Patent ID: 6504679
Filing Date: 2003-01-07
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A disc cartridge accommodating therein an erasable disc-shaped recording medium, said disc cartridge comprising:a disc casing having a disc chamber defined therein, said erasable recording medium being rotatably accommodated within said disc chamber, said disc casing also having a sensor hole and a positioning hole both defined in a first wall portion of the disc casing and a slot defined in a second wall portion of the disc casing opposed to the first wall portion, each of said sensor hole, positioning hole and slot extending completely across a thickness of the corresponding wall portion, said positioning hole being adapted to be cooperable with a corresponding positioning pin installed in a disc player; and a safety device disposed within the disc casing for preventing information recorded on the erasable recording medium from being erased inadvertently, said safety device comprising: a bearing bushing formed on the first wall portion within the disc casing in coaxial relation with the positioning hole so as to protrude from the first wall portion towards the second wall portion, said bearing bushing being positioned at a location spaced from the sensor hole; a switching element movably accommodated within the disc casing and having first and second ends opposite to each other, said first end of the switching element being rotatably connected with the bearing bushing for angular movement between first and second operative positions, said sensor hole being closed by the second end of the switching element when the latter is angularly moved to the first operative position; and an operating piece provided on the switching element so as to extend therefrom and terminate in the slot in the second wall portion, said operating piece being movable within the slot in correspondence with the angular movement of the switching element between the first and second operative positions.