JPH0574028A - Information storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dust from sticking to a storage medium by cutting off a power source after a cartridge shutter is closed when the power source is cut off while a cartridge is still inserted into the information storage device. CONSTITUTION:At the time of operating the information storage device 1, a power source switch 11 is turned on, and the cartridge 2 is inserted into the device, and when it comes into a prescribed position, its shutter 3 is opened for processing to be performed. After processing, when the switch 11 is cut off, power source cut-off information is detected by a shutter control circuit 13, and by this, a cartridge loading motor 10 is driven, and the cartridge 2 is lifted by a cartridge loading mechanism 5, and then the shutter 3 is closed by a shutter opening and closing mechanism 6. Moreover, upon completion of closing the shutter 3 by the mechanism 6, an OFF control of a power supply opening and closing circuit 12 is performed by the circuit 13. As a result, the intrusion of dust can thus be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information storage device in which a storage medium is replaceable and the storage medium is housed in a cartridge with a shutter.

An information storage device that uses a storage medium housed in a cartridge with a shutter is an auxiliary storage device, which has a low bit cost and is convenient to carry, as represented by a 3.5-inch floppy disk device and an optical disk device. It is widely used as a device. In recent years, these devices have become larger in capacity, recording density has been remarkably improved, and the range of places of use has become wider, so that environmental conditions have become strict, and accordingly, dust countermeasures have been particularly demanded.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main part of a conventional information storage device. FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view of a single cartridge, and FIG. 4 (b) is an information storage with a cartridge inserted. FIG. 4 (c) is a plan view of the device, and FIG. 4 (c) is a side view of FIG. 4 (b). In addition, in order to make the description of the configuration and the operation easy to understand, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions throughout the drawings, and the duplicated description will be omitted.

In FIGS. 4A to 4C, 1 is an information storage device, 2 is a cartridge to be inserted in the information storage device 1, and 3 is a cartridge.
Is a shutter provided in the cartridge, 4 is a cartridge insertion window provided in the information storage device 1, and 5 is a predetermined position when the cartridge 2 is inserted into the information storage device 1 through the cartridge insertion window 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a cartridge loading mechanism for guiding and positioning, and 6 denotes a shutter opening / closing mechanism for opening / closing the shutter 3 in response to attachment / detachment of the cartridge 2 to / from the information storage device 1.

Reference numeral 7 is a part of the main frame in the information storage device 1 and also serves as a guide rail, 8 is a spindle motor fixed to the base 7, 9 is an information reading / writing head which reciprocates on the base 7 in the guide direction, 10 Is a cartridge loading motor for driving the cartridge loading mechanism 5 and the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6, and 11 is a power switch for supplying power to the information storage device 1.

Reference numeral 12 is a power supply switching circuit, which is usually arranged inside the apparatus and corresponds to a turning-on signal or a cutting-off signal of the power switch 11 and is controlled by a control signal from a sensor of each section in the apparatus. It has a function to turn ON / OFF the power supply to the block at the required timing.

The above-described cartridge insertion operation is performed when the cartridge 2 shown in FIG. 4 (a) is inserted into the information storage device 1 through the cartridge insertion window 4 as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 4 (c). The cartridge loading motor 10 is activated, the cartridge loading mechanism 5 is driven to guide and position the cartridge 2 to a predetermined position, the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 is driven to open the shutter 3, and the rotation shaft of the spindle motor 8 is rotated. Is rotatably connected to a storage medium housed in the cartridge 2.

That is, the shutter 3 is always open when a storage medium is present in the information storage device 1.

[0009]

The conventional information storage device 1 described above is used when the power is turned off while the cartridge 2 is still inserted, or when the cartridge 2 is still inserted in the information storage device. On the other hand, even when there is no long-time operation request, the shutter 3 remains open, and there is a drawback that dust can easily enter from the outside.

In recent years, there has been a problem that dust adhering to a storage medium hinders the normal operation of the information storage device due to a remarkable increase in recording density due to the increase in capacity. In view of the above problems, the present invention is an information storage device that uses a storage medium housed in a cartridge with a shutter, and has a function of preventing dust adhering to the storage medium to a minimum. For the purpose of providing.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a cartridge 2 with a shutter 3 for accommodating a recording medium, a cartridge loading mechanism 5 and a shutter opening / closing mechanism. In the information storage device 1 which is used interchangeably by driving 6 and 6,
The drive signal of the power switch 11 provided in the information storage device 1 controls the drive of the cartridge loading mechanism 5 and the opening / closing of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 and the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 which is already installed in or attached to the information storage device 1. When the shutter control circuit 13 is provided and the power switch 11 is cut off, the power supply switching circuit is opened after the shutter 3 is closed while the cartridge 2 is still inserted into the information storage device 1 by the shutter control circuit 13. 12
When the power switch 11 is turned off and then turned on, the power supply switching circuit 12 is turned on and the shutter 3 is returned to the open state.

Further, the shutter control circuit detects the signal from the information storage device 1 and receives a device operation suspension signal from the timer circuit 14 which detects that a predetermined limit suspension time has been exceeded. The cartridge loading mechanism 5 and the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 are controlled so that the shutter 3 is closed while the shutter 2 is still inserted in the information storage device 1, and the timer circuit 14 is reset after the shutter 3 is closed. As well as
When the device operation start signal is received from the information storage device 1, the shutter 3 is returned to the open state.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the information storage device 1 according to claim 1 is provided.
A shutter control circuit for turning off the power supply circuit 12 after the operation of closing the shutter 3 of the present invention is completed when the power switch is turned off with the cartridge 2 still inserted in the cartridge.
13 and a timer circuit 14 for detecting the limited pause time when the operation request to the information storage device is interrupted even when the preset limited pause time is exceeded.
With the provision of the shutter control circuit 15 that resets the timer circuit 14 after the operation of closing the shutter 3 of the present invention, it is possible to minimize dust adhering to the storage medium.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are explanatory views of the principle of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view during normal operation, FIG. 1B is a side view of FIG. 1A, and FIG. Plan view when resting for a specific time or longer, Figure 1 (d)
Side views of 1 (c) are shown respectively.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a circuit for operating the present invention. FIG. 2 (a) shows the case of shutter opening / closing and power supply opening / closing control corresponding to claim 1, and FIG. 2 (b) shows the claim. Item 2
The case of shutter opening / closing control when the pause time corresponding to is shown. The configuration and operation of FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A, reference numeral 12 is a power supply switching circuit for supplying power to each block of the information storage device (not shown) and each block connected to the shutter control circuit 13. Power is supplied to each block of the information storage device at a necessary timing by a control signal from a sensor (not shown), and a cartridge loading mechanism 5 including a cartridge loading motor 10 is provided by a control signal from a shutter control circuit 13.
Power is supplied to each block of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 at a necessary timing.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a shutter control circuit which, when the power switch 11 is turned off, keeps the cartridge 2 inserted in the information storage device 1 and closes the shutter 3 via the cartridge loading motor 10 to load the cartridge. It controls the mechanism 5 and the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6,
When the shutter 3 is completely closed, the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 is opened.

Furthermore, when the power switch 11 is turned on again, the power supply switching circuit 12 is controlled to be turned on and the shutter 3 is returned to its original open state. These control functions can be easily realized by providing additional functions to the conventional cartridge loading function and shutter opening / closing control function.

Although the timer circuit 14 and the shutter control circuit 15 shown in FIG. 1 are circuits corresponding to claim 2, they are described in consideration of the case where they are used in combination with claim 1. When not used together, the timer circuit 14 and the shutter control circuit 15 are deleted in the case of claim 1, and the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 and the shutter control circuit 13 are deleted in the case of claim 2.

First, when the normal information storage device 1 is operating, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the power switch 11 is turned on and the cartridge 3 is inserted into the information storage device 1, whereby the cartridge 3 is positioned at a predetermined position, and the shutter 3 is opened to perform required information processing. To do.

The shutter 3 is opened by a shutter opening / closing mechanism 6. In this state, when the above information processing is finished and the power switch 11 is turned off, the shutter control circuit 13
Detects the power-down information inside it, which results in Figure 1
As shown in (c) and FIG. 1 (d), the spindle motor 8 and
The cartridge loading motor 10 is driven so that the information read / write head 9 and the shutter 3 do not mechanically interfere with each other, and the cartridge loading mechanism 5 moves (lifts) the cartridge 2 to the illustrated position. At this time, the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 closes the shutter 3.

Further, the shutter control circuit 13 controls the OFF of the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 when the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 recognizes that the shutter 3 has been closed. After that, when the power switch 11 is turned on again, the shutter control circuit 13 internally detects the information of turning on the power again, thereby controlling the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 to 0N and reverse the sequence of closing the shutter 3 described above. Control to open the shutter 3 to the original state. As a result, intrusion of dust can be prevented to some extent.

Next, in FIGS. 1 and 2 (b), 14 is a timer circuit, which is a device operation stop signal from the device side (stops the rotation of the recording medium in a state where all the power is turned on,
Time counting is started from the time when a trigger signal indicating the case of temporarily suspending the operation is input, and the measurement time, that is, the operation suspending time is a predetermined limit suspending time (for example, 5).
The count operation is stopped after detecting that the time exceeds) and outputting the detection signal as a trigger signal. Also,
The timer circuit 14 has a function to enter a standby state when a reset signal is input from the shutter control circuit 15 described below.

Reference numeral 15 is a shutter control circuit,
The contents are such that a part of the function of the shutter control circuit 13 described in 2 (a) is changed. That is, when the shutter circuit 3 is closed in the same sequence as that described with reference to FIG. 2A when the trigger signal for exceeding the limit pause time is input from the timer circuit 14, at the time when it is recognized that the shutter 3 has been closed. A reset signal is sent to the timer circuit 14. This causes the timer circuit 14 to be in a state of waiting for the input of the next device operation suspension signal.

Further, when the shutter control circuit 15 receives an apparatus operation start signal from the apparatus side, the shutter control circuit 15 controls the opening of the shutter 3 in the original state in the same sequence as described with reference to FIG.
As a result, intrusion of dust can be prevented to some extent.

In FIG. 1, the cartridge loading mechanism 5 introduces the cartridge 2 through the cartridge insertion window 4 as an operation procedure common to the initial setting of the information storage device 1. The inside of the information storage device 1 is loaded. The shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 opens the jacker 3. The cartridge loading mechanism 5 lowers the cartridge 2 as shown in FIG. 1 (b) to connect it to the spindle motor 8 and the information read / write head 9. 2 is completed, the shutter opening / closing operation of the shutter control circuits 13 and 15 shown in FIG. 2 is completed.

Further, the cartridge loading mechanism 5
Introduces the cartridge 2 through the cartridge insertion window 4. The shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 opens the shutter 3 while loading the information storage device 1. The cartridge loading mechanism 5 lowers the cartridge 2 as shown in FIG. 1 (b) to connect the spindle motor 8 and the information read / write head 9. In the case of the sequence described above, if a link mechanism for operating the shutter opening / closing mechanism 6 with respect to the vertical movement of the cartridge loading mechanism 5 is provided separately from the transition from to
The shutter opening / closing operations of the shutter control circuits 13 and 15 are completed.

The above description is for the system in which the cartridge 2 moves up and down when the cartridge is loaded, but similarly, the system in which the spindle motor 8 and the information read / write head 9 move up and down together with the base 7 during the cartridge loading. Can also be applied. The cartridge loading motor 10 used for cartridge loading may be used as the power for the above series of operations, and no special drive source is required.

Although described separately in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), it is easy to configure the shutter control circuits 13 and 15 to be used together, and the high reliability of the apparatus is improved. Is preferred.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a floppy disk device. This figure shows shutter 3
1 shows a mutual arrangement relationship of only a cartridge 2 having the above, a spindle motor 8 for driving the cartridge 2, an information reading / writing head 9 for the cartridge 2, and a head opening / closing mechanism 16 for opening / closing the head.

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a state in which the shutter is open,
3 (b) is a side view of FIG. 3 (a), FIG. 3 (c) is a plan view with the shutter closed, and FIG. 3 (d) is a side view of FIG. 3 (c).
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16 denotes a head opening / closing mechanism, which is a moving mechanism for approaching or retracting in the vertical direction with respect to the medium surface of a recording medium (not shown) in the cartridge 2.
The operation is almost the same as the description of FIG. 1, but in the case of the floppy disk device, the spindle motor 8 has a structure in which the shutter 3 does not cover, and the information read / write heads 9 are mounted on both sides. This is different from the above description.

Therefore, in order to open / close the shutter 3, it is sufficient to have the head opening / closing mechanism 16 having a function of moving the information read / write head 9 in a slightly opening direction. This head opening / closing mechanism 16 is a mechanism that is also used in the case of normal cartridge loading, and is not newly added to carry out the present invention.

Also in the case of this embodiment, when the combination of the power supply opening / closing circuit 12 and the shutter control circuit 13 and the combination of the timer circuit 14 and the shutter control circuit 15 are mounted, the power switch is cut off, Alternatively, when the cartridge is not used with the cartridge inserted in the information storage device for a long period of time such as exceeding a predetermined limit down time, the shutter can be closed to minimize dust adhering to the storage medium.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is very important for a high-density information recording medium to keep dust adhesion to a minimum in order to maintain normal operation of the information recording apparatus. And is effective in improving the reliability of the information recording apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit for operating the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a floppy disk device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a conventional information storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 information storage device 2 cartridge 3 shutter 5 cartridge loading mechanism 6 shutter opening / closing mechanism 11 power switch 12 power supply opening / closing circuit 13, 15 shutter control circuit 14 timer circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An information storage device which uses a cartridge (2) with a shutter (3) accommodating a recording medium interchangeably by driving a cartridge loading mechanism (5) and a shutter opening / closing mechanism (6). 1) In response to a disconnection signal from a power switch (11) provided in the information storage device (1), the cartridge loading mechanism (5) is driven and the shutter opening / closing mechanism (6) and the information storage device (1) are activated. A shutter control circuit (13) for controlling opening and closing of an existing or an attached power supply switching circuit (12) is provided, and when the power switch (11) is cut off, the shutter control circuit (13) causes the cartridge (2) to operate as described above. The power supply opening / closing circuit (12) is turned off after closing the shutter (3) with the information storage device (1) still inserted.
Then, when the power switch (11) is turned on after that, the power supply switching circuit (12) is turned on and the shutter (3) is returned to the open state. apparatus. 2. A detection signal of a timer circuit (14), wherein the shutter control circuit detects that a predetermined limit pause time is exceeded starting from the time of receiving a device operation pause signal from the information storage device (1). Controls the cartridge loading mechanism (5) and the shutter opening / closing mechanism (6) so as to close the shutter (3) with the cartridge (2) still inserted in the information storage device (1). Resetting the timer circuit (14) after closing the shutter (3) and returning the shutter (3) to the open state when receiving a device operation start signal from the information storage device (1). The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage device is configured.