JPH02166664A - Optical card reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent out-of-tracking by fixing a timing belt which drives a shuttle on the shuttle at the position of center of gravity of the shuttle at the rear plane of the shuttle. CONSTITUTION:The timing belt 23 is fixed on the shuttle 31 at the position of center of gravity of the shuttle 31 at the rear plane of the shuttle 31. When a driving gear is rotated and the timing belt 23 is driven, the shuttle performs reciprocating movement in forward/backward direction. At the time of inverting the movement from the forward direction to the backward direction, the shuttle 31 repeats sudden start and sudden stoppage, and large force is applied on the shuttle 31, however, moment is balanced since the shuttle 31 is fixed on the timing belt 23 at the center of gravity of the shuttle 31, thereby, the inclination of the shuttle 31 can be prevented from occurring even when sudden force is applied. In such a manner, the out-of-tracking can be prevented from occurring.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical card reader/writer for writing to and/or reading from an optical card.

Speed 4014 Optical cards have a rectangular card shape similar to credit cards and cash cards, and have a larger storage capacity than conventional magnetic cards, so they are expected to be used in a wide range of applications.

Currently, there are two types of optical cards: a playback-only type, in which the user plays back pre-recorded information, and an additional recording type, in which the user can add and record new information. A type that can record is also under development.

Furthermore, the principle of reproduction and additional recording is also the same as that of conventional optical discs.

However, while optical cards have an advantage over optical disks in terms of portability, there are many problems that need to be solved regarding driving the optical cards during recording and playback.

As shown in FIG. 6, the optical card 81 has a memory section 85 formed on a rectangular sheet 83 made of plastic.

In the conventional optical card reader/writer, as shown in FIG.
While driving the optical card 81 to reciprocate in the X direction in the figure, the objective lens (not shown) of the recording/reproducing optical system was moved in the Y direction in the figure. 25 is a motor, 358
゜35b is a sliding ring, 41 is a guide shaft, 87 is a leaf spring, 8
9 indicates a gear on the other end side.

If the shuttle 31 tilts in the Y direction during reciprocating movement, the tracking of the optical head will be lost. Here, tilting in the Y direction means that the front end of the shuttle 31 swings in the Y1 direction and the rear end swings in the Y direction, or vice versa, and if tracking is lost, recording and playback will not be possible at all. become unable.

Therefore, using the 35a side of the sliding ring 35 as a reference axis, 35a
A slide bearing is used on the side to maintain accuracy, and as shown in FIG. 8 (bottom view of the shuttle 31), the timing belt 23 is fixed to a location close to the reference shaft side 35a of the shuttle 31 using a fastening piece 43. This prevents the moment from being shifted to the reference shaft side 35a.

However, even with such measures, it is not always possible to sufficiently prevent tracking errors, and further improvements have not yet been made. In addition, the use of slide bearings increases costs, and if the accuracy (tolerance) of the reference axis is significantly reduced, it may impede the smooth reciprocating movement of the shuttle.

Assembly work becomes complicated.

The present invention provides a drive mechanism for an optical card reader/writer that has a simple structure and prevents the shuttle from tilting in the moving direction.

The optical card reader/writer of the present invention mounts an optical card on a shuttle fixed to a stretched timing belt, and drives the shuttle back and forth in a linear direction to read and/or read information.
Or, in an optical card reader/writer that performs writing,
The timing belt is fixed to the shuttle at the center of gravity of the shuttle on the back of the shuttle.

When reversing during reciprocating movement of the shuttle, rapid stopping and starting are involved, and a large force is applied at this time. Therefore, if the left and right moments become unbalanced, the shuttle will tilt. Since the shuttle is fixed to the timing belt, which is the driving means, at the center of gravity of the shuttle, the moments are balanced, and even if a sudden force is applied, the shuttle is prevented from tilting.

[-1= Fig. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing an embodiment of the drive mechanism of the optical card reader/writer of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the shuttle, and Fig. 3 shows the sliding of the shuttle with respect to the guide shaft. FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing the mechanism, and is an explanatory view showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer.

As shown in FIG. 1, a shuttle 31 carrying an optical card
The guide shaft 41.4 is connected by sliding rings 35.35 on both sides.
1 is slidably supported. The shuttle 31 is fixed to the timing belt 23 at its lower surface, and moves by sliding on guide shafts 41, 41 as the timing belt 23 moves. The timing belt 23 is stretched between the drive gear 11 connected to the motor 25 and the pulley 19 at the other end, forms a bent part 27 near the drive gear 11, and has an abbreviated shape as a whole. ing. The bending portion 27 has a first elastic pulley 13 on the tooth side 23a of the timing belt 23, and a second elastic pulley 1 on the back side 23b.
5 is in contact. Further, in the vicinity of the first elastic pulley 13 and on the opposite side of the drive gear 11, a third pulley 17 is brought into contact with the back side 23b of the timing belt 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, the timing belt 23 is fixed to the shuttle 31 by a fastening piece 43 at the center of gravity of the shuttle 31. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 51 represents a pair of chucking members, 53 represents an arm, 55 represents a pressing roller, and 57 represents a spring.

When the drive gear 11 is rotated to drive the timing belt 23, the shuttle 31 reciprocates back and forth.

When reversing from forward to reverse, the shuttle 31 repeatedly starts and stops suddenly, and a large force is applied to the shuttle 31, but the timing belt 23
Since the shuttle 23 is fixed to , tilting and wobbling of the shuttle 23 can be prevented. Therefore, tracking deviation can be prevented, and the sliding mechanism of the guide shaft 41 and the sliding ring 35 can be fitted with a large tolerance without requiring an expensive slide bearing. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, it is also possible to use a sliding plate 35' that defines only the vertical direction.

In addition, the motor 25 that drives the timing belt 23 is
Since it can be laid out at the center of the optical card reader/writer main body, the stability of the device main body is improved, and the running stability of the shuttle during driving can also be improved.

The present invention is characterized by the method of fixing the shuttle 31 and the timing belt 23 as described above, and other configurations, such as the structure of the shuttle and the mechanism for chucking the optical card to the shuttle, are not particularly limited. This section explains the overall operation of the optical card reader/writer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer (in this figure, illustration of the guide shaft 41 is omitted). When the optical card 81 is inserted, the sensor 67 detects it, the shutter 65 is lowered, the entrance is opened, and the loader 6
3.63 starts rotating. When the optical card 81 is inserted further into the guide plate 61, it is rolled up by the loaders 63 and 63 and inserted into the shuttle 31.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 5A and 5B, the shuttle 31 is composed of a shuttle body 33 having a sliding ring 35, a back plate 37, a reference plate 39, and a chucking member 5°. In the state shown, the arm 53 is pushed down against the spring 57 due to the engagement between the engagement piece 59 and the engagement shaft 54 of the chucking member 51, and the back plate 37 falls down under its own weight, causing the back plate 37 to fall downward under its own weight. A sufficient gap is formed between the face plate 37 and the reference plate 39 so that the optical card 81 can be inserted therein.

When the sensor 69.71 detects that the optical card 81 is completely inserted into the shuttle 31, the drive gear 11
rotates (normally rotates) in the direction of arrow A in the figure, and the shuttle 31 moves to the left. Note that photocouplers facing the sensors 69 and 71 are not shown. When the shuttle 31 moves to the left, the engagement piece 59 and the engagement shaft 54 are disengaged, and as shown in FIG. is pushed upward, and the optical card 8I is firmly fixed between the back plate 37 and the reference plate 39. Note that FIG. 5B only shows the movement of the back plate 37 without the optical card 81 inserted.

In this chucking state, the shuttle 31 further moves to the left and reciprocates in the X direction in Figure 1 due to the normal rotation and one reversal of the drive gear 11, while the optical head 73 moves in the Y direction (perpendicular to the plane of the paper). When the recording or reproduction of information is completed, the shuttle 31 moves to the right until it comes into contact with the guide drawer 61. 3), the optical card 81 is taken out to the outside in the reverse order.

According to the present invention, by fixing the timing belt that drives the shuttle to the shuttle at the center of gravity of the shuttle on the back of the shuttle, the moment of the shuttle is not biased, and the timing belt that drives the shuttle is fixed to the shuttle at the center of gravity of the shuttle. Even if a large force is applied to the shuttle when the shuttle is reversed, the shuttle is prevented from tilting. Therefore, tracking loss is prevented and information can be read and written reliably, and the sliding mechanism of the shuttle does not require high precision of the bottom metal, and there is no need to use expensive slide bearings, resulting in cost savings. lead to reduction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the drive mechanism of the optical card reader/writer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the shuttle showing the state in which the shuttle and timing belt are attached. FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing the sliding mechanism of the shuttle with respect to the guide shaft. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer. FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views showing chucking of an optical card by the shuttle. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the optical card. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of a conventional optical card reader/writer. FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the shuttle showing the fixing position of the conventional timing belt. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Drive gear 13... First elastic boo 15... Second elastic pulley 17... Third pulley 19... Other end pulley 21... Elastic body 23...
・Timing belt 25...Motor 27...Bending portion 31...Shuttle 33...Shuttle body 35...Sliding ring 35a...Sliding ring (reference shaft side) 35b...Sliding Ring (slave shaft side) 35'...Sliding plate 37
... Rear plate 39 ... Reference plate 41 ... Guide shaft 43 ... Fastening piece 51 ... Chucking member 53 ... Arm 54 ... Engagement shaft 55 ...
・Press roller 57...Spring 59...Engagement piece 61...Guide plate 63...Loader
65...Shutter 67.69.71...Sensor 73...Optical head 75...Objective lens
81... Optical card 83... Rectangular sheet 85... Memory section Figure 5A Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an optical card reader/writer in which an optical card is mounted on a shuttle fixed to a stretched timing belt and the shuttle is reciprocated in a linear direction to read and/or write information, the position of the center of gravity of the shuttle on the back of the shuttle An optical card reader/writer characterized by a timing belt fixed to a shuttle.