JPH11273293A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To thin a disk cartridge by constituting a first disk cartridge case with a disk arrangement part, a shutter arrangement part, an opening part, a shutter moving means and a shutter and constituting a second disk cartridge case with a plate. SOLUTION: The cartridge case 1 is provided with the disk arrangement part 8 having a space housing a disk 4 and so that its surface is not in contact with the cartridge cases 1, 2 while the disk 4 is recorded/reproduced and the shutter arrangement part having a step nearly equal to the thickness of the shutter 3 on the rear side surface to be formed by injection molding. On the other hand, the planar cartridge case 2 is extrusion moldable since it is a single plane, and thinner molding is possible to be thinned than the injection molding. Thus, the total thickness of the disk cartridge 10 combining the cartridge case 1 with the planar cartridge case 2 is thinned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge containing a disk such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, and a magneto-optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an optical disk, a magnetic disk, and a magneto-optical disk, if a recording / reproducing surface is scratched or stained, an error rate during reproduction is reduced or a writing error is apt to occur during recording. For this reason, the disk is generally housed in a rectangular cartridge case so as to protect the disk and not to impair the ease of handling. This cartridge case is generally formed by injection molding a synthetic resin, and the configuration of a disk cartridge is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-225742.

Incidentally, it has been considered that an optical disk device is inserted into a PC card insertion portion of a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a personal computer) to exchange information with the personal computer. However, the thickness of this PC card is extremely thin, and the thickness of some types is almost 10.5 mm,
Also narrow. Nevertheless, the size of the optical disk device must be the same as this PC card.
Moreover, this optical disk device has a disk motor,
It is necessary to incorporate an optical head, an optical head feed mechanism, a circuit board (including an interface, signal processing, a read / write circuit, a servo circuit, etc.), a cartridge loading mechanism, and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to make the optical disk cartridge mounted in this optical disk device as thin as possible.

As a conventional disk cartridge, the cartridge is divided into two, a disk is accommodated in one cartridge case, the other cartridge case is formed in a flat plate shape, a hinge is provided on one side of the flat plate, and the other of the flat plate is provided with a hinge. In some cases, a locking piece is provided on the side, and the other cartridge case can be opened and closed by a hinge so that when closed, the locking piece is locked to a locking portion of one cartridge case. However, since the hinge and the locking piece are fixed to the other cartridge case, a thickness that can fix the hinge and the locking piece is required. Therefore, a considerable thickness is required. Further, in the conventional method for molding a disk cartridge, when the thickness of the disk cartridge is reduced, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the cartridge case to a certain degree or more. This is because if there is a portion where the thickness of the cartridge case is thin during injection molding, resin cannot flow in and cannot be molded.
For this reason, the disc cartridge has been determined from the thickness of the case required for injection molding, the disc thickness, and the space for rotating the disc.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional cartridge, the thickness of the cartridge cannot be reduced due to its structure or molding. An object of the present invention is to provide a thin disk cartridge.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a disk cartridge is divided into a first disk cartridge case and a second disk cartridge case. In the first disk cartridge case, a disk arrangement portion for accommodating a disk, a shutter arrangement portion, an opening provided in the shutter arrangement portion, a shutter moving means, and a shutter arrangement portion are arranged.
The shutter is configured to cover the opening by the shutter moving means, and is configured to be movable from the opening against the shutter moving means, and the second cartridge case is formed of a flat plate.

[0007] The thickness of the second cartridge case is smaller than the thickness required for manufacturing by injection molding.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the second cartridge case is set to 0.5 mm or less. For this reason, the second cartridge case is formed by extrusion or by punching a thin plate.

In the present invention, the second cartridge case is temporarily deformed by pressing, but may be a flat plate which can return to its original state by releasing the pressing. For this reason, it is preferable that the second cartridge case is made of resin. Further, since the second cartridge case is constituted by a flat plate, the shutter moving means is constituted by a coil spring.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disk cartridge according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view when components are arranged at predetermined positions in one cartridge case of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. In the figure,
The disk cartridge 10 has cartridge cases 1, 2
And these cartridge cases 1, 2
Prevents the disc 4 from being touched by dust, dust, or the user directly touching the recording / reproducing surface. When recording or reproducing the disk 4 using the disk recording or reproducing device, the disk 4 is accessed from the disk cartridge opening 6 provided in the cartridge case 1. The disk cartridge opening 6 is closed by the shutter 3 when the disk cartridge 10 is outside the recording or reproducing apparatus, and when the disk cartridge 10 is inserted into the recording or reproducing apparatus, the shutter 3 moves and the disk cartridge opening 6 is opened. I do. This shutter 3 is guided by a shutter guide groove 9 provided in the cartridge case 1 and its movement is regulated so that the shutter 3 moves only between the guide grooves 9 in the figure. The shutter 3 is constantly urged by the shutter moving means 5a in a direction to close the disk cartridge opening 6. In this embodiment, a tension spring is used for the shutter moving means 5a, and is arranged in the shutter guide groove 9. The concave portion 12 provided in the holding portion 11 of the shutter 3 is provided so that when the disc cartridge 10 is inserted into the recording or reproducing device, the claw provided in the recording or reproducing device is inserted and the shutter 3 is opened. It is. In addition, erroneous recording on the disk 4 and
Erroneous erasure prevention means may be provided for the purpose of preventing erroneous erasure. The disk cartridge of the present invention may be provided with a means for preventing erroneous recording and erasure, but is not shown because it is not directly related to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the appearance of the cartridge cases 1 and 2, and FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a surface which becomes outside when the cartridge case is assembled.
(B) is a plan view showing the inner surface of the cartridge case. As shown in FIG. 3, the cartridge case 1 accommodates the disk 4 and has a disk arrangement portion 8 having a space whose surface does not contact the cartridge cases 1 and 2 during recording and reproduction of the disk 4. . On the back surface of the cartridge case 1 having the disk disposition portion 8, a shutter disposition portion 7 having a step having a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the shutter 3 is provided.
There is. The disk cartridge cases 1 and 2 are often formed of a resin generally called engineering plastic. For example, a PC (polycarbonate) or the like is used for a cartridge case for an optical disk. When molding the cartridge case 1 as described above with such a resin, injection molding is often used. Also in this embodiment, it is assumed that the cartridge case 1 is formed by injection molding.

In the injection molding, since the resin flows between the dies, a certain thickness is required in the thin portion. This is because if the thickness is insufficient, the inflow of the resin is hindered and molding cannot be performed. In the case of the cartridge case 1, the portion between the shutter disposing portion 7 and the disc disposing portion 8 is the thinnest portion. As described above, the total thickness of the cartridge case 1 is determined by the thicknesses of the disk arrangement portion 8, the shutter arrangement portion 7, and the thinnest portion. On the other hand, the disc cartridge case 2 uses a flat plate having no disc placement portion or shutter placement portion. Therefore, the case 2 only needs to protect the disk 4 from being scratched or dusty, so that it does not break when the case is pushed, and only needs to have a restoring force even if it is slightly depressed when pushed, so that it is made thin. be able to.

Although it is assumed that the disk cartridge case 2 is also formed of resin, it can be manufactured by extrusion since it has a single plane. Extrusion molding allows thin molding, and the thickness of the disc cartridge case 2 can be reduced compared to injection molding. Therefore, the total thickness of the disk cartridge combining the disk cartridge cases 1 and 2 can be made thinner than the combination of the cartridge cases manufactured by injection molding. In a conventional disk cartridge composed of two cases, either case is provided with a recess, or one case is provided with a recess, and the other case has a flat plate shape, but a hinge or a lock. Part is provided. Therefore, it cannot be manufactured by extrusion molding. In any case, the conventional disk cartridge cannot be manufactured by extrusion molding, and even in the case of a cartridge case composed of a flat plate, the strength required for attaching the hinge and the locking portion, that is, the thickness, is small. is necessary.

Regarding the disk cartridge of the present invention,
This will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the disk cartridge. FIG. 4A shows a disk cartridge of the present invention, and FIG. 4B shows a conventional disk cartridge. The minimum thickness that can be obtained by injection molding is about t1 min = 0.5 mm, and the thickness that can be produced by extrusion molding is t2 min = 0.1 mm.

The step of the shutter arrangement section 7 to be used is t3 = 0.2 mm, and the thickness of the disk arrangement section 8 is t4 = 3.
mm. According to the structure of the present invention, the total thickness of the disk cartridge is (t1min) + (t2min) + (t3).
+ (T4) = 3.8 mm. On the other hand, when a disk cartridge is composed of two injection-molded cartridge cases, (t1min) × 2 + (t3) + (t4) =
4.2 mm, which is 0.4 mm thicker in the conventional disk cartridge than in the disk cartridge of the present invention. The thin disk cartridge case 2 manufactured by extrusion has low rigidity by itself, but the rigidity of the entire disk cartridge can be maintained by sticking it to the other cartridge case 1 injection molded. Therefore, it suffices if the thickness is such that it can be restored to its original state even if it is depressed by pressing. The disk cartridge 2
May be formed by punching out a thin plate.

Referring to FIG. 5, an embodiment of the moving means 5 for urging the shutter 3 of the disk cartridge in the direction to close the disk cartridge according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 5A is a plan view of a disk cartridge case according to the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a plan view of a conventional disk cartridge case. As shown in FIG. 5B, the moving means in the conventional disk cartridge case 1 often uses a torsion spring or a torsion coil spring 5b. In this case, the two cartridge cases were both formed by injection molding, and the torsion spring 5b could be arranged in the space provided between the two cartridge cases. However, in the present invention, the cartridge case 2 is a flat plate manufactured by extrusion, and in order to arrange the moving means inside, the arrangement space must be provided only in the cartridge case 1 on the injection molding side. However, in this case, if the moving means is constituted by the torsion spring 5b as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the connecting portion between the torsion spring 5b and the cartridge case 1 cannot be covered by the cartridge case 2, so that the connecting portion is external. Exposure to For this reason, it may be erroneously removed.

In order to prevent this, in the present invention, a tension spring 5a is used as a means for moving the shutter 3, as shown in FIG. The tension spring 5a is disposed in a shutter guide groove 9 provided in the cartridge case 1 and urges the shutter 3 in a closing direction. Since the shutter guide groove 9 is covered by the cartridge case 2, it cannot be touched from the outside and can be prevented from being accidentally detached.

[0018]

According to the above configuration, the total thickness of the cartridge case constituting the disk cartridge can be reduced, and the thickness of the disk cartridge can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a plan view when components are arranged at predetermined positions in one cartridge case of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the appearance of the cartridge case.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view in the thickness direction of the present invention and a conventional disk cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the present invention and a conventional disk cartridge case.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cartridge case, 2 ... Flat cartridge case, 3 ... Shutter, 4 ... Disk, 5a ... Tension spring, 5
b: torsion spring, 6: disk cartridge opening, 7
... Shutter arrangement part, 8 ... Disc arrangement part, 9 ... Shutter guide groove, 10 ... Disc cartridge.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Inoue 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Multimedia System Development Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuo Masuoka Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 292 Hitachi Multimedia Systems Development Division

Claims (9)

[Claims] A first disk cartridge case and a second disk cartridge case;
The first disk cartridge case includes a disk arrangement part for accommodating a disk, a shutter arrangement part, an opening provided in the shutter arrangement part, a shutter moving means, A shutter arranged on the shutter disposing portion, arranged to cover the opening by the shutter moving means, and movable from the opening against the shutter moving means; Wherein the cartridge case is formed of a flat plate. 2. A disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case has a thickness smaller than a thickness required for manufacturing by injection molding. 3. A disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case has a thickness of 0.5 m.
m. 4. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case is formed by extrusion molding. 5. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case is formed by punching a thin plate. 6. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case is a flat plate which is temporarily deformed by pressing, but can be returned to its original state by releasing said pressing. Disk cartridge. 7. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second cartridge case is formed of a resin. 8. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said shutter moving means comprises a coil spring. 9. The disk cartridge according to claim 6, wherein said second cartridge case is formed of resin.
A disk cartridge which is temporarily deformed by being pressed but has a thickness which does not cause plastic deformation.