Cartridge holder

Special receptacle or package – For holding a machine readable recording medium – For holding a housed computer disk

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C206S308100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06199689

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to holders for holding a plurality of cartridges, such as floppy disc cartridges or the like, and more particularly to the holders of a type which is constructed to steadily hold therein the cartridges and facilitate the work for removing the cartridges from the holder.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional cartridge holder will described with reference to
FIGS. 52
to
57
of the accompanying drawings, which is generally designated by numeral
101
. The cartridge holder
101
is constructed to hold three identical floppy disc cartridges
201
A,
201
B and
201
C.
As is best shown in
FIG. 52
, the cartridge holder
101
comprises generally a pair of lid portions
106
and
107
, a hinge portion
103
through which the lid portions
106
and
107
are pivotally connected, a catching portion
109
formed on a free end of the lid portion
106
and a caught portion
110
formed on a free end of the other lid portion
107
. Each of the lid portions
106
and
107
is formed on an inner surface thereof with a cartridge receiving area
108
or
112
for receiving thereon the cartridge
201
A or
201
C. The hinge portion
103
is formed on its inner surface with a cartridge gripping part
102
for gripping a side edge of the cartridge
201
B. When the lid portions
106
and
107
are pivoted about the hinge portion
103
toward each other and intimately put on each other, that is, when the case
101
assumes a closed condition, the catching and caught portions
109
and
110
become engaged to latch the closed condition of the case
101
.
The cartridge gripping part
102
comprises two pairs of laterally extending parallel ridges
102
a
and
102
b
which are formed on the inner surface of the hinge portion
103
to define therebetween two aligned grooves (no numerals). The width of each groove is substantially equal to the thickness of the cartridge
201
B. While, the cartridge receiving area
108
or
112
comprises first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
) formed on lateral ends of the free end portion of the lid portion
106
or
107
and third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
(or,
112
c
and
112
d
) formed on lateral ends of the base end portion of the lid portion
106
or
107
. As is seen from
FIG. 53
which is a longitudinally sectional view of the case
101
, each of the first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
) has in a below part thereof a gripping gap whose thickness is substantially equal to that of the cartridge
201
A. While, the third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
(or
112
c
and
112
d
) are spaced from the first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
) by a distance corresponding to the lateral length of the cartridge
201
A or
201
C.
In order to put the three cartridges
201
A,
201
B and
201
C into the cartridge holder
101
, the following manual work is usually carried out. That is, in case of the cartridges
201
A and
201
C, as is seen from
FIGS. 52 and 53
, each cartridge
201
A or
201
C is thrust at one side edge into the gripping gaps defined by the first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
) and then pressed against the inner surface of the lid portion
106
or
107
having the other side edge resiliently engaged with the third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
(or,
112
c
and
112
d
). With this, the cartridges
201
A and
201
C are brought to their held position in the lid portions
106
and
107
. In case of the center cartridge
201
B, as is seen from
FIG. 53
, the same is thrust at one side edge into the aligned grooves defined by the two pairs of parallel ridges
102
a
and
102
b
formed on the hinge portion
103
. With this, the center cartridge
201
B is held by the parallel ridges
102
a
and
102
b
while standing on the hinge portion
103
with the other side edge directed upward. Then, the two lid portions
106
and
107
are pivoted about the hinge portion
103
toward each other and closely put on each other. With this, the catching portion
109
becomes engaged with the caught portion
110
to latch the two lid portions
106
and
107
, that is, the cartridge holder
101
at the closed condition.
In order to open the cartridge holder
101
and remove the three cartridges
201
A,
201
B and
201
C therefrom, the following manual work is usually needed. First, a certain force is applied to the catching portion
109
with a thumb to release the latched engagement between the catching and caught portions
109
and
110
. Then, the two lid portions
106
and
107
are pivoted in their open directions as seen from FIG.
54
. Then, the center cartridge
201
B is pull out from the two aligned grooves of the parallel ridges
102
a
and
102
b
, and then, as is seen from
FIG. 53
, the inside side edge of the cartridge
201
A or
201
C is raised from the inner surface of the lid portion
106
or
107
to disengage from the third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
(or,
112
c
and
112
d
) and pulled out from the gripping gaps defined by the first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
).
However, due to the inherent construction, the abovementioned conventional cartridge holder
101
has the following drawbacks.
First, the manual work for removing the cartridges
201
A and
201
C from the cartridge receiving areas of the lid portions
106
and
107
is difficult or at least troublesome. That is, although the first and second engaging lugs
108
a
and
108
b
(or,
112
a
and
112
b
) and the third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
(or,
112
c
and
112
d
) can tightly and assuredly hold the cartridge
201
A or
201
C, they fail to provide an easiness with which the cartridges
201
A and
201
C can be removed therefrom. That is, as is seen from
FIG. 55
, when a user wishes to remove the cartridge
201
A from the cartridge receiving area of the lid portion
106
, he or she has to pull up the inside side edge of the cartridge
201
A with his or her finger “F” from the lid portion
201
A against a gripping force applied thereto from the third and fourth engaging stubs
108
c
and
108
d
. However, in this case, it tends to occur that the finger “F” is injured particularly when the cartridge
201
A has been tightly and assuredly held by the lid portion
106
, that is, by the first, second, third and fourth engaging lugs and stubs
108
a
,
108
b
,
108
c
and
108
d
. Furthermore, due to the same reason, it tends to occur that the inside side edge of the cartridge
201
A is damaged.
Second, due to the nature of plastic molding, it is difficult to provide the two aligned grooves defined by the two pairs of parallel ridges
102
a
and
102
b
with a width suitable for tightly gripping the center cartridge
201
B. That is, if the width is not appropriately matched with the thickness of the cartridge
201
B, it tends to occur that upon receiving a certain shock under transportation of the cartridge holder
101
, the cartridge
201
B comes out from the grooves. In this case, the cartridge
201
B is forced to play freely in the holder
101
generating uncomfortable noises.
Third, as will be seen from
FIG. 56
, there is such a possibility that a shutter-mounted side of the cartridge
201
B is thrust into the grooves by mistake. This thrusting tends to damage the shutter. Furthermore, as will be seen from
FIG. 57
, if the opposite side of the cartridge
201
B, that is, the side opposite to the shutter-mounted side has been thrust into the grooves, the manual work for pulling out the cartridge
201
B from the grooves has to be made by pinching and pulling out the shutter-mounted side of the cartridge
201
B with fingers. Of course, this manual work tends to bring about a possibility of damaging the shutter.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a cartridge holder which comp

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