Disk cartridge

Details Disk cartridge Disk cartridge

2001-02-06

2003-05-13

Cao, Allen (Department: 2652)

Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval

Record medium

In container

Reexamination Certificate

active

06563672

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge ideally suited for use in a large-capacity disk drive, such as a removable hard disk drive unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 16
shows an example of a hard disk drive unit proposed by the assignee under U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/299,498 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 11-312353. The hard disk drive unit is a removable hard disk drive unit
1
(hereinafter referred to simply as “R-HDD 1”) in which an upper cover
3
closes the top of a drive main body
2
having an open top, and a cartridge holder
4
is disposed at front in the drive main body
2
. A cartridge insertion slot
5
is formed substantially over the full width of a front edge
4
a
of the cartridge holder
4
. A pair of right and left hinge pins
6
are disposed at the right and left ends of a rear edge
4
b
of the cartridge holder
4
. The front edge
4
a
of the cartridge holder
4
can be raised and lowered in directions indicated by arrows a and b, which are vertical in relation to the drive main body
2
, about the paired right and left hinge pins
6
by a cartridge lifting device (not shown) installed at the bottom on the front edge side of the cartridge holder
4
. A spindle motor
7
is disposed under the cartridge holder
4
in the drive main body
2
. A chucking magnet
9
is embedded in the disk table
8
rotated together with a rotor of the spindle motor
7
. Furthermore, a flexible head actuator
10
, which is a rotary head actuator, is disposed at the rear of the cartridge holder
4
in the drive main body
2
. The flexible head actuator
10
has a pair of upper and lower suspensions
12
mounted on the distal end of a head arm
11
by being bent at a predetermined angle, and a pair of upper and lower flying head sliders
13
mounted on the distal ends of the pair of upper and lower suspensions
12
. The flexible head actuator
10
is constructed such that it is rotatably driven in longitudinal directions indicated by arrows c and d. A dynamic load and unload lamp (hereinafter referred to simply as “lamp”)
14
is disposed between the pair of upper and lower suspensions
12
.
Referring now to
FIG. 17
, a disk cartridge
21
used with the R-HDD
1
includes a flat cartridge main body
24
formed of upper and lower halves or upper and lower shells
22
and
23
, respectively, that are composed of synthetic resin moldings and vertically fastened into a one piece by screws, an adhesive agent, or the like, and a recording disk (hereinafter referred to simply as “disk”)
25
, which is a removable hard disk rotatably accommodated in the cartridge main body
24
. A center core
26
composed of a ferromagnetic member is secured to the center of the disk
25
. A head insertion slot
27
, which is long sideways, is formed by the upper and lower halves
22
and
23
, the slot
27
being positioned at one side of an arcuate front edge
24
a
of the cartridge main body
24
. Substantially at the center of the lower half
23
, there is a circular disk table insertion aperture
28
in which the center core
26
of the disk
25
is fitted with a play.
As indicated by the one-dot chain line in
FIG. 16
, with the front edge
4
a
of the cartridge holder
4
of the R-HDD
1
raised in the direction indicated by arrow a, the disk cartridge
21
shown in
FIG. 17
is inserted aslant into the cartridge holder
4
in the direction indicated by arrow e through the cartridge insertion slot
5
from the front edge
24
a
of the cartridge holder
4
. Thereafter, as indicated by the solid line in
FIG. 16
, the front edge
4
a
of the cartridge holder
4
is lowered in the direction indicated by arrow b to mount the cartridge holder
4
of the disk cartridge
21
on a pair of a height reference pin (not shown) and a positioning pin (not shown) located at right and left, respectively, in the drive main body
2
so as to position the cartridge holder
4
. Then, the disk table
8
of the spindle motor
7
is relatively inserted from below into the disk table insertion aperture
28
of the cartridge main body
24
, and the center core
26
of the disk
25
is magnetically chucked onto the disk table
8
by the chucking magnet
9
.
After loading the disk cartridge
21
, the disk
8
is rotatably driven at high speed by the spindle motor
7
, and the flexible head actuator
10
is rotatably driven in the direction indicated by arrow c to cause the pair of upper and lower suspensions
12
to slide on the lamp
14
in the direction indicated by arrow c so as to reduce the vertical gap between the paired upper and lower suspensions
12
by the spring force of the suspensions
12
themselves. Then, the paired upper and lower suspended head sliders
13
are inserted into the head insertion slot
27
of the disk cartridge
21
from the direction indicated by arrow c to load the suspended head sliders
13
onto the upper and lower recording surfaces of the disk
25
. The flexible head actuator
10
circularly moves in the directions indicated by arrows c and d to cause the pair of upper and lower suspended head sliders
13
to perform a seek in the directions indicated by arrows c and d between the inner and outer peripheries of the disk
25
, thereby recording or reproducing information on or from the disk
25
. After completion of recording or reproducing on or from the disk
25
, the front edge
4
a
of the cartridge holder
4
is raised in the direction indicated by arrow a, and the disk cartridge
21
is drawn out upward aslant in the direction indicated by arrow f through the cartridge insertion slot
5
, as indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG.
16
.
Using the flexible head actuator
10
as the rotary head actuator makes it possible to minimize the width of the head insertion slot
27
of the disk cartridge
21
and to achieve a simplified configuration and higher reliability of the dynamic loading and unloading device of the pair of upper and lower suspended head sliders
13
, thus permitting the R-HDD
1
to have higher quality. While recording or reproducing on or from the disk
25
, the pair of upper and lower suspended head sliders
13
is raised due to the airflows generated on the upper and lower recording surfaces by the high-speed rotation of the disk
25
, thus recording or reproducing information in a non-contact state.
The disk cartridge
21
shown in FIG.
17
through
FIG. 21
includes a plurality of rib-shaped upper partitions
29
and lower partitions
30
that are divided in the peripheral direction and arc-shaped along a rear edge
24
b
and right and left edges
24
c
and
24
d,
which are three edges of the cartridge main body
24
, excluding the front edge
24
a.
The upper partitions
29
and the lower partitions
30
are formed into one piece such that they are perpendicular to vertically opposing inner surfaces
22
a
and
23
a
of the upper and lower halves
22
and
23
, respectively, and are vertically symmetrical. The upper and lower halves
22
and
23
are vertically combined into one piece to vertically abut the plural upper and lower partitions,
29
and
30
, respectively, thereby forming a substantially circular disk accommodation chamber
31
surrounded by these plural upper and lower partitions
29
and
30
, respectively. The disk
25
is rotatably and horizontally inserted in the disk accommodation chamber
31
, and the round disk table insertion aperture
28
is formed in the lower half
23
, at a position corresponding substantially to the center of the disk accommodation chamber
31
. In this case, a plurality of, e.g., three, dowels
32
are integrally formed on the inner surface
23
a
of the lower half
23
and on the outer periphery of the disk table insertion aperture
28
. The center core
26
of the disk
25
is positioned by placing it on the dowels
32
, and the disk
25
is horizontally supported in such a manner that it floats upward with respect to the inner surface
23
a
of the lower half
23
.
A shutter
35
made of a thin metal plate

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