JP2000011576A - Disk cartridge and disk device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To allocate information storage units in consideration of the importance of information to be allocated to a disk cartridge and to efficiently allocate the information storage unit in a small space by efficiently configuring the information storage unit. . When at least two pieces of information included in an information holding unit are variable, the variable information holding unit includes a movable range of a first information holding unit and a movable range of the second information holding unit. The information holding units are arranged so as to have overlapping areas.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a disk cartridge containing a disk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk and a magneto-optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Discs such as optical discs are used as disc-shaped recording media. These discs are often used by being enclosed in a disc cartridge in order to prevent hand oils, dirt, and the like from adhering to the recording surface.

In general, a disk cartridge is provided with an information holding unit for allowing the disk device to recognize a part of information on the disk before the disk device accesses the disk. The information is held based on the presence or absence of a notch or a hole provided in the disk cartridge, and the disk device recognizes the information by detecting the presence or absence of the notch or the hole. At this time, the information held by one information holding unit is 1 bit, and when a plurality of pieces of information are required, a plurality of information holding units are provided to cope with the information. The types of information held by the disk cartridge include recording permission / non-validation, disk surface valid / invalid, disk external extraction presence / absence (hereinafter referred to as disk extraction history information), and verification of recording data at the time of recording. Necessity / unnecessity of the operation (hereinafter referred to as necessity / unnecessity of the verify operation), discrimination of the disk capacity and type, and the like are given.

[0004] Among these pieces of information, information that can be changed by the user, such as permission / prohibition of recording, has a switch shape and has a reversible structure. In addition, the disk surface valid /
Since there is no need for the user to change information such as ineffectiveness, the disc cartridge is provided with a hole or a notch at the time of manufacture. Regarding the removal history information, for example, a claw is provided on the opening / closing member of the disk insertion / removal opening, and the opening / closing member is configured to be openable only by breaking the claw, and the disk device detects the presence / absence of the claw on the disk removal history information. There is a way to recognize that. The removal history information is information that is changed when the user removes the disc. However, since the removal history information is an irreversible change from no removal to removal, the irreversible information holding unit as described above is required.

[0005] Currently, DVD-RAM cartridges are commercially available disk cartridges. This disk cartridge is provided with recording permission / non-permission, disk surface valid / invalid, ejection history information, and a spare information holding unit. Further, since a DVD-RAM is provided with a double-sided disk, these information holding units are arranged on both sides of the disk.

[0006]

Generally, the shape of a disk cartridge is rectangular, and the place where the information holding portion can be arranged when a disk is included is a corner of the disk cartridge. At this time, if the diameter of the disk becomes smaller, a smaller disk cartridge is used, and the place where the information holding unit can be arranged becomes smaller.
For this reason, in a small disk cartridge, it was difficult to arrange a plurality of information holding units as in the related art.

According to the present invention, the information is allocated to the information holding unit in consideration of the nature of the information to be arranged in the disk cartridge, and the necessary information holding unit is arranged at a predetermined location by devising the arrangement of the information holding unit. Can be done.

[0008]

When at least two pieces of information held by the information holding unit are variable, the movable range of the first information holding unit and the second information holding unit of the variable information holding units are changed. The information holding unit is arranged so as to have an overlapping area in the movable range of.

Further, the information of the first and second variable information holding units is detected at a position other than the overlapping area in the movable range of the information holding unit.

Further, one information is higher than the other information, the higher information is 1-bit information, and the lower information is valid when the upper information is “A”, and the lower information is valid when the upper information is “O”. This is an invalid information group, and the variable information holding unit of the disk cartridge holds these upper and lower information groups.

A disk device using a disk cartridge having upper and lower information groups detects information in an information holding unit, and when the upper information is “A”, the lower information is valid. Information is invalid.

[0012] In addition, when the most significant information is present than the information held by the variable information holding unit, the most significant information is the first bit information, and the most significant information is invariable information. An information group in which the information held by the variable information holding unit becomes valid and the information held by the variable information holding unit becomes invalid when the highest-order information is “B” is arranged in the disk cartridge.

Further, the highest-level information is referred to as a second party when the variable information holding unit is not arranged, and as a first party when the variable information holding unit is arranged.

A disk drive using a disk cartridge having an information group including the most significant information detects the information in the information holding part, and when the most significant information is “A”, makes the information held in the variable information holding part valid. When the highest-level information is the second party, the information held by the variable information holding unit is invalidated.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 show a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of the disk cartridge of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the disk cartridge. The disk cartridge 1 of this embodiment is premised on supporting both a single-sided disk and a double-sided disk. The disk cartridge 1 includes a disk cartridge case 2, a shutter 3, a shutter slider 9, shutter springs 7a and 7b, a disk opening / closing opening / closing member 17, and the like. In a disk device for recording and / or reproducing a disk, the disk cartridge 1 is positioned using reference holes called location holes 4 and alignment holes 5.

The shutter slider 9 is regulated by the slider guide groove 8, and can move only in the left-right direction in FIG. The shutter slider 9 is biased by shutter springs 7a and 7b, and is located near the center of the disc cartridge case 2 when no external force is applied. The shutter 3 is attached to the shutter slider 9. Recording or reproduction is performed by moving the shutter 3 to the left or right, exposing the disk 18 to the outside through the opening 10 covered by the shutter 3. In this embodiment, the shutter 3 can be moved in both the left and right directions so as to be easily compatible with a double-sided disk. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The disc cartridge 1 has a structure in which the contained disc 18 can be taken out.

As shown in FIG.
At one end there are components such as shutters,
The other end has a slot for inserting and removing a disk. When the disk 18 is contained in the disk cartridge 1, the disk 18 is closed by the opening and closing member 17. The opening / closing opening / closing member 17 is provided with locking levers 6a, 6b for locking the opening / closing opening / closing member 17. These locking levers 6
When the a and b are pushed inward of the disk cartridge 1, the locking of the locking levers 6a and 6b is released. The opening / closing member 17 is provided with opening / closing member holding portions 16a and 16b for easy removal. Further, the disc cartridge 1 has four types of information holding units. In this embodiment, since a double-sided disk is sometimes used, information holding units for both sides are arranged.

In this embodiment, the first information holding units 11a, 1
1b: disk surface valid / invalid, second information holding unit 12
The disc removal history information is assigned to a and 12b, the verifying operation is required / unnecessary to the third information holding units 13a and 13b, and the recording permission / impossibility information is assigned to the fourth information holding units 14a and 14b. The information in the first information holding units 11a and 11b is the specification of the disk, and is represented by providing / not providing a hole at a predetermined position during product manufacture. Second information holding units 12a, 1
Reference numeral 2b denotes an irreversible information holding unit. In this embodiment, when the insertion / removal opening / closing member 17 is stored in the disc cartridge case 2, projections are provided at portions corresponding to the second information holding units 12a and 12b, and Holes are provided at positions of the second information holding portions 12a and 12b of the disk cartridge case 2. At the time of manufacturing the disc cartridge, the projection of the insertion / removal opening / closing member 17 enters the holes of the second information holding units 12a and 12b, and the second information holding units 12a and 12b are in a closed state.

Further, since the projections are provided, even if the locking levers 6a and 6b are released, the insertion / removal opening / closing member 17 cannot be taken, and the disk 18 cannot be taken out. The user removes the disc 18 by breaking and removing the projection of the opening / closing member 17. Only the locking levers 6a and 6b lock the insertion / removal opening / closing member 17 by removing the protrusion, and the locking / removal opening / closing member 17 is opened by moving the locking levers 6a and 6b to release the locking. I do. At this time, the second information holding unit 12
Since a and 12b have no protrusions, the holes are open.

Further, since the protrusions are broken, the second information holding units 12a and 12b are in an open state even if the disk 18 is returned to the disk cartridge 1 once the disk 18 is taken out. As described above, the disk device can recognize the extraction history information by detecting the opening state of the second information holding units 12a and 12b. Third information holding units 13a, 13
b and the fourth information holding units 14a and 14b are information that can be set by the user, and can be set freely according to the state of the disc and the recorded contents. For this reason, the third information holding units 13a and 13b and the fourth information holding units 14a and 14 of the present embodiment.
b has a structure in which an information holding member is arranged to make it reversible, and can be rotated around a fulcrum. The present embodiment is based on the assumption that a double-sided disk is supported and the disk 18 is taken out.

For this reason, at the corners of the disc cartridge 1, information holding portions for the front and back of the disc, the locking levers 6a, 6
b, it is necessary to arrange the opening / closing member holding portions 16a and 16b, the location hole 4, and the alignment hole 5, and it is difficult to arrange all of them by the conventional arrangement method. However, in the present invention, the variable information holding portion can be configured to be small. Therefore, it can be arranged.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which the projection of the second information holding unit is broken and the opening / closing opening / closing member 17 is moved. At this time, the third information holding units 13a and 13b and the fourth
Since the information holding members constituting the information holding units 14a and 14b are attached to the insertion / removal opening / closing member 17 at the rotation fulcrum, they move simultaneously without slipping.

Referring to FIG. 4, the third information holding units 13a and 13b
And an enlarged view of the fourth information holding units 14a and 14b.
FIG. 4 shows the third information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14
FIG. 2A is a diagram of the front view and the back view. Third information holding unit 13
a and 13b and the fourth information holding units 14a and 14b are symmetrical on the front and back surfaces of the disc cartridge 1, and therefore,
The third information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14a will be described. Third information holding unit 13a and fourth information holding unit 1
4a is reversibly movable, and the third information holding unit 13a
Can be moved from the position shown in FIG. 4A to the position shown by the dotted line. Further, the fourth information holding unit 14a is also configured as shown in FIG.
It is possible to move from the position shown in (a) to the position shown by the dotted line. Third information holding unit 13a or fourth information holding unit 1
When the position 4a is moved from the position shown in FIG. 4A, the position where the moved information holding unit is located is naturally opened.

By the way, the third information holding unit 13 of this embodiment
a and the fourth information holding unit 14a cannot be moved at the same time because they overlap, but they can be arranged with a smaller area than the information holding units are provided independently.
In particular, in the case of a reversible information holding unit, a place for arranging the information holding member is required, so that the place for arranging the information holding member is larger than that of the invariable information holding unit represented by the presence or absence of holes. Conventionally, when two variable information holding units are arranged, the necessary place is naturally doubled. However, in the present invention, the variable information holding unit can be arranged with about 1.5 times.

As described above, according to the present invention, the variable information holding unit requiring a large number of locations can be configured to be small, so that a plurality of information holding units can be arranged in a limited location. Incidentally, the third information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14
a is moved, the information holding unit 1 shown in FIG.
The operation is performed from the surface opposite to the surface on which 3a and 14a are detected. Third
Holes 19 and 20 are provided on the back side of the information holding members of the information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14a, and a structure having a thin tip can be inserted into these portions. The third information holding unit 13a and the fourth
The information holding unit 14a can be moved.

As shown in FIG. 5, the third information holding unit 13 of the present invention
a and possible combinations of the fourth information holding unit 14a. Normally, in the case of 2-bit information, four combinations are required, but in the case of the present invention, there are only three combinations shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the third information holding unit 13 of the present invention
5 shows an output example of a sensor that detects the information a and the fourth information holding unit 14a. In the detection of the information holding unit, two sensors are arranged at positions indicated by arrows in FIG. This position is a position where the movement ranges of the information holding unit do not overlap. The sensor may be, for example, a push-type mechanical switch or a reflection-type optical sensor, but may be any sensor that can detect the presence or absence of the information holding member at the detection position. If there is an information storage unit at the sensor position,
The sensor output is set to 1; The combinations of the sensor outputs at this time are 1 to 3 in the table shown in FIG. 4 in the table is a combination that cannot be set by the user because the information holding unit cannot be moved out of the sensor position at the same time.

Here, the sensor 1 detects the recording permission / non-permission information of the fourth information holding unit 14a, and the sensor 2 detects the necessary / unnecessary information of the verify operation of the third information holding unit 13a. Incidentally, the verify operation is information that is necessary / unnecessary for verifying the recording data at the time of recording, and is unnecessary information except at the time of recording. Therefore, the fourth information holding unit 1
If the recording is disabled in step 4a, the disk device does not enter the recording operation, so that information necessary / unnecessary for the verify operation is not required. Therefore, the necessary information is of three types: recording permission / non-permission and necessity / unnecessity of the verify operation at the time of recording permission.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the sensor output is allocated by permitting recording when the sensor 1 is 1, not recording when the sensor 1 is 0, verifying when the sensor 2 is 1 and not verifying when the sensor 2 is 0. Necessary and sufficient information can be recognized on the disk device side.

The information held by the first information holding unit 11a is valid / invalid of the disk surface. This information is the highest information as to whether recording and / or reproduction can be performed on the disc.

In the present invention, the user cannot combine the outputs of the sensor 1 and the sensor 2 to 0 at the same time. Therefore, the user uses the combination to make the first information holding unit 11a the third information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14a. Can also be used. That is, when the disk device is set to recognize that the disk surface is invalid when the outputs of the sensors 1 and 2 are 0 and 0, and the first information holding unit 11a of the disk cartridge 1 has invalid information, At the time of manufacturing, the information holding members are not arranged in the third information holding unit 13a and the fourth information holding unit 14a, and the sensor detection positions are opened so that the outputs of the sensors 1 and 2 always become 0,0.

This makes it possible for the disk device to recognize invalid information on the disk surface without arranging the first information holding unit 11a. In addition, since the disk device does not require a sensor for detecting the first information holding unit 11a, the cost can be reduced.

[0033]

According to the above configuration, a plurality of variable information holding units can be configured to be small, so that a plurality of information holding units can be arranged even in a small disk cartridge, and the information holding unit can be efficiently used in a limited place of the disk cartridge. Can be placed well. Further, since the variable information holding unit of the present invention can also serve as the top information, it is not necessary to provide a holding unit dedicated to the top information. For this reason, the detecting means of the top-level information-dedicated holding unit of the disk device can be omitted, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing an appearance of a disk cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing an internal structure of a disk cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a state in which a disc insertion opening is opened.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a variable disk information holding unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, showing a possible combination of variable disc information holding units.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating an output of a sensor that detects a variable disc information holding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Disc cartridge, 2 ... Disc cartridge case, 3 ... Shutter, 4 ... Location hole, 5 ... Alignment hole, 6a, 6b ... Locking lever, 7a, 7b ... Shutter spring, 8 ... Slider guide groove, 9 ... Shutter slider, 10 opening, 11a, 11b first information holding unit, 12a, 12b second information holding unit, 13a, 13b third information holding unit, 14a, 14b fourth information holding unit, 15a, 15b wrong Insertion preventing portions, 16a, 16b: Opening / closing member holding portion, 17: Insertion / exit opening / closing member, 18: Disk, 19: Information holding member moving hole, 20: Information holding member moving hole.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroaki Ono 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Within the Multimedia Systems Development Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Jun Inoue Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa No.292 Inside Hitachi Multimedia Systems Development Division

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A disk cartridge containing a disk-shaped recording medium, the disk cartridge having a plurality of information holding units having information on the recording medium or the disk cartridge, and at least two of the information held by the information holding unit. At least a part of the information holding unit has a movable structure, and the information holding unit changes held information by moving a movable unit of the information holding unit. A disk cartridge having an area in which the movable range of the first information storage unit and the movable range of the second information storage unit are overlapped. 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the information of the first and second variable information holding units is detected at a position other than the overlapping area in a movable range of the information holding unit. A disk cartridge characterized by that: 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein one of the information is higher than the other information, the upper information is 1-bit information, and the lower information is valid when the upper information is A. Wherein the lower-level information is an invalid information group when the upper-level information is "B", and the variable information holding unit is configured to hold the upper-level and lower-level information groups. 4. A disk device for recording and / or reproducing data on / from a disk-shaped recording medium included in a disk cartridge, wherein the disk cartridge has a plurality of information holding units having information on the recording medium or the disk cartridge. At least two of the information held by the information holding unit are variable, one of the information is higher than the other information, the higher-order information is 1-bit information, and the information held by the information holding unit is detected. A disk device characterized in that the lower-level information is valid when the higher-level information is "A", and the lower-level information is invalid when the higher-level information is "B". 5. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein uppermost information is present than the information held by the variable information holding unit, the uppermost information is first bit information, and the uppermost information is not. A variable information, wherein the information held by the variable information holding unit becomes valid when the top information is Party A, and the information held by the variable information holding unit becomes invalid when the top information is Party B; A disk cartridge characterized by that: 6. The disk cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the uppermost information is set to B when the variable information holding unit is not arranged, and is set to A when the variable information holding unit is arranged. Disk cartridge. 7. The disk device according to claim 4, wherein the disk cartridge has uppermost information from an information group of the variable information holding unit, and the uppermost information is one-bit information of the second party. The highest-level information is invariable information. The highest-level information is detected. When the highest-level information is “A”, the information held by the variable information holding unit is validated. A disk device wherein information held by a holding unit is invalidated.