JPH0447579A - Head loading device for magnetic recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the loading/unloading of a magnetic head on a magnetic recording medium with simple constitution without necessitating a specific controller by moving a supporting ring mounting a supporting arm equipped with the magnetic head along the spiral groove of a rotary shaft. CONSTITUTION:When the rotary shaft 2 is rotated, the supporting ring 6 on which the inertia of the magnetic head 10 and the supporting arm 9 function is rotated by delaying without performing synchronous rotation, and is moved in the length direction of the rotary shaft along the spiral groove by the delay of rotation, and approaches the magnetic recording medium. When a projection 7 arrives at a connecting part 5a, travel along the longitudinal direction of the rotary shaft 2 is stopped, and the synchronous rotation between the rotary shaft 2 can be obtained, and the magnetic head 10 is rotated in a state keeping constant distance to the magnetic recording medium 1. When the rotation of the rotary shaft 2 is stopped, the supporting ring 6 is moved along the rotary shaft 2 by the rotary inertia of the supporting arm 9 and the magnetic head 10, thereby, the magnetic head 10 can be moved to a safe area. Thereby, the magnetic head 10 can be moved with a simple mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a head loading mechanism for a magnetic recording device that magnetically writes and reads information. This relates to the structure of the parts to be separated.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, a magnetic disk including a magnetic recording medium is provided, and magnetic recording is performed while moving linearly in the radial direction along the surface or bottom surface of the magnetic disk, and the recorded contents are read out. A magnetic recording system equipped with a magnetic head that performs the following is known.

In this type of magnetic recording system, the magnetic disk is rotated by a motor, and a magnetic head is moved linearly in the radial direction along the top or bottom surface of the rotating magnetic disk. Alternatively, the recorded contents on the bottom surface can be read out or magnetically recorded. ``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, the magnetic recording system has the following problems.

(1) Since it is necessary to rotate a heavy magnetic disk at a precise rotation speed, there is a problem that the drive system becomes larger and the power consumption of the entire system increases.

(2) The recorded contents are read while moving the magnetic head in the radial direction of the magnetic disk, but as the magnetic head moves inside the magnetic disk, the recording density of the magnetic disk increases, making reading errors more likely to occur. There's a problem. Further, this type of magnetic disk itself needs to have rigidity to withstand rotation and warping, so there is a problem that it becomes expensive.

(3) Conventionally, there is one magnetic head per recording surface of a magnetic disk for recording and reproducing, so there is a problem that recording and reproducing cannot be performed at high speed.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the inventor of the present application has provided a plate-shaped magnetic recording medium, a rotating shaft that is oriented perpendicularly to the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium and is rotatable in the circumferential direction.
The present invention proposes a magnetic recording device comprising a plurality of support arms supported by the rotating shaft and a magnetic head attached to each of the support arms facing the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium.

In the magnetic recording device IJm having the above configuration, when writing and reading information to and from the magnetic recording medium, the magnetic head is separated from the magnetic recording medium by a minute distance,
It is necessary to operate the magnetic head while rotating it while maintaining this interval. Further, after the operation of the magnetic head is completed, it is necessary to keep the magnetic head sufficiently away from the magnetic recording medium and to keep it in a safe area so that the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic head do not come into contact with each other.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a head loading mechanism that can move a magnetic head with a simple mechanism without requiring a special control device, and can automatically move the magnetic head to a safe area when the power is turned off. purpose.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention includes a plate-shaped magnetic recording medium, and a rotating shaft that is oriented perpendicularly to the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium and is rotatable in the circumferential direction. The recording medium includes a shaft, a drive device that rotationally drives the rotation shaft, a plurality of support arms supported by the rotation shaft, and a magnetic head attached to each support arm facing the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium. A head loading mechanism for a magnetic recording device comprising: a head loading mechanism for a magnetic recording device, wherein a helical groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is engaged with the helical groove and is movable and rotatable along the rotating shaft. A support ring is inserted through the support ring, and the support arm is attached to the support ring so that the magnetic head can be moved toward and away from the magnetic recording medium by moving the support ring. A locking portion is formed to prevent movement of the magnetic head and maintain the distance between the magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium.

"Operation" When the rotating shaft is rotated, the support ring, which is affected by the inertia of the magnetic head and the supporting arm, does not rotate synchronously with the rotating shaft but rotates with a delay. This rotational delay causes the support ring to move along the spiral groove, and the support ring moves along the length of the rotating shaft to approach the magnetic recording medium. Therefore, the magnetic head of the support arm attached to the support ring also approaches the magnetic recording medium.

When the support ring approaches the magnetic recording medium and reaches the locking portion, the support ring stops moving along the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft, and the support ring begins to rotate synchronously with the rotation shaft. Therefore, in this state, the magnetic head rotates while maintaining a constant distance from the magnetic recording medium, so that information can be written and read by the magnetic head.

Further, when the rotation of the rotating shaft stops, the rotational inertia of the support arm and the magnetic head acts on the support ring, so the support ring tends to rotate. Therefore, the rotation generated at this time moves the support ring along the rotation axis, and the magnetic head moves away from the magnetic recording medium to a safe area.

On the other hand, since the magnetic head is rotationally driven, the rotational drive system is smaller and simpler than in conventional devices that required rotationally driving the magnetic disk, and power consumption is reduced.

Since a plurality of magnetic heads scan the magnetic recording medium by rotating the rotation axis, it is possible to improve the recording density compared to a conventional magnetic recording device using one magnetic head.

Furthermore, compared to conventional devices in which information is recorded and reproduced using one magnetic head, the provision of a plurality of magnetic heads allows for faster recording and reproduction.

Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, and the loading mechanism of this embodiment is provided in a magnetic recording apparatus described below.

First, a magnetic recording device includes a magnetic recording medium 1 such as a disc-shaped magnetic disk or a magnetic card. The magnetic recording medium 1 is made entirely of magnetic material, or has a magnetic recording medium film formed on a substrate made of plastic or the like, and is capable of recording and erasing magnetic information as necessary. It is. Although not shown in the drawings, the case or housing housing the magnetic recording medium 1 is provided with a moving mechanism for moving the magnetic recording medium 1 in the surface direction thereof.

A rotating shaft 2 is provided above the magnetic recording medium 1, facing in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic recording medium 1. The rotating shaft 2 is supported by a case or housing that houses the magnetic recording medium 1, and is rotatably provided in the circumferential direction thereof. Note that this rotating shaft 2 may be detachably connected to an output shaft 4 of a drive device 3 such as a motor, and may be rotationally driven as necessary.

A spiral groove 5 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 2, and the pitch of the spiral groove 5 is rough on the upper end side of the rotating shaft 2 (the side opposite from the magnetic recording medium 1) in FIG. axis 2
The lower end side (one end on the side closer to the magnetic recording medium 1) is formed so as to be dense.

A support ring 6 is inserted through the rotating shaft 2.

This support ring 6 has a projection 7 formed on its inner circumference as shown in FIG. 2, and the support ring 6 is inserted into the rotating shaft 2 by inserting the projection 7 into the spiral groove 5. There is. Therefore, by rotating the support ring 6 while aligning the protrusion 7 with the spiral groove 5, the support ring 6 can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft 2.

Further, a plurality of support arms 9 (in this embodiment, four support arms 9 are radially arranged at intervals of 906 in the circumferential direction of the support ring 6) are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the support ring 6. These support arms 9 are fixed to the support ring 6 with their tips inclined so as to approach the magnetic recording medium 1. A magnetic head 10 is attached to the tip of each support arm 9 so as to face the magnetic recording medium l. Therefore, by moving the support ring 6 along the rotation axis 2, the magnetic helad 10 can approach or move away from the magnetic recording medium 1.

Furthermore, the terminal end 5 of the helical groove 5 on the lower side of the rotating shaft 2 (the side closer to the magnetic recording medium l)! is formed at a position where the magnetic head 10 approaches the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium 1 when the support ring 6 reaches the terminal end 51 of the spiral groove 5, and the terminal end 51 of the spiral groove It is a locking part.

On the other hand, a rotary transformer 11 is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 2, and the rotary transformer 11 and each magnetic head IO are electrically connected. Note that it is sufficient for the distance that the magnetic head 10 is separated from the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium 1 to be 1Illl, so the helical groove 5 to be actually formed may be formed for one period or even for a half period less than that. It is sufficient to form it.

Further, a spring 12 is wound around the rotating shaft 2 between the support ring 6 and the rotary transformer 11. The spring 12 has an upper end fixed to the rotating shaft 2 and a lower end fixed to the support ring 6, and biases the support ring 6 to move toward the upper end of the rotating shaft 2. .

Next, a case will be described in which the magnetic recording device and head loading mechanism configured as described above are operated. To write or read information on the magnetic recording medium 1,
While rotating the magnetic head 10, the magnetic head]0
It is necessary to bring the magnetic head 10 close to the magnetic recording medium 1 to maintain a constant distance between the magnetic head 10 and the magnetic recording surface.

In order to rotate the magnetic head 10, the output shaft 4 of the drive device 3 is rotated to rotate the rotating shaft 2. Here, when the rotating shaft 2 is stationary, the supporting member 6 is pulled upward along the spiral groove 5 by the urging force of the spring 12.

When the rotating shaft 4 of the drive device 3 is rotated in this state, the rotating shaft 2 immediately starts rotating, but the inertial force of the supporting arm 9 and the magnetic head 10 and the spring 1
Since the urging force of 2 is acting, it does not rotate in synchronization with the rotating shaft 2. That is, since the support ring 6 rotates later than the rotation shaft 2, the support ring 6 moves downward along the helical groove 5 on the rotation shaft 2 under the driving force.

Since the pitch of the spiral groove 5 becomes denser as it goes downward, the descending support ring 6 gradually lowers its descending speed and follows the spiral groove 5 to the terminal end 5a. When it reaches the terminal end 51, it begins to rotate in synchronization with the rotating shaft 2.

Here, the magnetic helad 10 approaches the magnetic recording medium 1 while descending similarly to the support ring 6, stops descending at a position a predetermined distance from the top surface of the magnetic recording medium 1, and synchronizes with the rotating shaft 2 in this state. Rotate.

In this state, information can be written to and read from the magnetic recording medium 1 using the magnetic head 10. Further, the reading position and the writing position on the magnetic recording medium 1 can be changed by moving the magnetic recording medium 1 in parallel by a predetermined distance in the surface direction thereof and operating the magnetic head IO.

On the other hand, when the magnetic recording device is stopped, or when the power is cut off in an emergency, the rotating shaft 4 of the drive device 3 stops immediately, but the support arm 9 and the magnetic head 10 are attached to the support ring 6. rotational inertia and spring 12
Because of the biasing force of , the support ring 6 does not stop in synchronization with the rotating shaft 2, but stops after rotating for a certain period of time. During this rotation, the support ring 6 spirals Il!
5 rises along the rotation axis 6.

Therefore, the magnetic head 10 can be separated from the magnetic recording medium l by a predetermined distance, and the magnetic head 10 can be evacuated to a safe area. From this, it is possible to prevent accidental contact between the magnetic recording medium 1 and the magnetic head 10.

As described above, the magnetic head 100 can be loaded and unloaded using a simple mechanism.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in the magnetic recording medium 1, the area indicated by the diagonal line A and the area indicated by the oblique line B can be used as areas in which necessary data can be recorded. and,
The areas above and below the areas indicated by diagonal lines A and B, through which the magnetic head 10 passes, can be used as control signal recording areas such as synchronous clocks. Control signal recording in the synchronous clock area can be written in advance when the magnetic recording medium 1 is formatted.

As the magnetic recording medium 1 moves, the magnetic head 10 scans the areas A, B, and as a result, the signals from the magnetic head 10 are collected by the rotary transformer 11 and output to the fixed winding as shown in the figure. Therefore, the recorded contents of areas A and B can be read.

In the magnetic recording device having the above configuration, the magnetic head IO is rotationally driven to perform recording and reproduction while the magnetic recording medium 1 is being moved, so it is necessary to accurately rotate the heavy magnetic disk. The rotary drive system is smaller and lighter than the conventional device, and the cylinder is simplified. Furthermore, the rotating shaft 2
Since the plurality of magnetic heads 10 can be moved over the magnetic recording medium 1 by the rotation of the magnetic head 1, the recording density can be improved.

Furthermore, compared to conventional devices that are equipped with one magnetic head for writing and reading information, the present invention has a plurality of magnetic heads 10, so it is possible to quickly move the magnetic head 10 to a desired position on the magnetic recording medium. can be recorded and played back at high speed.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the terminal end 5 of the helical groove 5
! was used as the locking part of the support ring 5. However, as the locking part of the support ring 5, a protrusion, a locking plate, or a seven-rung part is formed on the outer circumference of the lower part of the rotating shaft 2 shown in FIG. However, they can also be configured to prevent the support ring 6 from descending. As described above, the structure of the locking portion of the support ring 5 is not limited to the above structure, and other structures may be adopted as long as they can stop the support ring 5 from descending.

Further, in the embodiment described above, a spring 12 is provided for the purpose of retracting the magnetic head 10 when the rotating shaft 2 is stopped, but the spring 12 may be omitted. If the spring 12 is omitted,
When the rotary shaft 2 is stopped, the support ring 6 rotates independently of the rotary shaft 2 and rises along the rotary shaft 2 due to the rotational inertia of the support arm 9 and the magnetic head 10, so that the magnetic head 10 is placed in a safe area. It can be evacuated.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, the present invention attaches a support arm equipped with a magnetic head to a support ring, and moves the support ring along a spiral groove of a rotating shaft, thereby attaching the magnetic head to a magnetic recording medium. Since the magnetic head can be moved close to or away from the magnetic recording medium, it is possible to load and unload the magnetic head onto and from the magnetic recording medium with a simple mechanism without requiring a special control device.

In addition, even if the drive device for the rotating shaft is stopped or the rotating shaft stops rotating due to a sudden power cut,
The support ring rotates for a while due to the rotational inertia of the support arm and the magnetic head, and then stops. Therefore, during this time, the support ring moves along the spiral groove and moves the magnetic head away from the magnetic recording medium, so that the magnetic head can always be automatically retracted to a complete area when the rotating shaft is stopped. Damage accidents caused by contact between the head and the magnetic recording medium can be prevented.

In addition, the magnetic recording device equipped with the head loading mechanism of the present invention can reduce the weight of the rotational drive system since it can rotate the magnetic head, which is lighter than the magnetic disk, compared to conventional devices that rotated the magnetic disk. I can do something. Furthermore, since information can be extracted and recorded using a plurality of magnetic heads, higher density recording can be achieved compared to conventional devices that use a single magnetic head. Furthermore, since information can only be read using a plurality of magnetic heads, it is possible to record and reproduce information at a higher speed than in conventional devices that use one magnetic head.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 show a simple embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a side sectional view, Figure 2 is a side view of a rotating shaft equipped with a support ring, and Figure 3 is a side view of a rotating shaft equipped with a support ring. A sectional view, and FIG. 4 is a plan view. ■... Magnetic recording medium, 2... Rotating shaft, 3... Drive device, 4... Rotating shaft, 5... Spiral groove, 5a...
Termination part (locking part), 6... Support ring, 7... Protrusion, 9... Support arm, lO... Magnetic head, 11.
...Rotary transformer, 2...Spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a plate-shaped magnetic recording medium; a rotating shaft that is perpendicular to the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium and rotatable in a circumferential direction;
A drive device that rotationally drives the rotary shaft, a plurality of support arms supported by the rotary shaft, and a magnetic head attached to each of the support arms facing the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium. A head loading mechanism for a magnetic recording device, wherein a helical groove is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft, and a support ring is provided on the rotating shaft to engage with the helical groove and to be movable and rotatable along the rotating shaft. The support arm is inserted into the support ring, and the support ring is moved to allow the magnetic head to move toward and away from the magnetic recording medium, while the rotating shaft prevents the support ring from moving toward the magnetic recording medium. 1. A head loading mechanism comprising: a locking portion for maintaining a distance between a magnetic head and a magnetic recording medium.