REMOVABLE OPTICAL STORAGE DEVICE AND SYSTEM

摘要

A user-removable optical data storage system is provided. A rotatable first-surface medium (114) is enveloped in a cartridge (124, 126). The cartridge provides relatively large data capacity such as about 0.25 Gbytes or more despite a relatively small size such as about 35 mm X 35 mm X 3 mm. Preferably the cartridge substantially seals the data surfaces of the medium when the cartridge is withdrawn from a drive and at least a portion of a surface is automatically exposed to the objective of an optics arm when the cartridge is inserted in the drive. Tracking involves rotating an optic arm (236) about an axis parallel to the disk rotation axis (237). Focus can involve pivoting the arm about an axis parallel to the disk surface.