron, titanium, etc.) material is used as the magnet 89,90 of the magnet unit 85, I! z - Vertical alignment component is 400 to 50 in 2 to 4 ml
A magnetic field of 00e was obtained. Furthermore, when a magnet made of rare earth material is used, magnetic fields of the same magnitude can be obtained in Nos. 1-5 to 8xx.

Next, the closing operation of the shutter 11 will be explained. As the cartridge 2 moves in the unloading direction (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 13), the tensile force exerted by the wire 71 is gradually released, and due to the biasing force of the shirt closure spring (not shown) built into the cartridge 2. shutter 1
1 is gradually closed. At this time, the shutter opener 50 that is engaged with the shutter 11 also moves and the shutter 11
returns to its initial position in the fully closed position.

Also, if cartridge 2 is inserted with side B,
The shutter opener 51 for the side moves, and the shutter 11 opens and closes in the same manner as for the A side.

Therefore, in the above configuration, by holding the magnet unit 85 in a parallel position except when recording or erasing on the disk 10, the cartridge 2 of the disk 10 is held in the magnet unit 85 when the disk 10 is transported. At the same time, when recording or erasing on the disk 10, the magnet unit 85 is rotated to a rotational position around the rotating shaft 87, and one of the magnets 85 or By arranging the discs 10 in a vertically facing manner, the discs 10. between the recording film surface and one magnet 85 or 9 of the magnet unit 85.
Since the distance between the disk 1 and the
The entire magnet unit 85, which is the external magnetic field section, can be made smaller in size compared to the case where the cartridge 2 is retracted to a standby position out of the movement orbit of the No. 0 cartridge 2. Furthermore, since there is no need to provide an extra space in the main body 3 of the magneto-optical disk device 1 for retracting the entire external magnetic field group to the standby position, the entire main body 3 of the device can be downsized. Further, when recording or erasing on the disk 10, the magnet unit 85 is rotated to a predetermined rotational position where it is held substantially perpendicular to the disk 10, and one of the magnets of the magnet unit 85, for example, the first magnet 89 the opening 86 of the holder 20 and the window 2b of the cartridge 2.
Since the magnet is inserted into the inside of the cartridge 2 through the magnet and placed close to the recording film surface of the disk 10 at a distance of 11, it is possible to use a relatively inexpensive magnet made of alnico material. It is possible to reduce costs.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the external magnetic field portion is formed by a magnet unit in which magnets are arranged on both sides of the rotating shaft, and the magnet unit is held in a parallel position substantially parallel to the magneto-optical disk. In addition, an external magnetic field drive mechanism is provided that rotates the magnet unit to a predetermined rotational position, and the magnet unit is placed in a parallel position when not recording or erasing on a magneto-optical disk, and the magnet unit is placed in a parallel position when recording or erasing on a magneto-optical disk. Since a magnet unit position control means is provided to hold the units in their respective rotational positions, it is possible to downsize the external magnetic field assembly and the entire magneto-optical disk device, and it is also relatively inexpensive. It is possible to use a magnet that is similar to the above, and it is possible to reduce costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part showing the rotational state of the magnet unit during recording or erasing, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state of rotation of the magnet unit when recording or erasing. 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the magneto-optical disk device and disk cartridge, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the drive base mechanism, and FIG. 5 is a loading diagram. A perspective view of the mechanism section, FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing the holder of the loading mechanism section, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of the shutter opening/closing mechanism, FIG. 8 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 9 is the shutter opening/closing mechanism. 10 is a side view of the same, FIG. 11 is a side view showing the horizontal movement of the disk cartridge and holder, and FIG. 12 is the lowering movement of the disk cartridge and holder. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which the shutter opening/closing mechanism has completed opening the shutter;
FIG. 14 is a side view of the same, FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the cartridge with the shutter open, and FIG. 16 is a side view showing the rotating state of the magnet unit during recording or erasing. 2...Cartridge, 2b...Window, 7...Loading mechanism section (transport mechanism), 10...Magneto-optical disk, 11...Shutter, 18...Optical head, 85...
... Magnet unit (external magnetic field part), 87... Rotating shaft,
89...first magnet, 90...second magnet, 93.
...Stepping motor (external magnetic field drive mechanism). Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cartridge that stores a magneto-optical disk inside and is equipped with a shutter that opens and closes a window to expose a part of the magneto-optical disk is removably inserted, and the cartridge is inserted into a predetermined loading position and an insertion/ejection position. When the cartridge is installed at a predetermined mounting position and the shutter of the cartridge is opened to expose a part of the magneto-optical disk, a transport mechanism for transporting the magneto-optical disk between In a magneto-optical disk device equipped with an optical head for recording, reproducing, and erasing information and an external magnetic field section whose polarity can be selected for recording and erasing information, the external magnetic field section is provided with magnets on both sides of a rotating shaft. an external magnetic field drive mechanism is provided which rotates the magnet unit from a parallel position to a predetermined rotational position to hold the magnet unit in a state substantially parallel to the magneto-optical disk; Magnet unit position control for holding the magnet unit in the parallel position when recording or erasing on the magneto-optical disk, and holding the magnet unit in the rotated position when recording or erasing on the magneto-optical disk. 1. A magneto-optical disk device comprising: means.