JPH10149656A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize and satisfy the opening/closing operability of a shutter and also to improve the durability as to a disk cartridge utilizing a system to open the shutter to both directions by attaining the stable production less in assembling failures at the time of automatic assemblage and remarkably increasing the assemblability. SOLUTION: This disk cartridge is provided with a 1st slider connected to the shutter and a pair of 2nd sliders inserted with pressure and held by a spring to both ends of the 1st slider, then to provide the slider on the case, a space 26 is formed at the center part of a connection part 25 arranged at the front end side 28 of a head inserting hole 22 on the upper/lower cases 2, i.e. the connection part 25 is bi-sected keeping the space 26, and the spring is arranged in the space 26, and also a guide recessed part of the 1st slider is fitted from both ends of the connection part 25 and slid for guiding, and by such a constitution, the shutter is smoothly moved and also safely used with durability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a disk-shaped medium,
More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a double-sided or single-sided recordable / reproducible optical disk, a magneto-optical disk and the like are rotatably housed in a case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an information medium, for example, a disk medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk is used as a disk cartridge housed in upper and lower cases. It is known that a shutter for opening and closing the opening is provided. However, conventionally, for a disk cartridge containing a disk-shaped medium capable of recording / reproducing on both sides, many methods of opening the shutter in both directions have been proposed. For example,
In Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-153221, return spring members are provided on both sides of the sliding shutter independently to urge the shutters in the closing direction.

[0003]

However, in this double opening type construction, the assemblability of the shutter is not considered, and the assembling of the upper and lower cases, the shutter and the return spring is extremely difficult, and the mass productivity is extremely poor. For example, when incorporating a spring member before combining the upper and lower cases, if the spring is locked to the slider, it will come off the case due to the elastic force of the spring,
In the configuration where automation and labor saving of assembly are very difficult, and the upper and lower cases are combined and the spring is incorporated,
Although there is no problem described above, it is necessary to open a wide opening for inserting the spring on the front side of the case, there is a problem of intrusion such as dust inside, and the slider etc. are exposed to the outside, so the user can In addition to the problem of being inadvertently touched and possibly being damaged, the durability is inferior. In addition, it is difficult to reduce the size of the disk cartridge, and it cannot be said that the assemblability or operation reliability is sufficient. The present invention
An object of the present invention is to provide a compact and highly reliable disk cartridge which has good shutter opening / closing characteristics, is easy to assemble, and is easy to assemble even if the shutter of the disk cartridge is opened in both directions.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a recordable / reproducible disk-shaped medium is rotatably housed in a case having an opening through which a recording / reproducing head or a drive shaft can be inserted. A disk cartridge comprising a shutter for opening and closing the opening, an upper plate and a lower plate, and a connecting plate for connecting the upper and lower plates in a substantially U-shaped section, and the shutter slidably provided via a slider. And a first slider slidable by engaging a guide portion provided on the case, and slidably engaged by a guide portion provided on the case, and held by both ends of the first slider by a spring. A pair of second sliders, a gap is formed in the center of a connecting portion provided on the front end side of the head insertion hole, the spring is disposed in the gap, and a guide recess of the first slider is provided from both ends of the connecting portion. Is inserted into the guide slide Than it was configured to be.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the present invention, the shutter has a substantially U-shaped cross section and slides over the front end of the upper and lower cases. A slider fixed to the shutter is provided with a guide on the inner surface of the case. The section guides sliding from the closed state to the open state of the shutter. The shutter is slidably guided by a first slider which engages with a guide portion provided on the case and slides and guides, and a spring is disposed in a gap inside the case so as to be movable at substantially both ends in the width direction of the shutter. When the shutter moves to the left open position when the shutter is engaged with the pair of second sliders
The second slider on the left is in contact with the first slider to provide a restoring force in the direction of the closed position, and the second slider on the right is in contact with the case. That is, the first slider is sandwiched between a pair of second sliders by a spring, and the first slider is fitted and held in the connecting portion on the front end side of the head insertion opening, and the spring is inserted into the gap in the connecting portion. Can be placed,
The upper and lower cases can be assembled into one of the upper and lower cases in a state where the shutters are engaged with both ends of the first slider against the spring elastic restoring force. After the upper and lower cases are fixed, the shutter can be fixed to the first slider. The assemblability can be greatly improved, and the end of the first slider has a substantially U-shaped cross section so that the spring can be inserted, and the connecting portion and the guide recess of the first slider are sandwiched. Thus, the shutter moves smoothly, is durable, and can be used safely.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example of a disk cartridge accommodating an optical disk shown in FIGS. 1 to 9. A double-sided or single-sided recording / reproduction can be performed inside a case composed of an upper case 1 and a lower case 2. The disk-shaped medium 10 of a suitable information medium is rotatably accommodated, and the drive shaft insertion holes 11 and 21 and the head insertion holes 12 and 22 are formed in the case.
A cartridge provided with a shutter 4 for opening and closing the opening slidably in a shutter sliding area 5 one step lower than the outer surface of the case, wherein the shutter 4 includes an upper plate 41 and a lower plate 42.
And a connecting plate 43 connecting the upper and lower plates 41 and 42 to have a substantially U-shaped cross section. The shutter 4 has a first slider 6 and a second slider 7 for sliding guide, and a closing of the shutter 4. And a spring 8 of an elastic member that urges in the direction.
A first slider 6 which engage sliding the guide section 9 provided on the case 1 to the shutter 4, engage and slide in the guide portion 9 ₁ provided on the case 1, and first A pair of second sliders 7, 7, which are held by springs 8 at both ends of the slider, are provided, and the ends of the first slider 6 are fitted on both sides of a spring locking portion 71 provided on the second slider 7. The second sliders 7, 7 are pressed against the surrounding wall 72 so as to freely contact and separate from each other, and the connecting portions 2 provided on the case along the both ends of the opening at the center of the case.
The shutter 4 is opened and closed in both directions by being fixed to the stopper projecting wall surfaces 23 and 24 by pressure.

To form the stopper projecting wall surfaces 23, 24, a gap 26 is formed at the center of a connecting portion 25 provided on the front end side 28 of the head insertion holes 12, 22 of the upper and lower cases 1, 2, that is, the connecting portion. 25 is divided into two parts with a gap 26, the spring 8 is arranged in the gap 26, and the guide recess 67 of the first slider 6 is fitted from both ends of the connecting part 25 and guided and slid. And easy opening and closing operation. The connecting portion 25 is connected to one of a pair of rail-shaped guide portions 9 protruding from the case, and is fitted with a holding portion 61 having the first slider 6 so as to guide and slide. Care is taken to maintain it for a long time. The widths W _H of the two connecting portions 25 are set to be the same. This width are smaller than the width W _s of the shutter sliding portions of the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 is for passing the head (pickup light) for recording and reproduction on the disc, the coupling portion 25 The width of the spring disposed between them is preferably equal to or smaller than the width W _H of the connecting portion 25.

The first slider 6 and the second slider 7 have a vertically symmetric structure, and the second slider 7 is
An assembling structure in which the slider 6 is clamped and held by a spring 8 and the shutter 4 is fixed to the first slider 6 after the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 are fixed after being assembled to one of the upper and lower cases 1 and 2. I do. That is, the shutter 4 is fixed to the first slider 6 and moves at the same time. Second sliders 7, 7 are provided at both ends of the first slider 6 so as to sandwich the first slider 6, and the sliders 6, 7 are urged by a spring 8 to a position where the first slider 6 is closed. doing.

In this case, both ends of the first slider 6 are formed in a substantially U-shaped holding portion 61 having a gap through which the spring 8 is inserted, and the second sliders 7, 7 are formed.
The spring 8 is a tension coil spring, and the center of the coil spring 8 substantially coincides with the center of the portion covered by the surrounding wall 72 so that the shutter 4 can smoothly move. To Further, a lower shutter sliding area 5 of the case where the shutter 4 slides is provided with a guide 3 by a fixing means such as fusion or bonding to hold the free ends of the shutter upper and lower plates, and the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 are provided. 4 that slides over the front end of the shutter 4
The first slider 6 provided at both ends has reinforcing portions 62 at both ends for reinforcing the projecting portion 44 of the shutter to which the shutter opening / closing operation member contacts, and the first slider 6 is fitted into the mounting hole 45 provided in the shutter 4.
3 should be provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first slider 6 has a U-shaped holding portion 61 on both sides of which the second slider 7 contacts. A spring 8 is provided in the gap between the U-shaped holding portions 61.
Is inserted, and a projection 63 is provided in the middle thereof.
And is fixed to the shutter 4 by an elastic arm 65 between the two projections 63. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the second slider 7, wherein a spring 8 is provided on the second slider 7.
A spring engaging portion 71 and the rail 73 is fitted into the guide 9, 9 ₁ of the case inner surface and having a shape of a surrounding wall 72 encompassing a U-shaped portion 61 of the first slider 6 from the outside to lock the The first slider 6 and the second slider 7 are provided with a support rod 74 which is fitted into the recess 66 of the first slider 6.
Are integrated to make the movement of the shutter 4 smooth, and the durability is also improved.

With such a configuration of the first and second sliders 6 and 7, when the shutter 4 is opened, the first slider 6 and the second slider 7 can open and close integrally. During assembly, the first slider 6, the second slider 7 (two pieces), and the spring 8 are temporarily assembled and easily assembled into the lower case 2 (one of the upper and lower cases). As a result, the spring 8 is fitted into the gap 26 in the connecting portion 25, and can be stably accommodated. Further, the pressed portion at the end of the first slider 6 covered by the surrounding wall 72 is a substantially U-shaped holding portion 61 so as to cover the coil spring 8, and the surrounding wall 72 is substantially aligned with the center of the coil spring 8. By making them coincide with each other, the provisional assembly during assembly is stabilized, and the operation is stabilized by opening and closing the shutter 4 after assembly. Since the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 have substantially the same shape, the lower case 2 has been described, but the same applies to the upper case 1.

The shutter 4 is fixed to the first slider 6, for example, from the closed state to the open state of the shutter 4 by the convex guide portion 64 of the first slider 6 and the guide portion 9 on the inner surface of the case. Guide sliding. In addition, two erroneous erasure preventing members 13 for selectively setting whether recording to the disk is possible or not are provided inside the case so as to be independently movable for the upper surface and the lower surface of the disk. The shutter 4 is injection-molded using a polyacetal resin or the like, and is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section. However, if a resin is used, it is less expensive and lighter than a metal (for example, stainless steel or surface-treated aluminum). In addition, there is an advantage that even a complicated shape can be made relatively easily.

In the drawing, 19 is a label area, 20 is a positioning hole of the disk cartridge, and 27 is a recess for accommodating the spring locking portion 71.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a recordable / reproducible disk-shaped medium is rotatably housed in a case having an opening through which a recording / reproducing head or a drive shaft can be inserted, and the opening is provided. The upper and lower plates are shutters that open and close,
The upper and lower plates are connected to each other to form a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the shutter is slidably provided via a slider.
What is claimed is: 1. A disk cartridge provided with a spring for urging in a closing direction of a shutter, comprising: a first slider slidable by engaging a guide portion provided on said case; A pair of second sliders which are movable and are held by springs at both ends of the first slider, and a gap is formed at the center of a connecting portion provided at the front end side of the head insertion hole;
The spring is disposed in the gap, and the guide recess of the first slider is inserted from both ends of the connecting portion and guided to slide. The first slider can be fitted and held in the connecting portion on the front end side of the head insertion opening, and the spring can be inserted and arranged in the gap in the connecting portion. The product can be assembled in the lower case or upper case, and then combined with the other case and fixed, which greatly improves the assemblability, enables stable production with less assembly defects and reduces size even in automatic assembly. With the shutter mechanism including the first slider and the second slider, the temporary assembly during assembly is stable, and the shutter material can be made of inexpensive resin. The disk cartridge can be used on one side or both sides, and the shutter opening / closing operation is good, the durability is improved, and the disk cartridge with high reliability in the shutter opening / closing operation can be provided by a miniaturized shutter mechanism. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a separated state showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the shutter of FIG. 1 in a separated state.

3A and 3B show a first slider of the example of FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view, FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line AA, FIG. 3C is a plan view, FIG. e) is a bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the example of FIG. 3, (a) is an overall perspective view,
(B) is a partial perspective view cut from the center.

5 (a) is a plan view, FIG. 5 (b) is a front view, FIG. 5 (c) is a cut-away plan view taken along line BB, and FIG. It is a perspective view.

6A and 6B show a state in which a shutter is incorporated and an upper case is removed, wherein FIG. 6A is a partially cutaway plan view, and FIG. 6B is a front view.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of the lower case.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the enlarged separation state along the line DD in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper case 2 Lower case 3 Guide 4 Shutter 5 Shutter sliding area 6 First slider 7 Second slider 8 Spring 9, 9 ₁ Guide part 10 Disk 11, 21 Drive shaft insertion hole 12, 22 Head insertion hole 13 Erroneous erasure prevention Member 20 Positioning hole 23, 24 Stopper projecting wall surface 25 Connecting portion 26 Gap 28 Front end 41 Upper plate 42 Lower plate 43 Connecting plate 44 Projecting portion 61 U-shaped holding portion 62 Reinforcement portion 63 Projecting portion 64 Guide portion 71 Spring engaging portion 72 Surrounding wall 73 Rail 74 Support rod

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing disk-shaped medium is rotatably housed in a case having an opening through which a recording / reproducing head or a drive shaft can be inserted, and a shutter for opening and closing the opening is provided. In a disk cartridge having a substantially U-shaped cross section composed of an upper plate, a lower plate, and a connecting plate for connecting the upper and lower plates, and a shutter provided slidably via a slider, a guide provided on the case is provided. A first slider slidable by engaging with the guide portion, and a pair of second sliders slidable by engaging with guide portions provided on the case and held by springs at both ends of the first slider. Forming a gap in the center of the connecting portion provided on the front end side of the head insertion hole,
A disk cartridge wherein the spring is disposed in the gap and guide recesses of the first slider are fitted from both ends of the connecting portion and guided and slid. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is connected to one of a pair of rail-shaped guide portions projecting from the case, and is configured to fit into a holding portion of the first slider and to guide and slide.
The disc cartridge as described. 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the first slider has a substantially U-shaped holding portion having a gap at both ends thereof for inserting the spring.