JP2009004092A - Disk drive - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk drive which uses a thin and highly reliable disk cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: The disk drive is provided with a cartridge holder. A disk cartridge used for this disk drive is provided with a disc-shaped disk 1 having a recording layer for recording and/or playing back information, a disk cover 2 disposed to cover one side surface of the disk 1, and a fixing mechanism for fixing the disk 1 to the disk cover 2. A surface opposed to the surface of the disk 1 where the disk cover 2 is disposed is exposed to the outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk drive using a disk cartridge including a disk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk for performing magneto-optical recording or phase change recording.

  Conventionally, as a disk device for recording digital data, a magnetic disk that reads data by detecting a magnetic change, or an optical disk that reads data by irradiating a beam such as a laser and detecting the light intensity of reflected light, etc. Etc. are used.

  As the magnetic disk, there are a disk that can exchange media such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a ZIP disk, and a JAZ (registered trademark) disk, and a disk that does not exchange media such as a hard disk drive. In such a magnetic disk, in order to increase the recording density, it is necessary to reduce the gap between the recording surface on the medium and the magnetic head, but there is a problem that this is easily affected by dust. In particular, in the case of a medium exchange type magnetic disk, even if the disk is housed in a cartridge, there is a high possibility that dust will enter the inside, causing a problem with reliability.

  On the other hand, in a hard disk drive, dust is prevented from entering the apparatus by storing the hard disk in a hermetically sealed casing and not performing medium replacement. Thereby, in the hard disk drive, the recording density is remarkably increased. However, since the medium cannot be exchanged, when the recording capacity becomes full, a process such as adding a hard disk drive or moving the recorded data to another exchangeable recording medium. Is required.

On the other hand, the optical disk is configured such that the distance between the surface of the disk on which information is recorded and the optical head for reading the information is 1 mm or more. In other words, since the optical disc has a small influence on dust, it is widely spread in a form that allows medium replacement despite the relatively high recording density.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-193377 (Publication Date: July 31, 1990)

  In recent years, disk devices using optical disks have been installed in various products. For example, when it is mounted on a portable computer such as a notebook computer or a portable optical disk player, the disk device is preferably thinner.

  Conventional optical discs have a configuration in which a recording / reproducing laser is focused on a recording surface through a substrate (such as polycarbonate). Therefore, in order to obtain a focal length corresponding to the thickness of the substrate, the objective lens diameter for focusing the reproduction laser becomes relatively large. Accordingly, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the laser light incident on the objective lens, and it is necessary to increase the height of the mirror that reflects the laser light emitted from the laser light source toward the objective lens. That is, since the thickness of the optical head itself is required to some extent, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the optical disk drive.

  For the reasons described above, the weight of the optical head is relatively large, making it difficult to perform high-speed random access like a hard disk drive. Therefore, the optical disk drive also has a problem that the time required for reading and writing data is longer than that of the hard disk drive.

  Further, a conventional readable / writable optical disc has a configuration in which a disc substrate having a recording film is housed in a cartridge in order to prevent adhesion of dust and dirt. Also for the optical disk having such a configuration, in order to realize a thin disk drive, it is desired to reduce the thickness of the optical disk itself.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a disk drive that uses a thin and highly reliable disk cartridge.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge. The disk cartridge includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a disk on one side of the disk. A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the region, and a fixing mechanism for fixing the disc to the disc cover from the side opposite to the one side surface in a state outside the disc drive body. Then, using the disc cartridge whose surface opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided is exposed to the outside, the disc cartridge is inserted into the disc drive body, and the fixing is released. It is characterized by having a release mechanism.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge. The disk cartridge includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a disk on one side of the disk. A disk cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area; and a fixing mechanism that holds and fixes the disk to the disk cover in a state outside the disk drive main body. A release mechanism that uses the disc cartridge whose surface opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided is exposed to the outside, and that the fixation is released by inserting the disc cartridge into the disc drive body; It is provided in the disk drive body so that it can be moved. When the disc cartridge is inserted, the cartridge holder that holds the disc cartridge and moves in the insertion direction of the disc cartridge and then moves downward with respect to the insertion direction, and recording and / or reproduction with respect to the disc The disk cover is provided with a shutter that switches exposure / non-exposure of the surface of the disk on which the disk cover is provided as the fixing mechanism. When the loading of the disk cartridge is completed, the head comes close to the disk exposed by opening the shutter, and the disk cartridge further includes a disk drive main body as the fixing mechanism. State outside In the disc cover, the outer peripheral contact portion provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the disc supports the disc, and the side opposite to the side on which the outer peripheral contact portion supports the disc. The holding lock for locking the disk to the disk cover by clamping the disk together with the outer peripheral abutting portion, the holding lock being provided on the disk cover, and the disk cartridge being It is characterized by having a lock release mechanism that is unlocked by being inserted into the disk drive main body and being locked by the holding lock.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge. The disk cartridge includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a disk on one side of the disk. A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the surface of the surface, and a fixing mechanism for latching and fixing the disc to the disc cover in a state outside the disc drive main body. A release mechanism that uses a disc cartridge whose surface opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided is exposed to the outside, and is released when the disc cartridge is inserted into the disc drive body. When inserting the disk cartridge, A cartridge holder that is lifted obliquely from the case to the upper surface side and exposes the disc cartridge insertion slot, and a head that performs recording and / or reproduction with respect to the disc, and the disc cover has the fixing mechanism as the fixing mechanism, A shutter for switching between exposure / non-exposure of the surface of the disk where the disk cover is provided is provided, and when the loading of the disk cartridge into the disk drive body is completed, the shutter is exposed by opening. The head approaches the disk, and the disk cartridge is provided as the fixing mechanism, and is located outside the disk drive main body, near the outer periphery of the disk in the disk cover. Provided in the corresponding position With the outer peripheral contact portion supporting the disk, the disk is held together with the outer peripheral contact portion from the side opposite to the side on which the outer peripheral contact portion supports the disk. There is a holding lock for locking to the cover, and the holding lock is provided on the disc cover, and the lock by the holding lock is released by inserting the disc cartridge into the disc drive body. It is characterized by having an unlocking mechanism.

  As described above, the disk drive according to the present invention includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced as the disk cartridge in the disk drive using the disk cartridge, and the disk A disk cover provided to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disk, and the disk is fixed to the disk cover from the side opposite to the one side while being outside the disk drive body. A disk cartridge having a fixing mechanism and having a surface of the disk opposite to the surface on which the disk cover is provided exposed to the outside, and the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive body In this configuration, the fixing mechanism is released.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge. The disk cartridge includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a disk on one side of the disk. A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the surface of the surface, and a fixing mechanism for latching and fixing the disc to the disc cover in a state outside the disc drive main body. A release mechanism that uses a disc cartridge whose surface opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided is exposed to the outside, and is released when the disc cartridge is inserted into the disc drive body. Is provided in the disk drive body so that it can be moved. When the disc cartridge is inserted, a cartridge holder that holds the disc cartridge and moves in the insertion direction of the disc cartridge and then moves downward with respect to the insertion direction; Or a head for performing reproduction, and the disk cover is provided with a shutter for switching exposure / non-exposure of a surface of the disk on which the disk cover is provided as the fixing mechanism, and the disk drive body When the loading of the disk cartridge is completed, the head approaches the disk exposed by opening the shutter, and the disk cartridge further includes a disk as the fixing mechanism. Outside the drive In the state, the outer peripheral contact portion provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the disk in the disk cover supports the disk, and the outer peripheral contact portion is opposite to the side supporting the disk. A holding lock for locking the disk to the disk cover by clamping the disk together with the outer peripheral contact portion from the side of the disk, and the holding lock is provided on the disk cover. The cartridge has a lock release mechanism that is unlocked by the holding lock when the cartridge is inserted into the disk drive body.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge. The disk cartridge includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a disk on one side of the disk. A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the surface of the surface, and a fixing mechanism for latching and fixing the disc to the disc cover in a state outside the disc drive main body. A release mechanism that uses a disc cartridge whose surface opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided is exposed to the outside, and is released when the disc cartridge is inserted into the disc drive body. When inserting the disk cartridge, A cartridge holder that is lifted obliquely from the case to the upper surface side and exposes the disc cartridge insertion slot, and a head that performs recording and / or reproduction with respect to the disc, and the disc cover has the fixing mechanism as the fixing mechanism, A shutter for switching between exposure / non-exposure of the surface of the disk where the disk cover is provided is provided, and when the loading of the disk cartridge into the disk drive body is completed, the shutter is exposed by opening. The head approaches the disk, and the disk cartridge is provided as the fixing mechanism, and is located outside the disk drive main body, near the outer periphery of the disk in the disk cover. Provided in the corresponding position With the outer peripheral contact portion supporting the disk, the disk is held together with the outer peripheral contact portion from the side opposite to the side on which the outer peripheral contact portion supports the disk. There is a holding lock for locking to the cover, and the holding lock is provided on the disc cover, and the lock by the holding lock is released by inserting the disc cartridge into the disc drive body. This is a configuration having a lock release mechanism.

  According to the above configuration, the disk and the disk cover are fixed by a mechanical configuration, so that high connection strength can be realized.

  According to the above configuration, the exposure / non-exposure of the disc is switched by the shutter provided on the disc cover. Therefore, for example, when carrying or saving, the shutter is closed, and when performing recording and / or reproducing operations in the disk drive, the shutter can be opened and the head can be inserted.

  According to the above configuration, the fixed state between the disk and the disk cover can be switched by the disk holding lock provided on the disk cover and capable of switching between holding and non-holding of the outer periphery of the disk. Yes. Therefore, the fixation / non-fixation of the disk and the disk cover can be easily switched, and the connection between the disk and the disk cover is performed by a mechanical configuration, so that high connection strength can be realized.

[Embodiment 1]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show a schematic configuration of a disk cartridge according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. The top view at the time of seeing from the upper direction is shown. The disk cartridge has a disk 1 and a disk cover 2.

  The disk 1 is a disk-shaped recording medium, and includes a disk part 3 having a recording surface and a hub part 4 provided at the center of the disk 1. The disc cover 2 is shaped to cover the lower half of the disc 1 as shown in FIG. Further, the disc cover 2 is provided with an opening 6 at a portion corresponding to the hub portion 4 in the disc 1. That is, the disk cartridge has a structure in which the lower half is covered with the disk cover 2 except for the opening 6, while the upper half of the disk cartridge is exposed on the upper surface.

  As a material constituting the disk cover 2, for example, polycarbonate, ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), resins such as acrylic, metals such as steel, and aluminum can be used.

  The hub portion 4 in the disk 1 is made of a magnetic material, and the opening 6 in the disk cover 2 has an inner peripheral side disk contact portion (inner peripheral side contact) including the magnetic material on the disk 1 side. (Contact portion) 5 is provided. Thereby, since the hub part 4 and the inner peripheral disk contact part 5 are pulled by magnetic force, the state where the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 are integrated is maintained. Conversely, if an external force stronger than the above-described magnetic force is applied in the direction of separating the disk 1 and the disk cover 2, the two can be separated.

  Although details will be described later, when a mechanism for locking the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 is provided, the hub portion 4 and the inner peripheral disc contact portion 5 do not have to be formed of a magnetic material.

  Further, an outer peripheral side disk contact portion (outer peripheral side contact portion) 7 is provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the disk 1 in the disk cover 2. That is, the disc 1 is supported by the disc cover 2 on the inner circumference side by the inner disc contact portion 5 and on the outer circumference side by the outer disc contact portion 7.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the outer peripheral disk contact portion 7. As shown in the figure, the outer peripheral disk contact portion 7 is constituted by a hollow elastic body. Examples of the elastic body constituting the outer peripheral side disk contact portion 7 include rubber. In this way, the outer peripheral portion of the disc portion 3 is supported by the elastic force of the outer peripheral disc contact portion 7. Therefore, when an impact is applied to the disk 1 from the outside, the impact can be absorbed by the elastic force of the outer peripheral disk contact portion 7, and damage to the disk 1 can be suppressed.

  Although not shown here, the contact surface of the inner peripheral disk contact portion 5 with the disk 1 is also preferably made of an elastic body such as rubber. Thereby, while absorbing an impact, it can suppress that a damage | wound arises in the contact site | part with the inner peripheral side disk contact part 5 in the disk 1. FIG.

  Next, the configuration of the disk unit 3 and the configuration of the head 11 that performs recording / reproduction on the disk unit 3 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the disk unit 3 and the head 11 that performs recording / reproduction with respect to the disk unit 3.

  As shown in the figure, the disk unit 3 is composed of a disk substrate 14, a recording film (recording layer) 15, and a protective film (protective layer) 16, and laser light from the head 11 on the disk substrate 14. A recording film 15 and a protective film 16 are laminated in this order on the incident side (light incident side) surface.

  The disk substrate 14 is a member that becomes a substrate of the disk unit 3. Any material may be used as the material constituting the disk substrate 14 as long as it is an antistatic material. For example, resins such as polycarbonate, ABS, and acrylic, steel, and aluminum may be used. Examples thereof include metals and glass such as tempered glass. Resins can be compression-molded and thus are suitable for mass production and have the advantage that the material is inexpensive. Metals have the advantage that they can be easily produced by pressing, and the material is inexpensive and has high strength. Glasses have the advantages of high flatness and hardness, and optical stability. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the surface of the disk substrate 14 opposite to the light incident side is exposed to the outside. Therefore, as the material constituting the disk substrate 14, there are scratches on the exposed surface. It is preferable to have a hardness that is not sufficient.

  The recording film 15 is made of a recording film material corresponding to phase change recording or magneto-optical recording. As a specific material, since a recording film material conventionally used may be used, it is not listed here.

  The protective film 16 is a member for protecting the light incident side surface of the disk unit 3. Any material may be used as the material for forming the protective film 16 as long as it is antistatic and translucent. For example, resins such as polycarbonate, ABS, and acrylic are used. And glass such as tempered glass. The advantages of these resins and glasses are as described above. Further, since the surface of the protective film 16 is close to the head 11, the material constituting the protective film 16 is preferably slidable.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head 11 includes a magnetic coil (magnetic head unit) 17, an objective lens 18, a mirror 19, an aberration correction lens group 20, a half mirror 21, a light emitting element 22, and a light receiving element 23. It has become.

  The light emitting element 22 is an element for emitting laser light, and includes, for example, an LD (Laser Diode). The light receiving element 23 is an element for receiving a laser beam reflected from the recording film 15 in the disk portion 3 and reading a signal. The half mirror 21 is an optical component having a function of transmitting the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 22 and reflecting the laser light reflected from the disk portion 3 toward the light receiving element 23. The aberration correction lens group 20 is a lens group for correcting aberration included in the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 22. The mirror 19 reflects the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 22 in the direction of the light irradiation point in the disk unit 3. The objective lens 18 is a lens for condensing the light reflected by the mirror 19 and focusing it on the recording film 15 in the disk unit 3. The objective lens 18, the mirror 19, the aberration correction lens group 20, the half mirror 21, the light emitting element 22, and the light receiving element 23 constitute an optical head portion in the head 11. The magnetic coil 17 is for applying a magnetic field to the recording film 15 in the disk unit 3 when performing a recording operation.

  In the above example, the disk unit 3 is a recordable / reproducible disk in which the recording film 15 as a recording layer is made of a recording film material corresponding to phase change recording or magneto-optical recording. It is not limited. For example, as a CD, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM, as a recording layer, a read-only disc having a configuration in which a reflective film is formed on a concavo-convex portion provided in advance on a substrate according to information, a CD- It may be a write-once disc such as R or DVD-R. In the above example, an example of a head configured to perform recording and reproduction is shown as the head 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. It may be a head that performs only reproduction. In this case, the configuration of the magnetic coil 17 or the like is not necessary.

  The reproducing operation in the head 11 configured as described above, that is, the irradiation of the laser light and the detection of the reflected light are performed as follows. First, the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 22 passes through the mirror 19 and enters the aberration correction lens group 20. The laser light whose aberration is corrected by the aberration correction lens group 20 is reflected by the mirror 19 and enters the objective lens 18. The laser beam condensed by the objective lens 18 passes through the protective film 16 in the disk portion 3 and is focused on the recording film 15. Thereafter, the reflected light whose reflected light amount has changed according to the data recorded on the recording film 15 sequentially passes through the objective lens 18, the mirror 19, and the aberration correction lens 20, and the light receiving element 23 is disposed in the half mirror 21. It is reflected in the direction where it is. Then, the reflected light is received by the light receiving element 23 and data is read out.

  Here, a conventional optical disc will be described. A conventional optical disc is configured such that a recording surface is irradiated with a laser beam for recording / reproduction through a disc substrate made of translucent polycarbonate or the like. That is, the conventional optical disc has a configuration in which a recording film is formed on the disc substrate on the side opposite to the light incident side, which is different from the configuration of the disc 1 described above. In the conventional optical disk, the recording film is formed on the side opposite to the light incident side as described above for the following reason. That is, even when small dust is attached to the surface of the light incident side of the disk substrate or scratches are generated, the irradiated laser light is focused on the recording film through the thickness of the disk substrate. This is because the influence of such dust and scratches is reduced.

  However, when laser light is irradiated onto the recording surface through the thickness of the disk substrate in this way, the focal length is increased by the thickness of the disk substrate, so it is necessary to increase the objective lens diameter. In addition, since it is necessary to increase the diameter of the laser light incident on the objective lens diameter, it is also necessary to increase the size of the mirror that reflects the laser light from the light emitting element toward the objective lens. Specifically, the thickness of the disk substrate is 0.6 to 1.2 mm, the distance between the head and the surface of the disk substrate is about 1 mm, and the diameter of the laser beam is about 1 mm. For these reasons, a head corresponding to a conventional optical disk is relatively large in both size and weight. This increases the thickness of the disk drive and slows the access speed of the head.

  On the other hand, today, compared with the time when the conventional optical disc was developed, the recording signal has been digitized, and error correction techniques have been developed, and the durability against errors has been improved. That is, since the occurrence of errors due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk substrate is reduced as in the conventional case, the necessity of irradiating the recording film with laser light through the disk substrate is diminishing.

  For this reason, the disc 1 of this embodiment has a configuration in which the recording film 15 is provided on the light incident side of the disc substrate 14 and the focal length of the laser beam is shortened. Therefore, the size and weight of the head 11 are remarkably reduced as compared with the conventional one. Specifically, since the diameter of the laser beam should be about 10 μm, the diameter of the objective lens and the size of the mirror are about 1/100 of the conventional head. The size may be sufficient, and the head can be significantly reduced in size. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the disk drive itself and increase the access speed of the head.

  Next, a disk drive that performs a recording / reproducing operation on the disk cartridge will be described below. FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are explanatory views showing the procedure of the recording / reproducing operation for the disc cartridge by the disc drive. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the disk drive is configured to include a base portion 8, a spindle motor 9, a chucking 10, a head 11, an actuator 12, and a head arm 13.

  The base portion 8 is a base member for supporting each component included in the disk drive. The spindle motor 9 is a motor for rotating the disk 1 in the disk cartridge during recording and reproduction. The chucking 10 is a member for holding the disc 1 at the time of recording / reproducing and at the time of recording / reproducing standby. The chucking 10 is provided on the upper surface side of the spindle motor 9, and the chucking 10 rotates with the rotation of the spindle motor 9. Thereby, the disk 1 held by the chucking 10 is rotated by rotating the spindle motor 9.

  The head 11 includes an optical head for irradiating the disk 1 with laser and detecting reflected light from the disk 1 during recording and reproduction, and a magnetic head for generating a magnetic field during recording. . The actuator 12 moves the head 11 from the retracted position to the recording / reproducing area in the disk 1 and performs access control to a desired position in the disk 1. The head arm 13 supports the head 11 and moves the head 11 under the control of the actuator 12.

  Next, a procedure from the insertion of the disk cartridge to the recording / reproducing operation in the disk drive will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the disc cartridge in which the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 are joined is inserted from the side of the disc drive over the chucking 10. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the opening of the disc cover 2 reaches just above the chucking 10, the lateral movement of the disc cartridge is stopped.

  Thereafter, although not shown, the disk cover 2 is moved downward by the disk cover lifting means provided in the disk drive. At this time, as the disk cover 2 is lowered, the disk 1 is also lowered. However, when the hub portion 4 of the disk 1 reaches the chucking 10, the lowering of the disk 1 is stopped. On the other hand, since the opening in the disc cover 2 is larger than the diameter of the chucking 10, the disc cover elevating means continues the lowering of the disc cover 2, whereby the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 are separated. Will be. Thereafter, the disc cover 2 is lowered until it reaches the base portion 8 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4D, the head 11 is inserted by the actuator 12 into the gap between the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 separated in this way, and a recording / reproducing operation is performed at a desired disc position. .

  5 (a) to 5 (c) are explanatory views showing the above operation when viewed from above in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (d). That is, FIG. 5A shows a state in which the disc cartridge is inserted from the side with respect to the disc drive, and FIG. 5B shows a state in which the separation of the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 has been completed. FIG. 5C shows a state in which the head 11 has moved to the recording / reproducing operation position.

  As shown in these drawings, the head arm 13 is configured to move the head 11 by rotating around a fulcrum provided in the actuator 12. Thus, according to the configuration in which the head is moved by swinging the head arm 13, the area required for moving the head 11 in the disk drive can be made relatively small. As a comparative example, in the case of a configuration in which the head arm 13 is slid in the lateral direction, the head 11 is retracted by the length of the head arm 13 required to move the head 11 to the farthest place from the actuator 12. In the state where it is moved to the position, it extends in the lateral direction. As described above, according to the disk drive shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the horizontal size of the disk drive itself can be reduced.

  Further, in the disk drive shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the actuator 12 is disposed outside the area where the disk cartridge is disposed, and the head 11 is moved from the lateral direction to the disk 1 and the disk cover 2. It is configured to be inserted between. Therefore, as far as the thickness direction of the disk drive is concerned, it is sufficient that the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 have a thickness that allows the head 11 to be inserted. Therefore, the thickness of the disk drive can be made extremely thin.

  Further, the disk drive is configured such that the head 11 is inserted from the lateral direction with the disk cover 2 separated from the disk 1. That is, since the head 11 only needs to be moved in a plane, the movement control of the head 11 in the actuator 12 can be simplified as compared with a configuration in which the head 11 needs to be moved in the vertical direction, for example. it can.

  Next, a mechanism for locking the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 in the disk cartridge will be described. In the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 above, the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 are included in the magnetic body constituting the hub portion 4 of the disk 1 and the inner peripheral side disk contact portion 5 in the disk cover 2. It has the structure joined by the magnetic force with a magnetic body. In such a configuration, since the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 can be separated relatively easily, it may be considered that the light incident side surface of the disk 1 cannot be protected accurately. Therefore, the bonded state of the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 may be locked by the configuration as described below.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the central portion of a disk cartridge having a lock mechanism. As shown in the figure, a disc protrusion 24 is provided at the center of the surface of the disc 1 on the disc cover 2 side. The disk convex portion 24 has a circular shape concentric with the disk 1 when viewed from below in FIG. The diameter of the disk protrusion 24 is set to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the opening 6 of the disk cover 2. In the state where the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 are joined, the disk protrusion 24 is inserted into the opening 6.

  Further, a constriction (concave portion) 24 </ b> A is provided on a side surface of the disc convex portion 24, in other words, a surface perpendicular to the surface of the disc 1 and facing the opening 6. Further, the disc cover 2 is provided with a protruding portion (convex portion) 25 that can move in the horizontal direction, in other words, in a direction parallel to the surface of the disc 1.

  The protrusion 25 is arranged at a position in contact with the opening 6 of the disc cover 2 as shown by a broken line in FIG. 6 when releasing the joined state between the disc 1 and the disc cover 2. Then, when locking the joining state of the disc 1 and the disc cover 2, the projection 25 is moved in the center direction so that the projection 25 is fitted into the constriction 24 </ b> A in the disc projection 24. . Further, when the constriction 24A is moved in the center direction, the disc convex portion 24 is also moved in the lateral direction, and the side surface opposite to the side on which the projection portion 25 is in contact is the opening 6 in the disc cover 2. Will come in contact with. In this state, the disc 1 cannot be separated from the disc cover 2 because the protrusion 25 is caught by the constriction 24A, so that the joining state of the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 is locked. .

  The constriction 24A may be provided so as to go around the entire side surface of the disk convex portion 24, that is, the entire cylindrical surface, or may be provided on a part of the side surface. Further, when the constriction 24A is provided so as to make a round around the entire cylindrical surface, the protrusion 25 may have a shape surrounding the entire constriction 24A, for example, a circular shape. It may have a shape that protrudes at a place. Furthermore, it is good also as a structure which provides the protrusion part 25 ... in the several places around the disc convex part 24, moves these protrusion parts 25 ... to a center direction, and makes it fit by inserting in the constriction 24A.

  Further, as a configuration different from the configuration of the lock mechanism shown in FIG. 6, there is a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 (a) and FIG. 7 (b). FIG. 4B is a plan view of the disk cartridge when viewed from the upper surface side, that is, the disk 1 side. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. is there.

  As shown in these drawings, disk holding locks 26 and 26 for locking the outer peripheral portion of the disk 1 are provided on the upper surface side of the disk cover 2. These disk holding locks 26 and 26 are provided in the vicinity of two corners on the diagonal line of the rectangular disk cover 2. Each of the disk holding locks 26 is rotatable about the shaft portion 26A, and can be switched between a state in which the disk 1 is locked and a state in which the lock is released depending on the rotation angle. Yes.

  In a state in which the disk 1 is locked, the two disk holding locks 26 and 26 are set at angular positions such that the respective leading ends overlap the upper surface side of the outer peripheral portion of the disk 1. As a result, the disc 1 is sandwiched by the outer disc contact portion 7 from the lower side and the disc holding lock 26 from the upper side at two outer peripheral portions on a straight line including the center. . That is, in this state, the disc 1 does not come off the disc cover 2 upward.

  On the other hand, in the state where the lock of the disk 1 is released, the two disk holding locks 26 and 26 are set at an angular position such that the respective leading end portions do not overlap the upper surface side of the outer peripheral portion of the disk 1. In this state, there is no disc 1 that restricts upward movement, so that the disc 1 and the disc cover 2 can be separated.

  The mechanism for switching the angular position of the disk holding lock 26 has the following configuration. First, the disc holding lock 26 is provided with a convex portion 27 and a guide groove 28 is provided on the side wall of the disc cover 2. When the disc holding lock 26 is in the locked state, the convex portion 27 protrudes into the guide groove 28, while when the disc holding lock 26 is in the released state, the convex portion 27 is inside the bottom of the guide groove 28. Set to be buried in.

  In such a configuration, for example, in a state where the disk cartridge is taken out of the disk drive, the disk holding lock 26 is in a locked state, and the convex portion 27 protrudes in the guide groove 28. Since the protrusion 27 is projected inside the guide groove 28, it is not easy to touch the protrusion 27 from the outside, and the locked state can be maintained.

  On the other hand, when the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive, the convex member provided along the guide groove 28 provided in advance in the disk drive moves along the guide groove 28 along with the insertion of the disk cartridge, and the convex The unit 27 is configured to be pushed. As a result, when the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive, the disk holding lock 26 is released.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 7B, the disk holding lock 26 is provided at two positions on the upper surface side of the disk cover 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. It does not matter even if it is a configuration provided above. Further, the disk 1 may be locked at one place.

  Next, a specific configuration example of the shape of the disk cartridge will be described. 8A and 8B show one specific example of the shape of the disk cartridge. FIG. 4B is a plan view of the disk cartridge when viewed from the upper surface side, that is, the disk 1 side. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. is there.

  The disk cartridge shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B has a shape in which a part of the disk cover 2 is missing when viewed from above. Specifically, the disc cover 2 has a shape in which a portion outside the disc 1 is deleted in one region radially divided into four from the center point. In this region, as shown in FIG. 6A, the side wall of the disc cover 2 does not exist, and the outer peripheral portion of the disc 1 is exposed to the outside.

  The disk drive that performs the recording / reproducing operation with respect to the disk cartridge having such a configuration is configured such that the head is inserted in an area where the side wall of the disk cover 2 does not exist. Then, in the operation of the disk drive described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4D, the amount of lowering the disk cover 2 can be reduced. This is because the insertion of the head 11 is performed in an area where the side wall of the disk cover 2 is not present, so that the distance between the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 necessary for the insertion of the head 11 can be reduced.

  More specifically, when the side wall of the disk cover 2 is also present in the insertion area of the head 11, the distance between the lower surface of the disk 1 and the upper surface of the side wall of the disk cover 2 is the insertion distance of the head 11. The required interval. On the other hand, when the disc cartridge shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B is used, the lower surface of the disc 1 and the upper end portion of the outer peripheral disc contact portion 7 provided on the disc cover 2 are used. Is the distance necessary for the insertion of the head 11. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D and the like, the height of the side wall of the disk cover 2 is higher than the height of the outer peripheral disk contact portion 7, so that FIG. If a disk cartridge as shown in FIG. 8B is used, the amount of lowering of the disk cover 2 can be reduced. Accordingly, the thickness (vertical height) of the disk drive itself can be reduced.

  In the configuration shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the outer peripheral disk contact portion 7 may not be provided in the region where the head is inserted. In this case, since the amount of lowering the disk cover in the disk drive can be further reduced, the thickness of the disk drive itself can be further reduced.

  Further, a disc cartridge as shown in FIG. 9 may be used as a different configuration from the disc cartridge shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B. The disc cartridge shown in FIG. 9 is configured such that a part of the side wall of the disc cover 2 can be opened and closed. That is, the disc cover 2 is provided with a side wall 2W that can be opened and closed in the outer direction.

  In the case of such a disk cartridge, the side wall 2 is closed when the disk cartridge is outside the disk drive, but when the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive, the side wall 2 is opened and the head is inserted. Is done. Thereby, similarly to the above, the amount of lowering of the disk cover 2 necessary for inserting the head can be reduced, so that the thickness of the disk drive itself can be reduced. Further, in a state outside the disk drive, the side wall portion 2 is in a closed state, so that the structure is strong against impact from the lateral direction.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which has the function similar to the structure demonstrated in above-mentioned Embodiment 1, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  First, the disk cartridge according to the present embodiment will be described. The disk cartridge shown in Embodiment 1 is configured to separate the disk 1 and the disk cover 2 and insert a head between the two when performing a recording / reproducing operation in the disk drive. In contrast, the disk cartridge according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a shutter is provided on the disk cover 2 and the head is accessed to the disk 1 by opening and closing the shutter.

  10 (a) and 10 (b) are perspective views when the disk cartridge is viewed from above, and FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b) are perspective views when the disk cartridge is viewed from below. It is. 10A and 11A show a state where the shutter 30 is closed, and FIGS. 10B and 11B show a state where the shutter 30 is opened. As shown in these drawings, the disk cover 2 is provided with a shutter 30, and the shutter 30 moves in the lateral direction (in-plane direction of the disk cover 2), so that The exposure / non-exposure of the disc 1 can be switched. Other configurations are the same as the configurations shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  As described above, the shutter 30 has a function of switching exposure / non-exposure of the disc 1 on the lower surface side of the disc cartridge, and fixes the disc 1 to the disc cover 2 in a state where the disc cartridge is outside the disc drive. It also has a function to FIG. 12A shows a plan view of the disc cartridge as viewed from below with the shutter 30 closed, and FIG. 12B shows aa ′ in FIG. A cross-sectional view along the line is shown. FIG. 12B shows a state in which the disc cover 2 is arranged on the upper side and the disc 1 is arranged on the lower side, and the above description is upside down.

  As shown in these drawings, a hub 32 is provided at the center of the disk 1. The hub 32 has a shape protruding in a flange shape on the disc cover 2 side. On the other hand, the shutter 30 is formed with a hub holding notch 31 that opens in a direction opposite to the direction of movement when the shutter 30 is opened. In the state where the shutter 30 is closed, the flange portion of the hub 32 is hooked by the hub holding notch portion 31.

  FIG. 13A shows a plan view of the disc cartridge as viewed from below with the shutter 30 opened, and FIG. 13B shows aa ′ in FIG. A cross-sectional view along the line is shown. Similarly to the above, FIG. 13B shows a state in which the disk cover 2 is disposed on the upper side and the disk 1 is disposed on the lower side, and the above description is upside down.

  As shown in these drawings, when the shutter 30 moves to the left and enters the open state, the flange portion of the hub 32 is released from the state of being hooked by the hub holding notch portion 31. As a result, the disk 1 is released from the fixed state with respect to the disk cover 2.

  Next, a disk drive that performs a recording / reproducing operation on the disk cartridge will be described below. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state in which a disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive. As shown in the figure, the disk drive has a configuration in which a drive case 36 includes a cartridge holder 33, a spindle motor 34, and a head 35. The spindle motor 34 is a motor for rotating the disk 1 during the recording / reproducing operation. The head 35 is a head that performs a recording / reproducing operation, and is disposed in a lower part of the drive case 36 so as to be accessible and movable in a direction perpendicular to the insertion / removal direction of the disk cartridge.

  When inserting a disk cartridge into the disk drive, the cartridge holder 33 is lifted obliquely from the drive case 36 to the upper surface side, and the disk cartridge insertion opening provided on the side surface of the cartridge holder 33 is exposed to insert the cartridge holder 33. Is done.

  Thereafter, the disk cartridge is pushed in the direction indicated by the circled numeral 1 in FIG. 14, and after the disk cartridge reaches the depth of the cartridge holder 33, the cartridge holder 33 is moved in the direction indicated by the circled numeral 2 in FIG. By pushing into the drive case 36, the loading of the disk cartridge is completed. FIG. 15A shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. 14 when the disk cartridge reaches the back of the cartridge holder 33. FIG. 15B shows the disk cartridge. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. 14 when loading is completed.

  Next, a configuration for opening the shutter 30 when the disc cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder 33 will be described. FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing a state immediately before the disc cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder 33 and the shutter 30 is opened. In the figure, the disc cartridge is inserted from the left to the right. In the figure, a mechanism for opening and closing the shutter 30 exists in the area indicated by B. FIG. 17A is an explanatory diagram showing an enlargement of the region indicated by B, and FIG. 17B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 17A, the shutter 30 is provided with a shutter lock 38. When the shutter 30 is closed, the shutter lock 38 is provided on the disc cover 2 side. It is hooked on the portion 38A. Here, when the disc cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder 33, the shutter lock release bar 37 provided in the cartridge holder 33 contacts the shutter lock 38 so as to lift the shutter lock 38 from the shutter lock latching portion 38A. Thereby, the lock mechanism for maintaining the closed state of the shutter 30 is released.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, the cartridge holder 33 is provided with a shutter opening / closing bar 39. The shutter opening / closing bar 39 is fitted into the shutter opening / closing hole 40 provided in the shutter 30 almost simultaneously with the release of the shutter lock releasing bar 37 from the shutter lock 38.

  Thereafter, when the disk cartridge is pushed further into the cartridge holder 33, the shutter opening / closing bar 39 pushes the shutter opening / closing hole 40 to open the shutter 30. When the disk cartridge reaches the back of the cartridge holder 33, the shutter 30 is fully opened as shown in FIG.

  Here, as a comparative example, a conventional disk cartridge and a conventional disk drive corresponding thereto will be described. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional disk cartridge. As shown in the figure, the conventional disk cartridge has a structure including a disk 81, an upper shell 82U, a lower shell 82L, a shutter 83, and the like. Although not shown, the disk 81 is composed of a disk substrate made of a light-transmitting material, a recording film provided on the upper surface side (the side opposite to the light incident side) of the disk substrate, and the like. Further, the lower surface side of the disk 81 is covered with the lower shell 82L, and the upper surface side thereof is also covered with the upper shell 82U. That is, the conventional disc cartridge has a configuration in which the disc 81 is disposed in a space surrounded by the upper shell 82U and the lower shell 82L.

  20 (a) and 20 (b) are perspective views of the conventional disk cartridge as viewed from above, and FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b) are those of the conventional disk cartridge as viewed from below. It is a perspective view at the time. 20A and 21A show a state where the shutter 83 is opened, and FIGS. 20B and 21B show a state where the shutter 83 is closed. As shown in these drawings, the shutter 83 is provided over the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the disk cartridge, and when the shutter 83 moves in the lateral direction (in-plane direction in the disk cartridge), It is possible to switch the exposure / non-exposure of the disk 81 on the upper surface side and the lower surface side.

  Here, when comparing the disk cartridge of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1A with the conventional disk cartridge shown in FIG. 19, the disk cartridge of this embodiment has no disk cover on the upper side of the disk 1. It can be seen that the thickness is reduced by the amount. That is, according to the disk cartridge of this embodiment, since the thickness can be reduced, it is convenient to carry and the space required for storing the disk cartridge can be reduced. .

  Next, a disk drive using the disk cartridge of this embodiment is compared with a disk drive using a conventional disk cartridge. FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b ′ of the disk drive of the present embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of a disk drive using the conventional disk cartridge shown in FIG.

  The head 35 in the disk drive of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the head 11 described with reference to FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, and includes a magnetic head portion for applying a magnetic field, and a laser beam. And an optical head unit that performs emission and detection. That is, in the present disk drive, a head 35 for performing a recording / reproducing operation is disposed only at the lower part of the disk 1.

  On the other hand, in the conventional disk cartridge shown in FIG. 23, an optical head 85 for emitting and detecting laser light is provided below the disk 81, and a magnetic field is also applied to the upper side of the disk 81. A magnetic head 84 is provided. This is because a recording film is provided on the upper surface side of the disk 81, and unless the magnetic field is applied from the upper side of the disk 81, the strength of the magnetic field necessary for recording cannot be secured. Further, since it is necessary to bring the magnetic head 84 close to the disk 81 after inserting the disk cartridge, there is a space for moving the magnetic head 84 in the vertical direction between the upper surface of the disk cartridge and the upper cover of the disk drive. It is necessary.

  In other words, the disk drive of this embodiment can reduce the thickness of the apparatus by the thickness of the upper shell 82U, the height of the magnetic head 84, and the moving space in the conventional disk cartridge, as compared with the conventional disk drive. Become. For example, when an MD (Mini Disc) is assumed as a conventional disk cartridge, the thickness of the upper shell is required to be about 2.5 mm and the moving space of the magnetic head is required to be about 1.5 mm. The drive can reduce the thickness of the device by about 4 mm as compared with a conventional disk drive.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which has the function similar to the structure demonstrated by each above-mentioned embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the present embodiment, a disk drive of a loading system different from the disk drive described with reference to FIG. In the disk drive according to the second embodiment, the cartridge holder 33 is pulled out to the upper surface side of the disk drive, the disk cartridge is inserted, and then the cartridge holder 33 is stored in the disk drive. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a so-called front loading system is adopted in which a disk cartridge insertion slot is provided on the side surface of the disk drive and the cartridge holder 33 is moved downward in the disk drive.

  FIG. 24A is a plan view showing a loading mechanism of a disk cartridge in the disk drive according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 24B is a side view of FIG. FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the loading mechanism shown in FIGS. 24 (a) and 24 (b).

  As shown in these drawings, the loading mechanism has a configuration in which one each of the first and second rails 41 and 42 is disposed on both sides of the cartridge holder 33 in the insertion / removal direction. The second rail 42 is fixed to a disk drive main body (not shown), while the first rail 41 slides in the insertion / removal direction of the disk cartridge with respect to the second rail 42.

  Further, shaft portions 44 are provided on both sides of the cartridge holder 33 with respect to the insertion / removal direction. Further, the first rails 41 and 41 are provided with first cutout holes 41A, respectively, and the second rails 42 and 42 are also provided with second cutout holes 42A, respectively. . And each said axial part 44 has penetrated the 1st notch hole 41A and the 2nd notch hole 42A corresponding to each in this order.

  The disc cartridge is inserted into the cartridge holder 33 in the direction indicated by the arrow with the circled numeral 1 in FIG. Thereafter, when the insertion of the disc cartridge proceeds to a certain extent, the side surface on the front end side in the insertion direction of the disc cartridge comes into contact with the contact arm of the cartridge holder stopper 45 provided on the cartridge holder 33. After that, when the disk cartridge continues to be inserted, the cartridge holder stopper 45 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow with a circled number 2 in the figure, disengages from the convex portion 46 fixed to the disk drive body, and the cartridge holder 33 is inserted. It becomes possible to move to.

  Here, the first rail 41 is always pulled by the spring 43 in the insertion direction. Therefore, when the cartridge holder stopper 45 is disengaged from the convex portion 46 as described above, the first rail 41 is accompanied by the shaft portion 44... And the horizontal direction of the second notch holes 42 A in the second rail 42. Move along the route. When the shafts 44 move to the end of the horizontal path of the second cutout holes 42A, the shafts 44 are now acted on by the action of the shape of the first cutout holes 41A in the first rail 41. ... move downward along the vertical path of the second cutout holes 42A.

  As a result of the operation described above, the cartridge holder 33 moves downward in the insertion direction along with the insertion of the disk cartridge, and then moves downward. FIG. 26A is a plan view showing a state where the disk cartridge has been inserted in the loading mechanism, and FIG. 26B is a side view of FIG. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the loading mechanism shown in FIGS. 26 (a) and 26 (b).

  The loading mechanism configured as described above can be applied to the disk drive shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D in the first embodiment, for example. That is, when the cartridge holder 33 is moved downward, only the disc cover 2 is moved downward, and the operation of leaving the disc 1 on the spindle motor 9 can be realized.

  Also, in the disk drive using the disk cartridge provided with the shutter 30 shown in the second embodiment, it is possible to adopt the front loading system by providing the above loading mechanism. In such a disk drive, the purpose of moving the disk cartridge downward at the end of insertion is to bring the disk 1 in the disk cartridge closer to the head.

  As described above in each embodiment, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment includes a disk-shaped disk provided with a recording layer on which information is recorded and / or reproduced, and a surface on one side of the disk. A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the disc, and a connecting means for connecting the disc and the disc cover, the disc being opposite to the surface on which the disc cover is provided. The surface is exposed to the outside.

  According to the above configuration, the disc cover is provided so as to cover only one surface of the disc provided with the recording layer, and the disc and the disc cover are connected by the connecting means. It has become. Therefore, the thickness of the entire disc cartridge is only the thickness of the disc and the thickness of the disc cover provided only on one side of the disc. Therefore, for example, compared to a disk cartridge in which disk covers are provided on both sides of the disk, the thickness of the entire disk cartridge can be made thinner. That is, by reducing the thickness of the disk cartridge, it is possible to reduce the space required for storage, improve portability, and reduce the thickness of the disk drive corresponding to the disk cartridge.

  In addition, since the recording / reproducing surface on the side close to the head for recording and / or reproducing information with respect to the disc is a surface covered with the disc cover, scratches on the recording / reproducing surface or dust And adhesion of dirt can be prevented. Therefore, a highly reliable disk cartridge can be provided.

  Further, the disc cartridge according to the embodiment has the above-described configuration in which the disc is configured such that the recording layer and the light-transmitting protective layer are arranged in this order on the disc substrate. In addition, the disk cover is provided so as to cover at least a part of the surface of the disk on which the protective layer is formed, and from the surface on which the protective layer is formed on the disk. Information may be recorded and / or reproduced by irradiating light.

  According to the above configuration, when recording and / or reproducing is performed on the disc, the recording layer is irradiated with light from the surface on which the protective layer having translucency is formed. . Therefore, for example, the distance between the head that emits light and the recording layer is smaller than that of a configuration in which light is applied to the recording layer through a disc substrate having translucency as in a conventional optical disc. Shorter. That is, in the head that emits light, the focal length of the objective lens that focuses the light on the recording layer is shortened, so that the size of the objective lens and other optical components in the head can be reduced. Therefore, since the size of the head can be reduced, the thickness of the disk drive can be reduced and the access speed of the head can be improved.

  Further, since there is no need to transmit light to the disk substrate, the material constituting the disk substrate does not need to have translucency. Therefore, by expanding the selection range of the material constituting the disk substrate, it is possible to increase the strength of the disk and reduce the material cost.

  In addition, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment is configured such that, in the above-described configuration, the disk cover includes an outer peripheral contact portion that contacts the vicinity of the outer periphery of the disk when connected to the disk. Also good.

  According to the above configuration, in the state where the disc and the disc cover are connected, the outer peripheral portion of the disc is in contact with the outer peripheral side contact portion provided in the disc cover. It is possible to prevent foreign matters such as dust from entering the space surrounded by the disc and the disc cover. Therefore, it is possible to improve the dust resistance of the area protected by the disk cover in the disk.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above configuration, the outer peripheral contact portion is made of an elastic material.

  According to the above configuration, since the outer peripheral contact portion has elasticity, for example, even when an external impact is applied to the disc cartridge, this is absorbed by the outer peripheral contact portion. Is possible. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility of disc damage and to provide a disc cartridge with high impact resistance.

  In addition, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment includes an inner peripheral side contact portion that contacts the vicinity of the inner periphery of the disk when the disk cover is connected to the disk in the above configuration. It is good also as a structure.

  According to the above configuration, when the disc and the disc cover are connected, the inner peripheral portion of the disc is in contact with the inner peripheral abutting portion provided on the disc cover. It is possible to prevent foreign matters such as dust from entering the space surrounded by the disk and the disk cover. Therefore, it is possible to improve the dust resistance of the area protected by the disk cover in the disk.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above configuration, the inner circumferential contact portion is made of an elastic material.

  According to the above configuration, since the inner peripheral contact portion has elasticity, for example, even when an external impact is applied to the disk cartridge, this is absorbed by the elasticity of the inner peripheral contact portion. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility of disc damage and to provide a disc cartridge with high impact resistance.

  Further, in the disk cartridge according to the embodiment, in the above configuration, the connection means includes a hub portion provided with a magnetic body provided on an inner peripheral portion of the disk, and the disk cover. The inner periphery side abutting portion provided with a magnetic body that abuts in the vicinity of the periphery, and the disk and the disk cover are separated by a magnetic attraction between the hub portion and the inner periphery side abutting portion. The connection may be maintained.

  According to the above configuration, the connection between the disk and the disk cover is held by the magnetic attractive force between the hub part of the disk and the inner peripheral contact part of the disk cover. Although the cover is connected, it is possible to separate the disk and the disk cover by applying an external force greater than the magnetic attraction force. Therefore, the connection / disconnection between the disk and the disk cover can be easily changed.

  Further, in the disk cartridge according to the embodiment, in the above configuration, the inner surface of the disk is provided with a disk protrusion protruding to the side where the disk cover is provided. It is good also as a structure by which the recessed part is provided in the side wall and the convex part which can be inserted or removed with respect to the said recessed part is provided in the said disc cover.

  According to said structure, while the recessed part is provided in the side wall of the disk convex part provided in the inner peripheral part of the disk, the convex part which can be inserted or removed by the said recessed part is provided in the disk cover side. Will be. Therefore, in the state where the convex portion on the disc cover side is inserted into the concave portion in the disc convex portion, the connection between the disc and the disc cover is maintained, while in the state where the convex portion is extracted from the concave portion, The connection with the disc cover will be released. As a result, the connection / disconnection between the disc and the disc cover can be easily switched, and the connection between the disc and the disc cover is performed by a mechanical configuration in which the convex portion is inserted into the concave portion. High connection strength can be realized.

  In the disc cartridge according to the embodiment, in the above configuration, the disc cover is provided with a disc holding lock for mechanically holding the outer peripheral portion of the disc, and the disc holding lock is provided on the disc cover. It is good also as a structure which can switch holding / non-holding of an outer peripheral part.

  According to the above configuration, the connection state between the disk and the disk cover can be switched by the disk holding lock provided on the disk cover, which can be switched between holding and non-holding of the outer periphery of the disk. Yes. Therefore, the connection / disconnection between the disc and the disc cover can be easily switched, and the connection between the disc and the disc cover is performed by a mechanical configuration, so that a high connection strength can be realized.

  The disk cartridge according to the embodiment may have a configuration in which the protective layer has a thickness of 0 to 20 μm in the above configuration.

  According to said structure, the upper limit of the thickness of a protective layer is 20 micrometers. According to this thickness, when performing a recording operation while applying a magnetic field to the disk, it is possible to apply a magnetic field having a magnetic field strength necessary for recording from the side where the protective layer is provided. Therefore, the optical head unit for irradiating the laser beam and the magnetic head unit for applying the magnetic field can be disposed outside the surface on the protective layer side with respect to the disk. That is, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to apply a magnetic field from the surface opposite to the light incident side of the disk, so that the slidability of the surface on the opposite side of the disk from the light incident side is eliminated. Need not be considered. Since the optical head and magnetic head are arranged on one side of the disk, the optical head is arranged on one side of the disk and the magnetic head is arranged on the other side as in the past. The thickness of the disk drive itself can be reduced as compared with the configuration.

  Moreover, according to said structure, the minimum of the thickness of a protective layer is 0. This corresponds to a configuration in which no protective layer is provided. This is because even if a protective layer is not provided, the recording layer is basically protected by the disc cover, so that the recording layer is scratched or dust or dirt adheres to it from an external impact. This is because the possibility is extremely low.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above structure, the disk substrate is made of a material having antistatic properties.

  According to the above configuration, if the disk substrate has antistatic properties, even if the recording layer includes a magnetic layer, it is possible to eliminate adverse effects on the recording data due to the disk substrate being charged. it can.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above-described configuration, the disk substrate is configured by resins, metals, or glasses.

  In the above configuration, when the disk substrate is made of a resin, there are the following advantages. That is, since the resins can be compression-molded, they are suitable for mass production and have the advantage that the material is inexpensive, so that the material cost and manufacturing cost of the disk substrate can be reduced. Further, when the disk substrate is made of metal, there are the following advantages. That is, metals can be easily produced by press working, and the material is inexpensive and has high strength, so that the material cost and manufacturing cost of the disk substrate can be reduced. Further, when the disk substrate is made of glass, there are the following advantages, that is, glass has the advantage of high flatness and hardness and optical stability. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable disk substrate.

  In addition, since the above-mentioned resins, metals, or glasses can be made of a material having a certain degree of hardness, it is possible to minimize the occurrence of scratches on the side where the disk cover is not provided. it can.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may have a configuration in which the protective layer is made of an antistatic material in the above configuration.

  According to the above configuration, if the protective layer has antistatic properties, even if the recording layer includes a magnetic layer, the adverse effect on the recording data due to the protective layer being charged is eliminated. Can do.

  The disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above configuration, the protective layer is made of a material having slidability on the surface thereof.

  According to the above configuration, since the surface of the protective layer has slidability, unnecessary resistance and an air layer between the head and the disk when the head for recording / reproduction is close to the disk. Disturbances can be eliminated.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may have a configuration in which the protective layer is made of a resin or glass in the above configuration.

  In the above configuration, when the protective layer is made of a resin, the following advantages are obtained. In other words, since the resins can be compression-molded, they are suitable for mass production and have the advantage that the material is inexpensive. Therefore, the material cost and the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the antistatic property and surface sliding can be reduced. Can be realized. In addition, when the protective layer is made of glass, there are the following advantages, that is, since glass has the advantages of high flatness and hardness and optical stability. In addition to providing a highly reliable protective layer, antistatic properties and surface slidability can be realized. Further, since the resins and glasses can be made of a light-transmitting material, the recording layer can be accurately irradiated with a light beam during recording or reproduction.

  The disk cartridge according to the embodiment may have a configuration in which at least a part of the disk cover is made of resin or metal in the above configuration.

  In the above configuration, when the disc cover is made of a resin, there are the following advantages. That is, since the resins can be compression-molded, they are suitable for mass production and have the advantage that the material is inexpensive, so that the material cost and manufacturing cost of the disk cover can be reduced. Further, when the disc cover is made of metal, there are the following advantages. That is, the metals can be easily produced by press working, and the material is inexpensive and has high strength, so that the material cost and manufacturing cost of the disk cover can be reduced.

  In addition, since the above resins and metals can be made of materials having a certain degree of strength, it becomes possible to protect the disk accurately.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above structure, a side wall protruding toward the disk side is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the disk cover.

  According to the above configuration, the outer peripheral portion of the disc is protected by the side wall provided on the outer peripheral portion of the disc cover, so that the disc can be protected from the impact from the lateral direction. Therefore, it is possible to provide a disk cartridge having high impact resistance.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above configuration, an area where the side wall is not formed is present at least at a part of the outer peripheral portion of the disk cover.

  According to the above configuration, for example, when a disk drive that separates the disk and the disk cover and inserts the head between the two to perform recording and / or reproducing operation is used, the head starts from the area where the side wall is not formed. Can be inserted. In this case, the distance separating the disk and the disk cover can be further reduced as compared with the case where the head is inserted in the region where the side wall is formed. Therefore, the thickness of the disk drive itself can be reduced.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may have a configuration in which at least a part of the side wall can be opened and closed in the above configuration.

  According to the above configuration, as in the above case, for example, when a disc drive that separates the disc and the disc cover and inserts a head between the two to perform recording and / or reproducing operation is used, the side wall is opened. The head can be inserted from the area. In this case, the distance separating the disk and the disk cover can be further reduced as compared with the case where the head is inserted in the region where the side wall is formed. Therefore, the thickness of the disk drive itself can be reduced.

  Further, the disk cartridge according to the embodiment may be configured such that in the above-described configuration, the disk cover is provided with a shutter for switching exposure / non-exposure of the disk.

  According to the above configuration, the exposure / non-exposure of the disc is switched by the shutter provided on the disc cover. Therefore, for example, when carrying or saving, the shutter is closed, and when performing recording and / or reproducing operations in the disk drive, the shutter can be opened and the head can be inserted.

  Further, the disk drive according to the embodiment is a disk drive using the above-described disk cartridge, and a separation unit that separates the head that performs recording and / or reproduction with respect to the disk, and the disk and the disk cover. In the recording and / or reproducing operation, the disc and the disc cover are separated by the separating means, and the head is inserted between the disc and the disc cover.

  According to the above configuration, the recording and / or reproducing operation is performed by inserting the head between the disc and the disc cover after separating the disc and the disc cover. With such a configuration, the disk cartridge need only have a configuration for switching between connection and non-connection between the disk and the disk cover, so that the structure of the disk cartridge can be simplified and simplified. Can be achieved.

  The disk drive according to the embodiment further includes a spindle motor that rotates the disk in the configuration described above, and the separation unit is a moving unit that moves the disk cover in the direction of the rotation axis of the disk. When the disc cartridge is inserted onto the spindle motor, the disc cover is separated from the disc cover by moving the disc cover with the moving means while the disc is placed on the spindle motor. It is good also as a structure performed.

  According to the above configuration, the disc and the disc cover are separated by moving only the disc cover while the disc is placed on the spindle motor with respect to the disc cartridge inserted on the spindle motor. It will be. That is, after the disc cartridge is inserted, only the disc cover is moved to enable the recording and / or reproducing operation. Therefore, the disc and the disc cover are separated in a simple configuration and in a short time. be able to.

  The disk drive according to the embodiment may be configured such that, in the above configuration, the spindle motor holds the disk by a magnetic attraction force.

  According to the above configuration, since the disk is held by the spindle motor by the magnetic attraction force, the mechanism for holding the disk by the spindle motor can be simplified. In addition, since the time required for the spindle motor to hold the disk can be shortened, a short setup is possible.

  The disk drive according to the embodiment is a disk drive using the above disk cartridge, and includes a head for recording and / or reproducing with respect to the disk, and a shutter opening / closing means for opening / closing the shutter. In the recording and / or reproducing operation, the head is brought close to the disk exposed by opening the shutter by the shutter opening / closing means.

  According to the above configuration, the shutter of the disk cartridge is opened by the shutter opening / closing means, and the recording and / or reproducing operation is performed from the opened area by the head. Therefore, since the disk of the disk cartridge can be exposed only by performing a relatively simple operation of opening the shutter, the configuration for exposing the disk can be simplified.

  In the disk drive according to the embodiment, the head includes a magnetic head unit that applies a magnetic field to the disk and an optical head unit that irradiates and detects a laser beam. It is good also as composition which has.

  According to the above configuration, since the head unit includes the magnetic head unit that applies a magnetic field and the optical head unit that performs irradiation and detection of laser light, the magnetic field is applied from one surface to the disk. And laser light irradiation. Therefore, for example, the thickness of the disk drive itself can be reduced as compared with a conventional configuration in which a magnetic field is applied from one surface of the disk and laser light is irradiated from the other surface.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive that uses a disk cartridge, and is movably provided in the disk drive main body. The disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive while holding the disk cartridge. A disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, comprising a cartridge holder that moves downward in the insertion direction after moving in the insertion direction of the cartridge; A disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of a region on one side of the disc; and a connecting means for connecting the disc and the disc cover, wherein the disc cover on the disc is provided. The surface opposite to the surface It is characterized by the use of which out the disk cartridge.

  According to the above configuration, the disc cover is provided so as to cover only one surface of the disc provided with the recording layer, and the disc and the disc cover are connected by the connecting means. It has become. Therefore, the thickness of the entire disc cartridge is only the thickness of the disc and the thickness of the disc cover provided only on one side of the disc. Therefore, for example, compared to a disk cartridge in which disk covers are provided on both sides of the disk, the thickness of the entire disk cartridge can be made thinner. That is, by reducing the thickness of the disk cartridge, the thickness of the disk drive corresponding to the disk cartridge can be reduced.

  In addition, the disk drive according to the present invention includes a head for recording and / or reproducing with respect to the disk in the above configuration, and when the disk cartridge is completely loaded into the disk drive, the disk drive The disk may be close to the head.

  The disc drive according to the present invention further comprises chucking for holding the disc in the above configuration, and when the disc cartridge is completely loaded in the disc drive, the disc is inserted by the disc holder. It is good also as a structure hold | maintained by the said chucking.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge, and includes a cartridge holder that is lifted obliquely from the drive case to the upper surface side when the disk cartridge is inserted, and exposes the disk cartridge insertion port, As the disc cartridge, a disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, a disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disc, A disk cartridge having a connecting means for connecting the disk and the disk cover, wherein a surface of the disk opposite to the surface on which the disk cover is provided is exposed to the outside; Yes.

  According to the above configuration, the thickness of the disk drive can be reduced by the thickness of the upper shell in the conventional disk cartridge.

  As described above, the disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge, and is provided movably in the disk drive main body. When the disk cartridge is inserted, the disk cartridge is A disk having a cartridge holder that moves in the insertion direction of the disk cartridge while being held and then moves downward with respect to the insertion direction, and is provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information as the disk cartridge A disk having a shape, a disk cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the surface on one side of the disk, and a connecting means for connecting the disk and the disk cover, and the disk in the disk Opposite to the surface where the cover is provided Surface of a structure using the disc cartridge is exposed to the outside.

  According to the above configuration, the disc cover is provided so as to cover only one surface of the disc provided with the recording layer, and the disc and the disc cover are connected by the connecting means. It has become. Therefore, the thickness of the entire disc cartridge is only the thickness of the disc and the thickness of the disc cover provided only on one side of the disc. Therefore, for example, compared to a disk cartridge in which disk covers are provided on both sides of the disk, the thickness of the entire disk cartridge can be made thinner. That is, by reducing the thickness of the disk cartridge, the thickness of the disk drive corresponding to the disk cartridge can be reduced.

  In addition, the disk drive according to the present invention includes a head for recording and / or reproducing with respect to the disk in the above configuration, and when the disk cartridge is completely loaded into the disk drive, the disk drive The disk may be configured to be close to the head.

  The disc drive according to the present invention further comprises chucking for holding the disc in the above configuration, and when the disc cartridge is completely loaded in the disc drive, the disc is inserted by the disc holder. It is good also as a structure hold | maintained by the said chucking.

  The disk drive according to the present invention is a disk drive using a disk cartridge, and includes a cartridge holder that is lifted obliquely from the drive case to the upper surface side when the disk cartridge is inserted, and exposes the disk cartridge insertion port, As the disc cartridge, a disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, a disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disc, The disk cartridge has a connecting means for connecting the disk and the disk cover, and uses a disk cartridge in which the surface of the disk opposite to the surface on which the disk cover is provided is exposed to the outside.

  According to the above configuration, the thickness of the disk drive can be reduced by the thickness of the upper shell in the conventional disk cartridge.

  The present invention can be used for a disk drive using a disk cartridge including a disk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk for performing magneto-optical recording or phase change recording.

1A and 1B show a schematic configuration of a disk cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 1B is a plan view when FIG. 1A is viewed from above. It is. It is sectional drawing which expanded and showed the vicinity of the outer peripheral side disk contact part with which the said disk cartridge is provided. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the disc part with which the said disc cartridge is provided, and the head which performs recording / reproducing with respect to this disc part. FIGS. 3A to 3D are explanatory diagrams showing the procedure of the recording / reproducing operation for the disk cartridge by the disk drive according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory views showing a state when viewed from above in FIGS. 4A to 4D. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the center of a disk cartridge having a lock mechanism. 6 shows a lock mechanism having a configuration different from the configuration shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6B is a plan view of the disk cartridge when viewed from the upper surface side, and FIG. It is sectional drawing in the aa 'line in the inside. 1 shows a specific example of the shape of a disk cartridge, FIG. 5B is a plan view of the disk cartridge, and FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line aa ′ in FIG. FIG. It is a top view which shows another specific example of the shape of a disc cartridge. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a disk cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above, in which FIG. (A) shows a state in which the shutter is closed, and (b) in FIG. Show. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the disk cartridge shown in FIG. 10 when viewed from below, in which FIG. 10A shows a state where the shutter is closed, and FIG. 10B shows a state where the shutter is opened. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the disc cartridge when viewed from below with the shutter closed, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. FIG. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the disc cartridge when viewed from below with the shutter opened, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which has inserted the disk cartridge with respect to the disk drive which concerns on the other embodiment of this invention. 14A shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. 14 when the disk cartridge reaches the back of the cartridge holder, and FIG. 14B shows the loading of the disk cartridge. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line aa ′ in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state just before a disc cartridge is inserted in a cartridge holder and a shutter is opened. (A) of FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of a region indicated by B in FIG. 16, and (b) of FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A ′ of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the disc cartridge and cartridge holder of the state in which the shutter was fully opened. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the conventional disc cartridge. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional disc cartridge as viewed from above, where FIG. 1A shows a state in which the shutter is open, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the shutter is closed. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional disk cartridge as viewed from below, where FIG. 1A shows a state in which the shutter is open, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the shutter is closed. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b ′ of the disk drive shown in FIG. 14. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a disk drive using the conventional disk cartridge shown in FIG. 19 and the like. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a loading mechanism for a disk cartridge in a disk drive according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a side view of FIG. is there. FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the loading mechanism shown in FIGS. 24 (a) and 24 (b). FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a state where the disk cartridge has been inserted in the loading mechanism, and FIG. 4B is a side view of FIG. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the loading mechanism shown in FIGS. 26 (a) and 26 (b).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Disc 2 Disc cover 3 Disc part 4 Hub part 5 Inner peripheral side disk contact part (inner peripheral side contact part)
7 Outer disc contact part (outer contact part)
11 Head 14 Disk substrate 15 Recording film (recording layer)
16 Protective film (protective layer)
17 Magnetic coil (magnetic head)
18 Objective Lens 22 Light Emitting Element 23 Light Receiving Element 24 Disc Convex 24A Constriction (Concave)
25 Projection (convex part)
26 Disc holding lock 30 Shutter 31 Notch for holding hub 32 Hub 33 Cartridge holder 35 Head

Claims (3)

In a disk drive using a disk cartridge,
As the disc cartridge, a disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, a disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disc, A fixing mechanism for fixing the disc to the disc cover from a side opposite to the one side surface in a state outside the disc drive body, and a surface of the disc on which the disc cover is provided Use a disc cartridge with the opposite side exposed to the outside,
A disk drive comprising: a release mechanism for releasing the fixation when the disk cartridge is inserted into a disk drive body. In a disk drive using a disk cartridge,
As the disc cartridge, a disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, a disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disc, A fixing mechanism for hooking and fixing the disk to the disk cover in a state outside the disk drive body, and the surface of the disk opposite to the surface on which the disk cover is provided is external Use the disc cartridge exposed to
A release mechanism for releasing the fixation by inserting the disk cartridge into the disk drive body;
A cartridge that is movably provided in a disc drive body, and that moves in the insertion direction of the disc cartridge while holding the disc cartridge and then moves downward with respect to the insertion direction by inserting the disc cartridge. With a holder,
A head for recording and / or reproducing with respect to the disk,
The disc cover is provided with a shutter for switching exposure / non-exposure of the surface of the disc where the disc cover is provided as the fixing mechanism.
When the loading of the disk cartridge into the disk drive body is completed, the head approaches the disk exposed by opening the shutter,
The disk cartridge further supports the disk as the fixing mechanism by an outer peripheral abutting portion provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the outer peripheral part of the disk in the disk cover in a state outside the disk drive main body. In this state, a holding lock is provided to lock the disc to the disc cover by clamping the disc together with the outer circumference abutting portion from the side opposite to the side where the outer circumference abutting portion supports the disc. The holding lock is provided on the disc cover,
A disk drive comprising: a lock release mechanism for releasing the lock by the holding lock when the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive body. In a disk drive using a disk cartridge,
As the disc cartridge, a disc-shaped disc provided with a recording layer for recording and / or reproducing information, a disc cover provided so as to cover at least a part of the area on one side of the disc, A fixing mechanism for hooking and fixing the disk to the disk cover in a state outside the disk drive body, and the surface of the disk opposite to the surface on which the disk cover is provided is external Use the disc cartridge exposed to
A release mechanism for releasing the fixation by inserting the disk cartridge into the disk drive body;
When inserting the disc cartridge, a cartridge holder that is lifted obliquely from the drive case to the upper surface side and exposes the disc cartridge insertion port, and
A head for recording and / or reproducing with respect to the disk,
The disc cover is provided with a shutter for switching exposure / non-exposure of the surface of the disc where the disc cover is provided as the fixing mechanism.
When the loading of the disk cartridge into the disk drive body is completed, the head approaches the disk exposed by opening the shutter,
The disk cartridge further supports the disk as the fixing mechanism by an outer peripheral abutting portion provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the outer peripheral part of the disk in the disk cover in a state outside the disk drive main body. In this state, a holding lock is provided to lock the disc to the disc cover by clamping the disc together with the outer circumference abutting portion from the side opposite to the side where the outer circumference abutting portion supports the disc. The holding lock is provided on the disc cover,
A disk drive comprising: a lock release mechanism for releasing the lock by the holding lock when the disk cartridge is inserted into the disk drive body.

Images