JPH11110721A - Memory cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove the contamination of a magnetic head which is produced when the magnetic head is brought into sliding contact with a magnetic head core part for the magnetic connection to write/read information into/from a memory card. SOLUTION: An IC card 14 is attached to the IC card attaching part 13 of a memory cartridge 11. The IC card 14 is held in a state wherein it is a continuity with the IC contact part 17 of the IC card attaching part 13. Magnetic head sliding contact parts 18 and 19 are provided on the surface and rear of a memory cartridge 11. Cleaning members 31 and 32 which clean the head surfaces of magnetic heads in the direction of the seeking operation are provided on the magnetic head sliding contact parts 18 and 19. Therefore, every time the memory cartridge is attached, the head surfaces of the magnetic heads are cleaned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory cartridge, and more particularly, to a memory cartridge having a housing portion for housing a memory card in a case formed substantially in the same shape as a magnetic disk cartridge. The present invention relates to a memory cartridge for writing or reading data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a disk device in which a disk cartridge containing a flexible magnetic disk is mounted, the disk cartridge is mounted and a magnetic head slides on a magnetic disk as a storage medium to perform magnetic recording and reproduction. Do. This type of disk device is incorporated as a storage device in an electronic device such as a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a “PC”) or a word processor.

On the other hand, a memory card such as an IC card in which an IC chip serving as a storage medium is accommodated in a card-shaped case is becoming widespread. However, in the above electronic devices, a disk device is generally installed as a standard equipment, whereas an IC card device to which an IC card is mounted needs to be purchased separately from the electronic device. Therefore, when there is no IC card device, information stored in the IC card cannot be read.

Also, memory cards are mainly used for notebook PCs.
It is widely used as a memory for portable computers such as (personal computers), but with the recent reduction in the size of PCs and the spread of digital cameras due to technological advances, small memory cards have become widespread in the market. There are several types of small memory cards, such as miniature cards and smart media, and a storage capacity of about 2 MB to 8 MB is most widely used in the market.
In recent years, cash card-sized IC cards equipped with a memory for storing relatively small-capacity data such as personal information and IDs are also becoming widespread.

[0005] However, such small memory cards and I
In order to record and reproduce information on the C card, a dedicated recording / reproducing device corresponding to each medium is required. Therefore, a recording / reproducing device dedicated to a memory card is newly required for use with an existing PC. Must buy and connect. In addition, even if it is built in, it is necessary to secure a space for mounting a dedicated recording / reproducing device.

[0006] For this reason, it goes against the trend of miniaturization of PCs. Therefore, a method has been proposed in which a floppy disk drive which is most popular in the PC market and is built in most PCs as a recording medium is used for recording and reproduction of IC cards. The basic concept of the technology for making a small memory card or IC card usable with a floppy disk drive is that no modification is made to an existing floppy disk drive. That is, in consideration of the market penetration rate of the floppy disk drive, it is meaningless unless the floppy disk drive can be used in the existing floppy disk drive.

[0007] It has been devised that a small memory card or IC card is mounted on an adapter having an outer shape similar to that of a disk cartridge, and the adapter is mounted on the disk device. In this method, signals are exchanged by magnetically connecting the card and the disk device (head magnetic coupling).

[0008]

However, as described above, the magnetic head is brought into sliding contact with the head sliding portion of the memory cartridge containing the memory card to magnetically connect the memory card and the disk device (head magnetic coupling). In a disk drive having a configuration in which a magnetic head slides on a magnetic disk to read or write information by sliding on a head sliding portion provided on a memory cartridge, the head surface of the magnetic head is usually magnetic. Easy to get dirty by sliding contact with disk.

As described above, if the magnetic material of the magnetic disk adheres to the head surface, there is a possibility that reading or writing cannot be performed in the magnetic connection (head magnetic coupling) between the memory card and the magnetic head. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a memory cartridge that has solved the above-mentioned problems.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following features. The present invention is a memory cartridge which has a storage portion for storing a memory card in a case formed substantially in the same shape as a magnetic disk cartridge, and is mounted on a magnetic disk device to write or read information. A head cleaning member is provided at a position where the magnetic head slides when mounted on the magnetic disk device.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the head cleaning member is provided at a position where the magnetic head slides when the magnetic head is mounted on the magnetic disk drive, the seek operation of the magnetic head performed when the memory cartridge is mounted is performed. The head surface slides on the head cleaning member to remove dirt attached to the head surface.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the memory cartridge of the present invention. The memory cartridge 11 shown in FIG. 1 has substantially the same external shape as a conventional disk cartridge, and has an existing magnetic disk device 12 (see FIGS. 7 and 8).
It is mounted and used like an existing disk cartridge.

The memory cartridge 11 is shown in FIG.
(C) has an IC card mounting portion 13 indicated by a broken line. The IC card 14 is provided with an IC card 14 in FIG.
(A) and (C) are attached as indicated by broken lines. A card insertion slot 15 communicating with the IC card mounting portion 13 is provided on one side end surface on the back side of the memory cartridge 11, and the IC card 14 is inserted into the card insertion slot 15 from the side of the memory cartridge 11. .

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the IC card 14 and the memory cartridge 11. As shown in FIG.
The card 14 is provided with a contact portion 16 for inputting and outputting data at a predetermined position on the upper surface. Then, the IC card mounting unit 13 into which the IC card 14 is inserted
Is provided with an IC contact portion 17 which is in contact with and electrically connected to the contact portion 16. Therefore, the IC card 14 accommodated in the memory cartridge 11 is held in a state where the contact portion 16 is electrically connected to the IC contact portion 17.

On the front and back surfaces of the memory cartridge 11, magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 are provided. The magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 are closed by the shutter 20 when not mounted, and the memory cartridge 11 is mounted on the magnetic disk drive 12 and slides in the direction A to open. In FIGS. 1 and 2,
The shutter 20 slides in the direction A to show the open state, and the rectangular opening 20 a of the shutter 20 faces the magnetic head sliding contact portions 18 and 19.

On the back side of the memory cartridge 11, an IC card 14 is
A card slot 21 for ejecting the card from the card mounting section 13 and a circular recess 22 formed corresponding to a turntable of the magnetic disk drive are provided. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before the memory cartridge 11 is assembled. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state after the memory cartridge 11 is assembled.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory cartridge 11 has an upper case 11A and a lower case 11B integrally connected. The space formed between the upper case 11A and the lower case 11B becomes the IC card mounting portion 13 into which the IC card 14 is inserted. Openings 26 and 27 are provided at positions corresponding to the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 of the upper case 11A and the lower case 11B.

As shown in FIG. 4, after the memory cartridge 11 is assembled, the magnetic head core portion 25 is sandwiched between the peripheral edge of the opening 26 and the peripheral edge of the opening 27. The magnetic head core unit 25 includes a core 28 forming a magnetic circuit, a coil 29 wound around one end of the core 28, and a mold 30 in which the other end of the core 28 is insert-molded.
In the core 28, a gap is formed at a position corresponding to the “00” track.

The mold 30 is mounted so as to be sandwiched between the opening 26 of the upper case 11A and the opening 27 of the lower case 11B. The magnetic head core portion 25 is provided with magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 on the upper and lower surfaces of the mold 30 by being attached in this manner. Sheets formed of tetrafluoroethylene, polyester, or the like are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the mold 30. This sheet slides on the magnetic head.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing the magnetic head core portion 25. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the magnetic head core portion 25 in an enlarged manner. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, cleaning members 31 and 32 for cleaning the head surface 24a of the magnetic head 24 are adhered to the surfaces of the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19, respectively. The cleaning members 31 and 32 are made of, for example, felt or a cleaning cloth, and can be periodically replaced.

Therefore, the magnetic head 24 comes into contact with the cleaning members 31 and 32 when performing a seek operation by sliding on the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19. Then, the dirt attached to the head surface 24a of the magnetic head 24 is adsorbed by the cleaning members 31, 32 and removed. The head surface 24a of the magnetic head 24 is formed as a smooth flat surface.
When performing a seek operation while sliding on the magnetic head,
It can slide without being in close contact with 8,19. Therefore, the memory cartridge 11 is
2, when the magnetic head 24 performs a seek operation, the head surface 24a of the magnetic head 24
8, 19 is prevented. Therefore, the sliding resistance when the magnetic head 24 performs the seek operation is reduced.
As a result, the load on the magnetic head 24 is reduced, and the life of the magnetic head 24 can be extended.

Here, a schematic configuration of the magnetic disk drive 12 will be described. FIG. 7 shows the memory cartridge 11.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magnetic disk drive 12 to which is mounted. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where the memory cartridge 11 is mounted on the magnetic disk device 12. As shown in FIG. 7, the magnetic disk drive 12 has a front bezel 3 having a disk insertion slot 33 and an eject button 34 on the front side.
5 is attached. Also, on the chassis 36,
A disk holder 37 and a slider for raising and lowering the disk holder 37 (in FIG. 3, hidden behind the disk holder 37 and not visible) are provided.

The disk holder 37 has a normal disk cartridge (not shown) or a cartridge insertion portion into which the above-mentioned memory cartridge 11 is inserted. In the center of the rear part of the disk holder 37, the magnetic head 2 is provided.
And a carriage driving mechanism 40 for driving the head carriage 39.

The carriage drive mechanism 40 includes a guide shaft 41 and a lead screw 42 for guiding the head carriage 39, and a carriage drive motor 43 for rotating the lead screw 42 to move the head carriage 39. On the upper surface of the disk holder 37, a shutter (not shown) of a normal disk cartridge or the shutter 2 of the memory cartridge 11 described above is provided.
A shutter opening / closing lever 44 for sliding 0 in the opening / closing direction is provided rotatably. The shutter opening / closing lever 4
Reference numeral 4 is urged clockwise by the spring force of the coil spring 45, and rotates counterclockwise by the cartridge insertion operation to slide the shutter 20 in the opening direction.

As shown in FIG. 8, the memory cartridge 1
1 is mounted on the magnetic disk drive 12 having the above-described configuration. Thus, after the shutter 20 is slid in the opening direction, the magnetic head 24 slides on the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 of the memory cartridge 11. FIG. 9 shows the magnetic head 2
8 is a magnetic head sliding contact portion 18 of the memory cartridge 11,
It is a side view which shows the state which contacted slide 19.

As shown in FIG. 9, the memory cartridge 1
1 is mounted in a predetermined mounting position together with the disk holder 37, the turntable 52 is
Opposes the circular concave portion 22. Then, the magnetic head 24
Performs a seek operation together with the head carriage 39 driven by the carriage drive motor 43. In this case, the magnetic head 24 seeks to determine the type of the disk device from the number of tracks that the PC can seek when the power is turned on. Therefore, even when the memory cartridge 11 is mounted, the magnetic head 24 is kept in contact with the magnetic head sliding portion 1.
The seek operation is performed while sliding on 8 and 19.

As shown in FIG. 8, a spindle motor 47 for driving the turntable to rotate is connected to a motor control circuit 49, and is controlled by the motor control circuit 49 to rotate at a constant speed. The motor control circuit 49 is connected to the control circuit 50 and controls driving and stopping of the spindle motor 47 according to a motor control signal supplied from the control circuit 50.

The carriage drive motor 43 is connected to the control circuit 5
0, and moves the magnetic head 24 in the disk radial direction (the direction of arrow B) in accordance with the tracking position control signal supplied from the control circuit 50 to select a track position. The magnetic head 24 is connected to the read / write circuit 51, and records data on the IC card 14 by a recording signal supplied from the read / write circuit 51.
The change in magnetization read from the IC card 14 is converted into a current, and information recorded on the IC card 14 is detected. The read / write circuit 51 amplifies the write data and supplies it to the magnetic head 24, and also performs a predetermined process on the read signal to restore the original signal.

As shown in FIG. 9, the memory cartridge 1
The magnetic head core portion 25 is attached to the magnetic head sliding contact portions 18 and 19. Magnetic head core 25
Is provided at a position where it contacts the magnetic head 24 at the position of the track “00” when the memory cartridge 11 is mounted at a predetermined mounting position. The magnetic head core 25 is magnetically connected when the magnetic head 24 of the magnetic disk drive 12 comes into contact with the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19. That is, the IC card 14 stored in the memory cartridge 11 reads or writes information through the magnetic head 24 of the magnetic disk device 12.

A battery (not shown) serving as a driving power source for driving an internal circuit is housed inside the memory cartridge 11. Memory cartridge 11
Is electrically driven by a driving power supply supplied from a battery,
And the signal processing is performed to realize an electrical connection with the IC card 14 and a magnetic connection with the magnetic disk device 12.

When the memory cartridge 11 is mounted on the magnetic disk drive 12, the magnetic head 24 faces the magnetic head core 25 embedded in the magnetic head sliding portions 18 and 19 at the track "00". Connected magnetically. However, the magnetic head 24 performs a seek operation before stopping at the position of the track “00” to check the number of recordable tracks. At that time, the magnetic head 24
Is in sliding contact with the cleaning members 31 and 32 formed on the surfaces of the magnetic head sliding contact portions 18 and 19 as described above.

Therefore, when the magnetic head 24 performs a seek operation, dirt attached to the head surface 24a of the magnetic head 24 is removed. Therefore, the magnetic head 24 has its head surface 24a cleaned every time the memory cartridge 11 is mounted, and can perform magnetic write or read operations favorably on the memory cartridge and the magnetic disk of a normal disk cartridge. .

In the above embodiment, the case where the IC card 14 is inserted into the memory cartridge 11 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration in which a card-shaped storage medium other than the IC card 14 is mounted is adopted. Of course, the present invention can also be applied.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the head cleaning member is provided at a position where the magnetic head slides when mounted on the magnetic disk drive, the seek operation of the magnetic head performed when the memory cartridge is mounted. Accordingly, the head surface of the magnetic head slides on the head cleaning member to remove dirt attached to the head surface. Therefore, the head surface of the magnetic head is cleaned each time the memory cartridge is mounted, and magnetic writing or reading operation can be performed favorably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining one embodiment of a memory cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an IC card and a memory cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before the memory cartridge is assembled.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state after the memory cartridge is assembled.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing a magnetic head core part.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a magnetic head core part.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a magnetic disk device on which a memory cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where the memory cartridge is mounted on the magnetic disk device.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state where the magnetic head is in sliding contact with the magnetic head sliding contact portion of the memory cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Memory cartridge 12 Magnetic disk drive 13 IC card mounting part 14 IC card 16 Contact part 17 IC contact part 18, 19 Magnetic head sliding contact part 24 Magnetic head 25 Magnetic head core part 26, 27 Opening 28 Core 29 Coil 30 Mold 31, 32 Cleaning member 39 Head carriage 44 Shutter opening / closing lever 51 Read / write circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Tsuchiguchi 3-7-3 Nakamachi, Musashino City, Tokyo Inside Tiac Inc. (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Yasuda 3-7-3 Nakamachi, Musashino City, Tokyo Tiac Inside the corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A memory cartridge having an accommodation portion for accommodating a memory card in a case formed substantially in the same shape as a magnetic disk cartridge and mounted on a magnetic disk device for writing or reading information. And a head cleaning member provided at a portion where the magnetic head slides when the magnetic head is mounted on the magnetic disk device.