JPH07287957A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a disk cartridge easy to be assembled with a simple structure, in which dust is hard to stick to the cartridge inside and a recording/ reproducing disk inside is hard to be scratched. CONSTITUTION:The external force for making a head inserting part be in the opened state is applied to 2nd and 3rd outer edge parts 15, 16 from a recording/reproducing device in the sliding direction of upper and lower case members to each other along a 1st outer edge part 13. In accordance with this sliding operation, the closed state of the head inserting part made by a holding means including projecting pieces 31, 32 is released. Further, the head inserting part is made to be in the opened state due to the elastic deformation of the upper and lower case members caused by applying the external force, and the head of the recording/reproducing device is inserted therefrom. When the cartridge is taken out from the recording/reproducing device, the head inserting port is made to be in the closed state by the elastic force of the member constituting a 1st outer edge part 13 and held again in the closed state by the holding means. Bent parts 17 and 18 are provided respectively on the 2nd and 3rd outer edge parts, thereby the intrusion of dust is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge, and more particularly to a disk cartridge for storing a recording / reproducing disk such as a flexible magnetic recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of exchangeable recording / reproducing disks such as floppy disks and optical disks are used for recording information in computers and word processors.
These are generally stored in a cartridge and used in order to prevent dust from adhering and damage to the recording portion. Usually, the cartridge is provided with a head insertion part (head window) for bringing a head for reading and writing information into or out of contact with the disc when the disc is inserted into the recording / reproducing device, and the disc is taken out from the drive. A shutter mechanism is provided for closing the head window when it opens. As the shutter mechanism, for example, a mechanism in which an elastic member such as a torsion coil spring is arranged in the cartridge and the elastic member urges the shutter so that the shutter is closed is used.

[0003]

Such a disk cartridge requires a complicated mechanism for opening and closing the shutter, and in order to form such a complicated mechanism in the thin cartridge, each structure of the cartridge is formed. Not only is the cost of the element increased, but also its assembly is complicated, and the airtight state inside the cartridge is incomplete.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to make it easy to assemble with a simple structure and to prevent dust from adhering to the inside of the cartridge. An object of the present invention is to provide a disc cartridge in which an internal recording / reproducing disc is not easily scratched.

That is, the gist of the present invention is to rotatably store a recording / reproducing disk in a case consisting of a pair of upper and lower case members, and to record and / or reproduce information on the recording / reproducing disk. A disk cartridge provided with a head insertion portion for inserting a disk, wherein the head insertion portion is provided at a first outer edge portion of the disk cartridge having elasticity, and is provided at both ends of the first outer edge portion, respectively. Second and third outer edge portions to be connected are respectively formed in a direction substantially orthogonal to the first outer edge portion, and at the second outer edge portion, a lower portion is formed so as to cover at least a part of the upper case member. The case member is provided with a bent portion, and the third outer edge portion is provided with a bent portion on the upper case member so as to cover at least a part of the lower case member. The trig has holding means for holding the head insertion part in a closed state at the first outer edge portion, and the upper and lower case members slide relative to each other along the direction of the first outer edge portion. It is possible, and the holding means is configured so that the closed state of the head insertion portion is released in accordance with the sliding of the upper and lower case members. ,
Exist in.

[0006]

The second and third outer edge portions receive an external force for opening the head insertion portion from the recording / reproducing device in a direction in which the upper and lower case members slide relative to each other along the first outer edge portion. To receive. With this sliding, the closed state of the head inserting portion by the holding means is released. Further, the head insertion portion is opened by elastic deformation of the upper and lower case members by applying an external force, and the head of the recording / reproducing apparatus is inserted from there.

When the cartridge is taken out from the recording / reproducing apparatus, the head insertion opening is closed by the elastic force of the member forming the first outer edge portion, and is again held closed by the holding means. Bent portions are provided on the second and third outer edge portions respectively to prevent dust from entering.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view showing a first embodiment of the disc cartridge of the present invention. The figure shows a case where the head insertion portion is in a closed state before the disc cartridge is inserted into the recording / reproducing apparatus. Also, FIG.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the disc cartridge of FIG. 1.

The disk cartridge 10 has a thickness of 0.3.
mm upper and lower case members 11 and 12 made of ABS resin
It is formed by adhering or fusing parts of the upper and lower two members formed by pressing an ABS resin plate. The portion to be bonded or fused is the circular outer edge portion 19 provided on the first outer edge portion 13 on the side opposite to the head insertion portion. In addition, in FIG. 1, since it is a top view, the lower case member 12 is hardly visible, but the visible part is shown with a grain pattern. A flexible magnetic recording medium 14 is rotatably arranged inside the cartridge, and a metallic hub 20 is fixed to the center of the medium 14. Hub 20
Are supported by a support 27 provided on the lower case member 12, and as a result, the entire medium is supported by the support 27.

A head insertion portion is provided on the first outer edge portion 13, and the second and third outer edge portions 15 and 16 connected to both ends of the head insertion portion are in a direction substantially orthogonal to the first outer edge portion 13, respectively. Has been formed. The lower case member 12 at the second outer edge portion 15 and the upper case member 11 at the third outer edge portion 16 respectively have bent portions 17 and 18 so as to cover the ends of the other case member. .

The upper case member 11 has a first outer edge portion 1
3, the notch 25 is provided. The cut portion 25 extends from the first outer edge portion 13 in a substantially orthogonal direction,
Next, it extends in a substantially parallel direction. The projecting piece 31 formed on the upper case member by the first outer edge portion 13 and the notch portion 25 has its tip end facing the bent portion 18. In addition, in FIG. 1, similar notch portions are provided at three positions.

A notch similar to the notch provided on the upper case member 11 is also provided on the lower case member 12. However, in the lower case member 12,
The protruding piece 3 formed by the first outer edge portion and the cutout portion
The tip of No. 2 is directed to the bent portion 17. The same number of protrusions formed on the upper and lower case members are provided at corresponding positions, and the protrusions formed on one member are fitted into the notches of the other member. ing. As a result, the upper case member and the lower case member insert their protrusions into the other notches, so that the upper and lower case members are attached to each other at the head insertion portion, and the disc cartridge 10
Are held closed.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1, showing how the case member is attached to the head insertion portion. The protruding piece 31 formed on the upper case member 11 and the protruding piece 32 formed on the lower case member 12 are
They are fitted into the notches of the other member while being in contact with each other. Therefore, the upper and lower case members are engaged with each other by the projecting piece, and hold the head insertion portion in the closed state.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. It should be noted that the drawing shows an enlarged view of the thickness of the case member, and the internal flexible magnetic recording medium 14 and its support 27 are omitted. The bent portions of the upper and lower case members are configured to overlap each other with the other case member, and when the head insertion portion is in the closed state,
Dust is prevented from entering from the vicinity of the second and third outer edge portions.

Further, the second of the disk cartridge 10
Space portions 21 and 22 are provided inside the third outer edge portions 15 and 16, respectively, and the upper and lower case members are slidable in the direction of the first outer edge portion shown by arrows in the figure. In addition, the upper case member 11 and the lower case member 1
2 are provided with recesses 23 and 24, respectively, in contact with the bent portion of the other case member. Recess 23
Nos. 24 and 24 not only keep the appearance of the disk cartridge by keeping the disk cartridge substantially flat in the closed state of the head insertion section, but also accidentally catch the tip of the bent portion when handling the disk cartridge. To prevent the damage of the disc cartridge,
Prevents deformation and entry of dust.

As described above, the case members 11 and 12 have bent portions at the second outer edge portion 15 and the third outer edge portion 16, respectively. In addition, the space portions 21 and 2 are provided inside the second and third bent portions 15 and 16, respectively.
2 is provided, the end portion of the upper case member 11 is in the space portion 21 in the second outer edge portion 15, and the end portion of the lower case member 12 is in the space portion 22 in the third outer edge portion 16, respectively. It can be inserted. As a result, when an external force is applied by the recording / reproducing device in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure, the two case members respectively have the ends covered by the bent portions of the other member enter the space portion,
Sliding along the first outer edge.

When the disc cartridge is inserted into a predetermined recording / reproducing device, the recording / reproducing device exerts a force parallel to the first outer edge portion on the inserted disc cartridge as shown in FIG. In addition to the vicinity of the end portion of the third outer edge portion, as a result, the closed state of the head insertion portion is released. That is, by the external force, the end portion of the upper case member 11 becomes the space portion 21, and the end portion of the lower case member 12 becomes the space portion 22.
When each is inserted, the projecting pieces 31 and 32 formed on the first outer edge portion are separated from each other, and the engagement state of the upper and lower case members in the head insertion portion is released. When an external force is further applied, the case member is largely elastically deformed in the vertical direction, and a head insertion opening is formed in the head insertion portion.
A head of a recording / reproducing device, a spindle motor, and the like are inserted into the head insertion port to record and / or reproduce information on a recording / reproducing disk inside a disk cartridge. When the disc cartridge is removed from the recording / reproducing apparatus, the head insertion portion of the disc cartridge follows the reverse order to the above, and is closed again by the elastic force of the member forming the first outer edge portion.

FIG. 5 is a partial top view showing a second embodiment of the disk cartridge of the present invention. The figure shows
The figure shows the vicinity of the second outer edge portion 55 in the closed state of the head insertion portion, and in order to facilitate understanding, the bent portion 57 of the lower case member and the upper case member 51 are shown in a part of the drawing. Except for this, the space 61 is shown. The structure other than the part shown in the figure is basically the same in the disk cartridges of FIGS.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a lock mechanism is provided which is composed of a rotating portion 71 having a torsion coil spring 74 and a convex portion 75 as a portion for receiving an external force, and a supporting portion 72. That is, the second outer edge portion 55 is provided with the hole 73 for exposing the convex portion 75 to the outside of the cartridge. The rotating portion 71 is composed of a member whose distance in the first outer edge portion direction in FIG. 5 is longer than the distance in the second outer edge portion direction. Further, the rotating portion 71 is rotatable about a rotating shaft 76 fixed to a lower case member, and the convex portion 75 receives a counterclockwise force in the drawing by a recording / reproducing device or a manual operation. And accordingly, rotation of about 90 ° is performed. The central portion of the torsion coil spring 74 is fixed to the rotating shaft 76, and is provided between the rotating portion 71 and the lower case member. One end of the torsion coil spring 74 is fixed to the rotating portion, and The end portion is fitted and inserted in the support portion 72. The torsion coil spring 74 is configured so that the restoring force increases as the distance between its ends increases. The support portion 72 is fixed to the upper case member 51 and is in contact with the rotating portion 71 so that a part of the support portion 72 can move in the direction of the first outer edge portion. It is inserted loosely in.

Now, consider a case where the convex portion 75 exposed to the outside through the hole 73 receives an external force counterclockwise in the drawing.
In this case, the rotating portion 71 rotates about 90 ° against the restoring force of the torsion coil spring 74. Then, since the distance in the direction along the first outer edge portion of the rotating portion 71 decreases with the rotation, the rotating portion 71 and the support portion 72 are separated from each other in the direction along the first outer edge portion. Will be done. Support part 7
One end of the torsion coil spring 74 fitted in 2 is
Since it is movable in the direction along the first outer edge, as a result, the support portion 72, that is, the upper case member, can move in the direction along the first outer edge.

If the above-mentioned structure is adopted, when the head insertion portion is closed, the rotating portion and the support portion are in contact with each other, so that the upper and lower case members cannot slide and the accidental closing occurs. The probability of releasing the state is extremely small. Further, if the convex portion receives an external force and the rotating portion rotates by manual operation in advance or by a predetermined mechanism of the recording / reproducing device when inserted, the same mechanism as that shown in the first embodiment. Thus, the closed state of the head insertion portion can be released. With the configuration provided with such a lock mechanism, opening and closing of the head insertion opening can be performed more reliably.

FIG. 6 is a partial front view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, a magnet is used as a means for holding the head insertion portion in the closed state. That is, a plurality of flexible magnets are provided near the first outer edge of each of the upper and lower case members 78 and 79 so that the S pole and the N pole face each other in the closed state. As a result, the closed state of the head insertion portion is maintained by the action of the magnetic force. Also, when the upper and lower case members slide in opposite directions at the first outer edge portion during insertion into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the magnets of the upper and lower case members have the same poles at their facing positions. Then, the repulsive force can help to form the head insertion opening.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4, showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, further bent portions 89 and 90 are further formed at the ends of the other member covered by the bent portions 87 and 88 formed on one member. By forming such a second bent portion, the dust prevention effect at the second and third outer edge portions is further improved.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the four embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made. For example, the member forming the first outer edge portion may be separated from other portions. If the member forming the first outer edge portion is made to have a particularly large elasticity, the closed state of the head insertion portion can be held more reliably.

[0025]

According to the present invention, there is provided a disk cartridge which has a simple structure and is easy to assemble, and moreover, dust is not easily attached to the inside of the cartridge and the internal recording / reproducing disk is not easily scratched.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the disc cartridge according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the disc cartridge according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partial top view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial front view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Disk Cartridge 11,78 Upper Case Member 12,79 Lower Case Member 13 First Outer Edge 14 Flexible Magnetic Recording Medium 15 Second Outer Edge 16 Third Outer Edge 17,18 Bent 21 and 22 Space part 31,32 Projection piece

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing disk is rotatably housed in a case composed of a pair of upper and lower case members, and
A disk cartridge comprising a head insertion part for inserting a head for recording and / or reproducing information on the recording / reproducing disk, wherein the head insertion part has elasticity. Second and third outer edge portions, which are provided at outer edge portions of the first outer edge portion and are connected to both ends of the first outer edge portion, respectively, are formed in a direction substantially orthogonal to the first outer edge portion, and the second outer edge portion is formed. In the section, a bent portion is provided in the lower case member so as to cover at least a part of the upper case member,
In the third outer edge portion, a bent portion is provided in the upper case member so as to cover at least a part of the lower case member, and the disc cartridge has the head insertion portion in the closed state in the first outer edge portion. The upper and lower case members are slidable relative to each other along the direction of the first outer edge portion, and the holding means is the upper and lower case members. The disk cartridge, wherein the closed state of the head insertion portion is released with the sliding of the disk cartridge.