JPH0237188Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a cassette that accommodates an optical disc that is played by an optical disc player such as a compact disc player, and particularly relates to a cassette that accommodates an optical disc that is played back while being stored in a cassette case. The present invention relates to an optical disk cassette for use in disc storage.

[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 this problem, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed an optical disc cassette that can be set in a player while the optical disc remains housed in the cassette case. This optical disk cassette has a shaft in the center of the body of the cassette case with a lid, and a disk-shaped clamp disk with a diameter slightly larger than the center hole of the optical disk is coaxially and rotatably attached to this shaft. ing. A disk clamper protrudes from the surface of the clamp disk coaxially with respect to the center of rotation, thereby engaging with the inner wall portion of the central hole of the optical disk to individually define the optical disk. on the other hand,
The part of the lid facing the disk clamper has a
A central hole is provided through which a clamper grip for rotational coupling provided at the tip of the disc rotating shaft in the player passes. Also,
A reading slit is provided in the range of movement of the objective lens of the optical head when the player is set on the lid.

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 that is rotating within the case, and detects the reflected light. The recorded information is read by.

[The problem that the invention is trying to solve]

However, the above-mentioned optical disk cassette has the excellent feature that it is extremely easy to handle and can be easily operated with one hand, since the disk cassette itself containing the optical disks can simply be inserted into the disk player. However, since the clamp disk and the optical disk rotate together in the disk cassette, it is necessary to reliably prevent the occurrence of surface wobbling that would affect optical reading. On the other hand, if the entire back surface of the clamp disk is pressed against the main body of the cassette case, surface wobbling during rotation of the optical disk can be reliably prevented; Since the friction increases significantly, a large load is applied to the disk motor, and in extreme cases, there is a problem in that abnormal noise is generated.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, the optical disk cassette according to the present invention is one in which the cassette case body and the clamp disk are provided with protrusions that contact the opposing surfaces at at least three equiangular points around the rotation center. .

[Effect]

In the optical disc cassette constructed in this way, the contact area between the inner surface of the main body of the disc cassette and the clamp disc is greatly reduced by the protrusion, so that the rotational friction is reduced to a negligible level. There will be very few. Furthermore, since the protrusions are provided at at least three equally spaced points around the center of rotation, no deterioration of surface wobbling occurs when the optical disk is rotated.

〔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 A′ cross-sectional view. 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 4 on one side. It can be opened and closed.

Here, a shaft 5 is provided at the inner central portion of the main body 2. A clamp disk 8 having a diameter larger than the center hole 7 of the optical disk 6 housed in the disk cassette case 1 is attached to the shaft 5.
are coaxially supported relatively loosely. Here, on the back side of the clamp disk 8, that is, on the surface facing the main body 2, a continuous ring-shaped projection 9 is provided coaxially with the rotation center and relatively close to the rotation center. . And this protrusion 9
The tip has a semicircular cross section and is made to make a line contact with the main body 2. Further, a disk clamper 10 is provided on the surface of the clamp disk 8 on the lid body 3 side, and projects coaxially with respect to the center of rotation. The disk clamper 10 is constructed by juxtaposing inwardly directed claw-like bodies 11 in a ring shape, and its outer periphery corresponds to the inner periphery of the central hole 7 of the optical disk 6. matches. Therefore, when the optical disk 6 is housed in the disk cassette case 1, the disk clamper 10 is press-fitted into the central hole 7, thereby fixing it. In other words, it is fixed to the clamp disk 8 by the elasticity of the claw-like bodies 11 arranged in parallel.

On the other hand, an opening 12 is provided in the center of the lid 3, through which a clamper grip that engages with the disc clamper 10 passes when the disc is set in a disc player, and a part facing the movement range of the optical head is provided. A slit 13 (notch) is provided for continuation.

The optical disc cassette constructed in this way has a disc clamper 10 in the central hole 7 of the optical disc 6.
After fixing by engaging the lid body 3
Close and store. When playing an optical disc, for example, the lid 3 should be directed downward, that is, toward the side where the optical head and the clamper grid connecting the disc rotating shaft of the disc player and the disc clamper 11 are provided. Insert the disk cassette case 1 into the set. When this happens, the disk cassette case 1 when set in the disk player will be
The result will be as shown in Figure 3. That is, when the disk cassette case 1 containing the optical disk 6 is set in a disk player, the clamper grip 15 provided at the tip of the disk rotating shaft 14 engages with the disk clamper 10 and is driven to rotate. . In this case, the clamper grip 15 has a radial protrusion at its tip, and this protrusion engages with the groove between the claw-like bodies 11 constituting the disk clamper 10, thereby transmitting rotational force. In addition, this clamper grip 15 is designed to push the claw-like body 11 outwardly with a tapered surface provided at its tip when engaged with the disc clamper 10. The engagement relationship with 6 becomes stronger.

When the disk motor (not shown) is driven in this state, the clamper grip 15 provided at the tip of the disk rotation shaft 14 is engaged with the disk clamper 10, so that the clamp disk 8 is moved from the disk cassette. It is rotated within case 1. Further, since the optical disk 6 is fixed to the clamp disk 8 and the disk clamper 10, the optical disk 6 is also rotated together with the clamp disk 8 within the disk cassette case 1. The optical disc in this rotating state is optically read out from the recorded information on the optical disc 6 by a light beam projected from the optical head through the slit 13 provided in the lid 3. Regeneration will take place.

Here, the clamp disc 8 is pushed up by the clamper grip 15, but there is a ring-shaped protrusion 9 on the back side, that is, the surface facing the main body 2 of the disc cassette case 1.
Since the clamp disc 8 is provided with
The rotational contact surface with respect to the main body 2 is only the tip end surface of this protrusion 9. Since the distal end surface of the protrusion 9 has a semicircular cross section, the contact surface with the main body 2 is linear and extremely small. As a result, the rotational and sliding friction of the clamp disk 8 is extremely small, thereby preventing any influence on the disk motor or generation of abnormal noise during rotation. Further, since the protrusion 9 is ring-shaped, stable rotation can be obtained without causing surface wobbling of the optical disk 6.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as in FIG. 2 are designated by the same symbols. The difference between this figure and FIG. 2 is that the ring-shaped protrusion 9 that was provided on the clamp disk 8 in order to reduce the rotational friction of the clamp disk 8 has been removed, and the inner surface of the main body 2 has been It is provided as a ring-shaped projection 16, and the same effect can be obtained in this case as well. Also,
As shown in FIG. 6, by providing a sliding sheet 17 made of Teflon or the like at the contact portion of the protrusion of the clamp disk 8, the frictional resistance at this portion can be further reduced.

In each of the embodiments described above, ring-shaped projections were used as the projections 9 and 16, but it is not necessary to have the projections all around the rotation center, and it is not necessary to have the projections equiangularly arranged. If three or more partial protrusions are provided, stable rotation can be obtained. Therefore, the projections 9,1
6, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, three hemispheres 17
It is also possible to have evenly distributed a to 17c. In addition, in order to further reduce the friction at the contact portion, the hemispheres 18a to 18c shown in FIG.
It is possible to use micro rollers 19a to 19c or, for example, a micro ball 20 that supports the ball by a concave portion having a reduced opening as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the lid body is not limited to an open/close type, but may be a sliding type.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, the optical disk cassette according to the invention has a clamp disk which fixes an optical disk inside the disk cassette and rotates, and either one of the opposing surfaces of the main body of the disk cassette. The surface of the disc is provided with protrusions that partially contact the opposing surface at at least three points equiangularly arranged around the center of rotation to reduce the contact area. This has the excellent effect of reducing the rotational friction of the clamp disk and stably rotating the optical disk.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the optical disk cassette according to the present invention, and FIG.
A' sectional view, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of essential parts showing the optical disc cassette shown in FIG. 1 set in a disc player, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show other embodiments of the optical disc cassette according to the present invention. 6 to 8 are perspective views and sectional views showing other examples of the protrusion used in the present invention. 1...Disk cassette case, 2...Main body,
3... Lid body, 4, 5... Shaft, 6... Optical disk,
7...Central hole, 8...Clamp disk, 9,1
6... Protrusion, 10... Disk clamper, 11
...claw-shaped body, 12 ... opening, 13 ... slit,
17...Sliding sheet, 18a-18c...Protrusion,
19a to 19c...Micro roller, 20...Micro ball.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A shaft provided in the center of the main body of a disc cassette case with a lid, and a clamp disc attached to this shaft and having a larger diameter than the central hole of the optical disc accommodated. By protruding coaxially from the surface of the clamp disk with respect to the center of rotation, it engages with the center hole of the optical disk, fixing the optical disk in a stacked state on the clamp disk, and also secures the disk when it is set in a disk player. A disc clamper that is rotated by engaging with a rotating shaft, an opening for passing the disc rotating shaft provided in a lid portion facing the disc clamper, and a movement range of the optical head when it is set in a disc player. In an optical disk cassette having slits provided in opposing lid portions, on opposing surfaces of the clamp disk and the main body of the disk cassette,
An optical disk cassette in which rotational friction of a clamp disk is reduced by providing protrusions that partially contact an opposing surface at least at three or more points equiangularly arranged around the center of rotation of the clamp disk. (2) The optical disk cassette according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed in a continuous ring shape around the center of rotation of the clamp disk. (3) The optical disk cassette according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions are at least three hemispherical protrusions arranged equiangularly. (4) The optical disk cassette according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed by at least three or more micro rollers arranged equiangularly. (5) The optical disk cassette according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has at least three or more microballs arranged equiangularly.