Abstract: An objective lens (1) for focusing light on an optical recording medium (not shown) and irradiating the same with the focused light is held on a lens holder (2). A support member (10) is provided on a base member (9) as a foundation of a device for driving optical system. The lens holder (2) is supported on the support member (10). Six linear elastic bodies (7a through 7f) of the same length are cylindrically shaped. The lens holder (2) is supported on the support member (10) by the linear elastic bodies (7a through 7f). A center of a circle formed by the ends of the linear elastic bodies (7a through 7f) is an axis of point symmetry thereof. Distances between adjacent ones of the ends of the linear elastic bodies (7a through 7f) are all the same.

Abstract: A device for opening and closing a lid of an optical disk player is disclosed, which is intended to decrease manufacturing cost, to improve assembling efficiency and productivity, and to minimize rejection rate of products by reduction of components. The device includes a player body having a button and a locking hole, a lid hingedly coupled to an end of the player body to cover the player body, and biased upwardly by a spring, the lid having a hook projected downwardly, a pickup disposed in the player body to be moved back and forth, and provided with a pusher, a catcher disposed in the player body to be moved back and forth, and having a catching protrusion to be engaged with the hook and a contact plate to be in contact with the pusher, and having a connecting rod connected between the catching protrusion and the contact plate, and a spring disposed in the player body to bias the catcher forwardly.

Abstract: A two-lever toggle mechanism operates in conjunction with a conventional toggle bracket of an I/O station to prevent the incorrect loading of a DLT cartridge into a dedicated pass-through slot. A rotating front lever includes a leading protrusion facing the slot and a front wing that cooperates with the toggle bracket to prevent its closure when an incorrectly loaded cartridge is present in the slot. A rotating rear lever similarly incorporates a trailing protrusion facing the slot and a shank slidably coupled to an elongated groove in the front lever, such that the two levers rotate together. Therefore, the trailing protrusion provides an additional safeguard to ensure that only a DLT cartridge that is placed correctly into the slot permits the closure of the toggle bracket.

Abstract: A spindle motor includes a fixed base member, an outer cylindrical member made from a hollow tube, and an inner cylindrical member inserted in said outer cylindrical member. The inner and outer cylindrical members are arranged so that one of the outer and inner cylindrical member is fixed to the base member and the other is rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof. A bearing assembly is provided for bearing the rotatable cylindrical member on the fixed cylindrical member. Also, drive means is provided for rotating the rotatable cylindrical member about the fixed cylindrical member. In particular, the fixed cylindrical member is made of ceramic.

Abstract: A storage/retrieval device for optical disk comprises a casing and a disk shelf rotatably mounted in the casing, the disk shelf comprising plural storage grooves each for receiving an optical disk. An ejecting/placing mechanism is mounted in the casing for proceeding with storage/retrieval of the optical disk. A control/display device is operably connected to a drive device for driving the disk shelf to turn. The control/display device comprises a detecting circuit for detecting a position of an associated one of the storage grooves of the disk shelf for receiving the optical disk to be stored/retrieved. The optical disk is automatically ejected out of the casing via a window in the casing from the associated one of the storage grooves of the disk shelf or placed into the associated one of the storage grooves of the disk shelf upon opening of the window of the casing.

Abstract: A small, high-precision, and cheap flying recording head having high mass-productivity, high recording density, and high transfer rate, a disk drive, and a method of manufacturing the flying recording head are disclosed. The flying recording head is manufactured by forming a semiconductor laser oscillation region by growing a semiconductor crystal on a rear end surface of a substrate made of a single crystal such as sapphire, and forming a air bearing surface in an output surface of the semiconductor laser and the substrate.

Abstract: At least, an antiferromagnetic layer 4, a magnetization fixing layer 12, a non-magnetic layer 9, and a free layer 10 are successively formed. The magnetization fixing layer 12 or the free layer 10 is provided with a layered ferrimagnetic structure which comprises a pair of magnetic layers 5 and 8 through the intermediary of a non-magnetic intermediate layer 6. In the layered ferrimagnetic structure, a surface oxidation layer 7 is formed on the surface of the non-magnetic intermediate layer 6 to the side of the non-magnetic layer 9.

Abstract: A moisture absorbing agent is used in a disk apparatus. The difference in the moisture absorption amount in the hygroscopic isothermal line between the moisture absorbing agent at a relative humidity of 80% and the moisture absorbing agent at a relative humidity of 95% is not less than 30% in the moisture absorbing stage and is not less than 20% in the moisture releasing stage relative to the dry weight of the moisture absorbing agent.

Abstract: A disc cartridge includes at least a magneto-optical disc and a cartridge (upper shell) storing the magneto-optical disc in a rotatable manner and having an opening provided in a region including a position corresponding to a predetermined rotation center of the magneto-optical disc. The opening is longer on a forward side in the disc cartridge insertion direction (on the Y-direction side) with respect to the position corresponding to the rotation center than on a backward side in the disc cartridge insertion direction (on the X-direction side) along a straight line passing through the position corresponding to the rotation center and parallel to the disc cartridge insertion direction. Thus, a disc cartridge and a disc unit which are constructed to allow the disc cartridge to be smoothly loaded are provided.

Abstract: A single reel with magnetic tape wound thereon is housed in a case. A restraining member, for restricting rotation of the reel by moving toward or away from the reel, is urged in a restraining direction by an urging member. The pushing-up portions of a releasing member are inserted into the through holes bored in the reel gear of the reel 2 so that the lower ends can abut a driving gear. The releasing member moves the restraining member in a releasing direction by moving according to the chucking operation of drive-side rotation drive means. In this manner, reel-rotation restraining means allows rotation of the reel when being used and restricts the rotation when not being used. In this construction, each of the through holes is bored between the tooth edges of the reel gear so that the releasing member can perform a reliable releasing operation.

Abstract: A rotary tray having a plurality of disk mounting sections is pivotally supported by a central shaft arranged on a tray support face of a casing, a rim protruding from a lower face of the rotary tray is movably set on a sliding face block arranged in an outer circumferential section of the tray support face, and disk mounted on a desired disk mounting section is opposed to an optical pickup when the rotary tray is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle, and the sliding face block is engaged in a space formed between a recess step circumferential face, which is formed along an inner edge of an outer circumferential section of the tray support face, and a support frame integrally formed in the outer circumferential section and being opposed to the recess step circumferential face.

Abstract: A disk device includes a lock mechanism for displacing the entirety of a playing section supported through a shock-absorbing member on an outer chassis towards a disk insertion mouth by the movement of a cam flap 112 which performs loading and ejection operations and which forms a section of the playing section. The lock mechanism fixes and locks the playing section by pressing a portion of the playing section against a wall component of the outer chassis situated on a side of the disk insertion mouth.

Abstract: A MR element with a magnetic sensing region and outside regions thereof which locate outside the magnetic sensing region along a track width direction, includes a multi-layered structure with an anti-ferromagnetic thin-film layer, a first ferromagnetic thin-film layer constituted by a single layer of ferromagnetic material or by multi layers of ferromagnetic material, a non-magnetic metal thin-film layer and a second ferromagnetic thin-film layer constituted by a single layer of ferromagnetic material or by multi layers of ferromagnetic material which are sequentially formed on a substrate. The all layers in the multi-layered structure exist in the magnetic sensing region, and at least the anti-ferromagnetic thin-film layer with its initial thickness exists in the outside regions.

Abstract: The invention provides a disk cartridge 2 comprising a flat rectangular parallelepipedal cartridge body 20, and a disk 21 rotatably enclosed in the cartridge body 20. The cartridge body 20 comprises opposite side walls 2b, 2c formed in parallel to the direction of insertion of the cartridge into a disk player and a front wall 2a facing toward the direction of insertion, and has a shutter 3 slidable along the side wall 2b for exposing the signal bearing surface of the disk 21. The front wall 2a is in the form of a curved wall or polygonal wall having a central portion formed in the closest proximity to the outer periphery of the disk 21 and opposite side portions formed as retracted toward a direction opposite to the direction of insertion. The front wall thus shaped renders the cartridge body 20 compacted and readily indicates to the user the direction of insertion into the disk player.

Abstract: A spin valve read element for use with, for example, magnetic recording media, includes a permanent magnet as one of the multilayers that make up the spin valve. The spin valve may also include a pinned ferromagnetic layer, an antiferromagnetic coupling inducing layer, a reference ferromagnetic layer, an electroconductive layer, and/or a free ferromagnetic layer. Epitaxy breaking layers may also be advantageously positioned within the spin valve. The multilayers of the spin valve may be constructed as a current perpendicular to the plane or a current parallel to the plane type spin valve.

Abstract: A library apparatus is adapted to write to and read from a plurality of cartridges each housing a tape wound around a reel. The tape has a leader block attached to a tip thereof for pulling the tape out of its cartridge and adapted to be seated in a leader block latch provided on the cartridge. The apparatus includes a cell unit having a plurality of cells for storing the tape cartridges, a threader unit for writing data to and/or reading data from a selected cartridge. The threader unit has a pin for engaging the leader block and pulling the tape out of the cartridge for writing and/or reading data on the tape. A loading unit is connected to the threader unit for holding the cartridge in a first position where the pin is prevented from engaging the leader block of the cartridge, and a second position where the pin is allowed to engage the leader block and write and/or read from the tape. An accessor transfers the cartridge between the cell unit and the first position of the loading unit.

Abstract: A disk drive system having a disk-shaped disk storage medium and a disk drive for accessing the disk storage medium including a media cartridge of the same shape as that of the disk storage medium to which not less than one small-sized storage medium is attachable, and an access unit provided in the disk drive for accessing the small-sized storage medium attached to the media cartridge.

Abstract: A system for positioning a data storage cartridge in a read/write mechanism in which alignment holes in the cartridge are pre-aligned to alignment pins on the read/write mechanism. The system includes a beveled recess in the front surface of the cartridge, a pair of holes in the bottom surface of the cartridge and four alignment pins affixed to the read/write mechanism. The third and fourth alignment pins are oriented perpendicular to and project out toward the second planar surface of the cartridge. The first, second, third and fourth alignment pins are disposed such that when the cartridge reaches the pre-aligned position the first alignment pin bottoms out in the beveled recess, the second alignment pin abuts the first planar surface at a location away from the beveled recess, the third alignment pin is substantially aligned with one of the holes in the second planar surface and the fourth alignment pin is substantially aligned with the other of the holes in the second planar surface.

Abstract: A lower inertial compact disk driving device is disclosed. The disk and laser head are static and optical unit device are used as a medium of the laser optical path. Furthermore, a rough tracing unit device is used to change the optical path projected by optical unit device on the compact disk, a precise tracing unit device is used to control the optical spot to emit to the desired compact disk track precisely; the precise tracing unit device includes two fixed shelves, two permanent magnets, a tracing movable block and a balance movable block, the tracing movable block and balance movable block are wound around focus coils, respectively, and are hung between two fixed shelves by elastic wire, the central thereof is installed with the steel wire whose end connects to the optical unit device. The focusing error from the laser beam passing through the optical unit device is converted into a focusing driving voltage which is applied to the focus coil so that a magnetic field is generated.

Abstract: A playback mechanism of a recording medium is provided, by which a period of time required until information recorded in the recording medium is read out after the recording medium is inserted in an instrument body can be shortened and the size of the playback mechanism can be reduced. The mechanism includes an instrument body, conveying unit having a roller arm and disc guide, clamp playback unit having a locking pin, and locking member. The clamp playback unit is movable relatively to the instrument body. The locking member locks the locking pin to fix the clamp playback unit. The locking member releases the locking of the locking pin to make the clamp playback unit movable relatively to the instrument body. When the clamp playback unit clamps a CD, the roller arm and disc guide part from the CD, thereby the locking by the locking member is gradually released.