JP3502894B2 - Magnetic disk cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic disk cartridge, and more particularly, to a structure of a magnetic disk cartridge which has good positional accuracy when loaded in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A magnetic disk cartridge is a thin cassette shell in which a magnetic disk for magnetically recording analog or digital signals is rotatably incorporated. The cassette shell has an upper surface slightly larger than the magnetic disk and a magnetic disk. Is formed into a flat prismatic shape (substantially square) having a bottom surface having an opening for exposing the center core supporting the center of the core and a narrow side surface extending between the top surface and the peripheral edge of the bottom surface. The magnetic disk cartridge is provided with a magnetic head insertion slot into / from which magnetic heads for magnetic recording / reproduction come in and out on both sides of the magnetic disk from the outside or come close to each other. An opening / closing shutter member is provided to prevent dust and the like from entering at the time.

[0003]

The magnetic head insertion port of the conventional magnetic disk cartridge is formed of elongated elongated rectangular openings extending in the radial direction of the magnetic disk on the top and bottom surfaces of the cassette shell.

By the way, the magnetic head insertion port does not necessarily have to be provided on the upper surface and the bottom surface of the cassette shell so as to extend in the radial direction of the magnetic disk, and the magnetic head contacts or approaches from the outside over the entire radius of both surfaces of the magnetic disk. Any shape that can be used,
It is desirable to make the opening as small as possible in order to prevent dust and the like from entering the cartridge. As the miniaturization of the magnetic head becomes possible, the magnetic head insertion port has more flexibility in its position and size, and from the above request, it is possible to provide it on only the side surface of the cassette shell instead of the top or bottom surface. Is coming. That is, on the narrow front side surface of the cassette shell, a magnetic head insertion port having a size that can be exposed from both sides of the magnetic disk is provided.
It has also become possible to take out and insert a thin arm-shaped pickup having a small magnetic head fixed to the tip thereof, and perform recording and reproduction while moving in the radial direction of the magnetic disk.

In the magnetic disk cartridge having the magnetic head insertion opening on the side surface of the cassette shell as described above,
It becomes possible to incorporate a high-density and large-capacity magnetic disk. In such a high-density and large-capacity magnetic disk, large-volume data processing such as processing a large amount of data such as image data or backing up an internal hard disk is often used, and its recording density and transfer rate are increased. Therefore, it is necessary to rotate a magnetic disk at a high speed for recording and reproducing like a conventional hard disk.

In such a magnetic disk cartridge, at least a pair of magnetic heads for recording and reproducing are inserted from the side surface of the cartridge to approach the high speed rotating magnetic disk for recording and reproducing. The shell has a side surface height capable of forming a magnetic head insertion port into which the magnetic head can be inserted, and the thickness of the magnetic disk cartridge is several times that of a conventional thin magnetic disk cartridge.

On the other hand, with the spread of computers and their general use increasing, miniaturization of the size of the computer main body has been promoted, and miniaturization of the magnetic disk drive, especially thinning has become an important issue. A magnetic disk drive in a conventional recording / reproducing apparatus often has a structure in which a magnetic disk cartridge is housed in a bucket portion that covers at least the entire lower surface thereof and then set in a predetermined position. In the magnetic disk drive, if the above-mentioned bucket system is adopted, the size in the thickness direction becomes large. Therefore, it is more compact to provide the cartridge in a structure that holds and guides the cartridge from both sides. Further, since the magnetic head insertion opening is opened on the side surface of the cassette shell, there is a great demand for positional accuracy in the height direction with respect to the magnetic head. From this point as well, the structure of holding and guiding the cartridge from both sides is advantageous. Becomes

However, since the cassette shell in the usual magnetic disk cartridge is constructed by joining cassette shell halves divided into upper and lower parts by ultrasonic welding or the like, it is difficult to secure the thickness dimension accuracy in the vertical direction. In other words, the dimensional accuracy in the thickness direction is affected by the processing accuracy during ultrasonic welding, in addition to the molding accuracy during molding of the cassette shell half, and a double error occurs. It is partial, and ensuring good dimensional accuracy is disadvantageous in terms of manufacturing control, cost, and the like.

In view of this point, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, that is, the magnetic disk cartridge is designed to improve the dimensional accuracy in the vertical direction for a recording / reproducing apparatus of the type that holds and guides the magnetic disk cartridge from the side. It is intended to provide.

[0010]

According to the magnetic disk cartridge of the present invention, a magnetic disk is rotatably built in a cassette shell formed by joining an upper cassette shell half and a lower cassette shell half, which are divided into upper and lower parts, to the side. When the cassette shell is inserted into a recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with a rail-shaped insertion guide member and the side portion is guided by the insertion guide member for vertical positioning, the cassette shell has an upper surface slightly larger than the magnetic disk and the upper surface. Is formed into a flat prismatic shape including a bottom surface having substantially the same shape as that of the base and parallel to the top surface, and narrow side surfaces extending between the top surface and the peripheral edge of the bottom surface.
The front side surface is provided with a magnetic head insertion opening for contacting or approaching the magnetic recording / reproducing head to both sides of the magnetic disk from the outside, and further, the cassette shell is in sliding contact with the insertion guide member of the recording / reproducing apparatus. It is characterized in that a side slide contact guide portion having a slide contact upper surface and a slide contact lower surface is integrally provided on one of the upper cassette shell half and the lower cassette shell half.

Further, it is preferable that a pair of the sliding contact guide portions are provided on either side of one of the upper cassette shell half and the lower cassette shell half.

[0012]

In the magnetic disk cartridge according to the present invention, the magnetic head insertion opening is provided on the side surface of the cassette shell, so that the magnetic head insertion opening can be made small and dust and the like can be prevented from entering the cartridge. It can be effectively prevented. In addition, a side slide contact guide portion having a slide contact upper surface and a slide contact lower surface that slide in contact with an insertion guide member of a recording / reproducing apparatus in which the magnetic disk cartridge is inserted,
Since it is provided integrally with one of the upper and lower cassette shell halves, the height dimensional accuracy and parallel accuracy of the upper and lower surfaces of this part are determined only by the molding accuracy, and there is no influence of the processing accuracy at the time of joining. There is an effect that a small and stable quality can be secured, the vertical position accuracy at the time of loading becomes good, and high-performance recording and reproduction can be performed.

[0013]

Embodiments of the magnetic disk cartridge according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show an example of a magnetic disk cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an upper surface side when a shutter member is opened, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bottom surface side when the shutter member is closed.

The cassette shell 2 in the magnetic disk cartridge 1 of the present embodiment has a magnetic disk 3 rotatably incorporated therein, and is formed by plastic molding and is a pair of upper and lower upper and lower cassette shell halves formed by plastic molding.
It is formed by joining 2a and the lower cassette shell half 2b. The cassette shell 2 has a substantially square upper surface 21 that is slightly larger than the built-in magnetic disk 3, a bottom surface 22 that is substantially the same shape as the upper surface 21 and is parallel to the upper surface 21, and a width that extends between the peripheral edges of the upper surface 21 and the bottom surface 22. It is formed in a flat prismatic shape having a narrow side surface (front side surface 4).

The upper cassette shell half 2a has a smaller width than the lower cassette shell half 2b.
Sliding contact top surface 5a on both edges of the lower cassette shell half 2b
The sliding contact guide portion 5 including the sliding contact lower surface 5b is integrally provided. Inside the upper surface 5a of the sliding contact of the sliding contact guide parts 5 on both sides of the lower cassette shell half 2b,
The upper surface 21 of 2a is continuously provided. After the magnetic disk 3 is housed inside, the upper cassette shell half 2a and the lower cassette shell half 2b are joined and integrated at a proper place by a joining process such as ultrasonic welding.

The sliding contact guide portions 5 on both sides of the cassette shell 2 are inserted and supported by rail-shaped insertion guide members 11 and 12 when loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus. Grooves 11a extending in the front-rear direction of 11 and 12,
The slidable contact upper surface 5a and the slidable contact lower surface 5b are slidably contacted with the 12a to perform vertical positioning.

The magnetic disk 3 (recording medium) is
The center portion is fixed to the center core 3a,
3a faces a circular opening 2a (see FIG. 2) opened on the bottom surface 22 of the cassette shell 2, and a rotary spindle member for rotating the magnetic disk 3 at a high speed is connected to the center core 3a.

On the front side surface 4 of the cassette shell 2,
A magnetic head insertion opening 6 is provided for contacting or approaching the magnetic recording / reproducing head to both sides of the magnetic disk 3 from the outside. A shutter member 8 for opening and closing the magnetic head insertion opening 6 is slidably provided. The shutter member 8 is a plate-shaped member in which an upper sleeve portion 81 extending along each surface of the cassette shell 2, a shutter portion 82, and a lower sleeve portion 83 are connected in a U-shaped cross section. The shutter portion 82 has a shutter opening portion that closes the magnetic head insertion opening 6 during storage and opens the magnetic head insertion opening 6 during operation.
82a is provided. A shallow recess 9 for receiving and guiding and holding the shutter member 8 is formed in a portion of the cassette shell 2 adjacent to the magnetic head insertion opening 6.

The shutter member 8 is constantly urged in a direction to close the magnetic head insertion opening 6 by a shutter closing spring formed by a torsion spring (not shown). This shutter closing spring is inserted into the shell through a spring insertion opening 4a formed at one end of the front side surface 4 of the cassette shell 2, and one end thereof is a spring engaging portion 82b of the shutter portion 82 of the shutter member 8.
The other end is engaged with the inner surface of the shell. The spring engaging portion 82b of the shutter member 8 passes through the sliding groove 4b provided on the side surface 4 of the cassette shell 2. The lower sleeve portion 83 of the shutter member 8 is provided with guide claw portions 83a at two locations, and engages with a guide groove portion 22a formed on the bottom surface 22 of the cassette shell 2 along the sliding direction of the shutter member 8. As a result, the shutter member 8 is prevented from coming off.

In the above embodiment, when the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is used, the magnetic disk cartridge 1 in the state of FIG. 2 in which the shutter member 8 closes the magnetic head insertion opening 6 is recorded as in the conventional magnetic disk cartridge. The slide guides 5 and 5 on both sides are inserted into the insertion guide members 11 and 12 of the reproducing device (hereinafter referred to as a device) while being in sliding contact with each other, and are loaded and used. At that time, according to the loading operation, the shutter member 8 is moved to the open position shown in FIG. 1 by the operation member provided on the apparatus side. When the magnetic disk cartridge 1 is taken out from the apparatus, the shutter member 8 is closed to the position shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the taking-out operation such as pushing the operation button on the apparatus side. At the loading position of the magnetic disk cartridge 1 with respect to the insertion guide members 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. 1, the shutter member 8 is closed as shown in FIG. 2, but the shape of the magnetic head insertion opening 6 and the like. In order to clearly show that, the open state of the shutter member 8 is shown in FIG.

In the illustrated example, the sliding contact upper surface 5a and the sliding contact lower surface 5b of the sliding contact guide portion 5 are formed as tapered surfaces, but they may be provided in a vertically parallel plane shape. Further, the sliding contact guide portion 5 may be provided integrally with the upper cassette shell half 2a contrary to the above example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top side perspective view showing a state in which a shutter member of a magnetic disk cartridge according to the present invention is opened together with a structural example of an insertion guide member of a recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a bottom side perspective view showing a state in which a shutter member of the magnetic disk cartridge is closed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Magnetic disk cartridge 2 cassette shell 2a Upper cassette shell half 2b Lower cassette shell half 3 magnetic disk 4 Front side of cassette shell 5 Sliding contact guide 5a Sliding contact upper surface 5b Sliding contact lower surface 6 Magnetic head insertion slot 8 Shutter member 11, 12 Insertion guide member 11a, 12a groove recess 21 Top of cassette shell 22 Bottom of cassette shell

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording in which a magnetic disk is rotatably built in a cassette shell formed by joining an upper cassette shell half and a lower cassette shell half, which are divided into upper and lower parts, and a rail-shaped insertion guide member is provided on the side. In a magnetic disk cartridge which is inserted into a reproducing device and whose side portion is guided by the insertion guide member to perform vertical positioning, the cassette shell has an upper surface slightly larger than the magnetic disk and a shape substantially the same as the upper surface and parallel to the upper surface. It is formed into a flat prismatic shape having a bottom surface and narrow side surfaces extending between the top surface and the peripheral edge of the bottom surface, and a magnetic recording / reproducing head is contacted with both sides of the magnetic disk from the outside on the front side surface. A magnetic head insertion opening is provided to bring the magnetic head closer to the cassette shell, and the cassette shell is slidably contacted with an insertion guide member of the recording / reproducing apparatus. And a magnetic disk cartridge which sliding guide portion of the side having a sliding lower surface, characterized in that the integrally provided on one of the upper cassette shell half or lower cassette shell half. 2. The magnetic disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the sliding contact guide portions are provided on both sides of one of the upper cassette shell half and the lower cassette shell half.