JPH0991824A - Disk driving system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly and surely open shutters in the case of selectively loading two kinds of disk cartridges, a large one and a small one. SOLUTION: Two kinds of disk cartridges, a large cartridge and a small cartridge, inside which floppy disks having different diameters, a large diameter and a small diameter, are housed, are selectively inserted in a cartridge holder 35. In such a case, the shutter 10 is selectively opened by two shutter opening/ closing pins 54 and 74 of two kinds of shutter opening closing mechanisms 51 and 71 attached to the cartridge holder 35.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The technical field to which the present invention pertains is
The disk drive system is compatible with two kinds of disk cartridges having different diameters of the disk-shaped recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is conventionally known, among the floppy disk cartridges using a floppy disk made of a magnetic sheet as a disk-shaped recording medium, a 3.5 inch floppy disk cartridge has a diameter of a floppy disk. Is 85.8 mm (3.5
Inch) and the width of the cartridge that accommodates the floppy disk rotatably inside is 90.0
Standardized to mm.

On the other hand, as is conventionally known, a disk drive compatible with the 3.5-inch form factor in the computer industry has a width of 101.6 mm.
(4 inches) standardized.

Therefore, the width (90.0 mm) of the conventional 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge is 3.
There is a sufficient margin with respect to the width (101.6 mm) of the disk drive compatible with the 5-inch form factor, and the disk cartridge suitable for the disk drive is configured.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional 3.5
When the diameter of the floppy disk is 85.8 mm like the inch floppy disk cartridge, the data recording capacity is limited.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a disk cartridge having a small disk-shaped recording medium, such as a conventional 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge, and a disk-shaped recording medium having a large diameter are used to record data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk drive system that includes two kinds of disk cartridges, large and small, of which the capacity is increased and the compatibility of these disk cartridges.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, a disk drive system according to the present invention has a small-sized disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in a small-sized cartridge having a small width and a shutter having a small size. A small disk cartridge mounted slidably in the lateral direction along the front edge of the cartridge, and a large-diameter disk-shaped recording medium rotatably housed inside a large cartridge whose lateral width at least on the rear edge side is larger than that of the small cartridge. Then, a large-sized disk cartridge having a shutter mounted slidably in the lateral direction along the front end edge of the large-sized cartridge and two kinds of large and small disk cartridges are provided, and these two kinds of large and small disk cartridges are selectively inserted, Cars that are selectively mounted on spindles and disk tables The ridge holder, these large and small
Two types of shutter opening / closing mechanisms for opening / closing the respective shutters of the types of disc cartridges are provided.

According to the disk drive system of the present invention having the above-described structure, when two kinds of large and small disk cartridges having different diameters of the disk-shaped recording medium are selectively inserted into the cartridge holder, these large and small kinds of disk cartridges are selected. 2 shutters for each disc cartridge
It can be opened and closed independently of each other by various types of shutter opening and closing mechanisms.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a disk cartridge and a disk drive system to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Description of Small Disc Cartridge] First, the small disc cartridge will be described with reference to FIGS.

The small disk cartridge 1 is a conventional 3.5-inch floppy disk cartridge.

Therefore, as is conventionally known, the small cartridge 2 of the small disk cartridge 1 is used.
The upper and lower shells 3a, 3b have a substantially rectangular planar shape and are configured in a flat case. The small-diameter disk-shaped recording medium rotatably accommodated in the small cartridge 2 has a diameter of 3. It is composed of a small diameter floppy disk 4 made of a 5-inch magnetic sheet.

The center core 5 bonded to the center of the small diameter floppy disk 4 has a square center hole 6
And a rectangular eccentric hole 7 are formed, and the center core 5 is loosely fitted in a circular disk table insertion hole 9 formed substantially in the center of the lower shell 3b constituting the lower surface of the small cartridge 2. Has been done.

The upper and lower shells 3a and 3b forming the upper and lower surfaces of the small cartridge 2 have rectangular upper and lower portions extending along the cartridge center P ₁ at the center of the front end edge 2a of the small cartridge 2. A pair of recording / reproducing window holes 8 are opened.

A shutter 10 having a substantially U-shaped cross section so as to straddle both the upper and lower outer surfaces of the upper and lower shells 3a and 3b is a horizontal direction along the front end edge 2a of the small cartridge 2 and has arrows a and b. It is attached so that it can slide in any direction. The shutter 10 is urged to slide in the direction of arrow a from the open position shown by the solid line in FIG. 12 to the closed position shown by the alternate long and short dash line by the shutter spring 11 which is a torsion coil spring mounted inside the small cartridge 2. ing. In addition, at a position deviated to the one end portion 10a side which is an end portion of the shutter 10 on the closing direction side,
A pair of rectangular upper and lower shutter holes 12 that are slightly larger than the pair of upper and lower head insertion holes 9 are opened.

On the inner surface of the upper shell 3a, a circular spindle abutting plate 1 is located directly above the center core 5.
3, the lifter 14 is attached to the inner surface of the lower shell 3b at the lateral position of the disc table insertion hole 8 by adhesion or welding.

A pair of upper and lower cleaning sheets 15 covering the upper and lower surfaces of the small diameter floppy disk 4 are adhered to the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shells 3a and 3b. The pair of upper and lower cleaning sheets 15 are cut into a horseshoe shape, and the disc table insertion hole 9, the spindle contact plate 13, and the pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 are formed.
A notch 15a for the part is formed. And
The pair of upper and lower cleaning sheets 15 is used for the lifter 1.
The upper and lower surfaces of the small diameter floppy disk 4 are elastically contacted by the pressing force of 4.

The lower shell 3b, which constitutes the lower surface of the small-sized disk cartridge 1 thus constructed, has a pair of left and right pull-in recesses 16 at positions closest to the front end edges 2a of the left and right side surfaces 2c. Has been formed. The pair of recesses 16 for drawing in are formed in a substantially semicircular cutout that is cut across the corners between the lower surface of the lower shell 3b and the left and right side surfaces 2c.

On the lower surface of the lower shell 3b, a pair of left and right positioning holes 17 are formed at left and right side positions slightly offset from the pair of left and right retracting recesses 16 toward the disk table insertion hole 9 side. The pair of left and right positioning holes 17 are composed of a circular hole and an oval hole.

Then, on the lower surface of the lower shell 3b, the rear edge 2b is formed.
Erase erasure prevention claws 18 and 2DD and 2H
Recording capacity identifying holes 19 such as D and 2ED are formed. Further, a notch 20 cut at approximately 45 ° is formed at one end of the front end edge 2a of the small cartridge 2.

[Description of Disk Drive] Next, FIG.
The disk drive will be described with reference to FIGS.

The disk drive 31 includes a chassis 32 formed of sheet metal, a cover 33 formed of sheet metal thinner than the chassis 32 and attached to an upper portion of the chassis 32, and a chassis 32 and a cover formed of synthetic resin. It is formed into a flat box shape by an exterior member with a front panel 34 attached to the front end of 33. The front panel 34 has a cartridge insertion opening 34a.
Are formed.

Inside the disk drive 31, a cartridge holder 35 made of sheet metal is horizontally arranged above the chassis 32, and the cartridge holder 35 is moved by a holder lifting mechanism (not shown). It is mounted so as to be able to move up and down by a parallel movement on 32. A shutter opening / closing mechanism, which will be described later, is mounted on the cartridge holder 35, and an eject button 36 is projected in front of the front panel 34.

Inside the disc drive 1, the chassis 32 is placed at the lower position of the cartridge holder 35.
A spindle motor 37 mounted horizontally is arranged on the upper side, and a disc table 39 formed on the upper end of the rotor of the spindle motor 37 is horizontally fixed to the upper end of a vertical spindle 38 of the spindle motor 37. The drive pin 40 is projected at the eccentric position on the disk table 39.

A head moving device 41 is arranged behind the disk table 39 on the chassis 32 inside the disk drive 31.

The head moving device 41 includes a head carriage 42, a head arm 44 rotatably mounted on the head carriage 42 through a leaf spring 43 and the like, and upper and lower ends of the head carriage 42 and the head arm 44. It is composed of a pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 mounted on the facing surface so as to face each other, a stepping motor (not shown) for moving the head carriage 42, and the like.

"Recording and reproducing operation of floppy disk"
The disk drive 31 is configured as described above, and the small disk cartridge 1 is mounted on the front panel 3
4 is inserted horizontally into the cartridge holder 35 from the cartridge insertion port 34a from the direction of arrow c, the shutter 10 of the small disk cartridge 1 is opened by the shutter opening / closing mechanism described later, and the cartridge holder 35 is horizontally moved by the holder elevating mechanism. Is lowered to. Then, the small disk cartridge 1 is lowered horizontally, and the small-diameter floppy disk 4 inside is rotated by the center core 5 into the spindle 38 and the disk table 3.
9 is magnetically chucked from above, and a pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 are attached to the small disk cartridge 1
It is inserted into the small disk cartridge 1 through a pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 formed in the upper and lower surfaces of the small disk floppy disk 4 and is brought into contact with both upper and lower surfaces thereof.

At the time of mounting the disc, the spindle 38 and the disc table 39 are relatively inserted from below into the disc table insertion hole 9 of the small disc cartridge 1, and the center core 5 is moved to the outer periphery of the spindle 38 by the center hole 6. Inserted in the disc table 39
It is magnetically chucked on top. And at the same time,
The drive pin 40 on the disc table 39 is engaged with the eccentric hole 7 of the center core 35.

Then, a pair of left and right positioning holes 17 on the front end edge 2a side of the small-sized disc cartridge 1 are fitted from above into a pair of left and right positioning pins 46 which are vertically mounted on the back of the chassis 32. Chassis 3
2, the rear end edge 2b side of the small disc cartridge 1 is placed on a pair of left and right positioning bases 47 horizontally attached to the front panel 34 side, and the small disc cartridge 1 is horizontally positioned on the chassis 32. It

After mounting the disk, the small diameter floppy disk 4 is rotated by the spindle motor 37, and the head carriage 42 and the head arm 44 are driven by the stepping motor of the head moving device 41.
Are integrally moved in the directions of arrows c and d, and the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 are moved in the pair of upper and lower recording and reproducing window holes 8 of the small disk cartridge 1 along the radiation from the center of the small diameter floppy disk 4. Move in the directions of arrows c and d.
Then, recording and reproducing are performed on both upper and lower surfaces of the small diameter floppy disk 4 by the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45.

After recording and reproducing, the eject button 3
When 6 is pushed in the direction of arrow c, the cartridge holder 35 is raised horizontally by the holder elevating mechanism. And
After the small disk cartridge 1 is lifted horizontally, the small-diameter floppy disk 4 inside is removed upward from the spindle 38 and the disk table 39, and the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 is removed above and below the small disk cartridge 1. The small disc cartridge 1 is ejected in the direction of arrow d from the cartridge insertion opening 34a of the front panel 34 by the shutter opening / closing mechanism described later.

[Explanation of Shutter Opening / Closing Mechanism] Next, referring to FIG.
7 and FIG. 18, the shutter opening / closing mechanism mounted on the cartridge holder 35 will be described.

The shutter opening / closing mechanism 51 includes a horizontal, almost L-shaped shutter opening / closing lever 53 mounted on the cartridge holder 35 via a vertical fulcrum pin 52 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows e and f in the horizontal plane. A shutter opening / closing pin 54 is vertically attached to the lower surface of the tip of the shutter opening / closing lever 53. The shutter opening / closing pin 54 is vertically inserted into the cartridge holder 35 through an opening 55 cut out at a substantially central portion of a rear end side 35a of the cartridge holder 35 on the cartridge insertion direction side. ing. The shutter opening / closing pin 54 has the opening 5
5 is configured to be movable in the directions of arrows e and f around the fulcrum pin 52 on one side of the cartridge 5, and is bridged between the shutter opening / closing lever 53 and the spring locking portion 56 of the cartridge holder 35. The ejecting spring 57, which is a tension coil spring, urges the shutter open / close pin 54 to move to the stop position shown in FIG. 17 in the direction of arrow e.

As shown in FIG. 18, the opening 55 of the cartridge holder 35 is located above the recording / reproducing window hole 8 of the small disc cartridge 1 which has been completely inserted into the cartridge holder 35, as will be described later. It is open over a relatively large area so that it can be opened completely.

According to the shutter opening / closing mechanism 51, as described above, when the small disc cartridge 1 is inserted horizontally into the cartridge holder 35 from the direction of arrow c, the small disc cartridge 1 is moved to the depth shown in FIG. At the time of insertion, at the right lateral position of the shutter 10, the front end edge 2a of the small disk cartridge 1 abuts the shutter opening / closing pin 54 at right angles from the direction of arrow c.

Then, the small disc cartridge 1 is continuously inserted in the direction of arrow c to the cartridge insertion completion position in the cartridge holder 35 shown in FIG. 18, and a part of the front edge 2a thereof abuts on the cartridge stopper 35b of the cartridge holder 35. Before the contact and stop, the shutter opening / closing pin 54 is pushed in the direction of arrow c by the front edge 2a of the small-sized disk cartridge 1, and the shutter opening / closing lever 53 resists the eject spring 56 about the fulcrum shaft 52. It is rotated in the direction of arrow f.

During this time, the shutter opening / closing pin 5
4 moves in the direction of arrow b along the front edge 2a of the small disc cartridge 1 from the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 12 to the position shown by the solid line, and this shutter opening / closing pin 54 makes the arrow point the one end 10a of the shutter 10. Push in a right angle in the b direction.

As a result, the shutter 10 slides in the direction of the arrow b against the shutter spring 11 from the closed position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 12 to the opened position shown by the solid line. At the open position, the shutter hole 12 of the shutter 10 has the recording / reproducing window hole 8 of the small disc cartridge 1.
The recording / reproducing window holes 8 are overlaid on top of each other to be opened.

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 12, when the closing of the shutter 10 is completed, the shutter opening / closing pin 54 is placed in the locking recess 58 formed in a part of the front edge 2a of the small disc cartridge 1. Depressed and locked.

Almost at the same time when the opening of the shutter 10 is completed, the cartridge holder 35 is loaded as described above.
Is lowered horizontally, and the small diameter floppy disk 4 is mounted on the spindle 38 and the disk table 39, as shown in FIG.

The shutter opening / closing lever 53 is shown in FIG.
Since the eject spring 57 is extended by being rotated in the direction of the arrow f from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 18, the eject force of the small disc cartridge 1 is charged in the eject spring 57.

Then, as described above, the eject button 36 is pressed after the recording and reproduction of the small diameter floppy disk 4, and the small disk cartridge 1 is moved to the spindle 38 and the disk table 3 by the cartridge holder 35.
At the moment when the small disc cartridge 1 is detached from the cartridge holder 35 upward by the eject spring 57, the shutter opening / closing lever 53 is rotated in the direction of arrow e by the shutter opening / closing pin 54.
Is discharged in the direction.

At the same time, the shutter 10 is slid by the shutter spring 11 from the open position shown by the solid line in FIG. 12 to the closed position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the direction of arrow a, and the shutter hole 12 is opened. The recording / reproducing window hole 8 is offset to one side, and the recording / reproducing window hole 8 is closed by the shutter 10.

[Explanation of Size of Disk Drive] As shown in FIG. 14, the disk drive 31 constructed as described above has a size of 3.5 inches in the computer industry.
Standardized to a size that can fully satisfy the form factor, with a width W of 101.6 mm (4 inches)
And the thickness (height) H is set to 25.4 mm (1 inch).

“Dimensional Description of Small Disk Cartridge”
Next, the dimensions set in the small cartridge 2 of the small disk cartridge 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the lateral width A ₁ on the front end edge 2a side and the rear end edge 2b of the small cartridge 2 having a substantially rectangular shape.
Both lateral widths A ₂ are set to 90.0 mm. The distance A ₃ between the front edge 2a and the center of the small diameter floppy disk 4 in the front-rear direction (in the directions of arrows c and d) is set to 48.5 mm. And, the distance A ₄ in the front-rear direction between the front edge 2a and the centers of the pair of left and right positioning holes 17 is set to 17.5 mm,
The distance A ₅ in the front-rear direction between the center of these positioning holes 17 and the center of the small diameter floppy disk 4 is 31.
It is set to 0 mm. The diameter D ₁ of the small diameter floppy disk 4 is set to 85.8 mm. The depth A _{6 in} the front-rear direction between the front edge 2a and the rear edge 2b is set to 93.0 mm.

[Description of Large Disc Cartridge] Next, a large disc cartridge will be described with reference to FIGS.

This large disk cartridge 21 has a large diameter floppy disk 24 which is a large diameter disk-shaped recording medium using a magnetic sheet inside the large cartridge 22.
Is rotatably housed, and the other structure is the same as that of the small disk cartridge 1 described above.

However, this large disk cartridge 21
Is configured so as to be sufficiently applicable to the above-mentioned disc drive 31 corresponding to the 3.5-inch form factor in the computer industry and compatible with the above-mentioned small disc cartridge 1. ing.

First, as shown in FIG. 13, in the case of the small cartridge 2, the pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 formed in the upper and lower shells 3a and 3b are on the cartridge insertion direction side (arrow c). The front edge 8a, which is the edge on the direction side) is closed.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in this large-sized cartridge 22, the diameter D ₂ of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 housed inside is changed to the small-diameter floppy disk 4.
Even if the outer diameter 24a of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 does not come into contact with the front end edges 8a of the pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 of the large-sized cartridge 22, even if it is larger than the diameter D _{1 of} The front end edge 8a of the window hole 8 is formed as an open end 8b which is completely cut out over the entire width.

When the shutter 10 is opened in the arrow b direction from the closed position shown in FIG. 1A to the opened position shown in FIG. The shutter 10 is completely displaced in the direction of the arrow b from the front surface of the open end 8b of the recording / reproducing window hole 8.
The open end 8b can be completely opened.

For this reason, the shutter 10 of the large cartridge 22 is formed by removing the shutter hole 12 formed in the shutter 10 of the small cartridge 2 shown in FIGS.
The lateral width W ₂ of the shutter 10 is smaller than the lateral width W ₁ of the shutter 10 of the small cartridge 2.

In the large cartridge 22, the front end face 10b of the shutter 10 having a small lateral width W ₂ has the engaging portion 78 on one end side of the shutter spring 12 and the one end portion 10a on the closing direction side. A shutter opening / closing pin engaging recess 79 is formed between the two. In addition, shutter 1
By reducing the width W _{2 of} 0, the cost can be reduced by saving the material cost.

Next, this large disk cartridge 21
The large cartridge 22 is a substantially convex type in which the rear end edge 22b side is uniformly expanded to the left and right sides compared to the front end edge 22a side so that a large diameter floppy disk 24 having an enlarged diameter D ₂ can be stored rotatably. It is configured in shape.

The lateral width B _{1 of the} large cartridge 22 on the front edge 22a side is 90.0 mm, which is the same as the lateral width A _{1 of} the small cartridge 2 on the front edge 2a side. The lateral width B _{2 on} the rear end edge 2b side is set to, for example, 96.0 mm, which is larger than the lateral width A ₂ on the rear end edge 2b side of the small cartridge 2.

However, the above-mentioned 3.5 inch foam
The lateral width B ₁ of the disk drive 31 corresponding to the factor is 90.60 mm so that the lateral width B ₁ on the rear end edge 22a side of the large-sized cartridge 22 can be accommodated within the maximum value of 101.6 mm, which is the maximum value. 0 mm or more, 101.
It has an allowable value of 6 mm or less.

The lateral width B ₁ of the large cartridge 22 on the front end edge 22a side is in the front-back direction from the front end edge 22a to the position above the pair of left and right retracting recesses 16 and the positioning holes 17 (arrow c, The depth is set to 90.0 mm over the depth B _{7 (} in the d direction). Therefore, the depth B ₇ becomes 17.5 mm or more, and the front end side 22c ₁ and the rear end side 22 of the left and right side edges 22c are both.
A step B _{8 in} the left-right direction of 4.0 mm or more is formed between each of them and c ₂ . And these front edge 2
2c ₁ and the trailing edge 22c ₂ between the tapered surface 22c
₃ are formed.

In this way, the edge of the pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 of the large cartridge 22 on the cartridge insertion direction side is formed as the open end 8b, and the rear edge of the large cartridge 22 is formed. 22b side width B ₂ is 9
By expanding this large cartridge 22 into a substantially convex shape by expanding it to a size of 0.01.6 mm or more and 101.6 mm or less, the diameter of the large diameter floppy disk 24 rotatably accommodated in the large cartridge 22. D ₂
Is 85.8 which is the diameter D ₁ of the small diameter floppy disk.
It can be enlarged to a size of 94.0 mm or more, for example, 94.0 mm, and can be easily enlarged.

Therefore, this large disk cartridge 2
1 has a diameter D ₂ of the large diameter floppy disk 24 of 85.
Since the size is increased from 8 mm to 94.0 mm, the data recording capacity of the large diameter floppy disk 24 can be increased and a large capacity disk cartridge can be constructed.

It should be noted that, as described with reference to FIG. 15, the upper and lower pairs of the recording / reproducing window holes 8 of the large-sized cartridge 22 are notched so as to form the open ends 8b. When recording and reproducing both the upper and lower surfaces of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 by the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 inserted in the pair of recording / reproducing window holes 8 from above and below and moved in the directions of arrows c and d, Even when the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 are moved to the outermost peripheral position of the large-diameter floppy disk 24, these magnetic heads 45 do not collide with the edge of the recording / reproducing window hole 8 on the cartridge insertion direction side, and thus the large size. It also means that it is possible to record in a wide range up to the outermost limit position of the diameter floppy disk 24.

Therefore, even if the diameter D ₂ of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 is not necessarily limited, the outermost radius of the annular recording area recorded by the pair of upper and lower magnetic heads 45 on the large-diameter floppy disk 24 is set. Since it is possible to enlarge the size, the data recording capacity of the large diameter floppy disk 24 can be increased.

However, this large disk cartridge 21
In order to have compatibility with the small-sized disc cartridge 1, the space B ₃ between the front edge 22 a of the large-sized cartridge 22 and the center of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 in the front-rear direction is equal to the same distance A ₃ of the small-sized cartridge 2. Same as 4
It is set to 8.5 mm.

Similarly, the distance B ₄ in the front-rear direction between the front edge 22a and the centers of the pair of left and right positioning holes 17 is also:
The same spacing A ₄ of the small cartridge 2 is set to 17.5 mm, and the spacing B ₅ between the center of these positioning holes 17 and the center of the large diameter floppy disk 24 in the front-rear direction is also the same as that of the small cartridge 2. It is set to 31.0 mm, which is the same as the same interval A ₅ .

However, the depth B _{6 in} the front-rear direction between the front end edge 22a and the rear end edge 22b of the large cartridge 22 is set.
Is 93.0m, which is the same depth A ₆ of a small cartridge
It may be enlarged to a value slightly larger than m. Further, the thickness of the small and large cartridges 2 and 22 is not limited.

[Comparison of Recording Capacity of Small Diameter Floppy Disk and Large Diameter Floppy Disk] Next, the recording capacity of data that can be recorded on the small diameter floppy disk 4 and the large diameter floppy disk 24 will be compared.

First, the annular recording area of the small diameter floppy disk 4 having the diameter D ₁ of 85.8 mm has an innermost radius of 23.0 mm and an outermost radius of 39.5.
Since it is mm, the area of the recording area is 3,24
It becomes 0 mm ² / area.

On the other hand, for example, the annular recording area of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 having the diameter D ₂ of 94.0 mm has the innermost radius of 23.0 mm, but the outermost radius of up to 43.5 mm. Because it can be expanded,
The area of the recording area can be increased to 4,280 mm ² / area.

Therefore, the area of the recording area of the large diameter floppy disk 24 can be increased up to 1.32 times the area of the recording area of the small diameter floppy disk 24.

As a result, when the recording capacity of the small diameter floppy disk 4 is 1.44 MB (megabytes), the recording capacity of the large diameter floppy disk 24 is 1.9 M.
It can be increased up to B (megabytes). If the recording capacity of the small diameter floppy disk 4 is 80 MB (megabytes), the large diameter floppy disk 24
The recording capacity of can be increased to 105 MB. The recording capacity of the small diameter floppy disk 4 is 500MB.
For (megabytes), the recording capacity of the large diameter floppy disk 24 can be increased to 660 MB (megabytes).

[Description of Countermeasures for Disk Drive] Next, the countermeasures for compatibility between the small and large disk cartridges 1 and 21 in the disk drive 31 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the left and right side edges 35c of the sheet metal cartridge holder 35 are pressed in accordance with the substantially convex outer shape of the large cartridge 22 of the large disk cartridge 21. (refer to the cartridge insertion direction side) rear side of the left and right side edges 35c 35c ₁ is a cartridge holder center P ₂
Is narrowed inward toward and has a width of B ₁ (A ₁ ),
The pair of left and right centering guides 61 having a depth of B ₇ are formed in parallel. And these left and right side walls 35
the front end side of the c (cartridge refers to the discharge direction side) 35c ₂
The breadth be formed in B _2, at the end of the cartridge ejection side of the pair of left and right centering guide 61 a pair of right and left tapered surfaces 62 are formed.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, on the cartridge holder 35, another shutter opening / closing for the large disk cartridge 21 is provided on the left side of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 51 for the small disk cartridge 1 described above. The mechanism 71 is attached.

The shutter opening / closing mechanism 71 for the large-sized disc cartridge is used in the cartridge holder 3
5 through a fulcrum pin 72 vertical to the arrow 5 in the horizontal plane,
The shutter opening / closing lever 73 rotatably attached in the h direction, and the shutter opening / closing lever 73 is vertically attached to the lower surface of the tip of the shutter opening / closing lever 73, is inserted through the opening 55, and is vertically projected into the cartridge holder 35. Opening 5
5, a shutter opening / closing pin 74 which is moved in the directions of arrows g and h around the fulcrum pin 72 on the side opposite to the shutter opening / closing pin 54, and a shutter opening / closing lever 73.
And the spring locking portion 76 of the cartridge holder 35, which is a tension coil spring that urges the shutter opening / closing lever 73 to rotate in the direction of arrow g.
7.

The two types of shutter opening / closing mechanisms 5 mounted on the cartridge holder 35 in this manner
The movable directions of the shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 (arrows e and f and the directions g and h) of the shutters 1 and 71 and the movable strokes S ₁ and S _{2 in the} directions of arrows a and b are substantially the same. .

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the small disk cartridge 1 is placed in the cartridge holder 35 of the disk drive 31, and the front edge 2 of the small cartridge 2 is inserted.
When horizontally inserted from the a side in the direction of the arrow c, the front end edge 2a side of the small cartridge 2 is placed in the cartridge holder 35.
The pair of left and right centering guides 61 are guided by the pair of left and right taper surfaces 62 of the left and right side edges 35c.
Inserted inside. Then, eventually, a part of the front edge 2a of the small cartridge 2 is stopped at the insertion completion position where the cartridge stopper 35b is brought into contact therewith.

[0077] At this time, the centering operation by the pair of left and right centering guide 61, a small cartridge center P ₁ of the cartridge 2 is positioned on the center P ₂ of the cartridge holder 35, the center of the small floppy disk 4 spindle 38 Positioned on the center of the.

Then, as described above, after this, the cartridge holder 35 is lowered horizontally, the center core 5 of the small-diameter floppy disk 4 is mounted on the spindle 38 and the disk table 39, and the left and right sides of the small cartridge 2 are moved. The pair of positioning holes 17 are fitted to the pair of left and right positioning pins 46, and are horizontally mounted on the pair of left and right positioning bases 47.
Is installed in the correct position.

When the small disc cartridge 1 is inserted horizontally into the cartridge holder 35 from the direction of arrow c, the shutter opening / closing pin 54 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 51 for the small disc cartridge 1 is used to release the shutter of the small disc cartridge 1. 10 is opened in the direction of arrow b as described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

At this time, the shutter opening / closing pin 74 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 71 for the large-sized disk cartridge 21.
The shutter 10 of this small disc cartridge 1
The front end face 10b of the shutter abuts in the direction of arrow c, and the shutter opening / closing pin 74 moves in the direction of arrow h in FIG. 6 against the eject spring 77.

However, since the movable directions of the two shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 and the movable strokes S ₁ and S ₂ are substantially the same, the two shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 are in the direction of arrow b in FIG. By moving the shutter opening / closing pin 74 and the front end surface 10b of the shutter 10 of the small disk cartridge 1, relative sliding friction in the directions of arrows a and b is hardly generated. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the front end surface 10b of the shutter 10 of the small-sized disc cartridge 1 from being scratched by sliding friction with the shutter opening / closing 74.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 and FIG.
When the large disk cartridge 21 is horizontally inserted in the same cartridge holder 35 of the same disk drive 31 from the front end edge 22a side of the large disk cartridge 22 in the direction of arrow c, the front end edge 22a side of the large cartridge 22 is located in the cartridge holder 35. The left and right side edges 35c are guided by the pair of left and right tapered surfaces 62 and inserted into the pair of left and right centering guides 61. Then, eventually, a part of the front end edge 22a of the large-sized cartridge 22 is stopped at the insertion completion position where the cartridge stopper 35b is brought into contact therewith.

At this time as well, the centering operation by the pair of left and right centering guides 61 causes the large cartridge 22 to operate in the same manner as the small cartridge 2.
The cartridge center P ₁ is the cartridge holder 3
Is positioned on the fifth central P _2, the center of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 is positioned over the center of the spindle 38.

Regarding the large cartridge 22, the left and right side edges 22 of the large cartridge 22 are defined by the pair of left and right centering guides 61 and the entire length of the left and right side edges 35c of the cartridge holder 35 in the front-rear direction.
Centering can be performed over substantially the entire length of c in the front-rear direction.

Then, as described above, after this, the cartridge holder 35 is lowered horizontally, and the center core 5 of the large-diameter floppy disk 24 is placed on the spindle 38 and the disk table 39, just as in the case of the small cartridge 2. Attached to the large cartridge 2
The pair of left and right positioning holes 17 are fitted into the pair of left and right positioning pins 46 and horizontally mounted on the pair of left and right positioning bases 47, so that the large cartridge 22 is mounted at an accurate position.

As described above, when the large disk cartridge 21 is inserted into the cartridge holder 35 from the direction of the arrow c, the small disk cartridge 1 is inserted at the time when the large disk cartridge 21 is inserted to the depth shown in FIG. The right end of the front end edge 22a of the large cartridge 22 abuts on the shutter opening / closing pin 54 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 51 for use in the direction from arrow c, and the shutter opening / closing pin 74 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 71 for the large disk cartridge 21 is attached. The shutter engaging recess 79 of the front end surface 10b of the shutter 10 of the large-sized disc cartridge 21 is engaged from the direction of the arrow c, and the shutter opening / closing pin 74 is attached to the front end edge 22 of the large-sized cartridge 22.
The left end of a is abutted from the direction of arrow c.

Then, the large-sized disc cartridge 21 is continuously inserted in the direction of arrow c to the cartridge insertion completion position in the cartridge holder 35 shown in FIG. 7, and a part of the front end edge 22a thereof contacts the cartridge stopper 35b of the cartridge holder 35. The front end edge 22a of the large-sized disc cartridge 21 is stopped until it comes into contact with and stops.
The two shutter opening / closing pins 54, 74 are simultaneously pushed in the direction of arrow c by the shutter opening / closing levers 53, 73 against the eject springs 57, 77 about the fulcrum shafts 52, 72 in the directions of arrows f, h. To be rotated.

During this time, the shutter 10 is closed by the shutter opening / closing pin 74 engaged in the shutter opening / closing pin engaging recess 79 of the shutter 10 of the large-sized disk cartridge 21. From the position to the open position shown in FIG. 1B, the pair of upper and lower recording / reproducing window holes 8 of the large cartridge 22 are opened by sliding in the direction of the arrow b against the shutter spring 11. At this time, the shutter opening / closing pin 54 for the small disc cartridge 1 is not attached to the large disc cartridge 21.
The shutter 10 can be smoothly and reliably closed by the shutter opening / closing pin 74 without interfering with the shutter 10.

Then, at the time when the closing of the shutter 10 is completed, the two shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 have the two locking recesses 5 on the front end edge 22a of the large cartridge 22.
It is locked by falling into 8, 80 (see FIG. 2).

When ejecting the small and large disk cartridges 1 and 21 selectively inserted in the cartridge holder 35, these two are combined by the force of the two eject springs 57 and 77 of the shutter opening / closing mechanisms 51 and 71. The small and large disc cartridges 1 and 21 can be strongly ejected from the cartridge holder 35 in the direction of arrow d.

On the other hand, regarding the center ring at the time of selectively inserting the small and large disk cartridges 1 and 21 into the cartridge holder 35, as shown in FIG.
The length L of the pair of left and right centering guides 61 in the front-rear direction is configured to be longer than the movable stroke S of the shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 in the front-rear direction shown by the solid line and the one-dot chain line in FIG. The end 61a of the centering guide 61 on the arrow d direction side, which is the cartridge ejection direction side, is indicated by arrow d rather than the stop positions of the shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 indicated by solid lines on the arrow d direction side.
It is arranged so as to project to the direction side.

As a result, the small and large disc cartridges 1 and 21 are inserted in the cartridge holder 35 by the arrow c.
When the front end edges 2a and 22a of the small and large cartridges 2 and 22 are brought into contact with the shutter opening / closing pins 54 and 74 in the direction of arrow c when selectively inserted from the direction, a pair of left and right centering guides are provided. By 61, the front end edges 2a and 22a of these small and large disc cartridges 1 and 21 can be centered.

Then, in the process of inserting the small and large disk cartridges 1 and 21 into the cartridge holder 35 deeply in the direction of the arrow c while being centered, the shutter opening / closing pin 54 is moved by the front end edges 2a and 22a. As described above, the shutters 10 and 74 are pushed from the direction of the arrow c to open the shutters 10.

As a result, the centering operation of the small and large disk cartridges 1 and 21 can be accurately performed, and the lid opening operation of these shutters 10 can be accurately performed without error.

[Explanation of Preventing Erroneous Insertion of Large Disk Cartridge] As described with reference to FIG. 2, the forward insertion operation of the large disk cartridge 21 into the cartridge holder 35 causes the front end edge 22a of the large cartridge 22 to move toward the arrow c.
It is achieved by inserting it in the direction.

However, the front and rear directions of the large disk cartridge 21 are reversed so that the rear end edge 22b of the large cartridge 22 is directed in the direction of arrow c, and the cartridge holder 3 is moved.
If it is incorrectly inserted into the cartridge 5, the large cartridge 22
The rear edge 22b has a pair of left and right centering guides 61
You can hit back at the pair of left and right tapered surfaces 62 in front of,
Since further insertion is prevented, erroneous insertion of the large disk cartridge 21 can be prevented.

"Consideration on Centering Guide"
Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the pair of left and right centering guides 61 of the cartridge holder 35 are integrally pressed on the left and right side edges 35c of the cartridge holder 35 made of sheet metal, or as shown in FIG. As described above, the pair of left and right centering guides 61 formed of synthetic resin or the like are fixed in parallel inside the cartridge holder 35 at both left and right positions of the rear end side 35a, thereby simplifying the structure and reducing the cost. be able to. The fixed centering guide 61 may be composed of a combination of a plurality of guide pins and the like.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, a pair of left and right centering guides 61 formed of synthetic resin or the like are mounted inside the cartridge holder 35 so as to be slidable in the forward and backward directions indicated by arrows c and d. The centering guides 61 may be configured to be biased by a pair of left and right guide springs 63 such as tension springs to slide in the arrow d direction, which is the cartridge ejection direction.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, when the large disk cartridge 21 is horizontally inserted in the cartridge holder 35 from the direction of arrow c,
The front end edge 22a side of the large cartridge 22 is centered by the pair of left and right centering guides 61, and the pair of left and right centering guides 61 are opposed to the guide spring 63 by the tapered surfaces 22c ₃ of the left and right side edges 22c of the large cartridge 22. And push it in the direction of arrow c.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the small disc cartridge 1 is inserted into the cartridge holder 35 by the arrow c.
When horizontally inserted from the direction, the pair of left and right centering guides 61 are slid by the guide springs 63 in the direction of arrow d, and the small cartridge 2 is inserted between these center guides 61 in the direction of arrow c. Can be centered.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. .

For example, the disk-shaped recording medium applied to the present invention is not limited to the floppy disk using the magnetic sheet shown in the drawings, but recording and / or reproducing by various methods such as an optical disk and a magneto-optical disk. Various types of disc-shaped recording media that can be used are applicable.

[0103]

The disk drive system of the present invention constructed as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, when two kinds of large and small disk cartridges having different diameters of the disk-shaped recording medium are selectively inserted into the cartridge holder, two kinds of shutters of the large and small disk cartridges are provided. Since the shutter opening / closing mechanism can open / close independently of each other, there is compatibility with these large and small disc cartridges. Therefore, it is not necessary to design two kinds of dedicated disk drives for two kinds of disk cartridges having different diameters of the disk-shaped recording medium, respectively. Can be recorded and / or reproduced.

According to the present invention, since two kinds of disk cartridges having different diameters of the disk-shaped recording medium can be shared by one disk drive for recording and / or reproducing, a small-sized disk cartridge having a small diameter can be used. A small disk drive for recording and / or reproducing a disk-shaped recording medium for recording and / or reproducing a large-diameter disk-shaped recording medium of a large disk cartridge,
It is possible to increase the data recording capacity.

Since the movable direction and the movable stroke of the shutter opening / closing pins in the two types of shutter opening / closing mechanisms are substantially the same, for example, a small disk cartridge is selectively inserted into the cartridge holder, When you try to open the lid by pushing one end of the shutter of the small disc cartridge with the shutter opening / closing pin for the small disc cartridge, the shutter opening / closing pin for the large disc cartridge contacts the front end face of the shutter of the small disc cartridge. Even if they come into contact with each other, the shutter opening / closing pin for the large disc cartridge can be moved in the same direction as the shutter of the small disc cartridge at substantially the same speed. Therefore, relative sliding friction does not occur between the front end surface of the shutter of the small-sized disc cartridge and the shutter opening / closing pin for the large-sized disc cartridge that is in contact with it, and the front-end surface of the shutter may be damaged by the sliding friction. It can be prevented.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, since the front end surface of the shutter of the large disc cartridge is formed with the recess for engaging the shutter opening / closing pin for the large disc cartridge,
When a large disc cartridge is selectively inserted into the cartridge holder and the shutter opening / closing pin for the large disc cartridge is engaged with the shutter opening / closing pin engaging recess on the front end face of the shutter to open the shutter. In addition, the shutter opening / closing pin for the small disc cartridge can be smoothly and surely opened without interfering with the shutter of the large disc cartridge. Since the shutter opening / closing pin engaging recess is provided on the front end surface of the shutter, the lateral width of the shutter can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the disk-shaped recording medium is composed of a magnetic sheet, it is possible to obtain a floppy disk cartridge which is optimal and compatible with a disk drive compatible with a 3.5 inch form factor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a large-sized disk cartridge for explaining an embodiment of a disk cartridge and a disk drive system to which the present invention is applied, showing a closed position and an open position of a shutter. It is a drawing.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the large cartridge and the shutter shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an engaged state of the shutter of FIG. 2 and a shutter opening / closing pin of the shutter opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view and a partially cutaway side view illustrating a measure of a cartridge holder of a disk drive and showing a state in which a large disk cartridge is inserted and mounted in the cartridge holder. Is.

5A and 5B are a partially cutaway plan view and a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which a small disk cartridge is inserted and mounted in the cartridge holder of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating two types of shutter opening / closing mechanisms on a cartridge holder in a disc drive.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state where the shutter of the large-sized disk cartridge shown in FIG. 6 is opened.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway plan view illustrating a fixed centering guide in a cartridge holder of a disk drive.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway plan view illustrating a slide type centering guide in a cartridge holder of a disk drive.

10 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which a large disk cartridge is centered by the centering guide of FIG. 9. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state where the small disc cartridge is centered by the centering guide of FIG.

12A and 12B are a plan view and a bottom view illustrating a small disc cartridge.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a small disc cartridge.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a 3.5 inch form factor compatible disk drive.

15 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the disk drive of FIG.

16 is a partially cutaway plan view and a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which a small disk cartridge is inserted and mounted in the cartridge holder of the disk drive shown in FIG.

17 is a plan view illustrating a shutter opening / closing mechanism of a small disc cartridge in the disc drive of FIG.

18 is a plan view showing a state where the shutter of the small disk cartridge shown in FIG. 17 is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Small Disc Cartridge 2 Small Cartridge 2a Small Cartridge Front Edge 2b Small Cartridge Rear Edge 4 Small Floppy Disk (Small Disc-shaped Recording Medium) 10 Shutter 21 Large Disk Cartridge 22 Large Cartridge 22a Large Cartridge Front Edge 22b Large Cartridge Rear edge 24 Large diameter floppy disk (large diameter recording medium) 31 Disk drive 35 Cartridge holder 51 Shutter opening / closing mechanism for small disk cartridge 54 Shutter opening / closing pin for small disk cartridge 71 Shutter opening / closing for large disk cartridge mechanism 74 width a ₂ small front edge of the shutter opening and closing pin 79 a shutter pin engaging recesses a ₁ compact cartridge for the large-sized disk cartridge Width B ₁ shuttering for large cartridge front edge width B ₂ large cartridge trailing edge width D ₁ small floppy disk with a diameter D ₂ diameter floppy disks with a diameter S ₁ small disc cartridge of the rear edge of the cartridges Movable stroke of pin S ₂ Shutter opening / closing pin for large disc cartridge Movable stroke of pin

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A small cartridge in which a small-diameter disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably accommodated in a small cartridge having a small width, and a shutter is attached so as to be slidable laterally along the front edge of the small cartridge. A large-diameter disk-shaped recording medium is rotatably housed inside a disk cartridge and a large-sized cartridge whose width at least on the trailing edge side is larger than that of the above-mentioned small-sized cartridge. And a disk drive having a cartridge holder for selectively inserting the small disk cartridge and the large disk cartridge into the spindle and the disk table. , The cartridge holder Disk drive system, characterized in that a two shutter opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing the respective shutters of the small disc cartridge and large-sized disk cartridge that is inserted selectively within over. 2. The movable direction and the movable stroke of each shutter opening / closing pin in the two types of shutter opening / closing mechanisms are configured to be substantially equal to each other.
The described disk drive system. 3. The disk drive system according to claim 2, wherein a recess for engaging a shutter opening / closing pin for the large-sized disk cartridge is formed on a front end surface of the shutter of the large-sized disk cartridge. 4. The disk drive system according to claim 1, wherein the disk-shaped recording medium is composed of a magnetic sheet.