Title: Disk cartridge
Abstract: A disk cartridge in which a pair of shutter members can be opened and closed smoothly and reliably, and a dust-proof property and an airtightness of a large opening portion can be increased by reducing a space between a pair of shutter members and a cartridge housing as much as possible. The disk cartridge comprises a cartridge housing in which a disk compartment is formed-between an upper shell and a middle shell by overlapping the upper shell, the middle shell and the lower shell and the middle shell is supported by the upper shell and the lower shell so as to become freely rotatable, an optical disk rotatably stored within the disk compartment and a pair of shutter members attached to the middle shell in such a manner that they can be moved in the plane direction on the same plane. A shutter opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing opening portions by moving the pair of shutter members based rotation of the middle shell.
Patent Number: 6,900,965 Issued on 05/31/2005 to Inoue, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Inoue; Naoki (Kanagawa, JP);
Obata; Manabu (Kanagawa, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Sony Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
728268 |
| Filed:
|
December 4, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| May 17, 2000[JP] | P2000-145602 |
| May 17, 2000[JP] | P2000-145617 |
| May 17, 2000[JP] | P2000-145625 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
360/133; 720/741; 720/742 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G11B 033/12 |
| Field of Search: |
360/133
369/291
720/738,741,742
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 4471397 | Sep., 1984 | Cloutier.
| |
| 4586102 | Apr., 1986 | Bresson.
| |
| 4724962 | Feb., 1988 | Watanabe et al.
| |
| 5278717 | Jan., 1994 | Sasaki et al.
| |
| 5537389 | Jul., 1996 | Kuwa et al.
| |
| 5570342 | Oct., 1996 | Kosaka.
| |
| 6021031 | Feb., 2000 | Hales et al.
| |
| 6111726 | Aug., 2000 | Clark et al.
| |
| 6205116 | Mar., 2001 | Hashimoto.
| |
| 6356527 | Mar., 2002 | Shiomi et al.
| |
| 6473392 | Oct., 2002 | Shiomi et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 11 345475 | Dec., 1999 | JP.
| |
| 2000-30394 | Jan., 2000 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Miller; Brian E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP, Frommer; William S.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 09/858,759, filed May 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,741.
Claims
1. A disk cartridge comprising:
a cartridge housing in which a disk compartment is formed between an upper shell
and a middle shell or between said middle shell and a lower shell by overlapping
said upper shell, said middle shell and said lower shell and in which said middle
shell is rotatably supported by said upper shell and said lower shell;
a disk shaped recording medium stored within said disk compartment so as to become
freely rotatable;
a pair of shutter members attached to said middle shell in such a manner that
they can be moved in a flat surface direction on the same plane; and
a shutter opening and closing mechanism for opening and a closing portion to
be opened by moving said pair of shutter members based on the rotation of said
middle shell,
wherein said shutter opening and closing mechanism includes rotary coupling portions
respectively provided on one side portions of said pair of shutter members and
which are coupled to said middle shell so as to become freely rotatable and movement
coupling portions respectively provided on the other side portions of said respective
shutter members and which are coupled to said lower shell or said upper shell so
as to become movable relatively and said shutter opening and closing mechanism
opens and closes said opening portion by rotating said pair of shutter members
around said rotary coupling members based on the rotation of said middle shell
to thereby relatively move said movement coupling portions.
2. A disk cartridge comprising:
a cartridge housing in which a disk compartment is formed between an upper shell
and a middle shell or between said middle shell and a lower shell by overlapping
said upper shell, said middle shell and said lower shell and in which said middle
shell is rotatably supported by said upper shell and said lower shell;
a disk shaped recording medium stored within said disk compartment so as to become
freely rotatable;
a pair of shutter members attached to said middle shell in such a manner that
they can be moved in a flat surface direction on the same plane; and
a shutter opening and closing mechanism for opening and a closing portion to
be opened by moving said pair of shutter members based on the rotation of said
middle shell,
wherein an elevation mechanism for moving said middle shell in the direction
perpendicular to said rotation direction based on the rotation of said middle shell
so that said middle shell is pressed against said lower shell or said upper shell.
3. A disk cartridge comprising:
a cartridge housing in which a disk compartment is formed between an upper shell
and a middle shell or between said middle shell and a lower shell by overlapping
said upper shell, said middle shell and said lower shell and in which said middle
shell is rotatably supported by said upper shell and said lower shell;
a disk shaped recording medium stored within said disk compartment so as to become
freely rotatable;
a pair of shutter members attached to said middle shell in such a manner that
they can be moved in a flat surface direction on the same plane; and
a shutter opening and closing mechanism for opening and a closing portion to
be opened by moving said pair of shutter members based on the rotation of said
middle shell,
wherein a gear portion is provided on the outer peripheral surface of said middle
shell over a predetermined range of the circumferential direction and an opening
window from which a part of said gear portion is exposed is bored through the side
surface of said upper shell and said lower shell.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge having a cartridge housing
in which a disk-like recording medium such as an optical disk, a magnetooptical
disk and a magnetic disk is stored in a disk compartment so as to become freely
rotatable, and particularly to a disk cartridge in which a pair of shutter members
are opened and closed to open and close an opening portion by rotating a middle
shell which forms a disk compartment between it and an upper shell or a lower shell
and a part of a disk-like recording medium is exposed from the opening portion
when the opening portion is opened.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a disk cartridge in which a disk-like recording medium in and/or from which
audio information, video information or information such as computer data can be
recorded and/or reproduced is rotatably stored in a cartridge housing, there is
known a disk cartridge having an arrangement shown in FIG. 27, for example. This
disk cartridge
1 is a disk cartridge incorporating therein a write once
magnetooptical disk
4 in which a user can record and write information such
as computer data later on. This disk cartridge has an appearance shown in FIG.
27.
This disk cartridge
1 includes a cartridge housing
2 comprised
of a pair of an upper shell
2a and a lower shell
2b,
a magnetooptical disk
4 rotatably stored within a disk compartment
3
of this cartridge housing, and the like. The cartridge housing
2 has on
its upper and lower surfaces an upper and lower opening portion
5 which
is extended from the central portion to one side. This opening portion
5
can be opened and closed by a shutter member
6 which can be slid along one
side. Reference numeral
6a designates a presser member which can
prevent the tip end portion of the shutter member
6 from being extracted.
A disk-like metal center hub
7 is provided at the central portion of the
magnetooptical disk
4. This center hub
7 is disposed at the position
opposing to the inner end portion of the opening portion
5, i.e., at substantially
the central portion of the cartridge housing
2. A turntable provided on
an information recording and reproducing apparatus body side is mounted on this
center hub
7 and the magnetooptical disk
4 is fixed to the center
hub by chucking of the turntable, whereby the magnetooptical disk
4 is rotated
at a predetermined velocity (e.g., constant linear velocity). In this case, an
information signal is recorded on or reproduced from the magnetooptical disk
4
by action of a magnetooptical pickup device whose head portion is inserted into
the opening portion
5.
However, in the conventional disk cartridge having the above arrangement,
the shutter member
6 which opens and closes the opening portion
5
has a U-like shaped cross-section. This shutter member
6 is fitted into
one side of the cartridge housing
2 and the shutter member
6 is slid
along one side of the cartridge housing to thereby open and close the opening portion
5 For this reason, it is unavoidable that a large space is produced between
the cartridge housing
2 and the shutter member
6, and therefore the
disk cartridge cannot be prevented from being smudged by very small dusts particles
and the like.
In recent years in the stream in which an optical disk is increasing its storage
capacity/increasing its recording density, a recording pattern is becoming narrower
in pitch and is increasing in linear density. When a recording surface of an optical
disk or a magnetooptical disk is smudged by dusts, the read or write beam is shielded,
also when the information recording surface of the optical disk is damaged by scratches,
information cannot be read or written normally. For this reason, in the conventional
disk cartridge, as shown in FIG. 27, the shutter member
6 having substantially
the U-like shaped cross-section is attached to one side of the cartridge housing
2 so as to become slidable and is slid along one side of the cartridge housing
thereby to open and close the opening portion
5 so that the information
recording surface of the optical disk or the like can be protected.
However, as the optical disk is further increased in storage capacity or
recording density, very small dusts particles which are not so influential in the
prior art becomes more influential over reading and writing of data. Therefore,
the shutter member having the above U-like shape cannot prevent the disk cartridge
from being smudged by very small dusts particles. In this case, when the information
recording surface of the magnetooptical disk
4 is smudged by very small
dusts particles entering into the cartridge housing
2, the information recording
surface of the magnetooptical disk is damaged by dusts so that information cannot
be read out from and written in the magnetooptical disk normally.
In the above conventional disk cartridge
1, the shutter member
6
is located on the disk cartridge at its position in which users can easily touch
the shutter member. There is then the risk that a user will slide the shutter member
6 to open the opening portion
5 by mistake. In addition, since the
shutter member
6 is linearly slid along one side of the cartridge housing
2, there arises a problem that the surface area of the cartridge housing
2 cannot be reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above problems encountered with the conventional disk cartridge,
it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which the
above problems can be solved and in which a middle shell is made rotatable and
a pair of shutter members are opened and closed based on the rotation of the middle
shell whereby the pair of shutter members can smoothly and reliably be opened and
closed and a dustproof property and airtightness of the large opening portion can
be improved by reducing a space between the pair of shutter members and the cartridge
housing as much as possible.
In order to solve the above problems and in order to attain the above objects,
a disk cartridge of the present invention is comprised of a cartridge housing in
which a disk compartment is formed between an upper shell and a middle shell or
between the middle shell and a lower shell by overlapping the upper shell, the
middle shell and the lower shell and in which the middle shell can be supported
by the upper shell and the lower shell so as to become freely rotatable, a disk-like
recording medium rotatably stored within the disk compartment and a pair of shutter
members attached to the middle shell in such a manner that they can be moved in
the flat surface direction on the same plane, wherein a shutter opening and closing
mechanism for opening and closing an opening portion by moving the pair of shutter
members based on the rotation of the middle shell is provided.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
pair of shutter members are comprised of a combination of two substantially semicircular
same plate materials and the shutter members are symmetrically disposed on one
surface side of the middle shell across the opening portion.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
shutter opening and closing mechanism includes rotary coupling portions respectively
provided on one side portions of the pair of shutter members and which are coupled
to the middle shell so as to become freely rotatable and movement coupling portions
respectively provided on the other side portions of the respective shutter members
and which are coupled to the lower shell or the upper shell so as to become movable
relatively, and the shutter opening and closing mechanism opens and closes the
opening portion by rotating the pair of shutter members around the rotary coupling
members based on the rotation of the middle shell to thereby relatively move the
movement coupling portions.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
rotary coupling portion is comprised of a combination of a shaft portion provided
on one of the pair of shutter members and the middle shell and an engagement hole
provided on the other of the pair of shutter members and the middle shell, the
movement coupling portion is comprised of a combination of a guide groove provided
on one of the pair of shutter members and the lower shell or the upper shell and
an operation convex portion provided on the other of the pair of shutter members
and the lower shell or the upper shell, and the pair of shutter members are enabled
to open and close by moving the guide groove along the operation convex portion
based on the rotation of the middle shell.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
opening portion is extended in the linear direction through respective central
portions of the middle shell and the lower shell or the middle shell and the upper shell.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
an
elevation mechanism for moving the middle shell in the direction perpendicular
to the rotation direction based on the rotation of the middle shell so that the
middle shell is pressed against the lower shell or the upper shell is provided.
A disk cartridge of the present invention is characterized in that the shutter
opening and closing mechanism includes a pair of guide grooves provided on one
of the pair of shutter members and the cartridge housing and a pair of operation
convex portions provided on the other of the pair of shutter members and the cartridge
housing and which are slidably engaged with the guide grooves and the pair of shutter
members are enabled to open and close the opening portion by moving the guide grooves
along the operation convex portions based on the rotation of the middle shell.
A disk cartridge of the present invention is characterized in that the pair of
shutter members are comprised of a combination of a pair of substantially semicircular
same plate materials, the pair of shutter members are symmetrically disposed on
one surface side of the middle shell across the opening portion, the guide grooves
are provided on one side portions of chord sides of the respective shutter members
and pivots provided on the other side portions of the chord sides are supported
by the middle shell so as to become freely rotatable.
A disk of the present invention is characterized in that the elevation mechanism
is comprised of a plurality of circular-arc-like cam grooves or cam convex portions
provided in the circumferential direction of the upper shell or the lower shell
at a predetermined interval and which are concaved or convexed in the direction
in which the upper shell, the middle shell and the lower shell are overlapped and
cam convex portions or cam grooves provided in the circumferential direction of
the middle shell at a predetermined interval and which are slidably engaged with
the cam grooves or the cam convex portions.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized by comprising
a gear portion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the middle shell over
a predetermined range of the circumferential direction and an opening window from
which a part of the gear portion is exposed and which is bored through the side
surface of the upper shell and the lower shell.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
pair of shutter members are comprised of a combination of a pair of substantially
semicircular same plate materials, the pair of shutter members are symmetrically
disposed on one surface of the middle shell across the opening portion, the guide
groove is provided on one side portion of a chord side in each of the shutter members
and a shaft portion provided on the other side portion of the chord side is rotatably
supported by the middle shell.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that a
pair of guide grooves are provided on one of the pair of shutter members and the
cartridge housing, a pair of operation convex portions which are slidably engaged
with the guide grooves are provided on the other of the pair of shutter members
and the cartridge housing, the guide grooves are moved along the operation convex
portions based on the rotation of the middle shell, whereby the pair of shutter
members are enabled to open and close said open and close portion.
A disk cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that
the
opening portion is extended in the linear direction through central portions of
the middle shell and the lower shell or the middle shell and the upper shell.
With the above arrangement, in the disk cartridge comprising the cartridge housing
having the disk compartment, the disk-like recording medium and the pair of shutter
members, since the disk-cartridge of the present invention includes the shutter
opening and closing mechanism for moving the pair of shutter members based on the
rotation of the middle shell, the pair of shutter members can smoothly and reliably
be rotated by rotating the middle shell. Therefore, the disk compartment can be
prevented from being smudged by very small dusts particles and the like by reducing
the space between the pair of shutter members and the cartridge housing, and the
dustproof property of the cartridge housing can be improved. Moreover, the disk
cartridge can be reduced in thickness and improved in space factor so that the
whole of the disk cartridge can be made compact and thin.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the pair of shutter members
are comprised of a combination of two substantially semicircular same plate materials,
the opening portion of the wide range can be opened and closed while the areas
of the shutter members are being reduced. Thus, while an efficiency with which
the opening portion is opened and closed is being increased, the whole of the disk
cartridge can be made compact and thin.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the shutter opening and
closing mechanism includes the rotary coupling portion and the movement coupling
portion so that the pair of shutter members are opened and closed based on the
rotation of the middle shell to thereby open and close the opening portion, the
pair of shutter members can smoothly and reliably be rotated.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the rotary coupling portion
is comprised of a combination of a shaft portion and an engagement hole and the
movement coupling portion is comprised of a combination of a guide groove and an
operation convex portion, the pair of shutter members can be operated with high
reliability and the opening portion can smoothly and reliably be opened and closed.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the opening portion is
extended
in the diametrical direction through the central portions of the middle shell and
the like, two head portions can simultaneously be faced into the opening portion,
whereby two operations (e.g., writing and reading of information signal can be
carried out, writing or reading of two places can be carried out simultaneously.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, comprising the cartridge housing
having the disk compartment, the disk-like recording medium and the pair of shutter
members, since the disk cartridge comprises the shutter opening and closing mechanism
for opening and closing the opening portion by moving the pair of shutter members
based on the rotation of the middle shell and the elevation mechanism for moving
the middle shell in the direction perpendicular to the rotation direction based
on the rotation of the middle shell, the pair of shutter members can smoothly and
reliably be rotated by rotating the middle shell and the middle shell can be ascended
and descended and pressed against the upper shell or the lower shell when the middle
shell is rotated. Therefore, the space can be removed or reduced by closely contacting
the middle shell with the upper shell or the lower shell so that the disk compartment
can be prevented from being smudged by very small dusts and the like, thereby improving
the dustproof property of the cartridge housing. Moreover, the thickness of the
cartridge housing can be decreased and the space factor can be improved and the
whole of the disk cartridge can be made compact and thin.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the pair of guide grooves
are provided on one of the pair of shutter members and the cartridge housing and
the pair of operation convex portions are provided on the other of the pair of
guide grooves and the pair of operation convex portions and the guide grooves are
moved along the operation convex portions based on the rotation of the middle shell,
the pair of shutter members can smoothly and reliably be moved, whereby the opening
portion of the wide range can be opened and closed.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the pair of shutter members
are comprised of the combination of two substantially semicircular same plate materials,
the guide grooves are provided on one side portions of the respective shutter members,
the pivots are provided on the other side portions and the pivots are supported
by the middle shell so as to become freely rotatable, the opening portion of the
wide range can be opened and closed while the areas of the shutter members are
being reduced. Thus, an efficiency with which the opening portion is opened and
closed can be increased, and the whole of the disk cartridge can be made compact
and thin.
In the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the cam grooves or the
cam
convex portions are provided on the upper shell or the lower shell and the cam
convex portions or the cam grooves are provided on the middle shell to thereby
constitute the elevation mechanism, the pair of shutter members can be sandwiched
by the upper shell or the lower shell and the middle shell as the middle shell
is rotated, the space can be removed by closely contacting the middle shell with
the upper shell or the lower shell so that the disk compartment can be prevented
from being smudged by very small dusts particles and the like. Thus, the dustproof
property of the cartridge housing can be improved.
In the disk cartridge including the cartridge housing having the disk compartment,
the disk-like recording medium and the pair of shutter members, according to the
present invention, since the gear portion formed around the outer peripheral surface
of the middle shell is exposed from the opening window provided on the side surface
of the upper shell and the lower shell, the middle shell can be rotated by the
simple shutter opening and closing mechanism such as the rack rod disposed on the
outside, and the pair of shutter members can smoothly and reliably be rotated based
on the rotation of the middle shell. Therefore, the shutter opening and closing
mechanism can be constructed extremely easily. In addition, the disk compartment
can be prevented from being smudged by very small dusts particles and the like
by miniaturizing the space between the pair of shutter members and the cartridge
housing. Thus, the dustproof effect of the cartridge housing can be improved and
the disk cartridge can be decreased in thickness and improved in space factor.
There can be achieved the effects that the whole of the disk cartridge can be made
compact and thin.
According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the disk
cartridge has the arrangement in which the pair of shutter members are comprised
of a combination of the same two substantially semicircular plate materials, the
respective shutter members are symmetrically disposed across the opening portion,
the guide grooves are provided on one side portions of the chord sides of the respective
shutter members and the shaft portions provided on the other side portions are
rotatably supported to the middle shell, the opening portion of the wide range
can be opened and closed while the areas of the shutter members are being decreased.
Thus, an efficiency with which the opening portion is opened and closed can be
improved and the whole of the disk cartridge can be made compact and thin.
According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the disk
cartridge has the arrangement in which the pair of guide grooves are provided on
one of the pair of shutter members and the cartridge housing and the pair of operation
convex portions are provided on the other of the pair of shutter members and the
cartridge housing so that the guide grooves may be moved along the operation convex
portions based on the rotation of the middle shell, the pair of shutter members
are opened and closed by the rotation of the middle shell to thereby open and close
the opening portion, and hence the pair of shutter members can be rotated smoothly
and reliably.
According to the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the disk
cartridge has the arrangement in which the opening portion is extended through
the central portion of the cartridge housing to the diametrical direction of the
disk-like recording medium, the two head portions can be inserted into and ejected
from the opening portion simultaneously so that the two head portions are faced
into the opening portion simultaneously and two operations (e.g., writing and reading
of an information signal, writing or reading of an information signal at two places
at the same time, etc.) can be carried out simultaneously.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a disk cartridge according to
a first embodiment of the present invention and illustrating the same disk cartridge
from the lower surface side;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 from
the lower surface side and illustrating the state in which an opening portion is
closed by closing a shutter mechanism;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 from
the lower surface side and illustrating the state in which the opening portion
is opened by opening the shutter mechanism;
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a lower surface of an upper shell of the disk
cartridge shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a lower surface of a middle shell of the disk
cartridge shown in FIG, 1;
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an upper surface of a lower shell of the disk
cartridge shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the state in which an opening portion is
opened by opening a pair of shutter members attached to the middle shell of the
disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the state in which the opening portion
is closed by closing the pair of shutter members attached to the middle shell of
the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the state in which a shutter mechanism
is disposed on the lower shell of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 and
in which the opening portion is opened by opening the pair of shutter members;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the state in which the shutter mechanism
is disposed on the lower shell of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 and
in which the opening portion is closed by closing the pair of shutter members;
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 10 from the
upper direction;
FIG. 12 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the central portion of the
disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 and to which reference will be made in explaining
a relationship between the disk cartridge and a turntable;
FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between operations
of a cartridge housing and a shutter mechanism of the disk cartridge shown in FIG.
1 and illustrating the state in which the opening portion is completely
closed by closing the pair of shutter members;
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing the outward appearance state of FIG. 13 from
the lower shell side;
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the middle shell
is rotated a little from the state shown in FIG. 13 so that the pair of shutter
members are opened a little;
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the middle shell
is further rotated a little from the state shown in FIG. 15 so that the pair of
shutter members are further opened a little;
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the middle shell
is still further rotated from the state shown in FIG. 16 so that the pair of shutter
members are still further opened a little;
FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the middle shell
is still further rotated from the state shown in FIG. 17 so that the pair of shutter
members are still further opened a little;
FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the middle shell
is yet further rotated so that the pair of shutter members are opened completely;
FIG. 20 is a diagram to which reference will be made in explaining the manner
in which the middle shell is ascended and descended relative to the upper shell
when the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is opened and closed, wherein FIG. 20A
is an exploded perspective view, FIG. 20B is a perspective view showing the state
in which the middle shell is descended and FIG. 20C is a perspective view showing
the state in which the middle shell is ascended;
FIG. 21 is a diagram to which reference will be made in explaining the manner
in which the middle shell is ascended and descended when the disk cartridge shown
in FIG. 20 is opened and closed, wherein FIG. 21A is a cross-sectional view showing
the state in which a cam portion of the middle shell is urged against a lift up
portion of the upper shell and FIG. 21B is a cross-sectional view showing the state
in which a cam portion of the middle shell is inserted into a cam groove of the
upper shell;
FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view showing a disk cartridge according to
a second embodiment of the present invention and illustrating the disk cartridge
from the lower surface side;
FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 22 from
the lower surface side and illustrating the state in which the opening portion
is closed by closing the shutter mechanism;
FIG. 24 is a block diagram to which reference will be made in explaining a circuit
arrangement of a disk recording and reproducing apparatus which uses the disk cartridge
according to the present invention;
FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing the state presented before the disk cartridge
shown in FIG. 1 is inserted into the disk recording and reproducing apparatus which
uses the disk cartridge according to the present invention;
FIG. 26 is a perspective view showing the state in which the disk cartridge
shown in FIG. 1 is being inserted into the disk recording and reproducing apparatus
which uses the disk cartridge according to the present invention; and
FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a conventional disk cartridge
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference
to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 to
26 are diagrams showing disk cartridges
according to the embodiments of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 1 is
an exploded perspective view showing a disk cartridge according to a first embodiment
from a lower shell side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the same disk cartridge
with its shutter being closed from the lower shell side. FIG. 3 is a perspective
view showing the same disk cartridge with its shutter being opened. FIG. 4 is a
bottom view of an upper shell. FIG. 5 is bottom view of a middle shell. FIG. 6
is a plan view of the lower shell. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the middle
shell and a pair of shutter members being opened. FIG. 8 is a perspective view
showing the state in which the pair of shutter members shown in FIG. 7 are being
opened. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the lower shell and the pair of shutter
members being opened. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the state in which
the pair of shutter members shown in FIG. 9 are being closed. FIG. 11A is a plan
view of FIG.
10. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the central portion
in cross-section.
FIGS. 13 to
19 are explanatory diagrams showing a relationship between
the rotation amount of the middle shell and the opened and closed states of the
pair of shutter members, respectively. FIGS. 20A to
20C are explanatory
diagrams showing a relationship between the rotation of the middle shell and the
ascending and descending operations, respectively. FIGS. 21A and 21B are explanatory
diagrams showing the state in which the shutter members are closely contacted/released
based on the ascending and descending operations executed when the middle shell
is rotated. FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view showing a disk cartridge according
to a second embodiment from a lower shell side. FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing
the same disk cartridge from the lower shell side with the shutter closed. FIG.
24 is a block diagram to which reference will be made in explaining a circuit arrangement
of an information disk recording and reproducing apparatus which can use the inventive
disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 25 is
a perspective view showing the state presented before the disk cartridge according
to the present invention is inserted into the disk recording and reproducing apparatus.
FIG. 26 is a perspective view showing the state in which the disk cartridge is
being inserted into the same disk recording and reproducing apparatus.
A disk cartridge
10 according to the first embodiment stores therein a
read-only
optical disk on which various information signals such as a music signal serving
as audio information and a video signal and a music signal, both serving as video
information, are recorded in advance or an optical disk (write once optical disk)
on which an information signal such as audio information and video information
can be recorded only once or an optical disk (rewritable optical disk)
11
on which an information signal can be recorded many times repeatedly as a disk-like
recording medium However, the disk-like recording medium is not limited to the
above optical disks, and a magnetic disk in which information can be memorized
by magnetic status of a specific position on a magnetic thin layer formed on the
surface of a thin disk, a magnetooptical disk in which information can be written
in and read out from the magnetic thin layer formed similarly by using an optical
head and a magnetic head and other storage mediums can be applied as the above
disk-like recording medium.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to
3, this disk cartridge
10 comprises a cartridge
housing
12 formed by overlapping a pair of an upper shell
13, a middle
shell
14 and a lower shell
15, an optical disk
11 stored within
a disk compartment
16 formed within this cartridge housing
12 so
as to become freely rotatable, a pair of shutter members
18a,
18b
for opening and closing opening portions
25,
42 bored through
the middle shell
14 and the lower shell
15, and the like. In this
disk cartridge
10, when the optical disk
11 is in use in the horizontal
direction, the upper shell
13 is normally disposed on the upper side However,
for convenience sake of explanation, the upper side and the lower side are reversed
in FIG. 1, and hence the upper shell
13 is placed in the lower side.
The upper shell
13 is a thin disk-like member of substantially a square-shape
the front side of which is shaped as a circular arc as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.
At the central portion of the lower surface (surface in FIG. 1) of this upper shell
13, there is provided a circular upper concave portion
19a into
which substantially an upper half of the middle shell
14 in the thickness
direction can be fitted rotatably. When the upper concave portion
19a
is provided on the central portion of the lower surface, a front edge portion
13a, left and right side edge portions
13b,
13c
and a rear edge portion
13d are formed on the outer peripheral
edge of the upper shell
13. At substantially the central portions of the
front edge portion
13a and the rear edge portion
13d of
the upper shell
13, there are provided positioning concave portions
21a
and
21b which are used to properly position the upper shell relative
to the lower shell
15.
On the outer peripheral edge of the upper concave portion
19a of
the upper shell
13, there are provided three circular-arc-like cam grooves
22, each having a predetermined length, which are continued along the circumferential
direction. Then, there are provided the three cam grooves
22, whereby three
lift up portions
23 (shown hatched in FIG.
4), each having a predetermined
length, between the adjacent cam grooves
22 and
22. A cam portion
46 provided in the middle shell
14 is slidably fitted into the three
cam grooves
22.
The lower shell
15 is overlapped to the lower surface of the upper shell
13. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the lower shell
15 has an outward
appearance shape which is substantially similar to that of the upper shell
13
and is formed of a substantially square thin disk-like member whose front side
is shaped as a circular arc. On the central portion of the flat surface (surface
hidden as the back in FIG. 1) of this lower shell
15, there is provided
a circular lower concave portion
19b into which a substantially lower
half portion of the thickness direction of the middle shell
14 is fitted
rotatably. When this lower concave portion
19b is provided on the
central portion of the flat surface of the lower shell, a front edge portion
15a,
left and right side edge portion
15b,
15c and a rear
edge portion
15d are provided on the outer peripheral edge of the
lower shell
15. On substantially a central portion between the front edge
portion
15a and the rear edge portion
15d of the lower
shell
15, there are provided positioning convex portions
24a and
24b which are used to properly position the lower shell relative
to the upper shell
13.
The convex portions
24a,
24b of the lower shell
15
are respectively engaged with the concave portions
21a,
21b
of the upper shell
13, whereby the upper and lower shells
13,
15 are properly positioned and overlapped together in a predetermined state.
The middle shell
14 is stored within a circular space formed of the upper
and lower concave portions
19a,
19b formed within the
upper and lower shells
13,
15 so as to become freely rotatable. An
opening portion
25 extended in the front and back direction is bored at
the central portion of the lower shell
15. This opening portion
25
is used to allow a turntable of a disk rotary drive mechanism and an optical head
of an optical pickup device to face to the optical disk
11 and is set to
be wide enough so that they can be inserted into and ejected from the opening portion.
Specifically, the opening portion
25 of the lower shell
15
includes a table opening portion
25a set at the central portion into
and from which the turntable is inserted and ejected and a head opening portion
25b extended in the front and back direction of the table opening
portion
25a. The shape of this opening portion
25 is considered
such that each of two optical heads can be simultaneously inserted into and ejected
from both sides of the table opening portion
25a in the head opening
portion
25b respectively. On the inner surfaces of both ends of the
front and back direction of the head opening portion
25b, there are
respectively provided cover portions
26a,
26b which
are used to close the spacing between them and shutter members
18a,
18b which will be described later on. Further, within the lower concave
portion
19b, there are provided a pair of operation convex portions
27a,
27b which become symmetrical with respect to the
table opening portion
25a.
The middle shell
14 is stored within the upper and lower concave portions
19a,
19b formed by the upper shell
13 and the
lower shell
15 having the above arrangements, and the middle shell
14
and the upper shell
13 constitute a disk compartment
16 formed of
a circular spacing portion. Within this disk compartment
16, there is stored
the optical disk
11 with a predetermined spacing in the outside of the radius
direction and in the thickness direction. This optical disk
11 is formed
of a thin disk-like recording member having a center hole
11a bored
at the central portion.
To one surface of the central portion of this optical disk
11, there is
fixed a center hub
28 so as to cover the center hole
11a by
a fixing means such as an adhesive agent. This center hub
28 is formed of
a magnetic material such as an iron plate attracted by a magnet. A turntable of
a disk rotary drive apparatus incorporated within a disk recording and reproducing
apparatus is fitted through the center hole
11a to the center hub
28. The center hub
28 is attracted by magnet force of a magnet provided
on the turntable. Consequently, the optical disk
11 is chucked to the turntable
and integrated in the rotation direction, whereby the optical disk is rotated at
a predetermined velocity (e.g., at a constant linear velocity) by driving a spindle
motor to which the turntable is attached.
On one surface of this optical disk
11, there are provided an information
recording area
29a on which information can be recorded and which
is opposed by an optical head of an optical pickup device incorporated within the
disk recording and reproducing apparatus and a non-recording area
29b
on which information cannot be recorded. The non-recording area
29b
is comprised of an inner non-recording area
29b having a predetermined
width provided on the outside of the center hub
23 which is in the inside
of the optical disk
11 and an outer non-recording area
29b having
a predetermined width provided on the outer peripheral edge of the optical disk
11. An information recording area
29a is provided between
the inner and outer non-recording areas
29b and
29b.
As a material of a substrate of this optical disk
11, synthetic resins such
as polycarbonate (PC) and polyolefin should be suitably used. It is needless to
say that other synthetic resins can be used and that materials are not limited
to the synthetic resins and that various materials such as a glass material and
an aluminum alloy which can be used as an information recording medium may be used.
An opening window
30 is bored at substantially central portions of one
side edge portions
13b,
15b of the upper and lower
shells
13,
15 so as to expose a part of the outer peripheral surface
of the middle shell
14. This opening window
30 is comprised of an
upper recess portion
30a provided on the joint portion of the upper
shell
13 and a lower recess portion
30b provided on the joint
portion of the lower shell
15. Further, on one side edge portions
13b,
15b of the upper and lower shells
13,
15, there is
provided a guide groove
31 which is extended along the joint surface in
the front and back direction. This guide groove
31 is provided in order
to prevent a mis-insertion from being carried out when the disk cartridge
10
is loaded onto the disk recording and reproducing apparatus. The opening window
30 is communicated with the guide groove
31.
On the front corner portions of one side edge portions
13b,
15b
of the upper and lower shells
13,
15, there is provided a lock
storing portion
33 in which a lock member
32 can be stored rotatably.
This lock storing portion
33 is communicated with the concave portions
19a,
19b and is communicated with the guide groove
31 through an
opening hole
34 bored through one side edge portions
13b,
15b. Further, on the lock storing portion
33 of the upper
shell
13, there is provided a support shaft
35 which rotatably supports
the lock member
32 in such a manner that it may be protruded from the lower
shell
15 side.
This lock member
32 is formed of a lever-like member which is rotatably
fitted into a supporting shaft
35 in such a manner that it can be swung
in the plane direction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 13. A stopper portion
36
having a plurality of teeth is provided at the lock member
32 at its one
end and an input portion
37 is provided at the other end in the longitudinal
direction. Further, the lock member
32 has a spring piece
38 integrally
formed therewith and which is protruded in the same direction so as to oppose to
the stopper portion
36.
The lock member
32 having the above arrangement is fitted into the supporting
shaft
35 under the condition that the stopper portion
36 is faced
toward the concave portions
19a,
19b side. The spring
piece
38 is brought in contact with the inner surfaces of the front edge
portions
13a,
15a. Under spring force of this spring
member
38, the stopper portion
36 is spring-biased toward the concave
portions
19a,
19b side. Concurrently therewith, the
input portion
37 is extended through the opening hole
34 from the
inside and is protruded into the guide groove
31.
The middle shell
14 which is rotatably fitted into the upper and lower
concave portions
19a,
19b of the upper shell
13
and the lower shell
15 has the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 and the
like. This middle shell
14 includes a flat surface portion
40 formed
of a disk-like thin plate material and a ring portion
41 continuously formed
at the outer peripheral edge of the flat surface portion
40 The flat surface
portion
40 of the middle shell
14 is comprised of a pair of semicircle
pieces
40a,
40a formed as substantially semicircular
shapes. An opening portion
42 is formed by forming a spacing between chord
sides of the two semicircle pieces
40a,
40a. This opening
portion
42 has a shape and a size equal to those of the opening portion
25 of the lower shell
15.
Specifically, similarly to the opening portion
25, the opening
portion
42 includes a table opening portion
42a set at the
central portion of the flat surface portion
40 and into and from which the
turntable is inserted and ejected and head opening portions
42b,
42b set at both sides of the diametrical direction of the table opening
portion
42a and to each of which an optical head is opposed respectively.
On the inner peripheral edge of the flat surface portion
40 which surrounds
the table opening portion
42a, there is provided a supporting edge
portion
40b which supports the inner non-recording area
29b
of the optical disk
11 from the lower direction in a free state.
On the outer peripheral surface of the ring portion
41 of the middle shell
14, there is provided a gear portion
43 having a large number of
gear teeth over a predetermined range of the peripheral direction. As shown in
FIG. 13, when the cartridge housing
12 is assembled, under the condition
that the opening portion
42 of the middle shell
14 is made coincident
with the opening portion
25 of the lower shell
15, this gear portion
43 is set at the position opposed to the opening window
30. The range
of this gear portion
43 is set to be an angular extent slightly larger than
the rotation angle of the middle shell
14. Specifically, as shown in FIGS.
15 to
19, when the pair of shutter members
18a,
18b
are completely closed such that the opening portion
42 is inclined by
a maximum inclination angle relative to the opening portion
25, one end
of the circumferential direction of the gear portion
43 is exposed to the
opening window
30. Then, when the pair of shutter members
18a,
18b are completely opened such that the middle shell
14 is
rotated by a predetermined angle to cause the opening portion
42 to be laid
on the opening portion
25, the other end of the circumferential direction
of the gear portion
43 is exposed to the opening window
30.
On the outside of one end of the gear portion
43 of this middle shell
14,
there is provided a stopper portion
44 for limiting the rotation movement
amount of the middle shell
14 in such a manner that it may be protruded
toward the outside of the radius direction. Since the gear portion
43 and
the stopper portion
44 are projected from the outer peripheral surface of
the ring portion
41 to the outside as described above, relief grooves
45a,
45b are respectively provided on the upper shell
13 and the
lower shell
15 at their corresponding portions so as to avoid them from
contacting with the stopper portion
44 and the like such that they can be
allowed to pass. Further, on one end face of the ring portion
41, there
are provided three circular-arc-like cam portions
46 (portions shown by
a large number of points in FIG.
5), each having a predetermined length,
continued in the circumferential direction. These cam portions
46 are respectively
engaged with the three cam grooves of the upper shell
13 while the middle
shell
14 is assembled on the upper shell
13. When this middle shell
14 is rotated at a predetermined angle, the respective cam portions
46
are overlaid on the three lift up portions
23, respectively.
On the other end face of the ring portion
41 of the middle shell
14,
there are provided two circular-arc-like protruded rail portions
47 which
are protruded in the opposite side of the cam portions
46. These protruded
rail portions
47,
47 are used to limit the pair of shutter members
18a,
18b from being moved in the outside of the radius
direction. To avoid the contact with these protruded rail portions
47,
47,
cover portions
26a,
26a of the upper shell
