JPH09297979A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the side of a disk drive and the disk cartridge compact in size and to smoothen sliding movement of a shutter for closing a window hole for reading and writing a signal. SOLUTION: The window hole 6 for reading and writing a signal of a main body case 1 is opened and closed by the shutter capable of freely sliding right and left. A depression wall part 15 is provided on upper and lower walls 3 and 4 on the side of an open end surface 5 of the window hole 6, and a clearance for inserting a signal reading and writing head is sequred on this depression wall part 15, thus making the disk drive side compact in size. Sliders 20 are abutted on right and left end parts of the shutter 7 respectively, and spring members 19 for energizing the shutter 7 to its closing position are hooked on these sliders 20 respectively. These small-sized sliders 20 have supplementary parts 22 respectively for the purpose of stabilizing their sliding movement, and these supplementary parts 22 are fitted into the right and left ends of the shutter 7, thus contributing to compact size of the disk cartridge.

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, which is a recording medium such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc, is rotatably accommodated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-59703 discloses a disk cartridge of this type. There, a window hole is provided in the upper and lower surfaces of a main body case in which the disc is housed so that signals can be read from and written to the disc from the outside, and the window hole is opened and closed by a sliding shutter.

[0003]

Such a disk cartridge is provided with a slider that can come into contact with the shutter, and this slider has a spring member that biases the shutter in the closing direction. However, in order to slide and guide the shutter to the main body case in a retaining state, a guide groove is provided on the outer surface of the main body case, and the retaining tab on the shutter side is slidably engaged with this guide groove. However, even if the shutter is closed, part of the guide groove is exposed to the outside, so this guide groove may come into contact with other objects and be damaged, and dust may easily accumulate, making the shutter stable and smooth. However, there is a problem in that it is unsightly in appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge which allows a shutter to be opened and closed in a stable and smooth manner with respect to a main body case and which can be mounted in a good appearance. An object of the present invention is to provide a disc cartridge and a disc cartridge that can be made compact on the side of the disc drive.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an upper and lower case 1 is provided.
A disk 2 is rotatably housed inside a main body case 1 formed by abutting a and 1 b together, and upper and lower cases 1 a and 1 b
Each of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 is provided with a window 6 for reading and writing a signal, which extends from a substantially central portion thereof toward the open end surface 5 on one side, and a shutter 7 for opening and closing the window 6 is provided in the main body case 1. It is assumed that the disk cartridge is slidably mounted in the left-right direction on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4.

In addition, according to the present invention, the open end surface 5 of the window hole 6 is
On the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 on the side, recessed wall portions 15 that are lower than the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 are provided, and guide grooves 16 are provided on the depressed wall portions 15 in the left-right direction. Shutter 7
Upper and lower plates 7a and 7b that slide on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4, respectively.
And a back plate 7c that slides on the open end surface 5 by connecting one ends of the upper and lower plates 7a and 7b to each other, and is integrally projected from a portion of the inner surface of the back plate 7c that is offset toward the center in the left-right direction. With left and right retaining claws 13 that slide in the open end surface 5,
The tip 13a of the retaining claw 13 is slidably engaged in the guide groove 16. Guide rails 17 are provided on the left and right sides of the recessed wall portion 15 of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b so that the retaining claws 13 can be engaged and slid in the left and right directions from the guide groove 16. A pair of left and right sliders 20 abutting on the left and right ends of the shutter 7 are slidably engaged with the guide rails 17, and the shutter 7 is always moved between the sliders 20 and the main body case 1 in the closing direction. The biasing spring member 19 is applied. Each of the left and right sliders 20 is formed to have a supplementary portion 22 having a length that fits inside the left and right ends of the shutter 7 and outside the retaining claw 13 in the left-right direction.
The reference numeral 2 is adapted to enter the guide groove 16 when the shutter 7 is closed.

[0007]

Since the recessed wall portions 15 provided on the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 on the open end face 5 side of the window hole 6 are recessed lower than the outer surfaces of the respective upper and lower walls 3 and 4, the disk is placed on the depressed wall portions 15. The clearance for inserting the signal read / write head on the drive side can be secured, and the disk drive side can be made compact.

The tip 13a of the retaining claw 13 of the shutter 7
Since the guide groove 16 for slidingly engaging with is provided in the recessed wall portion 15 covered by the shutter 7 at the closed position of the shutter 7, it is not exposed to the outside. The slider 20 which becomes smaller and thinner as the disk cartridge becomes more compact can be extended in the left-right direction by the supplementary portion 22.
7 Stable and slide smoothly without rattling.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the interior of a main part, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the whole, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a front end of a main body case with a shutter removed. In each drawing, a disc 2 such as an optical disc on which signals such as video, audio, information, etc. are recorded is rotatably housed inside a body case 1 having a thin rectangular shape. The main body case 1 is formed by abutting an upper case 1a and a lower case 1b made of plastic to be integrated with each other. On the upper wall 3 of the upper case 1a and the lower wall 4 of the lower case 1b, a signal read / write window hole 6 is opened from the substantially central portion thereof toward the open end surface 5 on the front side. It is closed by a shutter 7 that slides in the left-right direction so that it can be opened and closed. In order to make the disc cartridge compact as a whole, the left and right width dimensions of the main body case 1 and the diameter dimension of the disc 2 are set as close to each other as shown in the illustrated example, and the left and right opening widths of the window holes 6 are set. Further, the lateral width dimension of the shutter 7 is set to be as large as approximately 1/3 of the lateral width dimension of the main body case 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper case 1a has an upper wall 3
And the left and right side walls 12 and 12 which are connected to the left and right ends of this at right angles
And a window hole 6 is formed from the substantially central portion of the upper wall 3 to the central portion of the front end in the left-right direction. On the inner surface of the upper wall 3, as shown in FIG. 1, a position regulating rib 14 for regulating the forward movement of the disc 2 is integrally provided in an arc shape along the circumference of the disc 2. In order to secure a clearance when the signal read / write head on the disk drive side is inserted into the window hole 6, the upper wall 3 corresponding to the front of the window hole 6 is provided with the upper wall 3 as shown in FIGS. A depressed wall portion 15 that is lower than the outer surface 3a is integrally formed, and a guide groove 16 is formed in the depressed wall portion 15 over the entire length in the left-right direction. A flat convex portion 15b is formed in a region rearward of the guide groove 16 of the depressed wall portion 15. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the recessed wall portion 15 is provided at the front end of the inner surface of the upper wall 3.
A guide rail 17 is integrally formed on both left and right sides of the front portion 15a with respect to the guide groove 16.

The lower case 1b is formed symmetrically with the upper case 1a and has a window hole 6 which faces the window hole 6 of the upper case 1a.
A recessed wall portion 15 that is formed to fall below the outer surface 4a of the lower wall 4 and overlaps the lower surface side of the recessed wall portion 15 of the upper case 1a; and a guide rail 17 that faces the guide rail 17 of the upper case 1a. , Position regulating rib 14 on the upper case 1a side
And a position regulating rib 14 abutted on the lower end of the.
When the front ends of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are butted to each other, as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG.
The protrusions 15b and 15b of the recessed wall portions 15 and 15 of 1b are overlapped with each other to form a space S between the front portions 15a and 15a of the recessed wall portions 15 and 15 and between the guide rails 17 and 17.

3 to 5, the shutter 7 is formed of a metal plate or a plastic material and has a U-shaped cross section, and has a rectangular upper and lower shape having a size enough to close each window hole 6 of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. Plates 7a and 7b and these upper and lower plates 7a and 7b
And a back plate 7c that connects the front ends of the. A pair of left and right retaining claws 13 are integrally projected from a portion of the inner surface of the back plate 7c that is displaced toward the center in the left-right direction. The tips 13a, 13a of the left and right retaining claws 13, 13 are provided upside down. In the shutter 7, the upper and lower plates 7a and 7b are superposed on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4, and the tips 13a of the left and right retaining pawls 13 and 13 are located between the front portions 15a and 15a of the recessed wall portions 15 and 15. The left and right retaining pawls 13 are inserted into the open end surface 5 of the main body case 1 by pushing from the front side of the main body case 1 so as to be inserted into the space S.
Each tip 13a of 13 is a guide groove 1 of the depressed wall 15
6 (see FIG. 4), so that the shutter 7 is in a state where it cannot be pulled out forward from the main body case 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, as the spring member 19 for urging the shutter 7 to move to the closed position, two left and right torsion coil springs are adopted, and two left and right sliders 2 are used.
0 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, the slider 20 is formed into a shape, and the upper and lower guide rails 17 are formed.
The slider body 21 having the web 20a that slides in the space S between the 17 and the inner and outer flanges 20b and 20c that slides on the inner and outer surfaces of the upper and lower guide rails 17 and 17, and the web 20a and the inner flange 20b among them. Outer flange 20
The web 20 is formed to be longer in the left-right direction than c
a and a supplementary portion 22 having a ⊥-shaped cross section formed by a long portion of the inner flange 20b. The supplementary portion 22 is fitted inside the left and right ends of the shutter 7 and outside the retaining claw 13 in the left-right direction. A spring hook groove 23 is provided on the outer end surface of the inner flange 20b. Since the supplementary portion 22 of the slider 20 can secure a sufficient lateral length necessary for stable sliding, the slider main body 21 protruding to the outside of the shutter 7 can be made thin and the shutter 7 can be left or right of the main body case 1. It can be opened until it is close to the side wall 12 of the.

On the other hand, the left and right spring members 19 are hooked at the tips of one arm portion 19a thereof to the left and right pins 24 projecting forward from the position regulating rib 14 on the inner surface of the lower wall 4, respectively, and the other one. Slide the tip of the arm 19b of the
The spring engaging groove 23 of 0 is inserted and engaged. As a result, the left and right sliders 20 are urged to move on the guide rail 17 toward the central recessed wall portion 15 by the spring action of the spring member 19, so that the inner end surface of the outer flange 20c contacts the left and right end surfaces of the shutter 7. The shutter 7 is held at the central closed position that closes the window hole 6 by contacting or contacting the inner end surface of the supplemental portion 22 with the outer end surface of the retaining claw 13.

The shutter 7 thus mounted is pushed and moved against the force of the spring member 19 in the leftward or rightward direction from the central closed position for closing the window hole 6 on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. When is slid, the tip 13a of the retaining claw 13 slides out of the guide groove 16 and continues to engage with the guide rail 17 so that the window hole 6 can be opened. When the pressing force applied to the shutter 7 is released, the shutter 7 receives the biasing force of the spring member 19 via the slider 20 and automatically returns to the original central closed position and stops.
Since the guide groove 16 with which the tip 13a of the retaining claw 13 of the shutter 7 is slidably engaged is provided in the recessed wall portion 15 covered by the shutter 7 at the closed position of the shutter 7, it is not exposed to the outside. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the guide groove 16 from coming into contact with another object and being damaged, and it is possible to prevent dust from collecting and to ensure smooth sliding of the shutter 7.

[0016]

According to the present invention, since the recessed wall portion 15 is provided in the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 on the open end surface 5 side of the window hole 6, the signal read / write on the disk drive side is performed on the recessed wall portion 15. It is possible to secure a clearance for inserting the recording head, and to make the disk drive compact.
Since the guide groove 16 for slidingly engaging the tip 13a of the retaining claw 13 of the shutter 7 is provided in the depressed wall portion 15 covered by the shutter 7 at the closed position of the shutter 7, it should be exposed to the outside. Therefore, contact with other objects and accumulation of dust can be avoided, the shutter 7 can slide smoothly, and the appearance is good. Left and right sliders 2
0 is inside the left and right ends of the shutter 7 and the retaining claw 1
3 has a supplementary portion 22 having a length to be fitted to the outer side in the left-right direction, the slider 20 which is small and thin can be extended in the left-right direction so as to correspond to the compactness of the disk cartridge, without rattling the guide rail 17. It can slide stably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal plan view of a main part of a disc cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the entire disc cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a front end portion of a disc cartridge with a shutter removed.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a depressed wall portion of the disc cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a guide rail portion of the disc cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the main part of the disc cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 7;

9 is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a slider.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body Case 1a Upper Case 1b Lower Case 2 Disc 3 Upper Wall 4 Lower Wall 5 Open End Face 6 Window Hole 7 Shutter 7a Shutter Upper Plate 7b Shutter Lower Plate 7c Shutter Back Plate 12 Side Wall 13 Detent Claw 15 Cave Wall 16 Guide groove 17 Guide rail 19 Spring member 20 Slider 22 Supplementary part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A disk 2 is rotatably housed inside a main body case 1 formed by abutting upper and lower cases 1a and 1b, and upper and lower walls 3 and 4 of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are respectively provided with a plurality of A window 6 for reading and writing signals is provided extending from the central portion toward the open end surface 5 on one side, and a shutter 7 for opening and closing the window hole 6 is provided in the main body case 1 on each outer surface of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. In the disk cartridge mounted so that it can slide in the left-right direction, the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 on the open end surface 5 side of the window hole 6 are
4 is provided with a depressed wall portion 15 that is lower than the outer surface of 4,
A guide groove 16 is provided in the recessed wall portion 15 in the left-right direction, and the shutter 7 slides on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 and upper and lower plates 7a and 7b, and the upper and lower plates 7a and 7b. A back plate 7c that connects the ends and slides on the open end surface 5;
The back plate 7c has left and right retaining pawls 13 which are integrally projected from a portion that is displaced toward the center in the left-right direction and slide in the open end face 5, and the tips 13a of the retaining pawls 13 are provided. Is slidably engaged in the guide groove 16, and the retaining claws 13 can be engaged and slid in the left and right direction from the guide groove 16 on both left and right sides of the recessed wall portion 15 of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b. A guide rail 17 is provided, and a pair of left and right sliders 20 abutting on the left and right ends of the shutter 7 are slidably engaged with the guide rail 17, and the shutter is provided between each slider 20 and the main body case 1. A spring member 19 for urging the moving member 7 in the closing direction is hooked, and each of the left and right sliders 20 has a length to be fitted inside the left and right ends of the shutter 7 and outside the retaining claw 13 in the left and right direction. This has a part 22 The foot 22 is the shutter 7
A disc cartridge, wherein the disc cartridge is adapted to enter into the guide groove 16 when closed.