JPH09259569A - Disk cartridge and case therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily detect a plurality of disks to be used at the same time, by setting cartridge identification notch hooks provided in disk cartridges at notch positions of the same combination. SOLUTION: When a cartridge identification notch mechanism 15 is to be set to, e.g. four optical disk cartridges 10 constituting one set, for instance, notch hooks 17 of the optical disk cartridges 10 are moved to notch positions B, F, I. When the optical disk cartridges are layered, the notch hooks 17 are aligned at the notch positions B, F, I in an up-down direction. Therefore, it is visually confirmed at sight that the optical disks 10 are those constituting the one set.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disc cartridge for accommodating a disc and its case, and more particularly to a disc cartridge used in a disc system integrating a plurality of disc devices and its case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as such a disk system, a so-called RAI having a structure as shown in FIG.
An optical disc system having a D structure is known. The optical disc system 1 includes a plurality of optical disc devices 2a and 2a.
b, 2c, 2d ...

Each optical disk device 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d
Are mounted on the chassis 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d ... Of the turntables 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d. There is. And each turntable 7a ...
-On the top, optical disk cartridges 5a, 5b, 5c,
5d ... Optical discs 6a, 6b, 6 housed in
The optical pickups 8a, 6c, 6c are chucked, and the optical pickups 8a for reading the information recorded on the signal recording surface of the optical discs 6a are provided below the turntables 7a.
8b, 8c, 8d ... Are arranged. Each of the optical pickups 8a ... Has an optical system such as a laser light source and an objective lens (not shown), an optical system such as a signal detection device, and a servo system such as an actuator that drives the objective lens in two axial directions. It has been incorporated.

Each optical disk device 2a having such a structure
.. are connected in parallel to each other and are also connected to a control device (not shown), and by being controlled appropriately by this control device, they function as one integrated optical disk device. Therefore, the optical disks 6a in the plurality of optical disk cartridges 5a ...
.. If the information recorded in, for example, constitutes the data of one application as a whole,
By accessing data in parallel and transferring data, the data transfer rate can be significantly improved as compared with the case of a single optical disk device.

[0005]

Conventionally, when managing a plurality of optical discs 6a ..., the user writes the contents of information recorded on each optical disc 6a ... Labels etc. on each optical disk cartridge 5a
・ ・ Affixed to the surface of. Then, in the optical disc system 1 described above, the user can use the plurality of optical discs 6
When a ... Is used as a set, it is confirmed that the optical disc cartridges 5a .. Therefore, there has been a problem that a laborious work such as writing or sticking a label or the like has to be performed, and that the label or the like may be visually recognized by mistake.

Each optical disk cartridge 5a ...
Since the symbols have the same outer shape, the optical disk cartridges 5a that constitute one set stored by the user are ...
In order to easily take out the optical disk cartridges, it is necessary to bundle the plurality of optical disk cartridges 5a ... Which constitute the set so as not to scatter, and there is also a problem that it takes time.

In view of the above points, the present invention has an object to provide a disk cartridge and a case thereof which can easily discriminate disks constituting one set with a simple structure.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a notch groove having a plurality of notches in a disk cartridge for accommodating a disk used in a disk device, and to move in the notch groove. Is possible,
This is achieved by providing along the side edge a notch mechanism for cartridge identification, which has a plurality of notch claws that can be engaged with each notch.

According to the above construction, by setting the notch claws for discriminating the cartridge provided in the disc cartridge to the notch positions of the same combination, it is possible to easily discriminate a plurality of discs to be used at the same time. .

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention,
Although various technically preferred limitations are given, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these forms unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 2 (A),
(B) is a side view and a plan view thereof. The optical disk cartridge 10 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes an upper shell 12 and a lower shell 13 that define an internal space in which the optical disk 11 is to be housed.
The optical disk 11 is, for example, a recording / reproducing or reproduction-only optical disk. The lower shell 13 has an openable / closable cover 13a for replacing the optical disk 11 therein.
Also, an openable and closable shutter portion 14 is provided to enable the optical pickup to access the optical disc 11, and along one side edge (right side edge in FIG. 2) of the shutter section 14.
A notch mechanism 15 for cartridge identification is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of notch mechanisms 15 for identifying the cartridge are slidably fitted in a notch groove 16 formed in the lower shell 13 (in the case shown, It is composed of three notch claws 17. The notch groove 16 is open toward the upper surface and one side (right side in FIG. 4) of the lower shell 13, and is aligned in the longitudinal direction on the inner surface of the other side (left side in FIG. 4). A plurality of notches 18 are provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the notch claw 17 is formed in a U shape when viewed from the upper surface, and one end is provided with a protrusion 17a to be engaged with the notch 18, and the other notch is formed. The end portion is provided with an operation portion 17b that engages with a side opening portion of the lower shell 13.

When the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 15 having such a structure is used, the user applies a force in the direction of the arrow P to the operation portion 17b to elastically deform the U-shaped portion and the convex portion 17a to the arrow Q. In the direction shown in FIG.
Then, the operating portion 17b is moved in the direction of arrow P, and the convex portion 17a is moved in the direction of arrow Q by the restoring force of the U-shaped portion to fit into the notch 18. This allows the notch claw 17
Is the notch position A, A1, A2, B, by the notch 18.
It is locked to any of C, D, E, F, G, H, and I.
In addition, the notch claw 17 is, in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 and FIG.
It is locked at notch positions A, A1, and A2, respectively.

According to the optical disk cartridge 10 having such a configuration, when the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 15 is set with respect to, for example, four optical disk cartridges 10 forming one set, for example, as shown in FIG. , Notch claw 1 of each optical disk cartridge 10
7 are moved to notch positions B, F, and I, respectively. Then, when the optical disk cartridges 10 are stacked, the notch claws 17 are vertically aligned at the notch positions B, F, and I. Therefore, at a glance, it is possible to visually recognize that the optical disk cartridges 10 constitute one set.

Similarly, the notch claw 17 is moved to the notch position C,
When the optical disk cartridges 10 are stacked by moving to D and G, the notch claws 17 are vertically aligned at the notch positions C, D and G as shown in FIG. As described above, by appropriately moving the three notch claws 17 to the notch positions B to I, respectively, a total of 9 notches can be obtained.
Three sets of identifications are possible.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a side view and a plan view showing an optical disk cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This optical disk cartridge 20 is
It has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape and includes an upper shell 22 and a lower shell 23 that define an internal space in which the optical disk 21 is to be housed. The lower shell 23 is provided with an openable / closable cover 23a for replacing the internal optical disk 21 and an openable / closable shutter section 24 for enabling access of the optical pickup to the optical disk 21. A cartridge identifying notch mechanism 25 is provided along one edge (lower edge in FIG. 8).

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 25 is slidably fitted in a notch groove 26 which is provided in the lower shell 23 by being divided into two in the longitudinal direction. It is composed of a plurality of notched claws 27 (two in the illustrated case). Notch groove 2
6 is open toward the upper surface of the lower shell 23, and the notch positions A, B on both side surfaces with respect to the longitudinal direction.
C, D, E, F, G, and H are provided with a plurality of concave notches 28 aligned in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 11, the notch claw 27 is formed in an elongated shape so as to have a hollow portion that penetrates vertically, and a convex portion that engages with the notch 28 is formed substantially at the center of both side surfaces along the longitudinal direction. 27a is provided.

When the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 25 having such a structure is used, the user applies a force in the direction of the arrow P to the convex portion 27a to elastically deform the hollow portion and the convex portion 2
7a is moved in the direction of arrow Q and removed from the notch 28. Then, the convex portion 27a is moved in the arrow P direction, and the convex portion 27a is moved in the arrow Q direction by the restoring force of the hollow portion to be fitted into the notch 18. As a result, the notch claw 27 causes the notch positions A, B, C, D and E, F of the notch 28,
It is locked to either G or H, respectively. Notch claw 2
7 is locked at notch positions C, D, E, and F in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, respectively.

According to the optical disk cartridge 20 having such a structure, when setting the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 25 for, for example, four optical disk cartridges 20 constituting one set, as shown in FIG. Then, the left and right notch claws 27 of each optical disk cartridge 20 are moved to the notch positions A, D and F, H, respectively. When the optical disk cartridges 20 are stacked, the notch claws 27 are aligned in the vertical direction at the notch positions A, D, F and H. Therefore, at a glance, it is possible to visually recognize that the optical disk cartridges 20 constitute one set.
As described above, by appropriately moving the two notch claws 27 to the notch positions A, B, C, D and E, F, G, H, 36 sets in total can be identified.

13A and 13B are a side view and a plan view showing the third embodiment of the optical disk cartridge according to the present invention. This optical disk cartridge 30
Has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape.
Is formed from an upper shell 32 and a lower shell 33 that define an internal space for housing the. The lower shell 33 has an openable / closable cover 33a for replacing the optical disc 31 therein and an openable / closable shutter unit 34 for allowing the optical pickup to access the optical disc 31.
And a cartridge identifying notch mechanism 35 is provided along one edge (lower edge in FIG. 13) of the cartridge.

As shown in FIG. 14, the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 35 is slidably fitted in a notch groove 36 which is provided in the lower shell 33 in two divided parts in the longitudinal direction. It is composed of a plurality of notch claws 37 (one in the figure). The notch groove 36 is open toward the upper surface of the lower shell 33, and the notch positions A, B, C, and D on the side surfaces on both sides in the longitudinal direction.
E and F are provided with a plurality of concave notches 38 (see FIG. 16) aligned in the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 15, the notch claw 37 is provided with a convex portion 37a which engages with the notch 38 substantially at the center of both side faces along the longitudinal direction, and has a compression on both end faces in the longitudinal direction. An engaging portion 37b into which one end of the coil spring 39 is fitted is provided, a protrusion 37c is provided at substantially the center of the upper surface, and a recess 37d into which the protrusion 37c can be inserted is provided at the substantially center of the lower surface. . The other end of the compression coil spring 39 is pressed against both end faces of the notch groove 36. The compression coil spring 39 is selected so as to have a sufficiently small elasticity as compared with the engaging force when the notch claw 37 engages in the notch 38.

When the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 35 having such a structure is used, the user applies a force in the arrow P direction to the convex portion 37a to elastically deform the concave portion 37d, and the convex portion 37a is moved in the arrow Q direction. To remove it from the notch 38. Then, the convex portion 37a is moved in the arrow P direction, and the convex portion 37a is moved in the arrow Q direction by the restoring force of the concave portion 37d to be fitted into the notch 38. As a result, the notch claw 37 is locked by the notch 38 at any of the notch positions A, B, C and D, E, F. The notch claw 37 is locked at the notch positions B and E in FIGS. 13 and 14, respectively.

According to the optical disc cartridge 30 having such a structure, when setting the cartridge identifying notch mechanism 35 for, for example, four optical disc cartridges 30 constituting one set, for example, as shown in FIG. The left and right notch claws 37 of each optical disk cartridge 30 are respectively attached to the notch positions B and E (see FIG. 16).
(A)) to the notch positions A and F (FIG. 16B). Then, for example, when the optical disk cartridges 30 set at the notch positions B and E are stacked, the notch claws 37 are vertically aligned at the notch positions B and E as shown in FIG. Nail 3
The projection 37c of No. 7 is fitted into the recess 37d of each notch claw 37 located immediately above. Therefore, the upper and lower surfaces of the optical disc cartridges 30 facing each other come into close contact with each other, and at a glance, it is possible to visually recognize that the optical disc cartridges 30 constitute one set.

On the other hand, for example, when one optical disk cartridge 30 is of a different set (notch positions B and F are set), this optical disk cartridge 3
When 0a is stacked second from the top, as shown in FIG. 18, the protrusion 37c of the notch claw 37 located at the notch position F of the optical disc cartridge 30 located below the
The optical disk cartridge 30a does not fit into the recess 37d of the notch claw 37 located at the notch position F, but comes into contact with the compression coil spring 39. Further, the protrusion 37a of the notch claw 37 located at the notch position F of the optical disk cartridge 30a does not fit into the recess 37d of the notch claw located at the notch position F of the optical disk cartridge 30 located immediately above, and the protrusion 37a does not come into contact with the compression coil spring 39. Will come into contact.

Therefore, this optical disk cartridge 30
Since a does not come into close contact with the upper and lower optical disk cartridges 30 and clearances c1 and c2 are respectively generated, it is possible to visually recognize that different sets of optical disk cartridges 30a are mixed at a glance. . In this way, by appropriately moving the two notch claws 37 to the notch positions A, B, C and D, E, F, a total of 9 sets can be identified.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a cartridge case used in combination with the optical disk cartridge of each of the above-described embodiments, and in the figure, the cartridge case used in combination with the optical disk cartridge 30 is shown. Holding surface 4 of this cartridge case 40
The upper and lower surfaces of the block 41 of the stacked four optical disk cartridges 30, for example, are sandwiched by 2, 43, and the left and right side surfaces of the block 41 are covered by the cover surfaces 44, 45.

Since the holding surfaces 42 and 43 are formed in a tapered shape, the cartridge case 40 is blocked by the block 4.
When the block 41 is fitted in the direction of the arrow R, the edge of the block 41 is vertically clamped and fixedly held. At that time, each optical disk cartridge 30
Since the shutter section 34 is also sandwiched in the vertical direction and fixedly held, it is possible to prevent dust and the like from entering due to the opening of the shutter section 34 even if vibration or shock is inadvertently applied. it can. Incidentally, if at least one different set of optical disk cartridges 30 constituting the block 41 is mixed,
Since the cartridge case 40 cannot be completely fitted into the block 41, the optical disc cartridge 30 can be identified also by this.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where there are four optical disk cartridges that make up one set has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and there are two or three optical disk cartridges.
The present invention can also be applied to an optical disk cartridge in which one or five or more optical disk cartridges constitute one set. Further, although the optical disc cartridge and its case have been described, the present invention can also be applied to a disc cartridge such as a magneto-optical disc or a magnetic disc and its case. Further, although the disk cartridge and its case used in the disk system in which a plurality of disk devices are integrated have been described, the invention also applies to a disk used in a single disk device as long as the disks constitute one set. be able to.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to easily discriminate which set of optical disc cartridges is set without attaching a label or the like on which recorded contents are attached. Further, it becomes easy to manage the optical disc cartridge for each set.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a disk cartridge according to the present invention.

2 is a side view and a plan view of the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is another side view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lower shell of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

5 is an enlarged perspective view of a notch claw of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the disc cartridges shown in FIG. 1 constituting one set are stacked.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which the disc cartridges shown in FIG. 1 that constitute another set are stacked.

FIG. 8 is a side view and a plan view showing a second embodiment of a disc cartridge according to the present invention.

9 is a plan view of the lower shell of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 8. FIG.

10 is a sectional side view of the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 8 taken along the line AA.

11 is an enlarged perspective view of a notch claw of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line AA in the state where the disc cartridges shown in FIG. 8 that constitute one set are stacked.

FIG. 13 is a third view of the disc cartridge according to the present invention.
3 is a side view and a plan view showing the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 14 is an AA of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of a notch claw of the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

16 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line AA showing notch claw setting in the disc cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line AA in the state where the disc cartridges shown in FIG. 13 that constitute one set are stacked.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line AA in the state where the disc cartridges shown in FIG. 13 that do not form one set are stacked.

FIG. 19 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration example of a cartridge case for fixing and holding the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 13 which constitutes one set.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a general disk system.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 20, 30 ... Optical disk cartridge, 1
1, 21, 31 ... Optical disc, 12, 22, 32 ...
..Upper shells, 13, 23, 33 ... Lower shells,
14, 24, 34 ... Shutter section, 15, 25, 35
... Notch mechanism for cartridge identification, 16, 26, 3
6 ... Notch groove, 17, 27, 37 ... Notch claw,
18, 28, 38 ... Notches, 40 ... Cartridge cases, 41 ... Blocks (optical disc cartridges that constitute one set), 42, 43 ... Holding surfaces, 44, 45 ... Covers surface.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A disc cartridge for accommodating a disc used in a disc device, comprising a notch groove having a plurality of notches formed therein, and a plurality of movable notch grooves capable of being locked in the respective notches. A disc cartridge, wherein a notch mechanism for identifying a cartridge, which is provided with a notch claw, is provided along a side edge portion. 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein each of the notch claws has a protrusion that elastically engages with the notch. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein each notch claw includes a protrusion protruding upward and a recess into which the protrusion is fitted. 4. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the notch groove is divided in its longitudinal direction. 5. A disc cartridge for accommodating a disc used in a disc device, the notch groove having a plurality of notches formed therein, and being movable in the notch groove and capable of being locked in each notch. A cartridge case characterized in that a plurality of disc cartridges each having a notch mechanism for identifying a cartridge provided with a plurality of notch claws are provided along a side edge portion, and the upper and lower surfaces of the disc cartridges are sandwiched in a stacked state.