Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Storage medium structure – Adjuncts or adapters
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-15
2004-03-02
Heinz, A. J. (Department: 2653)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Storage medium structure
Adjuncts or adapters
Reexamination Certificate
active
06700863
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge having a cartridge housing in which a disk-like recording medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk and a magnetic disk is stored in a disk compartment so as to become freely rotatable, and particularly to a disk cartridge in which a pair of shutter members are opened and closed to open and close an opening portion by rotating a middle shell which forms a disk compartment between it and an upper shell or a lower shell and part of a disk-like recording medium is exposed from the opening portion when the opening portion is opened.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a disk cartridge in which a disk-like recording medium in and/or from which audio information, video information or information such as computer data can be recorded and/or reproduced is rotatably stored in a cartridge housing, there is known a disk cartridge having an arrangement shown in
FIG. 1
, for example. This disk cartridge
1
is a disk cartridge incorporating therein a write once magneto-optical disk
4
in which a user can record and write information such as computer data later on. This disk cartridge has an outward shape shown in FIG.
1
.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, this disk cartridge
1
includes a cartridge housing
2
comprised of a pair of an upper shell
2
a
and a lower shell
2
b
, a magneto-optical disk
4
rotatably stored within a disk compartment
3
of this cartridge housing, and the like. The cartridge housing
2
has on its upper and lower surfaces defined an upper and lower opening portion
5
which is extended from the central portion to one side. This opening portion
5
can be opened and closed by a shutter member
6
which can be slid along one side. Reference numeral
6
a
designates a presser member which can prevent the tip end portion of the shutter member
6
from being extracted.
A disk-like metal center hub
7
is provided at the central portion of the magneto-optical disk
4
. This center hub
7
is disposed at the position opposing to the inner end portion of the opening portion
5
, i.e., at substantially the central portion of the cartridge housing
2
. A turntable provided on an information recording and reproducing apparatus body side is mounted on this center hub
7
and the magneto-optical disk is fixed to the center hub by chucking the turntable, whereby the magneto-optical disk
4
is rotated at a predetermined velocity (e.g., constant linear velocity). In this case, an information signal is recorded on or reproduced from the magneto-optical disk
4
by an action of a magneto-optical pickup device whose head portion is inserted into the opening portion
5
.
However, in the related-art disk cartridge
1
having the above arrangement, the shutter member
6
which opens and closes the opening portion
5
has a U-like shaped cross-section. This shutter member
6
is fitted into one side of the cartridge housing
2
and the shutter member
6
is slid along one side of the cartridge housing
2
to thereby open and close the opening portion
5
. For this reason, a disk recording and reproducing apparatus side requires a shutter opening and closing mechanism for sliding the shutter member
6
to open and close the opening portion
5
, and the related-art shutter opening and closing mechanism is relatively complicated in structure. Further, it is unavoidable that a large space is produced between the cartridge housing
2
and the shutter member
6
, and therefore the disk cartridge
1
cannot be prevented from being smudged by very small dusts and the like.
In recent years, in the stream in which an optical disk is increasing its storage capacity/increasing its recording density, a recording pattern is becoming narrower in pitch and is increasing a linear density. When a recording surface of an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk is smudged by dusts, read or write beam is shielded or when the information recording surface of the optical disk is damaged by scratches, information cannot be read or written normally. For this reason, in the related-art disk cartridge
1
, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the shutter member
6
having substantially the U-like shaped cross-section is attached to one side of the cartridge housing
2
so as to become slidable and is slid along one side of the cartridge housing
2
to thereby open and close the opening portion
5
so that the information recording surface of the optical disk or the like can be protected.
However, as the optical disk is further increasing a storage capacity/increasing a recording density, very small dusts which are not so influential in the related art becomes more influential in reading and writing of data. Therefore, the shutter member having the above U-like shape cannot prevent the disk cartridge
1
from being smudged by very small dusts. In this case, when the information recording surface of the magneto-optical disk
4
is smudged by very small dusts entered into the cartridge housing
2
, the information recording surface of the magneto-optical disk is damaged by dusts so that information cannot be read out from and written in the magneto-optical disk normally.
In the above disk cartridge
1
according to the related art, the shutter member
6
is located on the disk cartridge
1
at its position in which users can easily touch the shutter member
6
. There is then the risk that a user will slide the shutter member
6
to open the opening portion
5
by mistake. In addition, since the shutter member
6
is linearly slid along one side of the cartridge housing
2
, there arises a problem that the surface area of the cartridge housing
2
cannot be reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the aforesaid aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which an opening portion in and from which a turntable, an optical head and the like are inserted and ejected is widened as much as possible so that two optical heads can be used simultaneously.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which an optical head can approach the innermost periphery of a disk-like recording medium with high efficiency.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which a middle shell is made rotatable, a pair of shutter members are opened and closed based on the rotation of this middle shell and end faces of the pair of shutter members are contacted with each other so that the pair of shutter members can be opened and closed smoothly and reliably.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a disk cartridge in which a space between the pair of shutter members is reduced as much as possible by pressing the pair of shutter members against each other so that a dustproof property and an airtightness of the large opening portion can be improved.
010 According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk cartridge which is comprised of a cartridge housing in which a disk compartment is formed by overlapping a pair of shells, a disk-like recording medium rotatably stored within the disk compartment and a pair of shutter members rotatably attached to the cartridge housing and exposing part of the disk-like recording medium by opening and closing an opening portion provided on the cartridge housing when they are moved, wherein the opening portion is extended in the diametrical direction of the disk-like recording medium through the central portion of the lower shell or the upper shell.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in the disk cartridge, the cartridge housing includes a middle shell rotatably supported by the upper shell and the lower shell and the opening portion is formed through the middle shell and the lower shell or the upper shell.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the disk cartridge, the pair of shutter members are comprised of a combination of a pair of substantially semicircular same plate materials, the pair of shutter members are symmetricall
Inoue Naoki
Obata Manabu
Castro Angel
Heinz A. J.
Santisi Leonard J.
Sony Corporation
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