Magnetic or optical disk cartridge

Details Magnetic or optical disk cartridge Magnetic or optical disk cartridge

1999-09-13

2001-08-07

Cao, Allen T. (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

Slotted for edgewise insertion of storage disc

C360S133000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06272094

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mis-insertion protection mechanism in a magnetic or optical disk cartridge for preventing the cartridge from being inserted into a disk drive in a wrong direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic or optical disk cartridge is generally in a rectangular shape and has a window opened for receiving an optical pickup and a shutter for opening/closing the window. There are two types of such cartridges: a single-sided cartridge (for use with a single-sided disk) and a double-sided cartridge (for use with a double-sided disk). A single-sided cartridge can be inserted into a disk drive only in one direction. A double-sided cartridge can be inserted into a disk drive in either one of two directions (i.e., it can be inserted with either one of the front side and the reverse side facing up). When a cartridge is inserted in a direction other than the right direction(s), a mis-insertion protection mechanism in the cartridge hits a stopper provided in the disk drive so that the cartridge cannot be inserted any further.
A conventional single-sided cartridge has a mis-insertion protection mechanism provided by differently shaping one of the four corners from the other corners. For example, as shown in
FIG. 12
, a 3.5″ floppy disk cartridge
101
includes a corner
102
on the front edge thereof, which is chamfered. The other three corners
103
,
104
and
105
of the cartridge
101
are rounded for easy insertion and easy handling of the cartridge
101
, as well as for an aesthetic design.
FIG. 13
illustrates an exemplary cartridge holder
106
for use in a disk drive receiving the cartridge
101
. The cartridge holder
106
is provided with a mis-insertion protection pin
107
made of a torsion spring. One end of the mis-insertion protection pin
107
is bent at about 90°, thereby forming a stopper
108
, and the other end
107
A is secured on an outer surface of the cartridge holder
106
.
The stopper
108
extends through a guide hole
109
of the cartridge holder
106
to be within the insertion path of the cartridge
101
(i.e., a path along which the cartridge
101
is inserted). The stopper
108
abuts a tab portion
110
of the cartridge holder
106
and is urged away from a side
111
thereof by virtue of the bias of the torsion spring.
Referring to
FIGS. 14
,
15
and
16
, a mis-insertion protection function provided when the cartridge
101
is inserted into the cartridge holder
106
will be described. First, a case where the cartridge
101
is inserted correctly (in the right direction) will be described. As the cartridge
101
is inserted into the cartridge holder
106
in the right direction as illustrated in
FIG. 14
, the chamfered corner
102
hits the stopper
108
.
Since the corner
102
is chamfered, the insertion of the cartridge
101
forces the stopper
108
out of the insertion path of the cartridge
101
by overcoming the bias of the torsion spring (in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG.
14
), thereby resulting in a state as illustrated in FIG.
15
. Thus, the cartridge
101
is allowed to be inserted further into the cartridge holder
106
.
Next, a case where the cartridge
101
is inserted in a wrong direction will be described referring to FIG.
16
. As the cartridge
101
is inserted into the cartridge holder
106
in the wrong direction as illustrated in
FIG. 16
, the corner
103
hits the stopper
108
. Since the corner
103
is not chamfered, the insertion of the cartridge
101
does not force the stopper
108
in the direction indicated by arrow A.
Therefore, the cartridge
101
cannot be inserted further into the cartridge holder
106
, thus providing the mis-insertion protection function. The mis-insertion protection function is similarly provided when the cartridge
101
is inserted from the corner
104
(or
105
) (FIG.
12
).
Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 57-113466 describes an exemplary mis-insertion protection mechanism for a double-sided cartridge as illustrated in FIG.
17
. Both of the insertion-side corners
172
A and
172
B are chamfered, so that the cartridge exhibits the same profile whether it is faced up or faced down. Thus, the cartridge can be inserted into the cartridge holder whether it is faced up or faced down.
Regarding the optical disk, there are one-sided optical disks (having a recording surface only on one side) and double-sided optical disks (having a recording surface on both sides). Recently, there is a need in the art to accommodate a single-sided disk in a single-sided cartridge and a double-sided disk in a double-sided cartridge, respectively, so that they can be used in the same disk drive. Along with the increase in the recording density of an optical disk, there is also a demand in the art for a cartridge accommodating a small-diameter optical disk.
Since a pickup for optical disks is larger than a magnetic recording pickup, an optical disk cartridge has a larger window and also requires a larger area for the motion of the shutter (“shutter motion area”). Therefore, in a cartridge accommodating a small-diameter optical disk, the shutter motion area comes close to the side edges, and thus the corners, of the cartridge.
In such an optical disk cartridge desired in the art, it is difficult to provide a mis-insertion protection mechanism by differentiating the shape of one or two corner(s) from that of the other corners as in the prior art. This is because it is difficult to provide a large enough chamfer at the corner(s) to differentiate the corner(s) from the other rounded corners such that a mis-insertion protection function can be provided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a cartridge accommodating a disk therein which is inserted into a cartridge holder, the cartridge holder being provided with a mis-insertion protection member. The mis-insertion protection member is located within an insertion path along which the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder. The cartridge has a substantially rectangular shape. The cartridge has a corner portion at each of four corners of the substantially rectangular shape, the corner portion being shaped so as to abut on the mis-insertion protection member to move the mis-insertion protection member out of the insertion path. The cartridge has at least two mis-insertion protection mechanisms for engaging with the mis-insertion protection member so as to prevent the cartridge from being mis-inserted. The cartridge has two side surfaces which are substantially perpendicular to a surface of the disk and extend along a direction substantially parallel to a direction in which the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder. A mis-insertion protection mechanism of the at least two mis-insertion protection mechanisms is provided on each of the side surfaces.
In one embodiment of the invention, the mis-insertion protection mechanism includes a slot formed in at least one of the side surfaces.
In one embodiment of the invention, the slot includes: an inclined guide section comprising a surface inclined with respect to the side surfaces for guiding the mis-insertion protection member; and a stopper arranged substantially perpendicular to the side surfaces for contacting the mis-insertion protection member to prevent the cartridge from being mis-inserted.
In one embodiment of the invention, the two side surfaces comprise a first side surface and a second side surface. The corner portions comprise first corner portions along the first side surface and second corner portions along the second side surface. The at least two mis-insertion protection mechanisms comprise a first mis-insertion protection mechanism provided in the first side surface and a second mis-insertion protection mechanism provided in the second side surface. A distance between the first mis-insertion protection mechanism and one of the first corner portions is substantially equal to a distance between the second mis-insertion protection mechanism an

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Magnetic or optical disk cartridge does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Magnetic or optical disk cartridge, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Magnetic or optical disk cartridge will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2493761