Guiding and registering different thickness diskettes in a disk drive

Claim 2

In a disk drive for reading or writing information on disks in disk cartridges of different thicknesses, said drive having means for rotating the disk within a disk cartridge in a predetermined plane of rotation, improved apparatus for loading and registering an inserted one of said disk cartridges in the drive, said improvement comprising: lower guide means for supporting and guiding a disk cartridge as it is inserted into the drive; upper guide means movably connected with said lower guide means for adjusting to the thickness of said inserted cartridge; and means responsive to the thickness of said inserted cartridge for moving said lower and upper guide means to positions in which an inserted cartridge is registered with its disk in the predetermined plane of rotation regardless of the thickness of said inserted cartridge.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: means for slideably mounting said upper guide means to said lower guide means whereby said upper guide means is pushed away from said lower guide means when a thick cartridge is inserted so that said upper guide means is supported by said inserted cartridge; and means on said lower guide means for supporting said upper guide means when a thin cartridge is inserted in the drive.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising: stop means for defining a reference position at a fixed position relative to the predetermined plane of rotation, said stop means engaging either said upper guide means or said lower guide means, depending on whether a thick or thin cartridge is inserted in the drive, and for preventing movement of said guide means and said inserted cartridge at the reference position.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising: means in said upper guide means for engaging said stop means when a thin cartridge is inserted in the drive; and means in said lower guide means for engaging said stop means when a thick cartridge is inserted in the drive.

Claim 6

Apparatus for loading any one of a plurality of disk cartridges of at least two different thicknesses in a disk drive, said drive having means for rotating the disk about an axis of rotation and in a predetermined plane of rotation after a cartridge is loaded in the drive, said apparatus comprising: reference stop means fixed at a position relative to the plane of rotation; guide means for guiding a cartridge as the cartridge is inserted into the disk drive, said guide means comprising two portions, a top portion for guiding the top of the cartridge and a bottom portion for guiding the bottom of the cartridge, both portions moveable in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation so that said guide means move independently relative to the plane of rotation; means disposed between the two portions for controlling the separation of said portions when a soft cartridge is inserted into the disk drive and for allowing separation of said portions by the cartridge when a hard cartridge is inserted into the disk drive; and means for biasing said guide means, after a cartridge is inserted, to a position where said guide means engages said reference stop means at a position along the axis of rotation dependent on the separation of the two guiding portions so that whichever thickness cartridge is inserted in the disk drive the disk within the cartridge is positioned in the plane of rotation.

Claim 7

Apparatus for loading any one of a plurality of disk cartridges of at least two different thicknesses in a disk drive, said drive having means for rotating the disk about an axis of rotation and in a predetermined plane of rotation after a cartridge is loaded in the drive, said apparatus comprising: reference stop means fixed at a position relative to the plane of rotation; guide means for guiding a cartridge as the cartridge is inserted into the disk drive, said guide means comprising two portions, a top portion for guiding the top of the cartridge and a bottom portion for guiding the bottom of the cartridge, both portions moveable in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation so that said guide means move independently relative to the plane of rotation; means disposed between the two portions for controlling the separation of said portions when a soft cartridge is inserted into the disk drive and for allowing separation of said portions by the cartridge when a hard cartridge is inserted into the disk drive; and means for biasing said guide means, after a cartridge is inserted, to a position where said guide means engages said reference stop means at a position along the axis of rotation dependent on the separation of the two guiding portions so that whichever thickness cartridge is inserted in the disk drive the disk within the cartridge is positioned in the plane of rotation.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising: indexing means having a fixed position relative to the axis of rotation for engaging a cartridge when fully inserted so that the center of the diskette cartridge is substantially aligned with the axis of rotation.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said rotating means comprises lower driven spindle means having a top surface fixed relative to the reference stop for defining the plane of rotation and upper rotatable clamping means for clamping the disk to the top surface of the spindle means after the cartridge is inserted in the disk drive; and further comprising: loading means having an unload position for lifting said biasing means away from said guide means and said clamping means away from said spindle means so that a cartridge can be inserted in or removed from the disk drive, said loading means having a load position for lowering said biasing means and said clamping means onto said guide means and said spindle means after the cartridge is inserted.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 7 and in addition: second biasing means for biasing said guide means, when said loading means is in the unload position, to a position where the bottom guide portion is above the plane of rotation and the top guide portion is below said clamping means so that said cartridge may be inserted in or removed from the disk drive without striking said rotating means.

Claim 11

In a disk drive for reading and writing magnetic signals on a magnetic disk in a disk cartridge, apparatus for guiding and registering the cartridge in the drive so that the disk within the cartridge rotates about a predetermined axis of rotation in a predetermined plane of rotation, said apparatus comprising: means for rotating the disk within the cartridge, said means having a rotary driven spindle means whose axis of rotation defines the predetermined axis of rotation and including collet means for centering the floppy disk on the spindle means and for clamping the disk to a top surface of said spindle means, said top surface defining the predetermined plane of rotation; upper and lower guide rail means disposed at each side of the cartridge insertion path for guiding the cartridge into the disk drive, said upper guide rail means movable relative to its associated lower guide rail means so that a guiding channel for the cartridge formed by both rail means will accommodate cartridges of various thicknesses, each paired set of guide rail means movable relative to the predetermined plane of rotation; and loading means for moving both paired set of guide rail means to a position where the guiding channel and the cartridge inserted into the channel are centered about the predetermined plane of rotation so that the disk in the cartridge will rotate in the predetermined plane of rotation.

Claim 12

In a disk drive for reading and writing magnetic signals on a magnetic disk in a disk cartridge, apparatus for guiding and registering the cartridge in the drive so that the disk within the cartridge rotates about a predetermined axis of rotation in a predetermined plane of rotation, said apparatus comprising: means for rotating the disk within the cartridge, said means having a rotary driven spindle means whose axis of rotation defines the predetermined axis of rotation and including collet means for centering the floppy disk on the spindle means and for clamping the disk to a top surface of said spindle means, said top surface defining the predetermined plane of rotation; upper and lower guide rail means disposed at each side of the cartridge insertion path for guiding the cartridge into the disk drive, said upper guide rail means movable relative to its associated lower guide rail means so that a guiding channel for the cartridge formed by both rail means will accommodate cartridges of various thicknesses, each paired set of guide rail means movable relative to the predetermined plane of rotation; and loading means for moving both paired set of guide rail means to a position where the guiding channel and the cartridge inserted into the channel are centered about the predetermined plane of rotation so that the disk in the cartridge will rotate in the predetermined plane of rotation.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said loading means comprises: reference stop means for each pair of guide rail means; loading frame means for carrying said collet means away from or toward said spindle means so that the disk cartridge can be inserted between the collet means and the spindle means; first spring means for each paired set of guide rail means for pushing each of said paired set against one side of said reference stop means to a position where the guiding channel is above the predetermined plane of rotation so that the cartridge insertion path is above the top surface of the spindle means; and second spring means for each paired set of guide rail means and mounted on said loading frame means for pushing each paired set against the other side of said reference stop means to the position where the disk in said cartridge is centered in the predetermined plane of rotation.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein: each paired set of guide rail means provides one of a plurality of surfaces to engage said other side of the reference stop means, the surface engaging said other side depending upon the width of the guiding channel.