JPH09213044A - Disk cartridge and disk device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily discriminate history of changing disks and to properly perform the maintenance and management by forming a cartridge with a sealing piece for sealing a lock mechanism part of an opening and closing member and making a lock mechanism incapable of unlocking unless the sealing piece is excluded. SOLUTION: Since the sealing piece 1b of the cartridge 1 is thinner than a lower case 4 in thickness, when this piece is pushed in or pulled out by using a pen point or the tip of a screw driver, etc., stress is concentrated in a connecting part between the sealing piece 1b and the lower case 4 so that the piece is easily breakable. Since the sealing piece 1b is formed out of plastic, etc., having elasticity, when this piece pushed in, the piece is elastically deformed, and its restraint by a hole 1a is released, and then from this state, an opening and closing lid 5 can be drawn out. From this state, the disk 2 is changed for another disk, which is then inserted into the inside of the cartridge 1, and the lid 5 is closed until the restraining piece 5b is locked by the hole 1a to be restored to their original state, thereby completing the disk change.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disc cartridge capable of accommodating and exchanging a disc-shaped information recording / reproducing disc such as an optical disc and a magneto-optical disc, and recording / reproducing information using the disc cartridge. Disc device

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Disk cartridges (hereinafter abbreviated as "cartridges") are used for recording or reproducing information at high density. Therefore, during storage or when a person operates, the disk is dusted or adhered with oil or fat due to human operation. Protects. When recording or reproducing information in the disk device, the disk is exposed by moving the shutter of the cartridge to open the opening of the disk.

In the CD-ROM, there are a disk alone for loading the disk into the drive device and a disk-like cartridge for storing the disk as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-68641. . this
The CD caddy opens and closes the upper lid to exchange the disc, but as an example of a cartridge that can exchange the disc,
For example, in the cartridge described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-242626, the bottom of the shutter opposite side is made rotatable, and this is used as a disc insertion / extraction location.

Each of the cartridges described above has a structure in which the cartridge main body and a part of the opening / closing member attached to the main body serve as a locking member when the cartridge is stored or loaded in the disk device. When the disc is replaced, the locking member is unlocked and the opening / closing member is opened.
Then, the disc is replaced and inserted into the cartridge, the opening / closing member is closed, and the locking member is locked to the cartridge.

In the above-mentioned conventional example, it is not possible to discriminate the history of disc replacement, but as a method of discriminating it, for example, a method of adhering and sealing the opening / closing lid and the case with tape or the like is conceivable. However, with this method, it is easy to reattach the tape once removed, and the reliability of the determination is poor.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the disc can be replaced any number of times, but for example, if the disc is a double-sided recordable / reproducible disc and both sides of the disc are A side and B side. In some cases, the A side and the B side of the disc may be different from each other due to the disc exchange. In that case, in the disc device, AB in the disc
Since it is necessary to use the surface determination as the determination information, the information recorded on the disc must be read. In that case, there is a problem that it takes time from the loading of the cartridge into the disc device until the disc device completes the surface determination and becomes in a recordable / reproducible state. Also,
The person who uses the disc cannot judge whether the disc has been exchanged or not, and how the A side and B side are loaded, or the disc is exchanged by another person, and thus recording / reproduction of incorrect information is performed.・ There was a problem with erasing.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to maintain and manage the history of disk replacement, that is, whether a cartridge that has been disk replaced at least once can be easily discriminated by a person or a disk device. An object is to provide an excellent cartridge and a disk device using the same.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms a sealing piece for sealing a lock mechanism portion of an opening / closing member in a cartridge, and the lock mechanism must be removed unless the sealing piece is removed. It has a structure that cannot be released. With such a structure, the user can easily determine whether or not the cartridge has been exchanged by using a sensor, a switch, or the like that detects the presence or absence of the sealing piece in the disk device in appearance.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cartridge of the present invention. The cartridge 1 includes a disc 2 on which information is recorded or reproduced, an upper case 3 containing the disc 2,
It is composed of a lower case 4, an opening / closing lid 5, a shutter 6 that opens and closes the opening 3a of the case and a portion 4a located opposite to the opening 3a, and a plate 7 that suppresses the protrusion of the corner of the shutter 6. The upper case 3 and the lower case 4 are vertically bonded to each other, and are rotatably supported so as to sandwich the shaft 5a of the opening / closing lid 5 vertically. The upper case 3 and the lower case 4 constitute a hole 1a for fitting with the locking piece 5b. The illustration shows locking piece 5b and hole 1a
The state that the disc 2 has been released from the cartridge 1 by releasing the opening and closing lid 5 is released. The upper case 3, the lower case 4, and the opening / closing lid 5 are molded from a material having elasticity such as plastic.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cartridge. The figure shows a state where the opening / closing lid 5 is attached to the cartridge 1. In the following description, the upper case 3 will be described, but since the lower case 4 has a shape symmetrical to the upper case 3, the description is omitted. The shutter 6 is biased by a tension spring 8 contained in the cartridge 1 during storage and when not in use, and is pressed against the wall 3b of the upper case 3 to close the opening 3a. When the cartridge 1 is inserted into the recording / reproducing apparatus and information is exchanged, the shutter 6 is slid by the loading mechanism of the apparatus in the direction opposite to the biasing direction of the tension spring 8 and the surface of the disc 2 is opened from the opening 3a. Is exposed. An inner wall 3c having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disk 2 is formed on the upper case 3, and dust from the moving portion of the shutter 6 and dust from the hole 1a and the projection 5c of the opening / closing lid 5 are formed. This prevents the sealing piece 1b after breakage from entering the inside of the cartridge 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the cartridge.
This figure shows the shape of the cartridge 1 in which the disc has not been exchanged yet. Cartridge 1 of sealing piece 1b
Inside, the locking piece 5b of the opening / closing lid 5 is locked to the end surface of the hole 1a in a state of giving its elastic force, the opening / closing lid 5 is locked to the cartridge 1, and the disc 2 shown in FIG. ing.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the cartridge.
This figure shows the shape of the cartridge 1 in which the disk exchange has not been performed, as in FIG. The hole 1a of the cartridge 1 is internally occupied by a sealing piece 1b integrally molded from the lower case 4, but the inner three sides of the four corners of the hole 1a have appropriate clearances.

Next, the operation when exchanging disks will be described.
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the sealing piece 1b shown in FIG. 1 is broken from the state of FIG. 4 by using a pen tip, a tip of a driver or the like. Since the sealing piece 1b is thinner than the lower case 4, when the pieces are pushed in or pulled out by the above-mentioned method, stress is concentrated on the connecting portion between the sealing piece 1b and the lower case 4, and the pieces are easily broken. it can. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the locking piece 5b exposed from the hole 1a is pushed in from the state of FIG. 5 by using a pen tip, the tip of a driver or the like. Since the locking piece 5 is formed of an elastic plastic or the like, the locking piece 5 is elastically deformed by being pushed in, the locking with the hole 1a is released, and the opening / closing lid 5 is pulled out from this state as shown in FIG. State. From this state, the disc 2 shown in FIG. 1 is replaced and inserted into the cartridge 1, and the opening / closing lid 5 is closed until the locking piece 5b is locked in the hole 1a as shown in FIG. To do.

When the disk is exchanged once as described above, the history of the disk exchange can be easily identified from the external appearance like the mark of the broken sealing piece 1b on the cartridge 1. Even in the disk device, an ON / OFF switch such as a push switch or a sensor is arranged at a position corresponding to the broken seal piece 1b, and the disc replacement history can be identified by detecting the presence or absence of the seal piece 1b. it can.

Next, another embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cartridge showing another embodiment. Although the sealing piece is arranged on the side surface of the cartridge in the above-mentioned embodiment, it may be arranged on the upper surface or any surface as shown in the drawing, but since it is arranged on the upper surface or the lower surface such as the erroneous erasure prevention hole in the conventional cartridge. It is preferable to detect it in the same manner. Further, the shape of the sealing piece is not particularly limited, and the opening / closing lid is not limited to the rotating type, and a method of opening / closing the upper lid or a method of sliding the side surface may be used.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the cartridge.
In this example, the sealing piece 1b is formed into a cylinder integrated with the upper case 3, and is bulged from the outside to be broken together with a part of the lower case 4. It is also possible to arrange the column at a position where the disc is inserted and removed, and the disc cannot be inserted and removed unless the column is broken.

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the cartridge.
When the opening / closing lid 5 is pulled out, the sealing piece 1b, which has been closed in the hole 1a, is slid by the connecting piece 5d for connecting with the opening / closing lid 5 to open the hole 1a, and when the opening / closing lid 5 is further drawn, the connecting piece 5d is opened. It is torn off and broken. Even if the opening / closing lid 5 is closed after the disc is replaced, the hole 1a remains open because the sealing piece 1b does not slide because the connecting piece 5d does not exist.

In addition to the above embodiment, the protection of the disk surface
From the viewpoint of cleaning, a cleaning member may be attached to the inner surface of the disk insertion / removal opening of the cartridge, and the disk surface may be cleaned by bringing the disk into contact with the cleaning member when the disk is replaced.

[0020]

According to the present invention, it is possible for a person or a disk device to easily discriminate whether or not the cartridge has been exchanged with the disk even once, so that a person does not erroneously record, reproduce or erase information. , Early recording of disk device
The effect is that it can be regenerated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cartridge showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cartridge showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of a cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Cartridge, 1b ... Sealing piece, 2 ... Disk, 3 ... Upper case, 4 ... Lower case, 5 ... Opening / closing lid, 5b ... Locking piece.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kouichiro Nagai 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Multimedia system development headquarters

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A case in which a recording medium for recording / reproducing information is housed, an opening / closing lid that opens a part of the case, and a locking member that locks the opening / closing of the opening / closing lid. In possible disc cartridges,
A disc cartridge, comprising: a discriminating member for discriminating a history of loading / unloading of the recording medium. 2. A disk device comprising a loading device for loading the disk cartridge according to claim 1 and a detection member for detecting the presence or absence of the discriminating member. 3. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating member closes an operating portion of the locking member. 4. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating member can be broken from the disc cartridge. 5. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating member is broken by opening and closing the opening / closing lid. 6. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating member is arranged in a take-out path of the recording medium. 7. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating member is arranged on a surface parallel to the recording surface of the recording medium. 8. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a protective wall for preventing the discriminating member from entering is provided inside the case. 9. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning member is attached to the inner surface of the insertion / removal opening of the recording medium of the case.