JPH09265751A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the disk cartridge capable of smooth operation of inserting into and ejecting from a recording and/or reproducing device by providing a notched part in a side surface part of a main body of the disk cartridge. SOLUTION: The notched parts 34a and 34b (not shown in the figure) are provided in a recessed shape respectively on the cartridge main body 4 in both side surfaces on the side in front of the operator, i.e., in the side surface parts parallel to the inserting direction into the recording and/or reproducing device and on the opposite side to the inserting direction into the recording and/or reproducing device. The notched part 34 is formed not to pass through the main body 4 in the thickness direction. The notched part is constituted by notching a rising peripheral wall 21b on the side of a lower half 3 into a recessed shape and notching a rising peripheral wall 21a on the side of an upper half 2 until its middle part. In the case of automatically taking out the cartridge 1 from the recording and/or reproducing device, a take-out operation mechanism on the side of an automatic loading system is fitted with the notched parts 34 to take out the cartridge 1.

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 discs such as optical discs and magneto-optical discs are 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 by rotatably accommodating a disc in a cartridge body formed of a pair of substantially shallow dish-shaped upper and lower halves made of synthetic resin material and joined together. ing.

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.

Further, the cartridge main body is provided with a recording and / or reproducing opening in the upper and lower surfaces at a substantially central position in the left-right direction from the central portion to the front surface side. The recording and / or reproducing opening exposes a part of the recording area of the disc housed in the cartridge body to the outside.

A shutter member, which is large enough to close the recording and / or reproducing opening, and which is substantially U-shaped as a whole, is slidably attached to the recording and / or reproducing opening. This shutter member is for recording and / or
Alternatively, the recording and / or reproducing opening is opened only when it is mounted on the reproducing apparatus, 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 disc cartridge thus constructed is inserted through the cartridge insertion opening of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and mounted on the disc table. The positioning hole is formed on the outer peripheral side of the cartridge body of the disc table. The recording and / or reproducing apparatus is positioned by engaging a positioning pin arranged on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side, and recording or reproducing of the disk is performed.

[0008]

By the way, the disc cartridge constructed as described above can be automatically loaded into a recording and / or reproducing apparatus to record and / or reproduce by using an automatic loading system. . This automatic loading system includes a storage device that stores a plurality of disc cartridges, and a loading device that moves the disc cartridges from the storage device to the recording and / or reproducing device.

In order to automatically load the disk cartridge into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the thickness of the disk cartridge is increased on the front and rear sides of both side surfaces parallel to the inserting direction of the cartridge body into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. A cutout portion that penetrates in the depth direction is provided. The notch provided on the front side of the cartridge body records and / or records the disc cartridge.
Alternatively, it is configured as an insertion operation cutout portion with which an insertion operation pin on the loading device side used when retracting into the playback device is engaged. Further, the notch provided on the rear side of the cartridge main body is a take-out operation pin on the loading device side used when taking out a specific disc cartridge from the cartridge housing device or when taking out the disc cartridge from the recording and / or reproducing device. Is configured as a notch for extraction operation with which is engaged.

When such a disc cartridge is loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the ejecting operation pin is engaged with the ejecting operation notch portion and pulled out from the accommodating apparatus. And the disk cartridge
Transported by the loading device to the recording and / or reproducing device,
The insertion operation pin is engaged with the insertion operation notch, and is pulled into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus and moved to the recording and / or reproducing section in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus.

However, the notch portion provided in this disc cartridge is formed so as to penetrate in the thickness direction of the cartridge body as described above. Therefore, when the disc cartridge is loaded in the recording and / or reproducing unit of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, it may be caught on the peripheral wall such as the disc cartridge insertion opening, which hinders the inserting / removing operation of the disc cartridge. was there.

In particular, the disk cartridge is made of a synthetic resin material as described above, whereas the holder constituting the recording and / or reproducing unit of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus is made of a synthetic resin forming the cartridge body. It is made of a metal material that is harder than the material. Therefore, when the disc cartridge is inserted into or removed from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the notch may be caught and the periphery of the notch of the cartridge body may be scraped.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a disk cartridge which can be smoothly inserted into and removed from a recording and / or reproducing apparatus.

[0014]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a disk cartridge according to the present invention is a disk cartridge in which a disk-shaped recording medium is housed in a cartridge body, and recording and / or reproduction of the disk cartridge. It is characterized in that a side surface of the cartridge main body, which is parallel to the insertion direction into the apparatus, is provided with a cutout portion that is non-penetrating in the thickness direction.

Since the disc cartridge constructed as described above is provided with the notch which is not penetrated in the thickness direction, when the disc cartridge is inserted into or removed from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. The operation can be performed smoothly without being caught by various operating devices around.

[0016]

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 FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, the disk cartridge 1 comprises a cartridge main body 4 formed by combining an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 formed in a generally shallow dish square shape. 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, this disc cartridge 1
It is configured so that the disk 5 to be stored can be inserted and removed.

The disc 5 is loaded into the recording and / or reproducing device for recording and / or reproducing while being housed in the disc cartridge 1, and is also directly loaded into the recording and / or reproducing device for recording. And / or regeneration can also be performed. Further, the disc cartridge 1 can be automatically loaded into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by using the automatic loading system.

The disc 5 housed in the cartridge body 4 is constructed by laminating two disc substrates 10 and 10, and is used as a so-called double-sided type. Each of these disc substrates 10 is formed on an inner circumference holding portion 11 in which no information signal is recorded in a central area, a recording area 12 in which an information signal formed in this outer area is recorded, and an outer circumference side of this recording area 12. Outer peripheral non-signal recording area 13 in which no information signal is recorded.
A center hole 14 is formed in the center of the disc 5 so that the spindle on the recording and / or reproducing device side can be engaged with the disc.

The disk substrate 10 has a disk shape as a whole and is formed of a synthetic resin material such as a polycarbonate resin. The disk substrate 10 is formed by forming a reflective layer such as aluminum (Al) on the recording area 12 and further coating a synthetic resin material for protecting the reflective layer. Then, these disk substrates 10 are
It is joined and fixed by an adhesive such as an ultraviolet curable adhesive.
The recording area 12 may be formed by superposing a plurality of recording layers to increase the storage capacity of the information signal to be recorded. Further, it goes without saying that the disk 5 may be a single-sided type that is composed of one disk substrate.

The upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are made of a synthetic resin material having good moldability and sufficient mechanical strength, such as A.
It is formed of a BS resin or the like in a generally shallow dish shape as a whole. In addition, the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 each have a peripheral wall 21 (21a, 21a) rising around the circumference.
b) is erected except the rear side surface. Then, these rising peripheral walls 21 are abutted against each other in the state where the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are combined, and are 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 inwardly opposed to each other and inscribed in the rising peripheral wall 21 and each of which is composed of a plurality of arcuate walls located on the same circumference. It is set up. These disc storage walls 19 form a disc storage portion 20 in a state where the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are butted and joined.
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.

The upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are connected to the disk table entry opening 22 and are connected to the disk storage section 20.
Recording and / or reproducing openings 23 are provided opposite to each other so that at least a part of the recording area 12 of the disk 5 rotatably accommodated therein is exposed to the outside over the inner and outer circumferences. 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 on one side edge portion in the longitudinal direction and a semicircular arc shape on 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 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.

A step portion 27 is formed on the front side of the cartridge body 4 in which the shutter mounting recess 26 is formed. A shutter opening mechanism on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side enters the stepped portion 27.

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, and to prevent the recording area 12 of the disc 5 from touching with a hand or a finger. 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.

Further, the shutter member 6 is formed with notches 30 (30a, 30b) which are operated parts into which the shutter opening mechanism of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus is inserted. The cutout portion 30a is formed in the main surface portion 28 and the connecting portion 29 in a substantially L shape on the upstream side where the shutter member 6 slides. Further, the cutout portion 30b is formed in the main surface portion 28 and the connecting portion 29 in a triangular shape on the downstream side on which the shutter member 6 slides. As described above, since the shutter member 6 is formed with the cutout portions 30 at two places, it is possible to give a degree of freedom to the design of the shutter release mechanism on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side.
The position where the cutout 30 is formed is not limited to the upstream side and the downstream side where the shutter member 6 slides, but may be provided in the middle of the connecting portion 29, for example. Is.

Further, the main surface portion 28b is formed with a semicircular arc-shaped recess 31 at its side edge portion. This recess 3
1 is positioned corresponding to the recess 25 formed in the recording and / or reproducing opening 23 of the cartridge body 4 when the shutter member 6 is opened.

The shutter member 6 constructed as described above
Is mounted in the shutter mounting recess 26 so as to hold the cartridge body 4, and the end of the main surface portion 28 is pressed by the shutter pressing member 32.
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 in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the shutter opening mechanism has the cutout portion 30a or 30b.
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 it is taken out from the reproducing apparatus, the shutter member 6 is slid in the direction A shown in FIG. At this time, a convex portion 24 and a concave portion 25 are formed on the side edge portion of the recording and / or reproducing opening portion 23, and the main surface portion 2 of the shutter member 6 is formed.
Since a concave portion 31 is formed in 8b, the main surface portion of the shutter member 6 is formed at the side edge portion of the disc table entry opening portion 22 and the recording and / or reproducing opening portion 23 when sliding in the direction A. 28b is caught, and the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or reproducing opening 2 are formed.
It does not prevent 3 from being blocked.

Although the case where the shutter member 6 is slid in one direction has been described above, it goes without saying that 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.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cartridge main body 4 is provided with a notch for insertion operation on the front side of both side surfaces thereof, that is, on both side surfaces parallel to the inserting direction of the disk cartridge 1 into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. 33 (33a, 33b) is recessed. The notch 33 for insertion operation is formed so as to penetrate in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4. When the disc cartridge 1 is automatically loaded into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by the automatic loading system, the insertion operation mechanism on the automatic loading system side is fitted and pulled into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus.

The cartridge body 4 has a front side of both side surfaces thereof, that is, a side surface parallel to the insertion direction of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, and the insertion direction of the disc cartridge 1 into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. A notch 34 (34a, 34b) for take-out operation is recessed on the side opposite to.
The extraction operation notch 34 is formed so as not to penetrate in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4.

In other words, the take-out operation notch 34 is formed by cutting the rising peripheral wall 21b on the lower half 3 side in a concave shape and cutting the rising peripheral wall 21a on the upper half 2 side up to the middle. ing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the take-out operation notch 34 is removed from the lower half 3 side by H.
It is constructed by cutting out only the dimensions. When the disc cartridge 1 is automatically taken out from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by the automatic loading system, the take-out operation mechanism on the automatic loading system side is fitted into the take-out notch 34 and taken out.

A shutter member 6 is provided on the cartridge body 4.
A lid 35 that closes a disc insertion / removal opening opened for inserting / removing the disc 5 is openably / closably attached to the side opposite to the front side to which is attached. The lid 35 also constitutes a side surface portion of the cartridge body 4 opposite to the front surface side to which the shutter member 6 is attached. Therefore, the lid 35 forms the same surface as the main surface and the side surface of the cartridge body 4 in the state where the disc insertion opening is closed.

The lid 35 is openable and closable by being pivotally supported by a support shaft 36 standing upright in the vicinity of the disc insertion opening. In addition, the lid 35 has the lid 35
A locking portion (not shown) is formed at the end opposite to the side where the balance is paid. The locking portion is locked to a convex portion that is convexly provided on the disc insertion opening side. Therefore, the lid 35 is
When the disk cartridge 1 is closed, the locking portion on the lid 35 side is locked to the convex portion on the disk insertion opening side so that the lid does not open even when the disk cartridge 1 is vibrated during transportation. ing. Further, the lid 35 is opened by releasing the locked state of the locking portion when opening the disc insertion / removal opening.

When the disc cartridge 1 having the above-described structure is loaded in the holder that constitutes the recording and / or reproducing unit of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the shutter opening mechanism of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus has a shutter opening mechanism. The shutter member 6 is slid in the direction B shown in FIG. 1 by being engaged with the cutout portion 30a or the cutout portion 30b of the member 6, and the disc table entry opening 22 and the recording and / or reproduction opening 23 are exposed to the outside. Recording or reproduction is performed.

At this time, the disc cartridge 1 is provided with a notch 3 for ejecting operation provided on the side surface of the cartridge body 4.
Since 4 is formed in a non-penetrating manner, at the time of inserting / removing operation to / from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, a peripheral wall of the disc cartridge insertion opening of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus or an operation device around the peripheral wall, for example, the above-mentioned The insertion / removal operation can be smoothly performed without being caught by the holder or the like.

The disc cartridge 1 can also be automatically loaded into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by using the automatic loading system. The automatic loading system includes a cartridge storage device that stores a plurality of disc cartridges, and a cartridge loading device that moves the disc cartridges from the cartridge storage device to the recording and / or reproducing device. In this cartridge storage device, a plurality of racks in which the disk cartridges 1 are stored for each cartridge are stacked and stacked. Further, the cartridge loading device takes out the disc cartridge 1 from the storage device, and records and / or records data.
Alternatively, it is provided with an ejecting operation mechanism for taking out the disc cartridge 1 loaded in the reproducing apparatus from the holder, and an inserting operation mechanism used when loading the disc cartridge 1 in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. .

When the disc cartridge 1 is automatically loaded in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus by such an automatic loading system, the notch 34 for taking out the disc cartridge 1 stored in the rack of the cartridge storing device.
The take-out operation mechanism on the cartridge loading device side is fitted to the cartridge and the take-out operation mechanism takes out the cartridge to the cartridge loading device. Then, after the disc cartridge 1 is conveyed to the recording and / or reproducing device by the cartridge loading device, the insertion operation mechanism is fitted into the insertion operation notch 33 of the disc cartridge 1 and loaded into the holder. . Further, when the disc cartridge 1 is taken out from this holder, the take-out operation mechanism is fitted in the take-out operation notch 34 of the disc cartridge 1 and is taken out to the cartridge loading device.

At this time, as described above, in the disc cartridge 1, since the ejecting operation notch 34 is not penetrated in the thickness direction of the cartridge main body 4, the recording operation is performed during the ejecting operation from the cartridge housing device. When the disc cartridge 1 is loaded into the playback device, or when the recording and / or playback device is taken out of the playback device, etc., the disc cartridge 1 can be smoothly inserted / removed without being caught by the peripheral operating device. be able to.

In the peripheral operating equipment such as the cartridge accommodating device, the cartridge loading device, and the holder of the recording and / or reproducing device, the cartridge body 4 is made of a synthetic resin material, whereas the cartridge operating body is made of a metal material. It is often done. However, in the disk cartridge 1, since the ejection operation notch 34 is formed so as not to penetrate in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4, the cartridge around the ejection operation notch 34 is caught by the peripheral operation device. The main body 4 is not scraped or damaged.

Further, the disc cartridge 1 is formed with a notch 33 for insertion operation penetrating in the thickness direction. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of disc cartridges 1 are stored in the cartridge storage device, it is possible to identify whether or not the storing direction of the disc cartridges 1 is in a normal state. That is, when the disc cartridge 1 is not normally stored in the cartridge storage device, the insertion operation notch 3 is formed.
Since the portion 3 does not penetrate, it is possible to identify.

The case where the insertion operation notch 33 is penetrated in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4 and the ejection operation notch 34 is not penetrated in the thickness direction has been described above. However, in the disc cartridge 1, not only the ejecting operation notch 34 but also the inserting operation notch 33 may be non-penetrating in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4, and the inserting operation notch 33 may be provided in the cartridge body 4.
It is needless to say that the removal operation notch 34 may be penetrated in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4 without being penetrated in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 4.

[0047]

According to the disc cartridge of the present invention, since the notch which is not penetrated in the thickness direction is provided, when the disc cartridge is inserted into or removed from the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. In addition, it is possible to operate smoothly without being caught by various operating devices around.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall 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 a side view of the disc cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 disc cartridge, 2 upper half, 3 lower half, 4 cartridge body, 5 disc, 6 shutter member, 33 notch for insertion operation, 34 notch for ejection operation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A disc cartridge in which a disc-shaped recording medium is housed in a cartridge body, wherein a side surface portion of the cartridge body parallel to a direction of inserting the disc cartridge into a recording and / or reproducing apparatus is non-penetrating in a thickness direction. A disc cartridge having a cutout formed therein. 2. The notch is provided on either the insertion side of the disk cartridge into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus or the side opposite to the insertion direction of the disk cartridge into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the disk cartridge is a disk cartridge. 3. The cartridge main body has a side in which the notch portion is not formed in the recording and / or reproducing device insertion side or the side opposite to the recording and / or reproducing device insertion direction. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, wherein a cutout portion that penetrates in the thickness direction is provided on either one of the above.