Disk cartridge

Abstract

A cartridge assembly (10) for holding disks or similar substrates includes a cassette (12) provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels (20) of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature (34. 36. 40) into each channel (20) for reducing the channel width, the protruding features (34, 36, 40) being provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness. The protrusions allow more compact storage of disks within the cartridge (10) while still ensuring that the disks do not touch one another during transportation and handling. One or more burrs (44) are also provided in each channel (20) to prevent or reduce disk spin during transportation of the cartridge (10). The assembly (10) is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to the contents of the cartridge and/or transport and storage conditions, the tag being operable to store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, cartridge contents and to store transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a disk cartridge or caddy of the type able to carry memory disks for computer hard disk drives and similar disks or substrates.

SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ART

Hard disk drive caddies are known in the art. They are generally used to transport hard drive disks from the point of manufacture to the point of installation into a disk drive.

An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,382, which provides a disk cassette into which a plurality of disks or other substrates can be placed in a secure manner and top and bottom covers for covering the disk cassette. The disk cassette is provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels within each of which a disk can be held. The grooves ensure that the disks do not touch one another during transportation. The cassette has a standard size for automated assembly purposes. In practice, the disks are not held tightly within the channels, to allow their easy removal by machine. The cartridges which have been manufactured hold at most 25 disks and this has become the industry standard.

However, the prior art packages for shipment and storage of memory disks have exhibited certain deficiencies, one of which being the limitation of the storage capacity to 25 disks. This limitation in capacity cannot be simply addressed with existing designs of caddy. The limitation in the capacity of the caddy has been as a result of needing to accommodate manufacturing tolerances while ensuring that the disks do not touch one another when held in the caddy. Moreover, packages of this type have become standard in the art, leading to the development of automated filling and emptying systems specifically for these packages. As a result, the equipment often is not suitable for other package types, particularly packages which hold the disks in a closer packed relationship.

Moreover, the prior art packages cannot provide for tracking of the caddies during manufacture, filling, transportation and unloading and cannot provide for the monitoring of the environmental conditions through production and transportation. At best, a self adhesive label is provided on the caddy, which is printed and attached manually by personnel.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved cartridge assembly for holding disks such as hard drive disks.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly for holding disks or similar substrates including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature into each channel for reducing the channel width.

Advantageously, there are provided a plurality of protruding features in each channel. Preferably, the protruding features are provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness.

The protruding features provide tighter holding of disks within the channels and thereby can reduce disk movement within the channels. This allows the disks to be stored with smaller disk angle relative to the orthogonal to an axis along which the disks are aligned. In prior art systems, disks are held at a significant angle, which results in a lower disk holding capacity for the caddy. Thus, with the arrangement disclosed herein, disks can be stored closer to one another within the cassette and thus there can be stored a greater number of disks within a cassette of given dimensions. This is particularly useful for automation purposes, since the known caddy has become an industry standard.

Another advantage of the protruding features is that they can be placed at locations within the curved channels such as to become effective substantially only when a disk is almost fully inserted into the cassette. Thus, the protruding features do not affect the ease of insertion and removal of disks into and out of the cassette.

The provision of protrusions also has manufacturing benefits. Generally, the cassette would be formed from a plastics material, which cannot readily be manufactured with very accurate tolerances at reasonable cost in terms of time and expense. The protrusions, on the other hand, are small in size, which can ensure that less of the steel tooling will require modification to alter or tune the tightness of hold on the disks and related tolerance. This can be important in maximizing the disk carrying capacity of the cassette.

In the preferred embodiment, there are provided protrusions symmetrically arranged to hold a disk at opposing ends thereof.

In an embodiment, there is provided one or more burrs in each channel, preferably a plurality of burrs. The burrs are preferably located in or on a base of the channels. In some embodiments it is envisaged that burrs could be provided on one or both of the side walls of each channel. The burrs serve to reduce or eliminate rotation of the disks within their channel during movement of the cassette. Advantageously, there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel, it not being necessary to have burrs along the whole length of each channel but could be so formed if preferred.

Preferably, the assembly is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to the contents of the cartridge and/or transport and storage conditions. Advantageously, the tag can store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details. Preferably, the tag can store transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration and so on, by means of suitable sensors on or in the assembly.

The tag may be provided with communication means such as radio frequency communication means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly for holding disks including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one friction element in a base wall of each channel.

The preferred embodiment can provide a disk package which affords equal level of protection for disks carried therein but in a reduced volume per disk. Preferably, it can provide a cartridge or caddy of external dimensions similar to existing caddies so as to be compatible with existing manufacturing facilities but which holds more disks than prior art caddies. Thus, all that may be required is a reprogramming of automated removal software for removing the disks from the caddy to take into account the greater number of disks.

The preferred embodiment can also overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an integrated solution for tracking and condition monitoring of the cartridge or caddy during disk manufacture and transport.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly designed to hold memory disks or similar substrates which is capable of holding fifty disks.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for removing disks from a cartridge including a lifter operable to lift alternate ones of a series of disks in the cartridge and a remover operable to remove the lifted disks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of cassette for a cartridge or caddy;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the cassette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a part of a cassette of the cartridge of FIG. 1 showing a portion of some of the curved channels of the cassette;

FIG. 5 is a view in plan of a portion of the channels of FIG. 2 showing protruding features thereof;

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation of the channels of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a view of a part of the channels of FIG. 2 showing in greater details the burrs provided in the base walls thereof;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the usage of the preferred electronic tag; and

FIGS. 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams of an embodiment of disk lifting assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cartridge or caddy (not shown in full) of the preferred embodiment shown is provided with external features equivalent to the caddy of U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,382 and to the industry standards so as to be compatible with existing automated packing and handling systems. The cartridge is provided with a cassette 12 which holds a plurality of disks 18, in the preferred embodiment 50 disks, and upper and lower covers (not shown). The covers provide a double opening to the cassette 12 (top and bottom) for packing and unpacking purposes and allow the cartridges or caddies to be stacked on one another. The covers typically seal the cartridge from the environment to prevent contamination of disks held in the cartridge during handling in the factory and during transportation. The covers are of conventional form and thus will not be described in detail herein.

The cassette 12 has features similar to those of conventional cassettes but is modified with respect thereto to be able to hold 50 disks or more, as shown by the number line in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 3. It achieves this while retaining the same external footprint and sizing and to have the other advantages taught herein. Described below are the principal modifications relative to known cassettes. Other features common with known cassettes are not described herein, and if necessary the reader is referred to the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,382.

The embodiment of caddy disclosed herein is intended to be used to carry hard drive storage disks 18 and as such to be used repeatedly and to be compatible with robotized assembly systems.

Referring now also to FIG. 4, in which there is shown a portion of the interior of the preferred embodiment of cassette 12. The cassette 12 is formed of two opposing sets of curved channels 20 which are separated by a gap 22 and held together by integral end walls 24. The side walls 24 have a curved opening 26, of U-shape, which is used for the insertion and removal of disks or similar media, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,382. The top ends 14 of the channels 20 (not shown) are straight and substantially parallel to the opposing channels of the other side of the cassette 12, such that in practice the edge of a disk 18 in a channel 20 is only held up to substantially the centerline of the disk. This allows the disk 18 to be slit out of the cassette 12 from above.

As is shown in FIG. 4, the channels 20, which have a radius of curvature substantially equivalent to that of the disks or other media 18 which they are to hold, are formed by tapering upstanding walls 28 and by curved base walls 30. The tapering walls 28 are substantially thinner than the walls of existing cassettes and thereby enable more channels 30 to be provided in the same linear dimension than prior art cassettes.

FIG. 4 shows a plurality of burrs or serrations 32 at the lower end of each channel 20, which are described in further detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a view of a portion of the channels 20, in this view being the upper portions of the channels 20 on one side of the cartridge 12. Within each channel 20, formed on the internal surfaces of the upstanding walls 28, there are provided first and second opposing protruding features 34, 36. In this embodiment, the protrusions 34, 36 extend in increasing manner to a peak into the space within each channel 20 to provide a constriction within the channel 20.

In addition, there are provided radial protrusions 40 (preferably four per channel 20) extending from the channel base walls 30. This allows the channel base walls to be made larger than the diameter of the disk 18 and then to provide for the radial protrusions to reduce this effective diameter down to that of the disk. As with the protrusions 34, 36, this ensures that manufacturing tolerances can be reduced with only a small area of steel tooling being modified or adjusted to achieve such tolerances.

In the preferred embodiment, there are provide two sets of protruding features 34, 36, 40, one set on each set of channels on each side of the cassette 12. The protruding features 34, 36, 40 are designed such that they hold firmly the edge of a disk located in the channel 20. The protruding features 34, 36, 40 are preferably located at a sufficient height along the channels relative to the top of the cassette 12 that they provide a sufficient hold of a disk that its orientation within the channel 20 does no substantially move. The protrusions are preferably located at the centre datum of line of the disks.

There may also be provided sets of protrusions close to the bottom end of the channels 20 and the bottom of the cassette 12. The advantage of these protrusions 34, 36, 40 is that they allow the disks to maintain a substantially upright orientation when held in the cassette, that is an orientation orthogonal or nearly orthogonal to an axis along which the disks are aligned in the cassette 12. This represents a substantial improvement with respect to the actual orientation of disks in existing cassettes and thus enables disks to be placed significantly closer to one another.

Referring to FIG. 6, the protruding features 34, 36, 40 of FIG. 5 are better visible. As can be seen, these features 34, 36, 40 do not present any sharp edge to a disk 18, which could otherwise cause disk damage.

It is envisaged in some embodiments that the protruding features could extend a substantial way along the channels 30, for example to a point just above the centerline of the disk, to help prevent the disks from touching during automated loading but keeping the top of the disk slots more open to enable easier initial approach to the disk slots.

In the preferred embodiment, the protruding features 34, 36, 40 are formed during manufacture of the cassette 12. Typically, the cassette 12 is formed from a plastics material and produced by a conventional molding process. The advantage of producing the features 34, 36, 40, on the other hand, is that they are small in size, which can ensure that less of the steel tooling will require modification to alter or tune the tightness of hold on the disks and related tolerance. Thus, manufacturing tolerances can be taken into account during the formation of the features 34, 36, 40. Typically, the features 34, 36, 40 are of the same plastics material as the cassette 12 and are produced by an accurate production process, of a type which will be fully familiar to the skilled person.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 7, at or proximate the lower extremities of the channels 20 there is provided a series of burrs or serrations 32 in the base wall 30. These burrs 32 protrude slightly above the base wall 30. They have the purpose of providing a friction surface against which the edge of a disk rests and as a result of which prevents or reduces the rotation of a disk within a channel 20.

In the preferred embodiment, there are provided burrs 32 on both sets of channels 20 (that is on both sides of the cassette 12). However, only a single set of burrs 32 may be provided in some embodiments. Similarly, the burrs 32 may also be formed on the upstanding walls 28 of the channels 20, although this is not preferred, and could also be formed as part of the protruding features 34, 36, 40.

The pitch of the channels 30 does not necessarily need to be twice the pitch of the channels of the prior art 25 disk caddy. The preferred embodiment is provided with a different pitch most convenient to fit with the 50 disk while using all of the available room within the cassette internals and also making minimal impact on disk unloading automation by keeping the maximum space between discs. However, the pitch could be condensed to be exactly half that of existing 25 disk caddies, which would potentially make it more convenient to modify the automated systems that currently load/unload disks to/from 25 disk caddies over to the new caddies taught herein. In this example, it is envisaged that the system would load the 25 “even numbered” disks first, followed by the 25 “odd numbered” disks, or vice versa.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the cassette 12 is also provided with an electronic tag 50 having a plurality of sensors, a memory and communication means operable to sense and record environmental conditions to which the cartridge 10 is put through (and thus also any disks held therein) and also to store information about the disks themselves. In the preferred embodiment, the tag can store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, type of disks held in the cartridge. Preferably, the tag also stores transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration and so on, by means of suitable sensors on or in the assembly. The communication means are preferably radio frequency communication means.

The specific details for the tag will be readily apparent to the skilled person.

With reference to FIG. 8, the provision of the tag 50 enables accurate tracking of the cartridge and accurate maintenance of information relating to the contents and contents state, which has not been provided for in prior art devices. In particular, it can monitor and provide information during the packing, shipping and unpacking cycles of the cartridge, including details of the cassette 12 itself. In the preferred embodiment, the tag 50 is provided with radio frequency communication means operable to provide communication to a remote monitoring station, such as data relating to the attributes of the disks, and data stored therein, and to provide feedback on the shipping progress.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 to 11, there is shown in schematic form an embodiment of disk retrieving assembly. Compared to conventional caddies, the embodiments of caddy disclosed herein space the disks much closer together to achieve the greater holding capacity within the same caddy footprint. However, existing disk removal systems are specifically designed for the existing caddy designs and are not necessarily able to be modified to lift disks which are more tightly packed. For example, one known lifting mechanism uses a gripper for gripping a disk edge either side thereof. The gripper needs a certain lateral space either side of the disk edge, which is not available when disks are too closely packed. This is one reason why caddies have retained a 25 disk capacity, in order to provide greater disk spacing and of course to prevent disks touching.

In FIGS. 9 to 11 there is shown one embodiment of system for retrieving disks using a conventional retrieval gripper. FIGS. 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams as the person skilled in the art will readily appreciate the components of the apparatus which would be used to implement the taught features.

In FIG. 9 a plurality of disks 50 are shown in the arrangement in which they would be when located in the cassette 12 of the preceding Figures. As can be seen, the disks 50 are aligned along a common axis 52. In this example, the caddy and disks 50 are to be handled by a conventional disk gripper mechanism in which a gripper hand grips the opposing sides of one edge of a disk 50 to be removed. The gripper hand requires a significant lateral clearance either side of a disk 50 but the spacing of the disks 50 in this caddy is insufficient to accommodate this requirement.

In order to solve this problem, there is provide a castellated lifting element 56 located below the disks 50 and in practice through the lower aperture in the caddy. The lifting element 56 includes a plurality of raised castellations 58 which are spaced from one another by just over a disk 50 thickness.

The lifting element 56 is movable upwardly (in FIG. 9 it is in what could be called a lower position). When moved to an upper engaging position, the castellations 58 urge alternate ones of the disks 50 upwardly, as can be seen in FIG. 10, leaving the other disks 50 in their lower rest positions. Thus, the disks 50 which have been raised can be removed from the caddy by the conventional gripper despite the close spacing of the disks 50 in the caddy. Once those disks 50 have been removed, either the remaining disks can be removed from their lower rest positions, as shown in FIG. 11, by means of the gripper or these can also be raised by the lifting element 56, which would then be offset relative to the position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 by one disk spacing.

The preferred embodiments described above have the following features. They provide a transit caddy for hard disk platters and the like, including a top lid, a disk cassette, and a bottom cover. They have a double opening (top and bottom) and are stackable. When fitted with both lids, they maintain a seal to protect their contents against environmental contamination in transit inside and outside factory. The disk cassette supports 50 disks (although can support other numbers of disks) through perimeter contact of a rounded side and separated by teeth or channel walls to ensure that the disks do not contact each other at any time. The disks are separated by teeth or channel walls having an angular profile and a flat portion there between for perimeter contact with the disks. The clearance between the walls is reduced at a point on each side that is level with the disk centre datum and at the lower contact points, maintaining higher tolerances, and allowing the disks to be packed in closer proximity to state of the art packages without touching each other. Additionally, the lower contact points have burrs or serrated features to promote multiple contact points, increasing the friction of a disk in the box and avoiding unintentional spinning of the disk during processing or transport. A high packing density is further achieved by reducing the radius of outer corners of the box.

In the preferred embodiment, the fullest extent possible of the internal volume of the caddy is used to accommodate the disks. To this end, no significant empty space is left at the ends of the caddy, in contrast to prior art caddies. This allows the disks to be spaced from one another by more than half the conventional spacing while still providing a capacity for 50 disks. In other embodiments, the spaces at either end of the caddy found in prior art designs is retained and the spacing between the disks made half that of the conventional caddies to accommodate up to 50 disks. Alternatively, the spacing can be half that of conventional caddies with the ends also being used for accommodate disks; this arrangement having achieved capacities of 58 disks in the same footprint as prior art caddies. Of course, it is envisaged in some embodiments that there could be a packing density less than 1/2 the spacing of existing caddies.

As the reader will have gathered, the caddies are typically used to transport hard disks from the manufacturing sites to the disk drive assembly sites. They are reusable many times following sufficient cleaning, and are recyclable. They fit into the complex robotic manufacturing process. The caddies preferably conform to world class standards for cleanliness and are manufactured from materials that will not affect the disks with residues, dusts or particles.

The caddies incorporate an integral tag or smart card to enable the transit caddies to monitor their conditions and store the data for later retrieval by a separate reader unit. Sensors monitor temperature, humidity, dust, impact and contamination. Preferably, the tags or ‘smart labels’ contain an integrated circuit which can be programmed with detailed product information, such as the date and place of manufacture, distribution history and warranty details. Using radio frequencies, the smart labels do not require a direct ‘line of sight’ to be scanned. The information on smart labels can be re-programmed or added to without the need to print and attach a new label.

Claims

1. A disk cartridge assembly for holding disks or similar substrates including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature into each channel for reducing the channel width.

2. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein there are provided a plurality of protruding features in each channel.

3. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein the at least one protruding feature is provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness.

4. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein there are provided protrusions symmetrically arranged to hold a disk at opposing ends thereof.

5. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein there is provided at least one burr in each channel.

6. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 5, wherein the burrs are located in a base of the channels.

7. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 5, wherein the burrs are located on a base of the channels.

8. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 5, wherein there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel.

9. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein the assembly is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to at least one of: the contents of the cartridge, transport and storage conditions.

10. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 9, wherein the tag is operable to store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, cartridge contents.

11. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 9, wherein the tag is operable to store at least one of transport and or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration.

12. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 9, wherein the tag is provided with communication means.

13. A disk cartridge assembly for holding disks including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one friction element in a base wall of each channel.

14. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 13, wherein the at least one friction element is a burr.

15. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 13, wherein the at least one burr is located in a base of the channels.

16. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 13, wherein the at least one burr is located on a base of the channels.

17. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 13, wherein there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel.

18. A disk cartridge assembly able to hold at least fifty disks.

19. A disk cartridge assembly according to claim 18, wherein the disks are memory disks.

20. Apparatus for removing disks from a cartridge including a lifter operable to lift alternate ones of a series of disks in the cartridge and a remover operable to remove the lifted disks.