JP2014137837A - Library apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a mechanism for positioning a disk carrying unit relative to a disk housing vessel and a mechanism for determining the presence/absence of a disk in the disk housing vessel in a library apparatus having a disk recording/playback unit, a disk housing vessel and a disk carrying unit for carrying a disk between them.SOLUTION: A hole matching a slot for housing a disk is formed in a disk housing vessel. A single optical detector of ternary output or two optical detectors of binary output, for example, that moves together with a disk carrying unit are provided. A controller detects the hole with the output(s) of the optical detector(s), positions the disk carrying unit relative to the disk housing vessel and determines the presence or absence of a disk in the slot.

Description

  The present invention relates to a library apparatus using an optical disk as a recording medium, and more particularly to a library apparatus in which a positioning mechanism of a disk transport unit and a disk presence / absence determination mechanism in a disk storage unit are simplified.

Storage apparatuses using optical disks as recording media for recording and reproducing information data are widely used. As is well known, an optical disc is a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from a storage device.
The recording capacity of optical discs is increasing due to the recent spread of Blu-ray discs and the increase in the number of recording layers. However, in many industries including the financial industry, since it is necessary to store a large amount of data over a long period of time, further increase in recording capacity is desired. For this reason, an optical disk library device has been developed as a large-capacity storage device suitable for long-term storage of data.

The optical disc library apparatus includes a storage container capable of storing a plurality of optical discs and an optical disc drive (hereinafter abbreviated as ODD; Optical Disc Drive). The ODD writes / reads information data to / from the optical disc. Furthermore, the optical disc library apparatus selects any one of the optical discs stored in the storage container, transports it toward the ODD, attaches it, removes it from the ODD, transports it, and stores it in the storage container have.
Patent Document 1 discloses an example of the above-described optical disk library apparatus (hereinafter abbreviated as library apparatus), and particularly discloses a cooling method thereof.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-263537

  When the transport mechanism transports an optical disk from, for example, a storage container to an ODD, the transport mechanism needs to be accurately positioned with respect to the slot in which the optical disk to be transported is stored in the storage container. For this reason, in a conventional example, a relative position is detected by providing a position detection mechanism separate from the storage container and the transport mechanism. Alternatively, in another conventional example, a mark attached to a predetermined position inside the storage device is detected by a sensor, and the transport mechanism is moved by a step motor. For this reason, there has been a problem that time is required for the adjustment work for correcting the position error between the storage container and the position detection mechanism or the mark position error.

Further, in the library apparatus, the user exchanges the storage container as needed. For this reason, there is a possibility that the optical disk is not currently stored in the slot position where the optical disk was stored up to the present. Therefore, a mechanism for the library device to easily determine the presence or absence of an optical disk in the slot of the storage container is desired. However, in the conventional example, the determination is made by confirming whether or not the optical disk has actually been moved from the storage container to the transport mechanism.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a library device that simplifies the positioning mechanism of a disk transport unit and the discriminating mechanism for the presence or absence of a disk in a disk storage unit.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a library apparatus that stores a plurality of recording media and records and reproduces data, and each of the plurality of slots stores a disk that is the recording medium. A disk storage container having a plurality of holes provided correspondingly, a disk recording / reproducing unit for writing / reading information data to / from the disk, and moving between the disk storage container and the disk recording / reproducing unit A disk transport unit having a photodetector for detecting the light by transporting the disk and delivering and receiving light from the outside to the inside of the disk storage container through a hole of the disk storage container; And a control unit that controls the operation of the library device, the control unit depending on the intensity of light detected by a photodetector included in the disk transport unit To control the position of the disc container with respect to the disc transport unit, to determine the presence or absence of the disc in the disc container slot, it is characterized by controlling the operation of the library apparatus.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a library device that simplifies the positioning mechanism of the disk transport unit and the disk presence / absence determination mechanism in the disk storage unit.

It is a general-view figure of the library apparatus in an Example. 1 is an overview diagram of a disk storage container in Example 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a disk storage container and a photodetector in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure showing the light detection output in the photodetector in Example 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement at the time of moving the disk in Example 1 from a disk storage container to a disk conveyance part. It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement at the time of moving the disk in Example 1 from a disk conveyance part to a disk storage container. 6 is an overview diagram of a disk storage container in Example 2. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a disk storage container and a photodetector in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure showing the optical detection output in the photodetector in Example 2 and 3. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement at the time of moving the disk in Example 2 and 3 from a disk storage container to a disk conveyance part. It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement at the time of moving the disk in Example 2 and 3 from a disk conveyance part to a disk storage container. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a disk storage container in Examples 3 and 4. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the disk storage container and photodetector in Example 3 and 4. FIG. It is a figure showing the light detection output in the photodetector in Example 4. FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, the outline of the structure and operation of the library apparatus will be described.
As is well known, the recording medium used by the ODD is an optical disk that can be attached to and detached from the drive. Examples of the optical disc include a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and a BD (Blu-ray Disc). Also, the optical disc has a ROM type (for example, CD-ROM) that can only read data, an R type (for example, BD-R) that can write data only once, an RE, RAM, or RW type (for which data can be rewritten). For example, there is BD-RE). Further, the optical disc includes a single-layer disc having only one recording layer and a multi-layer disc having a plurality of layers. In the present embodiment, a library apparatus that can use all these optical disks may be used, or a library apparatus that uses some optical disks may be used.
In the following description, the optical disk is simply referred to as a disk.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a library apparatus 1 in the embodiment. Here, a state in which a part of the exterior of the library apparatus 1 is removed and viewed from the upper front side is shown. The front side here refers to the side where the entrance / exit 151 of the disk storage container is located.
In order to clarify the correspondence with the drawings shown later, a three-dimensional direction by the XYZ axes is shown on the right side of FIG. The library apparatus 1 has an X axis from the front left to the right, an Y axis upward from the bottom side of the front, and a Z axis from the back to the front.

  The disc storage container 15 that can be attached to and detached from the library apparatus 1 is inserted into the depth direction of the library apparatus 1 from the entrance / exit 151 of the disk storage container, and then ejected. The insertion and ejection operations may be performed manually by the user, or the library apparatus 1 may perform a certain amount of electric assist operation. A plurality of (for example, 250) disks 152 can be mounted in the disk storage container 15. As an example, FIG. 1 shows a case where a plurality of discs 152 are mounted in a substantially vertical position with the label surface and the recording surface facing each other. A slot (not shown) for positioning the disk 152 may be provided on the bottom surface inside the disk storage container 15.

Here, an example is shown in which two disc storage containers 15 are used on both the left and right sides with a disc transport section 13 to be described later. In the above example, the library apparatus 1 can mount 500 disks 152. This is an example, and for example, one disk storage container 15 may be provided. In the case of two, the library apparatus 1 can perform the intended operation even when only one of them is inserted.
When the disc storage container 15 is mounted on the library apparatus 1, the depth-side tip is positioned in the vicinity of the disc recording / reproducing unit 12.

  Similar to the disk storage container 15, one disk recording / reproducing unit 12 is provided on each of the left and right sides of the disk transport unit 13. The disc recording / reproducing unit 12 has ODD. Each disk recording / reproducing unit 12 may have one ODD, but in order to increase the operation speed, a plurality (for example, about several) may be used. Here, two slots 121 for inserting and ejecting the disc are shown. That is, two ODDs are provided on one side. As is well known, each ODD rotates a mounted disk 152 with a spindle motor (not shown), and records or reproduces data using an optical pickup.

  The disc transport unit 13, the first disc moving unit 131, and the disc transport unit moving unit 14 are components for transporting the disc 152 between the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 and the disc storage container 15. The moving section 14 of the disk transport section moves the disk transport section 13 and the disk moving section 131 via, for example, a motor and a gear (not shown, but the location and shape are not particularly limited).

The first disk moving unit 131 is provided at a position facing the disk conveying unit 13 with the disk storage container 15 in between by the support unit 130 of the first disk moving unit which is a part of the disk conveying unit 13. ing. Further, since the support unit 130 of the first disk moving unit and the first disk moving unit 131 move in the Z-axis direction of FIG. 1 together with the disk transport unit 13, these three including the claims will be described below. The components may be collectively referred to as a disk transport unit.
First, a case where the disk 152 is transported from the disk storage container 15 to the disk recording / reproducing unit 12 will be described.

  For example, based on an instruction from a disk conveyance control unit 11 (here, a reference numeral is assigned to the rear panel) mounted on a circuit board (not shown) in the rear panel of the library apparatus 1, the moving unit 14 of the disk conveyance unit responds to the instruction. The disk transport section 13 and the first disk moving section 131 are moved to the slot position of the disk storage container 15 in which the corresponding disk is stored. Next, the first disk moving unit 131 and the second disk moving unit 132 (not shown) inside the disk conveying unit 13 may include, for example, a motor and a gear (not shown, but the disk conveying unit 13 may have). The disk corresponding to the instruction is moved from the disk storage container 15 to the inside of the disk transport unit 13.

  At this time, the first disk moving unit 131 moves so as to kick the outer peripheral portion of the disk 152 toward the disk transport unit 13 with the mounting position of the first disk moving unit to the support unit 130 as the rotation center, for example. . On the other hand, the second disk moving unit 132 performs an original operation using electromagnetic force, but since it is not necessary to know in detail in understanding the present embodiment, the description is omitted.

  Next, based on the instruction from the disk conveyance control unit 11, the moving unit 14 of the disk conveyance unit places the disk conveyance unit 13 and the first in the ODD position corresponding to the instruction among the ODDs of the disk recording / reproducing unit 12. The disk moving unit 131 is moved. Further, the second disk moving unit 132 in the disk transport unit 13 is moved through, for example, a motor and a gear, thereby moving the transported disk from the disk transport unit 13 to the inside of the ODD. Thereby, the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 can record or reproduce data on the newly conveyed disc.

Next, a case where the disk 152 is transported from the disk recording / reproducing unit 12 to the disk storage container 15 will be described.
Based on an instruction from the disk conveyance control unit 11, the movement unit 14 of the disk conveyance unit moves the disk conveyance unit 13 and the first disk to the ODD position of the disk recording / reproducing unit 12 in which the disk corresponding to the instruction is stored. The part 131 is moved. Next, the second disk moving unit 132 inside the disk transport unit 13 is moved through, for example, a motor and a gear, so that the disk corresponding to the instruction is moved from the ODD to the inside of the disk transport unit 13.

  Next, based on the instruction from the disk conveyance control unit 11, the moving unit 14 of the disk conveyance unit moves the disk conveyance unit 13 and the first conveyance unit to the position corresponding to the instruction among the slots of the disk storage container 15. The disk moving unit 131 is moved. Further, the second disk moving unit 132 inside the disk transport unit 13 is moved via, for example, a motor and a gear, thereby moving the transported disk from the disk transport unit 13 to the inside of the disk storage container 15. As a result, the disc that has finished the operation in the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 is stored again in the disc storage container 15.

By operating as described above, the library apparatus 1 can perform high-speed access to a large number of disks, improving usability for users who handle large volumes of data.
In FIG. 1, for example, when a disc stored in the right disc storage container 15 is transported to the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 by the disc conveying unit 13, it is mounted on the ODD of either the left or right disc recording / reproducing unit 12. It can be set arbitrarily. Moreover, the storage position in the disk storage container 15 with respect to each disk can be arbitrarily set, and conversely, it can be fixed at one place. This is determined by an instruction from the previous disk conveyance control unit 11.

When the disc transport unit 13 moves the disc 152 between the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 or the disc storage container 15, it is necessary to accurately perform relative positioning. If an attempt is made to move the disk 152 in an incorrect position, the surface of the disk 152 may be damaged, or the movement itself may be impossible.
In order to solve this problem, conventionally, a position detection mechanism separate from the storage container and the transport mechanism is provided to detect the relative position, or a mark attached to a predetermined position inside the storage device is detected by a sensor. This is detected and the transport mechanism is moved by a step motor. For this reason, there has been a problem that time is required for the adjustment work for correcting the position error between the storage container and the position detection mechanism or the mark position error.

  The disk transport control unit 11 is stored in each slot of the loaded disk storage container 15 after the user mounts a certain disk storage container 15 and before actually recording or reproducing data on the disk 152. Information including the title of the disc included in the disc is collected and stored in the semiconductor memory. As a result, when the disc transport control unit 11 operates in response to a user instruction, it can be transported from the disc storage container 15 to the disc recording / reproducing unit 12 in a short time.

However, in order to collect the information described above, it is necessary to transport each disk to the disk recording / reproducing unit 12 and reproduce the information. For example, if the user exchanges the disk storage container 15 during the operation of the library apparatus 1, the information stored in the semiconductor memory may not be updated before the next disk transport operation. For this reason, there may be a case where the disk 152 does not actually exist in the slot of the disk storage container 15 that the disk transport control unit 11 has grasped when the disk 152 is present.
Conventionally, the determination of the presence / absence of a disk in the slot has been performed by checking whether or not the optical disk has actually been moved from the storage container to the transport mechanism. Even if information such as the title of the disc as described above is impossible, a method for easily determining whether or not there is a disc in each slot is desired.
Next, an embodiment for solving the above-described problem and providing a library apparatus 1 in which the positioning mechanism of the disk transport unit and the disk presence / absence determination mechanism in the disk storage unit are simplified will be described.

FIG. 2 is an overview of the disk storage container 15 according to the first embodiment. As an example, the disk storage container 15 has a hole 153 corresponding to the position of the slot for storing each disk on the upper surface (XZ plane) in FIG. The holes 153 are provided according to the number of disks 152 that can be stored in the disk storage container 15. In the example described above, 250 holes 153 are provided, but only five holes are shown here to simplify the drawing.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the disk storage container 15 and the photodetector 1301 in the first embodiment, and is drawn on the XY plane. For example, the photodetector 1301 attached to the support unit 130 of the first disk moving unit irradiates the light generated by itself and detects the reflected light toward the disk storage container 15.

At this time, the reflectance of the outer surface of the disk storage container 15 is selected so as to reflect a considerable amount of the aforementioned light. For this reason, when the light generated by the light detector 1301 is applied to the outer surface of the disk storage container 15, the light detector 1301 detects strong reflected light from a nearby position. When the light generated by the light detector 1301 is applied to the outer periphery of the disk 152 through the hole 153, the light detector 1301 detects weakly reflected light from a slightly separated position. Further, when the light generated by the photodetector 1301 is irradiated through the hole 153 to the farther position, for example, the inner surface on the opposite side of the disk storage container 15, the photodetector 1301 emits almost reflected light. Do not detect.
The inner surface of the disk storage container 15 may have a surface that suppresses reflection of light.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a light detection output in the light detector 1301 according to the first embodiment. The horizontal axis in FIG. 4 indicates the position in the Z-axis direction. As an example, the numbers 1 to 4 indicate the numbers of the slots in which the disks 152 are stored one by one. Further, as an example, the case where the slot in which the disk 152 is stored is only the slot 3 is shown.
Consider a case where the disk transport unit 13 moves from slot 1 to slot 4 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11. The light detector 1301 detects strong reflected light from a position close to the outer surface of the disk storage container 15 between the two slots (sensor output H in the figure). Reflected light is hardly detected in the slots (slots 1, 2, and 4) in which the disk 152 is not stored (sensor output L in the figure). In the slot (slot 3) in which the disk 152 is accommodated, weak reflected light from a slightly separated position is detected when the disk 152 is positioned in front of the disk 152 (sensor output M in the figure).

Therefore, the disk transport control unit 11 uses the light detection output from the light detector 1301 to perform both positioning control of the disk transport unit 13 with respect to the disk storage container 15 and determination of the presence or absence of the disk in the disk storage container 15. It can be carried out. Further, since the hole 153 is integrated with the disk storage container 15, an adjustment operation for correcting a position error as in the conventional example is not necessary.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when moving the disk 152 from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13 in the first embodiment. First, the disk transport unit 13 is moved to the vicinity of the instructed slot in the disk storage container 15 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11.
At that time, when the photodetector 1301 detects strong reflected light (sensor output H), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that the position of the disk transport unit 13 is greatly shifted and is not correctly positioned, Position again. For example, the disk transport unit 13 is returned to a predetermined reference position, and the same movement operation as described above is performed.

When the photodetector 1301 detects weak reflected light (sensor output M), the disk transport control unit 11 is positioned with respect to the target slot in the disk storage container 15 and the disk is not loaded. It is determined that the disk is present, and an instruction is given to move the disk from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13.
When the light detector 1301 detects almost no reflected light (sensor output L), the disk transport control unit 11 is positioned slightly deviated from the center of the target slot in the disk storage container 15. Accordingly, the position is finely adjusted in consideration of the size of the hole 153 in the Z direction. As a result, the disk transport unit 13 is positioned at a position where the sensor output of the photodetector 1301 becomes M, and an instruction is given to move the disk 152 from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13.

If the sensor output of the photodetector 1301 remains L in the range of the hole 153 described above, the disk transport control unit 11 determines that there is no disk 152 in the target slot in the disk storage container 15. To stop the operation and issue a warning to the user. As described above, this case may occur, for example, when the user exchanges the disk storage container 15 during the operation of the library apparatus 1.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation when moving the disk 152 from the disk transport unit 13 to the disk storage container 15 in the first embodiment. First, the disk transport unit 13 is moved to the vicinity of the instructed slot in the disk storage container 15 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11.
At that time, when the photodetector 1301 detects strong reflected light (sensor output H), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that the position of the disk transport unit 13 is greatly shifted and is not correctly positioned, Position again. For example, the disk transport unit 13 is returned to a predetermined reference position, and the same movement operation as described above is performed.

When the photodetector 1301 detects weak reflected light (sensor output M), the disk transport control unit 11 is positioned with respect to the target slot in the disk storage container 15. If it is determined that there is already a disk in the slot, the operation is stopped and a warning is issued to the user. As described above, this case may occur, for example, when the user exchanges the disk storage container 15 during the operation of the library apparatus 1.
If the light detector 1301 detects almost no reflected light (sensor output L), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that the disk transport unit 13 is near the center of the target slot in the disk storage container 15; An instruction is given to move the disk 152 from the disk transport unit 13 to the disk storage container 15. As shown in slot 3 of FIG. 4, if there is a position where the sensor output L is present even in the slot where the disk 152 is already present, fine adjustment of the position is performed to confirm that there is no position where the sensor output M is present. In addition, it may be instructed to move the disk 152.

That is, in the first embodiment, a hole 153 is provided in the disk storage container 15, and the reflected light detected by the photodetector 1301 is used to perform an operation according to the case where the reflected light is strong, weak, or almost absent. I have to. The intensity of the reflected light varies depending on, for example, when the light is reflected from the outer surface of the disk storage container 15, reflected from the outer periphery of the disk 152, or irradiated to other components.
Thus, both the positioning control of the disk transport unit 13 with respect to the disk storage container 15 and the determination of the presence / absence of the disk in the disk storage container 15 can be performed with a simple configuration using one photodetector 1301. is there. Further, regarding the presence or absence of a disk in each slot of the disk storage container 15, for example, when the disk storage container 15 is replaced, if the disk transport unit 13 is moved once over the entire disk storage container 15, it is short. There is also a feature that you can know in time.

FIG. 7 is an overview of the disk storage container 15 according to the second embodiment. As an example, the disk storage container 15 has a hole corresponding to the position of the slot for storing each disk on the upper surface (XZ plane) in FIG. In addition, unlike the first embodiment, two holes are provided in the X-axis direction for the same slot. That is, unlike the hole 153 of the first embodiment, the hole 153 a is positioned near the end portion in the X-axis direction on the upper surface of the disk storage container 15. On the other hand, the hole 153 b is located near the center of the upper surface of the disk storage container 15.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the disk storage container 15 and the photodetector in the second embodiment, and is drawn on the XY plane. For example, the photodetector 1301a attached to the support part 130 of the first disk moving part toward the disk storage container 15 is provided at a position corresponding to the hole 153a described above in the X-axis direction. The photodetector 1301b attached to the support part 130 of the first disk moving part is provided at a position corresponding to the hole 153b described above in the X-axis direction. The photodetectors 1301a and 1301b emit light generated by themselves and detect the reflected light.

The photodetector 1301 a receives almost no reflected light from the outer periphery of the disk 152 and receives reflected light from the outer surface of the disk storage container 15. On the other hand, the photodetector 1301 b receives reflected light from the outer peripheral portion of the disk 152 or the outer surface of the disk storage container 15. Here, unlike the photodetector 1301 of the first embodiment, the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b may output the detection result of the reflected light in binary. For example, the photodetector 1301b may output the sensor output H as a detection result when it receives reflected light from either the outer periphery of the disk 152 or the outer surface of the disk storage container 15.
The hole 153a and the photodetector 1301a may be provided near one end of the disk storage container 15 on the side close to or far from the disk transport unit 13.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the light detection outputs of the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b according to the second embodiment. As in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, there is shown a case where four slots each storing one disk 152 are stored, and only slot 3 is stored.
Consider a case where the disk transport unit 13 moves from slot 1 to slot 4 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11. The photodetector 1301a detects reflected light from the outer surface of the disk storage container 15 between the two slots (sensor output H in the figure), but at the slot position, whether the disk 152 is stored. Regardless of this, almost no reflected light is detected (sensor output L in the figure). The photodetector 1301b detects reflected light from the outer surface of the disk storage container 15 between the two slots, and is positioned in front of the disk 152 in the slot (slot 3) in which the disk 152 is stored. At this time, the reflected light is detected (sensor output H in the figure), but almost no reflected light is detected in the slots (slots 1, 2, and 4) in which the disk 152 is not accommodated (sensor output L in the figure).

Therefore, the disk transport control unit 11 uses the light detection outputs from the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b to control the positioning of the disk transport unit 13 with respect to the disk storage container 15 and to determine whether or not there is a disk in the disk storage container 15. Both can be done.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when moving the disk 152 from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13 in the second embodiment. First, the disk transport unit 13 is moved to the vicinity of the instructed slot in the disk storage container 15 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11.
At that time, when the photodetector 1301a detects reflected light (sensor output H) (not shown in FIG. 10), the disk transport control unit 11 is positioned correctly because the position of the disk transport unit 13 is greatly shifted. It is judged that it is not done, and positioning is performed again. For example, the disk transport unit 13 is returned to a predetermined reference position, and the same movement operation as described above is performed.

When the photodetector 1301a hardly detects the reflected light (sensor output L), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that the disk transport unit 13 is positioned near the target slot in the disk storage container 15. At this time, when the photodetector 1301b detects reflected light (sensor output H), it is determined that there is a disk in the slot, and the disk is moved from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13. To instruct.
On the other hand, when the photodetector 1301b hardly detects the reflected light (sensor output L), it is determined that the disk transport unit 13 is slightly shifted from the target slot in the disk storage container 15, and the hole Fine adjustment of the position in consideration of the size in the Z direction of 153 is performed. Then, the disk transport unit 13 is positioned at a position where the sensor output of the light detector 1301b becomes H, and an instruction is given to move the disk 152 from the disk storage container 15 to the disk transport unit 13. If the sensor output of the light detector 1301b remains L in the range of the hole 153, the disk transport control unit 11 determines that there is no disk 152 in the target slot in the disk storage container 15. To stop the operation and issue a warning to the user. As described above, this case may occur, for example, when the user exchanges the disk storage container 15 during the operation of the library apparatus 1.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when moving the disk 152 from the disk transport unit 13 to the disk storage container 15 in the second embodiment. First, the disk transport unit 13 is moved to the vicinity of the instructed slot in the disk storage container 15 in response to an instruction from the disk transport control unit 11.
At this time, when the photodetector 1301a detects the reflected light (sensor output H) (not shown in FIG. 11), the disk transport control unit 11 is positioned correctly because the position of the disk transport unit 13 is greatly shifted. It is judged that it is not done, and positioning is performed again. For example, the disk transport unit 13 is returned to a predetermined reference position, and the same movement operation as described above is performed.

When the photodetector 1301a hardly detects the reflected light (sensor output L), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that the disk transport unit 13 is positioned near the target slot in the disk storage container 15. At this time, when the photodetector 1301b detects reflected light (sensor output H), it is determined that a disk is already in the slot, the operation is stopped, and a warning is issued to the user. As described above, this case may occur, for example, when the user exchanges the disk storage container 15 during the operation of the library apparatus 1.
On the other hand, when the photodetector 1301b detects almost no reflected light (sensor output L), the disk transport control unit 11 determines that there is no disk in the slot, and stores the disk 152 from the disk transport unit 13 into the disk. Instruct to move to container 15. As shown in slot 3 of FIG. 9, if there is a position where the sensor output L is present even in the slot where the disk 152 is already present, fine adjustment of the position is performed to confirm that there is no position where the sensor output H is present. In addition, it may be instructed to move the disk 152.

That is, in the second embodiment, holes 153a and 153b are provided in the disk storage container 15, and the operation according to whether or not the reflected light is detected using the reflected light detected by the two photodetectors 1301a and 1301b. Like to do. The light detector 1301a provides information related to the positioning control of the disk transport unit 13 with respect to the disk storage container 15, and the light detector 1301b provides information for determining the presence or absence of a disk in the disk storage container 15 and the position of the disk storage container 15. Provides information for fine-tuning
Both the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b may output the detection result as a binary value. For this reason, although the number of photodetectors increases compared with Example 1, there exists an effect that the reliability which concerns on the detection operation of light can be improved.

FIG. 12 is an overview of the disk storage container 15 according to the third embodiment. As an example, the disk storage container 15 has holes on the upper surface (XZ plane) and side surfaces (YZ plane) in FIG. 7 according to the position of the slot for storing each disk. That is, unlike the second embodiment, the hole 153a is positioned near the upper end in the Y-axis direction on the side surface of the disk storage container 15. On the other hand, the hole 153b is located near the center of the upper surface of the disk storage container 15 as in the second embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the disk storage container 15 and the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b in the third embodiment, and is drawn on the XY plane. For example, the photodetector 1301a attached to the vicinity of the upper end of the first disk moving unit 131 in the Y-axis direction in FIG. 1 toward the disk storage container 15 is provided at a position corresponding to the hole 153a described above in the X-axis direction. It is done. The photodetector 1301b attached to the support part 130 of the first disk moving part is provided at a position corresponding to the hole 153b described above in the Y-axis direction. The photodetectors 1301a and 1301b emit light generated by themselves and detect the reflected light.

That is, the third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in the positions of the holes 153a and the photodetector 1301a. The operations and effects associated therewith are the same as those in the second embodiment. For example, the items described with reference to FIGS.
The hole 153a and the photodetector 1301a are provided near the upper end of the first disk moving unit 131 in the Y-axis direction. However, if the obstacle does not occur when moving the disk 152, the hole 153a and the photodetector 1301a are provided near the lower end. It may be provided. The hole 153a may be provided on either side of the disk storage container 15 on the side close to or far from the disk transport unit 13. Here, the case where it is provided on the side surface close to the disk transport unit 13 is shown. In addition, when providing in the side surface far from the disc conveyance part 13, it is good to attach the photodetector 1301a to the 1st disc moving part 131, for example.

  The above-described photodetector outputs a ternary logic signal in the first embodiment and a binary logic signal in the second and third embodiments. In the fourth embodiment, for example, the disk storage container 15 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 of the second embodiment and the positional relationship between the disk storage container 15 and the photodetectors 1301a and 1301b are used. Furthermore, the photodetector 1301a for controlling the positioning of the disc transport unit 13 with respect to the disc storage container 15 has an AD conversion function, and the photodetection data is not binary but has a high gradation when viewed in analog form ( For example, 8 bits) is output as data.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a light detection output in the light detector 1301a according to the fourth embodiment. Since the detected output has high gradation even if it is digital data, there is an effect that the disk transport control unit 11 can be positioned more accurately with respect to the disk storage container 15 of the disk transport unit 13. .
Needless to say, also in Example 1 or Example 3, an embodiment using a similar photodetector can be considered.

In any of the first to fourth embodiments, the above-described photodetector is a light reflection detector that detects reflected light of generated light. On the other hand, the light generation unit and the light detection unit are separated in distance, and a light transmission type detector that detects light transmitted through a predetermined distance may be applied. Moreover, it may be other than the optical detector, and for example, a capacitance type detector using the fact that the capacitance changes when an object approaches may be applied.
The holes provided in the disk storage container 15 are not limited to the rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 2, for example, and may have various shapes including a rhombus, a triangle, a circle, and an ellipse.

  The embodiments described so far in Examples 1 to 5 are merely examples, and do not limit the present invention. While different embodiments can be considered based on the spirit of the present invention, all fall within the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Library apparatus, 11: Disc conveyance control part, 12: Disc recording / reproducing part, 13: Disc conveyance part, 14: Movement part of a disk conveyance part, 15: Disk storage container, 130: Support of 1st disk movement part , 131: first disk moving unit, 132: second disk moving unit, 151: entrance / exit of disk storage container, 152: disk, 153, 153a, 153b: hole, 1301, 1301a, 1301b: photodetector.

Claims (5)

A library device that stores a plurality of recording media and records and reproduces data,
A plurality of slots for storing a disk as the recording medium; a disk storage container having a plurality of holes provided corresponding to each of the plurality of slots;
A disc recording / reproducing unit for writing and reading information data to and from the disc;
The disk is transported and transferred while moving between the disk storage container and the disk recording / reproducing unit, and light is irradiated from the outside to the inside of the disk storage container through a hole of the disk storage container. A disk transport unit having a photodetector for detecting the light, and
A control unit for controlling the operation of the library device,
The controller is
According to the intensity of light detected by the photodetector of the disk transport unit, the position of the disk storage container relative to the disk transport unit is controlled, and the presence or absence of a disk in the slot of the disk storage container is determined, A library device characterized by controlling the operation of the library device.   2. The library device according to claim 1, wherein the photodetector outputs a ternary light detection signal indicating that light has been detected, and detects light via an outer surface of the disk storage container; and A library apparatus, wherein a light detection signal having a different value is output when light is detected through the disk stored in a slot of a disk storage container.   3. The library apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light reflectance of the outer surface of the disk storage container is higher than the light reflectance of the inner surface of the disk storage container. The library apparatus according to claim 1,
The disk storage container has first and second holes provided corresponding to the plurality of slots,
The disk transport unit is provided corresponding to each of the first and second holes in the slot of the disk storage container, and irradiates light from the outside to the inside of the disk storage container through the hole. Having first and second photodetectors for detecting the light;
A first hole in the slot of the disk storage container and a first photodetector of the disk transport section provided corresponding thereto detect light through the disk by the first photodetector. It is set up so that it is hard to be done,
The controller is
The position of the disk storage container relative to the disk transport unit is controlled in accordance with the intensity of light detected by the first light detector of the disk transport unit, and the second detector of the disk transport unit detects The library apparatus, wherein the operation of the library apparatus is controlled by determining the presence or absence of a disk in the slot of the disk storage container according to the intensity of light.   5. The library apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first and second photodetectors output binary photodetection signals indicating that light has been detected.

Images