Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record transport with head stationary during transducing – Disk record
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-27
2001-09-25
Davis, David (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record transport with head stationary during transducing
Disk record
Reexamination Certificate
active
06295180
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive capable of effecting the loading and ejection of a magnetic recording medium smoothly and capable of preventing the recording medium from being ejected even in the event an eject button should be pushed by mistake during operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic recording medium, typical of which is a floppy disk, is loaded into a disk drive in the form of a disk cartridge with a thin film-like magnetic disk received in a shell, then the magnetic disk is rotated within the disk drive, and writing and reading of information are performed by means of a magnetic head which is inserted into the shell through a window with shutter formed in the shell. In the disk drive, such a mechanism as schematically shown in
FIG. 8
has heretofore been used for the loading and ejection of the magnetic recording medium.
In the conventional disk drive, as shown in
FIG. 8
, a lower plate
102
and an upper plate
103
are superimposed in this order on a base plate
101
. A rotor (not shown) is mounted at a center of the base plate
101
and it comes into engagement with a center hub attached to a magnetic disk of a magnetic recording medium F to rotate the magnetic disk in a certain direction. The lower plate
102
is mounted on the base plate
101
so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction and its central portion is gouged out so that its movement does not obstruct the rotation of the rotor. An eject button
105
is attached to a front edge portion of the lower plate
102
. The upper plate
103
is mounted on the lower plate
102
so that it can be moved upward and downward in two stages interlockedly with backward and forward movements of the lower plate by means of a mechanism (not shown). Between the upper plate
103
and the lower plate
102
is formed a gap and the magnetic recording medium F is inserted into the gap through a front inlet opening
104
.
A longitudinally extending cutout portion
106
is formed at a center of a rear portion of the upper plate
103
, and within this cutout portion a carriage
110
with a magnetic head carried thereon extends forward from a rear portion of the substrate. In the carriage
110
, two head holders
112
a
and
112
b
, which are superimposed one on the other, extend forward from a carriage body
111
, and magnetic heads are attached respectively to front ends of the head holders, the magnetic heads being opposed to each other with the magnetic recording medium therebetween. Of both head holders, the upper head holder
112
a
is pivotally movable through a hinge
113
and is urged downward by means of a spring (not shown) The upper head holder
112
a
has a pair of transversely extending arm portions
114
. The arm portions
114
extend beyond the cutout portion
106
and are superimposed on the upper plate
103
.
In the above prior art, the carriage
110
can be moved in the longitudinal direction along a guide rail
116
by means of a drive unit
115
which as a whole is constituted by a combination of a worm shaft
115
a
and a pulse motor
115
b
, the pulse motor
115
b
being controlled by a computer.
When the magnetic recording medium F is not inserted into the disk drive, the lower plate
102
assumes a rear position and the upper plate
103
is held at its upper-stage position by a lift lock mechanism (not shown), whereby the gap between the upper and lower plates is widened, permitting the magnetic recording medium F to be inserted freely into the gap. At this time, the upper head holder
112
a
is raised together with the upper plate
103
by means of its arm portions
114
, so that the upper head holder
112
a
is open upward and does not obstruct the insertion of the recording medium F.
An eject lock mechanism
120
is provided at a right-hand rear position in the figure of the base plate
101
. Upon insertion of the magnetic recording medium F and abutment of its tip against a shutter opening/closing lever
122
of the eject lock mechanism
120
, the lever
122
slides on an edge portion of the recording medium F and opens a shutter S, allowing the magnetic disk to be exposed. At the same time, a lift lock lever
121
, which is interlocked with the shutter opening/closing lever
122
, operates to move the lower plate
102
forward so that the upper plate
103
, which is interlocked with the lower plate, moves down to its lower stage. Consequently, the recording medium F is held between the lower plate
102
and the upper plate
103
and is fixed thereby. The upper head holder
112
a
also moves down, so that the upper and lower magnetic heads come into a state of pseudo-contact with the magnetic disk, thus assuming a stand-by state for write and read (work).
When the eject button
105
is pushed upon completion of the work, the lower plate
102
moves backward and pushes the lift lock lever
121
and is thereby locked at a rear position. As a result, the upper plate
103
moves to its upper stage together with the upper head holder
112
a
. At the same time, the shutter opening/closing lever
122
interlocked with the lift lock lever
121
closes the shutter S and the magnetic recording medium F is caused to spring out forward by virtue of a spring (not shown).
The above conventional loading and ejection mechanism involves a problem that, if the eject button
105
should be pushed by mistake during work, the magnetic recording medium F is ejected immediately and the work is interrupted. Moreover, if the supply of electricity is stopped due to, for example, a power failure during work, the upper and lower magnetic heads are left in pseudo-contact with the magnetic disk, so that when the supply of electricity is restarted, the magnetic heads may come into abnormal contact with the magnetic disk and damage the disk. Further, since the vertical movements of the upper plate
103
and the upper head holder
112
a
are each performed with a repulsive force of a spring, a large shock is induced. Particularly, there has been a problem that when the upper head holder
112
a
moves down, the magnetic heads strike against and damage the magnetic disk due to a reaction.
Additionally, with the recent increase in capacity of the magnetic recording medium and fine structure of the magnetic head, high accuracy and speed have also come to be required for positioning the magnetic head. Instead of the conventional drive unit
115
constituted by a combination of the worm shaft
115
a
and the pulse motor
115
b
, which is shown in
FIG. 8
, a so-called voice coil motor of linear drive has come to be used, which is provided with a voice coil on the carriage side and a magnet and a yoke on the substrate side and in which the positions of the magnetic heads can be set in the longitudinal direction at high speed and precisely by energizing the voice coil. In this type of a disk drive, the voice coil is not energized and the carriage may move back and forth freely. However, and upon tilting of the disk drive or exertion of an external force, the carriage may crash against a guide rail end, resulting in deformation thereof or damage of the magnetic heads.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished for solving the above-mentioned problems and therefore it is an object of the invention to provide a disk drive capable of preventing the ejection of a magnetic recording medium even in the event of erroneous depression of an eject button during work, capable of preventing the magnetic recording medium from being damaged by magnetic heads even in the event of a power failure or at the time of loading or ejection of the magnetic recording medium, and further capable of preventing accidental movement of a carriage even when a voice coil is not energized in the form of a voice coil motor.
According to the present invention, for achieving the above-mentioned object, there is provided a disk drive wherein a lower plate and an upper plate are superimposed in this order on a substrate, an upper magnetic head and a lower magnetic
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Davis David
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