JPH1064226A - Removable disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a complicated mechanism to prevent erroneous loading by forming the end part side of a disc cartridge as a curving surface and then opening or closing the aperture by sliding the shutter along the curving surface. SOLUTION: If a disc cartridge 1 is loaded erroneously with a reversed front surface, the longer side surface aperture of the disk cartridge 1 is located at the right side, but the side surface 1c collides with a stopper member 48 and can no longer be loaded any more before the disc cartridge 1 is totally loaded. Moreover, since the disk cartridge 1 does not come in contact with a head 50 of the actuator 49 in standby, the head 50 is not broken by the erroneous loading either.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small and thin removable disk cartridge containing a disk having a large recording capacity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A removable disk cartridge of this type is disclosed, for example, in US Pat. No. 5,218,503.
No., 5262918, 5280403,
Nos. 5,317,664, 5,398,141 and 5,
The configuration described in each of the specifications of 444,586 is known as the prior art.

In the above-mentioned prior arts, each of the cartridges has a substantially square configuration when viewed from the top, and an arrow indicating the mounting direction is displayed on the upper surface of the cartridge. A mounting guide groove is formed in the portion along the mounting direction. In these conventional examples, the side surface indicated by the arrow is completely opened, and the side surface is opened outward through a door mounting mechanism so that the actuator arm can enter and exit from the opened side surface. A door is mounted, and a mechanism for opening and closing the door is provided at a position close to the door. The door mounting mechanism arranges two pins up and down at a predetermined interval. And a finger mechanism is attached to the pin.

[0004] In the above-described conventional example, the configuration of the cartridge is formed in a substantially square shape when viewed from above, and is mounted inside the front side of the cartridge by screws screwed from the front side. A door is provided which is rotatably supported by a spacer and which is opened and closed by rotation provided in the cartridge. And there is no clear indication about the mounting direction, but a configuration in which an approximately half opening is provided on one side and an arc-shaped door is provided along the corner inside the opening It seems that this side is recognized as the tip side.

Further, in the conventional example, the periphery of the cartridge except for the side surface to which the door is attached is formed high with a step on the back side. One of the reasons is that the raised portion on the back side serves as a guide to prevent erroneous mounting, and the other is that the disk mounted in the cartridge is connected to the drive unit of the disk driver. In addition, a cartridge screw that engages with the central portion of the base plate of the cartridge and moves the disk up and down is provided so as to protrude to the back side.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned prior arts, the mounting direction of the cartridge is indicated by an arrow. However, the cartridge has a substantially square shape as a whole, and the arrow is formed only by irregularities. When the cartridge is made of black resin, it is difficult to distinguish the arrow indication, etc., so if the mounting direction is wrong in the initial mounting operation on the disk driver, Therefore, the cartridge may be hit many times, and the guide groove is provided on the front surface or the back surface of the cartridge, so that the cartridge itself cannot be reduced in thickness.

Further, in the conventional example, both the upper and lower pins are located at a predetermined interval in the door mounting mechanism and the opening / closing mechanism, and the finger mechanism is employed. In addition, there is a problem that a space for mounting the door and operating the door is required, so that it cannot be formed as a thin body as a whole, that one side is entirely open, and that the center core of the disk is exposed. With such a configuration, the flow of air to the inside increases, and dust and dirt from the outside easily enter. In addition, there is a problem in that the disc mounted therein is easily damaged by dust or dirt entering the inside.

In the above conventional example, the entire cartridge is substantially square (depth 51.56 mm, width 4
9.98 mm), and the guides have side surfaces protruding from the rear surface side.

[0009] Also, on one side, even if there is an arc-shaped door inside, since the vicinity of the corner portion remains open, dust easily accumulates in this portion, and when the inner door is opened during use. However, there is a problem that the disc is liable to be damaged by the dust because the accumulated dust is drawn into the disc.

Further, in the conventional example, since a structure for vertically moving the disk housed in the cartridge is required, the number of parts is increased and a space for vertically moving the disk is required in the cartridge. Therefore, the thickness is set to 5.64 mm, and there is a problem that the cartridge cannot be thinned further.

Therefore, the conventional disk cartridges have the problem that the number of parts must be reduced and the thickness must be reduced while preventing erroneous mounting and improving dust resistance.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, a removable disk cartridge according to the present invention rotatably stores a disk in a case in which an upper shell and a lower shell are combined, The disk is configured to be able to be driven from the outside, the leading end side of the disk cartridge is formed into a curved surface, and an opening is provided on a part of the curved surface to be opened and closed by a shutter member having opening and closing means. A shutter is provided rotatably inside one of the shells, and the opening / closing means faces the side surface of the disk cartridge, and is slid along the curved surface inside the opening to open and close the opening. The configuration is as follows.

According to the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, a guide groove is provided on a side surface facing the opening / closing means, and the opening / closing means is positioned so as to protrude in the guide groove; provided inside one shell. The shutter member is made of metal and is supported at a position near the rear end of the shell and at a position offset from a center line along the mounting direction of the cartridge; the disc has a center core at least on one surface. Supported at three points, the center part is supported on the other surface, and the shutter member is provided on the side supported at three points and is provided with a groove-like hole avoiding a plurality of support points; Forming a thin-walled portion on a portion of the portion;
And a total thickness of the disk cartridge is set to 4 ± 1 mm.

[0014] The thin removable disk cartridge of the present invention has a curved front end side.
Since the mounting direction can be recognized very naturally by its shape, erroneous mounting can be prevented and the cartridge itself,
Since there is no need for a complicated structure of an incorrect mounting prevention mechanism, etc., and the simple configuration of the opening and the shutter member that opens and closes the opening, the number of parts is small and the cartridge itself can be made thin. is there.

[0015] Further, since the hole for driving the disk is opened and closed by the shutter member, the disk is completely closed when not in use, and a thin removable disk cartridge capable of almost completely suppressing the invasion of dust. It becomes.

[0016]

Next, a removable disk cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a disk cartridge) according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figures 1-3
1 shows a specific preferred embodiment of the present invention. A disc cartridge 1 is formed by combining a lower shell 2 and an upper shell 3 having substantially the same shape, and a disc 4 is rotatable inside thereof. And a shutter member 5 is provided so as to be freely opened and closed.

The disk cartridge 1 is used by being mounted on a predetermined disk driver, which will be described later.
The opposite side will be described as the rear end.

The tip side 1a of the disk cartridge 1
It is non-linear, that is, formed with a predetermined curved surface, and the curved surface is formed asymmetrically on the left and right with respect to a center line CC along the front-rear direction, so that the length of both side surfaces 1c and 1d is L1>.
It is different like L2. Since the lengths of both side surfaces are different as described above, this is one means for preventing erroneous mounting on a disk driver.

Then, the tip side 1a formed on the curved surface
An opening 6 through which an actuator arm equipped with a head described later enters and exits is formed in a part of the opening, and the length of this opening 6 is 1/1 / the length of the curved surface on the distal end side 1a.
2 or less, preferably about 1/3, and the short side 1
It is provided biased to the d side.

The rear end 1b of the disc cartridge 1
A changer grip means, that is, a delta-shaped recess 7 is formed on both side surfaces 1c and 1d near the rear end. The changer gripping means is effective when the disc cartridge 1 is automatically set or picked up with respect to the disc driver and is appropriately gripped by an appropriate arm mechanism or the like.

A guide groove 8 is formed on the longer side 1c of the disk cartridge 1 (the side farther from the side provided with the opening 6). The guide groove 8 is mainly for reliably opening and closing the shutter member 5, and appropriately guides the opening and closing means provided on the disk driver side. Secondarily, it is also a guide that can be properly mounted on the desk driver. These points will be described later.

Further, a non-slip portion 9 is provided on the front side of the disk cartridge 1 and near the rear end.
, A display sticking portion 10 for display is provided. The non-slip portion 9 is formed of an aggregate of linear irregularities, and the seal sticking portion 10 has a rectangular shape as a whole and is slightly recessed from the surface. In the illustrated embodiment, when the dimensions are shown for reference, the depth dimension of the disc cartridge is approximately 72 mm,
The width is about 69 mm and the thickness is about 4 mm.

The disk 4 has substantially the same structure as that of a generally used disk, has a disk shape as a whole, and has a center core 11 to which rotation is transmitted is attached at the center thereof. ing. The disk 4 used in the present invention is made of resin and has a diameter of 2.
The center core 11 is provided with a cylindrical support portion 11a at the center of the center core 11.

The center core 11 is made of a single metal plate and is integrally attached by sticking means or the like.
Alternatively, by using two metal plates, one of which is a base plate and the other is an auxiliary plate provided with a spring property, and both of them are caulked by a support portion 11a at the center, thereby making the disk 4 elastic. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is attached so as to be pinched from above and below. In short, in the present invention, the disk 4 having the configuration to which the center core 11 is attached is applied, and the configuration of the disk 4 is not limited to the illustrated one.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the lower shell 2 is provided with a rib-shaped rising wall 2a at a peripheral portion thereof, and a chuck hole for a disk driver is provided at a substantially central portion. The center core 11 of the disc 4 faces the chuck hole 12, and the center core 11 is floated from the lower shell 2,
In addition, in order to support it so that it does not tilt, the chuck hole 1
At least three projections 13 are provided near the periphery of the projection 2.

The rising wall 2a at the peripheral edge is formed on the tip side 1a.
, The portion corresponding to the opening 6 is removed, and the opening 6 is provided with a thin portion 14 for continuously preventing collision with the lower shell 2 of the actuator arm. A thin portion 14a for guiding the shutter member 5 continuously from the portion 14 is formed in an arc shape along the inside of the rising wall 2a.

The side surface 1 on which the guide groove 8 is formed
On the c side, the guide groove 8 is formed by forming the rising wall 2a slightly shifted inward.
The guide groove 8 has a different depth and width.
That is, the groove 8a on the front end side is formed shallow and wide, and the groove 8b on the rear end side is formed deep and narrow. In this case, the position at which the depth and the width are changed is made on the rear end side with the substantially central portion of the side surface 1c as a boundary. In particular, the width is extremely narrow, and is formed in a slit shape. The rising wall 2a corresponding to the bent portion is provided with a step portion 15 and is formed slightly lower.

Further, a shaft 16 serving as a rotation center of the shutter member 5 is formed so as to protrude at a position close to the rear end 1b and slightly deviated from the center (a position slightly deviated rightward in the figure). A boss 17 is provided near the shaft 16. The boss portion 17 includes the shutter member 5
Is biased in the closing direction, for example, a biasing means 18 such as a center coil spring is attached, and is formed slightly higher than the rising wall 2a.

Further, on the rear end side 1b, reinforcing ribs 2b and 2c are provided inside the vicinity of the corner portion so as to be continuous with the rising wall 2a, and these ribs are formed on the outer peripheral shape of the disk 4 housed therein. The ribs 2b are formed in a substantially arcuate shape, and a part of the rib 2b is removed to form a space portion 19.

The lower shell 2 is provided with coupling portions 20 for coupling to the upper shell 3 at a plurality of locations, and a hook for temporary fixing which temporarily maintains a combined state when both are assembled. The part 21 is formed on the side surfaces 1c and 1d. Further, a positioning hole 22 for setting a disk cartridge with respect to a disk driver,
For example, a hole 23 for a write protect switch for preventing careless writing on the disk 4 is provided.

The upper shell 3 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B
In the same manner as the lower shell 2, a rib-shaped rising wall 3a is provided on the peripheral edge, and a cylindrical projection 24 is formed substantially in the center, and the inside of the projection 24 is The cylindrical support portion 11a provided on the center core 11 of the disk 4 is fitted to support the disk 4 away from the upper shell 3 and to prevent the disk 4 from being shifted from the center.

The rising wall 3a at the peripheral edge is formed on the tip side 1a.
, The portion corresponding to the opening 6 has been removed, and the opening 6 is provided with a thin portion 25 continuously to prevent collision with the upper shell 3 of the actuator. A thin portion 25a for guiding the shutter 5 continuously from 25 is provided in an arc shape along the inside of the rising wall 3a. This configuration is symmetric with the lower shell 2.

Also in the upper shell 3, the guide groove 8 is formed on the side surface 1c side where the guide groove 8 is formed by forming the rising wall 3a slightly shifted inward. Reference numeral 8 denotes a configuration in which the depth and the width are changed similarly to the lower shell 2.

That is, the leading end groove 8a is formed shallow and wide, and the trailing end groove 8b is formed deep and narrow. In this case, the position at which the depth and the width are changed is made on the rear end side with the substantially central portion of the side surface 1c as a boundary. In particular, the width is extremely narrow, and is formed in a slit shape. The rising wall 3a corresponding to the stepped portion has a stepped portion 2
6 are formed slightly lower. This configuration is also symmetric with the lower shell 2.

The upper shell 3 has a bearing 27 at a position corresponding to the shaft 16 provided on the lower shell 2.
Are formed, and a boss receiving portion 28 is provided at a position corresponding to the boss portion 17. These two receiving portions serve both for positioning at the time of connection with the lower shell 2 and for reinforcing.

Further, on the rear end side 1b, reinforcing ribs 3b and 3c are provided inside the vicinity of the corner portion so as to be continuous with the rising wall 3a, and these ribs are substantially ribs 2b in the lower shell 2. , 2c, which roughly correspond to the shape of
And it is provided symmetrically. And the rib 3b
Is formed at a height such that a part thereof fills a space 19 formed by removing a part of the rib 2b of the lower shell 2. The connecting portion 29 corresponds to the connecting portion 20 provided on the lower shell 2 and is provided symmetrically.

The shutter member 5 is shown in FIG.
The shutter member 5 has a special shape formed by stamping a metal plate by, for example, press working, and is used so that a burr generation side generated by the stamping process does not contact the inner wall surface of the lower shell 2. Of course,
It goes without saying that this kind of burr is almost completely removed through a predetermined burr removal step.

A shaft hole 30 serving as a center of rotation is formed at one end of the shutter member 5, and an arc-shaped shutter portion 31 having a length and width sufficient to close the opening 6 is provided at the other end. ing. That is, the shutter member 5 is constituted by a flat plate portion formed of metal and an arc-shaped shutter portion provided in a direction perpendicular to the end portion.
The portion where the shaft hole 30 is formed is a small rounded protrusion, and in the vicinity thereof, a locking portion 32 for locking the rotation urging means 18 is provided in an upright state. Further, an arcuate opening / closing arm 33 is formed on the side surface at a position slightly further away and protrudes in series.

The arm 33 is formed in an arc shape along a circle drawn around the shaft hole 30. The tip of the arm 33 is an opening / closing end, that is, a force end 33a. is there. The force end 33a is formed by bending a part of the force end 33a so that the whole is located horizontally after standing.

An arc-shaped notch 34 is formed on the side opposite to the arm 33 and substantially at the center. The notch 34 is provided in the center hole 12 for the chuck provided in the lower shell 2.
It is notched slightly larger than the diameter. And
In the vicinity of the notch 34, two arc-shaped grooved holes 35 are formed in a direction crossing the shutter member 5. The arc shape in this case corresponds to the arc when rotated about the shaft hole 30.

Two of the three protrusions 13 provided around the chuck hole 12 of the lower shell 2 are fitted into the groove-like holes 35. Is formed higher than the thickness of the shutter member 5,
The top of each projection 13 projects upward beyond the grooved hole 35, and the center core 11 of the disk 4 is supported by the projected top. It does not hinder.

The shutter section 31 is formed of, for example, a plastic material. In this case, as shown in FIG.
The end portion 5a of the shutter member 5 made of metal is slightly bent so that the end portion 5a is wrapped around, and one end protrudes greatly toward the front side and the other end protrudes slightly toward the back side. What is necessary is just to integrally mold the material.

By forming the shutter portion 31 in this manner, the shutter member 5 guided by the thin portion 14a of the lower shell 2 and the thin portion 25a of the upper shell 3 and formed of a metal plate is Since the opening / closing operation can be performed without rubbing against the inner wall surface, it is possible to prevent generation of dust such as shavings which may be caused by rubbing. Also, the tip 1 of the disc cartridge 1
When a pressing force from outside is applied to a, the shutter unit 3
1 comes into contact with the thin portions of the upper and lower shells, so that the tip portion 1a
The aim is to increase the strength of.

At the time of assembling the above-mentioned members, as shown in FIG. 8, first, the lower shell 2 is used as a base, and the shutter member 5 is assembled into the lower shell 2. In the assembly of the shutter member 5, when the shaft hole 30 is fitted into the shaft portion 16 and the shutter portion 31 is set so as to face the opening portion 6, the convex portions 13 corresponding to the respective groove holes 35 are fitted. Further, the arm 33 is located in the space 19, and the force end 33 serving as an opening / closing end.
a is located at the step 15, and the force end 33 a
Can be regarded as opening and closing means of the shutter member 5 itself, and the opening and closing means is substantially located in the guide groove 8 of the disk cartridge 1.

In this state, the urging means 18 is fitted to the boss 17 and one end of the urging means 18 is
2 and the other end is engaged with the inside of the rising wall 2a. When the urging means 18 is attached in this manner, the shutter portion 31 of the shutter member 5 is urged to always come to a position to close the opening 6 and the arm 33
The force end 33a is located at the step portion 15 in a state of being pulled up to the distal end side 1a.

Next, when the disc 4 is set at a predetermined position so as to rest on the shutter member 5, the center core 11 is supported by the three projections 13, and the center core 11 does not substantially contact the shutter member 5. That is, it is set while floating from the shutter member 5. In addition, lower shell 2
All necessary components such as a switch 36 for preventing writing which can be operated from outside are assembled.

As described above, when the upper shell 3 is assembled by covering the lower shell 2 after the components are assembled, the hook portions 21 are engaged with predetermined positions of the upper shell 3 and The united state of the two shells is maintained, and a so-called temporary fixing state is established.
For example, the disc cartridge 1 is completed by being integrally joined by joining means such as screwing or high frequency welding.

When the upper shell 3 is combined with the lower shell 2, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a cylindrical support portion 11 a provided on the center core 11 is provided at the center of the upper shell 3. The disk 4 is fitted inside the cylindrical projection 24 so that the center of the disk 4 is positioned and the disk 4 is supported so as not to contact the upper shell 3. The disk 4 is horizontally supported by the cylindrical projection 24 while being separated from the upper and lower shells.

Since the shutter portion 31 of the shutter member 5 is located at the thin portions 14 and 25, and the arm 33 is located at the space portion 19 and is sandwiched between the protruding ribs 3b of the upper shell 3, the shutter member 5 is lifted. Not to be. And although the shutter member 5 is rotatable,
The shutter portion 31 with respect to the opening 6 is slidably opened and closed substantially. The opening 6 is closed by the shutter member 5, and the chuck hole 12 for the disk driver is also formed in the flat plate portion of the shutter member 5. As a result, the disk cartridge 1 is substantially completely sealed around. In addition, the thick shutter portion 31 has upper and lower shells 2 inside the opening 6.
3 and the presence of the shutter portion 31 leads to an increase in rigidity of the entire disc cartridge.

The arm 3 of the shutter member 5
As shown in FIGS. 11 to 12, the force end 33 a of the third guide portion 3 is located in a gap formed by the step portion 15 of the lower shell 2 and the step portion 26 of the upper shell 3, and has a narrower guide portion. 8b
And came to be located in a partly protruding state,
It cannot be touched carelessly or easily from outside.

The disk cartridge 1 configured as described above is used by being set in, for example, a disk driver 40 having the configuration shown in FIGS.
The disk driver 40 includes a main body 41 provided with a drive mechanism such as a motor and a holder 42 on which the disk cartridge 1 is mounted.
Is connected to the main body 41 via a hinge mechanism 43 so as to be freely opened and closed. The degree of this opening and closing depends on the holder 42
In this case, the disk cartridge 1 can be mounted on the holder 42, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 16, the holder 42 is provided with an opening 44 having a predetermined width. The disc cartridge 1 is mounted through the opening 44, as shown in FIG. , The holder part 42 is closed and the main body part 4 is closed.
The predetermined driving is performed in a state where the number is set to 1.

In this case, in the disk cartridge 1 of the present invention, the shutter member 5 is opened at the same time as the proper mounting, and the actuator arm provided with the predetermined head enters the disk cartridge 1 to read the recorded information on the disk 4. And / or writing.

The configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. In the disk cartridge 1, only the lower shell 2 in which the upper shell 3 and the disk 4 are omitted is shown in order to make it easier to open and close the shutter member 5, and the holder 42 is schematically shown.

The opening portion 44 of the holder portion 42 of the disk driver 40 is provided with opening / closing means 45 for the shutter member 5 on one side surface. This opening / closing means 45
Is a balance-like shape as a whole, and is provided with a shaft mounting portion 46 at a substantially central portion so as to be rotatable in a seesaw motion. One end is a working end 45a, and the other end is a copying end 45b. And is always urged so that the copying end 45b is located inside.

At substantially the middle position of the opening 44, stopper members 47 and 48 for preventing erroneous mounting of the disk cartridge 1 and for maintaining a proper mounting state are formed so as to protrude inward. . The depth position where the stopper members 47 and 48 are formed is substantially corresponding to the length of both side surfaces 1c and 1d of the disk cartridge 1. For example, the depth position of the stopper member 47 is substantially equal to the length L1. Correspondingly, the depth position of the stopper member 48 substantially corresponds to the length L2.

By forming the stopper members 47 and 48 while changing the depth dimension as described above, even if the disc cartridge 1 is forcibly mounted by mistake in the front and back sides,
In particular, one long side surface 1c of the disc cartridge 1 comes in contact with the stopper member 48 having a small depth first, so that the disk cartridge 1 cannot be completely or properly mounted. ing.

Further, an actuator arm 49 mounted on the main body 41 is in a standby state behind the stopper members 47 and 48. The actuator arm 49 has a unique shape of a dog leg type in which a head 50 is provided at a front end and an actuator 51 is provided at a rear end. The actuator arm 51 is mounted so as to be rotatable by a shaft 52, and is configured to rotate in the direction of arrow a. Although the shape of the actuator arm 49 is unique, it is almost the same as the conventional one in terms of the fork type and the equipped functional surface.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the disc cartridge 1 is inserted into the opening 44 of the holder 42.
The disc cartridge 1 is mounted in a proper state, that is, in a direction in which the opening / closing means 45 is engaged with the guide groove 8, and the tip side 1a is first.

When the disc cartridge 1 is mounted in this manner, the working end 45a of the opening / closing means 45 first engages with the guide groove 8, and if the disc cartridge 1 is continuously mounted, the copying end 45
b engages with the guide groove 8. When the copying end 45b engages with the guide groove 8, the working end 45a is approaching the deep groove 8b on the rear end side of the guide groove 8 as shown in FIG. If you continue to attach from this state, the copying end 4
The engagement end 5b engages with or rides on the shallow groove 8a on the front end side, so that the working end 45a advances while engaging with the deep groove 8b on the rear end side by seesaw motion.

The working end 45a is, as shown in FIG. 20, the force end 3 of the arm 33 projecting into the deep groove 8b.
When the mounting operation of the disk cartridge 1 is further continued, the operating end 45a sequentially pushes down the force end 33a, whereby the shutter member 5 resists the urging means 18 and is sequentially rotated about the shaft portion 16. As shown in FIG. 21, when the disc cartridge 1 abuts against the stopper members 47 and 48 in a proper state, proper mounting is confirmed and the shutter member 5 is completely opened. The opening 6 closed by the shutter 31
Are completely opened, and at the same time, the chuck holes 12 of the lower shell 2 where the center core 11 is located are also opened.

Assuming that the disk cartridge 1 is mounted in the wrong direction, the longer side 1c of the disk cartridge 1 is mounted on the left side of the opening 44 in the figure. Before the entire disk cartridge 1 is mounted, the side surface 1c abuts against the stopper member 48 and cannot be mounted any more, and the disk cartridge 1 does not contact the head 50 of the actuator 49 in a standby state. Is not destroyed by incorrect mounting.

When the opening 6 is opened, the actuator arm 49 rotates as shown by the phantom line,
The leading end is in a state where it can be inserted into the disk cartridge 1. At the same time, the chuck hole 12 of the lower shell 2 closed by the shutter member 5 is also opened. In any case, the opening / closing means 45 is engaged with the guide groove 8, and the structure of the guide groove 8 is formed into a shallow and wide portion and a deep and narrow portion, so that the force end 3 of the shutter member 5 is formed.
The opening / closing action for 3a is reliably transmitted, and the shutter member can be reliably opened / closed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 22, by closing the holder 42 of the disk driver with respect to the main body 41, the drive transmission means 53 provided on the main body 41 side is provided.
Can be engaged with the center core 11 of the disk 4 from the opened chuck hole 12 of the disk cartridge 1 to transmit the drive, and the actuator arm 49 can be moved from the opened opening 6 to the disk cartridge 1.
It is in the state of driving (reading and / or writing of information) inside, and driven by a predetermined operation.

When the holder 42 is opened and closed with respect to the main body 41, the holder is rotated only by the thickness of the holder 42 and the disc cartridge 1 is set at a position relatively far from the center of rotation. The accompanying vertical movement is a nearly vertical trajectory. At the same time, since the distance between the drive transmission means 53 and the center core 11 of the disk 4 is relatively short, the vertical movement does not occur in the front, rear, left and right directions. It is always done properly.
The disc cartridge 1 has a positioning hole 22.
When a positioning pin (not shown) provided on the main body 41 is inserted into the hole 22, the disc cartridge 1 can be set in a more appropriate state.

After the disk cartridge 1 is correctly set at an appropriate position in this manner, the actuator arm 49 rotates to enter the disk cartridge 1 and position the disk 4 mounted therein so as to sandwich the disk 4 from above and below. I do. The opening 6 of the disc cartridge 1
Are formed with the thin portions 14 and 25, thereby guiding the actuator arm 49, and the frontage is widened, so that the entry of the actuator arm 49 is improved.

[0067]

As described above, in the removable disk cartridge according to the present invention, the mounting direction can be clearly recognized by the configuration in which the front end side of the disk cartridge is formed into a curved surface. This eliminates the need for a complicated prevention mechanism or configuration for preventing mounting, and provides an excellent effect that the entire device can be formed thin while reducing the number of components.

The shutter member is rotatably provided inside one of the shells, and the opening / closing means faces the side surface of the disk cartridge, thereby greatly contributing to the overall thickness reduction.

Further, the shutter member provided inside the one shell slides along the curved surface inside the opening to provide a shutter for opening and closing the opening, so that the shutter member is provided outside. The structure is significantly simpler than the one with a shutter that opens and closes in the front-rear direction, and the strength is improved because the shutter part is sandwiched between the ends of the upper and lower shells. It has an excellent effect that the thickness can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a removable disk cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the cartridge.

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing the inside of a lower shell constituting the cartridge, and FIG. 4B is a side view thereof.

5A is a plan view showing the inside of an upper shell constituting the cartridge, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a shutter member used in the cartridge.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view of a portion indicated by A in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state where a shutter member is attached to a lower shell of the cartridge.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the cartridge.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part for describing a support state of a disk in the cartridge.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing only a main part for describing a configuration of a guide groove in the cartridge.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged side view showing only a main part of the guide groove.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a disk driver in which the cartridge is mounted and used.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the disk driver.

FIG. 15 Open the holder of the disk driver,
FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a situation where the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing the disk driver in a cross section and omitting the inside in the situation of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the holder is closed after the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted on the holder of the disk driver.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a situation where the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted on the holder of the disk driver.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a process in which the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted on the holder of the disk driver.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the progress of mounting further while the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted on the holder of the disk driver.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting state of a disk cartridge of the present invention in a holder portion of the disk driver.

FIG. 22 is a schematic sectional view showing a state where the disk cartridge of the present invention is mounted on the disk driver.

FIG. 23 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing, on an enlarged scale, only a main part for explaining a situation where an actuator arm provided in the disk driver enters the inside from the opening of the disk cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Disc cartridge, 1a: Tip side, 1b:
Rear end side, 1c, 1d: side surface, 2: lower shell, 2
a: rising wall, 2b, 2c, 3b, 3c: rib,
3: upper shell, 3a: rising wall, 4: disk,
5: shutter member, 5a: end, 6: opening,
7: Changer grip means, 8: Guide groove, 8
a: shallow groove, 8b: deep groove, 9: non-slip part, 1
0: seal sticking part, 11: center core, 11a: receiving part on cylinder, 12: hole for chuck, 13: convex part, 1
4, 14a, 25, 25a: thin portion, 15, 26: step portion, 16: shaft portion, 17: boss portion, 18: urging means, 19: space portion, 20, 29: coupling portion, 21: hook portion 22, 23: hole, 24: protrusion, 27: bearing, 28: boss receiving, 30: shaft hole, 31:
Shutter part, 32: locking part, 33: arm, 33
a: force end for opening and closing, 34: notch, 35: grooved hole,
36: reflector.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Kazuo Takahashi, 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Eiji Oshima 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A disk cartridge in which a disk is rotatably housed in a case in which an upper shell and a lower shell are united, and the disk can be driven from the outside. An opening which is formed on a curved surface and is opened and closed by a shutter member provided with an opening / closing means is provided on a part of the curved surface. The shutter member is rotatably provided inside one of the shells, and the opening / closing means is a disk cartridge. A removable disk cartridge provided with a shutter that opens and closes the opening by sliding along the curved surface inside the opening. 2. The removable disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a guide groove is provided on a side surface facing the opening / closing means, and the opening / closing means is positioned so as to protrude in the guide groove. 3. A shutter member provided inside one of the shells is made of metal and is supported at a position near a rear end of the shell and at a position deviated from a center line along a mounting direction of the cartridge. 2. The removable disk cartridge according to 1. 4. The disk has a center core supported on at least three points on one surface, a center portion supported on the other surface, and a shutter member provided on the side supported by the three points. 2. The removable disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a groove-like hole is provided to avoid the support point of the cartridge. 5. The removable disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a thin portion is formed in a part of the inside of the opening. 6. The total thickness of the disk cartridge is 4
2. The removable disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the distance is set to ± 1 mm.