Disk cartridge shutter door opener

Details Disk cartridge shutter door opener Disk cartridge shutter door opener

1999-04-26

2003-11-04

Korzuch, William (Department: 2653)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc

C360S099060

Reexamination Certificate

active

06643242

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 88105360, filed Apr. 3, 1999, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a shutter door opener. More particularly, the present invention relates to an opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, most laser disk reading machines such as DVDs or CDs can accept either bare laser disks or laser disks that are enclosed within a protective cartridge. The cartridge is able to prevent dust deposition, scratches, air moisture or unwanted illumination. However, when a disk cartridge is pushed into a laser machine, a suitable opener must be present to open the shutter door on the cartridge so that laser beam can shine onto the laser disk for performing a data-read operation.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
illustrate one type of conventional shutter door opener for the cartridge, and
FIGS. 2A and 2B
illustrate a second type of conventional shutter door opener. In general, the mechanisms of most conventional shutter door openers suffer the drawback of having too much resistance or friction. Therefore, the shutter doors are difficult to open. Furthermore, even if the internal friction is only moderate, too many components may be required making assembling very difficult. In addition, the assembled system may be so large that too much space is required to accommodate the system.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
are two top views showing the opening of the shutter door of a disk cartridge using a first type of conventional opener design. The shutter door opener includes an opener beam
22
on a base metal plate
20
. Two sliding slots
24
and
28
are formed in the base metal plate
20
. One of the slots
24
serves as guide for the head section A of the opener beam
22
to sweep out an arc. The other slot
28
permits a latch pin attached to the opener beam
22
to sweep out an arc. Furthermore, the shutter door opener includes an extension spring
26
. One end
26
A of the spring
26
is hooked onto the latch pin of the opener beam
22
, whereas the other end
26
B is fixed onto the base metal plate
20
. The opener beam
22
is able to turn relative to a rotating axis
30
. In fact, one end of the opener beam
22
is fixed by a pin insert anchored to the rotating axis
30
so that the other end of the opener beam
22
is capable of moving along the slot
24
. As shown in
FIG. 1A
, just before a disk cartridge
10
is pushed into a laser machine, the shutter door
12
on the cartridge remains closed. When the disk cartridge is pushed into the laser machine, point B on the shutter door
12
first contacts the head section A of the opener beam
22
. Thereafter, when the cartridge is pushed in a little further, the head section A of the opener beam
22
sliding along slot
24
gradually drives the shutter door
12
to the left. In the meantime, the spring
26
having one end
26
A hooked to the opener beam
22
be carried along in the direction of the slot
28
. Finally, the shutter door
12
is fully opened as shown in FIG.
1
B. Once the spring
26
is fully extended, a restorative force is provided. Therefore, as the disk cartridge
10
is drawn out, the opener beam
22
can return to its former position as shown in FIG.
1
A. In the aforementioned design, the shutter door is opened using the movement of the opener beam
22
along a small radial arc. In other words, the opener beam
22
has only one degree of freedom. To prevent the cartridge from being stuck inside the laser machine, the opener beam
22
must have a considerable length. Hence, extra room for accommodating the wide sweep of the opener beam
22
must be set aside, which is quite demanding for a laser machine having limited internal space.
FIGS. 2A and 2B
are two top views showing the opening of the shutter door of a disk cartridge using a second type of conventional opener design. The shutter door opener is very similar to the one in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
except that one end of the opener beam
22
′ is not fixed to the base metal plate
20
. Instead, a sliding slot
30
′ is formed for the end section of the opener beam
22
′ to slide along. In this design, a pin is attached to the respective front section and the end section of the opener beam
22
′. Hence, the entire opener beam
22
′ is capable of sliding along slots
24
′ and
30
′ in the process of opening the shutter door
12
. In fact, the two slots
24
′ and
30
′ serves as end constraints for the opener beam
22
′ so that a set track is followed by the opener beam
22
′. However, this type of design requires detailed calculations for relative positioning of the two slots
24
′ and
30
′. Otherwise, the opener may be jammed in the middle so that the shutter door
12
is not fully opened. Moreover, this type of opener produces greater friction, too.
In conclusion, the first type of conventional door opener tends to occupy too much space, and the second type has such complex moving parts that the cartridge door may be jammed.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need to produce a better door opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is to provide a shutter door opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge such that the sliding area demanded by the opener beam is reduced. Hence, the shutter door opener does not occupy too much room. Furthermore, the degree of opening of the shutter door can be controlled by tailoring the curvature and profile of the sliding slots, unlike the fixed arc trajectory utilized by a conventional opener beam.
Another aspect of this invention is to provide a shutter door opener having the same door-opening capacity as a conventional unit for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge, but with fewer components. Hence, the shutter door opener can be assembled quickly and production cost can be reduced.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a shutter door opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge. The shutter door opener is generally installed inside a laser disk reader on a chucking plate. The shutter door opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge comprises a door-opening component. The door-opening component includes an opener beam and a slot on the opener beam for sliding the opener beam. The opener beam further includes a slider at the head section of the opener beam, and a pin that passes through a slot of the opener beam and fastened to the chucking plate. Hence, the opener beam is free to move relative to the fixed pin and is only constrained by the slot. There is a first slot in the chucking plate. The first slot is designed in such a way that the slider at the head section of the opener beam is able to latch onto and slides freely along the slot. The opener further includes an extensible element with one end fixed onto the chucking plate while the other end is fixed onto a hook attached to the mid-section of the opener beam. The opener also has a second slot on the chucking plate. The second slot allows the hook on the opener beam freely slide along.
In a second embodiment, the invention provides a shutter door opener for opening the shutter door of a disk cartridge. The shutter door opener is installed on a chucking plate. A first pin insert and a second pin insert are fixed to the chucking plate. The shutter door opener includes an opener beam, a slot beam, a connecting beam and an extensible element. The opener beam has a first end and a second end. The first end of the opener beam is coupled to the first fixed pin insert so that the opener beam is capable of rotating about the first pin. The slot beam has two ends and a slot along the mid-line section. The second fixed pin insert pa

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Disk cartridge shutter door opener does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Disk cartridge shutter door opener, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disk cartridge shutter door opener will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3133507