Floppy disk drive device

Details Floppy disk drive device Floppy disk drive device

1998-03-23

2002-01-08

Nguyen, Tan T. (Department: 2818)

Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval

Record transport with head stationary during transducing

Disk record

C360S099040, C369S270100, C369S271100

Reissue Patent

active

RE037503

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed generally to a recording/reproducing device for use with, e.g., a computer and a word processor, and more particularly, to a recording/reproducing device for recording or reproducing pieces of desired information on or from a recording medium such as a floppy disk.
BACKGROUND ARTS
A typical arrangement of this type of recording/reproducing device is that a frame of an apparatus body accommodates a disk driving motor, a carriage having upper and lower heads, a carriage driving motor for moving the carriage and a circuit board incorporating a circuit for controlling operations of the motor and a
lead light

read/write head
; and the recording medium is loaded into the device to effect recording or reproducing. In recent years, it is desired that the recording/reproducing device be small both in configuration and in thickness with an increasing demand for miniaturizing the computers.
A prior art recording/reproducing device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 62-147197 is illustrated in
FIGS. 38 and 39
.
FIG. 38
is a vertical sectional side view of the prior art recording/reproducing device.
FIG. 39
is an enlarged view depicting the principal portion thereof.
As illustrated in the Figures, a spindle motor
502
serving as a motor for driving the carriage is mounted from underside of a frame
501
in the Figures. Disposed on an upper surface of the spindle motor
502
is a lower carriage
503
fitted with a lower head, on which an upper carriage
504
having an upper head
508

506

is mounted about a rotary fulcrum. A jacket is held between the lower and upper carriages
503
and
504
. Provided on the recording/reproducing device is a holder
505
which moves between a position in which to insert a jacket J and a recording/reproducing position. The upper carriage
504
mounted with the upper head includes a lift member
504
a to separate the upper carriage
504
from the jacket J in linkage with a motion of the holder
505
moving between the inserting position of the jacket J and the recording/reproducing position.
For this purpose, in the recording/reproducing device catered for, e.g., a recently developed lap-top computer, as the above-mentioned demand for decreasing a thickness of the device grows, it is required to reduce both a clearance cl between the upper carriage
504
depicted in FIG.
39
and an outer circumference of the recording/reproducing device and a clearance c
2
between the upper head
506
and the jacket J. Based on the prior arts, however, an amount of movement of the upper carriage
504
is determined by a lifting/lowering quantity of the holder
505
. The upper carriage
504
is constructed to rotate about a fitting part to the lower carriage
503
, and hence a scatter with respect to the lifting member
504
a of the upper carriage
504
is expanded several times in a position of the upper head
506
at the top of the upper carriage
504
. When making an attempt to enlarge the clearance c
2
between the jacket J and the upper head
508

506
, the upper carriage
504
grows in configuration in excess of predetermined dimensions of the recording/reproducing device; or reversely, when the priority is given to the dimensions of the recording/reproducing device, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient clearance c
2
between the jacket J and the upper head
508

506
. This situation leads to a problem in which the jacket J acts to damage the upper head
506
.
A rotary driving mechanism for a disk in the above-mentioned recording/reproducing device is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 61-52351. The construction thereof is depicted in
FIGS. 40 through 43
. Turning to
FIG. 40
, there is illustrated a plan view of a conventional disk rotary driving unit.
FIG. 41
is a bottom view thereof.
FIG. 42
is a vertical sectional view thereof.
FIG. 43
is a sectional view schematically illustrating a driving pin part thereof.
In these Figures, the symbol D denotes a disk, and H represents a hub thereof. These components are drawn with dotted lines in
FIGS. 40 and 41

FIG.
42
. The reference numeral
510
designates a rotary driving shaft of the disk D. A chucking lever
512
is pivotally supported about a fulcrum
513
on a rotary plate
511
rotating together with the driving shaft
510
. A spring
515
imparts an axial bias to a driving pin
514
fitted to the chucking lever
512
, while rotational bias is given by a spring
516
. The chucking lever
512
, when the hub H is set to be chucked, as illustrated in
FIG. 43
, escapes in an arrowed direction
r
in the Figure while being pushed by the hub H, so
far

long
as a rotary driving hole h
2
located eccentrically from the center of the hub H does not align in position with the driving pin
514
. Next, as depicted in
FIG. 42
, the driving pin
514
rotates together with the rotary central shaft
510
by initiating rotations of a rotor
518
of a disk driving motor
517
mounted on an end of the rotary driving shaft
510
. Just when the rotary driving hole h
2
aligns with the driving pin
514
, this pin
514
is protruded into the rotary driving hole h
2
by dint of the spring
515
. On the basis of a positional relationship of the driving pin
514
with respect to the fulcrum
513
, as illustrated in
FIG. 40
, the driving pin
514
, when rotating the hub H, generates a force acting in an arrowed direction s of the Figure and a force for rotating the hub H. The force in the arrowed direction s of the Figure acts to thrust two inner points of a central hole h
1
of the hub H against the rotary driving shaft
510
, thereby effecting a rotary drive while seeking the center of the hub H. The lower head
519
for recording and reproducing signals on and from the disk D is disposed between a frame
520
of the motor
517
and the disk D.
Based on this construction, according to the prior art discussed above, when trying to reduce the thickness of the recording/reproducing device, thicknesswise dimensions are conditional to a space for accommodating the rotor
518
of the motor
517
, the lower carriage
521
, the lower head
519
and the chucking mechanism. This is an obstacle against the reduction in thickness of the device.
In particular, as depicted in
FIG. 43
, the driving pin
514
is pushed by the hub H when chucking the hub H and is moved in the arrowed direction r in the Figure, resulting in provision of a futile space.
An additional example is a recording/reproducing device reported on Nikkei Electronics Journal, NO.394 issued in 1986 5—5. This recording/reproducing device is, as illustrated in
FIG. 44
, constructed such that a disk driving motor
525
is provided coaxially with the disk D defined as a recording medium, a bearing
525
a of the motor
525
is fitted in a positioning hole
526
a bored in a frame
526
, and a motor base
527
is fixed to the frame
526
with
Screws

screws
.
Upper and lower carriages
530
and
531
mounted with upper and lower heads
528
and
529
are guided by a guide shaft
532
. Movement positioning in an arrowed direction
j

t
of the Figure is effected by use of an unillustrated stepping motor conceived as a carriage driving motor. Attached to a lower surface of the guide shaft
582

532

in the Figure is a circuit board for controlling the disc driving unit and converting signals transmitted from the heads.
Besides, the lower carriage
581

531

is arranged to move up to an upper surface of the rotor
525
b of the disk driving motor
525
in the Figure.
For this reason, in the case of decreasing the device thickness, it is necessary to make thin both the motor and the frame, because the disk driving motor is disposed downwardly of the frame. It is therefore difficult to reduce the device thickness. A further obstacle against the decrease in the device thickness is the arrangement that a control board is attached to a lower surface of the carriage. It is because the carriage is overlapped thicknesswise with the control board. T

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