Information recording and reproducing apparatus for automatically loading and unloading and manually unloading a recording medium

An information recording/reproducing apparatus, for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from a recording medium, includes an opening formed in a front panel thereof to allow loading and unloading of the recording medium, a device for automatically transporting the recording medium in a transport direction along a transport path, from an unloading position to a loading position and from the loading position to the unloading position, and a member slidable in a direction opposite to the recording medium transport direction, associated with the loading and unloading operations of the recording medium. The member permits manual unloading of the recording medium when the member is pushed into the apparatus or pulled away from the front panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and/or 
reproducing information on and from a recording medium, such as an optical 
disk or an opto-magnetic disk, and more particularly, to an information 
recording and reproducing apparatus having means for automatically loading 
and unloading such a recording medium. 
2. Related Background Art 
An information recording and reproducing apparatus which loads and unloads 
a recording medium by electric power in order to enhance operability has 
been known. In such an apparatus, however, if a microcomputer which 
controls the apparatus malfunction or a power failure occurs while the 
recording medium is loaded, the electrically powered unloading mechanism 
is inoperable. As a result, the recording medium cannot be taken out of 
the apparatus. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,802 discloses an information recording and reproducing 
apparatus which enables removal of the medium in an emergency case by 
manually rotating a drive shaft of a motor for unloading the medium. In 
this apparatus, however, the drive shaft has to be rotated several tens of 
turns to unload the medium, and hence, operability is poor. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information 
recording and reproducing apparatus which manually unloads a recording 
medium by a simple operation in an emergency. 
The above object of the present invention is achieved in an information 
recording and reproducing apparatus which automatically loads and unloads 
the recording medium by providing a member which, when slid in a direction 
of transportation of the recording medium can manually move the recording 
medium to an unloading position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 shows a developed perspective view of an opto-magnetic disk 
apparatus to which the present invention is applied. A manual unloading 
mechanism which is a feature of the present invention is omitted in FIG. 
1. 
The opto-magnetic disk apparatus 90 includes a cartridge holder mechanism 
which holds a cartridge and is designed to perform various functions 
including opening and closing of the shutter, a clamper mechanism having a 
disk clamper 104 and a biasing magnet 103, a driving mechanism, including 
a driving motor 43, a reduction gear train 42 and synchronizing gears 41, 
and a loading mechanism composed of cam racks and a driving pinion gear 
and capable of actuating the cartridge holder mechanism and the clamper 
mechanism between a loading start position at which loading is commenced 
and a recording/reproduction position at which the disk in the disk 
cartridge is accessed for the purpose of recording or reproduction. 
Each of the mechanism portions mentioned above will be described 
hereinunder. 
Referring again to FIG. 1, the cartridge holder mechanism portion includes 
a cartridge holder body 3 and a pair of first shutter levers 31 which are 
pivotable about respective fulcrums provided on the underside of the 
cartridge holder body 3. The first shutter levers 31 carry pins 31a which 
engage with guide grooves 3a formed in the wall of the cartridge holder 
body 3. The first shutter levers 31 are biased forward by means of springs 
(not shown) so as to keep the shutter levers 31 in the initial position as 
shown in FIG. 1. Second shutter levers 32 are pivotally secured to the 
respective shutter levers 31 for pivotal movement about fulcrums carried 
by the first shutter levers 31. The second shutter levers 32 are biased by 
springs 33 so as to be kept in initial positions as shown in FIG. 1. The 
cartridge holder mechanism portion further has holder stoppers 34 which 
are swingable about fulcrums provided on inner upright portions of the 
cartridge holder body 3. The holder stoppers 34 are set at positions shown 
in FIG. 1. Stepped rollers 35 are rotatably carried by pins secured to 
outer upright portions of the cartridge holder body 3. 
Referring now to the clamper mechanism, this mechanism has a clamp base 105 
and a biasing magnet 103 provided on the clamper base 105. The clamper 
mechanism also has a clamper 104 which is urged upward to an initial 
position as shown in FIG. 1 by means of a pair of levers 107 which are 
vertically swingable and spring-biased upward. Sliders 102 are secured to 
both sides of the clamp base 105. Each slider 102 has pins 121 which are 
received in holes 101b formed in a cooperating slider 101. Since the clamp 
base 105 is urged by springs 122, the pins 121 are held at reference 
positions where they contact the lower edges of the holes 101b. 
Referring now to the driving mechanism, a driving motor 43 and a reduction 
gear train 42 having five gears are secured to a frame 4. The gear 
constituting the final stage of the reduction gear train 42 meshes with 
one of two synchronizing gears 41. Both synchronizing gears are fixed to a 
common shaft 44 so that they are driven synchronously. Two of the gears 
constituting the reduction gear train 42 in the illustrated embodiment are 
shown to be rotatably carried by the shaft 44. 
Referring now to the loading mechanism, a pair of driving gears 11, 
including a large gear and a small gear, are secured to pins provided on 
each side panel of the apparatus. The small gear engages with an idler 
gear 12 which also is secured to a side panel 1. The idler gear 12 engages 
and is driven by one of the synchronizing gears 49. The large gear of the 
driving gear pair 11 is engaged by a rack gear portion (not shown) of a 
cam rack 2 which is in guided mutual engagement between pins 21 provided 
thereon and mating elongated slots 1b formed in each side panel 1. 
Each of the aforementioned stepped rollers 35 engage with an L-shaped hole 
1a formed in each side panel 1 so as to guide the cartridge holder body 3 
during movement of the cartridge holder body 3. The clamp base 105 is 
guided by engagement between pins 121 and elongated holes 1c formed in the 
side panels 1. The cam racks 2 have guide grooves 2a which receive pins 36 
on the cartridge holder body 3 and guide grooves 2b which receive pins 111 
on the slider 101. Pins 14 on the side panels 1 are received in elongated 
holes 101a in the sliders 101 so as to guide the sliders 101 when the 
latter are moved. 
The idler gears 12 mesh with synchronizing gears 41 of the driving 
mechanism. 
The frame 4 is provided on the upper side thereof with a pair of pins 45 
which are adapted to locate the cartridge when the disk cartridge is 
loaded in the apparatus. 
The operation of the apparatus will be described hereinunder, with specific 
reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C and FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C 
are sectional side elevational views of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in 
different states of operation: namely, in a state in which the disk 
cartridge is not inserted, in a state in which the disk cartridge is being 
loaded and in a state in which the disk cartridge has been loaded and the 
disk in the cartridge has been clamped. FIGS. 3A and 3B are plan views of 
the cartridge holder in a state in which the disk cartridge is being 
loaded and a state in which the disk cartridge has been fully inserted, 
respectively. 
Referring to FIG. 2A, the parts of the apparatus are in the initial 
positions which are the same as those illustrated in FIG. 1. In this 
state, the position of the cartridge holder body 3 is limited by 
engagement between hooked portions of the holder stoppers 34 and the pins 
13 on the side panels 1. The disk cartridge 8 is inserted through a 
cartridge insertion opening formed in a front panel 201. When the 
cartridge has reached a position shown in FIG. 3A, the end 32a of one of 
the shutter levers 32 which is on the right side as viewed in FIG. 3A, 
catches a notch 82a formed in a shutter 82 of the disk cartridge 8. Since 
there is no other notch in the shutter 82, the end 32a of the other 
shutter lever 32, which is on the left side of this figure, abuts the edge 
of the disk cartridge 8 so that the first shutter lever 31, associated 
with this shutter lever 32, is held at a position where it has been 
slightly rotated counter-clockwise. As the cartridge 8 is moved deeper 
into the apparatus, the first shutter levers 31 on the right and left 
sides of FIG. 3A are swung clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, 
to positions shown in FIG. 3B. During the movement of the cartridge 8 from 
the position shown in FIG. 3A to the position shown in FIG. 3B, the second 
shutter lever 32 pivotally mounted on the right first shutter lever 31 
acts to cause a leftward movement of the shutter 82 as viewed in FIGS. 3A 
and 3B. 
As will be seen from FIG. 1, the pair of first shutter levers 31 are 
arranged in symmetry with respect to the line along which the center of 
the cartridge 8 moved during insertion, and are constructed such that they 
clear each other at positions where they cross each other and are parallel 
to each other when the cartridge 8 is in the loaded position. That is, 
both first shutter levers are offset from each other in the direction 
perpendicular to the plane of their swinging movement and to the plane of 
a disk held by the cartridge inserted into the apparatus. Thus, as can be 
seen from the drawings, when a cartridge 8 is inserted with its shutter 82 
on top, the shutter notch 82a is engaged by the end 32a of the shutter 
lever 32 mounted on the lever 31 on the right hand side of the mechanism 
shown in FIG. 3A; and when a cartridge 8 is inserted in an inverted 
position, i.e., with its shutter 82 underneath, the shutter notch 82a is 
engaged by the end 32a of the shutter lever 32 mounted on the lever 31 at 
the left hand side of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3A. 
Operation of each portion of the apparatus will be explained in more detail 
with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B which illustrate operation of the 
shutter levers and also to FIGS. 5A and 5B which are illustrative of the 
operation of the cartridge stoppers. 
As stated before, the second shutter lever 32 on the operative first 
shutter lever 31 which is, in this case, the first shutter lever 31 shown 
on the right part of FIGS. 3A and 3B, is initially set at the position 
shown in FIG. 1 by the force of the spring 33. As the cartridge 8 is moved 
to bring the notch 82a in the shutter 82 thereof into engagement with the 
extreme end 32a of the shutter lever 32, the shoulder portion 32b on the 
end of the lever 32 fits on the edge of the notch 82a so as to prevent any 
further movement of the lever 32 and to prevent the shutter lever 32 from 
coming off the notch 82a in the shutter 82. In contrast, if the portion of 
the edge 82b of the shutter has no notch as shown in FIG. 4B, the shutter 
lever 32 is allowed to swing counterclockwise to clear the edge 82b. 
When the disk cartridge 8 has been moved into the position shown in FIG. 
3B, it is urged by the cartridge stoppers 37, urged by the springs 38, as 
will be understood from FIG. 5B. In this state, the cartridge 8 is still 
detachable, because the locking force exerted by the springs 38 is not too 
strong. 
When the cartridge 8 has been fully inserted as shown in FIG. 3B, the 
hooked portion of each holder stopper 34 is disengaged from the associated 
pin 13 on the side panel 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2C), so that the cartridge is 
movable horizontally. 
When the state shown in FIG. 3B is attained, a projection 31a on the 
shutter lever 31 is detected by a photo-interrupter (not shown). The 
photo-interrupter produces a signal for allowing the driving motor 43 (see 
FIG. 1) to start, so that power of the motor 43 is transmitted to the cam 
racks 2 through the reduction gear train 42, synchronizing gears 41, idler 
gears 12 and the driving gears 11, so as to cause the cam racks 2 to move 
rearward. When the cam racks 2 have been moved to the position shown in 
FIG. 5A, an R-shaped projection on each cartridge stopper 37 is disengaged 
from a tapered hole 2c in each cam rack 2, so that the movement of the 
cartridge stopper 37 is limited, whereby the disk cartridge 8 is fixed to 
the cartridge holder body 3. In this state, the cartridge holder body 3 is 
not allowed to move. 
As the cam racks 2 further move rearward, the cartridge holder body 3 is 
first moved horizontally and then moved downward so as to be fixed at a 
lowered position, by virtue of the presence of the L-shaped holes in the 
side panels 1 and guide grooves 2a in the cam racks 2 (FIG. 1). Meanwhile, 
the clamp base 105 is moved downward by virtue of the elongated holes 1c 
in the side panels 1 and the guide grooves 2b in the cam racks 2. 
The stroke and timing of movement of the clamp base 105 are determined 
independently of the movement of the cartridge holder body 3. Since the 
clamp base 105 is urged by springs 122 through the sliders 101, the 
sliders 101 are moved downward even after the clamp base 105 is stopped by 
the cartridge holder body 3, until they are set in predetermined lowered 
positions. 
It will be clear to those skilled in the art that an operation for ejecting 
the disk cartridge 8 can be conducted by following a procedure which is 
reverse to that described hereinbefore. 
The manual unloading of the recording medium in an emergency which is a 
feature of the present invention, will now explained. 
FIGS. 6A and 6B show side sectional views of a first embodiment of the 
present invention in which a manual unloading mechanism is added to the 
opto-magnetic disk apparatus described above. FIG. 6A shows a loading 
state and FIG. 6B shows an unloading (eject) state. 
As shown, an emergency rack gear 22 is mounted on the side panel 1 so that 
it is slidably moved as guided by pins 15a and 15b fixed to the side panel 
1. The rack gear 22 meshes with a smaller gear 23a of two-stage spur gear 
23 mounted on the side panel 1 to be rotated around a pin 16 fixed to the 
side panel 1. A layer gear 23b of the two-stage gear 23 meshes with an 
upper rack of the cam rack 2 so that the cam rack 2 and the emergency rack 
gear 22 are moved in the opposite directions in different strokes. 
Accordingly, in normal loading and unloading operations by the motor 43, 
the emergency rack gear 22 is moved in linked relation with the cam rack 
2. 
In the loading state shown in FIG. 6A, if the emergency rack gear 22 is 
pressed by a rod, such as an end of a clip 22a through a hole 201a on the 
front panel 201, the emergency gear is moved backward so that the 
two-stage gear 23 is rotated counterclockwise. Since the emergency rack 
gear 22 meshes with the smaller gear 23a of the two-stage spur gear 23 and 
the cam rack 2 meshes with the larger gear 23b, the stroke of the 
emergency rack gear 22 is accelerated and it is transmitted to the cam 
rack 2 so that the cam rack 2 is moved toward the front panel 201. 
When it moves to the position of FIG. 6B, the unloading state is 
established. 
In this state, even if the end of clip 22 is pulled off, the cam rack 2 
maintains the unloading state. 
While the combination of rack gear and spur gear is used as linkage means 
for the emergency lever and the cam, it may be substituted by a link 
mechanism. 
FIGS. 7A and 7B show side sectional views of a second embodiment of the 
present invention, in which a manual unloading mechanism is added to the 
opto-magnetic disk apparatus described above. FIG. 7A shows a loading 
state and FIG. 7B shows an unloading (eject) state. 
As shown, a lever 24 is mounted on the base plate 9 so that it is slidably 
moved as guided by pins 91a and 91b. The lever 24 has a portion 24a and a 
cam rack engagement 24b. The lever 24 is biased backward with respect to 
the front panel 201 by a spring. Accordingly, the lever 24 has a home 
position which is the position shown in FIG. 7A. In the state of FIG. 7A, 
the lever 24 is kept at the home position when the electric powered 
loading and unloading operations are effected. 
When the lever 24 is manually pulled forward with respect to the front 
panel 201 from the loading state of FIG. 7A, the cam rack 2 moves forward 
with respect to the front panel 201. Then, the synchronization gear 41 
shown in FIG. 1 rotates and the opposite cam rack 2 moves forward. When 
the lever 24 is moved to the position of FIG. 7B, the unloading state is 
established. When the lever 24 is released, the lever is pulled backward 
by the unshown spring and returns to the home position. 
While a lever is used as means for pulling out the cam rack for a manual 
unloading operation in the present embodiment, the lever may be 
substituted by a piano wire or a string, for example. 
The present invention may be modified in various ways. For example, while 
the cartridge type recording medium is used in the embodiment, the present 
invention is equally applicable to a non-cartridge type recording medium. 
The present invention is not limited to an opto-magnetic disk apparatus, 
but it is also applicable to an optical disk apparatus or a magnetic disk 
apparatus. 
The present invention covers all of those modifications without departing 
from the scope of claims.