JPH09259563A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an inconvenience that necessary information signals recorded in a disk-shaped recording medium are erased inadvertently, by letting the disk-shaped recording medium be stored only in a regular state from a disk insertion/detachment opening. SOLUTION: In a disk cartridge 1, when a disk 5 is to be stored in a cartridge main body 4, the disk 5 is inserted into a disk insertion/detachment opening 7 while the side of a disk substrate 11 of the disk 5 is set at the side of a first opening 42 and a disk substrate 12 is set at the side of a second opening 43. At this time, the disk insertion/detachment opening 7 has a slightly larger cross section than the disk 5 to fit a step part 18 of the disk 5 and is opened in a shape nearly like a projection. Therefore, the disk 5 is never inserted wrong upside down.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disc cartridge in which a disc such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc is rotatably housed in a cartridge body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a disc formed in a disk shape such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc has, during storage, dust or dirt attached to a recording area on a recording and / or reproducing surface, or a scratch or the like. In order to prevent this from happening, it is rotatably housed in a disk cartridge. In addition, the disc cartridge protects the disc so that a fingerprint of a finger or the like does not adhere to the recording area when the disc cartridge is mounted on the recording and / or reproducing device during use. And the disk cartridge protects the disk in this way,
It is easy to mount on a recording and / or reproducing device.

This disc cartridge is constructed such that a disc is rotatably housed in a cartridge body formed by, for example, abutting and joining an upper half and a lower half, which are formed in a pair of substantially shallow dishes.

Inside the cartridge body, there is a disk storage portion which is formed by an arc-shaped rising wall which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disk and slightly larger than the thickness of the disk. Has been formed. Then, the disc is rotatably stored in the disc storage portion.

In the cartridge body, a recording and / or reproducing opening is formed in the upper and lower surfaces at the center in the left-right direction from the center to the front. The recording and / or reproducing opening exposes a part of the recording area of the disc housed in the cartridge body to the outside.

The recording and / or reproducing opening is generally composed of a pair of shutter parts having a size large enough to close the recording and / or reproducing opening and a connecting part for connecting the shutter parts. A U-shaped shutter member is slidably assembled. This shutter member can be attached only to a recording and / or reproducing device,
The recording and / or reproducing opening is opened, and the recording and / or reproducing opening is closed when not in use.
Therefore, the shutter member prevents dust or the like from entering the cartridge body when not in use, and also prevents the hand, finger, or the like from touching the recording area of the disc.

The disk accommodated in the cartridge body has a disk substrate formed of a synthetic resin material and a central hole with which a center spindle of the recording and / or reproducing device side attached to the central portion of the disk substrate engages. It is composed of a hub. A non-recording area in which no information signal is recorded is formed in the central area of the disc substrate, and a recording area in which an information signal is recorded is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the non-recording area. In addition, the hub is configured by integrally attaching a metal plate having magnetic attraction to one side of a ring member formed of a synthetic resin material. The hub is attached to the center of the disc substrate and to the non-recording area.

The disk cartridge thus constructed is inserted through the cartridge insertion opening of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and mounted on the disk table. The positioning hole is formed on the outer peripheral side of the cartridge body of the disk table. Positioning is performed by engaging a positioning pin arranged on the recording and / or reproducing device side with the.

This disc table has a center spindle which engages with a center hole provided in the hub at the center, and a disc receiving surface for supporting the periphery of the disc hub is provided on the outer peripheral side of the center spindle. It is configured. A ring-shaped magnet is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the disk receiving surface so as to generate a uniform magnetic field around the center spindle for magnetically attracting the metal plate attached to the hub. Is provided. Therefore, when the disc cartridge is mounted on the recording and / or reproducing device, the center spindle is engaged with the center hole of the hub, and the disc is magnetically chucked by the magnet so that the disc cartridge can rotate integrally with the disc table. To be in a state.

[0010]

In order to increase the information recording capacity of the disc, the disc cartridge is provided with recording areas on both sides of the disc substrate, so-called double-sided recording and / or reproducing surfaces on the front and back sides. You may store a used disc. Then, as a disc cartridge for accommodating such a disc, one capable of accommodating the disc in a removable manner has been proposed.

In such a disc cartridge, the user selects a desired disc from among various discs and stores it in the disc cartridge for recording and / or recording.
Alternatively, recording and / or reproduction is performed by loading the reproducing apparatus. When the recording and / or reproducing of the information signal on one recording and / or reproducing surface of the disk is completed, the disk cartridge is once ejected from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and then the other recording and / or reproducing surface. And then inserted again from the cartridge insertion opening of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus.

The disk cartridge containing the disk on which recording and / or reproduction is performed in this way is recorded and / or reproduced when recording and / or reproduction is completed and the next disk is recorded and / or reproduced. It is necessary to replace the disc that has finished playing with a new disc.
At this time, since the outer shape of the disc is the same, it is difficult to identify the recording and / or reproducing surface desired by the user, and the disc may be erroneously stored in the disc cartridge.

For example, the disc is stored in the disc cartridge in a state where the desired recording and / or reproducing surface is wrong and the different recording and / or reproducing surface is on the recording and / or reproducing side. When loaded in the playback device and recorded and / or played back,
There may be a problem that a necessary information signal is accidentally erased.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a disc cartridge in which a disc-shaped recording medium can be inserted / removed and which can steadily prevent erroneous insertion of the disc-shaped recording medium into the cartridge body. To do.

[0015]

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, two disk substrates are bonded to each other, and their cross-sectional shapes are asymmetrical with respect to the bonding surface. It is composed of a disc-shaped recording medium and a cartridge body in which the disc-shaped recording medium is removably housed, and the cartridge body is in a normal state capable of recording and / or reproducing the disc-shaped recording medium. A disc insertion / removal opening is formed so that only the disc can be stored.

In the disc cartridge constructed as described above, the disc-shaped recording medium is accommodated only in the proper state from the disc insertion opening. Therefore, the disc cartridge prevents the disc-shaped recording medium from being erroneously stored in the cartridge body.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the disk cartridge according to the present invention has a disk-shaped recording medium whose cross-sectional shape is asymmetric with respect to the center of thickness,
A disk that is composed of a cartridge body in which a disk-shaped recording medium is removably housed, and in which the disk-shaped recording medium can be stored only in a normal state capable of recording and / or reproducing. An insertion / removal opening is formed.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a disk cartridge according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in, for example, FIGS. 1 to 3, the disc cartridge 1 comprises an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 which are formed in a generally shallow dish as a whole to form a cartridge body 4, A disc-shaped disk 5 such as a write-once optical disk or a magneto-optical disk is rotatably housed in the cartridge body 4. Cartridge body 4
A shutter member 6 is slidably attached to the front side of the. In addition, a disc insertion opening 7 is formed on the back side of the cartridge body 4,
Can be freely inserted and removed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the disk 5 accommodated in the cartridge body 4 is composed of two disk substrates 11 and 12 having different diameters, which are used as a so-called double-sided type. To be done. These disk substrates 11 and 12 respectively have an inner circumference holding portion 13 in which an information signal is not recorded in a central area, a recording area 14 in which an information signal formed in the outer circumference area is recorded, and an outer circumference side of the recording area 14. The outer peripheral non-signal recording area 15 in which the formed information signal is not recorded is provided. It is needless to say that the recording area 14 may be formed by superposing a plurality of recording layers to increase the storage capacity of the information signal to be recorded.

The disk substrates 11 and 12 each have a disk shape as a whole and are molded from a synthetic resin material such as a polycarbonate resin. Then, the disk substrate 11,
In the outer peripheral region 12, an information signal recording region 14 is formed, a reflective layer of aluminum (Al) or the like is formed on the recording region 14, and further, a synthetic resin material for protecting the reflective layer is coated. Consists of The diameter of the disc substrate 11 is smaller than that of the disc substrate 12. Further, the disc substrate 11 is joined and fixed to the disc substrate 12 with an adhesive such as an ultraviolet curable adhesive. Therefore, a step portion 18 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the disc 5. Therefore, disk 5
Has a cross-sectional shape that is substantially convex.

The upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a synthetic resin material having good moldability and sufficient mechanical strength, such as ABS resin,
It is formed in a generally shallow dish shape as a whole. Further, rising peripheral walls 21 (21a, 21b) are respectively provided around the circumferences of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 except the rear side surfaces. And these rising peripheral walls 21 are
In a state where the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are combined, they are butted against each other and joined and fixed by a plurality of screws to form an outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 4.

Further, the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are provided with disk storage walls 19 which are formed on a plurality of arc-shaped walls which are inscribed on the inner surfaces facing each other and which are inscribed in the rising peripheral wall 21 and are located on the same circumference. It is set up. The disk storage wall 19 on the upper half 2 side is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disk substrate 11 and slightly larger than the thickness of the disk substrate 11, and the disk storage wall 19 on the lower half 3 side is ,
The diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disk substrate 12 and is slightly larger than the thickness of the disk substrate 12. These disc storage walls 19 are provided with a disc storage portion 20 in a state where the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are combined.
Is configured. That is, the disc storage portion 20 is configured as a space portion having a substantially convex cross section, which is slightly larger than the outer shape of the disc 5. The disc storage portion 20 regulates the storage position of the stored disc 5.

The upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are provided with circular disk table entry openings 22 located in their central regions. The disc table entry opening 22 is provided with a disc table on the side of the recording and / or reproducing device for rotating the disc 5 stored in the disc storing portion 20 when the disc cartridge 1 is mounted in the recording and / or reproducing device. enter in.

In the upper half 2 and the lower half 3, at least a part of the recording area 14 of the disk 5 which is connected to the table entrance opening 22 and is rotatably housed in the disk housing section 20 is extended to the outside. Recording and / or reproduction openings 23 facing each other are provided so as to face each other. These recording and / or reproducing openings 23 are formed in a rectangular shape in the left-right direction substantially at the center from the disc table entrance opening 22 to the front side of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3.

In the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 on the lower half 3 side, a semicircular arc-shaped convex portion 24 is formed at one side edge portion in the longitudinal direction and a semicircular arc shape at the other side edge portion. Recess 2
5 are formed. The convex portion 24 and the concave portion 25 are
When the shutter member 6 that closes the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 is slid, the side edge of the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 is prevented from being caught.

A shutter mounting recess 26 is formed on the front surface side of the cartridge body 4. The shutter mounting recess 26 includes a shutter member 6 including a disc table entry opening 22 and a recording and / or reproducing opening 23.
Is formed in the range where the sliding operation is performed. And
A shutter member 6 that closes the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 is attached to the shutter mounting recess 26.

The shutter member 6 is provided with the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or recording disc when the disc cartridge 1 is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing device.
Alternatively, it is possible to prevent dust and the like from entering the disc storage portion 20 through the reproduction opening 23 and adhering to the disc 5 stored in the disc storage portion 20. Prevents touching etc. The shutter member 6 is formed by pressing a thin metal plate, and has a disc table entry opening 22 and a recording and / or reproducing opening 23 on the upper half 2 and lower half 3 sides.
A pair of main surface portions 28 (2
8a, 28b) and a connecting portion 29 that connects them, and is formed in a generally U-shape.

The shutter member 6 is fixed to the shutter guide member by being screwed to a plurality of screws. Also,
The shutter member 6 is formed with notches 31 (31a, 31b) on both sides of the connecting portion 29, into which the shutter opening pins of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus are inserted.
Further, on the main surface portion 28b, on the side edge portion thereof, the convex portion 2 is formed.
A semi-circular concave portion 33 is formed corresponding to the concave portions 4 and the concave portion 25.

The shutter member 6 constructed as described above
Is mounted so as to hold the cartridge body 4 in the shutter mounting recess 26, and the end of the main surface portion 28 is pressed by the shutter pressing member 34.
The shutter guide member is fitted in the guide groove on the cartridge body 4 side. Also, this shutter guide member
A shutter spring that is hooked to the cartridge body 4 is hooked at the other end, and the shutter spring biases the shutter spring in the direction A shown in FIG. Then, when the shutter member 6 is loaded into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the shutter opening pin has the cutout portion 31a or 31b.
1 and is slid in the direction B shown in FIG. 1 to close the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or reproduction opening 23 from the position where the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and reproduction opening 23 are closed. And / or the reproduction opening 23 is moved to the opened position.

The shutter member 6 is used for recording and / or recording.
Alternatively, when the shutter member 6 is taken out from the reproducing apparatus, the shutter member 6 is slid in the direction A shown in FIG. On this occasion,
At the side edge of the recording and / or reproducing opening 23, a protrusion 24 is formed.
Since the concave portion 25 and the concave portion 25 are formed, and the main surface portion 28b of the shutter member 6 is formed with the convex portion 32 and the concave portion 33, when the slide operation is performed in the A direction, the disc table entry opening portion 22 and the concave portion 25 are formed. The main surface portion 28b of the shutter member 6 is caught on the side edge portion of the recording and / or reproducing opening portion 23, and the disc table entry opening portion 22 and the recording and / or recording portion.
Alternatively, it does not prevent the reproduction opening 23 from being blocked.

Although the shutter member 6 is slid in one direction in the above description, the shutter member 6 may be slid in both left and right directions. Then, in this case, the shutter mounting recess 26 may be formed in the entire area on the front surface side of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3.

The cartridge body 4 is formed with notches 36 (36a, 36b) for insertion operation on the front sides of both side edges thereof. The insertion operation notch 36 is fitted with an insertion operation pin on the automatic loading device side when the disc cartridge 1 is automatically loaded into the recording and / or reproducing device by the automatic loading device. That is, the insertion operation notch portion 36 is fitted with the insertion operation pin on the automatic loading device side when being moved to a predetermined position by the automatic loading device.

The insertion operation notch 36 is formed so as to penetrate from the upper half 2 to the lower half 3. Therefore, the disc cartridge 1 is formed with the insertion operation notch 36 penetrating therethrough. Therefore, when the disc cartridge 1 is stacked and accommodated in the disc cartridge accommodating device, the accommodated direction is in a normal state. Can be identified. That is, when the disc cartridge 1 is not stored in the storage device in the proper state, the insertion operation notch 36 does not penetrate, so that the disc cartridge 1 can be identified.

Further, the cartridge body 4 is provided with a notch 37 (37a, 37a) for ejecting operation on the rear side of both side edges thereof.
b) is notched. When the disc cartridge 1 is automatically taken out from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by the automatic loading device, the ejection operation notch 37 is fitted with the ejection pin on the automatic loading device side. That is, the removal operation notch 37 is fitted with the removal operation pin on the automatic loading device side when the removal operation notch 37 is moved from a predetermined position by the automatic loading device.

The removal operation notch 37 is not penetrated from the upper half 2 to the lower half 3, but is cut from the lower half 3 to the middle of the rising peripheral wall 21a of the upper half 2. Therefore, when the disc cartridge 1 is manually taken out from the recording and / or reproducing device without using the automatic loading device, the notch 37 for the taking-out operation is used.
Does not get caught on the peripheral wall of the disc cartridge insertion opening of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the cartridge body 4 is provided with a disc insertion opening 7 on the side opposite to the front side on which the shutter member 6 is attached. When the disc cartridge 1 is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the disc insertion / removal opening 7 is closed by a lid 40 that is openably and closably attached to the rear of the cartridge body 4.

The disc insertion / removal opening 7 is provided with rib-shaped locking portions 41 at both ends on the upper half 2 side. The disc insertion / removal opening 7 is opened in a generally convex shape slightly larger than the sectional shape of the disc 5 as a whole by providing the locking portion 41. The disc insertion opening 7 is provided with a locking portion 41 corresponding to the stepped portion 18 of the disc 5, and its longitudinal direction is slightly larger than the diameter dimension of the disc substrate 11 configured to have the small diameter, and its short side. The first opening portion 42 is opened in the direction slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the disk substrate 11, and the longitudinal direction is slightly larger than the diameter dimension of the disk substrate 12 having the large diameter, and the short side direction Of the disk substrate 12 has a second opening 43 that is slightly larger than the thickness of the disk substrate 12.

The disc insertion / removal opening 7 thus constructed is connected to the disc storage portion 20 formed in the cartridge body 4. Therefore,
The disc 5 is prevented from being erroneously inserted when it is inserted into the disc storage portion 20 through the disc insertion / removal opening 7. That is, in the disc cartridge 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the disc 5 is inserted, the disc substrate 11 side of the disc 5 is set to the first opening 42 side and the disc substrate 12 is set to the second opening. The disc 5 can be inserted into the disc accommodating portion 20 only when the disc 5 is inserted into the disc inserting / removing opening 7. In contrast to this, the disc cartridge 1 has the disc substrate 1
When the second side is the first opening 42 side and the disk substrate 11 is the second opening 43 side and is inserted into the disk insertion / removal opening 7, the disk 5 is inserted into the disk storage section 20.
The insertion inside is rejected.

The lid 40 that closes the disc insertion / removal opening 7 includes a base portion 45 that closes the disc insertion / removal opening 7 and a hinge formed at one end of the base portion 45. A portion 46 and a locking piece 47 formed at the other end portion are provided.

The base portion 45 has a closing surface 48 on the side facing the disc insertion opening 7. This closing surface 48
Has a width dimension of the cartridge body 4 in the longitudinal direction, a thickness dimension of the cartridge body 4 in the short side direction, and is large enough to close at least the disc insertion opening 7. There is. Therefore, the base portion 45 forms the same surface as the main surface and the side surface of the cartridge body 4 in a state where the disc insertion opening 7 is closed.

Although not described in detail, the hinge portion 46 has a support pin formed at one end of the disc insertion opening 7 of the cartridge body 4 with which the fitting portion on the base portion 45 side is fitted. By doing so, the base portion 45 is openably and closably supported.
In addition, a locking piece 47 formed on the other end of the base portion 45.
Is formed integrally with the base portion 45, and the locking portion 4 is provided at the end thereof.
9 are provided.

The lid 40 constructed in this manner has a convex portion formed on the other end of the disc insertion / ejection opening 7 of the cartridge body 4 when the disc insertion / ejection opening 7 is closed. It is configured so that the lid is not opened even when the disk cartridge 1 is conveyed or otherwise vibrated. Further, when the lid 40 opens the disc insertion / removal opening 7, the locking state of the locking pieces 47 is released, and the lid 40 is opened in the direction C shown in FIG.

When the disc cartridge 1 thus constructed is loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus with the disc 5 accommodated therein, the disc cartridge 1 is positioned and the shutter member 6 is moved to the position shown in FIG. The disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 are exposed to the outside by sliding in the direction B shown in FIG.

Further, in the disc cartridge 1, the disc table on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side enters the disc table entrance opening 22. Then, the disc cartridge 1 is placed in a rotatable state in which the disc 5 is sandwiched between the disc table on the recording and / or reproducing device side and the chucking member for positioning.

When the disc cartridge 1 is not used, the disc 5 housed therein can be replaced. In this case, the disc cartridge 1
Is taken out by, for example, tilting the disc insertion / removal opening 7 side downward and sliding the disc 5 in a state where the lid 40 is opened and the disc insertion / removal opening 7 is exposed to the outside. Operation becomes possible. Further, in the disc cartridge 1, when the disc 5 is accommodated in the cartridge body 4, the disc substrate 11 side of the disc 5 is the first opening 4 when the lid 40 is opened.
2 side, the disk substrate 12 is moved to the second opening 43 side and inserted into the disk insertion / removal opening 7. On this occasion,
The disc insertion / removal opening 7 is opened in a substantially convex shape which is slightly larger than the cross-sectional shape of the disc 5 as a whole in accordance with the step portion 18 of the disc 5.
Will not be inserted wrongly.

Therefore, according to the disc cartridge 1 as described above, for example, the user mistakenly records the recording and / or reproducing surface of the disc 5 and the cartridge main body 4
There is no disadvantage that the necessary information signal recorded on the disk 5 is erroneously erased without housing the disk 5 therein.

In the disc cartridge 1 described in detail above, the case where the disc accommodating portion 20 formed in the cartridge body 4 is formed in the same convex shape in cross section as the disc insertion opening 7 is explained. However, in this disc storage space portion, the disc storage walls of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are erected so as to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disc substrate 12, and they are butted to each other to form a disc storage portion 20 having a rectangular cross section.
It goes without saying that the above may be configured.

Next, the disc cartridge 60 according to the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In this disc cartridge 60, an annular protrusion 62 is formed on the inner peripheral side where the information signal of the disc 61 is not recorded, and the disc insertion / removal opening 64 of the cartridge body 63 is substantially the same as the cross-sectional shape of the disc 61. It is characterized by being formed. Regarding the same members as those of the disc cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment,
The same reference numerals are given and the details are omitted.

Similar to the disc cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment, the disc cartridge 60 is a cartridge main body formed by combining an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 which are formed in a generally shallow dish square shape. 63
A disk 61 such as a write-once optical disk or a magneto-optical disk is rotatably housed in the cartridge body 63. The shutter member 6 is slidably attached to the front surface side of the cartridge body 63. Also, on the back side of the cartridge body 63,
A disc insertion / removal opening 64 is formed so that the disc 61 can be inserted / removed.

The disc 61 accommodated in the disc cartridge 60 is composed of one disc substrate 71, and an information signal area is formed on one main surface thereof.
The disc substrate 71 is formed on an inner circumference holding portion 72 in which no information signal is recorded in a central area, a recording area 73 in which an information signal is formed in an outer peripheral area, and an outer peripheral side of the recording area 73. Outer peripheral non-signal recording area 74 in which no information signal is recorded. In the disc 61 configured in this manner, a main surface on which an information signal is recorded, that is, a recording and / or reproducing surface side, an inner circumferential holding portion 72 thereof, and an annular ridge portion along the outer edge thereof 6
2 is formed to project. Therefore, the disc 61 is formed to have a substantially convex cross section.

Further, the cartridge body 63 has an outer peripheral disk storage wall 78 formed of a plurality of arcuate walls which are inscribed on the inner surfaces facing each other and inscribed in the rising peripheral wall 21 and located on the same circumference. An inner disk storage wall 79 is erected on the inner surface of the half 2 at a location corresponding to the outer circumference of the protrusion 62 when the disk 61 is stored in the cartridge body 63. The outer peripheral disk storage wall 78 has a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the disk 61 and slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the disk 61. Further, the inner disk storage wall 79 is provided with the protrusion 6
It is set up slightly larger than the rising dimension of 2. The disk storage walls 78 and 79, when the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are combined, constitute a disk storage portion 80 having a substantially convex cross-section butted against each other. Therefore, the disc storage portion 80 regulates the storage position of the stored disc 61.

A disc insertion opening 64 is formed on the cartridge body 63 on the side opposite to the front side to which the shutter member 6 is attached. The disc insertion / removal opening 64 is provided in the disc cartridge 6
When 0 is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, it is closed by a lid 40 attached to the rear of the cartridge body 63 so as to be openable and closable.

The disc insertion / removal opening 64 has an inner circumference holding portion 72 and a recording area 7 of the disc 61 on the upper half 2 side.
A locking portion 82 is provided at a position corresponding to 3. The disc insertion / removal opening 64 is provided with the locking portion 82, so that the disc insertion / removal opening 64 is opened in a generally convex shape slightly larger than the sectional shape of the disc 61 as a whole. The disc insertion / removal opening 64 is provided with a locking portion 82 corresponding to the inner circumference holding portion 72 of the disk 5, the longitudinal direction thereof is slightly larger than the diameter dimension of the inner circumference holding portion 72, and the short side direction thereof is Ridge 6
The first opening 83 is opened slightly larger than the height dimension of 2, and the longitudinal direction is slightly larger than the diameter dimension of the disk substrate 71 and the short side direction is slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the disk substrate 71. And a second opening portion 84 which is large and opened.

The disc insertion / removal opening 64 thus configured is connected to the disc storage portion 80 formed in the cartridge body 63. Therefore, the disc 61 is prevented from being erroneously inserted when being inserted into the disc storage portion 80 through the disc insertion / removal opening 64. That is, in the disc cartridge 60, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the disc 61 is inserted, the inner circumference holding portion 72 of the disc 61 is set to the first opening 83 side and the disc substrate 71 is set to the second opening 83. The disc 61 can be inserted into the disc accommodating portion 80 only when the disc 61 is inserted into the disc inserting / removing opening 64. On the contrary, the disk cartridge 60
The disk substrate 71 is located on the side of the first opening 83 and the inner circumference holding part 72 is located on the side of the second opening 84, which is the reverse of the case where the disk 61 is properly inserted. When the disc 61 is inserted into the opening 64, the disc 61 is rejected from being inserted into the disc storage portion 80.

The lid for closing the disc insertion / removal opening 64 is the lid 4 of the disc cartridge 1 described above.
The details are omitted because they are the same as 0.

The disc cartridge 60 thus constructed can replace the disc 61 housed therein when it is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and is not in use. In this case, the disc cartridge 6
0, the lid 40 is opened and the disc insertion / removal opening 64 is formed.
When the disk is exposed to the outside, for example, the disk insertion opening 64 side is tilted downward, and the disk 61 is slid so that the disk can be taken out. Further, in the disc cartridge 60, when the disc 61 is housed in the cartridge body 63, the inner circumference holding portion 72 of the disc 61 of the disc 61 is in the first opening 83 when the lid 40 is opened. And the disk substrate 71 is moved to the second opening 84 side and inserted into the disk insertion / removal opening 64. At this time, the disc insertion / removal opening 64 is opened in a substantially convex shape slightly larger than the cross-sectional shape of the disc 61 as a whole in accordance with the inner circumference holding portion 72 of the disc 61. Will not be inserted wrongly.

Therefore, according to such a disc cartridge 60, for example, the user does not store the disc 61 in the cartridge body 63 by mistakenly making a desired recording and / or reproducing surface of the disc 61, and the disc 61 is not stored. There is also no inconvenience that the necessary information signal recorded in is accidentally erased.

In the disk cartridge 60 described in detail above, a case will be described in which the disk accommodating portion 80 formed in the cartridge main body 63 is formed in a convex shape in section, which is the same as the shape of the disk insertion opening 64. However, in the disc storage portion 80, the disc storage walls 78 and 79 of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are made slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disc substrate 71, and the height dimension is equal to the thickness dimension of the disc substrate 71 and the ridge. Of course, the heights of the portions 62 may be matched to form the disk storage portion 80 having a rectangular cross section.

Further, the disk cartridge 90 of the third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In the disc cartridge 90, the outer peripheral edge of the disc 91 is formed as an inclined surface, and the disc insertion opening 93 of the cartridge body 92 is formed in the disc 9.
The cross-sectional shape of No. 1 is substantially the same.
The disk cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment
About the same member, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and detail is abbreviate | omitted.

Similar to the disc cartridge 1 of the above-described first embodiment, the disc cartridge 90 is a cartridge main body formed by combining an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 formed in a generally shallow dish square shape. 92
A disk-shaped disc 91 such as a write-once type optical disc or a magneto-optical disc is rotatably accommodated in the cartridge body 92. The shutter member 6 is slidably attached to the front surface side of the cartridge body 92. A disc insertion opening 93 is formed on the back side of the cartridge body 4 so that the disc 91 can be inserted and removed.

The disc 91 housed in the disc cartridge 90 is composed of one disc substrate 101, and an information signal area is formed on one main surface thereof. The disc substrate 101 has an inner circumference holding portion 102 in which an information signal is not recorded in a central area and a recording area 103 in which an information signal formed in an outer circumference area is recorded.
And an outer peripheral non-signal recording area 104 in which an information signal formed on the outer peripheral side of the recording area 103 is not recorded. In the disc 91 having such a configuration, the outer diameter of the main surface on which the information signal is recorded, that is, the recording and / or reproducing surface is smaller than the outer diameter of the other main surface on which the information signal is not recorded. The outer peripheral edge of the disc 91 is the inclined surface 1
It is formed so as to have a width of 07 and has a substantially trapezoidal cross section.

Further, either one of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 has a disk storage which is composed of a plurality of arcuate walls which are inscribed on the inner surfaces facing each other and inscribed in the rising peripheral wall 21 and are located on the same circumference. A wall 110 is formed. The disc storage wall 110 is configured to be an inclined wall that is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disc 91 in accordance with the outer shape of the disc 91. Then, the disc storage wall 110, in a state where the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are combined, is a disc storage portion 11 that is butted against each other.
1 is formed. Therefore, the disk storage unit 111
Regulates the storage position of the stored disc 91.

Further, the cartridge body 92 is provided with a disc insertion / removal opening 93 on the side opposite to the front side on which the shutter member 6 is mounted. The disc insertion opening 93 is provided in the disc cartridge 9
When 0 is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, it is closed by a lid 40 that is attached to the rear of the cartridge body 92 so as to be openable and closable.

The disc insertion / removal opening 93 is formed in a trapezoidal shape having substantially the same sectional shape as the disc 91, with locking portions 113 provided at both ends on the upper half 2 side. The locking portion 113 is formed in a rib shape at both ends on the upper half 2 side. The disc insertion / removal opening 93 has a side edge in the longitudinal direction on the upper half 2 side which is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the disc 91 on the recording and / or reproducing surface side, which is one main surface of the disc 91. The side edge of the lower half 3 in the longitudinal direction is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disc 91 on the other main surface of the disc 91, and the height direction is slightly larger than the thickness of the disc 91. ing.

The disc insertion / removal opening 93 thus constructed is connected to the disc storage portion 111 formed in the cartridge body 92. Therefore, the disc 91 is prevented from being erroneously inserted when the disc 91 is inserted into the disc storage portion 111 through the disc insertion opening 93. That is, the disc cartridge 90, when the disc 91 is inserted, as shown in FIG.
Only when the recording and / or reproducing surface side of the disc 61 is the upper half 2 side of the disc insertion / removal opening 93 and the other main surface is the lower half 3 side, the disc 91 is stored. The insertion into the part 111 is possible. On the contrary, the disk cartridge 90
Indicates that one recording and / or reproducing surface side is the lower half 3 side, contrary to the case where the disc 91 is properly inserted.
When the other main surface is inserted on the upper half 2 side, the disc 91 is rejected from being inserted into the disc storage portion 80.

The lid for closing the disc insertion opening 93 is the lid 4 of the disc cartridge 1 described above.
The details are omitted because they are the same as 0.

The disc cartridge 90 thus constructed can replace the disc 91 housed therein when it is not loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and is not in use. In this case, the disc cartridge 9
In No. 0, the lid 40 is opened and the disc insertion opening 93 is opened.
When the disk is exposed to the outside, for example, by tilting the disk insertion / removal opening 93 side downward and sliding the disk 91, the ejection operation can be performed. Also,
In the disc cartridge 90, when the disc 91 is housed in the cartridge body 92, one recording and / or reproducing surface side of the disc 61 has the disc insertion opening 93 when the lid 40 is opened. The upper half 2 side is inserted and the other main surface is placed on the lower half 3 side. At this time, the disc insertion opening 93 is not
Since the opening is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape slightly larger than the cross-sectional shape of No. 1, the disk 91 will not be erroneously inserted into the opposite side. Therefore, according to such a disc cartridge 90, for example, the user does not mistakenly record a desired recording and / or reproducing surface of the disc 91 and the disc 91 is not housed in the cartridge body 92, and the disc 91 is recorded. There is also no inconvenience that a necessary information signal is erased by mistake.

In the disk cartridge 90 described in detail above, the case where the disk housing portion 111 formed in the cartridge body 92 is formed in a substantially trapezoidal cross section similar to the shape of the disk insertion opening 93 is described. However, in the disc storage space portion 111, the disc storage walls 110 of the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are made slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the disc 91, and the height dimension is made slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the disc 91. Of course, the disc storage portion 111 having a rectangular cross section may be configured.

Further, the disk cartridge 120 according to the fourth embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The same members as those of the disc cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 10, for example, the disc cartridge 120 is a cartridge body 121 having a substantially thin box shape as a whole and one main surface of which is opened, and a lid for opening and closing the opened main surface. And a body 122, and is configured so that the disc 123 can be inserted into and removed from the disc cartridge 120.

As shown in FIG. 10, the disc 123 housed in the cartridge body 121 is constituted by laminating two disc substrates 131 and 132 having different diameters, and is used as a so-called double-sided type. . Each of the disk substrates 131 and 132 has an inner circumference holding portion 133 in which an information signal is not recorded in the central area and a recording area 134 in which an information signal formed in the outer circumference area is recorded.
And an outer peripheral non-signal recording area 135 in which an information signal formed on the outer peripheral side of the recording area 134 is not recorded,
A center hole 136 is formed in the center. It is needless to say that the recording area 134 may be formed by superposing a plurality of recording layers to increase the storage capacity of the information signal to be recorded.

The disk substrates 131 and 132 have a disk shape as a whole and are molded from a synthetic resin material such as a polycarbonate resin. And the disk substrate 1
31 and 132 are information signal recording areas 134 in the outer peripheral area.
Is formed, a reflective layer of aluminum (Al) or the like is formed on the recording area 134, and a synthetic resin material that protects the reflective layer is coated. The diameter of the disc substrate 131 is smaller than that of the disc substrate 132. Further, the disc substrate 131 is joined and fixed to the disc substrate 132 with an adhesive such as an ultraviolet curable adhesive. Therefore, a step portion 137 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the disc 123. Therefore, the disc 123 is formed so that its cross-sectional shape is substantially convex.

The cartridge body 121 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), it is formed of a synthetic resin material having good moldability and sufficient mechanical strength, such as ABS resin, in a substantially thin box shape as a whole. A disc storage portion 141 for storing the disc 123 is provided in a circular shape in the central area of one main surface portion 140 of the cartridge body 121.

The disc storage portion 141 is provided with the disc 123.
It is formed slightly larger than the outer diameter of. Then, in the disc storage portion 141, a rib-shaped locking portion 14 is formed around the periphery.
2 is formed in an annular shape. The locking portion 142 is formed in a step-like shape, and the first rising wall 144 from the bottom surface portion 143 of the disc storage portion 141 is formed to be slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the small-diameter disc substrate 131. There is. Then, a mounting surface 145 that is connected to the first rising wall 144 and is parallel to the bottom surface portion 143 is formed, and
A second rising wall 146 is formed so as to be connected to the mounting surface 145. That is, the locking portion 142 is formed corresponding to the step portion 137 of the disc 123.
Therefore, the disc storage portion 141 regulates the storage position of the stored disc 123.

Further, on the bottom surface portion 143 of the disc storage portion 141, the lid 1 of the cartridge body 121 is inserted from the center.
A window portion 148 is formed in the outer peripheral wall on the side where the 22 is attached. This window portion 148 is provided when the disc cartridge 120 is loaded into the recording and / or reproducing device.
The disc table entry opening 149 corresponding to the disc table provided in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, and the disc 123 to the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 121 on the side where the lid 122 is attached. And a rectangular recording and / or reproducing opening 150 that exposes at least a part of the recording area 134 to the outside over the inner and outer circumferences.

Also, the disc table entry opening 149
A mounting surface 151 for mounting the disc 123 when the disc cartridge 120 is not in use is formed as a ridge on the peripheral edge of the disc. Therefore, when the disc cartridge 120 is not in use, the disc 123 has the mounting surface 151 in contact with the inner circumference holding portion 133 on the disc substrate 131 side.

Although not shown, it is possible to prevent dust, dirt, and the like from entering the disc storage portion 141 through the window portion 148 and adhering to the disc 123 stored in the disc storage portion 141. , The recording area 13 of the disc 123
In order to prevent 4 from being touched by a hand, a finger, etc., the window portion 148 is closed when the disc cartridge 120 is not used, and the shutter member which is opened when loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus is freely slidable. Of course, it may be attached to.

The lid 122 is pivotally attached to the rear wall surface 154 constituting the outer peripheral wall of the cartridge body 121 so as to be freely opened and closed. The lid 122 is made of, for example, a transparent synthetic resin material, and has a cartridge body 121.
It is fitted into the opening 155 opened on one of the main surfaces.
A disk support 156 is formed on the inner surface of the lid 122 facing the opening 155 so as to face the disk table entry opening 149.

The disk support portion 156 is used for the disk 1
Outer peripheral protruding portion 157 supporting the inner peripheral holding portion 133 of 23.
An inner peripheral protruding portion 158 fitted in the center hole 136 of the disc 123, and an outer peripheral protruding portion 157 and an inner peripheral protruding portion 1
And a chucking plate 159 that is loosely fitted in 58. The chucking plate 159 is used for the disk 12
The inner circumference holding part 133 of the disk table entrance opening 1
It is sandwiched together with the disk table that has entered from 49, and is formed in a disk shape made of a synthetic resin material or the like having a built-in magnetic metal plate so that magnet chucking can be performed by a magnet provided on the disk table.

Further, on the inner surface of the lid 122, a ridge 160 is formed so as to project on the disk 123 at a location corresponding to the outer peripheral non-signal recording area 135. When the lid 122 is closed, the protrusion 160 is
The vertical swing of the disk 123 is restricted.

When the disc cartridge 120 having such a structure is loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus with the disc 123 accommodated therein, the disc table on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side is opened at the disc table entry opening. The disk 123 is driven to rotate by being inserted into the disk 149, sandwiching the disk 123 by the disk support portion 156 on the lid 122 side, and being magnetically chucked.

When the disc cartridge 120 is not used, the disc 123 housed therein can be replaced. In this case, in the disc cartridge 120, the disc 123 can be replaced while the lid 122 is opened.

Further, in the disc cartridge 120, when the disc 123 is housed in the cartridge body 121, as shown in FIG. 11, the disc substrate 13 of the disc 123 is closed with the lid 122 closed.
One side is the lower side, that is, the bottom surface portion 143 side of the disc storage portion 141 of the cartridge body 121 and is stored in the disc storage portion 141. At this time, the disc storage portion 141
Fits to the stepped portion 137 of the disc 123 and the locking portion 1
It is inserted in the state fitted with 42. Then, in this case, the lid 122 is steadily fitted into the opening 155 and closed.

On the other hand, on the contrary, the disk cartridge 120 has the disk 12 as shown in FIG.
When the disk substrate 132 side of No. 3 is the lower side, that is, the bottom surface portion 143 side of the disk housing portion 141 of the cartridge body 121 and is housed in the disk housing portion 141,
The disc substrate 132 is placed on the placement surface 145 without the stepped portion 137 of the disc 123 being fitted into the locking portion 142, and therefore the disc substrate 131.
Will protrude from the opening 155 of the cartridge body 121, and the lid 122 cannot be steadily closed.

As described above, according to the disc cartridge 120, the disc 123 is prevented from being erroneously inserted into the cartridge main body 121 by mistake, for example, the recording and / or reproducing surface desired by the user is mistaken.
Without storing the disc 123 inside, the disc 1
There is no inconvenience that the necessary information signal recorded in 23 is erased by mistake.

[0087]

According to the disc cartridge of the present invention, the disc-shaped recording medium is stored only in the proper state from the disc insertion / removal opening. Therefore, in the disc cartridge, the disc-shaped recording medium is prevented from being erroneously stored in the cartridge body, and there is no inconvenience that the necessary information signal recorded on the disc-shaped recording medium is erroneously erased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disk cartridge according to the present invention as viewed from the front side with a shutter member closing a recording and / or reproducing opening.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the disc cartridge seen from the rear side in a state where a shutter member opens a recording and / or reproducing opening.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of a disc formed by bonding two disc substrates housed in the same disc cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the disc is inserted from the disc insertion / removal opening with the lid of the disc cartridge opened.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disc cartridge showing a state where the disc is stored in the disc storage portion.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a disc is inserted through a disc insertion / removal opening with the lid body of the disc cartridge shown in the second embodiment being opened.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disc cartridge showing a state where the disc is stored in the disc storage portion.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a disc is inserted through a disc insertion / removal opening with the lid of the disc cartridge shown in the third embodiment opened.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disc cartridge showing a state where the disc is stored in the disc storage portion.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which a disc is inserted through a disc insertion / removal opening with the lid of the disc cartridge shown in the fourth embodiment being opened.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disc cartridge showing a state where the disc is accommodated in the disc accommodating portion in a normal state.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disc cartridge showing a state where the disc is not accommodated in the disc accommodating portion in a proper state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 disc cartridge, 2 upper half, 3 lower half, 4 cartridge body, 5 disc, 6 shutter member, 7 disc insertion / removal opening, 11 disc substrate, 12 disc substrate, 17 hub, 18 stepped portion,
20 disc storage part, 22 disc table entry opening part, 23 recording and / or reproducing opening part, 40 lid body,
41 locking portion, 42 first opening portion, 43 second opening portion

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A disc-shaped recording medium in which two disc substrates are adhered to each other and whose cross-sectional shape is asymmetric with respect to the adhering surface, and a cartridge body in which the disc-shaped recording medium is removably housed. The cartridge main body is provided with a disc insertion / removal opening capable of storing the disc-shaped recording medium only in a normal state capable of recording and / or reproducing. Disk cartridge. 2. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the disc-shaped recording medium has an outer diameter of one disc substrate larger than that of the other disc substrate. 3. The disk inserting / removing opening is provided with a locking portion for preventing the disk-shaped recording medium from being accidentally stored in the cartridge body. Disc cartridge. 4. A disc-shaped recording medium having a cross-sectional shape asymmetric with respect to the center of thickness, and a cartridge body in which the disc-shaped recording medium is removably housed. A disc cartridge, wherein a disc insertion / removal opening is formed so that the disc-shaped recording medium can be recorded and / or reproduced only in a normal state. 5. The disc cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the disc-shaped recording medium is provided with an inclined portion at a peripheral portion thereof from one main surface toward the other main surface.