JPH0682502B2 - Disco Cartridge - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an optical disc in which an information signal is written and / or read by an information signal writing / reading head such as an optical pickup using a semiconductor laser. The present invention relates to a disc cartridge in which an information recording disc such as a magneto-optical disc is mounted in a recording and / or reproducing device in a state of being housed in a case, and information signals can be written and / or read out in a state of being housed in the case.

B. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an information recording disk in which an information signal is written and / or read by an information signal writing and / or reading head, and an information signal is written and / or written on the information recording disk. A case provided with an opening facing an information signal writing and / or reading head for reading, and slidably mounted on the case between a position where the opening is closed and a position where the opening is opened. And a lock member provided in the case for locking the shutter by engaging with a notch portion into which a shutter opening / closing member provided in the shutter is inserted at a position that closes the opening. The shutter opening / closing member when the lock member is pressed by the shutter opening / closing member in a direction to unlock the shutter. By providing an inclined surface portion for generating a component force in the direction of sliding the shutter to the open position side so as to project into the cutout portion in the locked state of the shutter, a smooth opening / closing operation of the shutter by the shutter opening / closing member is performed. It's something that you do.

C. Conventional Technology Conventionally, an optical disc has been used as a recording medium for musical tone signals and other information signals. The writing and / or reading of the information signal with respect to the optical disc adopts an optical system in which a laser beam from an optical pickup using a semiconductor laser is irradiated. Therefore, if the signal recording surface of the optical disc is scratched or fingerprints are attached, the scratches or fingerprints may change the refractive index of the laser beam or cause unnecessary diffuse reflection, and the accurate writing of information signals. And / or reading cannot be performed.

Therefore, in order to protect the signal recording surface from scratches and adhesion of fingerprints, the optical disc is stored in a predetermined storage case.

However, as a recording and / or reproducing apparatus using an optical disc as a recording medium, a device configured such that the optical disc is mounted as a single disc is generally widely used. Therefore, in order to mount the optical disk on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the optical disk is taken out from the storage case for storage and mounted on the apparatus. Therefore, during mounting operation to the recording and / or reproducing device,
Alternatively, there is a risk that the optical disc may be scratched or fingerprinted during the removal operation.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, the optical disc is mounted on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus in the state of being housed in the case without taking it out of the case, and the information signal is written in the state of being housed in the case. And / or a disc cartridge capable of reading has been proposed.

In this disc cartridge, an optical disc is housed in a case consisting of an upper half and a lower half, and an opening for the optical pickup and an opening for the disc table to enter are provided in the lower half constituting the case, and these openings are opened and closed. The shutter is attached to the case.

Then, the cartridge is mounted in a predetermined mounting position by slidingly operating the shutter by a shutter opening / closing member provided in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus to open the opening. When mounted in a predetermined mounting position, the optical disc is clamped on the disc table and rotated, and the optical pickup faces the optical disc through the opening to write and / or read information signals. Done.

The case of the above-mentioned disc cartridge is such that the upper and lower halves can be opened and closed, and the stored optical disc can be exchanged, and it can be exchanged with an optical disc not stored in the case or an optical disc stored in another storage case. It can be mounted on a recording and / or reproducing device.

D. Problems to be solved and used by the invention As described above, the information recording disc is mounted in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus in the state of being housed in the case and the writing of the information signal is made in the state of being housed in the case. A disk cartridge for reading and / or reading needs an opening facing an information signal writing / reading head such as an optical pickup and an opening for a disk table, and a shutter for opening / closing these openings is necessary. Becomes

Therefore, in this type of disc cartridge, the opening of the case can be opened by sliding the shutter in relation to the inserting operation into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, so that the sliding operation of the shutter is smooth. In addition, it is required to be performed reliably.

Also, when the disc cartridge is not mounted in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the shutter is locked at a position to close the opening, and the opening is inadvertently opened so that the stored information recording disc is touched by a finger or the like. Need not to.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the recording and / or reproducing apparatus is not mounted, the shutter is locked at a position where the opening is closed to prevent the opening of the opening from being carelessly performed, and the shutter is inserted into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus. It is proposed for the purpose of providing a disc cartridge in which, when operated, the shutter is unlocked and at the same time, the shutter can be slid in a direction to open the opening with a smooth operation. It is a thing.

E. Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention accommodates an information recording disk in which an information signal writing and / or reading head writes and / or reads an information signal. A case provided with an opening facing an information signal writing and / or reading head for writing and / or reading an information signal on the information recording disk, a position where the opening is closed, and the opening A shutter mounted on the case so as to be slidable between the open positions,
A lock member provided in the case for locking the shutter by engaging with a notch portion into which the shutter opening / closing member provided in the shutter is inserted at a position where the opening is closed; When the lock member is pressed by the opening / closing member in a direction to unlock the shutter, the inclined surface portion of the shutter which opens and closes the shutter opening / closing member in the direction of sliding the shutter to the position for opening the shutter is provided. In the locked state, the cutout portion is provided so as to project.

F. Action In the present invention, the shutter is provided at a position where the lock member is engaged with the notch portion into which the shutter opening / closing member provided in the shutter is inserted to close the opening facing the information signal writing / reading head. Is locked and the shutter opening / closing member inserted into the cutout portion presses the lock member in a direction for unlocking the shutter, the shutter opening / closing member comes into contact with an inclined surface portion provided on the lock member. The shutter opening / closing member generates a component force in a direction of sliding the shutter opening / closing member.

G. Examples The following will describe specific examples in which the present invention is applied to a disc cartridge of an optical disc.

As shown in FIG. 2, the disc cartridge according to the present invention is a so-called hard case formed by a disc-shaped optical disc 1 on which a musical tone signal and other information signals are recorded, and a hard synthetic resin for accommodating the optical disc 1. A case 2 formed and a pickup opening facing an optical pickup which is a writing and / or reading head for writing an information signal to or reading an information signal recorded on the optical disc 1 provided in the case 2. 3 and a shutter 5 for opening and closing a central opening 4 for a disc table into which a disc table of a disc rotation driving device provided on the side of a recording and / or reproducing device for rotationally driving the optical disc 1 enters.

The case 2 is provided with an opening 3 for the pickup and a central opening 4 for the disk table, and a rectangular lower half 6 to which a shutter 5 is attached, and is attached to the lower half 6 so as to be openable and closable. It is composed of a rectangular upper half 7.

And, in the substantially central portion of the inner main surface of the lower half 6,
A storage recess 8 having a depth enough to store the optical disk 1 is formed so as to be inscribed in the lower half 6. A central opening 4 for the disk table is formed in the center of the storage recess 8, and the central opening 4 is formed at the center position of the lower half 6 in the left-right direction and extending in the radial direction of the storage recess 8. In succession, the opening 3 for pickup is formed toward the front side surface of the lower half 6.
A shutter 5 is attached to the lower half 6 slidably between a position where the pickup opening 3 and the disk table central opening 4 are closed and a position where the openings 3 and 4 are opened. Has been.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the shutter 5 includes an opening 3 and a central opening 4 for the pickup.
The shutter portion 9 has a substantially rectangular shape that is large enough to close the shutter and a slide guide portion 10 integrally provided at the base end of the shutter portion 9. The slide guide portion 10 is formed to be sufficiently longer than the width of the shutter portion 9 so as to project to the side of the shutter portion 9 and slide in the width direction narrower than the length in the longitudinal direction. Moving shutter 5
Are formed so as to slide stably. The slide guide portion 10 is provided continuously with the front wall 11 formed upright from the base end portion of the shutter portion 9 and is continuous with the front wall 11. A slide guide wall 13 formed by bending 12 and a shutter portion 9
An end portion projecting from is composed of a support piece 14 continuous with the front wall 11 so as to face the slide guide wall 13 and has a substantially U-shaped cross section. In the shutter 5 provided with the slide guide portion 10 formed in this way, the slide guide portion 10 is engaged with the shutter mounting portion 15 formed on the front side surface side of the lower half 6 so that the opening 3 for the pickup and It is slidably mounted between a position where the central opening 4 is closed and a position which reaches one side of the lower half 6 where the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4 are opened. That is, in the shutter mounting portion 15,
A guide rail 16 located on the inner main surface of the lower half 6 and forming the front side wall of the case 2 and a shutter opening / closing pin restriction wall for restricting the insertion position of the shutter opening / closing pin provided on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus side. And 17 are provided in parallel.
In the shutter 5, the shutter portion 9 is extended to the outer main surface of the lower half 6, and the guide rail locking piece 12 of the slide guide portion 10 is engaged with one side surface of the guide rail 16 to form the shutter portion. The shutter mounting portion 15 is mounted by sandwiching the shutter mounting portion 15 between the base end portion of 9 and the slide guide portion 10, and is guided by the guide rail 16 and the shutter opening / closing pin restricting wall 17 for the opening portion 3 for pickup and the central opening portion. It is mounted so as to slide between the position where the opening 4 is closed and the position where the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4 are opened. The tip side of the shutter portion 9 slides while holding one side edge of the central opening 4 with a tip portion 9a of the shutter portion 9 and a locking claw 18 formed by cutting and raising one side of the tip portion. It is designed to prevent floating when time passes.

Further, the shutter 5 pulls a spring 19 in a direction to close the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4.
The shutter opening / closing pin provided on the recording and / or reproducing device side of the slide guide portion 10 is biased by the shutter opening / closing pin 3 at the position where the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4 are closed. Lock piece 21 that is a lock member
Are engaged and locked so that they are locked. The tension spring 19 is accommodated in a spring accommodating portion 22 formed between the first and second guide rails 16 and 17, one end of which is located on one side of the lower half 6 in the spring accommodating portion 22. A locking piece 24 that is locked to the locking pin 23 that has been set up, and has the other end bent to the other end of the rising wall 11 of the slide guide portion 10.
The shutter 5 is biased in a direction to close the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4.

By the way, the cutout portion 20 is provided on one end side of the slide guide portion 10 which projects laterally from the shutter portion, and is formed from the front wall 11 to the slide guide wall 13 as shown in FIG. The slide guide wall 13 of the notch 20
The portion 20a located at is formed to have a size sufficient for an inclined surface portion 25, which will be described later, provided on the free end side of the lock piece 21 to project outward, and one side thereof extends along the inclined surface portion. It is formed as an inclined side and is formed so that a large gap is not formed between the lock piece 21 and the cutout portion 20 when the lock piece 21 is engaged.

Further, the lock piece 21, as shown in FIG.
Is provided so as to engage with the notch 20 when it reaches the position where it closes the opening 3 for pickup and the central opening 4. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the lock piece 21 is provided on one side wall portion 26 side of the lower half 6 so as to be continuously provided to one end of the shutter opening / closing pin restriction wall 17. The lock piece 21 has a shutter opening / closing pin provided at the tip of a shutter opening / closing arm which is a shutter opening / closing member provided on the recording and / or reproducing device side into which the disc cartridge is inserted and mounted from the front side of the case 2. It extends substantially parallel to the front side of the lower half 6 so that when it is inserted into the notch 20 and pressed, it is elastically displaced inward of the case 2 and the shutter 5 is unlocked. Is formed. In addition, a notch on the back side of the lock piece 21 that allows elastic displacement of the lock piece 21.
27 are drilled. Further, a protection piece 28 is provided so as to project from the bottom wall of the lower half 6 so that an unnecessary load is not applied to the lock piece 21. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the free end side of the lock piece 21 is located on the front side of the case 5, and the tip of the inclined surface portion 25 has the free end side shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, a locking claw portion 29 is formed which engages with one side of the cutout portion 20 of the shutter 5 to lock the shutter 5.
In this way, the lock piece 21 provided with the inclined surface portion 25 on the free end side is
As shown in FIG. 1, when the shutter 5 is locked, the inclined surface portion 25 extends over the cutout portion 20 and the cutout portion 20 is formed.
The locking claw portion 29 projects into the inside of the notch portion 20 and engages with one side of the end portion side of the slide guide portion 10 of the notch portion 20. in this way,
With the shutter 5 locked, the inclined surface portion 25 has the cutout portion 20.
When the shutter opening / closing pin 31 at the tip of the shutter opening / closing arm 30 provided on the apparatus side is inserted into and engaged with the cutout portion 20, the shutter opening / closing pin 31 presses the inclined surface portion 25. Therefore, when the disc cartridge is inserted into the recording and / or reproducing apparatus from the front side which is the mounting portion side of the shutter 5, the shutter modification pin 31 is guided in the direction of the inclined surface, as shown in FIG. Force P in the direction of inserting the disc cartridge
On the other hand, the component force a in the direction of sliding the shutter 5 toward the open position is applied to the shutter opening / closing pin 31.

Further, a side wall portion 26 on one side orthogonal to the shutter slide of the lower half 6 is operated to pull in and / or pull out the disc cartridge provided in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus in which the disc cartridge is mounted. As shown in FIG. 2, a rack gear portion 32 with which a gear such as a pinion gear of a loading mechanism is meshed is provided. The rack gear portion 27 is formed on the lower end surface of the side wall portion 26 on the one side from the front side surface side to the rear surface side side of the lower half 6. That is, the tooth portion of the rack gear portion 27 is provided so as to face the main surface of the lower half 6 on the lower surface side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a wrong insertion of a disk cartridge provided on the recording and / or reproducing device side is prevented on the side wall portion 33 on the other side of the lower half 6 which faces the side wall portion 26 on the other side. Groove part to prevent mis-insertion that the guide piece engages
34 are provided. The groove portion 34 for preventing erroneous insertion is formed by notching the corner portion of the lower end surface of the side wall portion 33 on the other side, which is an asymmetric position in the thickness direction of the lower half 6, in a L-shaped cross section. It is provided from the front side of the half 6 to the rear side of the lower half 6.

As described above, the upper half 7 is openably and closably attached to the lower half 6 to which the shutter 5 is attached so as to close the storage recess 8 provided in the lower half 6, and the optical disc 1 to be stored can be exchanged. I am trying. The upper half 7 is formed as a rectangular plate-like body corresponding to the portion of the lower half 6 where the storage recess 8 is provided, and includes a pair of rotating protrusions 35, 35 protruding on both sides on the base end side. Fitting holes provided with rotating shafts 36, 36 projecting from the opposite surfaces at positions corresponding to both sides of the shutter mounting portion 15, which is the front side of the both side walls 26, 28 of the lower half 6.
It is fitted to 37, 37 and attached to the lower half 6 so as to be openable and closable. Further, on both sides of the tip surface of the upper half 7, engaging pieces 39, 39 which engage with the engaging recesses 38, 38 formed on both sides of the front surface of the lower half 6 when the lid is closed are provided. It is designed to prevent the lid from opening. Further, on both sides of the tip side of the upper half 7 are orthogonal to the engaging pieces 39, 39,
Engaging step portions 4 formed on both sides of the lower half 6 on the front surface side
Engaging side walls 41, 41 that engage with the 0, 40 are provided to prevent displacement in the left-right direction when the lid is closed.

In addition, at the central portion of the upper half 7 and at the position facing the center hole 1a of the optical disc 1 housed in the housing recess 8, when the disc cartridge is mounted in the recording and / or reproducing device, A clamp member 42 that clamps the optical disc 1 in cooperation with a disc table of a provided disc rotation drive device is detachably attached. That is, this disc cartridge is configured so that it can be applied to a device provided with a clamp member on the device side by removing the clamp member 42.

Then, as shown in FIG.
The recording and / or reproducing apparatus is tilted with respect to the insertion direction of the disk cartridge so that it projects toward the disk cartridge insertion side, and the shutter opening / closing arm 30 is attached in the rotation direction about the support shaft 43 as described above. When the disk cartridge thus formed is inserted from the mounting portion side of the shutter 5, the shutter opening / closing pin 31 is inserted into and engaged with the cutout portion 20 of the shutter 5 to elastically displace the lock 21 to unlock the shutter 5. When the shutter opening / closing pin 31 engages with the cutout portion 20 and is further inserted into the apparatus from the unlocked state of the shutter 5, the shutter opening / closing arm 30
7 is rotated in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 7, the shutter 5 is slid toward the side opening the opening 3 and the opening 4 for pickup against the biasing force of the tension spring 19, and as shown in FIG. As shown, these openings 3, 4 are opened.

The shutter opening / closing arm 30 is biased by a spring 44 in the return direction so that the shutter opening / closing pin 31 is inserted into the notch portion 20 of the shutter 5 at the lock position of the disk cartridge inserted in the return position. The rotationally biased position is restricted to the opposite position.

By the way, in the present invention, when the shutter opening / closing pin 31 is inserted into and engaged with the notch 20 of the shutter 5, it abuts against the inclined surface portion 25 of the lock piece 21 and presses the inclined surface portion 25 as described above. As described above, since the component force for sliding the shutter 5 to the open position side is applied, the shutter opening / closing arm 30 is surely rotated in the arrow X direction in FIG. It is slid to the open position side.

Further, since the cutout portion 20 is formed as a large enough portion so that the inclined surface portion 25 projects into the cutout portion 20,
When the shutter opening / closing pin 31 set up in the thickness direction of the case 2 of the disk cartridge, which is set up at the tip of the shutter opening / closing arm 30, is inserted into the notch 20, the lock piece 21 does not come into contact with the shutter 5. Is directly pressed, and the frictional force between the shutter 5 and the case 2 when sliding the shutter 5 can be reduced.

H. Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the lock member engages with the notch portion into which the shutter opening / closing member provided in the shutter is inserted, so that the opening for the information signal writing and / or reading head is exposed. The shutter is locked at the closed position,
When the lock member is pushed in a direction to unlock the shutter by the shutter opening / closing member inserted in the notch, the shutter opening / closing member comes into contact with an inclined surface portion provided on the lock member, thereby opening / closing the shutter. Since a component force in the direction of sliding the shutter to the position where the shutter is opened is generated in the member, the shutter is securely locked to prevent accidental opening of the opening.
A smooth opening operation of the shutter can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the upper surface side of the disk cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the lower surface side of the disk cartridge, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the disk cartridge. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the shutter is in the opening opening position, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing the lock piece portion. 6 and 7 are plan views showing the opening operation of the shutter. FIG. 6 shows the sliding start state of the shutter, and FIG. 7 shows the opened state of the shutter. FIG. 8 is a perspective view from the lower surface side in the state where the shutter of the disc cartridge is opened. 1 ... Optical disc 2 ... Case 3 ... Pickup opening 4 ... Center opening 5 ... Shutter 9 ... Shutter part 10 ... Slide guide part 11 ... Shutter front wall 13 ... Slide guide wall 20 …… Notch 21 …… Lock piece 25 …… Sloping surface 29 …… Interlocking part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information recording disk in which an information signal is written and / or read by an information signal writing and / or reading head is housed and information is written and / or read in the information recording disk. A case having an opening facing the signal writing and / or reading head, and a shutter slidably attached to the case between a position where the opening is closed and a position where the opening is opened. A lock member provided in the case that locks the shutter by engaging a notch portion into which the shutter opening / closing member provided in the shutter is inserted at a position that closes the opening. When the lock member is pressed by the shutter opening / closing member in a direction to unlock the shutter, the shutter opening / closing member is pressed against the shutter opening / closing member. Disc cartridge comprising provided to project the inclined surface portion for generating a component force in the direction of sliding to a position side to the notched portion in the locked state of the shutter to open the Yatta.