REMOVABLE CARTRIDGE DISK DRIVE FOR RECEIVING A CARTRIDGE AND METHOD OF INSERTING THE CARTRIDGE

摘要

A removable cartridge disk drive (100) includes a removable cartridge (20) adapted to be received by a disk drive (100) having a base plate (104) and right (102) and left (103) guide walls. The cartridge (20) inserts into the drive (100) at an angle by means of a movable slider (116) attached to one of the guide walls (102). Once inserted, the cartridge (20) is locked in and held. During operation, a rotary actuator arm (180) with adjustable angular orientation loads one or more read/write heads (182) off of a fixed ramp (176) onto the surface of a data storage disk (42) contained inside the cartridge (20). After read/write operations are finished, the head (182) is unloaded onto the fixed ramp (176) and the cartridge (20) is ejected from the drive (100) at an angle.