Disk cartridge

Details Disk cartridge Disk cartridge

2001-11-16

2004-10-19

Watko, Julie Anne (Department: 2652)

Dynamic optical information storage or retrieval

Optical storage medium structure

Disk adapter

C720S728000, C369S077210

Reexamination Certificate

active

06807674

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-26785, filed May 16, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge for receiving an information recording/reproducing medium, and more particularly, to a disk cartridge in which structures of openings for a pick-up providing access to a disk are improved so that a size of the disk cartridge can be advantageously reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a disk cartridge
10
is intended to receive a disk D to be used in a recording/reproducing apparatus
100
. The disk cartridge
10
includes a case
18
having upper and lower portions
11
and
12
which form an internal space for receiving the disk D, a holder
13
which is inserted into and joined to the case
18
having the upper and lower portions
11
and
12
while supporting the disk D, and a shutter
14
for selectively opening and closing openings
11
a
and
12
a
formed through the case
18
having the upper and lower portions
11
and
12
so that a pick-up
130
of the recording/reproducing apparatus
100
can have access to the disk D. Receiving holes
11
b
and
12
b
are formed to be connected to the openings
11
a
and
12
a
, respectively, so that a turntable
110
and a clamper
120
of the recording/reproducing apparatus
100
can clamp a clamper area D
1
(See
FIG. 2
) of the disk D upward and downward. The receiving holes
11
b
and
12
b
are opened or closed by the opening and closing operations of the shutter
14
.
In addition, an opening lever
150
is installed on a cover
101
of the recording/reproducing apparatus
100
for opening and closing the shutter
14
. As the disk cartridge
10
seated on a tray
140
moves into the recording/reproducing apparatus
100
, one end of the opening lever
150
engages with an engagement portion
14
a
and opens the shutter
14
while the opening lever
150
pivots, as shown in
FIGS. 3A and 3B
. A spring
151
is provided for restoring the opening lever
150
to an original position when the cartridge
10
is moved out of the recording/reproducing apparatus
100
.
Recently, a size of the disk D has been gradually reduced, and a recording density of the disk D has increased. Also, the apparatus
100
for recording on/reproducing from the disk D tends to be smaller, and therefore the disk cartridge
10
for receiving the disk D is required to be smaller. However, as shown in
FIG. 2
, widths Wb of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
for the pick-up
130
to have access to the disk D, as described above, and reserved spaces Wc for the opening/closing operations of the shutter
14
, are required to be included in an overall width Wa when determining the size of the cartridge
10
.
Consequently, when a width of the shutter
14
and the widths Wb of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
are assumed to be nearly the same, it can be considered that an overall width Wa of the cartridge
10
needs to be at least 3 times the widths Wb of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
. Therefore, though a method of reducing the widths Wb of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
can be considered so as to make the cartridge
10
smaller, the widths Wb of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
cannot be reduced as desired because the openings
11
a
and
12
a
must allow the pick-up
130
to have access to the disk D. That is, if the cartridge is not intended to be used in a special recording/reproducing apparatus employing a very small pick-up, a width allowing a general-sized pick-up to have access to the disk D must be maintained. Therefore, a disk cartridge having a structure capable of reducing an overall size thereof without reducing the sizes of the openings
11
a
and
12
a
is desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Various objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disk cartridge having a smaller overall size while maintaining conventional dimensions of openings.
Accordingly, to achieve the above and other objects of the invention, there is provided a disk cartridge accommodating a disk including a case for receiving the disk and having openings, and a shutter for opening/closing the openings, wherein the openings deviate a predetermined distance from a middle position of the case towards one side.
These together with other objects and advantages, which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4926411 (1990-05-01), Ouwerkerk et al.
patent: 5237560 (1993-08-01), Tani et al.
patent: 5867476 (1999-02-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 5995345 (1999-11-01), Overbo
patent: 6057995 (2000-05-01), Yamashita et al.
patent: 6407981 (2002-06-01), Cho et al.
patent: 6430147 (2002-08-01), Goto et al.
patent: 6504679 (2003-01-01), Ohta
patent: 6538984 (2003-03-01), Sanada et al.
patent: 2001/0022765 (2001-09-01), Sanada et al.
patent: 6-76524 (1994-03-01), None

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