Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
'f",~3'?~ ;77
~IGH DE~ITY ~ISG ~RI~E WITH M~ETIC ~LUT~ ~N~
A ~ V~ In~
Inventors: Syed H. Iftikar
John J. Mandish
FT~D OF~THE INVENTION
The present invention i9 related to a disc
drive and in particular a high density di~c drive
capable of selectively receiving a sealed removable
cartridge containing media on which data may be stored.
BA~RGRQUND OF TH~ INV~NTI~
With ~he exception of the present As~iynee,
Syquest Technology, attempts to provids for a disc
drive which can raceive a removable aartridge
containing data storage media have met with only
limited suacess. Problems (1) inherent in providing a
cartridge receiver mechanism for accurately aligning a
cartridge and a disc with respect to read/write heads
and a spindle motor, and t2) associated with loading
and unloading raad/write heads onto the disc without
damage to aither the heads or the disc, are difficult
to de~ign for as capacities are increased, and
therefor8 place limitations on the amount of data that
can be stored. As a further data stora~e limitation,
the cartridges usually contain only one disc for dat
storage. ~hu6, the market for ~uch removable
cartridgss disc drives is a highly specialized one.
Such drives ara typically providsd where the removable
cartrid~e ~ust be locked up between uses for se~urity
reasons.
On the high end of the spectrum, during ths
mid-nineteen eventie~, IBM introduced a Winchester
drive (IBM 3340) with a removable data ~odule having a
capacity of 30 megabytes. This disc drive was used
WP1/S~M/S~QUJ6~00-6415.1
(PCT Appln~ 9/14/89)
Y~
with large IBM mainframe~ and not with micro and
personal computer~. Thi~ data module used a plurality
of 14-inch di~c~ and welghted approximately 20 pour.ds.
The disc drive had a co~plex mechanism with levers and
gears to receive the data module. The data module
required a number of connections to the di~c drive in
order for the module and drive to operate. First there
needed to be a mechanical connector for tr nsporting
electrical ~ignal~ between the drive and the data
module. Then there were alignment device6 ~uch as
docking pin# to hold the data module in alignment with
the drive. Further a spindle mechanism including a
belt and pulley needed to be operably engaged with the
module in order to spi~ the discs at an accurate speed.
A mechanical connection needed to be made between a
carriage which supported multiple read,'write head~,
which were positionable relative to the disc~, and a
voics coil actuator which was part of ths drive.
Finally, a ~hutter mechanism had to be incorporated in
order to allow the actuator mechani~m to be insertable
into the data module so that the actuator mechanism
could engage with the carrlage which supported the
read/write he~ds.
Quite naturally, while such a d vice had
co~mercial success, it wa~ expensive and cumbersome to
use and not fiuitable for the price-competitive low-end
~arkets which demands the capabilitie6 and performance
of high-e~d machine~. Further contamination of the
discs and head~ wa~ possible due to the need to open
the shutter mecha~is~ each time the data module was
engaged with the di~c drive.
Another product manufactured by New World
Computer8 had a data module with a five ~egabyte
~torage capacity. As with the IBM 3340, the module had
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(PCT Appln. 9/14/89)
-- 3
media, spindle and read/write head~, all locatsd inside
of the module. The heads were of a multiple element,
fixed-arm design. This d~sign wa~ ~uite expensive to
implement due to the multiple head elements required
per di~c ~urface, and had limited performance.
Considering the prior art, there is still a
need for an accurate, relatively inexpensive, high
capacity disc drive with a removable cartridga.
SuMMAB~ QF THE I~VF,~
The present invention is directed toward~
providing a high capacity aisc drive arrangement using
a sealed removable cartridge which i5 al~o oapable of a
fixed drive implementation.
It is an object of the present invention to
provide a di~c drive having a simplified cartridge
receiver mechanism that doe~ not have the alignment
constraints of prior devices.
It is an object of the present in~ention to
provide for a disc drive which can receive a cartridge,
urged into the drive in a straight-in motion, without
having the position of the cartridge manipulated by the
receiver mechanism of the drive in order to have the
cartridge set down on a spindle motor in an aligned
manner.
It i9 a further object of the present
invention to provide or a spindle mechanis~ which can
operably engage a hub assembly which positions the disc
inside of a sealed cartridge, so as to cause the disc
to rotate without the spindle physically engaging the
hub assembly.
It is an object of the present in~ention to
provide for a spindle motor having a magnetic clutch
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lPCT Appln. 9/14/89)
~n~D~77
-- 4
mechanlsm which engages a magnetic armature plate of
the hub assembly located in the cartridge.
It i8 an object of the pre3ent invention to
provide fo~ an actuator such a~ for example a voice
coil motor which i8 in part located in the driva and in
part in a sealed cartridge.
It i yet an object of the invention to
provide for da~a tran~far between the di~c drive and
cartridge in a manner that does not require a phy6ical
or hard connection between the cartridge and the di~c
drive.
It is a further object of the present
invention to provide for a disc drive which does not
have to be connected in any physical way to a sealed
cartridge inserted therein and does not require acceæ6
into the cartridge for the loading of heads onto a disc
and for the actuation of the head~.
It is still a further object of the present
invention to provide for a disc drive which can accept
at least two cartridges, the second cartridge of which
can be used ~or either (1) providing a back-up ~or data
stored on the fir#t cartridge and/or (2~ u~ed as
additional storag~ space.
It is another object of the present invention
to provide for a disc drive which can be used
selectively as a removable cartridge di~c drive or as a
Pixed disc drive.
It is an object o~ th~ prese~t invention to
~rovide a cartridge that doe not have the alig~ment
constraints of pri~r devioe~.
It i~ a ur~her object of the present
invention to provide a cartridge with a hub a~sembly
which position~ a di c inside of the sealed cartrid~e
and which can engage a ~pi~dle me~hanism of a disc
WP1/SRM/SYQU/6400-6415.1
(PCT Appln. 9/14/89)
~ r~4 7 7
drive, so as to cause the disc to rotate without the
spindle mechanism physically engaging the hub a~sembly.
It is an object of the present invention to
provide for a maynetic armature plats as part of the
hub assembly located in the cartridge which engages
magnetic clutch mechanism o~ the ~pindle mechanism.
The invention includes a disc drive adapted
for receiving a sealed removable cartridge containing a
disc and a head mounted relative to the disc. The disc
drive comprises a housing including a door mean~
adapted for recaiving the sealed cartridge, and a
cartrldge receiver mechanism. A spindle motor
mechanism is adapted for causing the disc to ~pin with
the cartridge rsceived in the recPiver mechanism. ~he
spindle motor i5 spaced from and does not come into
contact with the cartridge. Further an actuator
machani~m is provided which is d;Lsposed partially in
the disc drive and partially in the sealed cartridge.
A mechanism is provided for communicating data between
the sealed cartridge and housing without a conventional
connection being made between the two.
The invention inaludes a sealea cartrid~e
adapted for selective use in disc drive which
comprise~ a ~ealed housing, a di~c positioned in the
hou~ing and a head positioned in the housing in
association with the disc. The cartridge includes a
device for rotationally mounting the disc in the
hou8ing and a device for movably mounting the head in
the housing so that the head can move relative to the
disc. Further a cartridge actuator mechanism adapted
for use with an actuator arrangement of a disc drive is
provided in order that the ac~uator means and the
actuator arrangement san cooperate to move the head
relative to the disc. A ~agnetic coupling mechanism is
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~J;~ 7~
-- 6
adapted for magnetically aoupling the disc to the di~c
driYe in order that the disc driYe can cause the dis~
to rotate without the magnetic coupling means
phy~ically touching the disc drive.
In an aspect of the invention, the spindle
motor i~clude~ a magnetic mechani3m adapted for
magnetically engaging the disc located in the sealed
cartridge, for urging the disc to rotate.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the
actuator mechanism include a coil assembly which can
be di~po~ed adjacent the receiver mechanism o the disc
drive with a permanent magnet provided in the sealed
cartrid~e, the coil and the permanent magnet
cooperating to form the actuator which allows the
heads to move relative to the disc.
In yet another aspect of the present
invention the permanent magnet of the actuator can be
located in the disc drive with the coil located in the
~ealed cartridge.
I~ a further aspect of the invention a
communication meahanism such as for example an infrared
source and sensor are u~ed to transmit data between the
sealed c~rtridge and the housing.
In yet another a~pect of the invention, a
disc drive is provided which can accept two sealed
cartridges with the spindle ~echanism located between
the two ealed cartridgeq. The spindle mechanism of
the device incl~des, on oppoæite sides thereof,
mechanisms for operably engaging the hub assembly of
each ~artridge, with the upper cartridge inserted
right ~ide up and the lower cartridge inserted up~ide
down.
In yet another aspect of the invention a
meahanism is provided for configuring the disc drive a
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-- 7 --
a fixed disc drive u~ing cartridges, which are
permanently sec~red inside the housing of the disc
drive.
Thus it is evident that the present invention
provides for a disc drive with a simplified receiver
mechanism not con trained by the alignment
con~idçrations of prior device~. As the alignment
con~iderations are greatly reduced, tha need for highly
accurate spindle motors with accurate bearing
m~chanisms i~ reduced. The major requirement then
being that the speed of the spindle motor be maintainsd
accurately.
Further the present invention provides for an
actuator mechaniam partially located in a disc drive
and partially located in the cartridge 50 that the
cartridge can be hermetically sealed i~ a clean room,
eliminating contamination probl~m~, and ~o that
problems associated with the head loading and unloading
can be eliminated a~ the heads are always loadsd on the
disc.
~RIEF DE~ç~l~TIo~ Q~ THE ~IGURES
~ igure 1 d~plct~ an embodiment of the disc
drive of the invention which can accept an embodiment
of a sealed cartridge of the in~ention and includes an
actuator coil positioned in the dxive.
Figure 2 depicts a sectional view taken
through line 2-2 in Figure 1 with a cartridge in~erted
into the drive.
Figure 3 depict~ an e~bodiment of ths
invention similar to Figure 1 but with an actuator
permanent magnet located in the drive.
Figure 4 d~picts an embodiment of a disc
WP1/SRM/SYQU/6400-6415.1
(PCT ApplnO 9/14/89~
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-- 8
drive of the invention which can receive two cartridges
of the invention.
Fig~re 5 depicts a sectional view of Figure 4
through line 5-5 with two cartridges inserted into the
disc drive.
Figure 6 depicts a disc drive which accepts
two cartridges and which cartridges can be sPcured
permanently in the drive to provide for a disc drive
with fixed cartridges and thus fixed discs.
Figure 7 i8 a top, partially cut away visw of
another embodiment of the ca~tridge invention.
Figure 8 is a section view taken through line
8-8 of Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a section view taken through line
9-9 of Figure 7.
Figure 10 is still another embodiment of the
drive and cartridge of the present invention shown in a
view similar to the view of Figure 8.
Figure 11 is a top view with the top plate
and certain ele~ents removed of another embodiment of
the drive of the present invention.
DET~IL~_D~SCRIP~ION QF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to the figures and in
particular Figure 1 a disc drive 20 and a sealed
removable cartridge 22 of thG inve~tion are depicted.
Disc drive 20 includes a housing 24 with side mounting
brackets 26. Housing 24 further includeR a faceplate
28. Faceplate 28 includes a cartridge ejection button
30 and a mode selection button 32. ~he faceplate 28
further includes a hinged door 34 which is urged out of
the way by the sealed cartridge 22 as it is in erted
into the disc drive 20.
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A receiver mechanism 36 for ths di~c drive
include3 tracks 38 upon which the ~ealed cartridge ~2
slides as it is inserted into the drive 20. These
tracks 38 allow the cartridge 22 to be inserted in a
straight-in manner. The receiver mechani~m 35 includes
a stop 40 which limitæ the rea~ward motion of
cartriage 22 as it is in~erted into the drive 20.
The di~c drive 20 further includes a spindle
motor assembly 42 which is mounted to the housing 24.
The spindl~ motor assembly 42 includes a motor 44 and a
clutch plate 46 which is comprised in a preferred
embodiment of sight alternati~g north and ~outh poles.
It is to be understood that $here may be aR few as only
a ~ingle north and a single south pole in the clutch
plate 46 ag well as many more than the eight
alternating north and south poles. As can be seen in
Figure 2, with the cartridge 22 inserted into the
housing 24, cartri.dge 22 as will be described more
fully hereinbelow, i9 spaced from the clutch plate 46
and the spindle motor asse~bly 42 ~o that there is no
physical connection between the clutch plate 46 and the
spindle motor assembly 42.
I~ Figure 1 the disc drive 20 further
includes an actuator 47 which in a prefsrrea embodiment
is comprised of a coil 48 such as used, in voice coil
motor actuators for disc drives in general. This ~oil
48 is positioned in the disc drive 20 in such a way
that it can be u~ed, i~ conjunction with permanent
magnet 50 in cartridge 22, to actuate the read/write
head~ positioned in the sealed cartridge 22 as will be
expl~ined hereinbelow.
Further the disc drive 20 includes a data
transfer connector 52 which i3 compatible with a
connector o~ the cartridge 22 a~ will be explained
WPl/SRM/SYQU/~400-6415.1
(PCT Appln. 9/14/89)
'S~ 77
-- 10
hereinbelow. In a preferred embodiment this connector
52 includes an infrared ~enRor and an infrared ~ou~ce
for allowing data to be tran~ferred between the drive
20 and the cartridge 22 without phy~ical contact
between the connector 52 on the drive 20 and the
connector 54 on the 6ealed cartridge 22. It is to be
understood that the connectors 52, 54 can alternatively
be comprised of tran~formers in order to transmit data
to and from the sealed cartridge 22. Further as an
alternative embodiment the connector 52 can include
contact points which are physically directly contacted
with the contact points of the connector 54 on the
cartridge 22. Still further a prong and r~ceptacle
arrangement such as shown in Figure 3 can be used to
transfer data. It is to be understood that if the
cartridge 22 is not provided with battsry power for
operating the circuitry associated with data
communication, ag explained below, that power can also
be conducted through ths connector 52 to the connector
54 by a direct contact mechanism or a plug to
receptacle mechani~m.
Disc drive 20 includes a cartridge loading
and unloading motor 56 which pow~ers a roller 58, which
in a preferred embodiment can be comprised of rub~er,
in a clockwise directi~n in order to load the cartridge
into the hou~lng 24 and in a counterclockwise manner in
order to unload the cartridge 22 fro~ the housing 24.
Cartridge loading motor 56 brings the cartridge 22 to
rest against stop 40. Depres6ing button 30 causes
motor 56 to eject cartridge 22 fro~ di~c drive 20.
The disc drive 20 further includes a
cartridge locking plunger 60 which is shown in Figure 1
in solid lines in an unlocked position and in phantom
lines in a locked po~ition. Thi~ cartridge locking
~P1/SRM/SYQU/6400-641~.1
lPCT Appln. 9/14/89)
77
plunger 60 ~auses a cartridge to be locked in to the
housing 24 against the ~top 40. Depressing button 30
also releases plunger 60 from the loaded position.
The cartridge 22 of the invention is also
depicted in Figure 1. Cartridge 22 include6 a housing
70 which in a preferred embodiment is co~prised of a
rugged plastic material. Located inside of the
cartridge 22 in a preferred embodimsnt are two data
storage discs 72, 74. These discs 72, 74 are mounted
for rotation about axis 75 on a hub assembly 76. Hub
assembly 76 include6 armature plates 77, 83 which are
located externally to cartridge housing 70 adjacent
lower side 79 and upper side 85 of the sealed cartridge
22. In a preferred embodiment plates 77, 83 are
comprised of alternating north and ~outh macJnetic poles
that can be engaged by the cluto,h plate as describsd
below.
With each major sur~ac:e such as major surface
78 of the disa 72, a head such as read/write head 80,
is associated. Other heads 81 are shown in a phantom
below head 80. Thus in a preferred embodimant having
two discs, four read/write head~ are associated, one
each assoeiated with each of the major surfaces of each
disc. The heads 80, B1 are supported by a head arm
assemhly 82. The head ar~ assembly 82 is secured to an
actuator assembly 84 which is provided for rotation
about axis 86. The axis 86 of rotation for head arm
a~sembly 82 is substantially par~llel, in a preferred
embodiment, to that of ~Xi9 75 of the hub assembly 76.
Secured to the actuator assembly 84 is the above-
mentioned magnet 80. Thu~ movement of the magnet 50,
which in a preferred embodiment i~ a permanent magnet,
as caused by the coil 48 in the drive re~ults in the
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mo~ement of the read/write heads 80, 81 relative to the
di~cs.
An internal housing 90, which in a preferred
embodiment i~ comprised of steel, is located inside of
the cartrldge hou~ing 70 and is used to mount the axis
75, 86 in order to provide the 3ppropriate structural
inte~rity for keeping these axis properly aligned.
Communicating with the read/write heads 80,
81 i an appropriate read/write ciLcuitry 92 which is
located inside the cartridge 20 and which i6 associated
with an energy storage device 6uch as the battery 94,
which powers the read/write circuitry 92. A cable 96
provides communication between th~ heads 80, 81 and the
read/writs circ~itry 92, while another cable 98
provide~ oommunication between the read/write circuitry
92 and the connector 54.
Also provided in the c,artridge 22 i6 an air
filter 100 which filters the gas which is provided in
the cartridge 22.
In a preferred embodimlent it is to be
understood that an inert gas such as argon i8 u~ed to
fill the cartridge. This inert gas allows the heads
80, 81 to fly lower and closer to the disc6 and thus
increase the capacity of the disc to store data.
Further, as there is no atmosphere in cartridge 22,
there is no condensation, and friction is reduced.
After the gas is injected into the cartridge 22,
cartridge 22 is hermetically sealed to all but
eliminate contamination damage to the discs and heads.
In operation, the cartridg~ 22 is inssrted
into the door 34 of the disc drive 20 with the
cartridse load motox 56 urging the cartridge into the
disc driYe 20 and again~t the 6top 40.
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- 13 -
With the cartrid~e 22 fully inserted into the
drive 20 the armature plate 77, which i8 the circular
magnetic plate located adjacent to the lower side 79 of
the cartrid~e 22 co~e8 lnto alignment with the magnetic
clutch plate 46 of the spindle motor assembly 42. In a
preferred embodiment, the eight north and ~outh pole
segment~ of the armature plate 77 engage with the eight
north and 60uth pole segment~ o~ the clutch plate 46,
as cau~ed by the spindle motor 44, causes the armature
plate 77 and thus the di~cs 72, 74 to spin at the
proper rotational velocity.
The cartridge lockinq plunger 60 locks the
cartridge in place with the permanent magnet 50 aligned
underneath the coil 48 of tne actuator 47. With power
being supplied to th~ coil 48, ths magnet 50 is urged
to move and properly position the head~ relative to the
di~c. With the heads properly positioned, data can be
transferred to or read from the discs by the use of the
connectors 52, 54 which provide for the transfer of
information from the cartridge to the di~c drive.
An alter~ate embodiment of the invention is
depicted in Figure 3. In thi~ embodiment the actuator
110 associated with the drive 20 includes first and
~econd magn~ts 112, 114 which in a preferred embodiment
are permanent magnets. The cartridge 22 includes an
actua~or a~6embly 116 and a coil 118. Unlike the
read/write circuitry 92, the coil 118 draws substantial
power, requiring that power to be provided to the
cartridge directly from drive 20 in order to operate
the coil as~e~bly 11a. Thi6 being the case, a standard
prong and receptacle arrangement i~ provided with
prongs 120 extending from the data tran~fer connector
52 in the drive 20 for mating with the receptacles in
the data tran~fer connector 54 of the cartridge 22.
WP1/SRM/S~QU/6400-6~15.1
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f~ 7
Another altPrnative embodiment 130 of the
invention is shown in Figures ~ and 5. In di~c drive
130, elementR which are similar to those shown in the
embodiments in Figures 1 through 3 are numbered
identically. In Figure 4 it can be sesn that the disc
drive 130 is provided for receiving two cartridges,
cartridge 22 and cartridge 23. Cartridge 22 iB
inserted as described hereinabove. Cartridge 23 i~
inserted through a ~econd door 132. It is to be
under~tood that cartridges 22 and 23 are identical.
The drive 130 include an actuator a~sembly
134 which has fir~t and second coils 136, 138. Each
coil is used to actuate the magnets associated with the
heads into the cartridges 22, 23 in order to cause the
heads to traverse the discs. Disc drive 130 includes
first and second connectors 140, 142 for providing data
transfer connections to the cartxidges that are
in3erted in the drive as discussed hereinabove.
The spindle motor as~embly 144 is mounted
through a plate 146 which divides the drive 130 into
two compartments, one compartmenl- for each of the
cartridges 22, 23. The spindle motor assembly 144
includes a spindle motor 148, upper and low r magnetic
clutch plates 150, 152 similar in design and concept to
the magn~tic clutch plate 46 in Figure 1. A cartridge
22 inserted through the upper door 34 would have an
armature plate, such as armature plate 77 in alignment
with the upper magnetic clutch plate 150, while the
ar~ature plate 83 of cartridge 23 would be in alignment
with the lower magnetic clutch plate 152.
Drive 130 includes a mode selector switch 154
which allows the drive 130 to be placed in one of the
several modes. The fir~t mode allows a host computer
WPl/SRM/SYQU/6400-6415.1
(PCT Appln. 9/14/~93
g~4177
- 15 -
to selectively place data on one or the other cartridge
as directed by the host.
The second mode allows for automatic and
instantaneous backup, in that data is recorded
~imultançou ly on both the first cartridge as the
primary cartridge and on the second cartridge as the
backup cartridge.
Anothsr embodiment of the invention is shown
in Figure 6. In this embo~iment cartridges 22 and 23
are permanently affixed into drive 160 by appropriate
securing mechanisms such as screws 162, 164. Thus the
disc drive of the invention can be converted into a
fixed drive with th~ capacity of currently available
fixed drives. It is to be understood that in a
preferred embodiment, each disc in the cartridge
contains approximately fifty to one hundred megabytes
of information and thus each cartridge can contain
approximately one hundred to two hundred megabytes of
information. The two cartridges fixed into drive 160
giving thi~ drive 160 the capability of storing up to
400 megabytes of data.
Another embodiment 200 of the removable
cartridge of the present invention is depicted in
Figures 7, 8, and 9. This embodiment includes an outer
housing 202 and an inner housing 204. The outer
housi~g 202 includes a top 206 and a base 208 and the
inner hou6ing 204 includes a top 210 and a ~ase 212.
In Flgure 7 the top 206 of the cartridge 200 haæ been
partially cut away ln order to reveal the positioning
of the inner housing 204. The inner housing 204 is
~ounted to the ba~e 208 of the outer housing 202 with
~hock ~ounts 214. In a preferred embodiment the shock
mounts 214 can include, by way of example only~ ru.bber
mounts u~ed to secure the inner housing 204 to the
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- 16 -
outer housing ~02. The top 206 and the base 208 of the
outer housing 202 are sealed together by methods known
in the trade in order to prevent additional
contaminants from reaching inside of the outer housing.
Similarly, the top 210 and the base 212 of the inner
housi.ng 204 are s~aled in order to prevent additio~al
contaminants from reaching the insid~ of the inner
housing.
The present embodiment has the advantage that
should the cartridge 200 be dropped, the housing and
the shock mounts insulate the discs 216, 218 from the
shock of impact.
The four head~ 220 mounted on the head arm
assembly 222 are al80 insulated from shock by the shocX
mounts 214. The heads 220 and the head arm assembly
222 are shown in phantom in Figure 7. Also shown in
phantom in Figure 7 i8 the actuator assembly 224. The
head arm assembly 222 and the actuator assembly ~24
pivot about axis 226 as is demon~trated ~y the three
po~itions of the heads 220 shown in phantom in Figure
7. A8 can be sesn in Figure 9, the actuator a~sembly
224 includes a voice coil type mechanism 228 which has
upper and lower permanent magnet~ 230, 232 and an
electromagnet 234. The permanent magnets 230, 232
~hich are affixed to the top 210 and base 212 of the
inner house 204, respsctively. The electromagnet 224
is mounted on an extension of the head arm assembly 222
pivot about axis 226 such that a~ the ~urrent to the
el~ctromagnet 234 and the position of the arm a~sembly
222 and headÆ 220 change in order to position the head6
at a desired location relative to the tracks on the
di~cs 216, 218. A connector 236 is provided for
communicating data signals to and from the heads 220
and position signal~ to the actuator a~Eembly 224. The
WP1/SRM/SYQU/6400-6415.1
~PCT Appln. 9/14~89)
77
connector 236 mates with a conductor positioned in the
drive a~ demonstrated by the other embodiments.
In viewing Figure 10, an alternative
embodiment 250 o the re~ovable ca.rtridge i8 depicted
positioned in a drive 262. In this embodiment, each
cartridge includes upper and lower magnetic armature
plates 252, 254. These armature plates 252, 254 extend
from the outer housing 256 of the cartridge 250. In
this arrangement, the cartridge 250 can ba positioned
in either the upper receiving mechanism 258 or the
lower receiving mechanism 260 of the drive 262 without
inverting the cartridge as in eith~r receiving
mechanism 258, 260, both the upper clutch plate 264 and
the lower clutch plate 266 of the ~pindle motor 268 are
ma~netic and can engage either the upper armature plate
252 or the lower armature plate 254 which is placed
adjacent thereto.
In this embodiment, the cartridge 250
includes shutter mechanis~s 8uch as ~hutter mechanism
270 which are used to cover both the upper and lower
armature plate 252, 254. The ~hutter mechanism 270 is
comprised of a material, known in the art, which can
provide a magnetic field hield. The shutter
mechanisms are spring loaded by spring mechanism 272.
Just prior to the cartridge 250 being ejected ~rom the
drive, the drive releas~s the spring mechanism 272 SQ
that the spring ~echanism 272 can cause the shutter 270
to be positioned over the magnetic armature plates 252,
254 in order to break the magnetic bo~d between the
armature plate~ and the clutch plates. With ths
cartridge removed from the drive, the ~hutter prevents
metallic object~ from being attracted to the armature
plates. When the cartrid~e i8 positioned in the
drive, the dr~ve overrides the spring mechanism 272 to
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urge the shutter 270 away from its covering ~08ition
exposing the magnetic field of the arm~ture plate 254
to the mag~etic field of the clutch plate 264 of the
spindle motor 268. In Figura 10, shutters 274, 276
have been urged into non-shielding positions.
Figurs 11 depicts yet anothsr alternative
embodiment 300 of the drive with a cartridgP loading
mechanism 302. This loading mechanism 302 includes an
upper loading mechani~m 304 and a lower loading
mechanism 306. The upper loading mechanism 304 is used
to urge the cartridge into and eject the cartridge out
of the upper receiving mechanism while the lower
loading meahanism 306 i~ used similarly in conjunction
with the lower port. The upper loading mechanism 304
includes a motor 308 and a pulley arrangement 301 which
link~ the motor to a apring loaded mounting frame 312,
which mounts rollers 314, 316 in order to urge the
cartridge into the housin~ and eject the cartridge from
the housing. Associated with thls frame is a
microswitch 315. As the cartridge is urged into the
housing and contacts with the rollers 314, 316, the
spring loaded frame 312 i5 urged from its rest position
triggering microswitch 315 which causes the motor 308
to turn on causing the rollPrs 314, 316 to urge the
cartridge into the drive. An eject button on the face
of the drive causes the motor to drive the rollers 314,
216 in the opposite direction ejecting the cartridge.
The lower load mechanism 306 works in a similar manner.
Induatxial ~li~a~2i lity
From the description of the preferred
embodiment and the operation of the invention it is
readily apparent that the disc drive 20 of the present
invention provide~ for a simple, efficient, and
WP1/SRM~SYQU/6400-~415.1
(PCT Appln. 9/14/89)
77
-- 19 --
economical drive and hermetically sealad cartridge.
The drive contains a spindle motor having a ~agnetic
clutch plate for magnetically engaging the magnetic
armature plata of the cartridge 80 that there i~ not
contact between the cartridge and tAe spindle m~tor
assembly. Thus the receiver mechanism of the disc
drive i8 not required to align the discs ~ith the
spindl2 motor using the expensive techniques of the
prior art devices.
Further the actuator is divid~d into
components, one located in the driv~ and the other in
the cartridge so that the cartridge can be completely
sealed with the heads 80, 81 permanently located in the
cartridge 22 and positioned with respect to the discs
72, 74. A~ ths cartridge is truly sealed, unlike prior
art davices which require shutter doors to allow access
into the cartridge, cartridge contamination can all but
be eliminated.
The present invention also provides for a
data transfer connector which is an infrared signal
sender and sensor so that the cartridge and the housing
do not have to be connected.
Further it i3 evident that the cartridge 22
is ruggedized so that it can withstand harsh treatment
while being transported from device to device.
Other aspects and objects of the invention
can be obtained from review of the figures and the
appended claims.
It is to be understood that other e~bodiments
of the present invention can be provided which fall
within the spirit and scope of the present claims.
WP1/SRM/SYQU/~400-6415.1
(PCT Appln. 9/14/89)
