1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording disk cartridge that houses recording disk media in a cartridge case.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a recording disk cartridge is known that houses in a cartridge case: recording disk media such as flexible magnetic disk media where magnetic layers are formed on both faces of a disk-form support body consisting of such a polyester sheet; magneto-optical disk media; and phase-change disk media. These pieces of recording disk media are made to be higher density recording year by year; and their recording track width is becoming narrower and their recording length shorter. Therefore, a read error is apt to occur in a magnetic disk cartridge only if a slight amount of dust intervenes between the magnetic disk media and a magnetic head. In addition, although the optical disk media is said to be comparatively strong for dust, in higher recording density, as a result of a numerical aperture of a lens of an optical pickup, it becomes necessary to near the media and the lens, and after all the read error is apt to occur due to the dust.
As a portion of dust invading a recording disk cartridge are cited such an access opening provided at a cartridge case in order to make a magnetic head and an optical pickup access recording disk media; and a chucked center hole provided at center of the cartridge case in order to couple a spindle of a disk drive with the recording disk media. Then a conventional recording disk cartridge is configured so as to close the access opening and the chucked center hole in no use thereof in order to prevent dust from invading inside of its cartridge case (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-013921, 2002-063778, and 2004-348885).
However, because in the conventional recording disk cartridge a shutter for closing the access opening and the chucked center hole is actuated outside the cartridge case, there is a possibility that the shutter is hooked into other things and opens in any of taking along and keeping the cartridge. In addition, because the conventional recording disk cartridge is designed so that the shutter can easily be contacted from outside, there is also a possibility that the shutter is carelessly opened. Then, because in the conventional recording disk cartridge the access opening is provided on an upper face or/and lower face of the cartridge case in parallel with the recording disk media, the media is largely exposed and becomes a state of being easily tainted and damaged when the shutter opens. Furthermore, because in the conventional recording disk cartridge the access opening is provided on the upper face or/and the lower face of the cartridge case, there is also a problem that a rigidity of the cartridge case is lowered and that it is difficult to make the case thinner.
In addition, recently it is requested that a recording disk cartridge is thinner as part of space saving.
Consequently, a recording disk cartridge is strongly requested that prevents dust from invading inside of a cartridge case, and recording disk media from being tainted and damaged as much as possible; and has a higher rigidity and can be made thinner.
The present invention is a recording disk cartridge having recording disk media and a cartridge case for housing the recording disk media, and the recording disk cartridge comprises: a base frame that substantially surrounds a radial directional outside of the recording disk media, configures a sidewall of the cartridge case, and has a side opening that makes the recording disk media front outside; a lower plate that is disposed below the recording disk media and configures a lower wall of the cartridge case, wherein a chucked center-hole is formed in order to couple a spindle of a disk drive with the recording disk media; an upper plate that is disposed above the recording disk media and configures an upper wall of the cartridge case; a rotary shutter that opens and closes the side opening by rotating within the cartridge case; and a swing shutter that is disposed between the recording disk media and the lower plate and is engaged in the rotary shutter, thereby swings in response to the rotational movement of the rotary shutter, and opens and closes a chucked center hole, wherein the rotary shutter comprises a reinforcement plate only at a lower side thereof.
In accordance with such the recording disk cartridge the side opening that makes the recording disk media front outside, that is, the access opening for a magnetic head and an optical pickup accessing the recording disk media are provided at the base frame that forms the sidewall of the cartridge case; and the upper plate and the lower plate configure the upper wall and lower wall of the cartridge case, respectively, and occlude the upper side and lower side of the base frame. Therefore, it is prevented that the rigidity of the cartridge case is lowered due to the formation of the access opening on any of the upper face and the lower face. In addition, because the access opening is formed only at the sidewall, even when a user opens the rotary shutter that opens and closes the opening, she or he can only see a rim of an outer perimeter of the recording disk media from the opening and it is difficult for her or him to directly touch a recording face of the recording disk media. Therefore, the recording face of the recording disk media can be prevented from being tainted and damaged. In addition, because a size of the access opening suffices to be minimum, it is difficult for dust to invade inside of the cartridge case.
In addition, the swing shutter for opening and closing the chucked center hole is positioned between the lower plate and the flexible disk, that is, more inside than the lower plate, and thereby, other things are not hooked into the shutter in any of taking along and housing the recording disk cartridge.
Furthermore, the rotary shutter comprises the reinforcement plate only at the lower side, and thereby, while ensuring a sufficient rigidity thereof, the shutter suppresses an increase of its thickness. In addition, the rotary shutter comprises the reinforcement plate only at the lower side, and thereby it is enabled to assemble the recording disk cartridge by a method of building up the rotary shutter, the recording disk media, and the upper plate from the lower plate and to realize a simplification of the assembly.
Meanwhile, although because the disk drive usually accesses a chuck portion of the recording disk media from below, the side where there exists the center hole for the access is made below for convenience in the upper plate and the lower plate in the present invention, it goes without saying that the lower plate of the invention can be used with being directed in a horizontal direction or upward.
In the recording disk cartridge it can be designed that the rotary shutter comprises: an outer perimeter wall made of resin substantially surrounding a radial directional outside of the recording disk media; and the reinforcement plate made of metal fixed at a lower side of the outer perimeter wall. In addition, the outer perimeter wall and the reinforcement plate can be integrally molded by insert molding, and thereby be made a firmly fixed state.
In addition, it can be configured that the reinforcement plate has a cylindrical engagement protrusion protruded toward a lower side to engage in the swing shutter; and a liner for cleaning is provided on an upper face, and thereby an opening of the engagement protrusion is occluded.
In accordance with such the configuration, even in a case that there exists the opening by the cylindrical engagement protrusion, the opening is occluded by the liner, and thus it results in becoming difficult for dust to invade an upper chamber of the reinforcement plate where the recording disk media is put.
Then the engagement protrusion can be formed by barring process of a metal plate configuring the reinforcement plate.
Here will be described an embodiment of the present invention in detail, referring to drawings as needed. In the embodiment will be described a case of a magnetic disk cartridge where magnetic disk media is adopted as an example of recording disk media.
As shown in
In the cartridge case C an external form thereof is a substantially rectangular card-form in a plan view. One corner of the rectangle is cut off like a chamfer and forms a chamfer portion C1, and is made a marker for an insertion direction into the disk drive D. Although the insertion direction is set to become the right-front direction in the plan view, it is not limited thereto.
In an orthogonal direction for the insertion direction, at a side portion in the right direction in
The access opening C2 is closed by a rotary shutter 40 in no use of the magnetic disk cartridge 1, for example, in keeping the cartridge 1, and is opened in use by rotating the shutter 40.
As shown in
Next will be described the magnetic disk cartridge 1 in detail, referring to FIGS. 3 to 7.
As shown in
As shown in
The base frame 10 is designed to be divided into a main frame 1OX and a subframe 10Y. The subframe 10Y is a slit-like member configuring an upper side of the shutter actuation opening C4. A left edge 10L of the main frame 1OX corresponds to the subframe 10Y, and is formed to be thinner in order to form the shutter actuation opening C4 (the left edge 10L is assumed to be a “thin piece portion 12a”). At both ends of the left edge 10L of the main frame 10X are formed joint pedestals 12b higher than the thin piece portion 12a by one step. By connecting the subframe 10Y to the joint pedestals 12b, the shutter actuation opening C4 like the slit is formed between the thin piece portion 12a and the subframe 10Y (see
Meanwhile, a height of the joint pedestals 12b is set so that an upper face 13a of the subframe 10Y becomes a same height as upper faces 13a of the main frame 10X. In addition, in the embodiment although the base frame 10 is designed to connect two members of the main frame 10X and the subframe 10Y, they may also be integrally molded and be designed to be divided into not less than three members.
In addition, at rims of an outer perimeter of the base frame 10 are formed ribs 14 across substantially all outer perimeter toward up/down directions. Heights of the ribs 14 from the upper faces 13a and lower face 13b of the base frame 10 are designed to be same as or higher than each thickness of the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30. Therefore, if the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30 are joined with the base frame 10, a rim 29 of the lower plate 20 and a rim 39 of the upper plate 30 are concealed by the ribs 14 as shown in
From such the meaning, it is preferable that the heights of the ribs 14 from the respective upper faces 13a and lower face 13b of the base frame 10 are higher than respective thicknesses of the upper plate 30 and the lower plate 20.
As shown in
At rear of the depression 15 of the base frame 10 is formed a joint through hole 16 penetrated in up/down directions. The joint through hole 16 is used when the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30 are jointed.
Although it is preferable to select a resin as a material of the base frame 10 from easiness of molding a complicated form, it is also available to select metal, ceramics, and the like.
As shown in
The protrusion 21 is formed into a cylindrical form by barring process. Outside the protrusion 21 is fitted a bearing 51 of the swing shutter 50, and in an inner cylindrical portion 21a is fitted a pull-out stopper pin 63.
The evasion groove 22 is positioned on concentric arc with the chucked center hole C3. This is because the engagement protrusion 42c concentrically rotates with center of the cartridge case C (center of the magnetic disk media DM), following a rotational movement of the rotary shutter 40. A depth of the evasion groove 22 may have a depth that can evade an interference with the engagement protrusion 42c. Meanwhile, in a case that the upper face 20a of the lower plate 20 (equivalent to an inner face of the cartridge case C) is sufficiently smooth, a friction by an abrasion between the engagement protrusion 42c and the lower plate 20, and a wear powder does not occur, the evasion groove 22 may not be provided.
In the vicinity of the right-front of the lower plate 20 is formed a joint claw portion 23. The portion 23 generates a joint force of the base frame 10 and the lower plate 20 by being pressed into the joint through hole 16 of the base frame 10. Although as a joint of the base frame 10 and the lower plate 20 there exist methods such as use of an adhesive, pressed-fit-in of the lower plate 20 and the ribs 14, and thermal caulking after forming a caulking protrusion at the base frame 10 and fitting it in an appropriate opening of the lower plate 20, a method thereof is not specifically limited.
The upper plate 30 is a substantially rectangular plate member configuring the upper wall of the cartridge case C, and at a right-front corner thereof the chamfer portion C1′ is formed, imitating the chamfer portion C. A size of the upper plate 30 in the plan view is slightly larger than the rotary shutter 40, and the outer perimeter of the rotary shutter 40 is positioned more inside than the rim portion of the upper plate 30. At corner of a lower face 30a of the upper plate 30 is formed a protrusion 31 for fixing the center core 61 in no use of the magnetic disk cartridge 1. In addition, in the vicinity of the right-front corner of the upper plate 30 is formed a joint claw portion 33 protruding downward, corresponding to the joint through hole 16. The joint claw portion 33 generates a joint force of the base frame 10 and the upper plate 30 by being pressed into the joint through hole 16 of the base frame 10. A joint of the base frame 10 and the upper plate 30 can also be performed by other methods same as those of the base frame 10 and the lower plate 20.
To the lower face 30a of the upper plate 30, a portion equivalent to an inner face of the cartridge case C, are affixed liners 65 for cleaning a flexible disk FD. As a material of the liners 65 are preferably used a non-woven cloth, a sheet where an ultra high molecular polyethylene is foamed, and the like. The liners 65 are a circular sheet-form member and has at center thereof a circular through hole 65a matching a size of the center core 61. In addition, matching a movement range of the swing arm SA, a cutoff 65b is formed for preventing an interference with the swing arm SA.
Although the material of the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30 is not specifically limited, a needed rigidity thereof can be ensured, even if they are thin, by configuring at least one or preferably both with metal, for example, stainless steel.
In addition, the base frame 10, the lower plate 20, and the upper plate 30 are not configured as respective separate members; but the base frame 10 and the lower plate 20 may also be integrally molded by a resin, an aluminum alloy, and a magnesium alloy; and the base frame 10 and the upper plate 30 may also be integrally molded by these materials.
Furthermore, in a case that a form of the base frame 10 is complicated and has an undercut form, it is also available to integrally mold one part of the base frame 10, for example, the main frame 10X and the lower plate 20; and to integrally mold the other part of the base frame 10, for example, the subframe 10Y and the upper plate 30. Thus, by designing the base frame 10 as a divided configuration, die-cutting is made smooth, and thereby it is enabled to heighten a form accuracy of a product.
The rotary shutter 40 comprises a C-letter shutter member 41 and a reinforcement plate 42 jointed to a lower side of the member 41.
The shutter member 41 is a member by injection-molding, for example, a resin, wherein as shown in
As shown in
Meanwhile, although the contact rib 41b is not limited to one formed as a continuous rib and can be formed like an intermittent protrusion, the rib 41b is preferably like the continuous rib in order to prevent dust from invading the cartridge case C from outside.
As shown in
The reinforcement plate 42 is a member for reinforcing a rigidity of the shutter member 41 and forming an engagement portion (engagement protrusion 42c in the embodiment) for transmitting a movement of the rotary shutter 40 to the swing shutter 50. The engagement protrusion 42c is formed by performing a barring process to a metal plate for configuring the reinforcement plate 42, and has a cylindrical form. In other words, although in the engagement protrusion 42c an inside hole of the cylinder is opened upward, the opening is occluded by the liner 65 affixed to the upper face of the reinforcement plate 42. Accordingly, it results in becoming difficult for dust to invade the upper chamber of the reinforcement plate 42 where the magnetic disk media DM is put. In addition, because the engagement protrusion 42c is formed by barring process, the reinforcement plate 42 can be cheaply manufactured.
In addition, because the center hole 42a is enough if the center core 61 passes through it, it may be formed larger than in the embodiment, and for example, may also be a continuous opening into the cutoff 42b.
Furthermore, because the cutoff 42b is something for facilitating the swing arm SA to proceed into the cartridge case C, it is not always necessary if there exists a space for the swing arm SA proceeding into the cartridge case C.
The joint of the shutter member 41 and the reinforcement plate 42 can be performed by adhesion, press-in, caulking, gummy substance, and the like. In addition, in injection molding the shutter member 41, the reinforcement plate 42 may also be jointed by insert molding of inserting the reinforcement plate 42. In this case, as shown in
The swing shutter 50 is a member for opening and closing the chucked center hole C3 of the lower plate 20 as shown in
At the base of the swing shutter 50 is formed the bearing 51 molded into a cylindrical form. The bearing 51 fits outside the protrusion 21 of the lower plate 20; the swing shutter 50 is swingably supported by the lower plate 20 through a shaft. The pull-out stopper pin 63 is fitted in the inner cylindrical portion 21a of the protrusion 21, and thereby, the swing shutter 50 fitted outside the protrusion 21 of the lower plate 20 is prevented to drop off from the lower plate 20. Meanwhile, the pull-out stopper pin 63 comprises a pin portion 63a and a head portion 63b, and an outer perimeter of the head portion 63b is designed to be an approximately same diameter as that of the bearing 51.
In the swing shutter 50 is formed an engagement hole portion 52 like a substantially long hole. The engagement hole portion 52 engages in the engagement protrusion 42c and plays a function of transmitting the rotational movement of the engagement protrusion 42c to the swing shutter 50. Although the engagement protrusion 42c engaged in the engagement hole portion 52 has a possibility that a tip (lower end) of the protrusion 42c slightly protrudes below the engagement hole portion 52, a smooth movement of the rotary shutter 40 is not blocked because the protruded portion is housed in the evasion groove 22.
In the embodiment, although the engagement hole portion 52 is formed as a through hole, it may also be an engagement portion not limited to the through hole. For example, the engagement hole portion 52 may be formed as not the through hole but a groove (engagement groove portion), and the groove and the through hole are opened to the rim portion of the swing shutter 50. In addition, although the engagement of the rotary shutter 40 and the swing shutter 50 is performed by the engagement protrusion 42c of the shutter 40 and the engagement hole portion 52 of the swing shutter 50, the relation of the protrusion/depression may be reversed. In other words, it is also available to provide the swing shutter 50 with an engagement protrusion protruded toward the rotary shutter 40 and to form in the rotary shutter 40 an engagement hole portion or engagement groove for engaging in the engagement protrusion.
The outer perimeter of the head portion 63b of the pull-out stopper pin 63 and the bearing 51 are designed like one continuous shaft by being formed to be a same diameter, and the continuous shaft supports the lock spring 64 for stopping an unneeded rotation of the rotary shutter 40 in no use of the magnetic disk cartridge 1.
The lock spring 64 comprises a lock leg portion 64a, a spring leg portion 64b, a lock release leg portion 64c, and a bearing portion 64d for making the pull-out stopper pin 63 support these through the shaft. In the lock spring 64, as shown in
As shown in
The flexible disk FD is a disc form having a circular opening FD1 at center thereof, and is generally designed to be provided with a magnetic layer on both faces or one face of a support body consisting of a resin film and the like such as polyester. As a material and layer configuration of the support body and the magnetic layer can be used conventionally known ones, selecting as needed; they are not specifically limited.
The center core 61 is a member jointed to the opening FD1 by an affixation member 62 and having a rigidity to some extent. The center core 61 is generally composed of a plated steel plate and a magnetic material such as magnetic stainless steel so that the spindle SP of the disk drive D can be attracted by magnetism.
The center core 61 comprises, as shown in
The center core 61 is disposed, making a smaller diameter side of the chuck portion 61a downside, and the flexible disk FD is affixed from downside of the flange portion 61b, that is, a side where the chuck portion 61a protrudes.
The magnetic disk cartridge 1 thus configured is used as follows.
In addition,
In the magnetic disk cartridge 1, as shown in
When the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is inserted in the disk drive D, it is inserted, making it front an insertion direction shown in
If the rotary shutter 40 rotates, the engagement protrusion 42c (see
At this time, because the rotary shutter 40 contacts the lower plate 20 at the contact rib 41b formed along a circumference as shown in
Then, the spindle SP of the disk drive D couples the center core 61 by magnetic attraction, and holds the magnetic disk media DM. At this time the center protrusion SP1 of the spindle SP engages in the center hole 61c of the center core 61, and thereby, the center is matched. In addition, the flexible disk FD is substantially positioned at center in the up/down directions (thickness directions) of the cartridge case C. Therefore, when rotating the magnetic disk media DM, an air flow above/below the flexible disk FD becomes stable, and a face vibration of the disk FD is suppressed.
Next, the magnetic disk media DM starts to rotate by the rotation of the spindle SP. The swing arm SA of the disk drive D proceeds into the cartridge case C from the access opening C2 opened at right side of the magnetic disk cartridge 1, and the magnetic head H provided at the swing arm SA is loaded on the flexible disk FD.
After data recording/reproducing is performed by the magnetic head H, the swing arm SA retracts from the cartridge case C and the head H is unloaded. In addition, the spindle SP is detached from the center core 61. When removing the magnetic disk cartridge 1 from the disk drive D, a reverse movement for the insertion is performed. In other words, by a movement of pulling the magnetic disk cartridge 1 out of the disk drive D, the drive gear 110 rotates the rotary shutter 40 in a closing direction thereof, and by the rotational movement, the engagement protrusion 42c of the rotary shutter 40 engages in the engagement hole portion 52 of the swing shutter 50, pushes and moves the swing shutter 50, and swings the shutter 50 counterclockwise in
In addition, the drive gear 110 retracts from the groove 18, the state of
In accordance with the magnetic disk cartridge 1 of the embodiment thus described, the following effects are obtained.
Firstly, because the access opening C2 is not provided at-the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30 and is formed at a side portion, to be more precise, the side portion of the base frame 10, the opening of the cartridge case C suffices to be minimum and it is difficult for dust to invade the magnetic disk cartridge 1. In addition, because the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is enabled to only front the side face of the magnetic disk media DM from the access opening C2 and not enabled to directly touch the recording face of the flexible disk FD with a hand and the like, it does not also occur to abruptly taint and damage the flexible disk FD. Accordingly, in the magnetic disk cartridge 1 an error is difficult to occur by the dust, and the taint and damage.
Because the rotary shutter 40 is disposed inside the base frame 10 and the outer perimeter of the shutter 40 is disposed more inside than the rim portions of the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30, the shutter 40 is not hooked from outside and moved in no use of the magnetic disk cartridge 1.
In addition, because the swing shutter 50 is actuated inside the lower plate 20 and closes the chucked center hole C3, it is not hooked into an outside thing and does not abruptly open. Particularly, because the swing shutter 50 is designed so as to close the chucked center hole C3 with a single member, it is difficult to be hooked into an outside thing.
Because the ribs 14 formed around the base frame 10 are disposed at the perimeters of the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30 and the height of the ribs 14 is larger than the thicknesses of the lower plate 20 and the upper plate 30, their rims 29 and 39 are not hooked into an outside thing.
Because the rotary shutter 40 contacts the lower plate 20 by the contact rib 41b formed along the circumference, a smooth rotational movement is enabled. Furthermore, because the part of the contact rib 41b is cut off not to prevent the swing movement of the swing shutter 50 and forms the window portion 41b′, the movement of the shutter 50 is also good.
In addition, although the rotary shutter 40 comprises the reinforcement plate 42 only at side of the lower plate 20, it enables a stable rotational movement thereof and contributes to thin the magnetic disk cartridge 1. Furthermore, by comprising the reinforcement plate 42 only at the side of the lower plate 20, it is enabled to assemble the magnetic disk cartridge 1 by a method of building up the rotary shutter 40, the magnetic disk media DM, and the upper plate 30 from the lower plate 20 and to realize a simplification of the assembly.
Furthermore, the rotational movement of the rotary shutter 40 is transmitted to the swing movement of the swing shutter 50 by the engagement of the engagement protrusion 42c formed at the reinforcement plate 42 and the engagement hole portion 52 of the swing shutter 50, and the rotary shutter 40 and the swing shutter 50 can be simultaneously moved only by the operation of moving the rotary shutter 40 from outside. Although the engagement protrusion 42c slightly protrudes from the engagement hole portion 52 in some case, because an interference between the protruded portion and the lower plate 20 can be evaded by the evasion groove 22 formed at the lower plate 20, the smooth rotational movement of the rotary shutter 40 is ensured, and it is also enabled to prevent the occurrence of dust due to the contact of the engagement protrusion 42c and the lower plate 20.
Because the center core 61 engages in the protrusion 31 in no use of the magnetic disk cartridge 1, the magnetic disk media DM is fixed and not damaged. Therefore, it is enabled to minimize a clearance between the magnetic disk media DM and the base frame 10, to enlarge the size of the disk media DM, and to enlarge a memory capacity thereof.
Because the access opening C2 is provided in an orthogonal direction for the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge 1, right in the embodiment, it is enabled to dispose such the swing arm SA right and to lessen the depth of the disk drive D. Therefore, it is enabled to realize the disk drive D of a card type that is thinner and smaller in depth.
Thus although one embodiment of the present invention is described, the invention can be performed, changed as needed, and it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiment.
For example, recording disk media may also be optical disk media such as magneto-optical disk media and phase-change disk media, not limited to magnetic disk media; and disk media having a rigidity such as a DVD-DRAM, not limited to flexible disk media.
In addition, although in the embodiment the swing shutter 50 is supported swingably by the lower plate 20, it may also be designed to be supported swingably by the upper plate 30 or the base frame 10.
Furthermore, although the reinforcement plate 42 is configured with a separate metal plate from the shutter member 41, they can also be integrally molded by resin and the like.
In addition, the drive gear is not limited to one fixed within the disk drive D, and may also be rotationally driven one.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-081349 | Mar 2005 | JP | national |