Abstract:
A system secures a cartridge inserted into a data storage device. The system includes a slidable member with a recess positioned therein; a toggle pivotably mounted in the recess, the toggle having a tip to pivot the toggle upon contacting the cartridge; and an interlock unit coupled to the slidable member and adapted to engage the toggle when the toggle pivots.

Description:
The present invention relates to a cartridge latch and release system in a removable data storage device. 
     The rapid growth of digital content and the convergence of information and communications technologies are driving the growth of affordable, high-capacity data storage solutions. For example, modern multimedia applications such as video editing and immersive imaging can generate files that are each multi-gigabytes in size. Numerous data storage solutions, each differing in architecture, capacity, performance, reliability, and cost, have evolved to quench users&#39; thirst for economical and high capacity data storage systems. 
     Generally, data storage devices can be stand-alone units that are connected to a computer system by cable, or they can be is internal units that occupy a slot, or bay, in the computer system. Since applications such as video editing and immersive imaging can generate files that are each multi-gigabytes in size, disk drives of the type that accept removable disks have become increasingly popular. These disk drives are also convenient since users can incrementally add storage capacity as needed and use the removable disks as back-up copies. 
     For purposes of convenience and protection, the platter or disk may be mounted within a shuttle, which in turn is positioned inside an enclosure or a cartridge. During operation, the cartridge is inserted into an insertion port of the drive. The shuttle is moved inside the drive, and the platter or disk is then conveyed to a predetermined position. At this point, the empty cartridge can be removed. When the user is finished with the platter or disk, the cartridge is inserted into the port, causing the platter or disk to be moved back into the shuttle, which in turn is retracted back inside the cartridge. Once the shuttle is secured inside the cartridge, the cartridge can then be removed from the insertion port by the user. 
     Because the cartridge needs to be removed after the shuttle has been pulled into the drive before data can be accessed, it is possible for a new user of the removable data storage device to be confused by the required sequence of inserting the cartridge into the drive, withdrawing the cartridge when the shuttle has been moved into the drive, and inserting the empty cartridge into the drive once more to retrieve the shuttle/disk when the user is finished with an application. 
     Additionally, during operation, the position of the shuttle may vary. Due to a number of considerations, it is possible that, without some form of protection, the shuttle may be caught in an undesirable position between the drive and the shuttle, possibly causing damage to the media and components in the drive during media insertion. 
     Further, the cartridge needs to be correctly inserted into the drive. Otherwise, an incorrectly seated cartridge may wobble and may vibrate during operation. Such wobbling and vibration adversely affects the performance of the drive. Moreover, a cartridge may also be unintentionally inserted into the drive somewhat askew from a nominal position. This skewed position may cause a mechanical misalignment of the drive, leading to disk access failures. Additionally, cartridges not specifically intended for use in the drive can initiate certain critical functions of the drive upon insertion into the drive, causing damage. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, the invention provides a system for securing a cartridge inserted into a data storage device. The system includes a slidable member, the member having a recess positioned therein. The system also includes a toggle pivotably mounted in the recess, the toggle having a tip to pivot the toggle upon contacting the cartridge. An interlock unit is connected to the slidable member and adapted to engage the toggle when the toggle pivots. 
     In another aspect, the system provides a method for securing a cartridge inserted into a data storage device. The method includes receiving a cartridge having a tab with an edge portion adapted to move a cartridge latch during a first phase; and a notch adapted to engage the cartridge latch to lock the cartridge with the data storage device; sliding a slidable member during the first phase; pivoting a toggle rotatably mounted in the slidable member; and engaging the toggle with an interlock unit coupled to the slidable member. 
     In yet another aspect, a cartridge is shown. The cartridge is adapted to be inserted into a data storage device, the data storage device having a cartridge latch for securing the cartridge to the data storage device. The cartridge has a bottom casing, the bottom casing having a front portion; and a tab formed on the front portion of the bottom casing. The tab has an edge portion adapted to move a cartridge latch during a first phase; and a notch adapted to engage the cartridge latch to lock the cartridge with the data storage device. 
     Advantages of the invention include one or more of the following. The invention provides a simple, low-cost and reliable system for latching and releasing the cartridge. The shuttle cartridge is latched only when the drive opens the drive door and released only when the shuttle is pulled into the drive or pushed from the drive to the cartridge. The invention releases the cartridge only when the shuttle motion is complete, thus preventing damage to the media caused by inappropriate insertions or ejections. Thus, shuttle jamming is avoided. 
     The invention advantageously provides a natural logical user interface for both personal and library applications with the shuttle/cartridge combination. The interface requires that the cartridge be removed before the drive can continue operation. 
     Moreover, the invention is keyed to protect against an inadvertent insertion of an incompatible cartridge. Thus, the invention protects against damaging sensitive components internal to the drive if they collide with any foreign objects associated with the insertion of the incompatible disk cartridge. 
     Since the cartridge fits snugly with the drive housing, the cartridge assembly is mechanically secure, providing a reliable handling of the shuttle. Additionally, the invention protects the drive and the cartridge from foreign particle contamination. 
     The invention also provides a sensing system to notify the drive that a cartridge has been removed. This information is used to by a drive controller to disable data access and other operations such as unmounting the drive volume after the removal of the cartridge. 
     The aforementioned advantages are achieved without increasing the complexity of the drive, thereby increasing the performance and reliability of the entire system. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a door assembly in conjunction with a latch in accordance with the invention. 
     FIGS. 2A,  2 B, and  2 C are perspective front, top and side views of the door assembly of FIG. 1, respectively. 
     FIGS. 3A,  3 B, and  3 C are perspective, side and top views of a latch of FIG. 1, respectively. 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of a cartridge that is to be inserted into the door assembly of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the door assembly and the latch of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a second perspective view illustrating an interaction between the latch of FIG. 5 and a cartridge tab. 
     FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of an optical data storage device. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a door assembly that allows a cartridge to latch under predetermined timing conditions. A door frame  12  provides structural support for receiving a cartridge. The outer door  10  has hinges  9 A and  9 B positioned at the base of the outer door  10 . The hinges  9 A and  9 B are adapted to receive pins  11 A and  11 B, which secure the outer door  10  to the frame  12 . In this manner, the outer door  10  can rotate from a substantially closed position wherein the outer door  10  is substantially parallel to the door frame  12 , thereby forming a sealed compartment to protect the media inside of the compartment, to a substantially open position wherein the outer door  10  becomes substantially an extension of the base of the drive to expose a port through which a cartridge can be inserted or removed. In general, a user cannot manually open the outer door  10 . Rather, the drive actuates a door handle  25 , which causes the outer door  10  to move from the substantially closed position to the open position. 
     The frame  12  also contains an inner door  13  that is normally in a substantially closed position. When a cartridge is inserted, the inner door  13  flips to a substantially open position to allow the drive access to a shuttle in the cartridge. The inner door  13  swings upward when the cartridge is inserted. 
     A lock slide or latch  14  is secured to the frame  12  using screws  16 A and  16 B and retainers  18 A and  18 B through latch openings  19 A and  19 B. The screws  16 A and  16 B hold the latch  14  to the frame  12 , but still allow the latch  14  to move horizontally within a predetermined tolerance. 
     The latch  14  has guides  26 A and  26 B mounted thereon. The guides  26 A and  26 B allow the latch  14  to be moved from a closed position to an open position when a cartridge is inserted into the drive, as discussed in more detail below. A spring  22  connects a hook  27  located at one end of the latch  14  to a hook  24  mounted on the door frame  12 . The spring  22  resiliently provides an appropriate tensioning force on the latch  14  to move the latch  14  from its open position to its closed position. 
     A sensor flag  34  is provided at the front of the other end of the latch  14 , on the front of the latch. When actuated, the sensor flag  34  indicates cartridge insertion, as discussed in more detail below. The latch  14  also has a support rail  21  running longitudinally along the back of the latch  14 . The support rail  21  stiffens and strengthens the latch  14 . 
     A receiver bezel  20  snaps in to the door frame  12  to complete the front assembly of the drive of FIG.  1 . The snapping of receiver bezel  20  is via recesses  28 A and  28 B. Once installed, the receiver bezel  20  protects mechanical and electrical components of the drive from interference and/or damage caused by external objects. 
     The completed assembly of FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, which correspond to front, top and side views of the door assembly, respectively. 
     FIG. 3A shows in more detail the sensor flag  34  and its relationship to the latch  14 . As shown therein, a toggle  32  is hingeably secured to a recess  31  of the latch  14 . The recess  31  has a groove that receives one end of a spring  30 . The other end of the spring  30  is received by an opening  35  at the base of the toggle  32 . The spring  30  rotatably secures the toggle  32  to the recess  31  of the latch  14 . 
     The toggle  32  has a generally cylindrical post  37  that engages a corresponding recess  31 . The latch  14  is also connected to an interlock unit  36  having a vertical slit  42  that receives a projection  44  residing on the latch  14 . The toggle  32  also has a vertical slanted tip  46  whose profile catches a tab or finger  130  on the bottom of a cartridge  99  (FIGS. 4 and 5) when the cartridge  99  is fully inserted into the drive. The profile of the tip  46  allows the tip  46  to be gradually deflected as the cartridge is inserted into the drive. FIGS. 3B and 3C show top and side views of the latch  14  after the interlock unit  36  and the toggle  32  have been assembled into the latch  14 . 
     Sensor flag  34 , also mounted on the latch  14 , moves to interrupt a beam of light shining through a light sensor assembly. The interruption of light through the sensor assembly provides a signal that indicates that a cartridge has been inserted/removed. This signal is sent to a controller in the drive for appropriate handling. 
     FIG. 4 shows a bottom side perspective view of a cartridge  99 . The cartridge  99  has an outer shell or casing  100 . An opening  110 , through which a shuttle (not shown) containing a platter or disk can be retrieved, is defined by the casing  100 . 
     Opposite to the opening  110  is a user handling area  112  which can be used by the user to insert and extract the cartridge  99  in and out of the drive. 
     The top of the cartridge  99  is generally rectangular in shape with a few surface features on an outer cartridge shell, such as notches, grooves of the like. Bevel tabs or fingers  120  and  130  are positioned on the bottom outer periphery of the outer shell or casing  100 . These bevel tabs  120 - 130  are configured such that when the cartridge  99  is inserted into the drive, only the outer most periphery of the drive contacts the bevel tabs  120 - 130 . 
     The tabs  120  and  130  have multi-faceted tips. In particular, the tabs  120  and  130  have angled edges  122  and  132 , respectively. The tab  130  also has a groove  136 . During insertion, the latch  14  is initially at a closed position where it is separated from the interlock unit  36 . As the cartridge is inserted into the drive, the angled edges  122  and  132  are urged against the guides  26 A and  26 B of the latch  14  to move the latch from the closed position to the open position. When the tip  46  is depressed, it connects the latch  14  to the interlock unit  36 . Both then move together so that a loader  170  (FIG. 5) can drive the latch  14  to the open position and release the cartridge  99 . 
     The tab  120  can be made wider than the. tab  130  to provide further orientation of the cartridge  99 . Only the correct cartridge orientation is allowed when the user inserts the cartridge  99  in the drive. After the cartridge  99  has been correctly oriented and inserted by the user, the cartridge  99  is locked into place by the latch  14 . 
     FIGS. 5-6 show the cooperative relationship between the fingers  120 - 130  of the cartridge  100  and the latch  14  in more detail. The double-pronged tip  48  is connected to a lever  160 , which drives a loader cam gear  170 . When the latch  14  is at the rest position, a cartridge such as the cartridge  99  can be accepted. 
     The loader cam gear  170  is motor driven. Upon request by the user, a loader motor controlled by a drive microprocessor opens the drive door by moving the door handle  25  (FIG.  1 ). When the drive door  10  is opened, the latch  14  is “primed.” In other words, the loader cam gear  170  has positioned the interlock unit  48  in a position that allows the cartridge  99  to lock onto the drive when it is inserted. The interlock unit  48  is positioned through the release lever  160 , which in turn is positioned by the cam gear  170 . The cam gear  170  is driven by a loader motor and gear train. 
     As the cartridge  99  is inserted, the fingers or tabs  120 - 130  on the cartridge bottom contact the latch  14 . This contact causes the latch  14  to slide sideways. The edges  122  and  132  on the bottom of the cartridge in turn smoothly move the latch  14 . When the latch  14  has moved a maximum sideways distance so that it is on top of the tab plateau, the cartridge  99  contacts the tip  46  of the toggle  32 , causing it to move downward. When the toggle  32  moves downwardly, it engages with the interlock unit  36  so that the two parts move together in a sideways direction. Since the toggle  32  is attached to the latch  14 , all three parts must move together. 
     As the cartridge  99  is inserted further into the drive, the latch  14  moves off the plateau on the tabs  120 - 130  and finally drops into a perpendicular surface that locks the cartridge into the drive. While the cartridge  99  is locked securely in the drive, the loader moves a shuttle from the cartridge into the drive. 
     The release of the cartridge  99  occurs after the shuttle motion is completed. First, the cam gear  170  pushes the release lever  160  clockwise, this motion causes the interlock unit  36  to move to the left. Since the interlock unit  36 , toggle  32 , and latch  14  are locked together, they all move to the left. When the latch  14  moves to the left, the tips  26 A- 26 B of the latch  14  are moved away from the perpendicular surfaces that releases the cartridge  99 . 
     As the cartridge  99  is removed, the toggle  32  disconnects from the interlock unit  36 . This disconnection allows the latch  14  to move independently of the interlock. As the cartridge  99  is moved further, the latch  14  moves off of the cartridge finger sideways to the right. When the latch  14  moves back to its starting position, the flag  34  on the latch  14  blocks an optocoupler sensor, as discussed earlier. The sensor provides an indicator that the cartridge  99  has been removed from the drive and the drive can continue to load the shuttle/disk into the drive. 
     In this manner, the system of FIGS. 5-6 latches the shuttle cartridge only when the drive opens the drive door and releases the shuttle only when it is pulled into the drive or pushed from the drive to the cartridge. Moreover, the cartridge is released only when the shuttle motion is complete, thus preventing shuttle jamming or damaging the media through inappropriate insertions or ejections. The system also provides a natural logical user interface for both personal and library applications with the shuttle/cartridge combination by requiring that the cartridge be removed before the drive can continue operation. 
     FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of an optical data storage device. A loader assembly  250  is positioned on top of the spindle motor  210  within the base gear  202 . The loader assembly  250  accepts a cartridge carrier (not shown), loads the cartridge and opens a cartridge shutter for access by the flying head  280 . 
     In one implementation, the read/write head is a “flying” head, which is suspended over an optical media by an air-bearing surface in a near-field recording configuration where the phasing between an exit facet of the flying head and a recording layer in the media is a fraction of a wavelength The flying head includes a near-field lens with a high index of refraction and usually has a near-field condition. A focus beam with a spot size smaller than that obtainable from a conventional optical system is achieved due to the use of this high index solid immersion lens as the near-field lens. The optical read/write head of this embodiment is described in more detail in copending U.S. patent applicatior Ser. No. 08/846,916, entitled “ELECTRO-OPTICAL STORAGE SYSTEM WITH FLYING HEAD OR NEAR-FIELD RECORDING AND READING,” filed on Apr. 295, 1997 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,350. 
     The flying head  280  accesses an optical media on a platter (not shown) which can be writable/erasable materials (i.e., write-many-read-many), write-once-read-many materials, and read-only materials. The writable/erasable materials may be the magneto-optic type, including but not limited to, rare earth-transition metal compounds, or phase-change materials. A multilayer structure with at least one recording layer has a reversed layer construction compared to a conventional multilayer magneto-optic media. A first top dielectric layer, a recording layer, a second dielectric layer, and a reflective substrate may be formed in sequence. The optical media may also have a plurality of recording layers in a multilayer construction. 
     The cartridge carrier is used to minimize contamination by keeping a platter or disk out of reach of a user at all times. A special box-like carrier is used to “lock” a cartridge therein when the disk is not in use. The carrier includes a door for loading and unloading the cartridge. A special docking system is implemented in the drive. This system keeps a cartridge from being in direct contact with any objects other than the carrier and the drive. In loading a disk, the carrier is temporarily docked to the drive. The loading operation is performed using a load motor  312 . The carrier door is then opened and the cartridge is automatically removed from the carrier and transferred into the drive. At this time, the empty carrier can be removed from the drive. In unloading a disk, an empty carrier is temporarily docked to the drive. The docking system automatically transfers the cartridge from the drive to the carrier. The cartridge enclosed in the carrier is then removed from the drive. The carrier door remains closed and locked if the carrier is not docked to the drive. 
     An actuator assembly  101  is mounted on the base  202 . The actuator assembly  101  has top and bottom pole pieces  103  and  107 , respectively. The top pole piece  103  has an opening that is adapted to receive a first standoff  109 . The top pole piece  103  also has another opening that is adapted to receive a second standoff  105 . The standoffs  105  and  107  are positioned in corresponding openings of the bottom pole piece  107 . Particularly, the standoff  109  has a recessed region along its height between two hexagon nuts to provide room to slip a protective rubber that protects the read/write head  280  against damage due to a crash of a carriage containing the head. 
     To complete the assembly  200 , a cover  300  is screwed into the base gear  202 . Further, a face plate assembly  302  is mounted to the front of the base gear  202  to provide data access information to the user through light-emitting diodes (LEDs) which, along with other electronic components, are mounted on a printed circuit board  310 . The face plate assembly  302  in turn engages a door  304  and a door panel  306 . 
     Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments therein, one ordinarily skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will appreciate that various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.