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US 5,668,793 AGranted
Disk cartridge driving apparatus
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsTakashi Ogawa, Masaaki Sofue, Hideo Inuzuka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A disk cartridge driving apparatus contains a loading mechanism for loading a cartridge or cassette case inserted through an opening and a spindle motor, optical head, optical head driving mechanism for recording and reproducing data from a disk in the cartridge or cassette case. The spindle motor, optical head and optical head driving mechanism are flexibly sealed to prevent the entry of dust even when a disk cartridge is being loaded into the apparatus.
Claims13
A disc drive for a disk cartridge containing a record disk comprising:
- a loading base and a cover defining therebetween a substantially enclosed space except for a front opening into said space;
- a door mounted to selectively close the front opening;
- a cartridge holder mounted in said enclosed space to move between a loading position in which said holder is aligned with said front opening for the insertion therethrough into the holder of a cartridge containing a record disk and a playing position in which information in a record disk in a cartridge inserted into the holder is accessible;
- wherein said holder in one of said positions is closer to the cover than in the other position, and wherein in each position the holder is spaced from the cover;
- and
- a first resilient partitioning member engaging at all times a front portion of said holder and a portion of said cover and changing shape as needed with movement of the cartridge holder between said loading and playing positions to block movement of dust to said cartridge and record disk through space between the holder and said cover.
3 more elements
A method of keeping dust from a disk cartridge containing a record disk comprising:
- providing a loading base and a cover defining therebetween a substantially enclosed space except for a front opening into said space, and a door mounted to selectively close the front opening;
- mounting a cartridge holder in said enclosed space to move between a loading position in which said holder is aligned with said front opening for the insertion therethrough into the holder of a cartridge containing a record disk and a playing position in which information in a record disk in a cartridge inserted into the holder is accessible;
- wherein said holder in one of said positions is closer to the cover than in the other position, and wherein in each position the holder is spaced from the cover;
- and
- utilizing a first resilient partitioning member engaging at all times a front portion of said holder and a portion of said cover and changing shape as needed to block movement of dust to said cartridge and record disk through the space between the holder and said cover.
2 more elements
A disc drive for a disk cartridge containing a record disk comprising:
- a loading base and a cover defining therebetween a substantially enclosed space except for a front opening into said space;
- a door mounted to selectively close the front opening;
- a cartridge holder mounted in said enclosed space to move between a loading position in which said holder is aligned with said front opening for the insertion therethrough into the holder of a cartridge containing a record disk and a playing position in which information in a record disk in a cartridge inserted into the holder is accessible;
- wherein said holder in one of said positions is closer to the cover than in the other position, and wherein in each position the holder is spaced from the cover;
- and
- a first resilient partitioning member secured to said cover and engaging at all times a front portion of said holder, said first resilient partitioning member expanding away from said cover when the cartridge holder moves from the loading position to the playing position and compressing toward the cover when the cartridge holder moves from the playing position to the loading position to block movement of dust to said cartridge and record disk through space between the holder and said cover.
3 more elements
A method of keeping dust from a disk cartridge containing a record disk comprising:
- providing a loading base and a cover defining therebetween a substantially enclosed space except for a front opening into said space, and a door mounted to selectively close the front opening;
- mounting a cartridge holder in said enclosed space to move between a loading position in which said holder is aligned with said front opening for the insertion therethrough into the holder of a cartridge containing a record disk and a playing position in which information in a record disk in a cartridge inserted into the holder is accessible;
- wherein said holder in one of said positions is closer to the cover than in the other position, and wherein in each position the holder is spaced from the cover;
- and
- utilizing a first resilient partitioning member secured to said cover and engaging at all times a front portion of said holder, said first resilient partitioning member expanding away from said cover when the cartridge holder moves from the loading position to the playing position and compresses toward the cover when the cartridge holder moves from the playing position to the loading position to block movement of dust to said cartridge and record disk through the space between the holder and said cover.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.