Abstract:
The disc protection casing includes a casing body and a disk holder. The casing body has a receiving space therein and an access port formed in a first side of the casing body. The disk holder is insertable into an interior of the casing body via the access port, and one of the disk holder and the first side of the casing body is structured such that the disk holder is prevented from being incorrectly inserted into the casing body.

Description:
This application is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/347,388, filed on Jul. 6, 1999, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference and for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120; and this application claims priority of Application No. 28766/98 filed in Korea on Jul. 15, 1998; and Application No. 28824/1998 filed in Korea on Jul. 16, 1998 under 35 U.S.C. §119. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same. 
     2. Description of the Background Art 
     Types of a disc are classified into a reproducing-only type such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, etc., and a recordable type such as a WORM (Write Once Read Many) type, a rewritable type, etc. in accordance with the number of the data writing operations. 
     The writable-type disc is generally placed in a disc protection casing such as a cartridge, to protect the disc from external contamination or damage. 
     It is required that the disc casing is designed to be opened when changing the disc. 
     Namely, when using a small size cartridge in a large size driving apparatus, since the small size cartridge does not have a certain size opening for the large size driving apparatus, the small size cartridge having a disc therein may not be used for the large size driving apparatus. Recently, a new cartridge capable of changing the disc inserted in the casing has been introduced in order to overcome the above-described problems. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge includes a cartridge body  2  for receiving a disc  1  therein, and a disc holder  6  which may be detachably inserted via one edge of the cartridge body  2 . 
     An opening (not shown) is formed in the bottom of the cartridge body  2 , so that a pick-up unit of a drive can access the disc  1 , and the opening is closed and opened by a shutter  4 . 
     A receiving portion  5  is formed in the one edge of the cartridge body  2 , so that the disc  1  may be inserted into the interior of the cartridge body  2 . 
     In the thusly constituted conventional disc cartridge, when a user wishes to insert a bare state disc (the disc is separated from the cartridge body  2 ) into the cartridge body  2 , the user holds a certain portion of a non-recorded surface of the disc  1  to prevent the data recorded surface from being contaminated and inserts the disc  1  into the receiving portion  5  of the cartridge body  2  and then inserts the disc holder  6  into the receiving port  5 . 
     On the contrary, in a state that a disc  1  is already inserted in the interior of the cartridge body  2 , in order to use a bare state disc  1 , for removing the disc  1  from the cartridge body  2 , the disc holder  6  is detached from the cartridge body  2 , and the disc  1  falls down by gravity due to the weight of the disc through the receiving port  5  when the cartridge is held upright by the user. 
     However, in the conventional disc cartridge, in order to insert the disc into the interior of the cartridge body or remove the disc from the cartridge body, the user holds the disc and inserts the disc into the cartridge body or holds the disc falling from the cartridge body by the weight of the disc. In this case, the data recorded surface of the disc may be contaminated by pollutants or the like. Therefore, the disc must be very carefully handled. 
     As a very high capacity and high speed disc is introduced, if the disc is contaminated by pollutants and the like, it is impossible to reproduce the data recorded on the CD or a data reproducing error may occur. 
     In addition, discs are further classified into a disc having one recordable surface (hereinafter called a single sided disc) and a disc having two recordable surfaces (hereinafter called a double sided disc). 
     The single sided disc includes a recordable surface for recording and reproducing data and a label surface for attaching a label thereon, and the double sided disc includes only two recordable surfaces. 
     In the case of the single sided disc, the data recording surface is opposite to the optical pick-up unit, and in the case of the double sided disc, one or both recordable surfaces of the double side disc may be opposite to the optical pick-up unit for thereby recording and reproducing the data. In the above-described structure, the disc holder  6  is inserted into the cartridge body  2  in a certain direction. 
     In the case of the single sided disc, the disc must be inserted in one direction, and in the case of the double sided disc, the surface to be recorded or reproduced must be inserted in a certain orientation. 
     However, when a user re-inserts a bare state single sided disc into the disc cartridge, since the conventional disc holder and the cartridge body are symmetrical, the user may erroneously insert the disc holder into the cartridge body, so that the insertion direction of the disc may be changed. 
     In particular, in the case of the single sided disc, even when the cartridge body and the disc holder are normally inserted, if the label surface of the disc is opposite to the optical pick-up unit, the optical pick-up unit can not access the disc. 
     Namely, when the disc is properly inserted into the cartridge body, and the disc holder is properly inserted thereinto, the disc is normally recorded and reproduced. Therefore, the user must carefully insert the disc into the disc cartridge, so that in the conventional art, there is much inconvenience to use the disc. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same which are capable of preventing a data recording surface of a disc from being contaminated when inserting and removing a disc. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same which are capable of easily separating a disc from a disc protection casing. 
     To achieve the above objects, there is provided a disc protection casing according to the present invention which includes a disc protection casing body having a disc receiving space therein, and a disc holder insertable into the interior of the disc protection casing body and having an elastic member formed at one end of the same for supporting the disc. 
     To achieve the above objects, there is also provided a disc holder according to the present invention which includes an elastic member engaged with a certain portion thereof for elastically supporting a disc, and a shoulder formed at one side of the elastic member for rotatably positioning and separating the disc in/from a receiving space of a drive. 
     In a disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same according to the present invention, a disc protection casing for a single sided disc and a disc holder are inserted in a certain direction, and a double sided disc is inserted into a disc protection casing in a certain direction, so that it is possible to prevent an erroneous insertion of the disc. 
     To achieve the above objects, there is further provided a drive according to the present invention which includes a receiving portion including a disc protection casing having a disc receiving space therein, and a disc holder receivable in the disc protection casing body and having one end engaged with an elastic member for supporting a disc, and a recording and reproducing unit for recording and reproducing data on/from a disc received in the interior of the disc protection casing. 
     Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from the description which follows. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a conventional detachable disc cartridge; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded plan view illustrating the structure of a cartridge body and a disc holder according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a state that a disc is inserted in a disc holder as shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a state before a disc holder of FIG. 2 is inserted into a cartridge body; 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a state after a disc holder of FIG. 2 is inserted into a cartridge body; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI—VI of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an insertion relationship between an adapter and a disc holder according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the structures of a disc cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a holder insertable into the disc cartridge; 
     FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view illustrating a disc cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention and a holder insertable in the disc cartridge; 
     FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view illustrating a disc cartridge according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention and a holder insertable in the disc cartridge; and 
     FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an optical disc recording and reproducing unit according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, a disc cartridge according to the present invention includes a cartridge body  12  having a disc receiving space formed therein and slanted surfaces  12   a  which operate as guide members formed at an outer portion of the receiving space, and a holder  14  having semi-circular tension arms  18  which operate as elastic members for elastically supporting the disc  1 . 
     A receiving port  15  is formed in an outer edge of the cartridge body  12 , and a disc  1  inserted therethrough into the disc holder  14  is received into the interior of the cartridge body  12  via the receiving port  15 . 
     The slanted surfaces  12   a  are integrally formed with the cartridge body  12  in a rib shape when injection-molding the cartridge body  12 . These slanted surfaces  12   a  contact with the tension arms  18  when the disc holder  14  holding the disc  1  is received into the cartridge body  12 , so that the tension arms  18  are pushed toward the respective lateral walls of the cartridge body  12  for thereby releasing a restricting force of the tension arms  18  with respect to the disc  1 . 
     In addition, when the disc holder  14  is separated from the cartridge body  12 , the tension arms  18  provide a certain elastic force to the disc  1  in a radial direction of the disc  1 , so that the disc  1  is not separated from the disc holder  14 . 
     In order to release the restriction force on the disc  1  and support the disc  1 , slant shoulders  18   a  which are engaged to the slanted surfaces  12   a  are integrally formed at respective outer portions of the tension arms  18  being integral with the disc holder  14  when injection-molding the disc holder  14 , and a holding portion  16  is formed at an outer edge portion of the disc holder  14  for holding the disc  1 . 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the tension arms  18  elastically support the disc  1  using a certain radial force applied toward the center portion of the disc  1 , so that the disc  1  is stably supported by the holding portion  16  and the tension arms  18 . 
     The process by which the disc  1  is inserted into the cartridge body  12  will now be explained in detail. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, a disc  1  is first inserted by a user into the disc holder  14  through an opening formed between the outer end portions of the tension arms  18  in the direction of arrow. As the disc  1  is inserted, the tension arms  18  are spread outwardly and upon completion of the inserting operation, the tension arms  18  elastically hold the disc  1  against the holding portion  16 . 
     At this state as shown in FIG. 3, the user holds the holding portion  16  of the disc holder  14  and pushes the disc holder  14  into the cartridge body  12  via the receiving port  15 . 
     Upon inserting the disc holder  14  into the cartridge body  12 , the shoulders  18   a  formed at the tension arms  18  contact with the slanted surfaces  12   a  of the cartridge body  12  before the disc holder  14  is inserted fully. 
     Namely, the shoulders  18   a  are moved toward the respective walls of the cartridge body  12  along the slanted surfaces  12   a  from the state of FIG. 4 to the state of FIG. 5, so that an elastic supporting force of the tension arms  18  with respect to the disc  1  is released. 
     The disc  1  is rotatably positioned in the cartridge body  12 , so that a spindle motor(not shown) can rotate the disc  1 , and the optical pick-up unit(not shown) can access the recording surface of the disc  1 . 
     The converse operation by which the disc holder  14  is separated from the cartridge body  12  in order to remove the disc  1  from the cartridge body  12  will next be explained. 
     When separating the disc holder  14  from the cartridge body  12 , the restriction force exerted by the slanted surfaces  12   a  to the shoulders  18   a  is released, so that the tension arms  18  support the disc  1  by an elastic recovering force of the tension arms  18 . 
     At this time, since a concave slanted surface  18   b  is formed in end portion of each tension arm  18 , even when the disc  1  is moved up and down in the cartridge body  12 , the disc  1  is stably guided to the center portion of the tension arms  18   a , so that the tension arms  18  stably support the disc  1 . 
     In the present invention, since the tension arms  18  which elastically support the disc  1  need have only a certain thickness compared to the height of the edge of the disc  1 , the thickness of the disc holder  14  can be made small. 
     As shown in FIG. 7, in order to record and reproduce a small size recording medium(for example, when the diameter of the disc is 80 mm) using a disc driving apparatus which is capable of recording or reproducing a large size recording medium(for example, when the diameter of the disc is 120 mm), a slanted surface(not shown) which has the above-described function may be formed in the interior of an adapter  140  having an outer size which is the same as the cartridge body of the large size recording medium for the reason that a certain compatibility with respect to other apparatuses is obtained because almost all driving apparatuses are recently designed to drive a large size recording medium. 
     In this case the user can detachably mount the disc holder  14  with the disc  1  therein at the receiving port  141  of the adapter  140 . 
     In the drawings, reference numeral “I” designated a length difference between the large size recording medium and the small size recording medium. The end portion  14   a  of the disc holder  14  is moved up to the center end portion  140   a  of the adapter  140  when inserting the disc holder  14  into the adapter  140  for thereby obtaining a certain size opening. 
     The disc cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention includes a certain structure so that the cartridge body and the disc holder can be inserted only in a certain orientation. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, a grove  22   a  which is formed eccentrically in a leftward or rightward direction is formed in the cartridge body  22 , and a protrusion  26   a  is formed on the disc holder  24  to be matingly insertable into the groove  22   a . The disc holder  24  may include the tension arms  18  discussed above to securely hold the disc  1  therein. 
     The protrusion  26   a  is formed on the holding portion  26  and is eccentrically formed leftwardly or rightwardly to be opposite to the groove  22   a.    
     Therefore, since the groove  22   a  and the protrusion are engagable only in a certain opposed orientation, the disc holder  24  is received in the cartridge body  22  only in a certain orientation. 
     Namely, the disc holder  24  is not received in the cartridge body  22  in a state that the groove  22   a  does not correspond to the protrusion  26   a.    
     A guide message  24   a  is written on the upper surface of the disc holder  24  for guiding an insertion direction when the disc  1  is inserted into the cartridge body  22 . 
     As the guide message, there are “Recordable side of disc” or “Label side of disc” in accordance with the data recording surface or label surface of the disc  1 , so that a user can recognize the insertion direction of the disc  1 . 
     Therefore, the user can insert the disc holder into the cartridge body  22  in a certain orientation based on an asymmetrical shape of the cartridge body  22  and the disc holder  24 , and the insertion direction of the disc  1  is coincided with the insertion direction of the cartridge body  22  and the disc holder  24  based on the guide message  24   a.    
     As shown in FIG. 9, the disc cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention includes a cartridge body  32  having an asymmetrically shaped receiving port  33 , and a disc holder  34  having an asymmetrically shaped end portion corresponding to the receiving port  33 . The disc holder  34  may include the tension arms  18  discussed above to securely hold the disc  1  therein. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the width W L  between the receiving port  33  and the left edge portion of the disc holder  34  received in the receiving port  33  is wider than the width W R  of the right edge portion. 
     Namely, if the shape of the disc holder  34  received in the cartridge body  32  is not coincided with the shape of the receiving port  33  of the cartridge body  32 , the disc holder  34  is not received thereinto, so that a certain insertion orientation is implemented. 
     A guide message  34   a  is formed on the upper surface of the disc holder  34  as shown in FIG. 9 to inform the user of the insertion orientation of the disc  1  in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG.  8 . 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a disc cartridge according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown therein, the disc cartridge according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention includes a cartridge body  42  in which a rail  43   a  is protruded from a lateral wall of a receiving port  43 , and a disc holder  44  having a groove  44   a  which is opposite to the rail  43   a . The disc holder  44  may include the tension arms  18  discussed above to securely hold the disc  1  therein. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the rail  43   a  is formed only at a left lateral wall of the receiving port  43  and has a certain height, and a rail is not formed at the right lateral wall. 
     Namely, when the disc holder  44  is inserted into the cartridge body  42 , if the groove  44   a  in the disc holder  44  and the rail  43   a  of the cartridge body  42  are not correspondingly engaged with each other, the disc holder  44  is not received into the cartridge body  42 . Therefore, the disc holder  44  is received only in a certain orientation. 
     A guide message  44   b  is formed on the upper surface of the disc holder  44  of the fourth embodiment of the present invention to inform the user of the insertion orientation of the disc  1  in the same manner as in the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9. 
     In the adapter  140  of FIG. 7 which is used for recording and reproducing a double sided or single sided recording medium using a disc driving apparatus capable of recording or reproducing a large sized recording medium, the receiving port  141  of the adapter  140  and the disc holder  14  received in the receiving port  141  are asymmetrically formed, so that the disc holder  14  is received into the adapter  140  only in a certain orientation. 
     In this case, a guide message may be printed on a certain portion of the adapter  140  to inform the user of the insertion orientation of a small sized recording medium. 
     As shown in FIG. 11, the disc recording and reproducing unit  50  which drives the disc  1  includes an optical pick-up unit  51  recording and reproducing data on/from the disc  1 , an optical pick-up unit transport unit  51  transporting the optical pick-up unit  51 , a data processing unit  52  processing the data inputted and transferring the processed data to the optical pick-up unit  51 , an interface unit  53 , and a controller  55  controlling the operations of the above-described elements. The interface unit  53  of the optical disc recording apparatus is connected with a host  56 , so that certain instructions and data  57  are communicated therebetween. 
     As described above, the disc protection casing and a drive for receiving the same according to the present invention are capable of preventing a data recording surface of a disc from being contaminated when inserting and removing the disc. 
     In the present invention, since the disc is inserted in the disc holder, a user is able to easily insert a disc into a cartridge and remove the disc from the cartridge. 
     In the single sides disc cartridge according to the present invention, since the cartridge body and the disc holder are asymmetrically formed, a certain insertion orientation is implemented for thereby preventing an erroneous operation of the apparatus. 
     In the present invention, since there is provided a guide message for informing a user of the insertion orientation of the disc, it is possible to prevent an erroneous insertion of the disc holder into the cartridge body. 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as recited in the accompanying claims.