Abstract: A cartridge body storing an optical disc has a disc inlet/outlet port for taking the disc in and out. A lid member is mounted on the cartridge body to be rotatable between a closed position and an opened position. The lid member has a pair of guide rails extending from the lid member into the cartridge body and facing the surfaces of the disc. Each guide rail has a guide hole. The cartridge body has guide grooves in which the guide rails slide, and a guide pin slidably inserted into the guide holes of the guide rails. During the opening and closing operation of the lid member, the guide grooves and guide pin guide the guide rails.

Abstract: A tape cassette loading device in a tape recorder has an improved structure for smooth insertion of a cassette without resistance from a plate spring. The loading device includes plate spring members fixed at left and right sides of a holder, and a chassis installed on the upper part of the holder and having cam portions engaged with the plate spring members. When the holder is at an inserting position of the cassette, the plate spring members do not engage with the cam portions. Therefore, when the cassette is initially inserted into the holder, the cassette can be inserted into the holder without any resistance from the plate spring members.

Abstract: In a thin type flexible disk drive motor, in order to improve undesirable jittering of rotation, an inertia ring of larger diameter than that of the rotor frame is fixed immediately under the rotor. The inertia ring consists of a short cylinder part of the larger diameter to be fixed under the rotor frame and a flange part of the diameter not smaller than that of a FG (frequency generation) magnet part. The disk drive motor also has a drive pin engaging assembly that allows a drive pin to be secured within a hub of the flexible disk while stabilizing the drive pin and after disk chucking.

Abstract: In an optical disk drive having an eccentricity correction device for correcting the eccentricity of a disk loaded on a turntable, a central ring is installed on the turntable to move the disk loaded on the turntable by a predetermined distance from the center of rotation of the turntable, and the central ring is properly moved by a moving mechanism. Therefore, the eccentricity of the disk can be precisely corrected, and, when a pickup records or reproduces information, the time for tracking can be sharply reduced and tracking errors can be prevented.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improvement to a clamp in a disk drive. Insertion holes are formed in the clamp, and screws are inserted into the insertion holes to fasten the clamp to the spindle. The bottom of the screw head contacts the clamp surface to apply a force to the clamp. However, the clamp does not contact the entire bottom surface of the screw head. Only a portion of the bottom surface of the screw head contacts the clamp to apply a force to the clamp. Since the force caused by tightening the screw is applied only to the area contacting the screw, the force diffuses in a non-contact area in an outer portion of the clamp. Therefore, disk distortion and deformation are decreased.

Abstract: A magnetic head apparatus for a magneto-optical recording medium recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes a head body and an arm-shaped support mechanism. The head body includes a magnetic head unit for generating a perpendicular magnetic field, and a contact-slide portion to which the magnetic head unit is secured and which is slid along the magneto-optical recording medium in contact with the surface of the magneto-optical recording medium. The arm support mechanism to which the head body is secured is movable in such a direction that the magnetic head unit is contacted with or away from the magneto-optical recording medium. The arm-shaped support mechanism has an arm portion, a fixed portion and first and second elastic displacing portions. The head body is secured to one end side of the arm portion through the first elastic displacing portion.

Abstract: A thin-film magnetic head, a magnetoresistance effect magnetic head and an MR inductive head are disclosed. The thin-film magnetic head has one of thin-film magnetic cores stacked on a substrate and formed of two magnetic films and a non-magnetic film held between them, with a current flowing through the thin-film magnetic core in the direction of hard axis thereof. The magnetoresistance effect magnetic head has one of a pair of shield cores having a magnetoresistive element between them formed of two magnetic films and a non-magnetic film held between them, the magnetoresistive element being electrically connected to the shield core, with a sense current flowing through the shield core. The current flowing through the one shield core via the magnetoresistive element is preferably an AC of decrement amplitude for demagnetizing the shield core along with a DC sense current.

Abstract: A magnetic storage includes a non-magnetic substrate. A plurality of discrete single magnetic domain elements formed of a magnetic material separated by nonmagnetic materials are carried on the non-magnetic substrate. Each single magnetic domain element has the same size, shape and has, without an external magnetic field, two quantized magnetization values. The two magnetization values are of substantially equal magnitude but of differing vector directions. The plurality of single domain elements are adapted for magnetic storage of information based upon direction of the magnetization vector. Each single magnetic domain element is used to store a bit of binary information. Writing each bit becomes to flip the quantified magnetic moment directions. Each bit can be tracked individually. The switching field of each bit can be controlled by controlling the size and shape anisotropy of each bit.

Abstract: A disk player which reproduces information recorded on a disk, includes a housing in the front of which an aperture is formed. A disk tray is installed to move into and out of the housing through the aperture and has an upper surface on which a disk is placed. A deck is installed under the disk tray in the housing. A turntable for rotating the disk and an optical pickup for reading information of the disk are installed on the deck. A mechanism is provided for lifting the deck while keeping the deck level. Thus, the disk can be positively clamped since a deck on which a turntable is installed ascends while keeping level.

Abstract: A disk playback device has at least one endless drive belt stretched along a direction of disk transport between a store position, a playback position and an eject position. The endless drive belt is translated in a direction perpendicular to the direction of disk transport along a plane parallel to said disk, allowing the drive belt to move away from said disk rim without requiring a large space parallel to the disk.

Abstract: A disc cartridge includes a shutter member movably supported by a cartridge main body accommodating a disc and provided with an aperture for laying a part of the major surface to outside across the inner periphery and the outer periphery of the disc. The disc cartridge further includes a holding member having its proximal side rotatably supported within the cartridge main body and adapted for holding the shutter member in a position of closing the aperture. The shutter member includes a plate portion for opening and closing the aperture of the cartridge main body, a mating engaging portion engaged by a part of the free end of the holding member, an inserting portion adapted for being inserted into a shutter opening groove provided in a lateral side of the cartridge main body and a connecting portion for connecting the plate portion and the inserting portion to each other.

Abstract: A linear motor drive apparatus for moving a head carriage in a direction perpendicular to tracks on a recording medium includes a permanent magnet, first yoke for supporting the permanent magnet, a second yoke, and a coil fixed on the head carriage and wound around the second yoke. The permanent magnet is disposed in a direction parallel to a moving direction of the head carriage. The second yoke is disposed to be spaced apart from the permanent magnet at a predetermined interval. An adjusting mechanism is provided in the apparatus so as to adjust a relative position between the first and second yokes to adjust the predetermined interval.

Abstract: Thermal transient signal detection/correction circuitry corrects for errors caused by actual thermal asperities and baseline wander in the analog signal from a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor, such as an MR read head in a magnetic recording disk drive. In a disk drive with an MR head the detection/correction circuitry is located between the MR head signal amplifier and the data readback channel so that the thermal transients are corrected in the analog data signal prior to processing of the analog data signal into digital data. A detection circuit receives the analog data signal from the MR head, low-pass filters the signal and generates a thermal asperity event signal if the filtered signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. A correction circuit also receives the analog data signal from the MR head and includes a high-pass filter whose pole frequency is controlled by the thermal asperity event signal from the detection circuit.

Abstract: A disc player has two opposite disc magazines with a plurality of disc holders which each receive a disc and are arranged one above the other in compartments. A transport arrangement movable in the direction of the stack of discs in the magazine conveys a desired disc with its associated disc holder between the compartment and a playback unit. The transport arrangement has a horizontally movable pulling-out arrangement provided with a carriage with a pick-up arm. In order to simplify the construction, the pick-up arm, which is rigidly linked to the carriage of the delivery arrangement, may be horizontally moved between and vertically moved within the disc magazines.

Abstract: A rotating disk memory apparatus includes an actuator assembly electrical interconnect. Flex circuit tape retainers are provided to substantially reduce and ideally eliminate torque forces on the actuator due to flex circuit bending. The retainers includes a tape guide having an inner wall to conform those portions of the flex circuit proximate both an actuator body member and a base plate connector member to predetermined configurations, such as loops providing a design specific exit angle for the flex circuit at each retainer. The looped portion of the flex circuit is held in the guide by a selectively detachable guide post device. The predetermined configuration is designed to minimize the torque on the actuator from inherent spring forces generated due to bending of the flex circuit during actuator motion relative to the rotating disk.

Abstract: Spindle motor electrical- and motor-to-base interfaces. A compliant connector along with a circuit on a support flange is provided below a stator assembly for providing: An insertable spindle motor to drive base with less specific orientation. The support flange may comprise a small printed circuit cable or a printed circuit board. Additionally, non-specific orientation of a spindle motor to drive base assembly is described using circular traces oriented about a support flange. A circular connector is also described, as a biased support flange.

Abstract: A disc drive unit for a magneto-optical disc accommodated in a disc cassette, comprises a magnetic head for applying a magnetic field to the magneto-optical disc, a magnetic head moving mechanism for moving the magnetic head between a loading and unloading position, an eject mechanism for ejecting the disc cassette, a reversible motor, and a transmission device for transmitting a rotational force of the reversible motor to the magnetic-head moving mechanism by rotation of the motor in its one rotational direction and for transmitting the rotational force of the reversible motor to the eject mechanism in its other rotational direction whereby a controller is provided for controlling the reversible motor so that a rotational speed of the motor in the other rotational direction used for the eject mechanism is faster that the rotational speed of the reversible motor in the one rotational direction used for the magnetic-head moving mechanism in order to ensure the quick ejection of the disc cassette.

Abstract: A load beam of a suspension assembly has one or more longitudinal channels in the rigid region between the side edges. The load beam blank (from which the load beam itself is constructed) has a relief means, such as a channel-compensating gap extending through the actuator mounting region from the proximal end to provide additional width of sheet material to the rigid region of the load beam blank and to enable the formation of these longitudinal channels. A method for manufacturing a load beam of a suspension assembly from a generally planar sheet of resilient spring material is described. A load beam blank is shaped to include an actuator mounting region on the distal end, and a rigid region between the actuator mounting region and the distal end. A relief means, such as a channel-compensating gap extends through the actuator mounting region from the proximal end. At least one channel is constructed in the rigid region.

Abstract: A head disk assembly (HDA) for a hard disk drive includes vibration damping structure. The HDA also includes an enclosure, a disk, a pivot bearing cartridge, and a head stack assembly (HSA). The enclosure includes a base that preferably includes integral side walls. The disk has a recording surface that has an annular landing zone. The pivot bearing cartridge includes a shaft fixed to the enclosure, and the head stack assembly is connected to the pivot bearing cartridge for rotation relative to the shaft. The HSA includes a head supported to be moved radially relative to the recording surface and to be brought to rest at a position in the landing zone. The base has a plurality of interior-facing surfaces including a major interior-facing surface parallel to the recording surface. Significantly, one of the interior-facing surfaces of the base serves as a bearing surface against which the vibration damping structure is compressed.

Abstract: An improved cassette tape holder locking apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder capable of achieving a better cassette tape placing operation by locking the cassette holder at both sides of a housing bracket, which includes a first holder locking member rotatably disposed to the side plate for limiting a loading operation of the cassette holder after the cassette holder is lowered; and a second holder locking member rotatably disposed at a deck surface of the opposed side of the side plate and driven by a drive member provided at the deck surface for limiting a lifting operation of the cassette holder.