JPH09231712A - Disc cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a disc cartridge of which thickness can be reduced, strength can be improved and moldability can be secured by setting both end parts of a bridge piece for linking open ends of a head insertion hole of an upper shell to a specified dimension while applying a thickness reducing working at the center thereof. SOLUTION: This disc cartridge is provided with upper and lower shells injection-molded by a synthetic resin, a disc-shaped recording medium housed in the shells and a head insertion hole 16 cut from almost the central part to the front end rim of the shell. A bridge piece 18 is molded integral on the upper shell 2 and links the sides of open ends 16a of the head insertion hole 16 almost in a U-shaped form across the width thereof. Both end parts 18c of the bridge piece 18 are built broad along the length of the bridge piece 18 and thick vertically while a thickness reducing working is applied at each center of both the end parts 18c to form recessed parts 18d.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, a high capacity magneto-optical disk system (High Density MO DiskDrive).
The present invention relates to a disc cartridge most suitable to be applied to an HS cartridge that accommodates an HS disc applied to a system), and particularly belongs to the technical field of a shell that rotatably accommodates a disc-shaped recording medium such as an HS disc. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as a large-capacity magneto-optical disk applied to a large-capacity magneto-optical disk system (so-called HS), an HS disk in which the recording capacity of an MO disk is further increased has been developed. An HS cartridge, which is a large-capacity disk cartridge in which the HS disk is rotatably housed in a shell composed of upper and lower shells injection-molded of synthetic resin, has been announced. Note that H
The S cartridge has the same size as the 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge.
The diameter of the S disk is about 3.5 inches (85-90 mm)
Is configured.

In this HS cartridge, a pair of upper and lower head insertion holes each having a substantially long hole shape are cut out from substantially the central portion of the upper and lower shells to the front end edge, and when the HS cartridge is loaded into the HS drive, it is optical. The objective lens of the head is inserted into the lower head insertion hole from below, and the magnetic field modulation head is inserted into the upper head insertion hole from above. Then, the laser beam applied to the HS disk by the objective lens and the operation of modulating the magnetic field of the HS disk by the magnetic field modulation head are configured to record (write) and reproduce (read) information on the HS disk. .

[0004]

By the way, this kind of HS
In a cartridge or the like, in a structure in which the open ends of a pair of upper and lower head insertion holes cut out in the upper and lower shells are left open, the strength on the front edge side of the upper and lower shells is significantly impaired. Therefore, generally, the open end sides of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes are connected to each other in the width direction of the head insertion holes along a position offset toward the center in the thickness direction of the shell. , A vertically symmetrical pair of upper and lower bridge pieces are integrally molded with the upper and lower shells to secure the strength of the upper and lower shells, and the upper and lower bridge pieces are superposed on the center position in the thickness direction of the shell from above and below. Assembled in this way.

However, when the HS disc is loaded into the HS drive, the objective lens and the magnetic field modulation head are relatively inserted into the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes so as to pass above and below the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces. , If the thickness of these upper and lower bridge pieces is increased,
It becomes difficult to make the HS drive thinner. On the other hand, if the thickness of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces is made thin, the HS drive can be made thin, but the strength (rigidity) of both ends of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces, particularly where external loads are easily applied, is impaired. Also, during injection molding with synthetic resin for the upper and lower shells,
There is a problem that the flow of the molten resin to the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces deteriorates, the moldability of the upper and lower shells deteriorates, the upper and lower shells are easily deformed such as distortion, and a high quality upper and lower shell cannot be obtained. It was

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is possible to reduce the thickness of a bridge piece connecting the open ends of the head insertion holes, improve the strength (rigidity) and formability of the upper and lower shells. The object is to provide a disc cartridge that can be secured.

[0007]

In the disk cartridge of the present invention for achieving the above object, the open end side of the head insertion hole integrally formed in at least one of the upper and lower shells is located in the thickness direction of the shell. Along the position offset toward the center of the, it has a substantially U-shaped bridge piece connected in the width direction of the head insertion hole, the both ends in the length direction of the bridge piece are wide, and It is made thick and the center of both ends is stealed.

In the disk cartridge of the present invention constructed as described above, both ends of the bridge piece in the lengthwise direction are formed to be wide and thick, and then the center of both ends is subjected to meat stealing. Therefore, the bridge piece is made thinner, and strength (rigidity)
And the moldability of the upper and lower shells can be secured.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an HS cartridge will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Description of Main Parts of the Invention] First, the main parts of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, according to the present invention, the upper and lower surfaces of the ceiling walls 2a and the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 injection-molded of synthetic resin are open ends of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16 and 17 on the front end edges 2b and 3b side. 1
6a and 17a are connected in the lateral width direction (the direction perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ ) along a position offset to the center position P ₂ side in the thickness direction of the shell 4 and are substantially U-shaped. A pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 1 having a substantially symmetrical shape
9 is integrally molded horizontally. The pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19 are superposed on each other at the vertical center position P ₂ of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 and are in close contact with each other. Therefore, the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 1
A connecting portion in which both end portions 18c and 19c of 8 and 19 in the length direction (direction perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ ) are bent and connected to the ceiling wall 2a and the bottom wall 3a in a substantially crank shape. (So-called root part).

Then, as will be described later, when the HS cartridge 1 is horizontally loaded into the HS drive 51, the objective lens 69 of the optical pickup 68 and the magnetic field modulation head 86 form a pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 19.
A pair of upper and lower head insertion holes so that they pass above and below
Since the HS drive 51 is relatively inserted into each of the six and 17, the vertical thickness T ₁₁ of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19 is set to 0.7 mm or less as much as possible for the purpose of thinning the HS drive 51. It is thin. However, if the thickness T ₁₁ of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19 is reduced in this way, when an external load such as a bending force as shown by an arrow h is applied to the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19, an external load is applied. Both ends 18c and 19c, which are connecting portions (root portions) of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19 to the ceiling wall 2a and the bottom wall 3a, are easily damaged.

Therefore, in the present invention, the upper head insertion hole 1
The width W _{2 of} 6 is as small as 16 mm, and the lower head insertion hole 17
Since the width W ₃ of each of them is as large as 19.5 mm, the difference between these widths W ₂ and W ₃ (W ₃ −W ₂ = 3.5 m
m) is effectively used, and both ends 1 of the upper bridge piece 18
8c is configured to have a width W ₁₁ in the length direction (direction perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ ) of about 2.0 mm or more, and both end portions 18c have a vertical thickness T ₁₂ of about 1. The thickness (about 5 mm) of the structure ensures sufficient strength (rigidity) of both ends 18c of the upper bridge piece 18. The thickness T ₁₃ of both ends 19c of the lower bridge piece 19 in the length direction (the direction perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ ) is determined by the lower bridge piece 19 thereof.
In addition, the thickness is substantially the same as the thickness T ₁₁ . The overall length (W ₂ + 2W ₁₁ ) of the upper bridge piece 18 and the overall length (W ₃ + 2T ₁₃ ) of the lower bridge piece 19 are substantially the same.

Therefore, a pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 19
When the upper and lower inner surfaces 18e and 19e are superposed on each other from above and below, they are in close contact with each other over substantially the entire length.
Since the strength (rigidity) of both end portions 18c of 8 is high, both end portions 18c of the lower bridge piece 19 are
c is also strongly supported over a wide width W ₁₁ .
As a result, the resistance force when an external load such as a bending force is applied to the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 19 is significantly increased as compared with the conventional case, and both end portions 18c, 1
9c is not easily damaged and durability is significantly improved.

On the other hand, both ends 18c of the upper bridge piece 18
By increasing the width W ₁₁ and thickness T ₁₂ of the upper shell 2
When injection molding is performed with the synthetic resin of
The fluidity at the both end portions 18c is remarkably improved when flowing into the center of the upper bridge piece 18 through the both end portions 18c while being bent in a substantially crank shape in the arrow g direction. Therefore, the formability of the upper bridge piece 18 portion of the upper shell 2 is improved, deformation such as distortion is less likely to occur in the upper bridge piece 18 portion, and the upper shell 2 has a good appearance.
Can be easily injection molded.

However, the thickness of most of the upper shell 2 excluding the shutter slide recess 25 is 1.2 mm, and the thickness T ₁₁ of the upper bridge piece 18 is 0.7 mm. , The width W ₁₁ of the upper bridge piece 18 is increased to about 2.0 mm or more, and the thickness T ₁₂ is about 1.
The both ends 18c of the ceiling wall 2 are increased to 5 mm.
If the thickness of the upper shell 2 is made partially thick, a "shrinking phenomenon" of the synthetic resin occurs at both end portions 18c of the upper shell 2 during injection molding with the synthetic resin, and the upper shell 2 has an upper portion at both end portions 18c. The surface of the ceiling wall 2a of the shell 2 will be deformed such as concave portions or distortion.

Therefore, in the present invention, the upper bridge piece 18
On the side of the inner surface 18e, which is the lower surface of both end portions 18c having a wide width W ₁₁ and a large thickness T _12, the central portion of the both end portions 18c is meat-thickened to a thickness approximately equal to the thickness of the ceiling wall 2a, and A recess 18d is formed in the central portion on the inner surface 18e side. And this both ends 1 by this meat stealing process
Since the "shrinking phenomenon" of the synthetic resin in 8c can be eliminated, the surface of the ceiling wall 2a of the upper shell 2 is not deformed at all such as dents or distortions, and the appearance is very good.
The high quality upper shell 2 can be injection molded from synthetic resin. In addition, in this embodiment, the width W ₁₁ and the thickness T ₁₂ of both ends 18c of the upper bridge piece 18 are made large, but the width and thickness of both ends 19c of the lower bridge piece 1 may be made large. Then, a pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 1
Both widths and thicknesses of both ends 18c and 19c of 9 may be configured to be large.

[Overall Description of HS Cartridge] Next, the overall HS cartridge 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the HS cartridge, which is a disc cartridge, has a flat and substantially rectangular shell 4 in which upper and lower shells 2 and 3 injection-molded of synthetic resin are fitted from above and below and integrally joined by welding or the like. The HS disk 5, which is a recording medium, is rotatably housed in the shell 4. The HS disk 5 is a large-capacity magneto-optical disk in which the recording capacity of the MO disk is further increased, and a center hub 6 formed by pressing a metal plate such as a stainless plate is fixed to the center by adhesion or the like. A spindle insertion hole 6a is formed at the center of the center hub 6.

On the outer periphery of the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a of the upper shell 2 and the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a of the lower shell 3, the left and right side edges 3c except the front end edges 2b and 3b and the rear end edge 3d are three sides. Rib-shaped outer peripheral wall 2 formed in a substantially U shape along the
e and 3e are integrally formed, respectively, and a pair of upper and lower disc outer peripheral receiving ribs 7 and 8 having a substantially circular ring shape and having the same diameter along the outer periphery of the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a and the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a.
Are integrally formed. On the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a and the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a, the disc outer peripheral receiving ribs 7,
8, a plurality of welding dowels 10 and 11 that are opposed to each other from above and below are integrally formed, and the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 are fitted from above and below to form a plurality of welding dowels 9 and 1.
By welding 0 by ultrasonic welding or the like, the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 are integrally combined to form a flat rectangular shell 4
Is assembled. At least one of the ceiling wall 2a and the bottom wall 3a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 is provided with a plurality of gap restricting portions such as pins, ribs and bosses for restricting the clearance between the ceiling wall 2a and the bottom wall 3a. It is integrally molded.

By coupling the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 from above and below, a pair of upper and lower disk outer peripheral receiving ribs 7 and 8 are superposed from above and below, and a flat and circular disk storage space 13 is formed inside them. Once formed, the HS disk 5 is horizontal in the disk storage space 13,
It is stored freely. An annular ring is formed on the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a of the upper shell 2 and above the cartridge center P ₁ (the cartridge center P ₁ is the center of the shell 4 in the left-right lateral width direction) which is the center of the disk outer peripheral receiving rib 7. The disk upper side receiving rib 14 is integrally formed in a concentric circular shape, and the circular disk table insertion hole 15 is concentric with the bottom wall 3a of the lower shell 3 on the cartridge center P ₁ which is the central portion of the disk outer peripheral receiving rib 8. The center hub 6 of the HS disc 5 is loosely fitted in the disc table insertion hole 15.

On the ceiling wall 2a and the bottom wall 3a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3, a pair of upper and lower head insertion holes are formed in a shape of an elongated hole from a position near the outer periphery of the disk table insertion hole 15 to these front edges 2b and 3b. 16 and 17 are opened along the cartridge center P ₁ . Then, the front end edges 2b, 3b of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16, 17 are formed.
Side open ends 16a, 17a side of these head insertion holes 1
A pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18 and 19 which are connected to _each other in the width direction of 6 and 17 (a direction perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ ) and which are substantially symmetrical in the vertical direction are the lower surfaces of the ceiling walls of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3. Horizontally integrally molded on the upper surfaces of 2a and the bottom wall 3a. The bridge pieces 18 and 19 are superposed from above and below at the center position in the thickness direction of the shell 4, and the inner side surfaces 18 of the bridge pieces 18 and 19 are overlapped with each other.
Reference characters a and 19a are formed in an arc shape having the same diameter as the inner peripheral surfaces 7a and 8a of the pair of upper and lower disk outer peripheral receiving ribs 7 and 8, and the outer surfaces 18b and 19b are formed at a right angle to the cartridge center P ₁ . Has been done.

On the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a and the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3, these bridge pieces 18, 1 are provided.
A pair of left and right shutter guide grooves 21, 22 are provided at the left and right side positions of 9, respectively.
Is formed at a right angle to the cartridge center P ₁ . Then, the shutter slider 23 formed of synthetic resin is provided with a pair of upper and lower bridge pieces 18, 19.
In the outer position of the cartridge, the upper and lower shells 2, 3 are assembled between the front end edges 2a, 3a at a right angle to the cartridge center P ₁ . The entire shutter slider 23 is formed in a substantially U shape by a pair of left and right guide pieces 23a and 23b integrally formed inside both ends of the shutter slider 23 in the length direction (horizontal direction). The pair of guide pieces 23a and 23b are the upper and lower shells 2,
3 pairs of left and right, 4 shutter guide grooves 21, 2 in total
It is slidably engaged between the two. Therefore, the shutter slider 23 is set in the shutter guide grooves 21, 2.
The upper and lower shells 2 and 3 are guided by 2 and slidable in the front edges 2a and 3a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 in the directions of arrows a and b which are perpendicular to the cartridge center P ₁ .

A shutter 24 pressed by a metal plate such as a stainless plate is formed in a substantially U shape by a pair of upper and lower shutter pieces 24a and 24b and a connecting piece 24c connecting one ends of these shutter pieces at a right angle. ing. The shutter 24 is fixed to the outer side of one end side of the shutter slider 23 by a connecting piece 24c by welding with a welding dowel, screwing, etc. 3 are slidably stacked on the upper surface of the ceiling wall 2a and the lower surface of the bottom wall 3a. At this time, the upper shutter piece 24a is formed as a small piece that can close only the upper head insertion hole 16, and the lower shutter piece 2a.
4b is formed as a large piece so that the lower head insertion hole 17 and the disc table insertion hole 16 can be closed at the same time. Then, the pair of upper and lower shutter pieces 24a, 2
4b is the top and bottom walls 3 of the ceiling walls 2a of the upper and lower shells 2, 3.
These shutter pieces 24a, 2 formed on the bottom surface of a
Shutter slide recess 2 corresponding to the thickness of 4b
It is configured to slide in the directions of arrows a and b within 5, 26. It should be noted that the lower shutter piece 24b formed on the large piece has a tip (an end on the side opposite to the connecting piece 24 side) made of a stainless steel plate or the like fixed to the end inside the lower recess 26 by adhesion or the like. It is slidably inserted inside the shutter guide piece 27.

Therefore, the shutter 24 is integrated with the shutter slider 23, and the front end edges 2b of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 are
3b and the closed position shown in FIG. 9 (the position where the disk table insertion hole 15 and the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16 and 17 are simultaneously closed by the pair of upper and lower shutter pieces 24a and 24b) and FIG. Opening position (a pair of upper and lower shutter pieces 24a and 24b are inserted into the disk table insertion hole 15
And a position which is offset to one side of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16 and 17 so that the disk table insertion hole 15 and the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16 and 17 are simultaneously opened. , B can be slid in the directions.

Then, the front end edges 2a of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3,
A shutter spring 29 is housed in a substantially triangular shutter spring housing space 28 surrounded by outer peripheral ribs 2e and 3e and disk outer peripheral receiving ribs 7 and 8 inside one side of 3a. The shutter spring 29 is formed in a substantially V shape by a torsion coil spring, and both ends 29a and 29b of the shutter spring 29 are connected to the guide piece 23a on one end side of the shutter slider 23, the upper and lower shells 2,
3 is locked to a spring locking portion 30 integrally formed on either the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a or the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a.
The shutter spring 29 slides the shutter slider 23 integrally with the shutter slider 23 in the direction of arrow b to the closed position.

Then, at the bottom wall 3a of the lower shell 3, the rear edge 3
A pair of right and left positioning holes 31 are formed at positions offset to the d side, and a write protector 32 for preventing erroneous erasure is provided inside one side of the rear end edges 2a, 3d of the upper and lower shells 2, 3.
Is attached slidably in the directions of arrows a and b. The light protector 32 is the upper and lower shells 2, 3
Of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 are slidably fitted in protector guide ribs 33 integrally formed on either the lower surface of the ceiling wall 2a or the upper surface of the bottom wall 3a.
a and bottom wall 3a are formed with detection holes 34 and 35 for preventing erroneous erasure that are opened and closed by the light protector 32, and the sliding operation of the light protector 32 on the rear end edges 2d and 3d of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3. A hole 36 is formed. Incidentally, the front edge 2b of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3, the slide space of the shutter 24 have right-angled recess 37 against the cartridge center P ₁ is formed on the opposite side 3b, the shutter of the recess 37 At a position opposite to 24, a shutter opening / closing pin calling recess 38 is formed between the shutter slider 23 and one end of the shutter slider 23 returned to the closed position shown in FIG. A shutter opening / closing pin lock recess 39 is formed in the.

In addition to the basic structure described above, the HS cartridge 1 has a structure for preventing erroneous insertion into the HS drive and a structure for automatic loading into the HS drive. That is, on the front edge 2b, 3b side which is the insertion direction side of the upper and lower shells 2, 3 into the HS drive,
A pair of left and right erroneous erasure determination notches formed by cutting the left and right side edges 2c, 3c in a groove parallel to the cartridge center P ₁ to a depth reaching from the bottom surface of the lower shell 3 to a part of the lower surface of the upper shell 2. 40 is formed. Then, on the front end edge 2b side of the left and right side edges 2c of the upper shell 2, a portion that covers the upper part of the pair of left and right erroneous erasure determination notches 40 is formed in the pair of left and right wing portions 41. Is formed to be slightly thinner than the total thickness of the upper shell 2.

Then, the pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40 in the lower shell 3 are arranged in the length direction (cartridge center P ₁
A pair of left and right cartridge retracting recesses 42 that are notched in a substantially semicircular shape are formed in the middle of the direction (along the direction). The depth of the pair of left and right cartridge retracting recesses 42 (in the thickness direction of the upper and lower shells 2 and 3) is the same as the depth of the pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40. Inside the pair of left and right wing portions 41, a part of the ceiling wall 2a is formed in a pair of left and right lid portions 43 that cover the upper portions of the pair of left and right cartridge retracting recesses 42.

[Description of Dimensions of HS Cartridge] Next,
The dimensions of each part of the HS cartridge 1 configured as above will be described. First, the diameter of the HS disk is about 3.5 inches, which is 85 to 90 mm.
It is configured to be 8 mm. And the HS cartridge 1
The overall outer dimensions are substantially the same as those of the 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge, and the width W _{1 in} the left-right direction, the depth D _{1 in the} front-rear direction, and the thickness T ₁ in the up-down direction of the entire shell 4 are W ₁ = 92 mm and D ₁ = 9 respectively
7 mm and T ₁ = 5 mm. The thicknesses T ₂ and T ₃ of the upper and lower shells ₂ and ₃ are each set to 2.5 mm. And the inner diameter D of the disc insertion hole 15
₂ is configured to be 19.5 mm, the width W _{2 in} the left-right direction and the depth D _{3 in the} front-rear direction of the upper head insertion hole 16 are configured to be W ₂ = 16 mm and D ₃ = 38 mm, respectively. The width W _{3 in the} left-right direction and the depth D _{4 in the} front-rear direction are W ₃ = 19.5 mm and D ₄ = 38 mm, respectively. The width W _{4 in} the left-right direction, the depth T ₄ in the up-down direction, and the length L ₁ in the front-back direction of the pair of left and right erroneous erasure determination notches 40 are W ₂ = 2.5 mm and T ₄ , respectively.
= 3.0 mm, L ₁ = 38.5 mm,
Vertical thickness T _{5 of the} pair of left and right wings 41 of the upper shell 2
Is configured to be 2.0 mm. Then, the front-rear direction of the width W ₅ and the left-right direction of the depth D ₅ each W ₅ = 4.3 mm of the pair of left and right cartridge retracting recesses 42, D ₅
= 3.0 mm, and the vertical depth is 3.0 mm, which is the same as the vertical depth T _{4 of the} pair of left and right erroneous erasure determination notches 40.

[Description of HS Drive] Next, referring to FIGS. 11 to 15, the HS which is a disk drive for recording (writing) and reproducing (reading) information on the HS disk 5 is described.
The drive 51 will be described.

Front panel 5 of this HS drive 51
2, a horizontal and horizontally long cartridge insertion opening 53 having an inward opening / closing lid 53 is formed. Inside the HS drive 51, a cartridge holder 55 is horizontally arranged at a deep position of the cartridge insertion opening 53. ing. The horizontal ceiling plate 5 of the cartridge holder 55
5a has a substantially U-shaped cross section under the left and right edges.
In addition, a pair of left and right horizontal cartridge insertion guides 55b, which are symmetrically formed so as to face each other, are integrally formed. The front and rear direction of the pair of left and right cartridge insertion guides 55b (directions of arrows c and d)
A pair of left and right erroneous insertion preventing claws 56 are integrally formed inside the substantially central portion of the.

Then, one end of a horizontal shutter opening / closing lever 58 is attached to a vertical fulcrum pin 57 mounted on the ceiling plate 55a of the cartridge holder 55, and one end of the horizontal shutter opening / closing lever 58 passes through the elongated hole 59 in the front / rear direction (arrow c, d direction) and left / right direction. The vertical shutter opening / closing pin 60 attached to the lower part of the other end of the shutter opening / closing lever 58 is mounted so as to be rotatable and slidable in the directions (arrows a and b directions).
It is vertically inserted into the cartridge holder 55 through the guide groove 61 formed in a. The shutter opening / closing lever 58 is urged to move from the shutter open position shown in FIG. 13 to the shutter open position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 12 by an eject spring 62 composed of a tension coil spring. A slotted head insertion notch 63 is formed along the cartridge center P ₁ from the central portion to the rear end of the ceiling plate 55a, and the ceiling plate 55a has a plurality of cartridge pressing springs composed of leaf springs. 64 is attached. A holder elevating mechanism (not shown) that vertically elevates and lowers the cartridge holder 55 in the HS drive 51 by parallel movement.
Is incorporated.

Inside the HS drive 51, at the lower position of the cartridge holder 55, on the cartridge center P ₁ and at the position deviated to the front panel 52 side, the vertical spindle 6 of the spindle motor 65 is provided.
6 and a disk table 67 integrally fixed to the rotor housing which is horizontally fixed to the outer periphery of the position near the upper end thereof. The objective lens 69 of the optical pickup 68 is attached to the upper portion of the carriage 70 inside the HS drive 51 at a position rearward (in the direction of arrow c) of the spindle motor 65 at the lower position of the cartridge holder 55. It is located on the center P ₁ . The carriage 70 includes a pair of left and right guide shafts 71, a pair of left and right voice coils 72, and a pair of left and right magnetic circuits 7 each including a pair of yokes and magnets.
A pair of left and right linear motors 74 composed of 3 and 3 are configured to seek in the directions of arrows c and d.

The optical block 75 of the optical pickup 68 is located behind the carriage 70 (on the side of arrow c).
The laser diode 76 and the collimator lens 7 are arranged in the optical block 75.
7, a beam splitter 78, a multi-lens 79, a reading phototransistor 80, a monitor phototransistor 81, and the like are incorporated. On the cartridge center P ₁ , a galvanometer mirror 82 is arranged on one side of the optical block 75, and the objective lens is inside the horizontal light transmission hole 83 formed on the cartridge center P ₁ of the carriage 70. A raising mirror 84 is incorporated in a position directly below 69. Then, the suspension 85 is provided on the rear end of the carriage 70 (the end on the arrow c direction side).
A magnetic field modulation head 86, which is a flying head attached via the above, is arranged at a position directly above the objective lens 69 on the cartridge center P ₁ with a space. A head elevating mechanism (not shown) for vertically elevating the magnetic field modulation head 86 in synchronization with the elevating operation of the cartridge holder 55 is incorporated in the HS drive 51.

The HS drive 51 is constructed as described above, and when the HS cartridge 1 is loaded, the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3 are oriented in a correct horizontal posture with the upper shell 2 facing upward and the lower shell 3 facing downward. Front edge 2
It is horizontally inserted from the a, 3a side into the cartridge insertion port 54 in the direction of arrow c. And this HS cartridge 1
While pushing the open / close lid 53 inward by this HS
The cartridge 1 is attached to the ceiling plate 5 of the cartridge holder 55.
A pair of left and right cartridge insertion guides 55b at the bottom of 5a
Insert it horizontally from the direction of arrow a. Then, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, by inserting the HS cartridge 1 into the cartridge holder 55 in the direction of arrow c,
Right and left pair of notches 4 for erroneous insertion determination of the HS cartridge 1
0 is correctly inserted into the pair of left and right erroneous insertion preventing claws 56 in the cartridge holder 55 from the direction of arrow c. That is, at this time, the HS cartridge 1 is correctly inserted into the cartridge holder 55, and the pair of left and right erroneous insertion preventing claws 56 are inserted into the pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40 of the HS cartridge 1. The HS cartridge 1 can be smoothly inserted into the cartridge holder 55 by being relatively correctly inserted from the d direction.

With the insertion of the HS cartridge 1 into the cartridge holder 55 in the direction of the arrow c, first, the shutter opening / closing pin 60 that has been returned to the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. After being called into the shutter opening / closing pin calling recess 38 of the HS cartridge 1 shown in FIG. 9, the recess 37 pushes the shutter opening / closing pin in the direction of arrow c. Then, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 12, the shutter opening / closing pin 60 is moved in the direction of the arrow a along the recess 37 while being guided by the guide groove 61, so that the shutter opening / closing lever 58 moves. The shutter opening / closing pin 60 rotates the shutter slider 2 in the direction of arrow e.
One end of 3 is pushed in the direction of arrow a. Then, the shutter 24 is slid integrally with the shutter slider 23 from the closed position shown in FIG. 9 to the open position shown in FIG. 10 against the shutter spring 29, and the disc table insertion hole 15 of the HS cartridge 1 and The pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 16 and 17 are simultaneously opened.

Then, when the shutter 24 reaches the open position, the shutter opening / closing pin 60 enters the shutter opening / closing pin locking recess 39 shown in FIG. 9 and is locked at that position, and the HS cartridge 1 continues to be a cartridge. It is inserted in the holder 55 in the direction of arrow c. Then, when the HS cartridge 1 reaches the insertion completion position shown in FIG. 13, the HS cartridge 1 is stopped in the cartridge holder 55 by a cartridge stopper (not shown) in the cartridge holder 55. In addition, HS
Shutter opening / closing pin lock recess 39 of the cartridge 1
The shutter opening / closing pin 60 locked inside moves linearly in the arrow c direction along the guide groove 61 thereafter.

Then, almost simultaneously with the completion of the insertion of the HS cartridge 1 into the cartridge holder 55, the cartridge holder 55 is lowered by the parallel movement. Then, the HS cartridge 1 is horizontally mounted from above on a plurality of cartridge positioning pins (not shown) in the HS drive 51, and two of the positioning pins are HS
The HS cartridge 1 is fitted into the pair of right and left positioning holes 31 of the cartridge 1, and the HS cartridge 1 is pressed and positioned on the plurality of cartridge positioning pins by the plurality of cartridge pressing springs 64 of the cartridge holder 55. Then, the loading of the HS cartridge 1 into the HS drive 51 is completed as described above.

On the other hand, the spindle motor 65 is already rotationally driven by turning on the power supply to the HS drive 51 before starting the loading. And the HS cartridge 1
Upon completion of the loading, the spindle 66 and the disc table 67 are relatively inserted from below into the disc table insertion hole 15 of the HS cartridge 1,
The upper end of the spindle 66 is inserted into the spindle insertion hole 6a of the center hub 6 of the disc 5, and the center hub 6 is fitted into the disc table 67 and magnetically chucked. Are floated up and down in the shell 4 at intermediate positions.

At the same time, the objective lens 69 of the optical pickup 68 is relatively inserted into the lower head insertion hole 17 of the HS cartridge 1 from below, and the objective lens 69 approaches the lower surface of the HS disk 5. At the same time, the magnetic field modulation head 86 is inserted from above into the upper head insertion hole 16 of the HS cartridge 1 through the head insertion notch 63 of the cartridge holder 55, and the magnetic field modulation head 86 is placed on the upper surface of the HS disk 5. It is levitated by an air film.

After that, the HS disk 5 is rotationally driven at a high speed in the HS cartridge 1 by the spindle motor 65, and the carriage 70 of the optical pickup 68 is sought in the arrow c and d directions by the pair of left and right linear motors 74. Then, the objective lens 69 and the magnetic field modulation head 86 are integrally sought in the directions of arrows c and d along the cartridge center P ₁ . Then, while modulating the magnetic field of the HS disk 5 by the magnetic field modulation head 86, the laser beam LB emitted from the optical block 75 of the optical pickup 68 is irradiated onto the HS disk 5 from below through the objective lens 69, and the HS disk 5 is irradiated. Records and plays back information.

At this time, the laser beam LB emitted from the laser diode 76 of the optical block 75 is horizontally irradiated to the galvano mirror 82 outside the optical block 75 through the collimator lens 77 and the beam splitter 78, and the laser beam LB is galvano mirror 82. Then, it is bent at 90 ° in the horizontal direction to irradiate the rising mirror 84 in the light transmission hole 83 of the carriage 70. Then, the laser beam LB is bent vertically by 90 ° by the rising mirror 84 to irradiate the objective lens 69 from below, and the objective lens 69 irradiates the laser beam LB to the HS disk 5 vertically from below. Then, the laser beam LB reflected by the HS disk 5 is passed through the objective lens 69, the rising mirror 84, and the galvano mirror 82 to the optical block 7
The beam is returned to the beam splitter 78 of No. 5 and is received (received) by the reading phototransistor 80 and the monitor phototransistor 81 through the multi-lens 79.
Information is recorded on and reproduced from the HS disc 5.

It should be noted that H after recording and reproducing of the HS disk 5
The eject operation of the S cartridge 1 is performed by the reverse operation of the loading operation described above. That is, first, the cartridge holder 55 is lifted by the parallel movement in the HS drive 51, and the HS disk 5 is lifted together with the HS cartridge 1, so that the HS disk 5 is separated upward from the spindle 65 and the disk table 67. At about the same time, the magnetic field modulation head 86 is released above the head insertion notch 63 of the cartridge holder 55. Then, almost simultaneously with the completion of the raising of the cartridge holder 55, the shutter opening / closing lever 58 is moved in the directions of the arrows d and f by the eject spring 62, and the shutter opening / closing pin 60 is moved along the guide grooves 61 by the arrows d and f.
The shutter opening / closing pin 60 moves the HS cartridge 1 to the outside of the cartridge insertion opening 54 of the HS drive 51 in the arrow d direction. Then, during that time, the shutter 24 of the HS cartridge 1 is slid by the shutter spring 29 to the closed position in the arrow b direction.

By the way, when the HS cartridge 1 is inserted into the cartridge insertion opening 54 of the HS drive 51 from the direction of the arrow c, if the HS cartridge 1 is erroneously inserted in the front-rear direction or the vertical direction, the cartridge is inserted. The pair of right and left erroneous insertion preventing claws 56 in the holder 55 prohibits the HS cartridge 1 from being inserted. The vertical thickness T ₄ of the pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40 of the HS cartridge 1 is set to 3.0 mm, and a pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40 that cover the upper portion of the pair of left and right erroneous insertion determination notches 40 are formed. The thickness T ₅ of the wing portion 41 in the vertical direction is set to 2.0 mm, which is similar to the HS cartridge 1, but
However, erroneous insertion of a 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge having a thickness of 3.0 mm can be similarly prohibited by the pair of right and left erroneous insertion prevention claws 56.

In the auto-loading type HS drive, as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 13, inside the pair of left and right cartridge insertion guides 55b of the cartridge holder 55, the rear side of the pair of left and right erroneous insertion preventing pawls 56 is prevented. A pair of left and right cartridge retracting means 87 are disposed on the side (direction of arrow c), and when the HS cartridge 1 is inserted into the cartridge holder 55 in the correct posture from the direction of arrow c to a certain depth, the pair of left and right cartridges. The retracting means 87 is engaged in the pair of right and left cartridge retracting recesses 42 of the HS cartridge 1, and the HS cartridge 1 is automatically moved by the cartridge retracting means 87 in the cartridge holder 55 to the position shown in FIG. Of the HS cartridge 1 It is configured to perform the door loading operation.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, the disc-shaped recording medium of the present invention is not limited to the HS disc, but can be applied to various disc-shaped recording media such as MO discs, MD discs, CDs, CD-ROMs, and floppy discs.

[0046]

The disk cartridge of the present invention constructed as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the open end side of the head insertion hole integrally formed in at least one of the upper and lower shells is displaced along the position offset toward the center in the thickness direction of the shell. Has a substantially U-shaped bridge piece that is connected in the width direction of the bridge. Both ends in the length direction of the bridge piece are made wide and thick, and the center of both ends is meat stealing processed. As a result, the bridge piece has been made thinner, the strength (rigidity) has been improved, and the moldability of the upper and lower shells has been secured, so the disk drive can be made thinner, and damage to both ends of the bridge piece due to external load can be prevented. In addition to improving the moldability, it is possible to easily and stably mold the high-quality upper and lower shells having a good appearance and free from dents, distortions and the like due to the “shrinking phenomenon” of the synthetic resin.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a pair of upper and lower bridge pieces having a substantially U-shape and a substantially symmetrical shape integrally formed in the upper and lower shells are stacked from above and below, and at least one end portion of at least one of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces is overlapped. Wide and
In addition to being thick, the center of both wide and thick both ends was stealed, so it is possible to reinforce the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces that are stacked from the top and bottom, and the strength against external loads is remarkably high. Moreover, the thickness of the pair of upper and lower bridge pieces can be reduced as much as possible.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the width of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes is made different, the difference between the widths of these head insertion holes is effectively utilized to make both ends of one of the bridge pieces wide. In addition, the upper and lower shells can be easily formed into a thick wall and can have a good appearance and high quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view and a cross-sectional side view showing a bridge piece of an upper shell for explaining a main part of the invention in an embodiment in which the invention is applied to an HS cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG.

3A and 3B are a plan view and a cross-sectional side view showing a bridge piece of a lower shell for explaining an essential part of the above invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the upper shell of the HS cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower shell of the HS cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper surface of the entire HS cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the entire HS cartridge.

8A and 8B are a plan view and a bottom view showing a shutter closed state of the HS cartridge.

9A and 9B are a plan view and a bottom view showing the shutter open state of the HS cartridge.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the entire HS cartridge.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an HS cartridge and an HS drive.

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating the operation of inserting the HS cartridge into the cartridge holder of the HS drive.

FIG. 13 is a plan view illustrating the end of the inserting operation of the HS cartridge into the cartridge holder.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway plan view illustrating an optical pickup and a magnetic field modulation head in the HS drive.

FIG. 15 is a sectional side view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is an HS cartridge (disk cartridge), 2 is an upper shell, 2a is a ceiling wall of the upper shell, 2b is a front edge, 3
Is a lower shell, 3a is a bottom wall of the lower shell, 3b is a front edge, 4
Is a shell, 5 is an HS disc (disc-shaped recording medium),
16 and 17 are head insertion holes, 16a and 17a are open ends of the head insertion holes, 18 and 19 are bridge pieces, 18c and 19
Reference character c denotes both end portions of the bridge piece, 18d and 19d denote recessed portions which are processed at both end portions of the bridge piece, and 18e and 19e denote inner surfaces of the bridge piece.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A shell comprising upper and lower shells formed of a synthetic resin, a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in the shell, and a front end edge of at least one of the upper and lower shells from a substantially central portion thereof. In a disk cartridge having a head insertion hole that is cut out in the direction of the width of the head insertion hole along the position where the open end side of the head insertion hole is displaced toward the center of the shell in the thickness direction. A substantially U-shaped bridge piece to be connected is integrally formed on at least one of the upper and lower shells, and both ends of the bridge piece are formed wide in the length direction of the bridge piece and have a thick wall, A disk cartridge characterized by stealing the center of both ends. 2. A shell comprising upper and lower shells formed of synthetic resin, a disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in the shell, and upper and lower portions cut out from substantially the central portion of the upper and lower shells to the front edge thereof. In a disk cartridge having a pair of head insertion holes, a pair of upper and lower head insertion holes is formed in the upper and lower shells, and the open end sides of the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes are biased toward the center of the shell in the thickness direction. A pair of upper and lower bridge pieces, which are substantially U-shaped and substantially symmetrical in shape and are connected to each other in the width direction of the head insertion holes along the positioned positions, are integrally molded on the upper and lower shells, and both ends of the at least one bridge piece are formed. Part is formed to be wide and thick in the length direction of the bridge piece, and the center of both ends thereof is subjected to meat stealing. Disc cartridge of claim 1, wherein the superimposed from above and below the approximate center position in the direction. 3. The pair of upper and lower head insertion holes have different widths, and both ends of the bridge piece on the side of the head insertion hole having the smaller width are wide in the length direction of the bridge piece and have a meat. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the disk cartridge is formed to be thick, and the center of both end portions of the disk cartridge is stealed.