Abstract:
An apparatus for recording and reproduction of a photosensitive recording medium, which accommodates a cartridge, the cartridge including: a photosensitive recording medium; a cartridge body rotatably accommodating the photosensitive recording medium and having an opening through which a center and a recording face of the photosensitive recording medium are exposed; a shutter assembled to an outside of the cartridge body and arranged so as to move between a closed position where the opening is closed and an open position where the opening is opened; and an RFID capable of recording disk information with respect to the photosensitive recording medium, wherein the disk information with respect to said photosensitive recording medium is obtained from the RFID.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing apparatus for a holographic recording medium, that is, a photosensitive recording medium on which data are recorded holographically.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     A holographic recording medium on which data are recorded holographically has been already invented.  
         [0003]     This holographic recording medium is a photosensitive recording medium which has holographic recording layers each made of photosensitive material provided on a substrate in a shape of a disc. Data are multilayeredly recorded on the holographic recording medium as interference fringes of laser light, so that the holographic recording medium can obtain a larger data recording capacity than that of a DVD which is a recording medium heretofore widespread. Exposure of the holographic recording layers to light or deposition of dust on the holographic recording layers exerts a bad influence on the performance of the holographic recording medium. For this reason, the holographic recording medium has been dealt with in the condition that the holographic recording medium is contained in a cartridge having a light-shielding function and dustproof function, and the cartridge of this type provided with a cartridge body, a shutter member, and a shutter cover has been known (JP-A-2003-317422 (corresponding to US 2003/0198177 A1)).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a flow of operation in the conventional apparatus after the cartridge has been inserted into a recording and reproducing apparatus until recording starts in the recording and reproducing apparatus will be described. Structures of the cartridge, the recording and reproducing apparatus, and a shutter opening mechanism will be described later.  
         [0005]     A front end of the cartridge will be butted against a lid of an insertion hole of the recording and reproducing apparatus and a light pressure will be given to the cartridge (Step S 21 ). The lid will be opened (while the shutter of the cartridge is still closed to prevent intrusion of an exterior light), and the cartridge will be pulled into the recording and reproducing apparatus (S 22 ). The shutter will not be opened yet, because the medium which is an object of the invention is photosensitive. After the cartridge has been completely pulled into the recording and reproducing apparatus (S 23 ), the lid of the insertion hole will be closed (S 24 ) to make a dark room inside the apparatus. When the cartridge has arrived at a determined position (a recording position or a reproducing position) (S 25 ), the shutter of the cartridge will be opened by the shutter opening mechanism ( 26 ).  
         [0006]     After the shutter has been opened, the cartridge is lowered while keeping a horizontal posture in the apparatus (S 27 ), and a chuck of a spindle motor in a lower part of the apparatus which has made access into the cartridge from the opening of the cartridge will chuck a center part of the photosensitive recording medium (S 28 ). This can be conducted in inverse order. Specifically, the cartridge may be fixed inside the apparatus, and the chuck of the spindle motor in the lower part of the apparatus ascends to approach the recording disk through the opening of the cartridge and chuck the center part of the disk (S 28 ). In this manner, the recording disk can be rotated by the spindle motor.  
         [0007]     Then, the spindle motor starts to rotate thereby to rotate the recording disk (S 29 ). A pickup moves to a position for reading the disk information (S 30 ). After finish of the movement, focusing (S 31 ) and tracking (S 32 ) of a laser beam will be conducted.  
         [0008]     Then, after waiting for rotation, disk information starts to be read (S 33 ). After the disk information has been obtained (S 34 ) the pickup will be moved to a position for recording according to the disk information which has been read (S 35 ), and recording will be started (S 36 ).  
         [0009]     By the way, because the holographic recording medium is a write-once recording medium (Write Once Read Many Times), a considerable time has been required from the start of reading in the step S 33  to the finish of the reading in the step S 34 . In other recording mediums which have the disk information recorded always at the same position, it does not take so much time to read determined information. However, the write-once recording medium which is different from above employs such a system that the disk information (an address number showing the last position where writing has been conducted) is appended to a recording area on every occasion when new record is appended. Therefore, in order to know the address number showing the last position where the recording has been conducted, an operator must start from the first writing place of the disk information, and trace the recording areas successively up to the last writing place thereby to find that there is no further record, and he will finally learn the address number of the place where the recording is now going on. Accordingly, it has taken a considerably long time to obtain the disk information.  
         [0010]     The invention has been made to solve the above described problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a recording and reproducing apparatus for a holographic recording medium which can be rapidly shifted to a writing mode, by reducing time required for obtaining information of the last writing position as described above.  
         [0011]     In order to solve the above described problem, according to a first feature of the invention, there is provided a recording and reproducing apparatus for a photosensitive recording medium which contains therein a cartridge for the photosensitive recording medium, the cartridge including a disc-shaped photosensitive recording medium, a cartridge body rotatably containing the photosensitive recording medium and having an opening through which a center and a recording face of the photosensitive recording medium are exposed to the exterior, a shutter assembled to an outside of the cartridge body and arranged so as to move between a closed position where the opening is closed and an open position where the opening is opened, and an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of recording disk information concerning the photosensitive recording medium, thereby to conduct recording and reproduction of the photosensitive recording medium, characterized in that the disk information concerning the photosensitive recording medium is obtained from the RFID.  
         [0012]     In the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the first feature, it would be preferable that the disk information is read at least prior to reproduction. It would be more preferable that the disk information is read prior to chucking, and further preferable that the disk information is read before the shutter is opened.  
         [0013]     In the above described recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium, it is preferable that a pickup is moved to a recording position according to the disk information which has been read.  
         [0014]     According to the invention, there is further provided a cartridge for a holographic recording medium characterized in that an RFID which can be used in the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium as described above is incorporated therein.  
         [0015]     According to a second feature of the invention, which is a modification of the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the first feature, there is provided a recording and reproducing apparatus for a photosensitive recording medium which contains therein a cartridge for the photosensitive recording medium, the cartridge including a disc-shaped photosensitive recording medium, a cartridge body rotatably containing the photosensitive recording medium and having an opening through which a center and a recording face of the photosensitive recording medium are exposed to the exterior, a shutter assembled to an outside of the cartridge body and arranged so as to move between a closed position where the opening is closed and an open position where the opening is opened, and an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of recording disk information concerning the photosensitive recording medium, thereby to conduct recording and reproduction of the photosensitive recording medium, characterized in that the RFID includes; a first writing place in which an address number of a recording place of said photosensitive recording medium where data are expected to be recorded is written, before the recording on said photosensitive recording medium is started; and a second writing place in which an address number of a recording place of said photosensitive recording medium where the data is recorded, after the recording on said photosensitive recording medium is finished, so that said address numbers of the first and second writing places can be compared with each other  
         [0016]     In the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the second feature, it is preferable that the RFID further includes a third writing place in which an address number of a recording place where previous recording has been conducted on the photosensitive recording medium, whereby when the address number in the first writing place is consistent with the address number in the second writing place, the consistent address number will be written in the third writing place (a third feature).  
         [0017]     It is more preferable that in case where the address number in the first writing place is inconsistent with the address number in the second writing place, a backup routine will be actuated according to the address number in the third writing place (a fourth feature).  
         [0018]     It is preferable that the backup routine will reproduce the recording medium after the place having the address number in the third writing place thereby to detect a position until which the recording has been accurately conducted, and will conduct additional recording from a position having defective recording (a fifth feature).  
         [0019]     It is preferable that in case where the additional recording is difficult, the address number in the first writing place will be advanced by one, and the recording will be conducted in a new recording place of the recording medium (a sixth feature).  
         [0020]     In the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the second to the sixth feature, it is preferable that a backup power supply is further provided, and when writing process has stopped while the address number of the recording place where the recording is to be conducted is being written in the first writing place in the RFID, or while the address number of the recording place where the recording has finished is being written in the second writing place, the backup power supply will be used to follow up the writing process to a finish (a seventh feature).  
         [0021]     According to the invention, there is further provided a cartridge for a holographic recording medium characterized in that an RFID which can be used in the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium as described above is incorporated therein (an eighth feature).  
         [0022]     According to the first feature of the invention, because the disk information has been recorded in the RFID, it is possible to immediately obtain the information of the last writing position, by reading the disk information. Therefore, an access time in the conventional apparatus can be reduced, and the recording and reproducing apparatus for the holographic recording medium which can be rapidly shifted to the writing mode can be obtained.  
         [0023]     According to the second feature of the invention, the RFID includes the first writing place in which an address number of a recording place where data are expected to be recorded on the photosensitive recording medium from now on is written, before start of the recording on the photosensitive recording medium, the second writing place in which an address number of a recording place where the data has been recorded, after finish of the recording on the photosensitive recording medium. Therefore, the address numbers of both the first and second writing places can be compared with each other, and in case where they are consistent as the result of comparison, it is found that the recording has been completely conducted.  
         [0024]     According to the third feature of the invention, the RFID further includes the third writing place in which an address number of a recording place where previous recording has been conducted on the photosensitive recording medium. Therefore, when the address number in the first writing place is consistent with the address number in the second writing place, it is considered that the recording has been completely conducted, and so, the consistent address number will be written in the third writing place to prepare for the next writing.  
         [0025]     According to the fourth feature of the invention, when the address number in the first writing place is inconsistent with the address number in the second writing place, the backup routine will be actuated according to the address number in the third writing place. Therefore, it is possible to solve the inconsistency.  
         [0026]     According to the fifth feature of the invention, the backup routine will reproduce the recording medium after the place having the address number in the third writing place thereby to detect a position until which the recording has been accurately conducted, and will conduct additional recording from a position having defective recording. Therefore, it is possible to solve the inconsistency.  
         [0027]     According to the sixth feature of the invention, in case where the additional recording is difficult, the address number in the first writing place will be advanced by one, and the recording will be conducted in a new recording place of the recording medium. Therefore, a problem of double recording or the like will be solved.  
         [0028]     According to the seventh feature of the invention, because the backup power supply is provided in the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the second to the sixth feature, it is possible to continue the writing process to be conducted in a short time in the writing place in the RFID.  
         [0029]     According to the eighth feature of the invention, because the RFID is incorporated in the cartridge for the disc-shaped holographic recording medium, it is possible to use the RFID in the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium of the second to the seventh feature. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0030]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart for describing a flow of operation, after a cartridge according to the invention has been inserted into the recording and reproducing apparatus until the recording and reproducing apparatus starts to record.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing structure of the cartridge which contains a photosensitive recording medium according to the invention.  
         [0032]      FIG. 3A  is a schematic perspective view for describing an internal structure of an RFID, and an internal structure of a recording and reproducing apparatus which is the other end of communication of the same, and  FIG. 3B  is respective block diagrams of them.  
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing an example of the recording and reproducing apparatus which contains therein a holographic recording medium to conduct recording and reproducing processes.  
         [0034]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing an internal structure of the recording and reproducing apparatus.  
         [0035]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of a system in which a shutter is not opened when a light leaks into the apparatus.  
         [0036]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart for describing a flow of operation in the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus after the cartridge has been inserted into the apparatus until the apparatus starts to record.  
         [0037]      FIG. 8  is a view for describing a method of additional recording in the recording and reproducing apparatus for the photosensitive recording medium according to the invention, in which (a) to (c) show a flow of time. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0038]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing structure of a cartridge in which the photosensitive recording medium according to the invention is incorporated.  
         [0039]     (Description of the Cartridge)  
         [0040]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a cartridge body includes a first shell  25  substantially in a shape of a plate, a second shell  26  connected to the first shell  25 , and a lock mechanism  27  which is incorporated between the first shell  25  and the second shell  26  for locking a shutter  13 .  
         [0041]     The first shell  25  and the second shell  26  are respectively provided with internal openings  18 ,  19  through which a central part  4   a  and a recording face  4   b  of a recording disk  4  are exposed to the exterior. After the disk  4  has been placed between the first shell  25  and the second shell  26 , the first shell  25  is superposed on the second shell  26 . By sealing them by ultrasonic welding, a disk cartridge body having a light-shield structure in a labyrinth shape will be obtained.  
         [0042]     On outer faces of the first shell  25  and the second shell  26 , there are formed light-shield plate attaching surfaces  25   a ,  26   b  each offset inward so as to be formed into a size slightly larger than a light-shield plate  12  with stepped portions each having a depth larger than a thickness of the light-shield plate  12 .  
         [0043]     (Description of the Light-Shield Plate)  
         [0044]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the light-shield plate  12  is formed by making outer openings  14 ,  15  and a notch  40  for obtaining a moving range of a shutter  13 , in a thin plate of aluminum alloy and by bending the thin plate substantially into a U-shape in section. In this manner, the light-shield plate  12  is provided with a first plate portion  12   a  having the outer opening  14 , a second plate portion  12   b  having the outer opening  15 , and a third plate portion  12   c  having the notch  40  and connecting the first plate portion  12   a  to the second plate portion  12   b.    
         [0045]     Slits are formed in ridgeline parts of the third plate portion  12   c  with respect to the first plate portion  12   a  and the second plate portion  12   b , and intersection parts with respect to two edges at both sides of an inserting direction C of the cartridge  2  and with respect to one edge intersecting the inserting direction, so that outer edges of the first and second plate portions  12   a ,  12   b  are flexed into a substantially C-shape in a direction where they are brought close to each other (In other words, in a direction to approach the cartridge body  11  when the light-shield plate is attached to the cartridge body  11 ). In this manner, bent portions  12   d  substantially in a C-shape are formed at the outer edges of the first plate portion  12   a  and the second plate portion  12   b.    
         [0046]     The light-shield plate  12  is attached to the light-shield plate attaching surfaces  25   a ,  26   a  of the cartridge body  11  in such a manner that A surface and B surface of the cartridge body  11  are held by the first and second plate portions  12   a  and  12   b , and the front end of the cartridge body  11  in the inserting direction C is covered with the third plate portion  12   c . The light-shield plate attaching surfaces  25   a  and  26   a  are offset inward to have a depth not smaller than the thickness of the light-shield plate  12  so that the outer faces of the light-shield plate  12  attached to the cartridge body  11  will not protrude from the surface of the cartridge  2 .  
         [0047]     Small holes  49  are formed at intervals of an approximately equal pitch in the outer circumferences of the first and second plate portions  12   a  and  12   b  of the light-shield plate  12 . In addition, pins  50  each having a length slightly larger than the thickness of the light-shield plate  12  are formed integrally on the light-shield plate attaching surfaces  25   a ,  26   a  of the first shell  25  and the second shell  26  at positions corresponding to the holes  49  of the light-shield plate  12 . When the light-shield plate  12  is attached to the outside of the cartridge body  11 , the pins  50  of the first shell  25  and the second shell  26  are inserted into the holes  49  so as to protrude from the surface of the light-shield plate  12 .  
         [0048]     (Description of the Shutter)  
         [0049]     The shutter  13  include a shutter member  55  which is formed by bending a thin plate having light-shielding performance substantially into a U-shape, and a slide member  56  which is shaped like a long and narrow plate and attached to the shutter member  55 . The shutter member  55  includes a first shutter  55   a  which is inserted between the outer face of the first shell  25  and the first plate portion  12   a  of the light-shield plate  12 , a second shutter  55   b  which is inserted between the outer face of the second shell  26  and the second plate portion  12   b  of the light-shield plate  12 , and a connecting portion  55   c . The connecting portion  55   c  connects the first shutter  55   a  to the second shutter  55   b , and the slide member  56  is attached to the connecting portion  55   c.    
         [0050]     Shutter slide faces  25   b ,  26   b  offset inward to have a depth not smaller than the thickness of the shutter member  55  are formed on the outer faces of the first shell  25  and the second shell  26  inside the light-shield plate attaching surfaces  25   a ,  26   a . In this manner, the shutter  13  can move between the cartridge body and the light-shield plate  12  so smoothly that generation of chips etc. due to the movement of the shutter  13  can be suppressed.  
         [0051]     The shutter  13  is urged in the closing direction by a shutter spring  59 . The shutter spring  59  is formed of a torsion coil spring, for example. Opposite ends of the shutter spring  59  are locked to the slide member  56  and the inner face of the first shell  25 .  
         [0052]     (Description of the Slide Member)  
         [0053]     The slide member  56  is slidably incorporated between the first shell  25  and the second shell  26  so that the upper face of the slide member  56  may be exposed from the front end face of the cartridge body  11  in the inserting direction. An attaching face  56   a  to be attached to an inner face of the connecting portion  55   c  of the shutter member  55  is provided in an end part of an upper face of the slide member  56 . Two pins  56   b  for example are integrally formed on this attaching face  56   a . When the two pins  56   b  are inserted into two holes  55   d  formed in the connecting portion  55   c  and distal ends thereof are melted down by heat, the shutter member  55  and the slide member  56  will be fixed to each other.  
         [0054]     An operated portion  56   d  to be operated for opening the shutter  13  is integrally formed in the other end part of the upper face of the slide member  56 . By providing the slide member  56  so as to extend with respect to the shutter member  55  in a direction to close the shutter, the operated portion  56   d  is exposed to the exterior without being hidden by the third plate portion  12   c  of the light-shield plate  12 . The notch  40  in the third plate portion  12   c  of the light-shield plate  12  is provided for the purpose of avoiding interference with the operated portion  56   d , when the shutter  13  has moved to an open position. A lockable groove  56   e  in a shape of a rectangular hole is formed adjacent to the operated portion  56   d  in the slide member  56 .  
         [0055]     (Incorporation of an RFID According to the Invention)  
         [0056]     According to the invention, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is provided inside the cartridge body. Denoted by numeral  81  is the RFID. The RFID  81  is attached to a support rib  82  which is projected from the inner face of the second shell  26 .  
         [0057]     By storing data in this RFID, and making the RFID communicated with an RFID recording and reproducing apparatus (described blow) by radio waves, the RFID can be utilized almost permanently without a cell by non-contact power transmission from the antenna side. In this manner, it will be possible to read and write in the RFID, even in a shielded dark room inside the drive.  
         [0058]     (Structure of the RFID)  
         [0059]      FIG. 3A  is a schematic perspective view for describing an internal structure of the RFID, and an internal structure of the recording and reproducing apparatus which is the other end of the communication, and  FIG. 3B  is respective block diagrams of them.  
         [0060]     As shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the RFID  81  includes an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit  201 , a modulation circuit  202 , a demodulation circuit  203 , a power supply circuit  204 , a CPU  205 , and a memory  206  which is connected to the CPU and stores information intrinsic to an optical disk  4 .  
         [0061]     The power supply circuit  204  incorporates a condenser (not shown), which cooperates with the coil  210  to form a resonant circuit. The condenser will be charged with electric power which is generated by electromagnetic induction when the coil  210  has received a radio wave having a specific resonant frequency.  
         [0062]     The power supply circuit  204  will rectify and stabilize this electric power, and supply it to the CPU  205  thereby to activate the RFID  81 . The memory  206  includes a ROM, a RAM, and an EEPROM, and will read the stored data according to a reading command by data communication of the radio waves under control of the CPU  205 , and will write the data according to a writing command from the recording and reproducing apparatus.  
         [0063]     (Structure of the RFID Recording and Reproducing Apparatus)  
         [0064]     An antenna  110  is connected to the RFID recording and reproducing apparatus  100  which will read the data from the RFID  81 . The recording and reproducing apparatus  100  includes a power supply circuit  104  which incorporate a battery, an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit  101 , a modulation circuit  102 , a demodulation circuit  103 , a CPU  105 , a memory  106 , a display  107 , and an input device  108 .  
         [0065]     The RFID recording and reproducing apparatus  100  will transmit radio waves having a specific frequency to the coil  210  of the optical disk  4  by way of the antenna  110  thereby to activate the RFID  81 , and reproduce the data in the memory  206  of the RFID  81 . The reproduced data will be received from the coil  210  by way of the antenna  110 . The RFID recording and reproducing apparatus  100  will discriminate the optical disk  4  and read the information of the optical disk  4  from the memory  106  to display it on the display  107 .  
         [0066]     The invention is characterized in that the disk information (an address number showing the last position where writing has been performed) of the recording medium  4  is recorded in the memory  206  of the RFID  81  other information (for example, a title, a type, contents, and a recording time of the recorded data) can be also recorded.  
         [0067]     (Structure of the Recording and Reproducing Apparatus for the Photosensitive Recording Medium)  
         [0068]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing one example of the recording and reproducing apparatus which contains therein this holographic recording medium to conduct recording and reproducing process.  FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing an internal structure of the recording and reproducing apparatus.  
         [0069]     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a recording and reproducing apparatus  10  into which a cartridge  2  is loaded for use includes a casing  90  which is provided with an insertion hole  91  into which the cartridge  2  can be inserted, and has an internal space  92  shielded from exterior light. The insertion hole  91  will be opened or closed by an insertion hole shutter  94  which is disposed inside the casing  90  so as to be rotated around a pin  93 . One end of a torsion coil spring  96  is locked to the insertion hole shutter  94  to urge the insertion hole shutter  94  in a closing direction. A light-shield member  95  is fixed to an entire circumferential part of the insertion hole  91  and cooperates with the insertion hole shutter  94  to shield the insertion hole  91  from the exterior light.  
         [0070]     An unlock mechanism  78  and a shutter opening mechanism  80  are incorporated in the casing  90 .  
         [0071]     (Description of the Unlock Mechanism)  
         [0072]     The unlock mechanism  78  includes a pair of positioning members  77   a  and  77   b  which are second disengaging members to be engaged with a second look member  64 , and a pair of engagement pins  79   a  and  79   b  which are first disengaging members to be engaged with a first lock member  63 .  
         [0073]     The pair of the positioning members  77   a ,  77   b  are fixed to the casing  90  and extend toward the insertion hole  91  so as to be engaged with positioning grooves  7  and  8  on both side faces of the cartridge  2  which has been inserted in a direction of an arrow mark C. The pair of the positioning members  77   a ,  77   b  will be respectively engaged with the positioning grooves  7 ,  8  thereby to position the cartridge  2  both in an insertion direction of the cartridge and in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction.  
         [0074]     The pair of the engagement pins  79   a ,  79   b  are projected downward from a pair of arms  79 A and  79 B which are fixed to the casing  90 , and will be inserted into an operation hole of the first lock member  63  through openings  72  and  73  of the cartridge  2  which has been inserted. Since data can be recorded on both faces of the recording disk  4 , the cartridge  2  will be set in the recording and reproducing apparatus  10  with either of the A surface and B surface directed upward. In case where the cartridge  2  has been loaded with a wrong surface directed upward, a position of, the lock mechanism  27  will be reversed from right to left. For this reason, the unlock mechanism  78  is provided with the engagement pin  79   b  to be used for inverse loading so that the engagement pin  79   b  can be engaged with the operation hole even when the cartridge  2  has been loaded inversely.  
         [0075]     The pair of the engagement pins  79   a ,  79   b  are urged downward by springs (not shown) so as to project from the arms  79 A,  79 B retractably. Accordingly, when one of the engagement pins is engaged with the operation hole, the other engagement pin will retract into the arm  79  and will not be an obstacle.  
         [0076]     (Description of the Shutter Opening Mechanism)  
         [0077]     The shutter opening mechanism  80  includes a pair of operating pieces  81   a  and  81   b  to be butted against an outside of the operated portion  56   d  of the slide member  56 , and a lead screw  82  having a right-hand thread  82   a  and a left-hand thread  82   b  formed at both end parts. The operating piece  81   a  is engaged with the right-hand thread  82   a  of the lead screw  82 , while the operating piece  81   b  is engaged with the left-hand thread  82   b . A rotation shaft of a drive motor  83  is fixed to one end of the lead screw  82  so that the lead screw  82  can be rotated in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction.  
         [0078]     When the lead screw  82  has rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the operating pieces  81   a ,  81   b  move in a direction to approach each other, and push the operated portion  56   d  thereby to slide the shutter  13  to the open position. The reason why the operating portions  81   a ,  81   b  are provided in pair is for the purpose of dealing with the inverse insertion of the cartridge  2 .  
         [0079]     (Operation of the Recording and Reproducing Apparatus  10 )  
         [0080]     When the cartridge  2  is loaded in the recording and reproducing apparatus (holographic recording apparatus)  10 , the positioning member  77   a  ( FIG. 4 ) fixed to the recording and reproducing apparatus  10  will be inserted into the positioning groove  7  ( FIG. 4 ) thereby to position the cartridge  2 . At the same time, the positioning member  77   a  presses a pressure piece of the second lock member  64  against an urging force of the lock spring  65 . The second lock member  64  rotates in a clockwise direction around a link portion, and a bottom face of a rotation portion leaves a regulation piece, so that the first lock member  63  can slide downward.  
         [0081]     The cartridge  2  will be further inserted in the direction of the arrow mark C. When the operation hole of the first lock member  63  has reached the position of the engagement pin  79   a  of the unlock mechanism  78  which is secured inside the apparatus, the engagement pin  79   a  will be inserted into the operation hole of the first lock member  63  by an action of a spring which is incorporated in the arm  79 . Then, the cartridge  2  will be further inserted thereby to move the first lock member  63  so as to withdraw a lock claw from the lockable groove  56   e  so that the engagement will be released. In this manner, the lock mechanism  27  of the cartridge  2  will be released, whereby the shutter  13  will be allowed to be opened.  
         [0082]     (System for Preventing the Shutter from being Opened when a Light Leaks into the Apparatus)  
         [0083]     Inside the casing  90  ( FIG. 5 ), there are provided an illumination sensor  98  for detecting brightness inside the casing  90 , and a cartridge sensor  99  for detecting the front end of the cartridge  2  which is inserted from the insertion hole  91  to detect that the cartridge  2  has been accurately inserted up to the determined position.  
         [0084]     As shown by a flow chart in  FIG. 6 , when the cartridge  2  has arrived at the determined position, the cartridge sensor  99  will be turned on by detecting the front end of the cartridge  2 , and detect that the cartridge  2  has been accurately inserted up to the determined position (S 1 ). On this occasion, the lock mechanism  27  of the cartridge  2  has already been released, and the shutter  13  has been allowed to open. However, the operating piece  81   a  of the shutter opening mechanism  80  is arranged outside the operated portion  56   d  of the slide member  56 , and will not yet start to work.  
         [0085]     Then, the illumination sensor  99  will detect the brightness. In case where the brightness is below a determined brightness, the illumination sensor  99  will determine that the casing  90  is shielded from light (S 2 ), and rotate the drive motor  83  thereby to rotate the lead screw  82  in a counterclockwise direction (S 3 ). Consequently, the operating pieces  81   a ,  81   b  which are respectively engaged with the right-hand thread  82   a  and the left-hand thread  82   b  of the lead screw  82  move so as to come close to each other to press the operated portion  56   d , whereby the shutter  13  will be moved to open. Then, the data will be recorded by a head (not shown) while the recording disk  4  is rotated or the recorded data will be reproduced.  
         [0086]     On the other hand, in case where the brightness detected by the illumination sensor  98  is above the determined brightness (S 2 ), there is such anxiety that the recording disk  4  may be exposed. Therefore, the shutter  13  will not be opened, and attention of the operator will be called by displaying a warning on a display device (not shown), or by ejecting the cartridge  2  from the recording and reproducing apparatus  10  (S 4 ).  
         [0087]     In this manner, the lock mechanism  27  will not be released unless the second lock member  64  is rotated and the first lock member  63  is slid. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the shutter  13  from being opened unintentionally.  
         [0088]     Moreover, the lock mechanism  27  will be automatically unlocked when the cartridge  2  is inserted into the recording and reproducing apparatus  10 , and the shutter  13  will be opened after the recording and reproducing apparatus  10  has been shielded from light. Accordingly, exposure of the recording disk  4  can be reliably prevented.  
         [0089]     Operation mechanism after the cartridge  2  has been inserted into the recording and reproducing apparatus  10 , until the shutter  13  is opened after the recording and reproducing apparatus  10  has been shielded from light has been heretofore described.  
         [0090]     (Method of Using the RFID which is Provided According to the Invention)  
         [0091]     Now, referring to  FIG. 1 , a flow of operation after the cartridge  2  has been inserted into the recording and reproducing apparatus until the recording and reproducing apparatus starts to record, will be described.  
         [0092]     The front end of the cartridge will be butted against a lid of the insertion hole of the recording and reproducing apparatus and a light pressure will be given to the cartridge (Step S 11 ). The lid will be opened (On this occasion, an exterior light will enter), and the cartridge will be pulled into the recording and reproducing apparatus (S 12 ). The shutter will not be opened yet, because the medium which is an object of the invention is photosensitive. After the cartridge has been completely pulled into the recording and reproducing apparatus (S 13 ), the lid of the insertion hole will be closed (S 14 ) to make a dark room inside the apparatus. When the cartridge has arrived at a determined position (a recording position or a reproducing position) (S 15 ), the contents (including the disk information) of the RFID  81  of the cartridge  2  will be read by the RFID recording and reproducing apparatus  100 , and according to the disk information which has been read, a position to which the pickup should move will be grasped (S 151 ).  
         [0093]     Thereafter, preparations for recording will follow. The shutter of the cartridge will be opened by the shutter opening mechanism (S 16 ). After the shutter has been opened, the cartridge will be lowered while keeping a horizontal posture (S 17 ). A chuck of the spindle motor located in the lower part of the apparatus which has made access into the cartridge from the opening of the cartridge will chuck the center part of the photosensitive recording medium (In this case, the flow may be reversed as described above) (S 18 ). Consequently, the recording disk will be allowed to rotate by the spindle motor. Then, the spindle motor will rotate (S 19 ) thereby to rotate the recording disk. The pickup will move to the writing position according to the disk information which has been read from the RFID  81  (S 20 ), and the writing process will be started (S 201 ).  
         [0094]     As described above, according to the recording and reproducing apparatus for the holographic recording medium of the invention, the information of the last writing position can be instantly obtained from the RFID in the step S 151  (an arrow mark) even in case of the write-once recording medium. Therefore, the steps of inspecting the last writing position in the steps S 30  to S 34  in the flow chart of the conventional apparatus in  FIG. 7  can be omitted, and it is possible for the recording and reproducing apparatus to rapidly shift to the writing mode.  
         [0095]     Moreover, it would be more convenient to write the following information including the above described information, as the information to be written in the RFID.  
         [0096]     (1) To write address information in the RFID.  
         [0097]     Because the position for the next recording can be detected according to this address information, it is possible to perform rapid inspection. Specifically, because the holographic recording medium is a write-once recording medium, it has been impossible to record updated disk information at the same position at every updating, but the disk information to be updated must be appended to a place next to the place where the previous disk information has been recorded, in the conventional method wherein the disk information (the address information of the recording place for the next recording) has been written in the holographic recording medium. Therefore, in order to know the address number of the place for the next recording, the operator must start from the first writing place of the disk information, trace the recording areas successively, and proceed to the final writing place to finally learn that there is no further record, whereby the address number of the place where the recording is now on (as the results, the place for the next recording will be learned) can be detected. In this manner, it has taken a considerably long time to obtain the newest disk information. In view of the circumstances, the above described drawback can be overcome, because it is possible to write the newest disk information always in the same place of the RFID.  
         [0098]     (2) To record contents which are recorded in the RFID, in the recording medium too.  
         [0099]     The RFID is easily handled on one hand, but likely to be broken on the other hand. Therefore, it would be preferable that the contents recorded in the RFID are recorded in the recording medium too, and fixed if possible, so as not to be altered, to perpetuate the recording medium as a back-up.  
         [0100]     (3) To make the address information of the RFID in the above item (1) consistent with the record in the recording medium.  
         [0101]     Timing when the address information is written in the RFID is not always consistent with the timing when recording is made in the relevant address of the recording medium (It is of course desirable to keep consistency, but it is actually difficult), and either of the timing precedes the other timing. In this case, when an accident such as interruption of electric service has happened to stop the recording process, the address information in the RFID and the record in the recording medium become inconsistent. For the purpose of avoiding such phenomenon, the RFID may be provided with a starting address storing place in which the address of the starting position of the record in the recording medium is written, and a finishing address storing place in which the address of the finished record is written. When the addresses of both the storing places are consistent, it will be found that the address information of the RFID in the above item (1) and the record in the recording medium are consistent. In case where they are inconsistent, it is considered that an accident has happened, and both of them will be written again.  
         [0102]     (4) To record an ID number of the RFID tag and an ID number of the cartridge (may be the recording medium) in the RFID. By inspecting security by linking these ID numbers, it is possible to prevent the contents recorded in the recording medium from being altered.  
         [0103]     (5) To record an ID number of the hardware (the recording and reproducing apparatus) in the RFID, so that recording can be made when the ID number of the hardware is consistent with all the ID numbers, in addition to the above item (4).  
         [0104]     (6) To record information of errors in the RFID. By recording the information in the RFID when errors have occurred during recording, it is possible to trace afterward at which parts of the recording medium a large number of errors have occurred during the recording, which will serve to elucidate causes for the errors.  
         [0105]     (7) To record the number of loadings (additional writings) in the RFID.  
         [0106]     In the write-once recording medium, additional writings cannot be made so many times. Therefore, the number of loadings had better be recorded for reference of future loading.  
         [0107]     (8) To record the number of fixings in the RFID.  
         [0108]     After recording has been finished in the holographic recording medium, a light is once irradiated to a recorded part to fix the record. However, the light is not always irradiated to the recorded part only (although it is so intended), but actually, the light of a lamp will leak to spread all over the recording medium. Consequently, the recording will not be conducted when the number of fixings exceeds a certain number. For this reason, it would be advantageous to learn the number of fixings.  
         [0109]     (9) To record specifications of the recording medium in the RFID.  
         [0110]     In case where a thickness, recording speed, diameter, forwarding pitch, etc. which are specifications of the recording medium are recorded in the RFID, it would be convenient because desired numerical values can be instantly obtained from the RFID.  
         [0111]     (10) To record general information of the RFID in the RFID. In case where ISO standardizing rules of the RFID, and characteristic functions of each manufacturer are recorded in the RFID, it would be convenient because desired information can be obtained from the RFID.  
         [0112]     Referring to  FIG. 8 , an embodiment according to a second to eighth features of the invention will be described.  
         [0113]     In  FIG. 8 , (a) to (c) represent a flow of time. R 1  is an address storage memory (a first memory) which stores in advance an address number of a position where writing is expected to be conducted from now on, before the writing is conducted on the recording medium. R 2  is an address storage memory (a second memory) which stores an address number showing the last position where the writing has been conducted on the recording medium, after the writing has been finished R 3  is an address storage memory (a third memory) which stores an address number of the place where the previous recording has been conducted. All these memories are provided in the RFID attached to the cartridge. A to E represents recording positions in the write-once recording medium  4 , and the recording will be conducted in order of A→B→C→D→E (Although an actual track is small in both width and length, the drawings are enlarged to be easily seen).  
         [0114]     A case where the recording has been already conducted in the recording position A, and is going to be conducted in the recording position B will be described.  
         [0115]     When the recording has started (a time point (a)), the address showing the recording position B where recording is expected to be conducted from now on will be written in the address storage memory R 1 . Because the recording has not yet finished, a sign “NOT YET” for example will be written in the address storage memory R 2 . The address showing the recording position A where the recording has been already conducted will be written in the address storage memory R 3 .  
         [0116]     At a time point (b) when a considerable time has lapsed after start of the recording, the recording has advanced halfway in the recording position B of the recording medium  4 . On this occasion, the address storage memory R 1  shows “B”, the address storage memory R 2  shows “NOT YET”, and the address storage memory R 3  still shows “A”.  
         [0117]     At a time point (c), recording to the recording position B is completed, and at that time, “B” is written in the address storage memory R 2  for the first time. At that time, the address storage memory R 3  still shows “A”.  
         [0118]     At a time point (d), “B” in the address storage memory R 1  is compared with “B” in the address storage memory R 2 . In case where both of them are consistent, “B” will be written in the address storage memory R 3 . Then, the contents of the address storage memory R 1  and the address storage memory R 2  will be cleared.  
         [0119]     On this occasion, in case where the address number in the address storage memory R 1  and the address number in the address storage memory R 2  are inconsistent, a backup routine will be actuated, according to the address number in the address storage memory R 3 , and the data from the position of the address number in the address storage memory R 3  (A, in this case) up to the last position (the recording position B) will be reproduced to detect the position until which the recording has been conducted accurately. Then, the data after the place having a defective recording will be additionally written.  
         [0120]     In this manner, the contents which have been recorded at the first recording position will be read, as well as the contents to be written at the same recording position of the first step in the recording position B, and both of them are compared to detect whether they are consistent. In case where they are consistent, the flow will proceed to the second step. By repeating this process, it is possible to detect the place having defective recording.  
         [0121]     In case where the contents which have been recorded in the recording position cannot be read, it is considered that additional writing is difficult. In this case, the address of the writing place will be advanced by one, so that recording may be conducted in a new recording place (the recording position C, in this embodiment) of the recording medium.  
         [0122]     Moreover, it would be desirable to additionally provide a backup power supply. When the process has stopped by interruption of the electric service while the address number is written in the address storage memory R 1  or while the address number is written in the address storage memory R 2 , it would be preferable to continue the writing using the backup power supply and complete the writing. Power consumption is not so large when the address number is written in the address storage memory. In addition, because the recording has not at all been conducted (R 1 ) or the recording has already finished (R 2 ) at this moment, it would be inefficient, to the contrary, to operate the backup routine according to the address number in the address storage memory R 3 .  
         [0123]     As has been heretofore described, according to the second to the eighth features of the invention, the backup power supply is provided so that the contents which has been written in the RFID may not be different from the record which has been actually conducted in the recording medium, even though interruption of the electric service has occurred during recording, whereby the recording work can be continued or a difference will be found out and corrected, if it should happen. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the reliable recording and reproducing apparatus for the holographic recording medium which can be rapidly shifted to the writing mode.  
         [0124]     This application is based on Japanese Patent application JP 2005-276435, filed Sep. 22, 2005, and Japanese Patent application JP 2005-280126, filed Sep. 27, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, the same as if set forth at length.