JP3358059B2 - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cartridge in which a disk as a storage medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk is housed in a hard case so as to be able to be taken in and out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A disk cartridge of this kind is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-242626, and has an opening at the rear end of a main body case so that a disk can be taken in and out for replacement. The opening can be opened and closed by a lid that rotates around a pivot.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned disk cartridge, when the disk is taken out, the lid is opened at the maximum opening angle (180 degrees) and the opening is inadvertently turned downward. It may fall down and be damaged. Further, there is a possibility that a hand may inadvertently touch the recording / reproducing area of the disk when removing the disk.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge which allows a disk to be safely inserted into and removed from a main body case without touching the disk.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a main body case 1 in which a disk 2 as a storage medium is rotatably housed.
However, the upper case 1a and the lower case 1b are integrally connected.
Will, to the upper case 1a and lower case 1b, the front part
Open window 3 for signal reading from the center in the left-right direction to the rear
The upper case 1a has a substantially
A drive shaft insertion hole 4 is opened substantially at the center of the lower surface of the case 1b.
Yes and the window 3 and the driving shaft insertion hole 4, the main body
Shutter 5 that slides to the left and right in front of case 1
In Target disk cartridge constructed infarction is.

According to the present invention, in the disk cartridge having the above structure, an opening 9 for inserting and removing the disk 2 is provided in the rear side surface 7 of the main body case 1.
And a disk holder 10 which is detachably mounted through the opening 9. The disk holder 10 has a lid 11 at the rear end of the holder body 10 a which closes the opening 9. A pair of right and left expandable and contractible deformable left and right members that protrude forward from the left and right sides of the holder body 10a along the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 15 and 15 of the main body case 1 and embrace the outer periphery of the disk 2 from the radial outside. The distance between the distal ends of the pair of elastic arms 12 is set to be smaller than the outer diameter of the disk 2, and the pair of elastic arms 12 the two points P ₁ · P _2, the disc 2 is conjugated held so as not to fall off from the disk holder 10, the resilient arms 1
Grooves 13 which receive the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral portion of the disk 2 when viewed from the front end side are provided on the disk engaging surface side of the disk 2 and the elastic arm 12 inside the holder main body 10a. A groove 21 is provided at a central portion, and three points on the outer periphery of the disk 2 are defined by the groove 21 of the holder body 10a and the grooves 13 of the left and right elastic arms 12,
By holding the disk 2 so that it does not come off in the vertical direction, when the disk holder 10 is removed from the main body case 1, the disk 2 is pulled out while being held by the disk holder 10, and the disk on the disk holder 10 is removed. 2
Is characterized in that the elastic arms 12 can be detached from the disk holder 10 by expanding and deforming.

[0007]

When the disk holder 10 is pulled out of the main body case 1, the outer periphery of the disk 2 held and held by the left and right elastic arms 12 is received on the front and back surfaces by grooves 13. Therefore, when the disk holder 10 is now pulled out of the main body case 1 in a horizontal posture, the disk 2 does not fall off the disk holder 10 in the vertical direction, that is, downward. The disk 2 can be removed from the disk holder 10 by expanding and deforming the elastic arms 12. To accommodate the disk 2 in the main body case 1, the disk 2 is held between the pair of elastic arms 12 of the disk holder 10 from outside in the radial direction, and the disk holder 10 is attached to the main body case 1 by the elastic arms 12. Insert from the side.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a disk cartridge according to the present invention has a thin rectangular main body case 1.
A disk 2 such as an optical disk in which signals such as video, audio, and information are stored on both upper and lower surfaces is rotatably accommodated. As shown in FIG. 3, the body case 1 is formed by integrally joining plastic upper and lower cases 1a and 1b with each other. In the upper case 1a and the lower case 1b, a signal reading window 3 is opened rearward from the left-right central portion of the front side, and substantially the center of the upper surface of the upper case 1a and the lower surface of the lower case 1b. A drive shaft insertion hole 4 is opened at the center. When not in use, the window 3 and the drive shaft insertion hole 4 are closed by a shutter 5 that slides in the left and right direction on the front side of the main body case 1. Upper case 1a
A boss 6 is provided on each inner surface of the lower case 1b so as to surround the drive shaft insertion hole 4, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, an opening 9 for inserting and removing the disc 2 is provided in the rear side surface 7 of the main body case 1.
Are provided over the entire length in the left-right direction. The opening 9 is opened and closed by a plastic disk holder 10. The disk holder 10 includes a flat holder body 10a.
At the rear end, there is provided a lid portion 11 which completely closes the opening 9 and is provided on the left and right sides of the holder main body 10a so as to protrude forward along the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 15 and 15 of the main body case 1. And a pair of elastic arms 12 that can be expanded and contracted.

The pair of left and right resilient arms 12 has a distance between the front ends thereof smaller than the outer diameter of the disk 2 and, as shown in FIG. The two points P ₁ and P ₂ on the outer circumference of the are held together. As shown in FIG. 5, a groove 13 is formed in the distal end or the entire length of each elastic arm 12 on the disk-engaging surface side, and this groove 13 is formed in a trapezoidal cross section when viewed from the distal end side, and extends outward from the groove. It has upper and lower slopes 14 and 14 having an inclination that gradually widens toward it, and the outer periphery of the disk 2 is held between the upper and lower slopes 14. The groove 13 may be formed in a V-shaped cross section instead of a trapezoidal cross section.

In FIG. 2, a release member 16 for expanding the elastic arms 12 of the disk holder 10 is provided inside the main body case 1 near the front end of each of the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 15. . The release member 16 has a slope 17 formed on a surface facing the opening 9, and
A sharp angled depression 19 is formed between the inner surface of 5 and the slope 17. The distal end of the elastic arm 12 has the release member 1
6 is provided with a slope 20 that abuts and engages with the slope 17.

Thus, when the elastic arms 12 are inserted along the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 15 along with the insertion of the disk holder 10 into the main body case 1 through the opening 9, the elastic arms 12 The tip is the release member 16.
16 (the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2). Further, as the elastic arms 12 are inserted deeper into the body case 1, two points on the outer periphery of the disk 2 while the distal ends of the elastic arms 12 slide on the slopes 17 of the release members 16. It expands and deforms away from P ₁ and P ₂ . As shown in FIG. 1, at the same time when the disk holder 10 is completely inserted, the slopes 20 at the distal ends of the elastic arms 12 are adjusted to the slopes 17 of the release members 16.
17 comes into surface contact with the recesses 19, 19, whereby the distal ends of the elastic arms 12, 12 are held in the expanded state.
As a result, the disk 2 becomes free to rotate. The elastic arms 12 are connected to each other by a concave arc-shaped surface 22 provided on the front surface of the holder main body 10a. With this surface 22, the disk 2 is positioned at the center in the main body case 1 and the disk 2 is opened. 9 can be restricted.

When removing the disk 2 for replacement, the disk holder 10 is removed. With the removal of the disk holder 10, the distal ends of the pair of elastic arms 12 are separated from the release members 16 and are reduced and deformed by the elastic restoring force. Two points P ₁ on the outer circumference on the inner side of the body case
Hold P ₂ conjugated. Therefore, the disk holder 10
As the disk 2 is pulled out, the disk 2 becomes a pair of elastic arms 12.
It is taken out while being conjugated and held between the twelve. that time,
As shown in FIG. 5, the disk 2 is connected to a pair of elastic arms 12.
When the discs 2 are joined together, the disc 2 is lifted from the inner bottom surface of the main body case 1 on the lower slope 14 of the groove 13, so that the disc 2 is removed without interfering with the boss 6 on the inner bottom face of the main body case 1. It is. After completely removing the disk holder 10 from the main body case 1, the disk 2 can be detached from the disk holder 10 by expanding and deforming the pair of elastic arms 12, 12 by hand. FIG.
As shown in the figure, a groove 21 is provided at a central portion between the elastic arms 12 inside the front surface of the holder body 10a. Can be held more securely and can be safely taken in and out.

To accommodate the disk 2 in the main body case 1, as shown in FIG.
The disc holder 10 is inserted into the opening 9 from the side of the elastic arms 12. When the disk holder 10 is completely inserted, the pair of elastic arms 12 are expanded and deformed by the release members 16 as shown in FIG. 1, and the disk 2 is free to rotate.

The cancel member 16 in place of the plate-shaped in the illustrated embodiment,
It can be changed to a pin shape. As shown in FIG. 7, pins 23 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of each end of the elastic arms 12.
On the other hand, a groove 24 for guiding the pin 23 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the inside of the main body case 1, and the elastic arm 12 is expanded and deformed by an arc groove 24 a provided on the inner part of the groove 24. You may do so.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the disk holder 10 is provided.
Has a pair of left and right elastic arms 12 that hold and hold the outer periphery of the disk 2 from the outside in the radial direction, so that the disk 2 is touched to the main body case 1 by holding and holding the disk holder 10 in and out. It can be safely put in and out of the main body case 1 without dropping. That is, from the main body case 1 to the disk holder 10
When the disk is removed, the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the disk 2 are held by the grooves 13 of the pair of left and right elastic arms 12 so as not to fall in the vertical direction. The entire disc 2 can be taken out. When the disk 2 is replaced, the left and right elastic arms 12 are radially outwardly expanded and deformed outside the main body case 1, so that the disk 2 can be detached from the disk holder 10. When the disc 2 is accommodated in the main body case 1, the disc holder 10 is inserted into the main body case 1 from the elastic arm 12 side in a state where the disc 2 is held and held between the pair of elastic arms 12 of the disc holder 10. Just plug it in. When the disk holder 10 is put into and taken out of the main body case 1, the left and right elastic arms 12 are arranged along the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 15, 15 of the main body case 1. Can be put in and out smoothly. When the disk holder 10 holding the disk 2 is taken in and out of the main body case 1, the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the disk 2 are slid on the upper and lower inner wall surfaces of the main body case 1 by the grooves 13 of the two elastic arms 12. The recording surface of the disk 2 is not damaged because it is received so as not to come into contact with it. Since the disk 2 is not of the type placed on the disk holder 10, the recording surface of the disk 2 is also unlikely to be damaged in this regard.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal plan view of a disk cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal plan view showing a state in which a disk is being stored.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a disk is taken out.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main body case and a lid showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 2 Disk 3 Signal reading window 4 Drive shaft insertion hole 9 Opening 10 Dick holder 10a Holder main body 12 Elastic arm 15 Left and right side walls of main body case

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 23/03 B65D 85/57

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main body case in which a disk as a storage medium is rotatably housed , and an upper case and a lower case are integrated.
The upper case and the lower case have left and right sides at the front side.
Open the signal reading window from the center to the rear.
And approximately below the upper surface of the upper case and below the lower case.
A drive shaft insertion hole is opened substantially at the center of the surface, and the window and the drive shaft insertion hole are provided in front of the main body case.
In the disc cartridge constructed fort shutter to slide open and close the left and right side is, the rear side surface of the main body case, is provided with an opening for loading and unloading the disk, the opening to the inside of the main body case A disc holder that is detachably mounted through the disc holder, the disc holder has a lid that closes the opening at the rear end of the holder main body, and the main body case is provided on the left and right sides of the holder main body. A pair of left and right elastic arms that are protruded forward along the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls and that can freely expand and contract to embrace the outer periphery of the disk from the radial outside are provided. The distance between the opposing ends of the disk is set to be smaller than the outer diameter of the disk. A groove for receiving the front and rear surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the disk when viewed from the front end side, the groove being provided on the disk engaging surface side of the elastic arm so that the disk does not fall off from the disk holder; A groove is provided at a central portion between the elastic arms on the inner side of the main body, and the groove of the holder main body and the grooves of the left and right elastic arms define three points on the outer periphery of the disk in a vertical direction. When the disk holder is pulled out from the main body case, the disk is pulled out while being held by the disk holder, so that the disk on the disk holder is A disk cartridge characterized in that the arm can be detached from the disk holder by expanding and deforming the arm.