JP2003007025A - Disk cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the stable and reliable movement of a shutter member to the close position by reducing the sliding resistance of the shutter member between other members and making the operating force small enough in the movement to the close position. SOLUTION: A disk cartridge 100 is provided with: a cartridge main body 2 wherein a disk-like recording medium 3 is rotatably housed and also recording/ reproducing opening parts 6, 28 are arranged so as to expose part of the information recording surface of the disk-like recording medium to the outside from the inner circumferential part over the outer circumferential part; a shutter member 35 for opening/closing the above recording/reproducing opening parts; and a lock member 18 for locking the above shutter member to the close position where the recording/reproducing opening part is closed. The surface 44b of the shutter member sliding in contact with the lock member is formed to be the surface for reducing the sliding resistance.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel disc cartridge. More specifically, the present invention relates to a disc cartridge that has a disc-shaped recording medium rotatably housed in a cartridge body and has a shutter member that opens and closes a recording / reproducing opening that exposes part of the recording surface of the disc-shaped recording medium to the outside. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter referred to as "disk") capable of recording and / or reproducing information signals such as music signals and video signals is rotatably housed in a flat rectangular cartridge body. There is a disc cartridge. In such a disc cartridge, an access window for exposing a part of the disc to the outside for accessing the optical pickup or the magnetic head for recording or reproducing is provided on one or both upper and lower surfaces of the cartridge body. In addition, in order to prevent dust from entering the cartridge body through the access window or foreign matter from touching the recording surface of the disc, the closed position and the access window are closed to close the access window. Some of them are provided with a shutter member that can move between the open position and a lock member that locks the shutter member in the closed position. An example of such a disc cartridge is shown in FIGS.

The disk cartridge 1 comprises a flat and rectangular cartridge body 2 in which a disk 3 is rotatably housed. The cartridge body 2 is composed of an upper shell 4 and a lower shell 5 that are abutted on each other in the vertical direction and are joined together by ultrasonic welding or the like. For example, disk 3
In the case of a magneto-optical disk, the access window 6 for the magnetic head for bringing the magnetic head into contact with or close to the back surface of the recording surface of the disk 3 at the time of recording is provided with the main surface portion 4a of the upper shell 4.
And a part of the disk 3 is exposed to the outside from the inner peripheral portion to the outer peripheral portion (see FIG. 12). Although not shown, an access window for the optical pickup is formed at a position corresponding to the access window 6 in the main surface portion of the lower shell 5 so that the optical pickup faces the recording surface of the disk 3 during recording and reproduction. ing.

A shutter member 7 for opening and closing the access window 6 and the like is provided on the cartridge body 2 so as to be slidable in the front-back direction, that is, in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The shutter member 7 is formed by punching, cutting and bending a thin metal plate such as aluminum or stainless steel. The shutter member 7 includes a shutter plate 8 having a rectangular plate shape slightly larger than the access window 6 of the upper shell 4, a shutter plate 9 having a plate shape slightly larger than an access window (not shown) of the lower shell 5, and these two shutter plates. 8, 9
And a connecting plate 10 connecting one ends of the two are integrally formed so as to have a flat “U” shape when viewed from the front-rear direction. The connecting plate 10 is formed with an engagement hole 10a with which a shutter closing member described later is engaged.

Guide parts 11 and 12 are provided in series in front of and behind the connecting plate 10. Each of the guide portions 11 and 12 has a shape such that a lower half portion of the connecting plate 10 and a portion of the lower shutter plate 9 near the connecting plate 10 are connected in an "L" shape, Each side part 11a, 12
At a position near the connecting plate 10 at the upper edge of a, the upper guide piece 13,
13 is projected in the same direction as the shutter plates 8 and 9, and lower guide pieces 14 and 14 are projected upward at the tips of the lower side portions 11b and 12b. Further, an engaging piece 15 is provided on the upper edge of the front end portion of the front guide portion 11 so as to project in the same direction as the shutter plates 8 and 9, and the side edge portion 11a is provided at the front end portion of the engaging piece 15 as it goes to the front end. An inclined edge 15a is formed which is displaced to the side (see FIG. 13).

A guide wall 16 extending in the front-rear direction is formed on one end surface of the cartridge body 2, and a groove 17 is formed in a portion above the guide wall 16. Further, a slide groove (not shown) extending in the front-rear direction is formed in a portion of the lower surface of the cartridge body 2 near one end surface.

The shutter member 7 has a guide portion 1
Lower side portions 11b and 12b of the upper and lower guide pieces 13 and
Is located so as to sandwich the guide wall 16 of the cartridge main body 2 from above and below by 13 and the lower guide piece 14,
By slidably engaging a sliding groove (not shown) on the lower surface of the cartridge body 2, the cartridge body 14 is slidably supported by the cartridge body 2 in the front-back direction, that is, in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

A lock member 18 as shown in FIG. 14 is provided at the front end of one end of the cartridge body 2. The lock member 18 is formed as a plastic molded product, and the engaging arm portion 19 and the elastically deforming portion 20 are integrally formed so as to have a substantially V-shaped planar shape. The engaging arm portion 19 has a planar shape of a substantially "V" shape, an engaging concave portion 19a is formed on the lower surface side of the bent portion, and the elastic deforming portion 20 is formed from the engaging concave portion 19a toward the distal end toward the distal end. An inclined guide surface 19b that is displaced toward the side is formed, and an inclined guide surface 19c having an inclination opposite to the inclined guide surface 19b is formed on the base end side of the engagement recess 19a. Further, the lower surface of the engaging arm portion 19 has a shape such that the portion from the position close to the base end portion is scraped off,
As a result, the rotation position regulating surface 19 is located near the base end.
d is formed. The elastically deformable portion 20 is formed in a thin plate shape whose surface direction extends in the vertical direction, and is elastically deformable to a greater extent than the engaging arm piece 19. Further, a circular mounting hole 18a extending in the up-down direction is formed in a connecting portion between the engaging arm portion 19 and the elastically deforming portion 20.

The above-mentioned lock member 18 has a base end portion at the front end portion of one end portion inside the cartridge body 2, that is, the mounting hole 1
The side on which 8a is formed is the front, that is, the arrow F in FIG.
The elastically deformable portion 20 is arranged in such a manner that the elastically deformable portion 20 is located inward of the engaging arm portion 19. The engaging recess 19a is formed through the notch hole 21 formed in the rear surface of the groove 17 near the front end, and the two inclined guide surfaces 19b and 19c are located at least near the engaging recess 19a. Are located in the groove 17. The tip of the elastically deformable portion 20 contacts an abutting portion (not shown) provided in the cartridge body 2 so that the tip is located closer to the tip of the engaging arm 19 than the state shown in FIG. As a result, the engaging arm portion 19 is urged so as to rotate in a direction projecting from the cartridge body 2, and the rotation by the urging is caused by the rotation restricting surface 19d of the guide wall 16 of the cartridge body 2. Stopped by abutting the inner surface,
As a result, the portion of the engaging arm portion 19 where the engaging concave portion 19a is formed and the groove 1 of the two inclined guide surfaces 19b and 19c.
The amount of protrusion into 7 is defined.

When the shutter member 7 is in the closed position, the engagement piece 15 of the shutter member 7 engages with the engagement recess 19a of the lock member, whereby the shutter member 7 cannot move. That is, it is locked in the closed position.

When the disc cartridge 1 is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and / or reproducing the disc 3, when the disc cartridge 1 is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the cartridge mounting portion is The provided shutter opening member 22 relatively enters the groove 17 of the cartridge body 2 from the front end and moves rearward, that is, in the direction of arrow R in FIG. As described above, the shutter opening member 22 moving relatively rearward in the groove 17 first presses the inclined guide surface 19c on the front side of the lock member 18, whereby the elastically deformable portion 20 of the lock member 18 is pushed. Is bent, the engaging arm portion 19 is rotated in a direction to be retracted into the cartridge body 2, and the engagement concave portion 19a formed in the engaging arm portion 19 and the engagement piece 15 of the shutter member 7 are released. At the same time, the shutter opening member 22 contacts the front end of the side portion 11a of the guide portion 11 on the front side of the shutter member 7, and further pushes the side portion 11a rearward. Then, in the shutter member 7, the upper side guide pieces 13 and 13 are guided by the side walls 11 a of the front guide portion 11 being pushed rearward by the shutter opening member 22.
Further, the lower guide pieces 14 and 14 are respectively guided by the sliding grooves (not shown) to move rearward, and the shutter plates 8 and 9 reach the open position for opening the access window 6 and the like.

When the shutter member 7 reaches the open position, the shutter opening member 22 locks the lock member 18.
The pressing operation of the inclined guide surface 19c is released, and the engaging arm portion 19 of the lock member 18 is rotated by the elastic force stored in the elastically deforming portion 20 until the rotation restricting surface 19d comes into contact with the guide wall 16. The portion where the engagement recess 19 a is formed is located in the cutout hole 21.

Further, as the disc cartridge 1 is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus,
Shutter closing member 2 provided in the cartridge mounting portion
3 is a side part 11 of the front guide part 11 of the shutter member 7.
Contact a. The shutter closing member 23 is biased toward the one side surface 2a of the cartridge body 2 by a resilient biasing means (not shown), and the shutter member is pressed by the engaging arm portion 19 of the shutter opening member 22 against the inclined guide surface 19c. Immediately after the lock of the shutter member 7 is released, the front end of the shutter closing member 23 is engaged with the engagement hole 10a of the shutter member 7.
Engage with.

When the eject operation is performed after the recording or reproducing operation on the disk 3 is completed, the disk cartridge 1 is taken out from the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus. At this time, the movement of the shutter member 7 is restricted because the shutter closing member 23 elastically urged by the elastic urging means on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is engaged with the engagement hole 10a. It moves relative to the cartridge body 2, that is, in the direction of arrow F in FIG. As the shutter member 7 moves forward, the inclined surface 15a of the engaging piece 15 rides on and slides on the inclined guide surface 19b on the rear side of the lock member 18. The shutter member 7 is the lower guide piece 1.
Since 4 and 14 are engaged with a sliding groove (not shown) formed on the main surface of the lower shell 5, they cannot move in the direction away from the one side surface 2a of the cartridge body 2. 15 presses the inclined guide surface 19b of the engaging arm portion 19 of the lock member 18 to the inside of the cartridge body 2, and the engaging arm portion 19 rotates inward of the cartridge body 2. Then, when the shutter member 7 reaches the closed position, the engagement piece 15 corresponds to the engagement recess 19a of the lock member 18, so that the engagement arm portion 19 returns to the original position and the engagement recess 19a and the engagement piece 19a. 15 and the shutter member 7 is locked in the closed position. When the shutter member 7 reaches the closed position, it cannot move further forward. Therefore, the shutter closing member 23 on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is further elastically moved by the force of pulling out the disc cartridge 1 from the cartridge mounting portion. Engagement hole 10 of shutter member 7 against the biasing force of the biasing means.
When the disc cartridge 1 is removed from a, the disc cartridge 1 is taken out from the cartridge mounting portion.

[0015]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional disc cartridge 1, when the shutter member 7 moves from the open position to the closed position, the slanted edge of the engaging piece 15 of the shutter member 7 is formed. 15a is the lock member 1
The engaging arm portion 19 is pushed into the cartridge main body 2 while slidingly contacting the inclined guide surface 19b of FIG. 8 to rotate the engaging arm portion 19 into the cartridge main body 2. Then, as described above, the shutter member 7 is formed by punching, cutting and bending a thin plate of metal such as aluminum or stainless steel, and the inclined edge 15a of the engaging piece 15 described above is formed by cutting a thin metal plate. It is formed by the end faces. Therefore, the sliding resistance between the inclined edge 15a and the inclined guide surface 19b of the lock member 18 is large due to the roughness of the cut surface of the inclined edge 15a and the influence of burrs,
A large operating force is required to move the shutter member 7. When a large operating force is required for moving the shutter member 7 in this way, during the eject operation,
Cartridge body 2 discharged from the cartridge mounting portion
On the other hand, since the shutter member 7 is restricted in position by the shutter closing member 23 which is elastically urged in one side surface direction of the cartridge body 2 and engaged with the engagement hole 10a of the shutter member 7, Engagement hole 10a of shutter member 7
When the large operating force is applied between the shutter closing member 23 and the shutter closing member 23, the shutter closing member 23 may slip out of the engagement hole 10a.

As described above, the shutter closing member 23
When the shutter member 7 slips out of the engagement hole 10a of the shutter member 7, the shutter member 7 cannot move relative to the cartridge body 2, and the shutter member 7 does not move to the closed position. Two
The disk cartridge 1 will be taken out of the recording / reproducing apparatus with the access window 6 and the like left open.

When the access window 6 of the disc cartridge 1 is opened, dust or the like enters the cartridge body 2 and adheres to the recording surface of the disc 3, or the recording surface of the disc 3 is damaged. It causes inconvenience.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the sliding resistance between the shutter member and other members is made small so that the operation force for moving the shutter member to the closed position is small, and the shutter member is moved to the closed position. The challenge is to ensure that the movement is stable and reliable.

[0019]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the disk cartridge of the present invention has a sliding resistance reducing surface on the surface of the shutter member that is in sliding contact with the lock member.

Therefore, in the disk cartridge of the present invention, since the surface of the shutter member that is in sliding contact with the lock member is positively set as the sliding resistance reducing surface, the operating force for moving the shutter member to the closed position is increased. Since the shutter member is small, it is possible to stably move the shutter member to the closed position, and thus it is possible to eliminate the defective closing of the recording / reproducing opening portion due to the shutter member during the eject operation.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the disk cartridge of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is characterized in that the sliding resistance of the surface of the shutter member that is in sliding contact with the lock member is small, and other parts are the same as in the above-described conventional disk cartridge 1. Therefore, the same parts as those in the conventional disc cartridge 1 will be referred to by the above description and the reference numerals of the conventional disc cartridge 1, and the parts characteristic of the present invention will be described in detail.

The disk cartridge 100 is a cartridge main body 2 having a flat inner surface and a rectangular inner space.
The disk 3 is rotatably accommodated therein (see FIG. 3).

The cartridge body 2 is formed by the upper shell 4 and the lower shell 5 which are joined together in an abutting manner at the top and bottom (see FIG. 3). Main surface portion 4a of the upper shell 4
Partition walls 24 and 25 for partitioning a circular space are formed on the lower surface of the disk 3 and the upper surface of the main surface portion 5a of the lower shell 5, respectively.
A space for arranging is formed. A turntable insertion opening 26 is formed in the center of the space surrounded by the partition wall 25 of the main surface portion 5a of the lower shell 5 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and the disc cartridge 100 is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus. At this time, the turntable provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus is inserted into the cartridge main body 2 through the turntable insertion port 26. A center plate 27 made of a magnetic metal plate is attached to the center of the disk 3 (see FIG. 3), and the center plate 27 is attached to a chucking magnet provided on a turntable inserted in the cartridge body 2. The disk 3 is chucked on the turntable by being attracted.

Partition wall 2 of main surface portion 4a of upper shell 4
A magnetic head access window 6 is formed from the inner circumference to the outer circumference at a position on one side of the area surrounded by 4, and the main surface portion 5a of the lower shell 4 is picked up at a position corresponding to the magnetic head access window 6. An access window 28 is formed (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

A shallow recess 29 is formed from a position near the one side of the upper surface of the main surface 4a of the upper shell 4 where the magnetic head access window 6 is formed to a position near the rear end (see FIG. 1). Further, a shallow concave portion 30 is formed from a portion near the one side of the lower surface of the main surface portion 5a of the lower shell 5 where the pickup access window 28 is formed to a position near the rear end (see FIG. 2).

From the pickup access window 28 on one side of the lower shell 5, guide walls 16 and 16 having a predetermined vertical width are formed on the front side portion and the rear end portion (FIG. 1, FIG. 1).
(See FIG. 3). Further, one side portion of the upper shell 4 is shaped such that the lower portion is cut off except for the rear end, so that between the thin wall portion 31 remaining on the upper end portion and the guide wall 16 on the front side. The groove 17 is formed. And the groove 1
A part of the wall that defines the inner surface of 7 is cut out to form a cutout hole 21 in the groove 17.

The partition wall 24 in the cartridge body 2,
The lock member 18 is arranged in the space 32 between the 25 and the one side wall 4b, 5b and the front side wall 4c, 5c (see FIG. 8).

The lock member 18 is formed as a plastic molded product, and the engaging arm portion 19 and the elastically deforming portion 20 are integrally formed so as to have a substantially V-shaped planar shape. The engaging arm portion 19 has a planar shape of a substantially "V" shape, an engaging concave portion 19a is formed on the lower surface side of the bent portion, and the elastic deforming portion 20 is formed from the engaging concave portion 19a toward the distal end toward the distal end. An inclined guide surface 19b that is displaced toward the side is formed, and an inclined guide surface 19c having an inclination opposite to the inclined guide surface 19b is formed on the base end side of the engagement recess 19a.
Are formed. Further, the lower surface of the engaging arm portion 19 has a shape such that the portion ahead of the position near the base end portion has been scraped off, whereby the turning position regulating surface 19d is located at the position near the base end portion. Has been formed. The elastically deformable portion 20 is formed in a thin plate shape whose surface direction extends in the vertical direction, and is elastically deformable to a greater extent than the engaging arm piece 19. Further, a circular mounting hole 18a extending in the up-down direction is formed in a connecting portion between the engaging arm portion 19 and the elastically deforming portion 20.

At the front end of the space 32 in the cartridge body 2, there is provided a support shaft 33 which is erected on the main surface portion 5a of the lower shell 5, and also near the partition wall 25 which is separated rearward from the support shaft 33. The abutting wall 34 is formed at the position (see FIG. 8).

The lock member 18 has a mounting hole 18a in which the engaging arm portion 19 faces one side of the cartridge body 2.
Is rotatably fitted onto the support shaft 33 of the cartridge body 2. Further, the abutting protrusion 20 a provided at the tip of the elastically deforming portion 20 is elastically abutted against the abutting wall 34 of the cartridge body 2. At this time, the elastically deformable portion 20 is in a slightly bent state, so that the engaging arm portion 19 is applied with a rotational force in the direction of protruding to one side of the cartridge body 2, that is, in the CCW direction in FIG. Energized. When the rotation restricting surface 19d of the engaging arm portion 19 comes into contact with the inner surface of the guide wall 16, the rotation in the arrow CCW direction is stopped, and in this state, the opening surface of the engaging concave portion 19a and the two The part of the inclined guide surfaces 19b, 19c near the engaging recess 19a is the groove 17.
It is in a state of protruding inward (see FIG. 8). The position of the engaging arm portion 19 in the state shown in FIG. 8 is the lock position.

A shutter member 35 for opening and closing the access windows 6 and 28 is provided on the cartridge body 2 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction, that is, in the direction of arrow A in FIGS.

As can be seen from FIGS. 4 to 7, the shutter member 35 is formed by punching, cutting and bending a thin metal plate such as aluminum or stainless steel. The shutter member 35 is the access window 6 of the upper shell 4.
A shutter plate 36 in the shape of a rectangle that is one size larger and a shutter plate 37 in the form of a plate that is one size larger than the access window 28 of the lower shell 5 and these two shutter plates 3
A connecting plate 38, which connects between one side ends of 6, 6 and 37, is integrally formed so as to form a flat “U” shape when viewed from the front-rear direction. The connecting plate 38 is formed with an engaging hole 38a with which a shutter closing member described later is engaged.

Guide portions 39 and 40 are provided in series in front of and behind the connecting plate 38, respectively. Each of the guide portions 39 and 40 has a shape such that a lower half portion of the connecting plate 38 and a portion of the lower shutter plate 37 near the connecting plate 38 are connected in an “L” shape, Each side portion 39a, 4
0a of the upper guide piece 4 at a position near the connecting plate 38 of the upper edge.
1, 41 are projected in the same direction as the shutter plates 36, 37, and lower guide pieces 42, 42 are projected upward at the tips of the lower sides 39b, 40b. Then, in the respective guide portions 39, 40, the lower side portions 39b, 40
The distance between b and the upper guide pieces 41, 41 is slightly larger than the thickness of the guide wall 16 of the cartridge body 2, that is, the vertical size.

A locked portion 43 is continuously provided at the front end of the front guide portion 11. The locked portion 43 has a side portion 43a continuous with the side portion 39a of the guide portion 39 and a lower side portion 43b continuous with a lower side portion 39b of the guide portion 39, and the height of the side portion 43a is the guide portion 39. , 40 is higher than the height of the side portions 39a, 40a, and the upper end of the guide portion 3
It is located at a position higher than the upper ends of the side portions 39a, 40a of 9, 40 (see FIG. 4). An engagement piece 44 is provided to project from the upper edge of the side portion 43a of the locked portion 43 in the same direction as the upper guide pieces 41, 41. The engaging piece 4
4 is an inclined edge that is displaced toward the side portion 43a as it goes forward, and the end portion 4 of the engaging piece 44 is
4a is bent to the lower side 43b side,
b is a sliding contact edge (see FIG. 7). Further, as can be seen in FIG. 6, the end portion 44a is bent at an acute angle with respect to the other portion 44c, and the sliding contact edge 44b is provided with an R surface.

The shutter member 35 includes the lower side portions 39b and 40b of the guide portions 39 and 40 and the upper side guide piece 4.
The guide wall 16 of the cartridge body 2 by
Is positioned so that it is sandwiched from above and below, and the lower guide piece 4
2, 42 are slidably engaged with a sliding groove 45 (see FIG. 2) formed on the lower surface of the cartridge body 2,
The front and rear directions of the cartridge body 2, that is, FIGS.
It is slidably supported in the direction of the middle arrow A. The shutter plates 36 and 37 of the shutter member 35 are shallow recesses 29 and 30 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the cartridge body 2, respectively.
It is moved back and forth while it is located inside.

When the shutter member 35 is attached to the cartridge main body 2 as described above, the engagement piece 44 of the locked portion 43 is positioned substantially at the center of the groove 17 of the cartridge main body 2 in the vertical direction. Then, with the shutter member 35 in the closed position, that is, in the state where the shutter plate 36 covers the magnetic head access window 6 and the shutter plate 37 covers the pickup access window 28, the engagement piece 44 of the shutter member 35 is formed. Is the lock member 18
The shutter member 35 is in a state in which it cannot move in the front-rear direction, that is, in a locked state (see FIGS. 1 and 8).

When the disc cartridge 100 is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and / or reproducing the disc 3, when the disc cartridge 100 is inserted in the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus,
Shutter opening member 22 provided in the cartridge mounting portion
Enters relatively into the groove 17 of the cartridge body 2 from the front end and moves rearward, that is, in the direction of arrow R in FIG. As described above, the shutter opening member 22 that relatively moves rearward in the groove 17 first pushes the inclined guide surface 19c on the front side of the lock member 18 so as to be pushed into the cartridge main body 2, thereby The elastically deformable portion 20 of the lock member 18 is bent, and the engaging arm portion 19 is formed in the engaging arm portion 19 by rotating in the direction of retracting into the cartridge body 2, that is, in the direction of arrow CW in FIG. The engagement between the engagement recess 19a and the engagement piece 44 of the shutter member 35 is released (see FIG. 9), and the shutter opening member 22 causes the locked portion 43 of the shutter member 35.
Abutting on the front end of the side portion 43a of the
Press a toward the rear. Then, in the shutter member 35, the side portions 43a of the locked portion 43 are pressed rearward by the shutter opening member 22, so that the upper guide pieces 41, 41 are guided by the guide wall 16.
Further, the lower guide pieces 42, 42 are respectively guided by the sliding grooves 45 to move rearward, and the shutter plates 36, 3
7 reaches the open position for opening the access windows 6, 28 (see FIGS. 2 and 10).

When the shutter member 35 reaches the open position, the shutter opening member 22 locks the lock member 1.
8, the pressing operation on the inclined guide surface 19c is released,
The engagement arm portion 19 of the lock member 18 has a rotation restricting surface 19d with the guide wall 16 due to the elastic force stored in the elastic deformation portion 20.
The portion in which the engaging concave portion 19a is formed and the portions of the inclined guide surfaces 19b and 19c that are close to the engaging concave portion 19a are positioned in the groove 17 by rotating until they come into contact with.

As the disc cartridge 100 is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the shutter closing member 23 provided in the cartridge mounting portion contacts the side portion 43a of the locked portion 43 of the shutter member 35. Contact. The shutter closing member 23 is attached to the one side surface 2 of the cartridge body 2 by an elastic urging means (not shown).
The shutter closing member 23 is urged toward the side a, and immediately after the lock on the shutter member 35 is released by the pressing operation of the engaging arm portion 19 of the shutter opening member 22 to the inclined guide surface 19c, the tip end portion of the shutter closing member 23 is released. It engages with the engagement hole 38a of the member 35 (see FIG. 10).

When the eject operation is performed after the recording or reproducing operation for the disc 3 is completed, the disc cartridge 100 is taken out from the cartridge mounting portion of the recording / reproducing apparatus. At this time, the movement of the shutter member 35 is restricted because the shutter closing member 23 elastically urged by the elastic urging means on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is engaged with the engagement hole 38a. It moves relative to the cartridge body 2 toward the front. As the shutter member 35 moves forward, the sliding contact edge 44a of the engagement piece 44 rides on and slides on the inclined guide surface 19b on the rear side of the lock member 18. Since the lower guide pieces 42, 42 of the shutter member 35 are engaged with the sliding groove 45 formed on the main surface of the lower shell 5,
Since the engaging piece 44 cannot move in the direction away from the one side surface 2a of the cartridge body 2, the engaging piece 44 presses the inclined guide surface 19b of the engaging arm portion 19 of the lock member 18 to the inside of the cartridge body 2. And the engaging arm portion 19
Inward of the cartridge body 2, that is, in FIG.
It rotates in the direction of the middle arrow CW. And the shutter member 3
When 5 reaches the closed position, the engagement piece 44 moves the locking member 1
8, the engaging arm portion 19 returns to its original position by the elastic force stored in the elastically deforming portion 20, and the engaging concave portion 19a and the engaging piece 44 are engaged with each other. The shutter member 35 is locked in the closed position. When the shutter member 35 reaches the closed position, it cannot move further forward. Therefore, the shutter closing member 23 on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is elastically moved by the force of pulling the disk cartridge 100 out of the cartridge mounting portion. The disc cartridge 100 is removed from the engaging hole 38a of the shutter member 35 against the urging force of the urging and urging means, and the disc cartridge 100 is taken out from the cartridge mounting portion.

In the disc cartridge 100 described above, the lock member 1 is moved when the disc cartridge 100 moves toward the closed position.
Shutter member 35 slidingly contacting the inclined guide surface 19b of FIG.
The sliding contact edge 44b of the engaging piece 44 of FIG.
Is formed by being bent toward the lower side portion 43b, and R
Since it is a surface, the inclined guide surface 1 of the lock member 18
The sliding resistance between the shutter member 35 and 9b is small, and therefore the operation force for moving the shutter member 35 toward the closed position can be small. Therefore, the elastic member is urged toward the side surface 2a of the cartridge body 2 by the elastic urging means to engage with the engagement hole 38a of the shutter member 35 to move the shutter member 35 relative to the cartridge body 2. The shutter closing member 23 present does not come off from the engagement hole 38a, so that the shutter member 35 is stably and reliably moved to the closed position. Further, since the end portion 44a of the engagement piece 44 is bent at an acute angle with respect to the other portion of the engagement piece 44, the cut end surface of the engagement piece 44 contacts the inclined guide surface 19b of the lock member 18. There is no fear of ending up.

In the above embodiment, the disk accommodated in the cartridge body 2 is a magneto-optical disk, but the disk is an optical disk other than the magneto-optical disk, or an optical disk. A disk other than the above, for example, a magnetic disk may be used.

Further, the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment to be carried out when the present invention is carried out, and the technical scope of the present invention is applied thereby. Should not be interpreted in a limited way.

[0045]

As is apparent from the above description, the disc cartridge of the present invention accommodates the disc-shaped recording medium rotatably and has a part of the information recording surface of the disc-shaped recording medium the inner circumference. Cartridge main body provided with a recording / reproducing opening that faces the outside from the portion to the outer peripheral portion, a shutter member for opening / closing the recording / reproducing opening, and the shutter member locked at a closed position where the recording / reproducing opening is closed. And a surface of the shutter member that is in sliding contact with the lock member is a sliding resistance reducing surface.

Therefore, in the disc cartridge of the present invention, since the surface of the shutter member that is in sliding contact with the lock member is positively set as the sliding resistance reducing surface, the operating force for moving the shutter member to the closed position is increased. Since the shutter member is small, the shutter member can be stably and surely moved to the closed position, and therefore, the defective closing of the recording / reproducing opening by the shutter member can be eliminated during the eject operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the shutter member is formed with an engagement piece which is engaged with the engagement recess of the lock member and has the sliding contact surface. Having an inclined guide surface continuous to the engagement recess,
When the shutter member moves from the open position where the recording / reproducing opening is opened to the closed position, the engaging piece presses the inclined guide surface to move the lock member away from the engaging piece. Moved toward the closed position, and when the closed position is reached, the engagement piece corresponds to the engagement recess,
Since the locking member returns to the original position and the engaging recess is engaged with the engaging piece to lock the shutter member, the movement of the shutter member to the closed position and the locking at the position are stable. It is surely done.

In the invention described in claim 3, the shutter member is formed by punching, cutting and bending a thin metal plate of aluminum, stainless steel or the like, and the portion excluding the cut surface is the sliding contact surface. As a result, burrs do not appear and the cut surface, which is a rough surface, does not make sliding contact with the inclined guide surface of the lock member, and the sliding resistance can be easily reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a bent portion bent into a substantially L-shape is formed in the portion having the sliding contact surface, and the outer R surface of the bent portion is the sliding contact surface. Because,
A sliding resistance reduction surface can be easily created.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a disk cartridge of the present invention together with FIGS. 2 to 11, and is a perspective view showing a state in which a shutter member is in a closed position when viewed from the top side.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a shutter member is in an open position as viewed from the lower surface side.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the whole.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a shutter member.

5 is a perspective view showing a part of the shutter member in a direction different from that in FIG. 3. FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a shutter member.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the main part showing the opening / closing operation of the shutter member with the upper shell removed, together with FIGS. 9 to 11, and showing the state in the closed position.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a state of moving to the open position.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which the open position is reached.

FIG. 11 shows a state in the middle of moving from the open position to the closed position.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a conventional disc cartridge together with FIGS. 13 and 14, and is a perspective view showing a shutter member separately.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the shutter member in a different direction from that in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a lock member.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Disk cartridge, 2 ... Cartridge body, 3 ... Disk (disc-shaped recording medium), 6 ... Magnetic head access window (recording / reproducing opening), 18 ... Lock member, 1
9a ... Engagement recess, 19b ... Inclined guide surface, 28 ... Pickup access window (recording / reproducing opening), 35 ... Shutter member, 44 ... Engaging piece, 44b ... Sliding contact edge (sliding resistance reducing surface)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A disc-shaped recording medium is rotatably accommodated, and a recording / reproducing opening is provided to expose a part of an information recording surface of the disc-shaped recording medium to the outside from an inner peripheral portion to an outer peripheral portion. A cartridge body, a shutter member that opens and closes the recording / reproducing opening, and a lock member that locks the shutter member in a closed position where the recording / reproducing opening is closed. A disk cartridge, wherein a surface that is in sliding contact with the lock member is a sliding resistance reducing surface. 2. The shutter member is formed with an engagement piece which is engaged with the engagement recess of the lock member and has the sliding contact surface, and the lock member has an inclined guide surface continuous with the engagement recess. A direction in which the engaging piece presses the inclined guide surface to separate the lock member from the engaging piece when the shutter member moves from the open position where the recording / reproducing opening is opened to the closed position. Is moved toward the closed position while being moved to, the engaging piece corresponds to the engaging recess when reaching the closed position,
2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the lock member returns to the original position and the engagement recess and the engagement piece are engaged with each other to lock the shutter member. 3. The shutter member is formed by punching, cutting and bending a thin metal plate of aluminum, stainless steel or the like, and the portion excluding the cut surface is the sliding contact surface. The described disc cartridge. 4. A portion having the sliding contact surface is formed with a bent portion bent into a substantially L shape, and an outer R surface of the bent portion is the sliding contact surface. The disk cartridge described in.