JP2001135008A - Disk auto-changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the device compact by removing or housing disks by turning of a housing tray. SOLUTION: The disk auto-changer 10 includes a magazine 14, houses the tray turnably into the magazine 14 and turns the tray to a draw-out position by a picker lever 14 of a picker unit 18, where the disk loaded on the try is picked by a picking actuator 50 and is loaded onto a try 58 of a disk player 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk autochanger, and more particularly to, for example, mounting a large number of disks such as DVDs and CDs and selecting one disk in accordance with an instruction from a controller such as a host computer or a remote controller. The present invention also relates to a disc autochanger for reading information and data from the selected disc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional autochanger of this kind,
In order to pull out the tray on which the disc is loaded from the magazine, a structure is often provided in which a hook is provided that engages with a rectangular notch provided in the tray, and the hook is moved directly to pull out the magazine tray linearly. Are known.

[0003]

In this conventional structure, the trays are transferred from the magazine, which is an individual unit, to the picker. If the positional relationship between the magazine and the picker is not strictly set, the tray transfer will fail. May be. In addition, since the tray moves linearly, it is necessary to guide both sides of the tray with the picker, which makes the picker large and heavy, making it impossible to move the picker at high speed. It was taking a long time.

[0004] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger having a novel disk delivery mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger which can reliably transfer a disk from a magazine to a picker without strict alignment between the magazine and the picker.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger capable of moving a picker at a high speed and shortening the time until disk reproduction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger capable of securely locking a magazine tray in a novel disk transfer mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger having a novel magazine lock mechanism capable of securely locking a magazine in a housing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk autochanger using a general-purpose disk player.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a disk autochanger in which a plurality of disks are stocked in a magazine in a housing and one disk is taken out from the magazine by a picker and loaded into a disk player, the magazine is stored in the housing. A tray rotatable between a position and a withdrawal position, while rotating the tray from the storage position to the withdrawal position while holding the disc,
The picker is a disc autochanger characterized in that a disc is taken out of a tray at a drawer position.

[0011]

[Function] The magazine rotatably supports a plurality of trays,
Each tray holds a disc such as a DVD or a CD. Each tray rotates between a storage position and a withdrawal position, and a picker picks a disc on the tray that has been pulled out to the withdrawal position. That is, the clamper included in the picker clamps the disc at the center hole of the disc, and loads the disc onto the tray of the disc player.

When a disc is unloaded from the player, the clamper clamps the disc on the player tray, pulls out an empty magazine tray to be stored, returns the disk, and rotates the magazine tray to the storage position.

Specifically, the magazine includes a shaft, a plurality of trays rotatably designated by the shaft, and a hook formed at the rear end of the tray. The picker has a picker lever for pushing the hook to rotate the tray. Including.

Further, the picker includes an opening / closing clamper inserted into a center hole of the disc placed on the tray, and the picker clamps the disc by the opening / closing clamper.

In this case, if the picker lever and the opening / closing clamp are driven by one motor, the picker unit can be reduced in size and weight, the picker can be moved at high speed, and the control program of the drive system can be simplified.

Further, the magazine includes a wall defining a side surface, and a first engagement portion formed on an inner surface of the wall at each of the storage position and the withdrawal position, and the tray is formed on the side surface and has a first engagement portion. A second engaging portion that engages the portion. For example, one of the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion is a hole, and the other is an arc-shaped portion formed in a leaf spring and fitted into the hole, and preferably chamfers the periphery of the hole.

In this case, when the magazine tray rotates to the vicinity of the lock position, the magazine tray moves to the lock position by itself, and the lock in the magazine can be reliably achieved. That is, when the first and second engagement portions are engaged with each other at the storage position or the extraction position, the tray is locked and guided at the two positions, and is securely locked.

A magazine provided in the housing, the magazine is detachably mounted on the frame,
It further includes a slide lever provided on the frame, a spring for engaging the thrust lever, a lock lever that rotates in accordance with the position of the slide lever, and a boss provided on the magazine. Lock on.

The disc player is a general-purpose player, includes a drawer tray, and further has a support means for supporting the tray in the housing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the drawn-out player tray from hanging down.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the disc can be taken out of the magazine by the picker and loaded on the player simply by rotating the magazine tray, so that a compact disc autochanger can be obtained as compared with the conventional autochanger.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022]

Referring to FIG. 1, a disk autochanger 10 according to this embodiment includes a host computer 16 for example.
In response to a command of 0 (FIG. 8), one DVD is selected from a large number of DVDs to read information and data, and the read information and data are transferred to the host computer. However, the disc autochanger of the present invention
It should be noted that in addition to DVDs, the present invention can be applied to other types of discs such as CDs.

The disk autochanger 10 includes a housing 12 formed by processing a metal plate, for example, and a large number (about 50 in this embodiment) is provided in the housing 12.
A magazine 14 for retractably storing the discs,
A picker unit 18 for selecting one disc from the magazine 14 and loading the disc into the disc player 16
And

In this embodiment, as will be described later, the magazine 14 is removably mounted in the housing 12, but the magazine 14 is fixedly mounted on the housing 1.
2 may be provided.

The front of the housing 12 is open,
The door 20 is attached so that opening and closing is possible. On the front surface of the housing 12 above the door 20, a display 22 made of, for example, liquid crystal and various operation keys 24 are provided. Below the display 22 and the operation keys 24, a slot 26 for loading another disk not stored in the magazine 14 is provided.

The magazine 14 is removably mounted in the housing 12 through a door 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the magazine 14 includes a top plate 28 having an irregular fan shape and a wall 30 defining a side surface. A large number of trays are provided in a space surrounded by the wall 30 below the top plate 28. 32 are provided rotatably in a direction of arrow A or B by a shaft 34, and at regular intervals in the vertical direction. Each tray 32 is rotated by a shaft 34 between a storage position and a withdrawal position. However, in FIG. 2, the lower part of the top plate 28 is the storage position, and the position of the lowermost tray 32 is the drawer position. In FIG. 2, for simplification of the drawing, only two sheets located at the storage position immediately below the top plate 28 and two sheets pulled out from the storage position are shown, but actually, a large number A tray 32 (50 in this embodiment) is provided.

Each tray 32 is made of, for example, a thin plate of a hard synthetic resin, and has a large hole 36 formed at the center.
The diameter of the hole 36 is smaller than the diameter of the disk 40, and a circular step 38 is formed on the periphery of the hole 36. The diameter of the step 38 is slightly larger than the diameter of the disc 40, so that the disc 40 is held by the circular step 38. That is, the tray 32 holds one disk 40 by the circular step 38.

Behind the shaft 34 of each tray 32, a bifurcated hook 42 is formed. One hook 42a and the other hook 42b are each formed in an arc shape, and their leading ends are separated by a predetermined distance. And they are curved in directions opposite to each other. As described later, the tray 32 is pulled out in the direction of arrow B by pushing the inside of the hook 42a in the direction of arrow D by the picker lever 44 (FIG. 1) of the picker unit 18, and the inside of the hook 42b is pushed in the direction of arrow C by pushing. The tray 32 is stored in the direction of arrow A.

Each tray 32 of the magazine 14
As described later, the guide piece 46 supports and guides the guide piece 46 from below, and rotates between the storage position and the extraction position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the picker unit 18
Includes a case 48, a picker lever 44 is rotatably provided in the direction of arrow E or F below the base end side of the case 48, and a picking actuator 50 is provided below the front end side of the case 48.

The case 48 of the picker unit 18 is vertically movable within the housing 12 by a lead screw 52 extending vertically into the housing 12. The lead screw 52 is connected at its lower end or upper end to a lift motor 152 (FIG. 8). When the lead screw 52 is rotated clockwise by the lift motor 152, the picker unit 18 is displaced upward, and the lead screw 52 is displaced upward. By rotating counterclockwise, the picker unit 18 is displaced downward. Since the guide rod 54 guides the picker unit case 48, the picker unit 18 is vertically displaced within the housing 12 at a fixed position in a plane.

A grooved shaft 56 which extends vertically through the picker case 48 is provided.
6 is a picker motor 150 at its upper end or lower end.
(FIG. 8). When the grooved shaft 56 is rotated by the picker motor 150, the rotational force of the grooved shaft 56 is increased as described later with reference to FIG.
The picker lever 44 is rotated, and the clamper 120 (FIG. 5) of the picking actuator 50 is opened and closed. That is, in this embodiment, the picker lever 44, that is, the tray 32 (disc) is driven by one picker motor 150.
, And the operation of clamping and releasing the disk can be performed.

The picker unit 18 receives a disc from the tray 32 of the magazine 14, loads the disc onto the tray 58 of the disc player 16, receives the disc that has been reproduced from the player tray 58, and returns the disc to the original magazine tray. Return to 32.

In this embodiment, four disc players 16 are provided below the magazine 14 in the housing 12. That is, the angle 60 is fixed on the bottom plate of the housing 12, two players are fixed in the angle 60, and the two players are fixed on the angle 60. In this embodiment, a general-purpose player from which the tray 58 is pulled out as shown in FIG. 1 is used as the disc player 16.

The magazine 14 shown in FIG. 2 is detachably mounted in the housing 12 as described above. That is, the disc player 1 in the housing 12
6, a frame 62 shown in FIG.
2 is fixedly provided in parallel with the bottom plate of
The magazine 14 is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the.

A long guide groove 68 is formed on the upper surface of the frame 14 for receiving a roller 66 rotatably mounted on a bottom plate bottom surface of the magazine 14 by a pin 64. The leading end of the guide groove 68 is formed as a first-opening taper 70 so that the roller 66 can be easily received.
Similarly, another guide groove 72 is formed on the frame 62 in parallel with the guide groove 68 and at a certain interval from the guide groove 68, and the tip of the guide groove 72 is also formed as a tapered opening 74. Magazine 1 is inserted into this guide groove 72.
A roller 78 rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the pin 4 by a pin 76 fits. That is, the rollers 66 and 78 projecting downward from the bottom surface of the magazine 14
8 and 72, the magazine 14 can be guided by the guide grooves 68 and 72 and pushed into the upper mounting position in FIG. 3 and can be pulled out to the lower drawing position in FIG.

When the magazine 14 is mounted in the housing 12, the rollers 66 and 78 are held in the guide grooves 68 and 72 by the handle 80 provided on the wall 30 defining the side surface of the magazine 14 from the tip tapers 70 and 74, respectively. With the rollers 66 and 78 engaged with the guide grooves 68 and 72, respectively,
0 may be pushed in the insertion direction.

On the frame 62, further to the right of the guide groove 68, a long slide lever 82 is provided.
4 is provided so as to be slidable in the insertion / removal direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3). Two long holes 84 are formed in the slide lever 82 at intervals in the longitudinal direction, and a roller 86 rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the frame 62 is formed in the long hole 84.
Are fitted to each other, so that the slide lever 8
2 is slidably supported on the frame 62.

A hole 88 is formed slightly behind the long hole 84 on the front side of the slide lever 82, and at this hole 88, one end 9 of a tension spring 90 is formed on the frame 62.
2 is fixed. The other end 94 of the tension spring 90 is fixed to, for example, the upper surface of the slide lever 82. Therefore, a force that constantly pulls the slide lever 82 in the direction of arrow G acts on the slide lever 82.

A roller 96 is rotatably mounted on a pin, for example, on the upper surface of the slide lever 82 slightly behind the elongated hole 84 on the rear end side of the slide lever 82. Above the slide lever 82, a flat "L" -shaped lock lever 100 supported on the frame 62 so as to be rotatable by a shaft 98 is provided, and a hole 102 formed at the tip of one side of the L-shape is provided with a roller 96. Fit into. The tip 104 on the other side of the L shape engages with a boss 106 provided on the bottom surface of the magazine 14.

When the magazine 14 is inserted to the mounting position by holding the handle 80 as described above, the slide lever 82 is locked to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 104 engages the boss 106. Therefore, the magazine 14 is locked at the mounting position.

That is, the lock lever 100 moves in the releasing direction as the boss 106 of the magazine 14 moves horizontally, and when the magazine 14 is pushed to the end of the guide grooves 64 and 68, the action of the tension spring 90 causes the lock lever 100 to move. Rotates in the locking direction. The shape of the engagement tip 104 of the lock lever 100 is devised so that the lock river 100 tightens the boss 106 in the process of rotating the lock lever 100 in the locking direction.

When the magazine 14 is removed, the slide lever 82 is pushed in the direction of arrow H against the force of the tension spring 90. Accordingly, one end of the lock lever 100 engaged with the roller 96 is pushed to a position indicated by a virtual line in FIG. 3, and the lock lever 100 rotates in the direction of arrow I. Therefore, the engagement between the other end 104 of the lock lever 100 and the boss 106 is released. Therefore, when the magazine 14 is pulled out by holding the handle 80 toward the front side, that is, downward in FIG. 3, the magazine 14 can be pulled out by being guided by the guide grooves 64 and 68.

In order to lock the detachable magazine 14 as described above, various structures can be considered in addition to such a mechanism. For example, there is a structure in which a plate spring having a concave portion formed on the magazine side and a convex portion engaging with the concave portion on the other magazine side is mounted, a method of locking with a bracket biased by a magazine tension spring, and the like. However, in the former case, a large force is required at the time of locking or unlocking because the force of the leaf spring must be increased in order to realize a lock without play. In the latter, a solenoid for unlocking is separately required.
On the other hand, according to the lock structure of the embodiment, since the lock can be performed only by pressing the magazine 14, a large force is not required, and the cost increase due to the solenoid can be avoided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the side surface of the magazine 14 is defined by, for example, a wall 30 formed by bending a metal plate into an arc shape, and a large number of guide pieces 46 are attached to the inner surface of the wall 30 at regular intervals. That is, the outer edge of each guide piece 46 is a circular arc along the inner surface of the wall 30, the inner edge is formed as a partially deformed circular arc, and the outer edge is fixed to the inner surface of the wall 30. The interval between the guide pieces 46 is set slightly larger than the thickness of the tray 32 so that the tray 32 can rotate smoothly within the interval. Also, the guide piece 46
Is over the entire width of the rotation range of the tray 32. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, the tray 32 is moved from the storage position (solid line position in FIG. 4) to the pull-out position (virtual line position in FIG. 4) between the guide pieces 46, or vice versa. Guided stably. That is, the guide piece 46 supports the tray 32 from the lower surface at the storage position of the tray 32, at the drawn-out position, and even between the two positions.

As described above, in the magazine 14, the tray 32 is rotatably supported between the storage position and the extraction position, and the tray 32 can be pulled out from the storage position or stored from the extraction position at the rear end of the tray 32. By using the forked hook 42 and the picker unit 18 and guiding the tray 32 with the arc-shaped guide piece 46, the disk drawing structure widely used in the conventional autochanger described above can be obtained. In comparison with this, there is an advantage that the size can be reduced as a whole.

In other words, according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the disc is brought to the pull-out position while being placed on the tray 32, and is picked up there by the picker unit 18, so that the picker unit 18 Strict alignment is no longer required. Further, since the tray 32 is guided over its rotation range by the arc-shaped guide piece 46 provided integrally with the magazine 14, it is not necessary to provide the picker unit 18 with the guide means for the tray 32. To
It is lightweight and compact, and can be moved at high speed, and the time until disk playback can be greatly reduced.

Further, with reference to the enlarged view of FIG. 4, notches 108 are formed on the peripheral side surfaces of all the trays 32. One end of a leaf spring 110 is fixed to one end of the notch 108 (the end in the tray drawing direction) via a spacer 112. At the tip of the leaf spring 110, an arc-shaped portion 114 that is curved in a semicircular shape so as to protrude outward is formed.

On the other hand, on the inner surface of the wall 30 of the magazine 14,
At positions corresponding to all the trays, holes 116 that can receive the arc-shaped portion 114 of the leaf spring 110 are formed at two positions in the circumferential direction, that is, the storage position of the tray 32 and the extraction position of the tray 32. Preferably, a chamfer 118 is formed around the upper end of the hole 116.

In such a configuration, at the storage position of the tray 32, the arc-shaped portion 114 of the leaf spring 110 fits into the hole 116 provided at that position, so that the tray 32 is locked at that position.

In this state, when the picker lever 44 shown in FIG. 1 pushes one hook 42a of the forked hook 42 from the inside, the forked hook 42 rotates in the direction of arrow D, and the tray 32 is accordingly moved from the storage position. It turns in the direction of arrow B. At this time, since the chamfer 118 is formed in the hole 116,
The arcuate portion 114 of the leaf spring 110 can escape from the hole 116 at the storage position with relatively light force.

When the tray 32 is further guided by the guide pieces 46 and the arc-shaped portion 114 of the leaf spring 110 approaches the hole 116 formed at the drawn-out position, the arc-shaped portion 114 slides on the chamfer 118 of the hole 116 to form a circle. The arc portion 114 is automatically fitted into the hole 116 by the force of the leaf spring 110. Therefore, the tray 32 is locked at the drawn-out position. For this reason, in this embodiment, the arc-shaped portion 1 of the leaf spring 110 is used.
The outer peripheral radius of the tray 14 is set to be larger than the distance at which the tray 32 itself automatically moves without external force.

By employing such a tray locking mechanism, the tray can be stably locked at the storage position and the drawer position. In addition, since a constant load (friction) is applied during rotation of the tray 32 by the leaf spring 110, the tray 32 does not exhibit abnormal behavior such as waving while the tray 32 is moving.

However, contrary to the embodiment of FIG. 4, the leaf spring 110 in FIG. 4 may be provided on the inner surface of the wall 30 and the hole 116 may be provided on the peripheral side surface of the tray 32.

Further, if the chamfer 118 is formed at the peripheral edge of the hole 116 on the inner surface of the wall 30, a large force is not required for escape from the locked position, and the arc-shaped portion is formed by the spring force at the locked position. Since 114 automatically engages with the hole 116, the picker lever 44 (FIG. 1)
There is no need to strictly control the position when the crotch hook 42 is pressed.

Next, referring to FIG.
8 (FIG. 1), a rotating mechanism of the picker lever 44 and an opening and closing mechanism of the clamper 120 are housed. More specifically, one end of the picker lever 44 is fixed to a rotating shaft 122 supported by a suitable bearing on the bottom of the case. The picker lever 44 has a step and is pulled out below the bottom surface of the case 48, and its tip is connected to the tray 32 as described above.
Is positioned to engage with the forked hook 42. The rotation shaft 122 is connected to the drive shaft 126 via the first gear train 124. The drive shaft 126 is a hollow cylindrical shaft, and on its inner surface is formed a ridge 128 that fits into the groove of the grooved shaft 56 shown in FIG. Thus, when the picker motor 150 (FIG. 8) rotates the grooved shaft 56, the drive shaft 126 will rotate accordingly. The first gear train 124 transmits the rotation of the drive shaft 126 to the rotation shaft 122 according to a predetermined reduction ratio. Therefore, the picker lever 44 fixed to the rotating shaft 122 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Rotate as shown in FIG. Therefore, the hook 42 a or 38 b of the forked hook 42 on the rotation locus of the picker lever 44 is pushed by the lever 44.

Further, a picking actuator 50 shown in FIG.
Is formed. Then, the pulley 132 is connected to the drive shaft 126 via the second gear train 130. Second gear train 1
The pulley 132 is rotated at an appropriate reduction ratio set to 30. A belt 136 is stretched between the pulley 132 and a driven pulley 134 fixed to a rotating shaft 138 of the clamper 120. Therefore, when the drive shaft 126 is rotated, the driving pulley 1 is driven by the second gear train 130.
32 is rotated, and the pulley 134 is rotated via the belt 136. When the pulley 134 rotates, the pulley 1
The rotation opening / closing shaft 138 that rotates integrally with the rotation of the picking actuator rotates, and the clamper 120 of the picking actuator 50 connected thereto opens and closes. Since the opening / closing mechanism of the clamper 120 itself can be appropriately adopted other than the mechanism employed in the embodiment, further description thereof will be omitted.

Here, the operation of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The timing chart of FIG. 6 shows a process from the time when the disc is taken out of the magazine to the time when the disc is clamped by the clamper 120. First, when a reproduction command for a specific disc is received from the host computer 160 (FIG. 8), the picker motor 150 (FIG. 8) starts rotating clockwise in response to the command.
In response, the drive shaft 34 rotates, and the picker lever 44 pushes the fork hook 42 of the tray 32. Therefore, tray 3
2 is gradually pulled out to the drawer position as shown in FIG. 2, and the drawer is eventually completed. Accordingly, the picker motor 1
50 is temporarily stopped, and after a certain time, the picker motor 1 is stopped.
50 is rotated clockwise at a constant speed. Accordingly, the drive shaft 34 rotates, the rotation opening / closing shaft of the clamper 120 rotates, and the clamper 120 starts to be driven in the closing direction. Eventually,
The clamper 120 is completely closed, and the picker motor 150 is stopped for a predetermined time.

In this state, the lift motor 152 (FIG. 8)
The picker unit 18 is lowered by the
0 is inserted into the center hole of the disc. When the clamper 120 enters the disc hole, the picker motor 150 is rotated counterclockwise, and the clamper 120 is driven in the opening direction. When the clamper 120 is fully opened to the open position,
The clamper 120 clamps the disk.
In this state, the picker unit 18 is made smaller by the lift motor 152 and returns to the original vertical position. Next, the picker motor 150 is further rotated counterclockwise, and accordingly, the drive shaft 34 is rotated, and the picker lever 44 is moved to the tray 3.
2. Press the two fork hook 42. Therefore, the tray 32 rotates toward the storage position, and the storage is eventually completed.

As described above, by using one picker motor 150 (FIG. 8) for opening and closing the tray 32 and opening and closing the clamper 120, the cost can be reduced and the control program of the drive system can be simplified.

Further, in this embodiment, as described above, a general-purpose DVD drive or player is used for cost reduction. In such a general-purpose player, the tray 58 is pulled out from the player 16 as shown in FIG. In that state, the clamper 120 (FIGS. 5 and 7)
Depending on whether the disc is loaded or unloaded. At this time, as shown by the phantom line in FIG.
Since 0 goes up and down vertically, the disc may not load or unload well.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the housing 12
In FIG. 1, the tray 5 of the disc player 16
An angle 140 having an L-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 7 is attached to the side panel in the drawing direction of FIG. 8 or to a separately provided mounting panel. Then, a support plate 142 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is fixed to one back surface of the angle 140.
The position of the support plate 142 in the height direction naturally corresponds to the position of the tray 58 in the height direction. However, in this embodiment, the support plate 142 is placed on the support plate 142 so that the tray 58 sent out from the player 16 can be easily placed thereon. The tip is inclined slightly downward.

While the tray 58 is being pulled out, the tray 58
Of the tray 58 contacts the inclined upper surface of the tray support plate 142, and the tray 58 is further pulled out while sliding on the upper surface of the support plate 142. When the drawing of the tray 58 is completed, the tray 58 becomes horizontal. Therefore, the disc (not shown) can be reliably loaded or unloaded by the vertically moving clamper 120.

The entire operation of the disc autochanger 10 is controlled by a computer 144 as shown in FIG. That is, the computer 144 includes:
The sensor signal from the sensor 146 shown in FIG. 8 is input, whereby the computer 144
Of the tray 32 at the storage position or at the drawer position can be detected. Further, another sensor 148 is provided, and the computer 144 can determine whether a disc is present on the tray 32 by using the sensor 148.

The computer 144 has three motors 15.
0, 152 and 154. The motor 150 is
The picker motor described above is used, and the motor 152 is a lift motor. As described above, the picker motor 150 is also used for opening and closing the magazine tray 32 and for opening and closing the clamper 120, and the lift motor 152 is used for vertically displacing the picker unit 18, that is, the case 48. The motor 154 is a loader motor.

In this embodiment, the computer 144 has a communication port 156 of, for example, RS232C, and communicates with the host computer 160 via the communication port 156 and the communication management board 158. That is, the computer 144 is connected to the host computer 160
The respective parts of the autochanger 10 are controlled in accordance with a control command from the controller.

The host computer 160 communicates with the general-purpose player 16 through the communication management board 156, the player communication board 162, and the player control board 164, and receives reproduction information (data) from the player 16.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view schematically showing an entire configuration of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing in detail the magazine of FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing a detail of a magazine mounting mechanism of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative view showing in detail a locking mechanism of the magazine tray of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing in detail an inside of a picker unit case of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the operation of the embodiment in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view showing a mechanism for preventing a player tray from sagging in the embodiment of FIG. 1 in detail;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Disk autochanger 14: Magazine 16: Disk player 18: Picker unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A disc autochanger in which a plurality of discs are stocked in a magazine in a housing and one disc is taken out of the magazine by a picker and loaded into a disc player, wherein the magazine has a storage position and a withdrawal position. Having a tray rotatable between the trays, rotating the tray from the storage position to the pull-out position while holding the disk, wherein the picker takes out the disk from the tray at the pull-out position. Features a disk autochanger. 2. The magazine includes a shaft, a plurality of trays rotatably supported by the shaft, and a hook formed at a rear end of the tray, wherein the picker pushes the hook to rotate the tray. 2. The disc autochanger according to claim 1, further comprising a picker lever for causing the disc to be changed. 3. The disc autochanger according to claim 2, wherein said picker includes an open / close clamper inserted into a center hole of a disc placed on said tray, and said picker clamps said disc by said open / close clamper. 4. The disk autochanger according to claim 3, wherein said picker lever and said opening / closing clamp are driven by one motor. 5. The magazine includes a wall defining a side surface, and first engagement portions formed on an inner surface of the wall at each of the storage position and the extraction position, and the tray is formed on the side surface. The disk autochanger according to claim 1, further comprising a second engaging portion that engages with the first engaging portion. 6. The device according to claim 5, wherein one of the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion is a hole, and the other is an arc-shaped portion formed in a leaf spring and fitted into the hole. Disk autochanger. 7. The disk autochanger according to claim 6, wherein a peripheral edge of said hole is chamfered. 8. A frame further provided in the housing, wherein the magazine is detachably mounted on the frame, a slide lever provided on the frame, a spring for engaging the thrust lever, 8. The lock device according to claim 1, further comprising: a lock lever that rotates according to a position, and a boss provided on the magazine, wherein the lock lever locks the magazine on the frame by engaging with the boss. Disc autochanger described in Crab. 9. The disc autochanger according to claim 1, wherein said disc player includes a drawer tray, and further comprises a support provided in said housing to support said tray. 10. The disk autochanger according to claim 9, wherein said support means includes a support plate for supporting a tip of said tray at a position where said tray is pulled out, and a tip of said support plate is inclined downward.