JPH0845225A - Optical disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly open and close a shutter by providing a recess on both sides or one side of a part covered with the shutter of a columnar slider. CONSTITUTION:The optical disk cartridge is constituted in such a manner that the columnar slider 5a is slidably fitted to a flat shell 4 for housing an optical disk, and the rear surface opposite to a sliding surface of this slider 5a is covered with a bent part of the shutter for opening and closing an opening window formed in a main surface of this shell. Then, plural screws are screwed into the rear surface of the slider 5a via this bent part, so that the shutter is fixed the slider 5a. In this optical disk cartridge, a recessed part 8 with 0.1-0.3mm depth is provided on both side surfaces or one side surface of the part covered with the shutter of the slider 5a. Consequently, the shutter can smoothly be opened and closed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical disk cartridge which accommodates an optical disk which is an information recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, read-only type optical discs such as CD-ROMs for recording information, write-once type optical discs for writing information only once, and rewritable type optical discs for rewriting information are available. Optical discs have been developed and are being put to practical use.

An optical disk cartridge for accommodating these optical disks will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a perspective view of the optical disk cartridge 1, FIG. 7 is a front view thereof, and 2 is an opening window 4a formed on one main surface of a flat shell 4 forming an outer shell of the optical disk cartridge. A plate-shaped shutter 3 provided so as to operate is a shutter guide for guiding the opening / closing operation of the shutter 2.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a state in which the opening window 4a is closed, while FIGS. 8 and 9 are both top views of the optical disk cartridge 1. FIG. 9 shows a closed state, and FIG. 9 shows a state in which the opening window 4a is opened by the shutter 2.

Numeral 5 is a columnar slider for fixing the shutter 2 and smoothly opening and closing the shutter 2 with respect to the shell 4. The slider 5 is slidably attached to the side edge of the shell 4. Has been. The fixation of the shutter 2 to the slider 5 can be achieved by inserting two screws 6 into the back surface of the sliding surface of the slider 5 through a through hole provided in the bent portion 2a of the shutter 2.

The shutter 2 is opened by a spring member 7 formed of a spring stretched between a spring locking portion (not shown) formed on the inner surface of the shutter 2 and a spring locking portion 4b of the shell 4. It is biased in the direction of closing the window 4a.

In the optical disk cartridge 1 having the above-described structure, the opening window 4a is closed by the shutter 2 before use, and the optical disk housed therein is protected.
When the is mounted on the magnetic drive, the opening window 4a is opened by the shutter 2 and the optical disc is exposed by the opening window 4a, so that the recording information can be read and written.

[0008]

2. Description of the Related Art In the optical disc cartridge 1 having the above structure, the side edge of the shell 4 and the sliding surface of the slider 5 come into contact with each other as the shutter 2 is opened and closed. Are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.
0 is a top view of the main part with the shutter 2 removed,
FIG. 11 is a front view of the relevant part.

According to these figures, when the optical disk cartridge 1 is mounted on the magnetic drive, the opening window 4a is opened by the shutter 2 and the side edge of the shell 4 and the slider 5 are brought into planar contact. It is like this.

However, the two screws 6 are attached to the slider 5
Since the shutter 2 is fixed to the slider 5 by being screwed into the back surface of the sliding surface of (1), if the tightening torque of the screw 6 is too strong, the following problems occur. That is, FIG. 12 is a top view of the main part with the shutter 2 removed, and if the tightening torque of the screw 6 is too strong, the space between the shell 4 and the slider 5 becomes narrower than the normal torque, so that the shell 4 The contact surface between the side edge and the sliding surface of the slider 5 comes into close contact with each other, so that the shutter 2 cannot be opened and closed smoothly, or the opening window 4a is left open by the shutter 2. There was a problem that

In addition to the tightening torque of the screw 6 as described above, the shell 4 itself warps inward as shown in FIG. 13 (this figure is also a top view of the main part with the shutter 2 removed). The same problem arises even if there is.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to smoothly open and close the shutter by preventing the contact surface between the side edge of the shell and the sliding surface of the slider from coming into close contact with each other.

[0013]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk cartridge in which a columnar slider is slidably attached to a side edge of a flat shell for housing an optical disk, and the back surface of the slider with respect to the sliding surface is the shell. An optical disc in which the shutter is fixed to the slider by covering the opening window formed on one main surface with the bending portion of the shutter that opens and closes, and screwing a plurality of screws into the back surface of the slider through the bending portion. The cartridge is characterized in that a recessed portion having a depth of 0.1 to 0.3 mm is provided on both side surfaces or one side surface of a portion of the columnar slider covered by the shutter.

According to another aspect of the optical disk cartridge of the present invention, a columnar slider is slidably attached to a side edge of a flat shell that accommodates an optical disk, and a back surface of the slider with respect to a sliding surface is formed on one main surface of the shell. In the optical disk cartridge, the opened window is covered with a bent portion of the shutter that opens and closes, and a plurality of screws are screwed into the back surface of the slider through the bent portion to fix the shutter to the slider. The part covered by the shutter is tapered.

[0015]

In the optical disk cartridge having the above structure, the columnar slider is provided with a recess having a depth of 0.1 to 0.3 mm on both sides or one side of the portion covered by the shutter, or Since the part is tapered, a plurality of screws are screwed into the back surface of the slider through the bent portion of the shutter, and even if the tightening torque of the screws is too strong when fixing the shutter to the slider. , The contact surface between the side edge of the shell and the sliding surface of the slider does not come into close contact. Further, even when the shell itself is warped inward, the close contact state does not occur. As a result, the opening / closing operation of the shutter can be smoothly performed, and a highly reliable optical disk cartridge can be provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the recessed portion exceeding 0.3 mm is provided, the strength becomes weak and it may come off or break due to a drop test or the like.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to an optical disk cartridge containing a 3.5-inch magneto-optical disk. The optical disk cartridge of this embodiment is the same as the conventional optical disk cartridge 1 except for the structure of the slider. Therefore, one embodiment of the structure of the slider is shown in FIG. Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 and FIGS. 4 and 5.

(Example 1) FIG. 1 is a top view of an essential part of the optical disk cartridge of this example with a shutter removed. According to the figure, the width of the slider 5a, that is, the width of the portion of the shutter 2 facing the bent portion 2a is 3.
2 mm, and the depth of 0.1 to 0.3 on both sides of the portion covered by the shutter 2 with respect to the slider 5a having this width.
A recess 8 having a size of mm is provided. The recess 8 is formed with the same depth over the entire distance from the back surface of the slider 5a to the sliding surface.

The shell 4 is a molded product of polycarbonate or ABS resin in order to maintain mechanical strength to some extent,
The shutter 2 is made of SUS, while the slider 5a is made of polycarbonate or ABS resin molding.
The slider 5a provided with the recess 8 is formed by injection molding or by grinding a conventional molded product.

The inventor of the present invention also produced a slider 5a having recesses 8 on both side surfaces of the portion covered by the shutter 2 or a slider having recesses 8 on one side surface thereof, and various optical disk cartridges thereof were prepared. (Prototype Nos. 1 to 1
0) was tested. For this test, a screw tightening torque test, a shell warp test, and a drop test were performed on each optical disk cartridge.

In the screw tightening torque test, a screw tightening torque of 2.
The setting was performed at 0 kgf. Further, the shell warp test was performed under the condition that the shell 4 warps inward by 0.1 mm or more. The drop test was carried out by laying 2 mm thick vinyl on concrete and dropping it from a height of 76 cm with the six sides and four corners of the optical disk cartridge facing down. The results are shown in Table 1.

In each item of the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test in the same table, the mark ○ indicates that there was no problem even if the shutter 2 was repeatedly slid, and the mark × indicates the shutter 2
This is a case in which the contact surface between the side edge of the shell 4 and the sliding surface of the slider 5a comes into close contact with the sliding surface of the shell 4 and the opening / closing operation of the shutter 2 is not smoothly performed. In addition, in the drop test item, the mark ◯ indicates that the slider 5a was not detached or bent, and the mark x indicates that the slider 5a was detached or bent.

[0023]

[Table 1]

As is apparent from this table, the prototype N of the present invention
o. In Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, good results were obtained in both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test, and there was no problem even if the shutter 2 was repeatedly slid. However, the prototype No. In Nos. 1, 2 and 3, both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test were defective and the opening / closing operation of the shutter 2 was not smoothly performed. In addition, the prototype No. In Nos. 6, 9 and 10, the slider 5 was used in the drop test.
Detachment or breakage of a occurred.

(Example 2) FIG. 2 is a top view of an essential part of the optical disk cartridge of this example with the shutter removed, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the section line XX in FIG.

According to these figures, the slider 5b has a width of 3.2 mm, and the slider 5b having this width has a depth of 0.
A recess 9 having a size of 1 to 0.3 mm is provided. The recess 9 is formed with the same depth throughout the sliding direction of the slider 5b.

The inventor of the present invention also produced a slider 5b having recesses 9 on both side surfaces of the portion covered by the shutter 2 or a slider having recesses 9 on one side surface thereof, and various optical disk cartridges thereof were prepared. (Prototype No. 11 to 2
0) was tested. For this test, the same screw tightening torque test, shell warpage test, and drop test as in (Example 1) were performed for each optical disk cartridge. The results are shown in Table 2. In the results of the table, the evaluations by the marks ◯ and X are the same as in (Example 1).

[0028]

[Table 2]

As is clear from this table, the prototype N of the present invention
o. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, good results were obtained in both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test, and there was no problem even if the shutter 2 was repeatedly slid. However, the prototype No. 11, 12, 1
In No. 3, both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test were defective and the opening / closing operation of the shutter 2 was not performed smoothly. In addition, the prototype No. In Nos. 16, 19 and 20, the slider 5a was disengaged or broken in the drop test.

(Example 3) FIG. 4 is a top view of an essential part of the optical disk cartridge of this example with the shutter removed, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the section line YY in FIG.

According to these figures, the slider 5c has a width of 3.2 mm, and the slider 5c having this width has a depth of 0.
A recess 10 having a size of 1 to 0.3 mm is provided. The recess 10 extends from the back surface of the slider 5c to the sliding surface,
Moreover, it is formed over the sliding direction of the slider 5c.

The present inventor also made a slider 5c having recesses 10 on both sides of the portion covered with the shutter 2, or a slider having recesses 10 on one side thereof.
Various optical disk cartridges (trial manufacture No. 21)
~ 30) were tested. For this test, the same screw tightening torque test, shell warpage test, and drop test as in (Example 1) were performed for each optical disk cartridge.
Table 3 shows the results. In the results of the table, ○, ×
The evaluation by the mark is the same as in (Example 1).

[0033]

[Table 3]

As is clear from this table, the prototype N of the present invention
o. In Nos. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, good results were obtained in both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test, and there was no problem even if the shutter 2 was repeatedly slid. However, the prototype No. 21, 22, 2
In No. 3, both the screw tightening torque test and the shell warp test were defective and the opening / closing operation of the shutter 2 was not performed smoothly. In addition, the prototype No. In Nos. 26, 29 and 30, the slider 5a was detached or broken in the drop test.

(Example 4) According to (Example 2), the recess 9 is formed with the same depth over the entire sliding direction of the slider 5b, but in this example, the slider 5b is formed.
It was confirmed by experiments that the recessed portion 9 may be replaced by a tapered shape 9a, and the object of the present invention could be achieved by this.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0037]

As described above, according to the optical disk cartridge of the present invention, both side surfaces of the portion of the columnar slider slidably attached to the side edge of the flat shell for accommodating the optical disk, which is covered by the shutter. Alternatively, since a recess having a depth of 0.1 to 0.3 mm is provided on one side surface, a plurality of screws are screwed into the back surface of the slider through the bent portion of the shutter to fix the shutter to the slider. When manually tightening the shell screws,
Alternatively, even if the torque is too strong with the automatic screw tightener over time, the contact surface between the side edge of the shell and the sliding surface of the slider does not come into close contact, or even if the shell itself warps inward. The close contact state does not occur, and as a result, the opening and closing operation of the shutter can be smoothly performed,
It was possible to provide a highly reliable optical disk cartridge.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of essential parts of a state where a shutter of an optical disk cartridge according to the present invention is removed.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the essential parts of the optical disk cartridge according to the present invention with the shutter removed.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line XX in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the essential parts of the optical disc cartridge according to the present invention with the shutter removed.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line Y-Y in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an optical disc cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a front view of an optical disc cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a top view of an optical disc cartridge.

FIG. 9 is a top view of an optical disc cartridge.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the essential parts of the optical disk cartridge with the shutter removed.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the main part of the optical disk cartridge with the shutter removed.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a main part of a conventional optical disc cartridge with a shutter removed.

FIG. 13 is a top view of a main part of a conventional optical disc cartridge with a shutter removed.

14 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment taken along the section line XX in FIG.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1 optical disk cartridge 2 shutter 2a bent portion 4 shell 4a opening window 5, 5a, 5b, 5c slider 6 screw 8, 9, 10 recessed portion

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A columnar slider is slidably attached to a side edge of a flat shell for accommodating an optical disc, and a rear surface of the slider with respect to a sliding surface is opened and closed by an opening window formed in one main surface of the shell. In the optical disc cartridge in which the shutter is fixed to the slider, the portion covered with the shutter of the columnar slider is covered with the bent portion of the shutter, and a plurality of screws are screwed into the back surface of the slider through the bent portion. An optical disk cartridge, characterized in that a recess having a depth of 0.1 to 0.3 mm is provided on both side surfaces or one side surface thereof. 2. A columnar slider is slidably attached to a side edge of a flat shell for accommodating an optical disk, and a rear surface of the slider with respect to a sliding surface is opened and closed by an opening window formed on one main surface of the shell. In the optical disc cartridge in which the shutter is fixed to the slider, the portion covered with the shutter of the columnar slider is covered with the bent portion of the shutter, and a plurality of screws are screwed into the back surface of the slider through the bent portion. An optical disk cartridge characterized in that the tape is tapered.