Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Storage medium structure – Optical track structure
Patent
1993-08-12
1995-09-12
Epps, Georgia Y.
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Storage medium structure
Optical track structure
369 14, 3692752, 369274, 360135, G11B 1304, G11B 2330
Patent
active
054503795
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information storage medium, a method of fabricating this medium, and a drive unit for such a medium. More particularly, the invention relates to an information storage medium having information storage portions performing different methods of recording and a drive unit such as a disk drive capable of writing and reading information to and from such an information storage medium.
Read-only optical storage media such as CD-ROMs are typical information storage media. Since these read-only optical storage media have large storage capacities, they are used in game machines and in other applications. However, it is difficult to rewrite the contents of the read-only optical storage media. Therefore, it is impossible to record intermediate results of processing. A photoelectromagnetic storage disk has been developed as a rewritable disk having a large storage capacity. Unfortunately, this disk is very expensive. In addition, this disk is not compatible with conventional optical storage disks. Therefore, at present, none of these information storage media can fully meet the needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information storage medium having plural information storage portions recorded by different methods such that only the advantages of these different methods are utilized and their drawbacks are mutually compensated for. This information storage medium has both a read-only optical storage portion and a rewritable magnetic storage portion. The read-only optical storage portion is read optically. The magnetic storage portion can be written and read magnetically. The optical storage portion has a large storage capacity but it is difficult to rewrite its contents. The magnetic storage portion has a small storage capacity but can be easily rewritten. These two kinds of storage portions are incorporated into one information storage medium. The optical storage portion is used as a ROM, while the magnetic storage portion is employed as a RAM. In this way, an information storage medium which has a large storage capacity and can be rewritten is obtained.
A first type of information storage medium according to the invention comprises an optical storage disk having an optical storage portion, along with a magnetic storage portion formed on the Surface of the disk. Preferably, the optical storage portion has a region storing certain data indicating that the disk contains a magnetic storage portion. Also, it is desired that the magnetic storage portion and the optical storage portion be formed on opposite sides of an information storage medium. Where the information storage medium has an outer case enclosing the body of the medium having both magnetic storage portion and optical storage portion, openings formed in the case for permitting the heads to have access to the two kinds of storage portions are preferably spaced away from each other circumferentially of the body of the medium so that the effect of magnetic flux leaking from the optical head is minimized on the magnetic head.
The above information storage medium is fabricated by a method according to the invention. In this method, a magnetic storage medium having a desired shape is formed from plastic film. A binder is applied to the surface of the film together with a magnetic material. An optical storage disk is bonded to the rear surface of the magnetic storage medium film via an adhesive, thus completing a magnetic storage portion. Alternatively, the optical storage disk is bonded to the rear surface of the magnetic storage medium film, using an adhesive sheet having an adhesive applied to its both sides. This fabrication method is performed on the optical storage disk and thus the conventional method of fabricating optical storage disks can be used directly. Therefore, these fabrication steps are easy to perform. Furthermore, the function of the optical storage disks is not impaired. In the fabrication method using these steps, a magnetic storage
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Fujimori Minoru
Fujiwara Yasuhide
Kamijo Noriyuki
Nebashi Satoshi
Nomura Hiroaki
Chu Kim-Kwok
Epps Georgia Y.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Tsiang Harold T.
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