Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Storage medium structure – Adjuncts or adapters
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-21
2003-02-18
Letscher, George J. (Department: 2653)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Storage medium structure
Adjuncts or adapters
Reexamination Certificate
active
06522622
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc cartridge, and more particularly to a disc cartridge that is capable of simultaneously adjusting a plurality of functional holes indicating whether or not a disc cartridge receiving a double-sided disc has an opened or closed experience. Also, the present invention relates to a disc driving apparatus that is capable of sensing an opened or closed state of the functional holes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a disc is classified into a read-only type disc such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, etc., a WROM(write once read many) type disc such as CD-R and DVD-R, etc., and a rewritable disc such as CD-RW, DVD-RAM and optical magnetic disc, etc. The read-only type disc in such discs has been usually propagated in a shape of bare disc. On the other hand, the rewritable disc has been received within the cartridge for the purpose of protecting an information recording face from a contamination or an impact to the exterior thereof. This is caused by a fact that the information recording face of the rewritable disc is liable to be contaminated and damaged easily because it is sensitive to fingerprint, dust, scratch and so forth. When an information is recorded or reproduced to or from a disc received within such a disc cartridge, a disc driver moves a shutter provided in the cartridge to expose a portion of the disc through an opened opening.
Nowadays, there has been suggested an open-close structure by which a disc can be taken out from the exterior at a user's request. Accordingly, the disc cartridge is classified into a sealed type and an open-close type depending on whether it can be opened and closed. The open-close type cartridge has such a structure that a user can easily insert or release a disc. In this case, a defect area caused by external contamination and impact occurs at the information recording face of the disc when a disc has been released from the cartridge into the exterior, so that an error can be generated at the time of recording or reproducing an information. In order to prevent this error, there has been appeared a necessity for confirming a release experience of the disc, that is, an opened or closed experience of the cartridge at the time of recording or reproducing an information to or from a disc received within the open-close type cartridge to precede a verifying operation for the sake of an assurance of information responsibility when the cartridge has an opened or closed experience. Accordingly, the disc cartridge is provided with a hole for confirming a release experience of the disc, that is, an opened or closed experience of the cartridge.
To the disc driver, there is installed a sensor for sensing an opened or closed experience of the cartridge depending on whether the opened or closed experience confirming hole provided in the cartridge is opened or closed. Accordingly, when a disc cartridge is loaded, the disc driver senses by means of the sensor whether the confirming hole provided in the disc cartridge is opened or closed. At this time, when the sensor has sensed an opening of the confirming hole, the disc driver recognizes that the disc has at least one release experience into the exterior to precede a verifying operation for the disc.
An open-close type cartridge including a cartridge body and a member for opening or closing is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Gazette No. Pyung 9-282832. However, the open-close type cartridge has a problem in that, since it is provided with a single opened or closed experience confirming hole, it is applicable to a single-sided disc having a single recording layer, but it can not be applied to a double-sided disc having two recording layers. In order to solve this problem, there has appeared a cartridge having opened or closed experience confirming holes formed in each side thereof such that it can be applied to the double-sided disc.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, there is shown an open-close type disc cartridge received with a double-sided disc. The open-close type disc cartridge includes a cartridge body
2
within which a disc
1
is received, and a holder
6
mounted to the cartridge body
2
insertably and releasably. The cartridge body
2
is provided with an opening such that an optical pickup can access the disc
1
. The opening is opened or closed by a movement of a shutter
4
. At the bottom of the cartridge body
2
is defined an inserting hole for inserting the disc
1
, and the holder is mounted in opposition to the inserting hole. The cartridge body
2
is provided with a number of sensor holes, for example, sensor holes for allowing a disc driver to sense whether or not a recording of the received disc
1
is prohibited and opened and closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B for judging a verification of the disc
1
. The number of sensor holes including the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B are usually located at the right/left lower end of the cartridge body
2
. Tapping holes
7
A and
7
B are formed at the holder
8
in correspondence with the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B. In the disc driver, a sensor (e.g., a switch) for sensing whether the sensor holes are opened or closed at a position where a loading of the cartridge has been completed, is installed at a position opposed to the sensor holes. In particular, when the received disc
1
is a double-sided disc, the sensor holes are defined at the each side of the cartridge body
2
. The purpose of this is to permit the switch in the disc driver to sense the sensor holes even when the cartridge received with the double-sided disc such as DVD-RAM, etc. is loaded with the wrong side out. Each of the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B in such sensor holes keep a shut state by a tab(not shown) for confining the holder
6
to the cartridge body when the disc
1
has no release experience from the cartridge body. In this case, if a user want to take out the disc
1
received within the cartridge, he must release the holder
6
from the cartridge body
2
after separating all the two tab having shut the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B. Since the tabs have been removed when the disc has a released experience from the exterior, that is, when the cartridge has an opened or closed experience as described above, the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B and tapping holes
7
A and
7
B maintain an open state. When a cartridge having an opened or closed experience is loaded into the disc driver, the disc driver senses an opening of the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B by means of the switch to regard it as a contamination or a damage of the disc
1
, thereby performing a recording operation after preceding a verifying operation of the disc
1
.
However, each of the opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B are independently formed at the conventional open-close type cartridge applied to the double-sided disc. This causes an inconvenience in that each of the two tabs shutting the opened or closed experience confirming holes
34
A and
34
B is removed so that a user can take out the disc
1
from the cartridge. In order to overcome this convenience, two switches may be installed at the disc driver such that the respective opened or closed experience confirming holes
3
A and
3
B assigned to each recording face can be sensed. However, this causes a rise in a cost of the disc driver.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disc cartridge wherein opened or closed confirming holes are linked such that they are simultaneously opened upon opening of a cartridge for a double-sided disc.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a disc cartridge that is capable of improving a user's convenience upon opening of a cartridge.
Still further object of the present invention is to provide a disc driving apparatus that is capable of sensing
Cho Won Hyoung
Lim Jong Rak
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Letscher George J.
LG Electronics Inc.
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