Claims
- 1. A cartridge loading apparatus for use with a disk drive having a cartridge loading end and a remote end, said cartridge loading apparatus comprising:
- a base plate having a first slider channel and a second slider channel;
- at least one door link rotatably attached to said base plate, said at least one door link having a free contact end;
- a first slider slidably contained within said first slider channel, said first slider having a forward end adjacent the cartridge loading end of the disk drive and a remote end adjacent the remote end of the disk drive, said first slider having only one S-shaped slot formed herein;
- a second slider slidably contained within said second slider channel, said second slider having a forward end adjacent the cartridge loading end of the disk drive and a remote end adjacent the remote end of the disk drive, said second slider having only one S-shaped slot formed herein;
- a tiller having a first end and a second end, said first end of said tiller being swingably associated with said forward end of said first slider, and said second end of said tiller being swingably associated with said forward end of said second slider, so that a first rotation of said tiller in a first direction about a tiller axis drives said first slider toward the cartridge loading end of the disk drive while driving said second slider toward the remote end of the disk drive, and a second rotation of said tiller in a second direction about said tiller axis drives said first slider toward the remote end of the disk drive while driving said second slider toward the cartridge loading end of the disk drive;
- a cartridge receiver for receiving a respective cartridge containing a disk with a central hub and at least one shutter door covering the disk, said cartridge receiver being linked to each of said first and second sliders by the corresponding only one S-shaped slot formed respectively herein and moveable between an upper position and a lower position along a non-horizontal path when said sliders are driven by said tiller;
- a cam operatively associated with said tiller for rotating said tiller about said tiller axis so that when said first and second sliders move said cartridge receiver between said upper position and said lower position, said cartridge receiver, respective cartridge, and disk move along said non-horizontal path so that the central hub is caused to be inclined relative to a spindle magnet, said at least one door link being aligned to engage the shutter door when said respective cartridge is inclined and moving along said non-horizontal path, said inclined positioning of the disk thereby reducing the force needed to remove the central hub from the spindle magnet while the disk is moved between said upper and lower positions.
- 2. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the maximum distance between said upper position and said lower position of said cartridge receiver is approximately 5 mm.
- 3. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 further including a second door link rotatably attached to said base plate and wherein said respective cartridge has a first side and a second side, said second door link having a free contact end so that said cartridge receiver may receive said respective cartridge with the first side of the cartridge facing up, and alternatively, with the second side of the cartridge facing up.
- 4. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 3 further including a first door link stop positioned proximate one of said slide channels and a second door link stop positioned proximate the other of said slide channels, each door link stop acting to align a corresponding free contact end of a respective door link with a shutter latch on the shutter door.
- 5. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said first and second door links are biased toward the cartridge loading end of the disk drive.
- 6. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 5 wherein when the respective cartridge is unloaded from said cartridge receiver, each of said door links rests against its respective door link stop so that each corresponding free contact end is repositioned to engage a corresponding shutter door of another respective cartridge upon loading thereof.
- 7. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the shutter door of the respective cartridge is biased closed so that when said central hub is removed from the spindle magnet, the bias action of said door links and the shutter door will eject the cartridge from said cartridge receiver.
- 8. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 further including a door link stop positioned proximate one of said slide channels, said door link stop acting to position said at least one door link so that said free contact end thereof is aligned with a shutter latch on the shutter door.
- 9. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 further including an electric ejection means operatively associated with said tiller, wherein operation of said electric ejection means rotates said tiller to eject the disk cartridge from the disk drive.
- 10. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a label end of the disk cartridge remains visible when the disk cartridge is loaded in the drive.
- 11. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cartridge receiver includes a first lifting pin and a second lifting pin, said first lifting pin slidably fitting into said S-shaped slot of said first slider, and said second lifting pin slidably fitting into said S-shaped slot of said second slider, said lifting pins being non-coplanar with a plane that is parallel to the ends of the system, perpendicular to said base plate, and that passes through substantially the center of the spindle magnet, so that rotation of said tiller in the first direction tiltably unloads the disk from the spindle magnet, and rotation of said tiller in the second direction tiltably loads the disk onto the spindle magnet along said non-horizontal path to thereby reduce the force needed to remove the disk from the spindle magnet and provide minimum contact between said cartridge receiver and said first and second sliders.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/296,794, filed Aug. 25, 1994, still pending.
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Foreign Referenced Citations (8)
Number |
Date |
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0216442 |
Apr 1987 |
EPX |
0 594118 |
Apr 1994 |
EPX |
0 606911 |
Jul 1994 |
EPX |
3930953 |
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DEX |
62-256285 |
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Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
296794 |
Aug 1994 |
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