JPH09330576A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent disengagement of sliders coming into contact with a shutter closing a window hole for reading and writing signals and to make them slide smoothly. SOLUTION: A window hole 6 for reading and writing signals of a main-body case 1 is opened and closed by a shutter 7 being slidable in the right-and-left direction. Sliders 24 are brought into contact with the right and left end parts of the shutter 7 and a tension coil spring 23 actuating the shutter 7 to a position of closure is put on the right and left sliders 24. Each slider 24 has a first engaging projection 26 and a second engaging projection 27 provided on the upper and lower sides and the first engaging projection 26 is formed in the shape of a mushroom and fitted slidably in a first engaging groove 20 provided in one of upper and lower guide rails 11 and 12 and having a T-shaped section, while the second engaging projection 27 is fitted slidably in a second engaging groove 21 provided in the other guide rail 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a disk, which is a recording medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk, is rotatably housed in a hard case.

[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, the slider is easily detached by the action of the spring member when it is assembled to the main body case, which makes it difficult to assemble the slider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge which can improve the assembling property of the slider of the shutter to the main body case.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In a disc cartridge of the present invention, a disc 2 of a recording medium is rotatably accommodated in a main body case 1 formed by abutting upper and lower cases 1a and 1b. The upper and lower walls 3 and 4 are provided with window holes 6 for reading and writing signals extending from the substantially central portions of the upper and lower walls forward, and the main body case 1 has shutters 7 for opening and closing the window holes 6 of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. It is mounted so that it can slide left and right on the outer surface.

In the present invention, in the present invention, the guide rails 11 and 12 are provided on the inner surfaces of the front end portions of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4 so as to face each other in the vertical direction via the guide groove 19 and the upper guide rails are provided. A first engaging groove 20 having a T-shaped cross section is provided on the guide rail 11 or the lower guide rail 12 in the left-right direction. The shutter 7 includes the upper and lower walls 3
4, upper and lower plates 7a and 7b sliding on the outer surfaces, a back plate 7c connecting the front ends of the upper and lower plates 7a and 7b, and the guide groove 19 which is integrally projected from the inner surface of the back plate 7c. It has a retaining pawl 22 that slides inside. The slider 7 has a pair of left and right sliders 24 that come into contact with the left and right ends of the shutter 7, and a spring member 23 that urges the shutter 7 to move in the closing direction. The left and right sliders 24 slide in the guide groove 19. The slider main body 25 and a mushroom-shaped first engaging projection 26 projecting from the lower side surface or the upper side surface of the slider main body 25 are provided in the first engaging groove 20. It is slidably fitted to.

The first engaging groove 20 comprises a narrow groove 20a and a wide groove 20b, and the first engaging projection 26 has a head portion 26b.
And a neck portion 26a. A fitting opening 32 having an opening width wider than the narrow groove 20a is provided in a part of the narrow groove 20a of the first engaging groove 20 in the longitudinal direction. The head portion 26b of the first engaging projection 26 can be inserted into the wide groove 20b. The clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engagement protrusion 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engagement groove 20 is determined by the neck portion 26a of the first engagement protrusion 26 and the narrow groove 20a of the first engagement groove 20.
It is set smaller than the clearance y between and.

A second engaging projection 27 is provided on the surface of the slider 24 opposite to the surface having the first engaging projection 26, and the second engaging projection 27 slides and guides the second engaging projection 27. Ditch 2
1 is provided on another guide rail 11 facing the guide rail 12 having the first engaging groove 20. Second engagement protrusion 27
The clearance z between the second engaging groove 21 and the second engaging groove 21 is set to be smaller than the clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engaging protrusion 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engaging groove 20.

[0009]

When the slider 24 is assembled to the main body case 1, the lower case 1b or the upper case 1a as shown in FIG.
The first engaging protrusion 20 of the slider 24 in the first engaging groove 20 of
By inserting and fitting, the state where the slider 24 is not separated from the lower case 1b or the upper case 1a is obtained. At this time, if the fitting opening 32 is provided in a part of the narrow groove 20a of the first engaging groove 20 in the longitudinal direction, the head 26b of the first engaging projection 26 is widened from the fitting opening 32. Easy to insert into 20b.

The clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engaging projection 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engaging groove 20 is set to be the narrow groove between the neck portion 26a of the first engaging projection 26 and the first engaging groove 20. 20a
It is set smaller than the clearance y between and. As a result, it is possible to regulate the free movement of the slider 24 in the groove width direction, so that the neck portion 26a of the first engagement protrusion 26 has the width of the first engagement groove 20 even when the fitting opening 32 is provided in the middle portion of the narrow groove 20a. Narrow groove 20
When sliding a, it slides smoothly without falling into the fitting port 32.

A second engaging projection 27 is provided on the slider 24 so that the clearance z between the second engaging projection 27 and the second engaging groove 21 can be set to the head 26b of the first engaging projection 26 and the first engaging projection. The neck portion 2 of the first engaging protrusion 26 is also set by setting the clearance x of the mating groove 20 with the wide groove 20b to be smaller.
When 6a slides in the narrow groove 20a of the first engagement groove 20, it does not fall into the fitting opening 32 and slides smoothly and stably.

[0012]

1 and 2, a disc 2 such as an optical disc in which signals such as video, audio and information are recorded on both upper and lower sides inside a main body case 1 having a thin rectangular shape.
Are rotatably accommodated. 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. A window hole 6 for reading and writing signals is opened in the upper wall 3 of the upper case 1a and the lower wall 4 of the lower case 1b from the substantially central portion thereof toward the front. The window hole 6 slides in the left-right direction. It is closed by the moving shutter 7 so that it can be opened and closed freely. An opening 5 is provided on the rear end side of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b for loading and unloading the disc 2, and the opening 5
A lid 9 for opening and closing is pivotally attached to the body case 1 so as to be horizontally rotatable around a pivot 10. 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.

In FIGS. 1 and 6, guide rails 11 and 12 each having a quadrangular cross section are provided on the left and right side walls on the inner surface of the front end of the upper wall 3 of the upper case 1a and on the inner surface of the front end of the lower wall 4 of the lower case 1b. It is formed between 13 and 14 in the left-right direction. The outer surface of the upper wall 3 at a position corresponding to the front of the window hole 6 has a clearance as shown in FIG. 5 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 recessed wall portion 15 is formed by lowering the recessed wall portion 15 lower than the outer surface 3a. Similarly, the outer surface of the portion of the lower wall 4 corresponding to the front of the window hole 6 is made lower than the outer surface 4a of the lower wall 4 to form the depressed wall portion 16. Slits 17 are formed in the left-right direction at the front-rear intermediate portions of the recessed wall portions 15 and 16, respectively.
Flat convex portions 15a and 16a are formed on the inner surfaces of the recessed wall portions 15 and 16 on the rear side. These upper and lower cases 1a-1
When the front ends of b are butted, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the recessed wall portions 15 and 16 of both cases 1a and 1b are
The convex portions 15a and 16a are overlapped with each other, so that the shutter 7 and the guide groove 19 of the slider 24 described later are formed between the guide rails 11 and 12.

1 and 7, sliders 2 to be described later are provided on both left and right sides of the guide rail 12 of the lower case 1b.
4, a first engaging groove 20 having a T-shaped cross section, which includes a narrow groove 20a and a wide groove 20b for slidingly guiding the lower surface side, is formed in the left-right direction, and the narrow groove 20a is on the upper surface side of the guide rail 12. In addition, the wide grooves 20b are opened on the lower surface side of the guide rail 12, respectively. Left end 2 of the first engaging groove 20 on the left side
0c is the inner surface of the left side wall 13, and the right end 20d is the guide rail 1
The position is set at each of the midway points on the side closer to the center of 2. The left and right ends 20c and 20d of the first engaging groove 20 on the right side are set at a midway portion on the side closer to the center of the guide rail 12 and an inner surface of the right side wall 14, respectively.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, on the left and right sides of the lower surface of the guide rail 11 of the upper case 1a, a second section having a square cross section for slidingly guiding the upper surface side of a slider 24, which will be described later, is provided.
The engagement groove 21 is formed in the left-right direction. Second on the left
The left end 21c of the engaging groove 21 is formed on the inner surface of the left side wall 13 and the right end 2c.
1d is set at each of the midway portions of the guide rails 11 on the side closer to the center. Left and right ends 21c of the second engaging groove 21 on the right side
21d is set in the middle part of the guide rail 11 near the center and in the inner surface of the right side wall 14, respectively.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the shutter 7 is made of a metal plate or a plastic material and has a U-shaped cross section. The shutter has a rectangular upper and lower size that closes the window holes 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 pawls 22, 22 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 22a, 22a of the left and right retaining pawls 22, 22 are provided upside down.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, a tension coil spring is used as the spring member 23 that urges the shutter 7 to move to the closed position, and two sliders 24 on the left and right are provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the slider 24 is a plastic molded product, and the upper and lower guide rails 11 and
There is a rectangular flat plate-shaped slider body 25 that slides in the guide groove 19 between the two 12, and a mushroom shape that fits in the first engagement groove 20 at one side of the lower side surface of the slider body 25 in the left-right direction. The first engaging protrusion 26 having a neck portion 26a and a head portion 26b is provided in a protruding manner, and a second engaging protrusion 27 having a pentagonal cross section which is fitted in the second engaging groove 21 is formed on the upper side surface of the first engaging protrusion. 26
And project vertically symmetrically. Further, on the rear end side of the upper and lower side surfaces of the slider body 25, upper and lower flanges 29 and 30 that slide on the inner surfaces 11a and 12a of the upper and lower guide rails 11 and 12, respectively.
And a spring engaging portion 31 is provided behind the upper and lower flanges 29 and 30.

Next, the shutter 7 and the slider 24
The installation procedure of is explained. Before the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are butted, the first engaging projections 26 of the left and right sliders 24 are fitted into the left and right first engaging grooves 20 of the lower case 1b, respectively, as shown in FIG. At the time of this fitting, there is also a method of forcibly pushing the first engaging projection 26 into the narrow groove 20a of the first engaging groove 20 by utilizing this elasticity. A wide fitting opening 32 is provided in a part of the longitudinal direction of the fitting
It is preferable to insert from two. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the spring locking portions 31 of the left and right sliders 24, 24,
When the hooks 23a, 23a at both ends of the spring member 23 are hooked between the 31, the left and right sliders 24 are pulled toward each other in the center portion in the left-right direction by the pulling action of the spring member 23. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the first engaging projection 26 of the left slider 24 is located at the right end 20d of the left first engaging groove 20, and the first engaging projection 26 of the right slider 24 is located at the right first engaging groove. Since the left and right sliders 24, 24 come into contact with the left end 20c of the mating groove 20, the positions of the left and right sliders 24, 24 are regulated so as not to move further toward the center.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower case 1b is covered with the upper case 1a and the two cases 1a and 1b are butted against each other. When the two cases 1a and 1b are butted against each other, the left and right sliders 24 have the first engaging projections 26 fitted in the first engaging grooves 20 as described above. The upper case 1a can be easily butted against each other. Both cases 1a ・ 1
The second engaging projection 2 of the slider 24 is formed by the butting of b.
7 is fitted into the second engaging groove 21 of the guide rail 11 of the upper case 1a as shown in FIG.

When the fitting opening 32 is provided in the middle portion of the narrow groove 20a of the first engaging groove 20, the first engaging protrusion 2 of the slider 24 is provided.
When the neck portion 26a of No. 6 slides in the narrow groove 20a, the neck portion 26a may not be able to slide smoothly at the step portion between the fitting opening 32 and the narrow groove 20a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engaging projection 26 and the wide groove 20b is set smaller than the clearance y between the neck portion 26a and the narrow groove 20a. As a result, when the slider 24 slides, the neck portion 26a of the first engaging protrusion 26 is
Can be prevented from falling into the fitting opening 32 and can slide smoothly. Regarding this point, a second engaging protrusion 27 is provided on the upper side surface of the slider 24, and the second engaging protrusion 27 is fitted into the second engaging groove 21 of the upper guide rail 11, and the second engaging protrusion By setting the clearance z between the fitting protrusion 27 and the second engagement groove 21 to be smaller than the clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engagement protrusion 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engagement groove 20, 1 Neck portion 26a of the engaging projection 26
Can be prevented from falling into the fitting opening 32 of the narrow groove 20a of the first engaging groove 20, and can slide more smoothly.

Thus, the shutter 7 is attached. 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 22a of the left and right retaining pawls 22 and 22 are inserted into the guide groove 19 between the guide rails 11 and 12. As described above, the left and right retaining claws 2 are inserted into the front side of the main body case 1 by pushing and fitting from the front side of the main body case 1.
The tips 22a of 2.22 engage with the inner surfaces 11a and 12a of the guide rails 11 and 12 (see FIG. 5), so that the shutter 7 does not come out of the body case 1 forward.
Further, the slider main body 25 of each of the left and right sliders 24 abuts each end of the left and right retaining pawls 22, 22 of the shutter 7 (see FIG. 3), whereby the shutter 7 closes the window hole 6 at the central closed position. Held in.

When the disk cartridge having the shutter 7 attached thereto is loaded in the drive device, an opening / closing operation member (not shown) on the device side engages with the shutter 7, and this engagement action causes the shutter 7 to open in the window hole. While pushing and moving the left or right slider 24 against the tensile force of the spring member 23 from the closed position at the center where 6 is closed to the left side wall 13 or the right side wall 14, the slider 24 is moved on each outer surface of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. It slides, so that the window hole 6 is fully opened. When the pressing force applied to the shutter 7 is released, the shutter 7 receives the pulling force of the spring member 23 via the slider 24 and automatically returns to the original central closed position and stops.

The first engaging protrusion 26 and the second engaging protrusion 27 of the slider 24 are provided upside down with respect to the above-described embodiment, and correspondingly, the first engaging groove 20 is provided with the guide rail 11 of the upper case 1a. In addition, the second engagement groove 21 may be provided in each of the guide rails 12 of the lower case 1b.

[0024]

According to the present invention, the slider 24 that abuts the shutter 7 has a mushroom-shaped first engaging protrusion 26, and the first engaging protrusion 26 has a T-shaped cross section of the guide rail 12.
By being slidably fitted in the engagement groove 20, it cannot be easily disengaged. Therefore, the slider 24 can be easily assembled to the body case 1. The first engagement protrusion 26 can be easily fitted into the first engagement groove 20 through the fitting opening 32 provided in the first engagement groove 20, and the slider 24 is also excellent in assembling in this respect as well. Moreover, the slider 24 slides smoothly and stably in the guide groove 19 by providing the second engaging projection 27 and restricting the clearance between the first and second engaging projections 26 and 27 and the respective grooves 20 and 21. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

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

FIG. 3 is an internal plan view of the front end portion of the disc cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a part of the front end of the disc cartridge.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the front end of the disc cartridge with the shutter removed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where a slider is attached to the front end of the lower case of the disk cartridge.

FIG. 8 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 6 Window Hole 7 Shutter 7a Shutter Upper Plate 7b Shutter Lower Plate 7c Shutter Back Plate 11 ・ 12 Guide Rail 19 Guide Groove 20 First Engagement Groove 20a First engagement groove narrow groove 20b First engagement groove wide groove 21 Second engagement groove 22 Retaining pawl 23 Spring member 24 Slider 25 Slider body 26 First engagement protrusion 26a First engagement protrusion Neck portion 26b Head portion of first engaging projection 27 Second engaging projection 32 Fitting port

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A disk 2 of a recording medium 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. A window 6 for reading and writing signals is provided extending from the substantially central portion of the main body 1 in the front direction. A shutter 7 for opening and closing the window 6 is provided in the main body case 1 in the left-right direction on each outer surface of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4. In the slidably mounted disc cartridge, the guide rails 11 and 12 are provided on the inner surfaces of the front ends of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4, respectively.
Are vertically opposed to each other through the guide groove 19 in the left-right direction, and the upper guide rail 11 or the lower guide rail 12 is provided with the first engaging groove 20 having a T-shaped cross section in the left-right direction. The upper and lower plates 7a and 7b sliding on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower walls 3 and 4, the back plate 7c connecting the front ends of the upper and lower plates 7a and 7b, and the back plate 7c are integrally projected from the inner surface. A pair of left and right sliders 24, which are provided and have sliding stoppers 22 that slide in the guide groove 19, respectively contact the left and right ends of the shutter 7, and urge the shutter 7 to move in the closing direction. A slider body 25 in which each of the left and right sliders 24 slides in the guide groove 19; and a first engagement part formed by projecting from a lower side surface or an upper side surface of the slider body 25. Sliding in groove 20 The disk cartridge and a first engaging protrusion 26 of the mushroom-shaped that. 2. The first engaging groove 20 is composed of a narrow groove 20a and a wide groove 20b, and the first engaging protrusion 26 is fitted in the neck portion 26a and the wide groove 20b which fit into the narrow groove 20a. The narrow groove 20a.
2. The disc cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a fitting opening 32 for allowing the head portion 26b to be inserted is provided in a part of the longitudinal direction of the disc cartridge. 3. The clearance x between the head portion 26b of the first engaging protrusion 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engaging groove 20 is set to be equal to the clearance x between the neck portion 26a of the first engaging protrusion 26 and the first engaging groove 20. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the clearance y with respect to the narrow groove 20a is set smaller than the clearance y. 4. The first engagement protrusion 26 of the slider 24.
The second engaging groove 2 for projecting the second engaging protrusion 27 on the surface opposite to the surface having the groove and slidingly guiding the second engaging protrusion 27.
1 is provided on another guide rail 11 facing the guide rail 12 having the first engaging groove 20, and the clearance z between the second engaging protrusion 27 and the second engaging groove 21 is set to the first engaging value. The head 26b of the mating protrusion 26 and the wide groove 20b of the first engaging groove 20.
The clearance x is set to be smaller than the clearance x.
The disc cartridge as described.