Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record medium – In container
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-13
2004-11-09
Klimowicz, William (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record medium
In container
C720S744000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06816340
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge which rotatably accommodates a disc-shaped disk medium used as a recording/playback medium of an information processing device or the like, and which is equipped with a shutter for opening and closing an opening provided at the disk cartridge.
Further, the present invention relates to a disk cartridge which rotatably accommodates a disc-shaped disk medium used as a recording/playback medium of an information processing device or the like, and which prevents entry of dust or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disc-shaped disk medium, such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like, is used, for example, as a portable recording/playback medium for a computer. When recording or playback of the disk medium is carried out, laser light is illuminated onto the recording surface while the disk medium is rotated in a state of being loaded in a drive device. In this way, recording of information is carried out by pit formation or phase changes due to decomposition of the dye layers of the recording surface, or by magnetization or the like, or recorded information is played back on the basis of differences in the reflectivity or the polarizing angle of the laser light.
Further, in such disk media, shortening of the wavelength of the laser light which is illuminated onto the recording surface has been proposed in order to increase the recording capacity. When recording or playback of information is carried out by using this short-wavelength laser light (e.g., a violet color laser), in order to suppress the attenuation of the laser light due to a cover layer which protects the recording surface of the disk medium, the cover layer must be made thin. By making the cover layer thin in this way, the diameter of the laser light at the surface of the cover layer (the surface which is exposed to the exterior) decreases, and it is not possible to ignore the effects of dust and the like adhering to the surface of the cover layer.
Thus, disk cartridges, which accommodate a disk medium in a case and prevent adhesion of dust or the like onto the disk medium, are employed. Such a disk cartridge is formed to include an opening and a shutter member. The opening is for exposing to the exterior a center hole portion provided at the central portion of the disk medium, and a portion of the recording surface (the cover layer). The shutter member opens and closes this opening.
In this way, in the disk cartridge, by closing the opening by the shutter member when the disk medium is not in use, entry of dust or the like into the disk cartridge (i.e., adhesion of dust or the like onto the disk medium) is prevented. At the time when the disk medium is used, by opening the opening as the disk cartridge is loaded into the drive device, the center hole portion can be held by a rotation spindle shaft, and the laser head can approach the recording surface (laser light can be illuminated).
However, in the above-described disk cartridge, a space for accommodating the shutter member when the opening is in the aforementioned open state must be ensured, and a problem arises in that it is difficult to make the disk cartridge more compact.
Thus, to aim for compactness, disk cartridges in which the shutter member is divided in two have been disclosed. (One example is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-30394.) Hereinafter, the disk cartridge disclosed in this publication will be described on the basis of FIG.
44
.
In
FIG. 44
, a disk cartridge
400
is illustrated in an exploded perspective view. As shown in this figure, the disk cartridge
400
is structured such that a disc-shaped disk medium
406
is rotatably accommodated within a case which is formed by joining a top shell
402
and a bottom shell
404
which are respectively formed of a resin material.
A tubular wall
404
A, which serves as an inner wall and at whose inner side the disk medium
406
is accommodated, and an opening
408
, which is cut-out from the front portion of the tubular wall
404
A to the substantially central portion of the bottom shell
404
, are provided at the bottom shell
404
.
The opening
408
is formed by an opening
408
A and an opening
408
B communicating with one another. The opening
408
A is for insertion (approach) of a laser head along the radial direction of the disk medium
406
. The opening
408
B corresponds to a center hole portion
406
A of the disk medium
406
, and is for insertion of a rotation spindle shaft. The opening
408
is for accessing the disk medium
406
.
The disk cartridge
400
is provided with a first shutter member
410
and a second shutter member
412
for opening and closing the opening
408
. The first shutter member
410
is formed to include a shutter main body
414
and a shutter guide portion
416
. The shutter main body
414
is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape, and mainly opens and closes the opening
408
A. The shutter guide portion
416
stands erect at the front end of the shutter main body
414
, is formed in a circular-arc shape corresponding to the tubular wall
404
A, is guided by the tubular wall
404
A, and opens and closes the front portion cut-out portion of the tubular wall
404
A (i.e., the rising portion of the opening
408
A).
Further, a thin-plate-shaped connecting portion
418
, which is deformable in the direction of the plate thickness thereof, is connected to one end portion of the shutter guide portion
416
. A block-shaped operation portion
418
A is provided at the distal end of the connecting portion
418
. The shutter guide portion
416
and the connecting portion
418
are connected together by being molded integrally, or by, after being manufactured as separate members, being fixed together by adhesion, welding, pressure-connecting, or the like. The tensile force (operational force) applied to the connecting portion
418
is transferred to the shutter guide portion
416
such that the shutter guide portion
416
rotates.
The second shutter member
412
is formed in an elongated trapezoidal shape, and rotates around a rotation shaft
412
C provided at an end portion thereof so as to mainly open and close the opening
408
B. A pin
412
D serving as a spring catch is provided erect in a vicinity of the rotation shaft
412
C of the second shutter member
412
. The rotation shaft
412
C and the pin
412
D are inserted, from the under side, through a shaft hole
404
B and a guide hole
404
C, respectively, of the bottom shell
404
, and are positioned at the outer side of the tubular wall
404
A in the bottom shell
404
.
In this state, the rotation shaft
412
C is inserted through an annular portion of a torsion spring
419
, and a short rod portion of the torsion spring
419
catches on the pin
412
D. Due to a long rod portion of the torsion spring
419
abutting on an appropriate position of the bottom shell
404
, the second shutter member
412
is urged in a direction of closing the opening
408
B. The disk cartridge
400
is provided with a cover member
420
. The first and second shutter members
410
,
412
are movably accommodated between the cover member
420
and the bottom shell
404
(the case). An opening
422
, which is for access to the disk medium
406
and which corresponds to the opening
408
, is formed in the cover member
420
.
At the disk cartridge
400
, when the disk medium
406
is not in use, respective end surfaces
414
A,
412
A of the shutter main body
414
of the first shutter member
410
and the second shutter member
412
abut one another so as to close the openings
408
,
422
. Specifically, the first shutter member
410
mainly closes the opening
408
A, and the second shutter member
412
mainly closes the opening
408
B. Further, in this state, the shutter guide portion
416
of the first shutter member
410
closes the rising portion of the opening
408
A (the cut-out portion of the tubular wall
404
A front portion). On the other hand, when the disk medium
406
is to be used, the
Hiraguchi Kazuo
Oishi Kengo
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Klimowicz William
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