JPH0459704B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a disk cartridge, and in particular,
This invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a head insertion hole and a reference pin insertion hole are provided in the cartridge case.

A disk-shaped recording medium such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk is held in a cartridge case and rotated by a disk drive of a recording/reproducing device. The recording/reproducing head records and reproduces information. For this reason, the cartridge case that houses the disk-shaped recording medium has a reference pin insertion hole for regulating its position when loading it into a recording/playback device, and a reference pin insertion hole for inserting the recording/playback head. A hole and a spindle hole for rotationally driving the disk-shaped recording medium are respectively provided.

The recording surface of the disk-shaped recording medium is exposed from the reference pin insertion hole among the holes, so if this reference pin insertion hole is always open, the disk-shaped recording medium will be exposed when handling the disk cartridge. If a finger or the like touches the recording surface of the recording medium, accurate recording and reproduction may become difficult. For this reason, it has been known to have a cartridge case equipped with a shutter for protecting recording media, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In these figures, 1 is a cartridge case consisting of an upper case 2 and a lower case 3, 4 is a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in this cartridge case 1, and 5 is a cartridge case in the center of the cartridge case 1. 6 is a head insertion hole opened in the vicinity of the spindle hole, 7 and 8 are reference pin insertion holes opened on both left and right sides of the cartridge case 1, 9 is a shutter, and 10 is a hole in the shutter 9. It is an opening that has been opened.

In normal non-use conditions, the shutter 9 stops at the position where the head insertion hole 6 is closed and protects the disk-shaped recording medium 4, as shown in FIG. When loaded in the apparatus, it is moved in the direction of arrow A by a shutter moving mechanism (not shown) provided in the recording/reproducing apparatus. FIG. 2 shows the state at this time, and the shutter 9 is moved to a position where the opening 10 coincides with the head insertion hole 6, and as a result,
The recording surface of the disk-shaped recording medium 4 is the head insertion hole 6
Then, it is exposed through the opening 10 and becomes ready for recording and reproduction.

However, in the conventional structure as described above, if the shutter 9 does not completely open the head insertion hole 6 when the insertion of the disk cartridge into the recording/reproduction device is completed, the recording/reproducing disk may enter the head insertion hole 6. There was a fear that the recording head and the shutter 9 would come into contact and damage the recording/reproducing head.
In addition, dirt and dust may enter the interior through the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8 provided on both the left and right sides of the cartridge case 1. This caused a decrease in the reliability and durability of the recording medium 4, which was a big problem.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art, prevent damage to the recording/reproducing head,
To provide a disk cartridge capable of improving the reliability and durability of a disk-shaped recording medium.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is characterized in that an opening/closing plate for opening and closing the reference pin insertion hole is provided inside the cartridge case, and the opening operation of the opening/closing plate is linked with the opening operation of the shutter. It is something to do.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 16.

First, the schematic structure of the disk cartridge of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The disk cartridge includes a synthetic resin cartridge case 1 and a synthetic resin cartridge case 1.
A disk-shaped recording medium 4 rotatably housed inside
and a shutter 9 formed by bending a thin metal plate into a U-shape.

The cartridge case 1 consists of an upper case 2 and a lower case 3, and by joining these two cases 2 and 3 using a plurality of screws 11, a space is created for accommodating the recording medium 4 and other necessary components. is formed.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower case 3 viewed from the inner surface, and a joining wall 12 is erected on the periphery of the lower case 3 except for the front surface and a part of the lower right side. A circular spindle hole 5 is provided in the center of the lower case 3, and a track-shaped head insertion hole 6 is provided between the spindle hole 5 and the front surface of the lower case 3. On the front surface of the lower case 3, a guide protrusion 13 that is lower in height than the joining wall 12 is installed in a straight line. A stopper 14 is formed, and V grooves 15 are formed on both left and right sides of the lower case 3 for confirming completion of insertion. Furthermore, a semicircular notch 16 for identifying surfaces A and B is provided at the right corner of the front surface of the lower case 3, and a circular reference pin insertion hole 7 is provided diagonally below the left of this notch 16. Further, in the upper left corner of the lower case 3, a track-shaped reference pin insertion hole 8 is provided at a position symmetrical to the reference pin insertion hole 7. Inside the lower case 3, a partition wall 17 having the same height as the joining wall 12 is erected in a substantially circular shape with the spindle hole 5 as the center.
is now being stored. A plurality of roller support shafts 18 are erected on the periphery of the partition wall 17.
Further, on the outside of the partition wall 17, a plurality of screw holes 19 are provided for screwing the screws 11 for joining the upper case 2 and the lower case 3 together. Further, a guiding recess 20 is formed on the lower right side of the joining wall 12,
A support insertion recess 2 is provided inside this guide recess 20.
1 and a plurality of pins to be described later are provided upright, and these support shaft insertion recesses 21 and a plurality of pins are also provided in symmetrical positions at the lower left corner.

On the other hand, the upper case 2 has the same shape as the lower case 3, except that the notch 16 and the guide recess 20 are provided in symmetrical positions with respect to the lower case 3. The upper case 2 and the lower case 3 can be molded using the same mold.
That is, by fitting the removable core into the left side of the mold, the upper case 2 having the notch 16 and the guide recess 20 on the left side can be molded, and conversely, by fitting the core into the right side of the mold. As a result, the lower case 3 having the notch 16 and the guide recess 20 on the right side can be molded.In this way, in this example, by molding the upper case 2 and the lower case 3 using the same mold, The mold cost for the cartridge case 1 is reduced.

The disk-shaped recording medium 4 is an optical disk capable of recording and reproducing optical information on both sides, and is housed inside the partition wall 17 of both the cases 2 and 3 so as to be rotatable only when in use. That is, the seventh
As shown in FIG. 8, the guide recess 20
A dogleg-shaped rotating lever 22 is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft 23 in a nearby recess 21 for inserting a supporting shaft, and this rotating lever 22 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure by a return spring 24. is energized by This return spring 24 is wound around a large-diameter pin 25 near the support shaft insertion recess 21, and both ends thereof are attached to a small-diameter pin 25.
6 and the rotating lever 22, respectively. One end of the rotary lever 22 is in contact with the lower end of a slider 27 that is slidably fitted into the guide recess 20, and a rotatable roller 28 is provided at the other end. . This roller 28 can come into contact with the periphery of the disc-shaped recording medium 4, and on the other hand, the two roller support shafts 18 located diagonally with respect to this roller 28 also come into contact with the periphery of the disc-shaped recording medium 4. It supports a roller 29 in contact with it. Therefore, when the disk cartridge is not in use as shown in FIG.
The movement of the roller 28 is restricted by the three-point support of a roller 28 elastically biased by a return spring 24 and two rollers 29 located on the diagonal side of the roller 28, so that the roller 28 is prevented from rotating. However, when the disk cartridge is in use as shown in FIG. rotates clockwise against the elastic force of the return spring 24. For this reason,
The roller 28 provided on the rotating lever 22 separates from the periphery of the disk-shaped recording medium 4, and the disk-shaped recording medium 4 becomes able to rotate freely.

As shown in FIG. 9, the shutter 9 is formed by bending a thin metal plate, such as stainless steel, into a U-shape. A pair of abutting portions 31 are formed by bending both sides inward. The shutter 9 has a length that can simultaneously cover the spindle hole 5 and the head insertion hole 6 of the cartridge case 1, and has a pair of folded claws 32 and a pair of through holes 33 on one side thereof. At the same time, a pair of folded claws 32 and a pair of through holes 33 are provided on the other surface. A guide groove 34 parallel to the guide protrusion 13 is provided on the surfaces of the upper case 2 and lower case 3 constituting the cartridge case 1. Further, on the outer surfaces of both cases 2 and 3, from the guide groove 34 to the cartridge case 1.
An insertion tapered portion 35 is provided which becomes gradually thinner toward the front surface of the device. As shown in FIG. 10, by inserting the folded claw portion 32 of the shutter 9 into the guide groove 34 from the tapered insertion portion 35, the shutter 9 is inserted into the cartridge case 1.
It is movably attached to the cartridge case and opens and closes the spindle hole 5 and head insertion hole 6 of the cartridge case.
After attaching the cartridge case 1 to the cartridge case 1, an elongated press plate 36 is attached to both the front and back sides of the cartridge case 1 so as to cover a part of the rear end of the shutter 9 (see FIGS. 4 and 9). ). This presser plate 36
This prevents the rear end side of the shutter 9 from opening, so the shutter 9 is attached so as not to come off from the cartridge case 1.

FIG. 11 shows the internal structure of the cartridge case 1 to which the shutter 9 is attached. A first slider 37 and a second slider 38 slide on the guide protrusion 13 of the cartridge case 1, respectively. They are fitted freely. Both sliders 3
7 and 38 are both made of synthetic resin with good slipperiness, the first slider 37 moves horizontally along the guide protrusion 13 on the right side of the stopper 14, and the second slider 38 moves along the guide protrusion 13 on the right side of the stopper 14. It moves horizontally along the left guide protrusion 13. Also,
The mutually opposing surfaces of both sliders 37 and 38 engage with both contact portions 31 of the shutter 9, and both sliders 37 and 38 are each biased toward the stopper 14 by a spring member 39. has been done. One end of these spring members 39 is attached to both sliders 3
7 and 38, respectively, and the other end is engaged with support shafts 40 provided on both left and right sides of the guide protrusion 13, respectively. These support shafts 40 serve as pivot points for a fan-shaped opening/closing plate 41 that opens and closes the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8, and these opening/closing plates 41 are inserted into the cartridge case 1 by the support shafts 40. It is rotatably supported. In addition, an engaging portion 42 that can come into contact with the spring member 39 is formed on both the opening and closing plates 41 by folding back a part thereof, and both opening and closing plates 41 are formed by a spring wound around the support shaft 40. 43 in a direction to close the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8.

When the disk cartridge is not in use, as shown in FIG.
Since the shutter 8 is urged by the spring member 39 to a position where it comes into contact with the stopper 14, the shutter 9 is stopped at a position where the spindle hole 5 and the head insertion hole 6 are closed. At this time, the right opening/closing plate 41 is biased by the spring 43 to close the reference pin insertion hole 7, and similarly, although not shown, the left opening/closing plate 41 also closes the reference pin insertion hole 8. . in this way,
The shutter 9 is held in a position that closes the spindle hole 5 and head insertion hole 6 when not in use.
Since it has a structure that allows it to move in either the left or right direction with respect to the straight line connecting the centers of the spindle hole 5 and the center of the head insertion hole 6, it is possible to move the disc-shaped recording medium with a shutter movement mechanism that has a movement mechanism in one direction. Both A and B of 4 can be used. Below, this is the first
This will be explained based on FIGS. 2 and 13.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a shutter moving mechanism installed in a recording/reproducing device, in which a cam plate 46 with a cam hole 45 is obliquely fixed to a frame 44 extending in the insertion direction of the disk cartridge. has been done. A guide rail 47 is attached to the frame 44 so as to be movable along the frame 44, and a slider 49 having a protrusion 48 is slidably fitted to the guide rail 47. The pin 50 implanted in the mover 49 is connected to the cam hole 4.
It stands out within 5.

Now, when using side A of the disk-shaped recording medium 4, as shown in FIG. 13, when loading the disk cartridge into the recording/reproducing apparatus while moving it in the direction of arrow C, the mover 49 on the recording/reproducing apparatus side will move. The protrusion 48 fits into the insertion opening 30 of the shutter 9.
In this state, when the disk cartridge is further moved in the direction of arrow C, the mover 49 receives a force in the direction of moving along the cam hole 45, but the movement in this direction is restrained by the guide rail 47. Therefore, the mover 49 moves in the direction of arrow D, which is perpendicular to arrow C. When the slider 49 moves in the direction of arrow D, the shutter 9 that fits into the protrusion 48 of the slider 49 also moves in the direction of arrow D, as shown in FIG. 9
is pushed by one of the abutting portions 31, moves on the guide protrusion 13 in the direction of arrow D, and opens both the spindle hole 5 and the head insertion hole 6. When the first slider 37 moves in the direction of arrow D, this first slider 3
7 and the spring member 39 engaged between the support shaft 40
is elastically deformed by being pressed by the first slider 37, and during this deformation process comes into contact with the engaging portion 42 of the right opening/closing plate 41 to rotate the opening/closing plate 41 in the counterclockwise direction. Then, the through hole 3 on the right side of the shutter 9
3 coincides with the reference pin insertion hole 7 on the right side of the cartridge case 1, and the reference pin insertion hole 7 is completely opened as shown in FIG. When the reference pin insertion hole 7 is completely opened, the V-groove 15 of the cartridge case 1 fits into a roller (not shown) on the recording/reproducing device side, so that the disk cartridge can be inserted into the recording/reproducing device. It is confirmed that the insertion has been completed. Then, the disk cartridge is lowered to the loading position by a feeding mechanism (not shown), and a reference pin (not shown) on the recording/reproducing device side enters the through hole 33 and the reference pin insertion hole 7, so that the disk cartridge is moved to a predetermined position. At this position, a recording and reproducing head (not shown) enters into the head insertion hole 6, and becomes ready for recording and reproducing.

In this way, the opening operation of the reference pin insertion hole 7 by the opening/closing plate 41 and the opening operation of the spindle hole 5 and head insertion hole 6 by the shutter 9 are linked, so that the opening/closing plate 40 can be moved inside the reference pin insertion hole 7. The shutter 9 is not completely opened while the shutter 9 is located even partially in the . Therefore, even if the disk cartridge is sent downward with the shutter 9 not fully opened, the reference pin abuts against the shutter 9 and the opening/closing plate 40, so that the disk cartridge is positioned at a predetermined position. . The recording/reproducing head no longer comes into contact with the shutter 9.

Also, during loading, the shutter 9 and slider 4 may be
Even if the fitting of the shutter 9 and the opening/closing plate 41 is disengaged, the spring member 39 has moved to the right side of the inserted reference pin.
9 is prevented by contacting the reference pin,
There is no risk that the shutter 9 will collide with the recording/reproducing head. In addition, in this embodiment, since the reference pin is designed to pass through the through hole 33 of the shutter 9,
The aforementioned return operation of the shutter 9 during loading is also prevented by the reference pin entering the through hole 33, providing a double safety structure.

When using the B side of the disk-shaped recording medium 4, the disk cartridge is turned over and loaded into a recording/reproducing device. When the disk cartridge is turned over, the positional relationship of each member is left and right opposite to that when using side A shown in FIG. 11, but in this case, the shutter 9 is moved to the first
When moving in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 3, the second slider 38 is pushed by the other contact portion 31 of the shutter 9 and moves to open the spindle hole 5 and the head insertion hole 6. Spring member 3 that biases the second slider 38
9, the opening/closing plate 41, and the opening/closing operation of the reference pin insertion hole 8 by the opening/closing plate 41 are the same as when using the A side shown in FIG. In this way, even when both sides A and B of the disk-shaped recording medium 4 are used, the shutter moving mechanism installed in the recording and reproducing apparatus only needs to have a mechanism for moving in one direction. The structure can be simplified.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing another embodiment. In this embodiment, the dimensions of both sliders 37 and 38 are made longer in the sliding direction than those of the above-mentioned embodiment,
When the shutter 9 is in the closed position, the spring member 39 is bent to some extent. By doing so, it is possible to solve the problem in appearance that the spring member 39 is visible from the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8 when not in use. Although not shown, the spring member 39 can be made to stand still in a deflected state by increasing the length of the stopper 14, and the same effect can be achieved in this case as well.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment. In this embodiment, two opening/closing plates 41 are provided on the support shaft 40.
are rotatably supported, and a spring member 39 is positioned between these opening/closing plates 41. The opening/closing plate 41 is similar to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the shutter 9
When the shutter 9 is in the closed position, the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8 are closed by a spring (not shown), and when the shutter 9 is opened, the spring member 3 is elastically deformed.
9 and rotate in a direction to open the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8. Therefore, dirt, dust, etc. that enter through the reference pin insertion holes 7 and 8 can be more reliably blocked, and the appearance can be improved.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing still another embodiment. In this embodiment, since the opening/closing plate 41 is directly fixed to the spring member 39, the opening/closing plate 41 is fixed directly to the spring member 39.
Move in unison with 9. Therefore, the spring for returning the opening/closing plate 41, which was necessary in each of the embodiments described above, is no longer necessary, and the number of parts can be reduced.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, an optical disk was used as the disk-shaped recording medium, but the present invention uses an optical disk as the disk-shaped recording medium.
It can also be applied to a magnetic disk in which magnetic layers are formed on both sides of a base film.

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the opening/closing plate is provided which opens the reference pin insertion hole in conjunction with the opening operation of the shutter, the positioning reference for the recording/reproducing device side can be used before the shutter is completely opened. The pin will not enter the reference pin insertion hole and become ready for recording/playback, thus preventing damage to the recording/playback head and preventing dirt and dust from entering the cartridge case from the reference pin insertion hole. Since the intrusion can be prevented, the reliability and durability of the disk-shaped recording medium can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are plan views showing conventional disk cartridges, FIGS. 3 to 16 show embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view of the disk cartridge, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional disk cartridge. A plan view of the cartridge; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lower case seen from the inside; Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the disk cartridge; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the cartridge;
8 is a plan view showing a non-contact state, FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the state in which the shutter is assembled into the cartridge case, and FIG. Fig. 10 is a sectional view thereof, Fig. 11 is a plan view of the inside of the disk cartridge when the shutter is closed, and Fig. 12 is a sectional view thereof.
The figure is a plan view of the inside of the disk cartridge with the shutter in the open state, FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of the shutter moving mechanism installed in the recording/reproducing device, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of the inside of a disk cartridge showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the disk cartridge showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a plan view of a disk cartridge showing still another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cartridge case, 4... Disc-shaped recording medium, 6... Head insertion hole, 7, 8... Reference pin insertion hole, 9... Shutter, 39... Spring member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cartridge case having a head insertion hole and a reference pin insertion hole, a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed inside the cartridge case, and a cartridge case that opens and closes the head insertion hole. Shyatsuta and
In the disk cartridge equipped with a spring member that biases the shutter toward the closed position, an opening/closing plate for opening and closing the reference pin insertion hole is provided inside the cartridge case, and the opening/closing plate is operated to open and close the shutter. A disc cartridge characterized by interlocking the opening operation of the disc cartridge. 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the opening/closing plate is provided with an engaging portion that can come into contact with and separate from the spring member. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the opening/closing plate is fixed to the spring member.