Disc cartridge adapter and disc driver for driving the same

Details Disc cartridge adapter and disc driver for driving the same Disc cartridge adapter and disc driver for driving the same

1999-07-02

2002-06-18

Klimowicz, William (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

Storage medium structure

Adjuncts or adapters

C369S077210, C369S291100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06407981

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc cartridge within which a disc-type optical recording medium is received, and more particularly to a disc cartridge adapter for permitting a different size of disc cartridge to be driven with the same disc driver. Also, the present invention is directed to a disc driving apparatus capable of driving a different size of disc cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an optical disc is classified into a read-only type disc, such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, etc., and a recordable type disc, such as WROM(write once read many) type, rewritable type and RAM type, etc. according to the number of times rewritable. In the read-only type optical disc, a data is recorded in the shape of embossed pits and reproduced in a large quantity. The recordable type optical disc has a recording face fragile to contamination due to dust, fingerprint and the like or a damage due to scratch, etc. In other words, if the recordable type optical disc is contaminated or damaged, then the recording face at a contaminated portion or a damaged portion thereof fails to be heated into a sufficient temperature at the time of recording, so that it becomes difficult to record a data accurately. For this reason, the recordable type optical disc is generally received within a disc cartridge so as to protect an optical disc from a contamination or damage to the exterior thereof.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a disc cartridge includes a body
2
in which an opening
6
is defined and within which an optical disc
1
is rotatably received, and a shutter
4
for opening the opening
6
. The opening
6
plays a role to expose a recording/reproducing face of the optical disc
1
when the disc cartridge is loaded into a disc driver(not shown) The shutter
4
is driven with a shutter opener installed within the disc driver to open the opening
6
. On the other hand, the shutter
4
shuts off the opening
6
by a restoring force of an elastic member as far as an external force is exerted thereon.
Generally, a disc cartridge used for a CD or a DVD, etc. receives an optical disc having a diameter of 120 mm. A large-scale cartridge which has received such an optical disc has been applied to stationary information equipment, but it is not suitable for a small-scale or portable information equipment because of its large dimension.
Recently, the optical disc has a tendency have to a high density and a large capacity, a small-sized optical disk (e.g., a diameter of 80 mm) suitable for the small-scale or portable information equipment has been developed and is commercially available. When a small-scale disc cartridge received with such a small-scale disc is compared with a large-scale disc cartridge, a movement range of the shutter thereof becomes smaller than that of the large-scale cartridge because its body size is small.
Meanwhile, the disc driver can be largely classified into an insertion load system and a tray load system. The disc driver of insertion load system loads a disc or a disc cartridge until a disc access position is reached by a user's force. Otherwise, the disc driver of tray load system includes a tray within which a disc or a disc cartridge is received, thereby driving the tray with a mechanical power to load a disc or a disc cartridge until a disc access position. Most stationary disc drivers have a structure suitable for the large-scale disc or the large-scale cartridge whether they are a insertion load system or a tray load system. In other words, in the most stationary disc drivers, a width of an inserting hole is set to correspond to that of the large-scale cartridge, and a loading mechanism including the shutter opener is designed on a basis of the large-scale cartridge. Accordingly, in order to assure a changeability between the small-scale cartridge and the large-scale cartridge, a width difference between the large-scale cartridge and the small-scale cartridge must be compensated.
FIG. 2
shows an adapter suggested in Japanese Patent Laid-open Gazette No. Pyung 9-293,349. In
FIG. 2
, the conventional adapter includes a body
34
which has received a small-scale cartridge
30
, and a slider
36
for driving a shutter of the small-scale cartridge. The small-scale cartridge
30
is provided with a single shutter
32
like the large-scale cartridge shown in
FIG. 1. A
size of the body
34
holding the small cartridge
30
is equal to that in the large-scale cartridge. At the center of the body
34
a receiving space for receiving the small-scale cartridge
30
is provided. When the small-scale cartridge
30
is received within the receiving space of the body
34
, the slider
36
is coupled with the shutter
32
of the small-scale cartridge. A protrusion
37
of the slider
36
is fit in a recess
33
defined at the shutter
32
of the small-scale cartridge
30
.
When such an adapter is loaded into a disc driver designed on the basis of the large-scale disc or the large-scale cartridge, the slider
36
is linked to a shutter opener(not shown) to make a linear movement thereof. Then, the shutter
32
of the small-scale shutter
30
is linearly moved along with the slider
36
to open the opening. More specifically, if an adapter that has received the small-scale cartridge
36
is loaded into the disc driver, then the slider
36
is linked to the shutter opener installed within the disc driver to be linearly moved in a side direction by a travel range S
LCTR
of the large-scale cartridge. Then, the shutter
32
of the small-scale cartridge
30
is linearly moved by a desired travel range S
SCTR
along the slider
36
to open an opening.
However, the adapter shown in
FIG. 2
has a problem in that, when the slider
36
has been linearly moved by a travel range S
LCTR
of the large-scale cartridge, the shutter
32
of the small-scale cartridge
30
fails to be linearly moved sufficiently enough that the opening is completely opened. This is caused by a fact that the slider
36
fails to sufficiently absorb a difference between a travel range S
LCTR
of the large-scale cartridge and a travel range of the shutter
32
of the small-scale cartridge
30
. Accordingly, since a travel range of the shutter
32
is left after the slider
36
was moved by its travel range S
SCTR
, an overload occurs at the loading mechanism including the shutter opener in the course of the loading operation. In this case, the adapter and the small-scale cartridge cannot be loaded into the disc driver, and the loading mechanism including the shutter opener may be damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disc cartridge adapter that permits a different size of disc cartridges to be driven with the same disc driver.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a disc driving apparatus that is capable of driving a different size of disc cartridges.
In order to achieve these and other objects of the invention, a disc cartridge adapter according to one aspect of the present invention includes driving power transfer means for absorbing a difference in a shutter travel range having a size different from each other to drive a shutter of a small-scale cartridge; and a body provided with a receiving space for receiving the small-scale cartridge.
A disc driving apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes a receiver for absorbing a shutter travel range difference between a large-scale cartridge and a small-scale cartridge to receive an adapter driving shutters of the small-scale cartridge; and drive means for driving the adapter.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5048008 (1991-09-01), Haruna
patent: 5331627 (1994-07-01), Childers et al.
patent: 5570342 (1996-10-01), Kosaka
patent: 5715233 (1998-02-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 5867476 (1999-02-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 5923630 (1999-07-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 2-121174 (1990-05-01), None
patent: 2-187973 (1990-07-01), None
patent: 8-180636 (1996-07-01), None
patent: 9-293349 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 10-269737 (1998-10-

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