JPH03286490A - Guide device for memory cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely guide the load of a memory cartridge without requiring an adapter even when the size of the memory cartridge is different by providing a cartridge guide and a movement control means to stop the cartridge at a position where the external terminal of the memory cartridge faces to a connector provided at the depth of an inserting port. CONSTITUTION:U-shaped cartridge guides 30 and 40 are fixed to guide members 25 and 26 by visses and at these cartridge guides 30 and 40, partition panels 14 and 15 and arms 31 and 42 are provided. Then, guide pins 34 and 45 planted on a substrate 20 of a main body are inserted to slots 32 and 45 formed on these arms 31 and 42. Therefore, the cartridge guides 30 and 40 can slide on the substrate 20 of the main body. When inserting the memory cartridge, the cartridge guides 30 and 40 are moved to positions corresponding to the breadthwise size of the memory cartridge at the depth of the inserting port. Thus, the external terminal can be correctly connected to the connector on the equipment side without using adapters at all.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a guide device used when loading a memory cartridge containing an IC memory or an LSI memory into a device.

[Conventional technology]

Consideration is being given to using memory cartridges as recording media for electronic still cameras instead of conventional still video floppies. A memory cartridge is a card-type recording medium containing IC memory or LSI memory, and can write and read image signals without using any mechanically movable parts, which greatly contributes to making electronic still cameras more compact.

In such electronic still cameras, it is easy to make the memory cartridge more compact by making the memory cartridge smaller. , it becomes possible to realize an extremely compact device with an emphasis on portability.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Against this background, for example, when both standard memory cartridges with a standard number of records and small memory cartridges with a small number of records but with an emphasis on portability are used, new compatibility issues will arise. Problems arise. In particular, for playback devices used when playing back images from memory cartridges, standard memory cartridges.

Although it is desirable to be able to play back images from any of the small memory cartridges, if the memory cartridges have different sizes, it becomes difficult to properly load each one into the playback device. That is,
When loading a memory cartridge into a playback device, you must guide the insertion of the memory cartridge so that the external terminal of the memory cartridge is correctly connected to the connector provided at the back of the cartridge insertion slot. This is because if the sizes of the memory cartridges are different, it will not be possible to guide the insertion of the memory cartridge using its outer shape.

To solve this problem, prepare an adapter with the same external size as a standard memory cartridge, and when playing back images from a small memory cartridge, attach the small memory cartridge to the adapter and then load it into the playback device. It is easy if you take . However, using such an adapter inevitably causes trouble in terms of operability and handling.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a guide device for memory cartridges that can reliably guide the loading of memory cartridges without the need for an adapter even if the memory cartridges have different sizes. With the goal.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of cartridge guides behind the memory cartridge loading port that slides against both side edges of the memory cartridge to guide the insertion of the memory cartridge, and also controls the movement of the cartridge guides. The device is configured to control movement in the direction of the frontage of the insertion port. Then, the cartridge guide is moved according to the width size of the memory cartridge to be inserted, and the cartridge guide is positioned at a position where the external terminal of the memory cartridge directly faces the connector installed behind the insertion slot. It looks like this.

In addition, it is effective to move the connector in the memory cartridge insertion direction in conjunction with the movement of the cartridge guide, and create a configuration that can accommodate not only the width direction but also the insertion direction (length direction) size of the memory cartridge. In addition, it is also effective in achieving the object of the present invention to have a configuration in which the width size of the memory cartridge inserted from the insertion port is detected by a sensor, and the cartridge guide is positioned in accordance with the detection signal. .

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, when inserting a memory cartridge, the cartridge guide is moved to a position appropriate for the width size of the memory cartridge at the back of the insertion slot, so the memory cartridge can be inserted as is without using any adapters. By simply inserting the external terminal, you can correctly connect the external terminal to the connector on the device side.

In the case where the connector is moved in the memory cartridge insertion direction in conjunction with the movement of the cartridge guide, the connector position is determined at the same time as the cartridge guide is positioned, and the memory cartridge insertion length is also set correctly. Further, if a sensor is provided near the insertion opening, the width size of the memory cartridge can be detected by this sensor, and the set position of the cartridge guide can be determined based on this detection signal.

The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 shows a playback device embodying the present invention and a standard memory cartridge loaded into the playback device. This standard memory cartridge 2 is composed of a card body 3 containing an IC memory and a connector section 5 having a connector 4 on the end surface, and the card body 3 and the connector section 5 are made of plastic. A plurality of terminal holes 6 are formed in the connector 4. Furthermore, guide protrusions 7 and guide grooves 8 indicated by broken lines in the figure are formed on both side cylinders of the connector portion 5 along the arrow direction in the figure.

When this standard memory cartridge is loaded into an electronic still camera and a photograph is taken, the photographed image data is written into the IC memory.

Also, on the front of the playback device 10, there is an insertion slot 1 with a height and width corresponding to the thickness and width of the standard memory cartridge 2.
1. A switching button 12 for changing the frontage size of the insertion opening 11 is provided. A loading chamber 13 for the standard memory cartridge 2 is formed behind the insertion opening 11. Standard memory cartridge 2 is installed in this loading chamber 3.
When loaded, it becomes as shown in Fig. 4.

When the switching button 12 is pressed, the partition plates 14 and 15 protrude from both ends of the insertion slot 11, as shown in FIG. 5, and the frontage size is switched. Moreover, the frontage size of the loading chamber 13 is also narrowed. This opening size is the same as the width of the small memory cartridge 16 facing the front of the insertion slot 11. This small memory cartridge 16 has a built-in IC memory like the standard memory cartridge 2, and has a connector 17 of the same standard as the connector 4 at the tip in the insertion direction.
is provided. When this small memory cartridge 16 is loaded into the playback device 10, it becomes as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1 showing a memory cartridge guide device of the present invention and a standard memory cartridge guided by this guide device, a pin header 2 is provided on the main body board 20 of the playback device 10 to connect with the connector 4.17 described above. ]
is secured with screws. T-shaped guide grooves 22 and 23 are provided at both ends of the pin header 21, and a plurality of pin terminals 24 are provided along the longitudinal direction at the center. A slidable guide member 2 is provided in the guide grooves 22 and 23.
5.26 are fitted respectively. This guide member 2
5.26 has a guide protrusion 27. to prevent incorrect loading. Guide grooves (not shown) are formed respectively, and these guide grooves and guide protrusions 27 are connected to the guide protrusions 7. When the guide groove 8 is fitted, the pin terminal 24 is inserted into the terminal hole 6, and the ladder 21 is connected to the connector 4 and the pin.

Furthermore, when the standard memory cartridge 2 is inserted upside down, the guide members 25 and 26 abut against the tip of the connector portion 5 and prevent the insertion.

A U-shaped cartridge guide 30 is fixed to the guide member 25 with screws. The cartridge guide 30 is provided with the partition plate 14 and the arm 31. A pair of slots 32 are formed in this arm 31, and guide pins 34 implanted in the main body board 20 are inserted into the slots 32, respectively. Therefore, the cartridge guide 30 can slide on the main body board 20.

A tooth row 36 is formed on the side surface of the arm 31,
A gear 37 rotated by a motor 38 indicated by a broken line in the figure meshes with this tooth row 36. When the monitor 38 rotates counterclockwise (hereinafter referred to as normal rotation), the arm 31 slides to the right in the figure. A microswitch 39 is disposed toward the tip of the arm 31, and the microswitch 39 detects the first guide position of the cartridge guide 30 that guides the small memory cartridge 16. Further, the microswitch 39 is operated by the arm 31.
When the motor 38 is turned N, the motor outputs a normal rotation stop signal to stop the normal rotation of the motor 38.

Further, a crank-shaped cartridge guide 40 is fixed to the guide member 26 with screws. This cartridge guide 40, the cartridge guide 31, and the pin header 2
The space surrounded by 1 becomes the loading chamber 13. The cartridge guide 4° is slidably mounted on the upper surface of the cartridge guide 30, and is provided with an arm 42 having a tooth row 41 and the partition plate 15.

This arm 42 has a guide pin 4 similar to the arm 31.
3 and the slot 45 to the main body board 20 . Further, the tooth row 41 and the tooth row 36 are connected to the gear 37.
It meshes with this as if sandwiching it. Thus, when the motor 38 rotates, the cartridge guides 30, 40 move in opposite directions. Further, the tip of the arm 42 is in contact with a microswitch 47, and this microswitch 47 detects the second guide position of the cartridge guide 30, 40 that guides the standard memory cartridge 2. When this microswitch 47 is turned on,
A reverse rotation stop signal is output to stop the clockwise rotation (hereinafter referred to as reverse rotation) of the motor 38.

The micro switch 39, 47 is connected to a motor control section 50, and a signal generator 51 is connected to the motor control section 50, which outputs a switching signal when the switching button 12 is turned on or off. This motor control section 5
0 causes the motor 38 to rotate forward through the driver 52 when a switching signal is output from the signal generator 51 while the microswitch 47 is outputting a reverse rotation stop signal.

When a normal rotation stop signal is input from the microswitch 39 during normal rotation of the motor 38, the normal rotation of the motor 38 is stopped. Furthermore, when a switching signal is input while the microswitch 39 is outputting a forward rotation stop signal, the motor control unit 50 rotates the motor 38 in the reverse direction. When the motor 38 is in reverse rotation and a reverse rotation stop signal is manually input from the microswitch 47, the motor 38
stop reversing. Furthermore, micro switch 39°47
, when there is no signal from the signal generator 51, the motor 38
Reverse.

The operation of the guide device configured in this way will be explained. When the standard memory cartridge 2 is inserted into the loading chamber 13 with the connector portion 5 facing the playback device 10, both sides and the front and back of the standard memory cartridge 2 come into sliding contact with the cartridge guides 30, 40 and are guided. After this, the connector part 5 is guided by the guide members 25, 26,
When the pin terminal 24 is inserted into the terminal hole 6, the connector 4 and the pin hender 21 are connected. This allows the reproduction device 10 to read the image data from the standard memory cartridge 2. When taking out the standard memory cartridge 2 from the playback device 10, it is sufficient to grasp the part t of the standard memory cartridge 2 exposed from the insertion slot 11 and pull it in the opposite direction to the arrow direction.

Furthermore, when loading the small memory cartridge 16 into the playback device 10, the switching button 12 is pressed. As a result, when the signal generator 51 outputs a switching signal to the motor control section 50, the motor control section 50 rotates the motor 38 in the normal direction, and slides the arm 31 to the right and the arm 42 to the left. As a result, the cartridge guide 30 is guided by the guide member 25 and slides to the right on the main body board 20, and the cartridge guide 40 is guided by the guide member 26 and slides to the left on the cartridge guide 30. .

With this sliding, partition plates 14 and 15 come out from both ends of the insertion slot 11, respectively. At the beginning of this movement, the arm 42 turns off the microswitch 47.

When the arm 31 moves to the position shown in FIG. 2 and the microswitch 39 is turned on, a normal rotation stop signal is output from the microswitch 39 to the motor control section 50. At this time, the motor control unit 50 stops normal rotation of the motor 38, and stops the sliding cartridge guides 30 and 40 at the first guide position. Cartridge guide 30.40
This is the size of the small memory cartridge 16.

Thereafter, the small memory cartridge 16 is inserted into the loading chamber 13. This small memory cartridge 16 is guided by cartridge guides 30 and 40 on both sides and the front and back, and its insertion direction is regulated. For this reason, the bin terminal 24
is securely inserted into the terminal hole of connector 17, and
7 and the pin header 21 are connected. Main device 10
When removing the small memory cartridge 16 from the
Small memory cartridge 1 protruding from insertion slot 11
6 by grasping the rear end and pulling it out in the opposite direction to the insertion direction.

When loading the standard memory cartridge 2 into the main device 10 again, the switching button 12 is pressed again. This pressing causes the signal generator 51 to output a switching signal to the motor control section 50, causing the motor 38 to rotate in the reverse direction. The motor 38 slides the arm 42 to the right and the arm 39 to the left via the gear 37. When the arm 42 turns on the micro switch 47, the motor control unit 50
A reverse rotation stop signal is output. At this timing, the motor control section 50 stops the reverse rotation of the motor 38 and stops the sliding cartridge guides 30 and 40 at the second guide position. At this time, the opening of the loading chamber 13 formed by the cartridge guides 30 and 40 becomes the size of a standard memory cartridge.

In this embodiment, a pair of cartridge guides 30.
40, it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by moving one of the cartridge guides and sliding the side surface of the memory cartridge against the moving cartridge guide.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of another memory cartridge guide device of the present invention, in which a pin header is moved in conjunction with the cartridge guide. A pair of ribs 60 are formed on the main body substrate 61, and a slide substrate 63 that can slide freely in the direction shown in the figure is provided on these ribs 60.
is placed. This slide board 63 has a rectangular shape, and a flexible cable 68 is used as a lead wire and a pin header 67 with a protruding pin terminal 66 is fixed on the long side on the back side. Further, the main body board 61 has four guide pins 62a, 62b, 62c,
62d is planted. The pair of guide pins 62a and 62c are arranged along the front side of the slide substrate 63 so that a line segment connecting them is perpendicular to the rib 60. In addition, a pair of guide pins 62b,
62d is arranged along the back side of the slide board 63 in the same manner as the guide pins 62a and 62c.

There are four guide pins 64 on the top surface of this slide board 63.
a, 64b, 64c, and 64d are formed at positions corresponding to the vertices of the rectangle. A pair of slots 65 are formed in the center of the slide substrate 63 in a direction perpendicular to the ribs 60. A tooth row 69 is formed on the short side of the slide substrate 63, and a gear 71 rotated by a pulse motor 70 meshes with this tooth row 69. This pulse motor 70 is attached to the lower side of the main body substrate 61, and its rotation direction and rotation amount are controlled by a motor control section 73, and is driven via a driver 72. This motor control section 73 includes
A signal generator 74 is connected that outputs a switching signal when the switching button 12 is turned on or off.

The pair of slots 65 have upper and lower guide pins 75a,
Guide members 75 and 76 having implanted guide pins 75b and 76a and 76b are slidably inserted. A pair of crank-shaped cartridge guides 80, 81 are slidably mounted on the upper surface of the slide board 63.

Slots 80a are provided at both ends of the cartridge guide 80, 81 in a direction perpendicular to the rib 60.

80b, 81a, 81b are formed, the guide pins 62a, 62b are formed in the slots 80a, 80b, and the guide pins 62c, 62d are formed in the slots 81a, 81b as shown in FIG. 8 or 9. They are each inlaid in this way.

The cartridge guide 86 has the guide pins 64a, 6
Slots 82a and 82b into which the slots 4b are inserted are formed upward to the right. Furthermore, the slot 83 into which the guide pin 75a is inserted is formed along the direction of the rib 60. Similarly, the cartridge guide 81 has slots 84a and 84a into which the guide pins 64C164d are inserted.
4b is formed downward to the right. Also, guide bin 7
A slot 85 into which 6b is inserted is formed.

The operation of the memory cartridge guide device configured as described above will be explained. When the playback device 10 is powered on, the motor control section 73 drives the pulse motor 70 to move the cartridge guides 80, 81 to the reference position shown in FIG. This movement is performed by a sensor (not shown).
recognized. When loading the standard memory cartridge 2, it is sufficient to insert it into the loading chamber 13 as it is. When loading the small memory cartridge 16, press the switch button 12.
Press. As a result of this pressing, a switching signal is output from the signal generator 74 to the motor control unit 73, and the motor control unit 73 rotates the pulse motor 70 counterclockwise via the driver 72.

When the gear 71 is rotated clockwise, the slide board 63
is slid on the lip 60 from top to bottom in FIG. By this sliding, the guide pins 64a, 64
b indicates the inside of the slots 82a, 82b, and the guide pin 64.
c and 64d are slots) 84a and 84b, respectively, moving from top to bottom. As a result, the cartridge guide 8
0,81 moves from left to right and from right to left to the position shown in FIG. At this time, the guide pins 75b and 76b move from top to bottom in the slot 83.85, and
Since the guide pins 75a, 76a move toward the center within the slot 65, the guide members 75, 76 are also moved to the positions shown in FIG.

When moved in this way, the cartridge guide 80.8
1. The space surrounded by the guide members 75 and 76 and the connector 67 becomes the loading chamber 13 for the small memory cartridge 16. After this, the small memory cartridge 16 is inserted into the loading chamber 13.
When inserted into the pin header 67 and the connector 17, the pin header 67 and the connector 17 are reliably connected.

In this embodiment, since the ladder 67 is moved toward the pin in the direction of the insertion port 11, even if the length of the small memory cartridge 16 in the insertion direction is shorter than that of the standard memory cartridge 2, the connector 17 can be connected to the pin header 67. can do.

When the switching button 12 is pressed after removing the small memory cartridge 16, a second switching signal is output from the signal generator 74 to the motor control section 73. The motor control unit 73 rotates the pulse motor 70 counterclockwise and outputs predetermined pulses to control the amount of rotation. In this way, when the pulse motor 70 is rotated counterclockwise, the slide board 63 is rotated through the gear 71.
move upward. Along with this movement, the cartridge guides 80, 81 are moved to the reference position shown in FIG.

Note that after the motor control section 73 is powered on, the signal generator 74
When the switching signal output from the switching signal is an odd number, the pulse motor 70 is rotated clockwise, and when the switching signal is an even number, the pulse motor 70 is rotated clockwise. Further, the amount of rotation of the pulse motor 70 rotated by the switching signal is fixed by the motor control section 73.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the width of the memory cartridge inserted into the insertion slot is detected and the position of the cartridge guide is automatically determined. A photosensor 90 is attached at the center behind the insertion opening 11 to detect the standard memory cartridge 2 to be inserted. A pair of photosensors 91 and 92 are attached to sandwich the photosensor 90 to detect the width of the memory cartridge. The pair of photosensors 91 and 92 are spaced apart from each other by approximately the same width as the insertion opening 11. When these photosensors 90 to 92 detect the standard memory cartridge 2, they output a "high" (hereinafter referred to as rHJ) signal. Behind this, a pair of cartridge guides 93 are provided so as to be slidable in the lateral direction of the insertion port 11.
94 is placed on the rib 95 of the main substrate 20. One ends of these cartridge guides 93 and 94 are slidably fitted into guide grooves 96 of the pin header 95. The cartridge guides 93 and 94 are slid in opposite directions by motors 97 indicated by broken lines in the figure. Reference numerals 98 and 99 indicate microswitches that output stop signals.

FIG. 11 shows the electrical configuration of this embodiment,
The photosensors 91 and 92 are connected to the input terminals of an AND circuit 100, and the output terminal of the AND circuit 100 is connected to a motor control section 101 that controls the motor 97. This motor control unit 101 also includes a photo sensor 90. Microswitches 98 and 99 are connected, and when an "H" signal is output from the AND circuit 100 immediately after the rl (J signal is output from the photosensor 90), the motor 97 is connected via the driver 102. It rotates clockwise.This rotation is controlled by the microswitch 98,
It will be stopped at the signal.

Furthermore, when the small memory cartridge 16 shown by the dashed line in the figure is inserted into the insertion slot 11, the photo sensor 90 outputs an rH signal to the motor control unit I01, and then an rH signal is output from the AND circuit lOO. Therefore, the motor control unit 101 rotates the motor 97 counterclockwise in the figure. This rotation is then stopped by a stop signal from the microswitch 98.

The operation of the memory cartridge guide device configured as described above will be explained. Small memory cartridge 16
is inserted from the insertion port 11, the photo sensor 90 is turned on.
do. Since the small memory cartridge 16 has the size indicated by the dashed line in the figure, the photosensors 91 and 92 cannot be turned on at the same time. Therefore, no signal is output from the AND circuit 100. Therefore, the motor 97 is rotated counterclockwise. When this rotation is stopped by a stop signal from the microswitch 99, the cartridge guide 93.
94 is stopped sliding at a guide position for the small memory cartridge 16. Both sides of the small memory cartridge 16 inserted from the insertion slot 11 are provided with cartridge guides 9.
3.94 and connected to the bin header 95.

When the standard memory cartridge 2 is inserted from the insertion slot 11 while the cartridge guides 93 and 94 are in the guide position for the small memory cartridge 16, the photo sensor 9
0 is ONL, and then the photosensors 91 and 92 are turned ON at the same time. Therefore, the motor control unit 101 rotates the motor 97 clockwise, and stops the rotation in response to a stop signal from the microswitch 98. Therefore, the cartridge guides 93, 94 are slid to the guide position for the standard memory cartridge 2 and stopped. As a result, the standard memory cartridge 2 is moved to the cartridge guide 93.
The number is so that it can be inserted between 94 and 94.

Although the memory cartridge guide device of the present invention has been described using a playback device, similar effects can be obtained even if this memory cartridge guide device is used in an electronic still camera.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the cartridge guide is moved using a motor, but it is clear that similar effects can be obtained even if the cartridge guide is moved manually.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, in the memory cartridge guide device of the present invention, a pair of cartridge guides are provided behind the memory cartridge loading port to guide the insertion of the memory cartridge by slidingly contacting both side edges of the memory cartridge. The cartridge guide is controlled to move in the direction of the frontage of the insertion opening by a movement control means.

Then, move the cartridge guide according to the width size of the memory cartridge to be inserted, and position the cartridge guide at a position where the external terminal of the memory cartridge directly faces the connector installed behind the insertion slot. Therefore, simply by inserting the memory cartridge into the loading chamber, its external terminal can be reliably connected to the connector in the loading chamber. In addition, in another invention, since the connector is also moved in the insertion direction of the memory cartridge in conjunction with the movement of the cartridge guide, the connector is moved not only in the width direction of the memory cartridge but also in the insertion direction (length direction).
It is also possible to accommodate the size of Furthermore, in another invention, the width size of the memory cartridge inserted from the insertion port is detected, and the cartridge guide is positioned according to the detection signal.
The frontage size of the loading chamber can be automatically made to correspond to the width of the memory cartridge.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a guide device for a memory cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the guide device in a state where the cartridge guide is narrowed, and the main body board shown in FIG. 1 has been removed. FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams for loading a standard memory cartridge into a playback device. FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of loading a small memory cartridge into a playback device. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a guide device for a memory cartridge according to another invention. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams illustrating the operation of the guide device shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the main parts of a guide device for a memory cartridge according to another invention. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration shown in FIG. 10. 4... External terminal 10... Playback device 11... Insertion slot 16... Small memory cartridge 21.67.95... Pin header 30.40, 80, 81, 93.94... Cartridge guide 38.70.97...Motor 39.47.98.99...Micro switch 90~
93...Photo sensor. 2...Standard memory cartridge 2 Figure 7 Figure 7 Figure Figure Figure 7

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Provided behind the memory cartridge insertion slot,
a pair of cartridge guides that guide the insertion of the memory cartridge by slidingly contacting both side edges of the memory cartridge inserted from the insertion opening; and a pair of cartridge guides that move the cartridge guide toward the frontage of the insertion opening according to the width size of the memory cartridge. A guide device for a memory cartridge, comprising: a movement control means for stopping the memory cartridge at a position where an external terminal of the memory cartridge faces a connector provided at the back of the insertion opening. (2) The memory cartridge guide device according to claim 1, further comprising an interlocking mechanism that moves the connector in the memory cartridge insertion direction by movement of the cartridge guide. (3) The movement control means includes a sensor that detects the width size of the memory cartridge inserted from the insertion opening, and determines the stop position of the cartridge guide according to a signal from the sensor. A guide device for a memory cartridge according to claim 1 or claim 2.