JPH1031810A - Disk cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] Disc cassette [Problem] To provide a disc cassette that incorporates a disc-shaped information storage medium and that can always perform highly reliable recording and reproduction. SOLUTION: A cloth 2 as a head cleaner is arranged in a groove 6 forming a head insertion hole provided in a disk cassette 8 so that a head approaches a magnetic sheet 1. Each time the head is inserted into and ejected from the head insertion hole formed by the groove 6, the head comes into contact with the cloth 2 to wipe off dirt.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cassette containing a disc-shaped information storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a storage device in which an information storage medium and a recording / reproducing head (hereinafter abbreviated as "head") are moved relative to each other to store information in the information storage medium, contamination of the head increases information errors, It may damage the information storage medium, and removing it is a very important technical issue. It is a well-known fact that, in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus which performs recording / reproduction by bringing a head into contact with a magnetic recording medium, dirt on the head significantly reduces the performance of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

Various proposals have been made for cleaning the head of a magnetic disk drive, but they can be broadly classified into two types. One is a method using a dedicated cleaning disk, and the other is a method of providing a cleaning member inside the apparatus.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-127919 discloses a cleaning disk, for example. This is a built-in sheet that is partially impregnated with a cleaning liquid in a jacket of the same shape as a normal recording / reproducing disk cassette, and is loaded into a disk device and rotated as in recording / reproducing. The dirt on the head is said to be removed.

As a method of providing a cleaning member inside the apparatus, there is, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H6-180827. This is because the movement of the disk cassette at the time of inserting and ejecting the disk cassette into and from the apparatus is linked to the movement of the head cleaning member, and at the time of inserting and ejecting the disk cassette, the cleaning member moves relative to the head while contacting the head. Is going to get rid of.

[0006]

However, in the method using the cleaning-dedicated disk cassette, unless the user always pays attention and regularly uses the cleaning cassette, the head becomes dirty and data reading / writing may be impaired. It is extremely difficult to prevent this. In addition, when a head cleaner is incorporated in a disk drive, not only does the cleaning effect diminish due to the head cleaner being used over a long period of time, and the deposited dirt adheres to the head, making it impossible to read and write data. There is also.

[0007] As the recording density increases, the degree to which the contamination of the head affects the reliability of recording and reproduction increases. Therefore, in order to realize a small and large-capacity disk drive,
How to keep the head clean is a major issue.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a disk cassette which always guarantees reliable reading and writing of data without imposing a burden on a user.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a head cleaner is disposed in a passage provided in a disk cassette so that a head approaches a disk.

According to the present invention, the head of the apparatus is always kept clean by the above structure.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a disk cassette having a built-in disk as an information storage medium and a head cleaner for cleaning a head for performing recording and reproduction on the disk. A disk cassette, wherein a head cleaner is disposed in a passage provided in the disk cassette so that the head approaches the disk, wherein the head is used to read and write data on the disk. Each time the head is inserted into the disk cassette, or each time the head is retracted from the disk in order to eject the disk from the device, the head contacts the cleaner to remove dirt attached to the head. Have.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disk cassette according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a magnetic sheet as a disk, 2 is a cloth as a head cleaner, 3 is a first shell forming an outer shell of the disk cassette, 4 Is also the second forming the outer shell of the disc cassette
Shell. The first shell 3 has a cylindrical recess 5 formed therein. The magnetic sheet 1 is rotatably held in a space formed by the recess 5 of the first shell 3 and the second shell 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a groove for forming a head insertion hole as a passage for inserting the head into the disk cassette. Reference numeral 7 denotes an attachment portion for attaching the cloth 2 to the first shell. Both ends of the cloth 2 are adhered or welded to the attachment section 7 and stretched over an intermediate portion of the groove 6. Thus, the disk cassette 8 is configured.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the disk cassette 8 according to the present invention. Head is disk cassette 8
From the side in the direction of arrow K.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a side surface of the disk cassette 8 as viewed from the direction of arrow K in FIG. 2. Reference numeral 9 denotes a head insertion hole formed by the groove 6, and the head passes through the head insertion hole 9. And is inserted into the disk cassette to approach the disk 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a head section of the recording / reproducing apparatus. Reference numeral 10 denotes a head unit, and 11 denotes a head arm for transferring the head unit.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the head unit 10 along the running direction of the magnetic sheet 1, wherein 12 is a head, 13
Is a stabilizing surface for the magnetic sheet 1 to follow, and 14 is a recess formed around the head 12. The head 12 is fixed by protruding a small amount from the stabilizing surface 13. When the magnetic sheet 1 rotates at high speed close to the head unit 10 configured as described above, the recess 14
Is lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the magnetic sheet 1 is sucked toward the head. However, a thin air layer is formed between the magnetic sheet 1 and the stabilizing surface 13, and the magnetic sheet 1 is supported on the stabilizing surface 13 in a non-contact manner. Therefore, the magnetic sheet 1 is supported by the head 12 and the stabilizing surface 13, and the flutter is suppressed, and the contact between the magnetic sheet 1 and the head 12 becomes extremely stable.

FIG. 6 shows a cross section of the head unit 10 along the transfer direction. Reference numeral 15 denotes a slope connected to the stabilizing surface without a step, and is particularly gentle in the transfer direction of the head 12 (arrow T in the figure). It has a slope.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a head portion of an apparatus for recording and reproducing data on both sides of the magnetic sheet 1. Two head units 1
Numerals 0 are provided facing each other at a predetermined interval so as to sandwich the magnetic sheet 1 therebetween.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the positional relationship between the two head units 10 shown in FIG. 7, and is separated by Z in the thickness direction of the magnetic sheet 1 and by Y in the direction parallel to the rotating surface of the magnetic sheet 1. ing. Optimum values of Z and Y can be selected according to the rigidity and diameter of the magnetic sheet.

FIGS. 9 (a) to 9 (e) show that the disk cassette 8 is loaded in the apparatus and the head unit 10 passes through the head insertion hole 9 provided on the side surface of the disk cassette 8.
The operation of approaching the magnetic sheet 1 is shown. The first shell and the second shell are not shown for easy viewing. As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7E, the upper and lower head units 10 are transported in the direction of the arrows in FIG. When the head unit 10 approaches the cloth 2, the head unit 10
The cloth 2 is guided between the upper and lower head units 10 by the inclined surface 15 provided in FIG. When the head unit 10 is further moved in the direction of the arrow, the stabilizing surface 13 and the head 12 of the head unit 10 are wiped by the cloth 2 (FIGS. 2B and 2C). Further, when the head unit 10 is transported, the outer peripheral end of the magnetic sheet 1 is guided by the slope 15, and the magnetic sheet 1 is sandwiched between the upper and lower head units 10 (FIGS. (D) and (e)). .

When the head unit 10 retreats from the disk cassette through the head insertion hole 9 to eject the disk cassette from the apparatus, the head unit 10 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow in FIG. The head unit 10 is transported while sandwiching the cloth 2, and the head 12 and the stabilizing surface 13 are wiped.

As described above, in this embodiment, the head 12 and the stabilizing surface 13 are wiped by the cloth 2 when the head unit 10 is inserted into the disk cassette 8 and when the head unit 10 is retracted from the disk cassette 8. Therefore, the head 12 is always kept clean.

Further, since the cloth 2 is contained in the disk cassette 8, if the disk cassette 8 is replaced, the cloth 2
Will also be replaced. Therefore, even if a large number of disk cassettes are used, the stain deposited on the cloth is only the stain caused by using one disk cassette, and the cleaning effect is maintained for a long time.

In this embodiment, a cloth is used as the head cleaner. However, any material other than cloth can be used as long as it has appropriate flexibility and dirt-adsorbing property. For example, non-woven fabric,
Sponge, foamable rubber and the like may be used.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the head cleaner is incorporated in the disc cassette, and the head is cleaned when the head approaches the disc or retreats from the disc cassette, so that the user has no problem. The head is cleaned without being conscious, and only the dirt caused by the use of the disk cassette is deposited on the head cleaner, so that the cleaning effect is maintained for a long time. As a result, the effect is obtained that the head of the apparatus is always clean and the reliability of information storage is high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a disk cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the disk cassette.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a head insertion hole of the disk cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a head unit of a disk device using the disk cassette.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the head unit.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the head unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an arrangement of the head unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of the head unit.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the operation of the disk device and the disk cassette;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic sheet 2 Cloth 3 1st shell 4 2nd shell 5 Depression 6 Groove 7 Attachment part 8 Disk cassette 9 Head insertion hole 10 Head unit 11 Head arm 12 Head 13 Stabilization surface 14 Depression 15 Slope

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A disk cassette containing a disk serving as an information storage medium and a head cleaner for cleaning a head for performing recording and reproduction on the disk, wherein the head approaches the disk. Wherein the head cleaner is disposed in a passage provided in the disk cassette.