Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Overedge assembling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-30
2001-10-09
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Overedge assembling means
C029S243517, C029S243540, C029S243519, C029S243523
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298533
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an assembling device for a disc cartridge housing a disc such as a magnetic disc or an optical disc used as an information recording medium. More particularly, it relates to an assembling device used for assembling a pair of cartridge halves making up a main cartridge body unit of the disc cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a disc cartridge, housing therein a disc, such as a magnetic disc or an optical disc, used as an information recording medium, is comprised of a main cartridge body unit, obtained on abutting and interconnecting paired upper and lower cartridge halves, formed by injection molding a thermoplastic synthetic resin, and a disc rotationally housed within the main cartridge body unit.
As shown in FIGS.
1
(A) to
1
(C), on each corner of an inner surface of the upper cartridge half
101
of the main cartridge body unit, housing the disc therein, there is formed a protuberance
103
for coupling the upper cartridge half
101
to a lower cartridge half
102
constituting a main cartridge body unit along with the upper cartridge half
101
, as shown in
FIGS. 1A
to
1
C. In each corner of the lower cartridge half
102
is formed a through-hole
104
passed through by the protuberance
103
. The upper and lower cartridge halves
101
,
102
are interconnected by inserting a disc in the upper cartridge half
101
, passing the protuberance
103
through the through-hole
104
to attach the lower cartridge half
102
to the upper cartridge half
101
and thermally caulking a distal end
103
a
of the protuberance
103
protruded from the through-hole
104
.
An assembling device for a disc cartridge, obtained on interconnecting the upper cartridge half
101
and the lower cartridge half
102
, includes a thermal caulking head
111
for thermally deforming the protuberance
103
, as shown in FIG.
1
A. The thermal caulking head
111
has its distal end face recessed substantially hemi-arcuately to form a recess
112
, and an abutment
113
for compressing against the lower cartridge half
102
is formed around the recess
112
. The thermal caulking head
111
is heated to a temperature which thermally deforms the synthetic resin. With the caulking head
111
in the heated state, the assembling device for a disc cartridge is moved in a direction approaching to the protuberance
103
, as shown in
FIG. 1B
, until the abutment
113
compresses against the outer surface of the lower cartridge half
102
. The distal end
103
a
of the protuberance
103
is thrust by the recess
112
, at the same time as it is thermally deformed, so that it is deformed to a semicircular cross-sectional shape after the shape of the recess
112
. The deformed distal end
103
a
becomes larger in diameter than the through-hole
104
to form a retainer
106
which prohibits detachment of the protuberance
103
from the through-hole
104
. The caulking head
111
then is moved in a direction away from the lower cartridge half
102
, as shown in
FIG. 1C
, to allow the distal end
103
a
of the thermally deformed protuberance
103
to be cooled and solidified spontaneously to interconnect the lower cartridge half
102
and the upper cartridge half
103
.
Meanwhile, for thermal caulking, the caulking head
111
needs to be heated to a temperature allowing for thermal deformation. In addition, the heated caulking head
111
needs to be cooled to a moderate temperature. Thus, the caulking process is timeconsuming to render it difficult to improve the disc cartridge production efficiency. Should it be attempted to reduce the time needed for caulking, the caulking head
111
cannot be heated sufficiently, with the result that the protuberance
103
formed of the thermoplastic resin cannot be deformed thermally sufficiently. Thus, the distal end
103
a
of the protuberance
103
cannot be thermally deformed sufficiently, with the result that a sufficient coupling force to interconnect the upper and lower cartridge halves cannot be developed such that the upper and lower cartridge halves
101
,
102
tend to be readily detached from each other after assembling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an assembling device for a disc cartridge whereby paired cartridge halves can be interconnected reliably in a shorter time without the risk of detachment following assembling and whereby the disc housed in the main cartridge body unit can be protected reliably.
The present invention provides a disc cartridge assembling apparatus in which a protuberance formed on the inner surface of one of cartridge halves of a thermoplastic resin making up a main cartridge body unit is passed through a through-hole formed in the other cartridge half in register with said protuberance and in which the distal end of the protuberance is thermally deformed to interconnect the cartridge halves. The disc cartridge assembling apparatus includes a holding mechanism for holding the cartridge halves so that, with the cartridge half formed with the protuberance being placed below the other cartridge half, the other cartridge half is mounted on the cartridge half formed with the protuberance by passing the protuberance through the through-hole, and for holding the upper and lower cartridge halves together in this state. The disc cartridge assembling apparatus also includes a caulking head having a recess on a surface thereof abutted against the protuberance. The caulking head encloses a heating mechanism, and is adapted to compress against the distal end of the protuberance of the cartridge half exposed through the through-hole of the other cartridge half. The disc cartridge assembling apparatus also includes a movement mechanism for thrusting the caulking head, heated to a temperature capable of thermally deforming the thermoplastic resin, against the distal end of the protuberance to deform the protuberance and for moving the caulking head away from the protuberance, and a cooling mechanism for cooling the caulking head.
In order that the protuberance formed on one of the cartridge halves will be thermally deformed by heating it quickly, a projection is formed on a recessed portion formed on a surface of the caulking head adapted to compress against the protuberance. By providing this projection, a contact area of the caulking head with the protuberance is increased to assure quick thermal deformation of the protuberance.
In the assembling device of the present invention, if the protuberance formed on one of the cartridge halves is thermally deformed by the caulking head, the distal end of the protuberance is enlarged in diameter to form a retainer, at the same time as a recessed portion is formed by the projection at the center of the retainer. Thermal caulking by this caulking head improves the thermal conduction efficiency to shorten the time required for thermal caulking. On the other hand, the caulking head is cooled by the cooling mechanism when the head is moved away from the thermally deformed protuberance, thus further shortening the time needed from thermal deformation of the protuberance until its cooling.
Since the cooling mechanism used for this assembling device effects cooling using a gaseous cooling medium, a flow duct is provided in the caulking head, while there is provided a blowout port directed towards the caulked portion.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and the claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4970618 (1990-11-01), Kato et al.
patent: 5227173 (1993-07-01), Sherwood
patent: 5291644 (1994-03-01), Musil
patent: 5362172 (1994-11-01), Hubbling
patent: 6092270 (2000-08-01), Sawdon
patent: 6099291 (2000-08-01), Lanser
Fukushima Takahiko
Kano Kenichi
Nishimura Kimitaka
Hail III Joseph J.
Kananen Ronald P.
Rader Fishman & Grauer
Sony Corporation
Wilson Lee
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