JP2018113089A - Disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk device capable of improving data capacity per footprint.SOLUTION: The disk device according to the disclosure comprises a front shelf arranged in front of the device and storing a plurality of magazines, and a rear shelf arranged behind the device and storing a plurality of magazines. Each magazine is configured to accommodate two disk stacks in which a plurality of disks are stacked in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the magazine. The front shelf and the rear shelf are configured to store each magazine so that the longitudinal direction of the magazine is along the front-back direction of the device. A conveying route with width of the front-back direction of the device larger than the length of the longitudinal direction of the magazine is provided between the front shelf and the rear shelf.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a disk device that supplies a disk (a disk-shaped information storage medium such as a CD or a DVD) to each of a plurality of disk drives.

  Conventionally, as this type of disk device, for example, a device described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-13639) is known. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a conventional disk device.

  The conventional disk device includes two magazine stockers 101 and 101 extending in the longitudinal direction X1 of the device. The two magazine stockers 101 and 101 are provided on the bottom chassis 111 so as to face each other in the apparatus lateral direction Y1. In FIG. 3, the illustration of one (near side) magazine stocker 101 is omitted.

  Each magazine stocker 101 stores a plurality of magazines 102. Each magazine 102 includes a disk tray (also referred to as a magazine tray) 121 that stores a plurality of disks in a stacked state, and a tray holder (not shown) that stores the disk tray 121. Between the two magazine stockers 101, 101, there is provided a picker 103 that pulls out the disc tray 121 from the tray holder of one magazine 102 selected from the plurality of magazines 102 and holds the disc tray 121. .

  The picker 103 is configured to convey the held disk tray 121 to the vicinity of a plurality of disk drives 104 arranged at the rear of the apparatus. The picker 103 is integrally provided with a lifter 105 that pushes out a plurality of discs from the disc tray 121.

  The disk drive 104 is a device that records or reproduces data on a disk. The disk drive 104 is a tray type disk drive that loads a disk using a tray. The plurality of disk drives 104 are stacked in the apparatus height direction Z1, and are arranged adjacent to the magazine stockers 101, 101 at the rear of the apparatus. A carrier 106 is provided between the plurality of disk drives 104 stacked adjacent to one magazine stocker 101 and the plurality of disk drives 104 stacked adjacent to the other magazine stocker 101. Yes.

  The carrier 106 holds a plurality of disks pushed out by the lifter 105 in a stacked state, and separates one disk from the plurality of held disks above a tray ejected from an arbitrary disk drive 104. The separated disk is placed on the tray.

  An electrical circuit and a power source 107 are provided further behind the carrier 106 and the plurality of disk drives 104. The electric circuit and power source 107 is provided with a control unit that controls operations (motors and the like) of devices such as the picker 103, the disk drive 104, and the carrier 106. The control unit is connected to, for example, a host computer that manages data. Based on the operator's instruction, the host computer sends a command to the control unit so as to perform operations such as recording or reproducing data in the designated magazine 102. The control unit controls the operation of each device such as the picker 103, the disk drive 104, and the carrier 106 in accordance with the command.

JP 2014-13639 A

  A conventional disk device is configured assuming that it is installed in a limited space such as a 19-inch rack. A typical 19-inch rack has a length in the front-rear direction of about 1000 mm and a length in the lateral direction of about 600 mm.

  In recent years, with the progress of cloud computing, facilities that handle large amounts of data such as data centers are increasing. For this reason, it may be required to install a plurality of disk devices in the same facility. On the other hand, in the conventional disk device, there is still room for improvement from the viewpoint of more effectively using the installation space and improving the data capacity per installation area.

  An object of the present disclosure is to provide a disk device capable of improving the data capacity per installation area in order to solve the above problems.

The disk device according to the present disclosure is disposed in front of the device, and a front shelf that stores a plurality of magazines;
A rear shelf disposed behind the apparatus for storing a plurality of magazines;
With
Each magazine is configured to store two disk stacks in which a plurality of disks are stacked in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the magazine,
The front shelf and the rear shelf are configured to store each magazine so that the longitudinal direction of the magazine is along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus,
Between the front shelf and the rear shelf, a transport passage having a width in the apparatus front-rear direction that is larger than the length in the longitudinal direction of the magazine is provided.

  According to the disk device of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the data capacity per installation area.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of a disk device according to an embodiment. 1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a disk device according to an embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows typically the structure of the conventional disc apparatus.

(Knowledge that became the basis of this disclosure)
As a result of intensive investigations to improve the data capacity per installation area, the inventors have obtained the following new findings.

  In a conventional disk device, a magazine stocker for storing a plurality of magazines is arranged opposite to the left and right of the device, and a conveyance path, which is a movement path of the picker, is provided between them so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the device. In this configuration, when a plurality of disk devices are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other in parallel, the conveyance path is provided in the longitudinal direction of each disk device, which is the longitudinal direction of each disk device. However, the proportion of magazine stockers is low. For this reason, the data capacity as a whole of the plurality of disk devices is reduced.

  In contrast, the inventors have found that a front shelf and a rear shelf for storing a plurality of magazines are arranged opposite to each other in the front-rear direction of the apparatus, and a conveyance path is provided between them. According to this configuration, the conveyance path extends in the lateral direction of the apparatus, which is the short direction of each disk apparatus. In addition, in view of the fact that the general disk size is 12 cm in diameter and the length of the 19-inch rack in the front-rear direction is about 1000 mm, each of the two disk stacks is accommodated in parallel. I found out that it constitutes a magazine. With these configurations, even in a space where the length in the front-rear direction of the apparatus is limited, the disks can be arranged more densely, and the installation space can be used more effectively. Based on these new findings, the inventors have reached the following invention.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, a front shelf that is disposed in front of the apparatus and stores a plurality of magazines;
A rear shelf disposed behind the apparatus for storing a plurality of magazines;
With
Each magazine is configured to store two disk stacks in which a plurality of disks are stacked in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the magazine,
The front shelf and the rear shelf are configured to store each magazine so that the longitudinal direction of the magazine is along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus,
Between the front shelf and the rear shelf, a conveyance passage having a width in the apparatus front-rear direction larger than the length in the longitudinal direction of the magazine is provided,
A disk device is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present disclosure, a plurality of disk drives that record or reproduce data on a disk;
A transport device for transporting a magazine selected from a plurality of magazines stored in the front shelf and the rear shelf to the vicinity of the plurality of disk drives through the transport path;
The disc device according to the first aspect is further provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed description than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of already well-known matters and repeated descriptions for substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following description from becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

  In addition, the inventors provide the accompanying drawings and the following description in order for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and these are intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims. It is not a thing.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the disk device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the disk device according to the embodiment. In the embodiment, the lower side of FIG. 1 is “device front”, and the upper side of FIG. 1 is “device rear”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the disk device 1 according to the embodiment includes a basic unit 2, a plurality of expansion units 3, and a subunit 4.

  The basic unit 2 is provided with a plurality of disk drives 21 for recording or reproducing data with respect to the disk. Each disk drive 21 includes a tray 21a on which a disk is placed. The disc is, for example, an optical disc having a diameter of 12 cm. The plurality of disk drives 21 are, for example, arranged in m units (m is a natural number) in parallel in the apparatus longitudinal direction Y, and n units (n is a natural number) in parallel in the apparatus vertical direction Z. That is, a plurality of disk drives 21 are arranged inside the basic unit 2.

  Further, a control unit and a power source (not shown) for controlling the operation of each device are provided in the space 22 above the basic unit 2. The control unit is connected to, for example, a host computer that manages data. Based on the operator's instruction, the host computer sends a command to the control unit to perform operations such as recording or reproducing data in a designated magazine. The control unit controls the operation of each device according to the command.

  The plurality of expansion units 3 are arranged in parallel in the apparatus lateral direction X with respect to the basic unit 2. In the embodiment, the two expansion units 3 and 3 are arranged in parallel in the apparatus lateral direction X with respect to the basic unit 2. Each expansion unit 3 includes a front shelf 31 disposed in front of the apparatus and a rear shelf 32 disposed in the rear of the apparatus.

  A plurality of magazines 5 are stored in the front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32, respectively. The plurality of magazines 5 are, for example, arranged in s (s is a natural number) in parallel in the apparatus lateral direction X, and t (t is a natural number) in parallel in the apparatus vertical direction Z. That is, a plurality of magazines 5 are arranged inside the expansion unit 3 by s × t × 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each magazine 5 is configured to store two disk stacks 51, 51 in which a plurality of disks are stacked in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the magazine 5. Each disk stack 51 is, for example, a stacked body in which 24 disks are stacked. In this case, each magazine 5 stores 48 (24 × 2) disks.

  The front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32 are configured to store each magazine 5 such that the longitudinal direction of the magazine 5 is along the longitudinal direction Y of the apparatus. A conveyance passage 33 is provided between the front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32. The conveyance path 33 has a width in the apparatus front-rear direction Y that is larger than the length of the magazine 5 in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, the arbitrary magazines 5 stored in the front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32 can be pulled out into the transport path 33 without changing the direction.

  The conveyance paths 33 and 33 of the expansion units 3 and 3 adjacent to each other are connected so as to extend in the apparatus lateral direction X. Further, the transfer passage 33 of the extension unit 3 adjacent to the basic unit 2 communicates with the inside of the basic unit 2.

  The transfer device 6 is movably provided in the transfer passage 33. The transport device 6 is configured to transport a magazine selected from the plurality of magazines 5 stored in the front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32 to the vicinity of the plurality of disk drives 21 through the transport path 32. . A plurality of discs in the magazine 5 conveyed to the vicinity of the plurality of disc drives 21 are placed on the trays 21a of the respective disc drives 21 by a carrier (not shown), and conveyed to the inside of each disc drive 21 to record data. Or reproduction is performed.

  The length L1 of the basic unit 2 and the expansion unit 3 in the apparatus front-rear direction Y is about 1000 mm, which is the same as a general 19-inch rack. The length L2 of the basic unit 2, the expansion unit 3, and the subunit 4 in the apparatus lateral direction X is about 600 mm, which is the same as that of a general 19-inch rack.

  The sub unit 4 is provided with a space 41 that communicates with the transport passage 33 and in which the transport device 6 can move. The space 41 is a space in which the transport device 6 is located when the transport device 6 inserts and removes the magazine 5 of the front shelf 31 or the rear shelf 32 of the expansion unit 3 closest to the subunit 4. In the space 41, a power supply unit that supplies power to the transfer device 6 is installed.

  According to the embodiment, the front shelf 31 and the rear shelf 32 that store the plurality of magazines 5 are arranged to face each other in the apparatus front-rear direction Y, and the conveyance path 33 is provided therebetween. Each magazine 5 is configured to store the disk stack 51 in parallel. According to this configuration, even in a space in which the length in the apparatus front-rear direction Y is limited, the disks can be arranged more densely, and the installation space can be used more effectively. Thereby, the data capacity per installation area can be improved.

  According to the embodiment, the data capacity per installation area can be further improved by increasing the number of expansion units 3 according to the installation space.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement in another various aspect. For example, in FIG. 1, in each expansion unit 3, three magazines 5 are arranged in the apparatus lateral direction X, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, each expansion unit 3 may be configured such that four magazines 5 are arranged in the apparatus lateral direction X.

  As described above, the embodiments have been described as examples of the technology in the present disclosure. For this purpose, the accompanying drawings and detailed description are provided. Accordingly, among the components described in the accompanying drawings and the detailed description, not only the components essential for solving the problem, but also the components not essential for solving the problem in order to illustrate the technology. May also be included. Therefore, it should not be immediately recognized that these non-essential components are essential as those non-essential components are described in the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

  Moreover, since the above-mentioned embodiment is for demonstrating the technique in this indication, a various change, substitution, addition, abbreviation, etc. can be performed in a claim or its equivalent range.

  Since the disk device according to the present disclosure can improve the data capacity per installation area, it is particularly useful for a disk device used in a facility that handles a large amount of data such as a data center.

1 disk device 2 basic unit 3 expansion unit 4 sub unit 5 magazine 6 transport device 21 disk drive 21a tray 22 space 31 front shelf 32 rear shelf 33 transport path 41 space 51 disk stack

Claims (2)

A front shelf arranged in front of the apparatus and storing a plurality of magazines;
A rear shelf disposed behind the apparatus for storing a plurality of magazines;
With
Each magazine is configured to store two disk stacks in which a plurality of disks are stacked in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the magazine,
The front shelf and the rear shelf are configured to store each magazine so that the longitudinal direction of the magazine is along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus,
Between the front shelf and the rear shelf, a conveyance passage having a width in the apparatus front-rear direction larger than the length in the longitudinal direction of the magazine is provided,
Disk unit. A plurality of disk drives for recording or reproducing data on the disk;
A transport device for transporting a magazine selected from a plurality of magazines stored in the front shelf and the rear shelf to the vicinity of the plurality of disk drives through the transport path;
The disk device according to claim 1, further comprising:

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