JPH04263179A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely detect the type of disk at the outside part of a cartridge. CONSTITUTION:A first disk-type indication part and a second disk-type indication part 9, 10 which correspond to types of disks 1a, 1b housed in a cartridge 2 are installed at the outside of the cartridge 2. The disk-type indication parts 9, 10 are formed respectively either as flat states or recessed hole states. Thereby, four types of indication states can be formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge which houses a disk such as a so-called optical disk or magneto-optical disk.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, disks for recording and/or reproducing information signals, such as so-called optical disks and magneto-optical disks, have been proposed. This disk is constructed with a disc-shaped disk substrate, and a signal recording layer formed with a reflective film made of aluminum or the like or a magnetic film made of a magnetic material is formed on the main surface of the disk substrate. It is provided. The center portion of this disk is a chucked portion that is held by a so-called disk player device that records and/or reproduces information signals on the disk. In this disc, the area around the chucked portion serves as a signal recording surface on which information signals are written and/or read.

Conventionally, in addition to preventing damage to the disk due to adhesion of dust or contact with fingers, etc.,
In order to facilitate the handling of the disc, a disc cartridge has been proposed in which the disc is housed in a cartridge shaped like a housing.

[0004] In this disc cartridge, the disc housed in the cartridge is rotatable within the cartridge. The main surface of the cartridge includes a chucking opening that allows the chucked portion of the disk to face outward;
A recording/reproducing opening is provided for exposing at least a portion of the signal recording surface of the disk to the outside. That is, the disc player device holds the chucked portion through the chucking opening, and writes and writes information signals to the signal recording layer through the recording/reproducing opening. /or read out.

[0005] Reading of information signals from the signal recording layer by the disc player device is performed by irradiating the signal recording surface with a light beam. This light beam is emitted from an optical pickup device included in the disc player device and is focused on the signal recording layer. This optical pickup device is configured to emit the light flux and detect the light flux reflected by the signal recording layer.

[0006] Writing of information signals onto the signal recording layer by the disc player is performed by irradiating the signal recording surface with a light beam and applying a magnetic field to the signal recording layer. This magnetic field is applied to the signal recording layer by a magnetic head provided in the disc player device so as to face the optical pickup device via the disc.

[0007]

By the way, in the above-mentioned disk player device, it is not possible to record and/or reproduce information signals using a disk cartridge containing either the above-mentioned optical disk or magneto-optical disk. There are things that are configured to do this. That is, when this disc player device uses an optical disc having the above-mentioned reflective film, it reads out information signals written in advance on the above-mentioned signal recording layer. When this disc player device uses a magneto-optical disc having the above-mentioned magnetic film, information signals are written and/or read from the above-mentioned signal recording layer.

[0008] As described above, in a disc player device configured to be able to use both an optical disc and a magneto-optical disc, it is possible to determine the type of disc used depending on which type of disc is used. , a disk on which information signals can be written, or
It is necessary to switch the output of the light beam emitted from the optical pickup device depending on whether the disc is capable of only reading information signals. Further, in this disk player device, it is necessary to switch the magnetic head between an active state and a non-active state depending on which disk is used.

[0009] Such switching between the optical pickup device and the magnetic head can also be performed by a manual switching operation by the user of the disc player. However, if an erroneous operation occurs during such switching, there is a risk that the disk, the magnetic head, etc. may be damaged or damaged. Further, if such an erroneous operation occurs, there is a risk that the information signal written in the signal recording layer may be erased by mistake. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that a predetermined switching operation in the disc player device according to the type of disc is performed without causing any erroneous operation.

[0010] Here, it is conceivable to make the size and shape of the cartridge different depending on the type of the disc. However, in the above disc player device,
When configured to use disk cartridges having cartridges of various sizes and shapes,
This results in the configuration of the disc player becoming more complicated and larger.

[0011]Furthermore, the type of the disc can be detected from the difference in the reflectance of the signal recording surface of the disc by irradiating the disc with a constant amount of light beam and detecting the amount of light reflected from the disc. is possible. However, if the above-mentioned disc player device were to perform an operation to detect such a difference in the reflectance of the signal recording surface, the configuration of the disc player device would become complicated, and the disc type There is a possibility that detection cannot be performed quickly.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to easily identify the type of disc housed in a cartridge, and to reduce the complexity and size of the disc player device configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disc cartridge that allows the disc player to reliably perform a predetermined switching operation according to the type of the disc without causing any trouble.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned objects, a disc cartridge according to the present invention includes a disc, a rotatably housed disc, and a first and a second disc located on the outside. and a cartridge provided with a disc type indicating section, wherein the first and second disc type indicating sections are respectively in either a flat state or a recessed state, and work together to display four types of indicators. It indicates one of the conditions.

[0014]

[Operation] In the disc cartridge according to the present invention, the first and second disc type marking parts provided on the outer side of the cartridge rotatably housing the disc can be arranged in either a flat state or a recessed state. Since one of the four types of display states is displayed in cooperation with the above, the display state of these disc type display sections is made to correspond to the type of the disc mentioned above, and the display state is detected. This allows the type of disc to be determined.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this example, the disk cartridge according to the present invention is configured as a disk cartridge configured by storing a so-called optical disk or a magneto-optical disk in the cartridge.

[0016] That is, this disc cartridge has the following characteristics:
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the optical disc 1a includes an optical disc 1a and a cartridge 2 that accommodates the optical disc 1a. The optical disc 1a has a disc-shaped disc substrate made of a material such as a transparent synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, and a signal recording layer having a reflective film made of a thin metal film deposited on the main surface of the disc substrate. It is configured with The optical disc 1a is a so-called read-only disc, and information signals are written to the signal recording layer during industrial production processes such as injection molding of the disc substrate and aluminum sputtering on the disc substrate.

A center hole 3 is provided in the center of the optical disc 1a for holding the optical disc 1a by a so-called disc player device that reads out information signals written in the signal recording layer. In this optical disc 1a, a portion of one main surface on the side surrounding the center hole 3 serves as a signal recording surface 4 from which information signals are read by the disc player. The center hole 3 is a circular through hole penetrating from one main surface to the other main surface of the disk substrate, and is formed in a spiral shape approximately concentrically in the signal recording layer. It is formed so that its center coincides with the center of curvature of the recording track.

The cartridge 2 is formed into a thin, substantially rectangular housing so that the optical disc 1a can be housed therein by having the upper and lower halves of the cartridge 2 which form a pair are butted together. That is, in this cartridge 2, upper and lower main surface portions 2a and 2b along each main surface portion of the optical disc 1a are formed into a rectangular shape with each side having a length slightly longer than the diameter of the optical disc 1a. In this cartridge 2, the optical disc 1a has one main surface portion serving as the signal recording surface on the lower main surface portion 2b side, and the other main surface portion on the upper main surface portion 2a side.
It is stored.

An optical pickup opening 5a is provided in the lower main surface 2b of the cartridge 2. The optical pickup opening 5a is a substantially rectangular through hole, and extends from the vicinity of the center of the lower main surface 2b to the vicinity of one side of the lower main surface 2b, that is,
It is provided near one side edge of the cartridge 2 . This optical pickup aperture 5a allows a part of the signal recording surface, which is one main surface portion of the optical disc 1a that is on the lower main surface portion 2b side, to be connected to the optical disc 1a.
It extends outward from the inner and outer peripheries. The disc player device has this optical pickup opening 5a.
The information signal is read from the optical disc 1a by the optical pickup device via the optical pickup device.

Further, the lower main surface portion 2 of the cartridge 2
A substantially circular chucking opening 6 is provided in the center of b. This chucking opening 6 exposes the center hole 3 to the outside. The disc player device allows the chucking opening 6 to
A disk chucking mechanism having a disk table and the like is inserted into the cartridge 2 and holds the optical disk 1a.

A shutter member 7 is attached to the cartridge 2. This shutter member 7 is
This is for opening and closing the optical pickup opening 5a. This shutter member 7 is connected to the cartridge 2
It has a slider part 7a supported on one side edge and a lower shutter plate part 7b supported by the slider part 7a, and is integrally made of a metal plate or a synthetic resin material such as polyacetal. is formed. The slider portion 7a is formed into an elongated bar-like rectangular plate shape having a width approximately corresponding to the thickness of the cartridge 2. The lower shutter plate portion 7b is configured to cover the optical pickup opening 5a so as to close the optical pickup opening 5a.
It is formed into a larger rectangular plate shape. This lower shutter plate portion 7b has one end supported by the lower edge of the slider portion 7a.

The slider portion 7a is slidable along one side edge of the cartridge 2 and is supported by the one side edge. The shutter member 7 is supported by the cartridge 2 by having the slider portion 7a supported by one side edge of the cartridge 2, so that the lower shutter plate portion 7b is aligned with the lower main surface portion 2b. has been done. The shutter member 7 is configured such that the slider portion 7a is slidable relative to the cartridge 2, so that the lower shutter plate portion 7b is placed along the lower main surface portion 2b. It is configured to be slidable relative to the cartridge 2. That is, the lower shutter plate portion 7b has two positions: a position where the optical pickup opening 5a is closed and a position where the optical pickup opening 5a is opened by sliding the shutter member 7 relative to the cartridge 2. Over the course of
It is made to be able to slide.

A groove 8 for opening the shutter is provided on the outer side of the cartridge 2. This shutter opening operation groove 8 is formed on one side edge of the cartridge 2 in the insertion operation direction of the disc cartridge into the disc player device, which is indicated by arrow A in FIGS. 1 to 4, that is, indicated by arrow B in FIG. The shutter member 7
is formed along the sliding direction.

On the lower main surface 2b of the cartridge 2, there are first and second disc type marking parts 9, 10.
is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, these first and second disk type display sections 9 and 10 are located on the other side of the lower main surface section 2b at the front side in the insertion operation direction. , are arranged in the insertion operation direction.

In this disc cartridge having the optical disc 1a, the first disc type indicator 9 is flat and flush with the lower main surface 2b. The second disc type display section 10 is in a recessed state having a predetermined depth. Here, if the states of these disc type marking sections 9 and 10 are indicated as "1" when they are flat and "0" when they are in a concave state, then the marking state of the disc type marking sections 9 and 10 in this disc cartridge is , can be indicated by "10". This display state "10" corresponds to the optical disc 1a, and indicates that the signal recording layer has the reflective film and that it is impossible for the player device to write information signals to this optical disc 1a. ing.

The disc cartridge according to the present invention, which is constructed with the optical disc 1a as described above, is used with the cartridge 2 mounted on the chassis of the disc player. The cartridge 2 is placed on the tips of a plurality of positioning pins provided on the chassis, and these positioning pins are placed in first and second positioning holes 12 provided in the lower main surface portion 2b.
, 13, it is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the chassis.

At this time, in the disc player device, the first and second disc type display sections 9, 1
Detection of the marking state based on 0 is performed. This detection can be performed, for example, by providing first and second pushbutton switches, such as so-called microswitches, on the chassis in correspondence with the respective disc type display sections 9 and 10. That is, when the push button switch is pressed, it is detected that the disc type indicator corresponding to the push button switch is flat, that is, the indicator state is "1". If the push button switch is not pressed when the cartridge 2 is at a predetermined position with respect to the chassis, the disk type indicator corresponding to the push button switch is hole-shaped, that is, the indicator state is "0". is detected.

In this disc player device, the optical disc 1a is placed on a disc table attached to the drive shaft of a spindle motor of the disc player device. That is, this disk table is formed into a disk shape having a smaller diameter than the chucking opening 6 and a larger diameter than the center hole 3. The disk table is inserted into the cartridge 2 through the chucking opening 6 when the cartridge 2 is in a predetermined position with respect to the chassis. On the upper surface of the disk table that has entered the cartridge 2, a portion around the center hole 3 of one main surface of the optical disk 1a is placed. At this time, the optical disc 1a is spaced apart from the inner wall of the cartridge 2. Further, the shutter member 7 is slid with respect to the cartridge 2 by the shutter opening mechanism of the disc player to open the optical pickup opening 5a. At this time, the information signal can be read from the optical disc 1a through the optical pickup opening 5a.

In the disc player device, an optical pickup device movably supported by the chassis reads information signals from the optical disc 1a. This optical pickup device faces the signal recording surface of the optical disc 1a and is operated to move around the inner and outer peripheries of the optical disc 1a. This optical pickup device irradiates a light beam onto the signal recording surface of the optical disc 1a to read information signals from the signal recording surface.

At this time, the operating state of the optical pickup device, that is, the output and modulation state of the luminous flux, etc., is determined based on the marking state detected by the respective disc type marking sections 9 and 10. It is considered a thing.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, when the disk cartridge is constructed using a magneto-optical disk 1b, the magneto-optical disk 1b and the cartridge containing the magneto-optical disk 1b are combined. 2.

The magneto-optical disk 1b includes a disk-shaped disk substrate made of a material such as a transparent synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, and a magnetic film made of a magnetic material adhered to the main surface of the disk substrate. and a signal recording layer. This magneto-optical disk 1b
Although information signals can be written to, erased from, and read from, the disk can also be used as a so-called read-only disk by writing information signals in the industrial production process. This disk cartridge is thus configured to include the magneto-optical disk 1b which is a read-only disk.

At the center of this magneto-optical disk 1b,
Similar to the optical disc 1a, the center hole 3 is provided. Further, a portion of one main surface of the magneto-optical disk 1b on the side surrounding the center hole 3 serves as the signal recording surface 4.

The cartridge 2 has the optical pickup opening 5a, the chucking opening 6, and the first and second The disk type display section 9, 10, etc. are configured to house the magneto-optical disk 1b. Further, the shutter member 7 is attached to the cartridge 2 .

In this disk cartridge having the magneto-optical disk 1b, the first disk type indicator 9 is flat and flush with the lower main surface 2b. . The second disc type indicator 10 is also in a flat state. That is, the display state of the disc type display sections 9 and 10 in this disc cartridge can be indicated by "11". This display state "11" corresponds to the magneto-optical disk 1b which is a read-only disk, in which the signal recording layer has the magnetic film, and the player apparatus transmits information signals to the magneto-optical disk 1b. Indicates that writing is not possible.

[0036] When the disc cartridge according to the present invention is configured with the magneto-optical disc 1b which is a write-only disc as described above, when it is used in the disc player device, it can be used as described above. , the cartridge 2 is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the chassis. At this time, in the disc player device, the first and second disc type display sections 9, 1
0 is detected, and the operating state of the optical pickup device is detected by each disc type display section 9, 10.
Based on the detected marking state, the marking state is determined to be compatible with the magneto-optical disk 1b. In this disk player device, the optical pickup device reads information signals from the magneto-optical disk 1b through the optical pickup opening 5a.

[0037] When this disk cartridge is constructed using the magneto-optical disk 1b,
As shown in FIGS. 9 to 14, this magneto-optical disk 1b
It can be configured such that information signals can be written to and/or read from. That is, information signals are not written to the magneto-optical disk in this disk cartridge during the industrial production process, but information signals can be written, erased, and read.

The cartridge 2 constituting this disc cartridge has an optical pickup opening 5a and a chucking opening 6 configured similarly to the cartridge 2 in the disc cartridge having the above-mentioned optical disc 1a. It is configured to include the first and second disc type display sections 9, 10, etc. described above. This cartridge 2 houses the magneto-optical disk 1b. The cartridge 2 has the optical pickup opening 5a on the upper main surface 2a.
A magnetic head opening 5b having substantially the same shape is provided. The magnetic head opening 5b is connected to the optical pickup opening 5a through the magneto-optical disk 1b.
It is provided so as to face oppositely to.

A shutter member 7 is attached to this cartridge 2. The shutter member 7 in this disk cartridge is for opening and closing the optical pickup opening 5a and the magnetic head opening 5b. This shutter member 7 includes the slider section 7a, the lower shutter plate section 7b, and an upper shutter plate section 7c supported by the slider section 7a similarly to the lower shutter plate section 7b, metal plate, or
For example, it is integrally formed from a synthetic resin material such as polyacetal. The upper shutter plate portion 7c is formed into a rectangular plate shape larger than the magnetic head opening 5b so as to be able to close the magnetic head opening 5b. The upper shutter plate portion 7c has one end supported by the lower edge of the slider portion 7a, is parallel to the lower shutter plate portion 7b, and is opposed to the upper shutter plate portion 7b. These lower and upper shutter plate parts 7b,
7c indicates a position where the optical pickup opening 5a and the magnetic head opening 5b are closed by sliding the shutter member 7 relative to the cartridge 2, and a position where the optical pickup opening 5a and the magnetic head opening 5a are closed. It is slidable between the head opening 5b and the opening position.

In this disk cartridge having the magneto-optical disk 1b, the first disk type indicator 9 has an opening 9a and is shaped like a recess. The second disc type indicator 10 is in a flat state. That is, the disc type display portions 9 and 10 in this disc cartridge
The display status of can be indicated by "01". This display state "01" corresponds to the magneto-optical disk 1b from which information signals can be read and written, and the signal recording layer has the magnetic film, and the player apparatus provides information to the magneto-optical disk 1b. Indicates that it is possible to write signals.

The disk cartridge according to the present invention, which is configured with the magneto-optical disk 1b which is a write-only disk as described above, is used in the disk player device as described above. , the cartridge 2 is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the chassis.

At this time, in the disc player device, the first and second disc type display sections 9, 1
0 is detected, and the operating state of the optical pickup device is detected by each disc type display section 9, 10.
Based on the detected marking state, the marking state is determined to be compatible with the magneto-optical disk 1b. Further, when this disc player device is set to a recording mode or an erasing mode by detecting a marking state corresponding to the magneto-optical disc 1b, a magnetic It is then possible to put the head device into operation. In recording mode and erasing mode, this magnetic head device slides into or approaches the other main surface of the magneto-optical disk 1b through the magnetic head opening 5b, and applies a magnetic field to the signal recording surface. .

[0043] In the reproduction mode, this disc player device reads out information signals from the magneto-optical disc 1b by the optical pickup device through the optical pickup opening 5a. Further, in the recording mode or erasing mode, this disk player apparatus writes or erases information signals on the magneto-optical disk 1b using the optical pickup device and the magnetic head device.

By the way, in this disc cartridge, the opening 9a of the first disc type indicator 9 is as follows:
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, the cartridge 2 can be opened and closed by a mark changing member 14 disposed inside the cartridge 2.

As shown in FIG. 16, the mark changing member 14 is formed into a substantially rectangular plate shape, and is held between a support plate 16 provided inside the cartridge 2 and the outer wall of the cartridge 2. It is supported and is slidable in the longitudinal direction. The indicator changing member 14 has one end facing the edge of the opening 9a of the first disk type indicator 9. Further, a protruding slide operation portion 14a is provided on the main surface of the sign changing member 14. This slide operation portion 14a faces outward through a long hole portion 15 provided near the opening 9a. That is, the mark changing member 14 is connected to the long hole portion 1.
5, the slide operation section 14a is operated to perform a sliding operation in the longitudinal direction. When the sign changing member 14 is slid toward the opening 9a,
One end is entered into the opening 9a and the opening 9a is closed.

[0046] The opening 9 is opened by the sign changing member 14.
When the disc type indicator 9 is closed, the first disc type indicator 9
It is made into a substantially flat state. Then, the display status of the disc type display sections 9 and 10 in this disc cartridge becomes "11". This display state "11" corresponds to the magneto-optical disk 1b which is a read-only disk, and indicates that it is impossible for the player device to write information signals to the magneto-optical disk 1b. ing. Therefore, in the disk player device, the optical pickup device can only read information signals from the magneto-optical disk 1b, and the magnetic head device can write and erase information signals on the magneto-optical disk 1b. It is forbidden. That is, in the disk player device, the magnetic head device is put into a non-operating state.

[0047] When no disc cartridge is installed in the disc player device, a display state similar to that in the case where both the disc type display portions 9 and 10 are in the recessed state is detected. That is, the display state in this case is "00", indicating that the disc cartridge is not installed in the disc player device. At this time, in the disc player device, the optical pickup device and the magnetic head device are put into a non-operating state.

It should be noted that the disk cartridge according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the above-mentioned embodiments.
As shown in FIG. 17, each disc type display section 9, 1
0 may be provided on the front end portion of the lower main surface portion 2b of the cartridge 2 in the insertion operation direction, and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the insertion operation direction. In this case, in the disc player device, it is facilitated to detect the display state of each of the disc type display sections 9 and 10 during the operation of inserting the disc cartridge into the disc player device.

[0049]

As described above, in the disc cartridge according to the present invention, the first and second disc type indicating portions provided on the outer side of the cartridge rotatably housing the disc are in the open state. and a closed state, and work together to display one of four types of display states.

Therefore, in this disc cartridge, the display state of each disc type indicator section is made to correspond to the type of the disc, and by detecting the display state, the type of the disc can be easily determined. It can be carried out. Detection of the display portion of each disc type display portion can be easily performed using, for example, a microswitch.

That is, the present invention allows the type of the disc stored in the cartridge to be easily determined, and allows the disc player to read the disc without complicating or enlarging the device configuration of the disc player. It is possible to provide a disc cartridge that can reliably perform a predetermined switching operation according to the type of disc cartridge.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a disc cartridge according to the present invention, which is constructed using an optical disc from which only information signals can be read.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1, viewed from the bottom side.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the configuration of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 above.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a disk cartridge according to the present invention, which is configured using a magneto-optical disk designed exclusively for reading information signals.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 5, viewed from the bottom side.

7 is a plan view showing the structure of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 5. FIG.

8 is a bottom view showing the structure of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a disk cartridge according to the present invention, which is configured using a magneto-optical disk on which information signals can be written.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9, viewed from the bottom side.

11 is a plan view showing the structure of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9; FIG.

12 is a bottom view showing the structure of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9. FIG.

13 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9, viewed from the bottom, in a state where writing of information signals is prohibited; FIG.

14 is a bottom view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9, showing a state in which writing of information signals is prohibited; FIG.

15 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a main part showing the structure of a first disk type indicator of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 9; FIG.

16 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 9, showing a state in which the opening of the first disc type indicator is closed; FIG.

FIG. 17 is a bottom view showing another example of the configuration of the disk cartridge according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a...... Optical disk 1b... Magneto-optical disk 9...
......First disc type display section 9a...
······Aperture

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge comprising: a disk; and a cartridge rotatably housing the disk and having first and second disk type indicating portions on its outer side, the first and second disk type indicating portions; A disk cartridge in which each of the portions is in either a flat state or a concave state and cooperates to display one of four types of marking states.