Patent ID: 7281258

Claim:
A disc cartridge comprising: a cartridge body that includes a lower shell formed with a first opening for use in disc access, and an upper shell, and accommodates a disc-shaped recording medium; a disc tray that is formed with a second opening for use in disc access and is pivotally disposed within said cartridge body, said disc tray closing a part of the first opening when said disc cartridge is in a disc access-restricting state for restricting disc access, and having the second opening communicated with the first opening to open the part of the first opening when said disc cartridge is in a disc access-allowing state for allowing disc access; and a shutter member that is disposed between said disc tray and said lower shell in a state pivotally supported on said disc tray, said shutter member being pivotally moved relative to said disc tray in accordance with a pivotal motion of said disc tray while being moved within said cartridge body, whereby said shutter member is placed in a closing position for closing another part of the first opening in the disc access-restricting state to close the first opening in cooperation with said disc tray, and is placed in an opening position for opening another part of the first opening in the disc access-allowing state, wherein said lower shell is formed with one of a pivotal motion protrusion and a pivotal motion guide groove, for pivotally moving said shutter member with respect to said disc tray between the closing position and the opening position in accordance with the pivotal motion of said disc tray, and an urging protuberance for having said shutter member urged thereon, when said disc tray is pivotally moved so as to place the disc cartridge in the disc access-restricting state, thereby urging the shutter member such that said shutter member is caused to move toward the closing potion, and wherein said shutter member is formed with the other of said pivotal motion protrusion and said pivotal motion guide groove, and a protruding portion formed to protrude from a side end face of said shutter member such that said protruding portion is brought into abutment with said urging protuberance before completion of the pivotal motion of said disc tray when said shutter member is moved so as to place the disc cartridge in the disc access-restricting state, and that a force for pressing said protruding portion against said urging protuberance is progressively increased until the pivotal motion of said disc tray is completed thereafter.