JPH05182331A - Engaging mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an engaging mechanism capable of engaging and disengaging by repeated pressing operations. CONSTITUTION:In this engaging mechanism, a latch lever 30 is rotated in the disengaging direction of a slider 13 through an insertion of a disk housing case, and a torsion spring 36 and a coil spring 38 are elastically deformed by making a 2nd lever 32 to rotate. When the disk housing case is pressed again in the inserting direction, a 3rd lever 33 is deformed to disengage a 1st lever 31. The 1st lever 31 makes the slider 13 turn back by repulsive forces of the springs 36, 38, then the latch lever 30 is rotated in the eject direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a locking mechanism, and more particularly to a locking mechanism which can be locked or unlocked by repeating a pressing operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a magnetic disk device in which a disk storage case (hereinafter referred to as a storage case) in which a flexible magnetic disk is stored is mounted for magnetic recording and reproduction, a storage case as a mounted object is provided in the apparatus. There is provided a mounting device including a holder into which the storage case is inserted for mounting the storage case, and a slider which is slid by being unlocked by the latch lever by the insertion operation of the storage case. The slider is slidably provided between the holder and a frame that rotatably supports the turntable, and the sliding direction is restricted by a guide pin embedded in the frame.
Further, on the frame, there is provided an eject mechanism for locking the slider before inserting the storage case and releasing the lock of the slider when the storage case is inserted. This eject mechanism functions as a locking mechanism that locks the slider,
When the eject button provided at the tip of the slider is pressed, the holder rises from the mounting position to the insertion / eject position, and the latch lever returns to the position that locks the slider while pressing the storage case in the eject direction. ..

[0003]

However, in the recording medium loading device having the conventional locking mechanism described above, the front panel on the front side of the device has an insertion opening into which the disc storage case is inserted, an eject button for performing an eject operation, A lens for an LED that is turned on during recording / reproduction is provided, and the eject button restricts miniaturization and thinning of the device.

Further, it is conceivable to make the front panel smaller and thinner by making the eject button smaller, but in that case, the eject operation becomes difficult.

Moreover, in the conventional mounting device, since the eject button is arranged below the insertion opening, there is a problem that the storage case popped out from the insertion opening hits the fingertip when the eject button is pressed. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism that solves the above problems.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a first lever which has a hooking portion and is rotatably supported, and a second lever which is supported coaxially with the first lever. An urging member for urging the first lever and the second lever to rotate in opposite directions so as to overlap each other, and a rotation urging member to a pre-press hatch position for rotating by the press. A latch lever for rotating the second lever against the biasing member, and a latching portion of the first lever when the pressing is performed,
A locking member that unlocks the first lever when pressed again, and the first lever is rotated by the biasing force of the biasing member when the locking member is unlocked. And a moving member that moves to a position latched by the latch lever.

[0007]

With the first pressing operation, the urging force of the urging member is increased to be in the locked state, and the second pressing operation releases the locking and releases the urging force.

[0008]

1 to 3 show a recording medium loading device to which an embodiment of a locking mechanism according to the present invention is applied.

In each drawing, the magnetic disk device 1 is a frame 2
When the head carriage 3 is provided on the disk storage case 4 in which a flexible magnetic disk is stored, the head carriage 3 moves in the disk radial direction (X direction) and a magnetic head (not shown). ) Is slidably contacted with the recording surface of the disk to perform magnetic recording and reproduction.

A front panel 5 is attached to the front end of the frame 2. As will be described later, the front panel 5 is provided only with an insertion opening 6 into which a disc storage case is inserted and an LED display lens 7, and is not provided with an eject button. For this reason, the front panel 5 has a smaller width and thickness than conventional ones (having an eject button), and thus is downsized and thinned.

The frame 2 is made of, for example, aluminum alloy die casting, and has a flat surface portion 2a on which a head carriage 3 and a turntable (not shown) for rotationally driving the magnetic disk are arranged, and uprights on both sides of the flat surface portion 2a. Side walls 2b, 2
and c.

First to third guide grooves 8, 9 and 10 are formed in the side walls 2b and 2c.

[0013] Also, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is on the plane portion 2a of the frame 2 are cylindrical boss 2a ₁ to 2A region ₄ is projected for positioning the mounting height position of the disk housing case 4 ..

[0014] Also, FIG. 6 (A), the rear side of the boss 2a as shown in (B) _3, 2a ₄ hole 4 of the disk housing case 4 on
A protrusion 26 that fits in a and positions the mounting position (recording / reproducing position) in the front-rear direction (X ₁ , X ₂ directions) is projected. The protrusion 26 has a shape in which the front side (X ₂ direction side) of the conical shape is removed, and has a wall surface 26a perpendicular to the front side. This is to enable the disc storage case 4 to move in the X ₁ direction from the mounting position during the eject operation described later.

Further, the lower portions of the guide grooves 8 and 10 are provided with triangular notches 8a and 10a extending in the X ₁ direction so that projecting pins 15 and 16 of a holder 12, which will be described later, can move in the X ₁ direction during an eject operation. Has been.

A mounting device 11 for mounting the disk storage case is provided on the frame 2.
The mounting device 11 includes a holder 12 into which the disc storage case 4 is inserted, and a slider (moving member) 13 that moves the holder 12 up and down by a sliding operation to move to an insertion / eject position (non-recording / reproducing position) or a recording / reproducing position. When,
As will be described later, the slider 13 is unlocked by the insertion operation of the disk storage case 4, and when the disk storage case 4 is pressed, the eject mechanism that presses the disk storage case 4 in the eject direction while returning the slider 13 ( Locking mechanism) 14.

The holder 12 has side plates 12b and 12c bent in a U shape on both sides of the top plate 12a, and the disk storage case 4 is inserted into the space surrounded by the top plate 12a and the side plates 12b and 12c. It has the insertion part 12d. The top plate 12a of the holder 12 is provided with a rectangular opening 12e into which the head carriage 3 enters and an opening 12f into which the eject mechanism 14 enters.

A pair of projecting pins 15 and 16 are laterally projected on the side plates 12b and 12c of the holder 12, respectively. The protruding pins 15 and 16 are the side walls 2b of the frame 2,
The holder 12 is fitted in the first and third guide grooves 8 and 10 provided in 2c, and is guided so that the holder 12 can move up and down to the insertion / eject position or the mounting position.

Further, the side plates 12b and 12c of the holder 12 are
A leaf spring 17 is installed so as to be inclined at an intermediate position between the pair of projecting pins 15 and 16 provided on the. still,
The upper end 17a of the leaf spring 17 is fixed to the top plate 12a of the holder 12, and the lower end 17b is a free end, which is the eject direction (X
It extends elastically in _two directions).

The slider 13 is disposed so as to overlap the holder 12, and has a U-shaped top plate 13a when viewed from above, and a pair of side plates 13b bent downward from both sides of the top plate 13a. , 13c. The side plates 13b,
The lower end 13c has semi-circular sliding contact portions 13b ₁ and 13c ₁ slidably contacting the flat surface portion 2a of the frame 2.

The side plates 13b and 13c are provided with the above-mentioned slats.
Inclined grooves 18 through which the protruding pins 15 and 16 of the lid 13 pass,
19 is drilled. These inclined grooves 18 and 19 are shown in FIG.
Disc insertion direction (X₁Direction)
It is provided so as to extend downward. Therefore, the inclination
The protruding pins 15 and 16 penetrating the grooves 18 and 19 are
Da 13 is X₂Slide in the direction
Lower the ruda 12 to the mounting position. At that time, protruding pin 1
5 and 16 are guide grooves 8 due to the pressing force of the leaf spring 17,
10 front (X₂Direction) while sliding on a vertical wall
Descend in the direction. The slider 13 is the X of the top plate 13a.₁
Both arms 13a extending in the direction₁, 13a ₂Spring inside
It has the hooks 20 and 21, and the arm 13 on the right side when viewed from above.
a₂At the tip of the, there is an L-shaped locking portion 22 bent downward.
And a hook 23.

An inclined cam 23a is provided at an inner corner between the L-shaped hook 23 and the end of the arm 13a. When the disc storage case 4 is ejected, the contact pin 31i of the first lever 31 is moved by the rotation of the first lever 31 of the eject mechanism 14 which will be described later.
Contact 3a. For this reason, the slider 13 is not
By pressing 3a against the contact pin 31i, the rotation angle of the first lever 31 can be reduced without changing the stroke of the slider 13, so the spring force of the torsion spring 36 that biases the first lever 31. Can be set easily, and it is possible to prevent the torsion spring 36 from being elastically deformed and destroyed.

Further, by providing the inclined cam 23a, the play between the first lever 31 and the slider 13 is reduced, the loss of the eject operation is reduced, and the eject operation can be smoothly performed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the right side plate 12c of the holder 12 is provided with an inclined surface 12b for preventing the disc housing case 4 from being inserted in the wrong direction.

This inclined surface 12b is the disk storage case 4
Is formed so as to correspond to the chamfered portion 4b meshed only at the front right corner. Therefore, the disk storage case 4
Is inserted into the holder 12 in the correct direction, the chamfered portion 4b provided at the front end of the disc storage case 4 has the inclined surface 1
It can be inserted up to the position where it abuts 2b.

However, when the disc storage case 4 is inserted in the wrong orientation, the disc storage case 4 is chamfered 4b.
The other corners contact the inclined surface 12b of the holder and are prevented from being inserted into the holder 12.

Further, when the operator does not notice the incorrect insertion and presses the disk storage case 4 in the insertion direction, the slider 1
3 causes the leaf spring 17 to elastically deform so that the holder 12 and the slider 13 move in the insertion direction (X ₁ direction) to the pins 15 and 1.
It moves by the clearance between 6 and the grooves 8 and 10.

At this time, since the repulsive force of the leaf spring 17 increases, the operation force for pressing the disk storage case 4 becomes large, and the operator notices that the insertion direction of the disk storage case 4 is wrong. Therefore, the spring force of the leaf spring 17 prevents erroneous insertion.

Reference numerals 24 and 25 are coil springs, one end of which is hooked on the spring hooking portions 20 and 21 of the slider 13, and the other end of which is hooked on the hooking portions 12f and 12g of the holder 12 which covers the slider 13. Therefore, the slider 13 is the coil spring 2
It is urged in the X ₂ direction by the tensile force of 4,25. The holder 12 and the slider 13 constitute a moving mechanism 11A for moving the disk storage case 4 together with the holder 12.

The structure of the eject mechanism 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the eject mechanism 14 is provided with a latch lever 30 with which the front end of the disk storage case 4 abuts, first to fourth levers 31 to 34, and each lever 31 to 34. It consists of springs 35-40 which urge.

As shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C, the latch lever 30 has a bearing portion 30a which is U-shaped when viewed in the lateral direction so as to be supported by the shaft 41 of the frame 2 and a bearing portion 30a. A leaf spring-shaped contact portion 30b extending, an arc-shaped latch portion 30c protruding laterally from the middle of the contact portion 30b, and a bearing portion 30a extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the contact portion 30b. It is composed of a claw portion 30d that operates. Further, the latch lever 30 is urged in the A ₁ direction by the elastic force of the torsion spring 35 wound around the shaft 41 on the frame 2.

Since the tip of the contact portion 30b of the latch lever 30 contacts the front end of the disk housing case 4,
It is curved so as to have a shape. The latch portion 30c engages with the locking portion 22 of the slider 13 described above to prevent the slider 13 from sliding in the X ₂ direction. The ejecting latch lever 30, together with the torsion spring 35, constitutes a return mechanism 30A in which the contact portion 30b returns the disc housing case 4 in the eject direction (non-recording / reproducing position).

The first lever 31 is shown in FIGS.
, The upper plate 31a and the lower plate 3 are arranged in parallel with each other.
1b and the vertical plate 31c are connected to each other, and are formed in a U shape when viewed from the lateral direction. Upper plate 31a and lower plate 3
Holes 31d and 31e, into which the shaft 42 on the frame 2 is fitted, are formed near the vertical plate 31c of 1b, and a hook-shaped locking claw 31f is projected to the side of the tip of the lower plate 31. There is.
Further, first and second locking portions 31g and 31h are hung on the side portion and the tip of the upper plate 31a.

Further, the slider 1 is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate 31a.
The contact pin 31i that abuts the hook 23 of No. 3 is upright.

As shown in FIG. 8, a torsion spring (biasing member) 36 is wound around the shaft 42, and one end of the torsion spring 36 is in contact with the first locking portion 31g. The other end of the coil spring 37 hooked to the pin 43 on the frame 2 of the first lever 31 is locked to the first locking portion 31g and is biased to rotate in the B ₁ direction.

The second lever 32 is shown in FIGS. 11 (A) and 11 (B).
As shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical hollow shaft 32a, into which the shaft 42 is inserted and supported, the base 32b in which the hollow shaft 32a is press-fitted from below, and the shaft 32c planted on the lower surface of the base 32b. The roller 32d and the protrusions 32e to 32g cut and raised above the base 32b.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the second lever 32 is supported coaxially with the first lever 31 by the shaft 40, and the first lever 31 is provided above the second lever 32.
Are stacked.

One end of the torsion spring 36 wound around the shaft 42 abuts on the locking portion 31g of the first lever 31, and the other end abuts on the protrusion 32g of the second lever 32.
The lever 31 is urged in the B ₂ direction and the second lever 32 is urged in the B ₁ direction. Also, the coil spring 38
Has one end hooked on the locking portion 31b of the first lever 31,
The other end is hooked on the protrusion 32f of the second lever 32. Therefore, the first and second levers 31 and 32 are biased in the B ₂ and B ₁ directions so as to overlap each other by the tensile force of the coil spring 38.

The third lever (locking member) 33 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A) and (B), a bearing portion 33a through which the shaft 44 on the frame 2 is inserted, a base 33b fixed to the upper end of the bearing portion 33a, and a locking portion 33c standing above the base 33b. And a protrusion 33d bent downward from the base 33b.

A torsion spring 39 is wound around the bearing portion 33a of the third lever 33. One end of the torsion spring 39 abuts the protrusion 33d and the other end engages the protrusion 45 on the frame 2. It has been stopped.

The third lever 33 is the torsion spring 3
It is biased in the C ₁ direction by the repulsive force of 9 and rotates the locking portion 33c to the lock position for locking the locking claw 31f of the first lever 31.

The fourth lever 34 is shown in FIGS. 13 (A) and 13 (B).
As shown in FIG. 4, a base 34a supported by a shaft 46 on the frame 2, an abutting portion 34b standing upright from _one arm 34a ₁ of the base 34a, and the other arm 34a of the base 34a.
A contact portion 34c extending in a _second tip, the more the middle bored pore 34d of the arm portion 34a _2. Also, the base 34a
On the bottom surface of the projections 34e, 34f that are in sliding contact with the frame 2
Is projected by half-stroke processing.

As shown in FIG. 8, one end of the coil spring 40 is hooked on the pin 47 on the frame 2 and the other end is hooked on the hole 34d of the fourth lever 34. Therefore, the fourth lever 34 is biased in the D ₁ direction by the tensile force of the coil spring 40. The fourth lever 34 contacts the stopper pin 48 on the frame 2 and is held at the contact position. The contact portion 34c of the fourth lever 34 is close to the locking portion 33c of the third lever 33.

The operation of the mounting apparatus having the above structure will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 14, the front panel 5
An insertion opening 6 into which the disc storage case 4 is inserted is opened, and an opening 6a is provided in the center of the insertion opening 6 so as to be largely opened in the vertical direction.

First, the disk mounting operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 18, and then the eject operation will be described. Incidentally, in FIGS. 15, 17, and 18, the springs 35 to 40 are omitted in order to make the operation of each member easy to understand. (1) Disc loading operation The disc storage case 4 has the front end 4a at the top and the insertion slot 6
Inserted in. Therefore, when the disc storage case 4 is inserted into the insertion port 6 while being pressed in the X ₁ direction, the disc storage case 4 enters the insertion portion 12d of the holder 12 and both sides are held by the side plates 12b and 12c. When the disk storage case 4 is inserted deep into the holder 12 at the insertion / eject position, the front end 4a contacts the contact portion 30b of the latch lever 30 of the eject mechanism 14. Further, when the disk storage case 4 is pressed in the X ₁ direction, the disk storage case 4 presses the contact portion 30b of the latch lever 30 in the same direction and rotates the latch lever 30 in the A ₂ direction. As a result, the torsion spring 35 that biases the latch lever 30 in the A ₁ direction is further twisted and elastically deformed into a state in which elastic force is stored.

Further, when the latch lever 30 rotates in the A ₂ direction, the claw portion 30d presses the roller 32d of the second lever 32 in the same direction, and the second lever 32 rotates in the B ₂ direction. Let

However, the locking claw 31f of the first lever 31
Is locked to the protrusion 33d of the third lever 33, the first lever 31 and the second lever 32 rotate relatively to each other, so that the first lever 31 and the second lever 32 rotate between the first and second levers 31 and 32. The spring force of the torsion spring 36 and the coil spring 38 provided is increased. Therefore, the torsion spring 36 and the coil spring 38
Is elastically deformed and held in a state where the resilience is increased.

Before insertion (at the time of ejection), the slider 13 is locked by the latch lever 30 as shown in FIG.

When the latch lever 30 rotates about 60 degrees in the A ₂ direction, as shown in FIG. 15, the arc-shaped latch portion 30c is formed.
Is separated from the locking portion 22 of the slider 13. for that reason,
The slider 13 slides in the X ₂ direction by the pulling force of the springs 24 and 25. The pins 15 and 16 fitted into the inclined grooves 18 and 19 of the slider 13 move downward due to the sliding operation of the slider 13 in the X ₂ direction. Therefore, the holder 12 in which the disc storage case 4 is inserted descends to the mounting position. At that time disk housing case 4 is placed on the boss 2a ₁ to 2A region ₄ on the frame 2, and a hole 4a as shown in FIG. 6 (B) is fitted on the projection 26 on the boss 2a _3, 2a ₄ .. With this, the disk storage case 4 is positioned at a predetermined mounting position, and magnetic recording and reproduction are possible. (2) Ejecting operation When the disc is mounted, as shown in FIG. 16, the disc storage case 4 (shown by a chain line) is mounted at a position lower than the insertion slot 6. However, in the center of the front panel 5 there is an opening 6
a is provided, and the rear end of the disc storage case 4 has an opening 6
It is more exposed than a.

When ejecting after completion of magnetic recording / reproduction, the rear end of the disc housing case 4 is pressed from the opening 6a of the front panel 5 in the disc insertion direction (X ₁ direction).

The hole 4a of the disc storage case 4 is shown in FIG.
Boss 2a as shown in₃, 2a_FourWall surface 26 of upper protrusion 26
X until it touches a₁The holder 1
The protruding pins 15 and 16 of 3 are guide grooves 8 and 1 of the frame 2.
X in the 0 cutouts 8a, 10a ₁You can move in any direction,
The disk storage case 4 together with the holder 12 is X₁Move in the direction
Can move.

When the disc storage case 4 at the mounting position is displaced in the X ₁ direction, as shown in FIG.
Is further pressed in the A ₂ direction to contact the contact portion 34b of the fourth lever 34 and press it.

Therefore, the fourth lever 34 rotates in the D ₂ direction to press the contact portion 34c against the third lever 33.
As a result, the third lever 33 rotates in the C ₂ direction and unlocks the locking claw 31f of the first lever 31.

Therefore, the first lever 31 has a torsion spring 36, whose resilience is increased by the mounting operation as described above.
The spring force of the coil spring 38 rotates in the B ₂ direction to bring the contact pin 31i into contact with the inclined cam 23a of the slider 13.

The spring force for urging the first lever 31 to rotate is larger than that of the springs 24 and 25 for urging the slider 13 by the rotation of the second lever 32 as described above. 13 slides in the X ₁ direction. As a result, the holder 12 can be inserted and
Ascend to the eject position.

As shown in FIG. 18, when the slider 13 is returned to the eject position, the locking portion 22 moves to the latch lever 30.
Of the latch lever 30
Rotates in the A ₁ direction by the spring force of the torsion spring 35 elastically deformed during the insertion operation.

The latch lever 30 rotates in the A ₁ direction to eject the disk storage case 4 in the X ₂ direction.
Therefore, the disk storage case 4 in the holder 12 is pushed out from the insertion opening 6 in the X ₂ direction. Then, the eject mechanism 14 returns to the eject state shown in FIG.

As described above, since the ejecting can be performed only by pressing the disc housing case 4, the conventional eject button is not required, and the front panel 5 can be downsized and thinned accordingly. Moreover, since the opening 6a provided in the central portion of the front panel 5 is considerably larger than the eject button, the eject operation can be easily performed.

In the above embodiment, the locking mechanism used as the eject mechanism of the magnetic disk device has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and, for example, a tape cassette, an IC card, an optical disk or It can be widely applied to a device to which a mounted body other than a recording medium is mounted, and further to a device such as a push-push type switch that is locked or unlocked by repeated pressing operations. ..

[0062]

As described above, the locking mechanism according to the present invention is
The pressing force increases the urging force of the urging member into a locked state, and when the urging member is pressed again, the urging force is released and the urging force is released, so it can be widely used as a push-push type mechanism. Moreover, the operation force is small and the operation is easy. Further, when applied to a recording medium loading device, it has features such that an eject button is unnecessary and the front surface of the device can be made smaller and thinner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording medium loading device to which an embodiment of a locking mechanism according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magnetic disk device to which the locking mechanism of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a frame, a slider, and a holder.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a magnetic disk device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the magnetic disk device.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a boss on a frame on which a disc storage case is placed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an eject mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an eject mechanism before the disc storage case is inserted.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a latch lever of an eject mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first lever of an eject mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second lever of the eject mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a third lever of the eject mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a fourth lever of the eject mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a front view showing an inserted state of the disc storage case.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the operation of the eject mechanism when the disc storage case is inserted.

FIG. 16 is a front view showing a state in which a disc storage case is mounted.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an operation when the disc storage case is ejected.

FIG. 18 is a plan view showing an operation when the disc storage case is ejected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Magnetic Disk Device 2 Frame 3 Head Carriage 4 Disk Storage Case 5 Front Panel 6 Insertion Port 8-10 Guide Groove 11 Mounting Device 12 Holder 13 Slider 14 Ejection Mechanism 15, 16 Projection Pin 17 Leaf Spring 18, 19 Inclined Groove 22 Locking Part 23 Hook 30 Latch lever 31 to 34 First to fourth lever 35 to 40 Spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first rotatably supported bearing having a hooking portion.
Member, a second lever supported coaxially with the first lever, and a biasing member for biasing the first lever and the second lever in opposite directions so as to overlap each other. A latch lever that is urged to rotate to a pre-pressing latch position and that is rotated by the pressing to rotate the second lever against the urging member; and the first lever when the pressing is performed. A locking member that locks the latching portion of the lever and releases the locking of the first lever when the lever is pressed again; and the unlocking of the locking member causes the first lever to move the biasing member. And a moving member that moves to a position latched by the latch lever by being rotated by the urging force of the locking mechanism.