JP2003157636A - Drive for small magnetic disk - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an opening and closing mechanism of a magnetic head suitable for a card disk drive which has an oblong shape with respect to an insertion direction of a magnetic disk cartridge. SOLUTION: A pair of head suspensions 18 and 18 which support the magnetic heads 20 respectively are held open when the pair of magnetic heads 20 are spaced from each other before the magnetic disk cartridge is loaded. The pair of magnetic heads 20 and 20 are made to contact each other by insertion of the magnetic disk cartridge 30 and the pair of magnetic heads 20 are made to access both sides of the magnetic disk.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small magnetic disk drive that can be loaded into a card slot of an electronic device such as a digital still camera, a digital video camera, or a laptop computer. is there. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various recording media are removably loaded in a card slot of an electronic device such as a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a notebook personal computer, and the like for recording and reproduction. . As such a recording medium, a semiconductor memory type, a hard disk type, an optical disk type, a small magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, etc.
Various things are in practical use. Among them, the semiconductor memory is easy to handle and the recording capacity is suitably large, so it is the most popular but relatively expensive. Therefore, in a digital camera or the like using these memories, it is common to transfer the captured image data to a personal computer or the like, and then delete the data and use the recording medium repeatedly. As a hard disk type, 340
Those with a capacity of MB or 1 GB are known, but this is also expensive, and the data is transferred and stored elsewhere, and the recording medium is repeatedly used. The optical disk type has a large recording capacity for its size, and can record 256 MB of data in a size of 35 mm × 41 mm × 11 mm, for example.
A device with a recording capacity of 12 MB is also being realized. However, since the optical disk takes time to write, there is a drawback that the recording speed is slow. On the other hand, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk can be made as small as about 50 mm × 55 mm × 2 mm and can be exchanged into a disk drive of a size that can be inserted into a card slot of a personal computer or the like. Is also known, but this has a capacity of 40
It's as small as MB, and it has insufficient capacity in terms of recording camera images, and its size is not suitable for digital cameras. In recent years, digital cameras have been in conflict with the social background in which personal computers have become popular, such as ease of recording, improved image quality through the development of image sensors, possibility of data deletion and transfer, and large recording capacity. Thus, although it is rapidly widespread, recording media (hereinafter referred to as media) are limited in terms of price and capacity as described above, and thus there are limitations on the manner of use. For example, because the media is expensive, 1
As mentioned above, it is normal to use a single piece of media repeatedly, such as transferring to a computer and deleting it when the data is full, without having multiple pieces of media in one camera. It is. For this reason, there may be a shortage of recording media on the road, and it is not possible to store the media containing the data as it is or upload it to a person. Therefore, it is desired to realize a large-capacity and inexpensive small medium so that data taken with a digital camera can be stored as it is or can be easily uploaded to a person. In addition, in a personal computer, it is desired to realize a large-capacity and inexpensive small medium capable of storing data and passing it to a person. [0009] In response to such a demand, a personal computer or a small-sized, low-capacity medium that can store data taken with a digital camera or personal computer data as it is, or can be easily uploaded to a person. A medium comprising a card type disk drive that can be loaded into an electronic device such as a digital camera and a magnetic disk cartridge that can be loaded into the disk drive is conceivable. That is, as such a magnetic disk cartridge, a flexible magnetic disk capable of high-density magnetic recording is rotatably accommodated in a housing having an open / close shutter, and for example, a magnetic disk cartridge having a recording capacity of 200 MB or more is obtained. It is possible. As a high-density magnetic recording medium for that purpose, a metal-deposited one, a barium ferrite powder or a metal powder, or the like can be used. Examples of those using barium ferrite powder include Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-3 filed by the present applicant.
There is No. 12864. “High recording density magnetic recording medium using barium ferrite powder” is a magnetic disk containing barium ferrite powder in the magnetic layer, and using a material capable of realizing high recording density. For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 20
A nonmagnetic layer containing a nonmagnetic powder and a binder, a ferromagnetic metal powder or a hexagonal ferrite powder and a binding on at least one surface of the nonmagnetic support disclosed in No. 01-205290 And a magnetic layer containing an agent in this order, wherein the nonmagnetic layer has an average particle size of 10 to 10
10 to 50 parts by mass of carbon black of 30 nm with respect to 100 parts by mass of the nonmagnetic powder, the thickness of the magnetic layer is 0.2 μm or less, and the average of elements caused by ferromagnetic powder by electron beam microanalysis The magnetic standard deviation b with respect to the intensity a is 0.03 ≦ b / a ≦ 0.4, and the magnetic layer has a center plane average roughness Ra of 5 nm or less and a 10-point average roughness Rz of 40 nm or less. It is a recording medium. For a magnetic disk using this material, information is recorded and reproduced using a magnetic head such as an MR head capable of high recording density. According to the above media, the recording capacity is 200 MB.
As described above, it is possible to realize a medium with a high recording density of preferably 500 MB or more, which makes it possible to record 500 sheets, for example, about 1 MB for a still image and about 30 minutes for a moving image. Video content can be recorded. Accordingly, it is possible to record a moving image shot by a digital camera, a moving image distributed by a mobile phone, and the like, and it is possible to improve user convenience when using content. Of course, it can be conveniently used as an inexpensive large-capacity data storage medium in a personal computer, and its convenience is great. Note that a card-type disk drive that can be loaded into an electronic device is generally shown in FIG.
As shown to (a), it is the disk drive 6 electrically connected and loaded to the socket 4 of the receiving part of the card | curd 2 inserted in the card slot of a PC card, and small electronic devices, such as the digital camera 3. In the case of FIG. 8 (b)
As shown in FIG. 2, the disk drive 6 is electrically connected to the socket of the receiving portion 5 on the electronic device side and loaded.
Accordingly, the disk drive 6 is extremely small, for example, a length of 38 mm to 55 mm and a length of 35 mm to 51 mm.
The magnetic disk cartridge 8 having a width of 3 mm and a thickness of 3 mm to 5 mm and inserted from the cartridge insertion slot of the disk drive 6 is, for example, 25 mm to 36 mm.
It has a length and width of mm and a thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm. By the way, in the card type disk drive that can be loaded into the card slot of the electronic device as described above, generally, each of the magnetic disk cartridges inserted from the cartridge insertion slot is mutually accessed to access both sides of the magnetic disk. A pair of opposing magnetic heads are provided, but until the magnetic disk cartridge is loaded so that the magnetic head does not interfere with the magnetic disk of the magnetic disk cartridge to be inserted,
It is necessary to hold the pair of magnetic heads in an open state apart from each other, and to move the pair of magnetic heads so as to close each other as the magnetic disk cartridge is loaded. However, since this type of disk drive is extremely thin, it is often difficult to provide a mechanism for opening and closing the magnetic head. In particular, as shown in FIG. 8A, a magnetic head and a mechanism for moving the magnetic head when a disk drive having a horizontally long shape with respect to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge is required for the convenience of the electronic equipment. If the head assembly including the magnetic disk cartridge is provided on the back side in the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge, the cartridge size must be further reduced and it is impossible to load a magnetic disk cartridge having a large-capacity magnetic disk Therefore, the head suspension moving mechanism must be provided in a space lateral to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge to be loaded. In this case, it is difficult to provide a magnetic head opening / closing mechanism having a simple configuration so as not to hinder the insertion operation of the magnetic disk cartridge. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a small magnetic disk drive having a magnetic head opening / closing mechanism suitable for such a case. The present invention provides a driving mechanism for rotating a magnetic disk of a magnetic disk cartridge to be loaded, a pair of magnetic heads for magnetically recording / reproducing information on the magnetic disk, and the above-described magnetic head. A drive for a small magnetic disk comprising a drive mechanism and an electrical connection for electrically connecting the magnetic head to an electronic circuit in an electronic device, and a pair of head suspensions for supporting the magnetic head, respectively. When the magnetic disk cartridge is not loaded, the pair of head suspensions are held in an open state in which the pair of magnetic heads are separated from each other, and are closed by inserting the magnetic disk cartridge into the cartridge insertion slot. The pair of magnetic heads to access both sides of the magnetic disk. It is characterized by being comprised. In this case, the head suspension moving mechanism is disposed laterally with respect to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge, and the pair of head suspensions extend in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge from the head suspension moving mechanism. A member comprising two spring plates extending to open and close the pair of head suspensions has a wedge-shaped portion. The wedge-shaped portion interrupts between the pair of head suspensions when the magnetic disk cartridge is not loaded, thereby elastically suspending the head suspension. It is preferable that the magnetic disk cartridge inserted into the cartridge insertion slot is pushed out from the wedge-shaped portion to escape from between the head suspensions. Note that the card slot of the electronic device into which the disk drive of the present invention is loaded is not an existing card slot, and a dedicated slot may be newly provided. For example, a dedicated slot may be provided in line with the conventional media insertion slot so that the user can use both the conventional media and the disk drive containing the magnetic disk cartridge of the present invention. That way, the media you've been using won't be wasted. According to the disk drive of the present invention constructed as described above, a pair of head suspensions that respectively support the magnetic heads and are open to each other when the magnetic disk cartridge is not loaded. However, since the magnetic disk cartridge is closed by the insertion operation of the magnetic disk cartridge into the cartridge insertion slot and the pair of magnetic heads are configured to access both surfaces of the magnetic disk, the mechanism for opening and closing the magnetic head is simple. Therefore, it can be said that the configuration is suitable for application to a disk drive that is extremely thin and has a shape that is horizontally long with respect to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge. If the pair of head suspensions are configured to be opened and closed by wedge-shaped portions that move in conjunction with the operation of inserting / withdrawing the magnetic disk cartridge into / from the disk drive, the head suspension can be opened with a single action. Can be opened and closed. According to the present invention, for example, a disk cartridge having a thickness of about 2 mm in which a magnetic disk having a diameter of about 28 mm is accommodated in a disk drive having a size about one third of the size as viewed from the front of the digital camera. It is possible to realize a magnetic media that can be loaded, and can be easily carried and used in a portable manner. Further, by using a magnetic disk containing, for example, barium ferrite powder in the magnetic layer, it is possible to give the above-mentioned magnetic disk a recording capacity of, for example, 500 MB. 500 photos can be recorded on a single disc, and can be realized at a very low cost. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a disk drive according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view showing a first embodiment of a disk drive according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the main part of FIG.
FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. The disk drive 6 includes a cartridge insertion slot 6a and a cartridge housing space 7 in the center of the inside. The disk drive 6 is formed so as to be horizontally long with respect to the cartridge insertion direction. 10 is provided. The disk drive 6 includes a magnetic disk 36 of the magnetic disk cartridge 30 to be loaded.
A drive mechanism for rotating (see FIG. 3), and this drive mechanism,
Magnetic head 20 and head suspension moving mechanism 1
Although an electrical connection part for electrically connecting 0 to an electronic circuit in the electronic device is provided, illustration and detailed description thereof are omitted. Each head suspension moving mechanism 10 includes:
A support 14 slidably attached along the guide rod 12 in the front-rear direction, an electromagnetic coil 16 having an axis in the front-rear direction fixed to the support 14, and the electromagnetic coil 1
6 and a rod-like permanent magnet 17 that is fixedly provided so as to extend in the front-rear direction through the axial direction. The upper and lower head suspensions 18 and 18 made of an elastic spring plate are bridged between the supports 14 and 14, and a magnetic head 20 is provided at the center of the upper and lower head suspensions 18 and 18. , 20 are fixed so as to face each other. Inside each head suspension moving mechanism 10, two upper and lower head suspensions 18, 18 are provided.
Suspension opening and closing member 2 that opens and closes in a vertical direction so that the pair of magnetic heads 20 and 20 are close to and away from each other.
2 is provided to be movable in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 2A, the suspension opening / closing member 22 includes engagement surfaces 24a and 24a having a tapered cross-section toward the cartridge insertion slot 6a, and enters and exits between the head suspensions 18 and 18. A wedge-shaped portion 24, a connecting portion 25 extending outward from the wedge-shaped portion 24, and a leg portion 26 extending from the outer end of the connecting portion 25 between the head suspensions 18 and 18 toward the cartridge insertion slot 6a. When the wedge-shaped portion 24 enters between the head suspensions 18, 18, the upper and lower engaging slopes 24 a, 24 a have the head suspensions 18, 18.
And the head suspensions 18 and 18 are configured to push open. Further, an engagement surface 26 a for a contact portion 33 a provided in a housing 32 of a magnetic disk cartridge 30 described later is formed at the tip of the leg portion 26 of the suspension opening / closing member 22. The suspension opening / closing member 22 is urged by a spring 28 toward the cartridge insertion slot 6a. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the magnetic disk cartridge 30 loaded in the disk drive 6 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 (a) shows the closed state, and FIG. 3 (b) shows the shutter. Indicates the opened state. The housing 32 of the cartridge 30 has, on the front side thereof, an opening 33 that is wide open over an angular range close to 180 degrees in order to secure a moving path for the head suspensions 18, 18. Two shutters 34, 34 that open and close in a pivotal manner are mounted. A magnetic disk 36 having a center hub 35 is rotatably provided in the housing 32. At the outer ends of both end edges of the opening 33, contact portions 33a and 33 with respect to the engagement surface 26a of the suspension opening / closing member 22 are provided.
a is formed. In the state shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B in which the disk drive 6 is not loaded with the magnetic disk cartridge 30 in the above configuration, the suspension opening / closing member 22 is moved into the cartridge insertion slot by the biasing force of the spring 28. 6a, the wedge-shaped portion 24 of the suspension opening / closing member 22 is moved to the head suspension 18, 1 as shown in FIG.
8 between the head suspensions 18, 18
Are elastically pushed up and down, so that the magnetic heads 20 and 20
The gap is wide open. Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, the magnetic disk cartridge 30 is inserted into the cartridge insertion slot 6a.
Is inserted into the disk drive 6, the shutter 3
4 and 34 are opened to the left and right (the structure and detailed description of the mechanism for opening the shutters 34 and 34 are omitted), FIG.
And the contact portions 33a, 33a of the magnetic disk cartridge 30 to be inserted contact the engagement surface 26a of the suspension opening / closing member 22, so that the suspension opening / closing member 22 resists the biasing force of the spring 28. It moves to the side opposite to the cartridge insertion slot 6a side. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2B, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 4A, the wedge-shaped portion 24 moves to the left in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the head suspensions 18 and 18 are closed by their own elasticity, and the magnetic heads 20 and 20 access both sides of the magnetic disk 36. Then, by supplying control currents to the electromagnetic coils 16 and 16 of the head suspension moving mechanisms 10 and 10 so as to be synchronized with each other, the supports 14 and 14 are moved along the guide rods 12 and 12, and accordingly the magnetism is increased. The heads 20 and 20 move back and forth, and the magnetic disk 3
6 can be recorded and reproduced. In the above-described embodiment, the pair of head suspension moving mechanisms 10 and 10 and the suspension opening / closing members 22 and 22 each have a magnetic disk housing space 7.
However, in the second embodiment of the present invention described below, one head suspension moving mechanism 10 and one suspension opening / closing member 22 are provided only on the right side of the magnetic disk housing space 7. This is the case. That is, FIG. 5 (a) is a schematic plan view showing a second embodiment of the disk drive according to the present invention corresponding to FIG. 1 (a), and FIG. 5 (b) is FIG. 5 (a). C-
It is sectional drawing along C line. FIG. 6 shows the magnetic disk cartridge 3 loaded in the disk drive 6 of FIG.
FIG. 6A shows a state in which the shutter is closed, and FIG. 6B shows a state in which the shutter is opened. Further, FIG. 7A shows a state in which the magnetic disk cartridge 30 shown in FIG. 6 is loaded.
A schematic plan view corresponding to (a), FIG.
It is sectional drawing along CC line of Fig.7 (a). In the present embodiment, the support 14 of the single head suspension moving mechanism 10 is supported by the two guide rods 12 and slides, and the head suspensions 18 and 18 are magnetically supported in a cantilever manner. Head 20
Except for the fact that it is supported, since it is the same as the first embodiment described above, the same reference numerals are assigned to corresponding elements, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The magnetic disk cartridge 30 shown in FIG. 6 is also provided with a single-open type shutter 34 in accordance with the change of the disk drive 6. As is apparent from the above description, the disk drive 6 according to the present invention moves the head suspensions 18 and 18 in the front-rear direction in a space lateral to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge 30 to be loaded. Since the head suspension moving mechanism 10 is disposed, the magnetic disk cartridge 30 including the large-capacity magnetic disk 36 is loaded even in the disk drive 6 having a shape that is horizontally long with respect to the insertion direction of the magnetic disk cartridge 30. Is possible. Then, the head suspensions 18, 18
Is formed of a spring plate having elasticity, and the suspension opening / closing member 22 includes a wedge-shaped portion 24, into which the suspension opening / closing member 22 is inserted.
The wedge-shaped portion 24 comes out of the space between the head suspensions 18 and 18 and the head suspensions 18 and 18 are closed by moving the cartridges in the cartridge insertion direction.
The head suspensions 18 and 18 can be opened and closed by the suspension opening and closing member 22 with one action.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a disk drive according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 (a) is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation of the suspension opening / closing member, and FIG. 2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. Figure,
2B is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4A. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the magnetic disk cartridge loaded in the disk drive in FIG.
3A is a schematic plan view of a state in which the shutter is closed, and FIG. 3B is a schematic plan view of the state in which the shutter is open. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the state in which the magnetic disk cartridge of FIG. 4 (a) is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 4 (b) is A in FIG. 4 (a).
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the disk drive according to the present invention, in which FIG. 5 (a) is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 5 (b). FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 5A. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a magnetic disk cartridge loaded in the disk drive in FIG.
FIG. 6B is a schematic plan view of the shutter opened. FIG. 7B is a schematic plan view of the disk drive of FIG. 5 loaded with the magnetic disk cartridge of FIG. 7 (a) is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 7 (b) is a diagram of C in FIG. 7 (a).
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C. FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view showing a disk drive as a premise of the present invention together with an electronic device having a card slot into which the disk drive is loaded. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Head suspension moving mechanism 12 Guide rod 14 Support body 16 Electromagnetic coil 17 Permanent magnet 18 Head suspension 20 Magnetic head 22 Suspension opening / closing member 24 Wedge-shaped part 28 Spring 30 Magnetic disk cartridge 32 Cartridge housing 34 Shutter 36 Magnetic disk

Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. A card-type disk drive comprising a cartridge insertion slot that can be loaded into a card slot of an electronic device and that can be loaded with a magnetic disk cartridge in an insertion mode. A drive mechanism for rotating the magnetic disk of the magnetic disk cartridge; a pair of magnetic heads for magnetically recording and reproducing information on the magnetic disk; and the drive mechanism and the magnetic head electrically connected to an electronic circuit in the electronic device And a pair of head suspensions that respectively support the magnetic heads, and the pair of head suspensions when the magnetic disk cartridge is not loaded. Holds the pair of magnetic heads in an open state separated from each other And a closed state by the operation of inserting the magnetic disk cartridge into the cartridge insertion slot to allow the pair of magnetic heads to access both surfaces of the magnetic disk. Disk drive.