JPH10199186A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a shutter to always keep the closed state without requiring a spring and also perform the opening operation, in a disk cartridge. SOLUTION: In the disk cartridge constituted of a tray shaped cartridge case A which is provided with a side plate 3 along the inside of one end part of a rectangular base plate 1 having a window part W1 and side plates 2, 2, 2 along three other end parts of the periphery, a rectangular cover plate B covered on the case A and a disk recording medium D loaded into the case A, linear guide rails R1, R2 for slidably mounting a shutter S opening/closing the window part W1 are provided along the insides of one end part of the rectangular bas plate 1 and the end part of the rectangular cover plate B confronted each other, and a restraining means for keeping the closed state of the shutter S movable back and forth by an actuator is integrally provided on the shutter S.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge for rotatably storing a digital information recording disk such as a compact disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The capacity of recording disks for reading and writing has been dramatically increased. Especially, disks for recording in a digital system are liable to malfunction due to slight dust or scratches on the surface. Therefore, it is preferable to use a method in which the cartridge is mounted on a disk drive device (recording / reproducing device) while being housed in a cartridge.

[0003] There are various types of disk cartridges in which information recording disks such as conventional compact disks are rotatably stored, depending on the type of the disk.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a cartridge comprising a conventional rectangular cartridge case A and a rectangular lid plate B covered on the case A. A window portion W1 opened on the back surface of the cartridge is shown in FIG. Alternatively, window portions W1 and W2 are provided on both front and back sides of the cartridge, respectively.

The cartridge case A is a tray-shaped plastic case integrally provided with a rectangular bottom plate 1 having an open window W1 and side plates 2, 2, 2, 2 at its peripheral end. Inside, a disk D (recording medium) is rotatably housed at a rotation center M.

The case A is covered with a rectangular cover plate B made of plastic having a window portion W2 which is open (including a side plate if necessary), facing the bottom plate 1. It is.

[0007] Generally, a linear guide rail R is provided on one side (one side plate 2) of the cartridge, and is held along the guide rail R. Are provided with a U-shaped opening / closing shutter S for opening and closing each window portion W, and the shutter S is always urged in a closing direction via a spring F. Reference numeral 9 denotes the outer surface of the bottom plate 1 of the case A (the back surface of the case A) or the bottom plate 1 of the case A.
This is a linear guide that holds the tip of the shutter S provided on the outer surface and the outer surface of the cover plate B.

On the front surface, the back surface, or the front and back surfaces of the cartridge, a disc rotation drive system (a hole is formed on the back surface or the front surface or penetrated on both the front and back surfaces in a state of being cut off from the internal space of the cartridge as a discontinuous space). 2 for positioning the cartridge in the disk drive)
Or more holes H (eg, H1, H2, H
3, H4).

[0009]

The shutter S of the above-mentioned conventional disk cartridge is always urged in the closing direction via an internal spring F, and can normally always maintain the closed state. At the time of opening, the shutter S is opened by an external actuator (opening means such as an opening operation arm) against the urging force of the spring F.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which a shutter can always be kept closed without requiring a spring and can be opened.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a side plate 3 is formed along one end of a rectangular bottom plate 1 having a window portion W1 and side plates 2, 2, 2 are formed along three other peripheral ends. The disk cartridge includes a tray-shaped cartridge case A, a rectangular lid plate B placed on the case A, and a disk recording medium D loaded in the case A. The window portion W extends along the inner surfaces of the one end and the end of the rectangular lid plate B facing each other.
The shutter S is provided with linear guide rails R1 and R2 for slidably mounting a shutter S for opening and closing the shutter S, and locking means for integrally holding the shutter S which can be moved forward and backward by an actuator. Is a disc cartridge.

According to the present invention, in the disk cartridge of the present invention, the rectangular cover plate B is provided at a position opposite to the window portion W1 of the rectangular bottom plate 1.
2 wherein the shutter S has window portions W1, W2
2 is a disk cartridge that opens and closes.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A disk cartridge according to the present invention is shown in a plan view of FIG.
This will be described in detail below according to the embodiment shown in the overall side sectional view.

[Regarding Tray-shaped Cartridge Case A] The tray-shaped case A is provided with a rectangular bottom plate 1 and side plates 2, 2, 2 integrally formed on three sides around the bottom plate 1. The side plate 3 is provided on the remaining peripheral end portion at a small interval inside the edge.

The rectangular bottom plate 1 is formed with a window portion W1 cut in a U-shape from the bank portion 6 which continues inside the side plate 3 toward the center of the bottom plate 1. . The inside of the bank 6 is a disk D to be stored.
Are arc-shaped wall portions extending along the outer periphery of the outer periphery. H1 and H2 are holes provided for positioning the cartridge when the disk cartridge is loaded into the disk drive, and can be provided as appropriate.

The inner surface of the bottom plate 1 is provided, if necessary, at several places (for example, three places) in the non-recording area near the center and the outer circumference of the disk along the outer side of the semicircular portion of the window W. A convex portion is provided in contact with the surface of the non-recording area to separate the recording area surface from the inner surface of the bottom plate 1 to prevent damage to the disc recording area surface.

The bottom plate 1 has an inverted L-shape through an inverted L-shaped step.
A bottom plate region, and a rectangular bottom plate region that is higher than the bottom plate region by about 1 mm in the direction of the inner surface of the bottom plate 1, and a shutter S described later slides on the outer surface of the bottom plate 1. A linear guide plate 9 is provided on the outer surface of the bottom plate ₁ for holding the tip S ₁ of the shutter S and guiding it linearly along the recess formed by the step, on the outer surface of the bottom plate 1. Have. Note that if the shutter S itself is shaped so as to be urged in a direction to sandwich the entire case from the front and back surfaces thereof,
Guides such as the tip S ₁ Linear guide plate 9 for Curious a is not necessarily required.

[Cover Plate B] A cover plate B (transparent or opaque plate) is covered on the cartridge case A so as to face the bottom plate 1. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the cover plate B is provided with a hole such that the window portion W2 faces the window portion W1 formed in the bottom plate 1 as necessary. In the present invention, a cover plate B in which the window portion W2 is not provided is also applicable.
For example, as the cover plate B, a hub in which a disk D is rotatably held (a freely rotating body) is attached at a position corresponding to the disk rotation center M.

The cover plate B to be put on the case A is a rectangular plate having a size substantially the same as the size of the cartridge case A in a plan view, and the window portion W2 is formed from one of four sides around the rectangular plate. A hole is formed in a U-shape (or a half-shape of the U-shape), and the inner surface of the rectangular plate has a non-centered portion and a non-centered portion near the outer periphery along the outside of the semicircular portion of the window portion W2. Protrusions are provided at several places (for example, three places) in the recording area so as to contact the surface of the non-recording area and separate the recording area surface from the inner surface of the rectangular plate to prevent damage to the disk recording area surface. I have. In the present invention, the provision of the window portion W2 on the cover plate B as described above relates to the case where the cover plate B is not provided.
It is possible to use

The rectangular plate of the cover plate B has an inverted L-shaped plate region via an inverted L-shaped step portion, and a rectangular plate which is higher than the plate region by about 1 mm in the inner surface direction of the rectangular plate. It has a plate region having a shape, and the outer surface of the rectangular plate correspondingly has a rectangular recess as a moving region in which a shutter plate of a shutter S described later slides. Furthermore, its outer surface of the rectangular plate along the recessed by the stepped portion is provided with a linear guide 9 for linearly guided pressing the shutter plate tip S ₁ of the shutter S.

[Linear Guide Rail of Shutter S] On the side plate 3 side, as shown in FIG. 1A, a convex or concave linear guide rail on which a shutter S is linearly slidably mounted. R1 is provided.

The linear guide rail R1 is provided along the side plate 3 at a slightly elongated flat portion between the edge of the bottom plate 1 on which the side plate 3 is formed and the side plate 3, and an end point in the opening direction of the shutter S. And a linear protrusion (or a linear groove) having a length corresponding to the moving distance of sliding movement to the end point in the closing direction.

FIG. 1A shows the state of the shutter S that closes the window W1 (or the windows W1 and W2).

The shutter S of the cartridge having only the window portion W1 on the back surface of the cartridge has only one shutter plate for closing the window portion W1.
A U-shaped holding portion is formed only in a portion that slides along the outside of the side plate 3.

The shutter plate S of the cartridge having window portions W1 and W2 on the front and back surfaces of the cartridge respectively has shutter plates on both sides for closing the window portions W1 and W2, and slides along the outside of the side plate 3. The holding portion is formed in a U-shape over the entire portion from the portion to be held.

FIG. 1B shows a shutter S viewed from the side having shutter plates on both sides for closing the window portions W1 and W2. The shutter S is provided on the inner surface of the outer end of the cartridge case A on the side plate 3 side. A linear guide rail R2 is formed on the inner surface of the end of the cover plate B facing the linear guide rail R1 so as to be aligned with the linear guide rail R1 along the end.

In the present invention, a cartridge having only the window portion W1 on the back surface of the cartridge, or window portions W1 and W2 on the front and back surfaces of the cartridge, respectively.
The cartridge having the same structure as the locking means for maintaining the closed state integrally provided with the shutter S can be used.
, W2, shutters S provided with shutter plates on both sides are shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) and FIG.
A description will be given according to (a) to (c).

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the locking means 11 has a substantially prismatic locking bar extending in the closing direction outside the U-shaped portion above the U-shaped shutter S. 12 and
A locking hole 4a is formed in the outer plate 4 provided to face the outside of the side plate 3 so as to sandwich the locking bar 12.

At the end of one end of the locking bar 12, an elastic locking portion 13 is provided.
It is provided integrally with the U-shaped portion above the shutter S by integral molding or separate joining.

For example, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 2 (a), the other end of the locking bar 12 is inserted into a U-shaped portion above the shutter S, and an adhesive, a fusion bonding, Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2C, the shutter S is integrally attached to the shutter S by a screw 16 or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 (c), groove guides or convex linear guides 15 are formed on both side surfaces of the locking bar 12, and the side plate of the cartridge case A is formed. Linear guides 15 and 15 are respectively formed on the linear guide rail R1 formed along the outer end on the third side and the linear guide rail R2 formed so as to match the inner surface of the end of the cover plate B at a position facing the linear guide rail R1. The shutter S is fitted with the linear guide rails R1 and R
2 can be slid linearly along.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the locking bar 12 has an arm (pin) for sliding the shutter S outward from the end in the closing direction of the shutter S.
For example, the moving means 20 includes a notch portion 12a fitted from the outside of the cartridge, and, of course, the outer plate 4 is not provided in a portion fitted by the moving means 20.

The elastic locking portion 1 of the locking bar 12
As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (a), 3 has an elastic thin portion 13a formed by a cutout 13b, and has a locking projection 13c on the outer surface of the thin portion 13a. .

Then, the locking projection 13c at the tip end of the locking bar 12 is slid between the side plate 3 and the outer plate 4 while pressing the thin portion 13a against its elasticity. 4 at the locking hole 4a.
By resiliently fitting the 3a by its restoring force, the shutter S is locked while maintaining the closed state.

When opening the shutter S after being locked, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (b),
The unlocking means 30 such as an unlocking arm (pin) is fitted into the locking hole 4a from the outside, and the thin portion 13a is pressed,
The shutter S is released by pushing down the locking projection 13c to release the engagement with the locking hole 4a, and fitting the moving means 20 into the notch 12a from the outside of the cartridge and moving the moving means 20 in the opening direction. Things. The holding of the opening is continuously performed by the moving means 20.

The disk cartridge of the present invention is used by being loaded in a cartridge loading section of a disk drive device. The opening and closing operation of the shutter S is related to at least the shutter moving means 20 built in the device. This is performed by the stop release means 30.

The opening / closing operation of the shutter S of the disk cartridge of the present invention loaded in the disk drive device is described below.
The description will be made according to the overall plan views of FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tip of the pin of the moving means 20 is moved to the outer plate 4 by a disc start instruction operation.
And fit into the notch 12a of the locking bar 12 from the outside of the outer plate 4 of the cartridge.

Further, the tip of the pin of the unlocking means 30 advances in the direction of the outer plate 4 and fits into the locking hole 4a formed in the outer plate 4 of the cartridge. The thin portion 13a of the tip portion 13 of the locking bar 12 is pushed down to release the locked state between the hole 4a and the locking projection 13c of the locking bar 12.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG.
Moves in the opening direction (the direction of the arrow), and the shutter S
5 is slid along the linear guide R1, and FIG.
As shown in (1), the windows W1 and W2 are fully opened. Then, the unlocking means 30 moves backward and returns to the original position.

After the windows W1 and W2 are opened, the moving means 20 holds the open state while being fitted into the notch 12a of the locking bar 12.

Then, the window units W1 and W2 are closed by moving the moving means 20 in the closing direction and moving the shutter S to the original position. At this time,
The locking bar 12 is returned to the position shown by the dotted line as shown in FIG. 5, and the locking projection 13c is locked to the hole 4a to maintain the closed state. The moving means 20 is shown in FIG. As described above to return to the original position.

[0043]

The disk cartridge of the present invention is integrated with a shutter that slides along a linear guide provided at the notch-side end of the window among the four ends around the rectangular cartridge case. The provision of the locking means eliminates the need for a biasing means such as a pressing spring for always holding the shutter in the closing direction. Usually, the locking operation of the shutter S is always performed by the locking means. The shutter S can be held open by an external actuator (opening means such as an opening operation arm), and the shutter S can be held open by an external actuator (opening arm such as an opening operation arm). By avoiding this, there is an effect that the shutter can be smoothly opened and closed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an overall plan view of a disk cartridge of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an overall sectional side view of the disk cartridge of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are partial side views of a shutter attached to the disk cartridge of the present invention, and FIG. 2C is an overall perspective view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an overall plan view for explaining an opening and closing operation of a shutter attached to the disk cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall plan view for explaining an opening and closing operation of a shutter attached to the disk cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall plan view for explaining an opening / closing operation of a shutter attached to the disk cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an overall plan view of a conventional disk cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... tray-like cartridge case B ... cover plate D ... disk recording medium M ... rotational center R1 ... linear guide S ... shutter S ₁ ... shutter plate tip W1, W2 ... window part 1 ... bottom plate 2 ... side plate 3 ... side plate 4 ... Outer plate 4a... Locking hole provided portion 5... Ring-shaped convex portion 6... Dike 9... Linear guide 11... Locking means 12.
a: Thin portion 13b: Notch 13c: Locking projection 14: Slide surface 15: Linear guide 20: Opening / closing means 30: Lock release means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tray-shaped cartridge case A having a side plate 3 along one end of a rectangular bottom plate 1 having a window W1 and side plates 2, 2, 2 along three other peripheral ends. And a rectangular lid plate B to be put on the case A;
In a disk cartridge constituted by a disk recording medium D loaded in the case A, a window portion is formed along an inner surface of one end of the rectangular bottom plate 1 and an end of the rectangular cover plate B facing each other. Shutter S for opening and closing W1
Slidably mounted linear guide rail R1,
R2, and a locking means for holding the shutter S in a closed state which can be moved forward and backward by an actuator.
A disc cartridge characterized by being provided integrally with a disc cartridge. 2. The rectangular lid plate B has a window portion W2 at a position facing the window portion W1 of the rectangular bottom plate 1, and the shutter S opens and closes the window portions W1 and W2. Disk cartridge.