JP2841499B2 - Cassette Auto Changer - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette auto-changer which is most suitable for performing continuous video reproduction for a long time using a video tape cassette, for example.

[Conventional technology]

The applicant of the present invention has disclosed, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 64-55776 as an example of a cassette autochanger for performing continuous video reproduction or the like for a long time using an 8 mm video tape cassette.
Has been filed earlier.

This prior application discloses a stocker having a large number of storage shelves for storing a large number of cassettes, a recording / reproducing device for sequentially recording and / or reproducing cassettes, and a transfer for transferring a cassette between the stocker and the recording / reproducing device. A cassette extruding member configured to be rotatable in both directions about a vertical rotation axis and to be movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis. Movement amount regulating means for regulating the amount of movement of the cassette pushing member in accordance with the rotational position of the member, and when the cassette pushing member rotates in the direction in which the cassette pushing member comes into contact with the cassette in the transfer device, the movement of the cassette is controlled by the movement amount regulating means. The direction in which the rotating radius of the pushing member is reduced and the cassette pushing member pushes the cassette out of the transfer machine. When rotating, which is constituted so as to increase the radius of rotation of the cassette push-out member by the movement amount controlling means.

According to the cassette autochanger of the prior application, the cassette in the transfer device is pushed out by the rotatable cassette pushing member,
With a very simple structure, the cassette can always be reliably pushed out of the transfer machine, and a very reliable and low-cost cassette can be obtained. Further, since the rotation radius is increased or decreased according to the rotation position of the cassette pushing member, when the cassette pushing member rotates in the direction in which the cassette pushing member comes into contact with the cassette, the cassette pushing member moves to the storage shelf (or the recording shelf). The cassette can be completely pushed out when the cassette pushing-out member rotates in the direction of pushing out the cassette. Therefore, transfer machine and storage shelf (or recording / reproducing device)
The effect that the safety of the transfer of the cassette between the two is extremely high is obtained.

By the way, in this kind of cassette autochanger,
It is necessary to store the code numbers and storage positions of many cassettes stored in the stocker. Therefore, even in the prior application, when loading the cassettes into the cassette autochanger, the cassettes are sequentially inserted one by one into the cassette importer, the code numbers of the cassettes are sequentially input into the operation panel, and the cassettes sequentially inserted into the cassette importer are transferred. The machine sequentially transfers and stores it in a predetermined storage shelf corresponding to the code number of the stocker.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the cassette import of the cassette auto changer of the prior application, a cassette insertion port and a cassette delivery port are provided before and after a horizontal cassette passage, and a cassette inserted by an operator horizontally into the cassette passage from the front cassette insertion port is provided. It was a simple configuration in which it was fed horizontally from the rear cassette outlet into the transfer machine.

Therefore, the next cassette cannot be inserted into the cassette passage from the cassette insertion slot until the transfer machine receives the cassette inserted into the cassette passage from the cassette insertion slot. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation of sequentially loading a large number of cassettes into the stocker cannot be performed efficiently.

The present invention provides a cassette auto-changer having a cassette import in which the next cassette can be inserted from the cassette insertion slot before the transfer machine receives the cassette inserted from the cassette insertion slot. The purpose is.

[Means for solving the problem]

A cassette autochanger according to the present invention includes a stocker having a plurality of storage shelves for storing a plurality of cassettes, a recording / reproducing device for sequentially recording and / or reproducing cassettes, and selectively between the stocker and the recording / reproducing device. A transfer machine for transferring a cassette, and a cassette import for temporarily storing a cassette inserted from outside the main body through a cassette insertion port provided in the main body, wherein the cassette is stored in the cassette import using the transfer machine. In the cassette autochanger configured to sequentially load cassettes into the stocker, the cassette import includes a slide table on which a cassette inserted from the cassette insertion slot can be placed on an upper surface, and a tray disposed below the slide table. And slide the slide table above A driving member provided at a position retracted from the sliding direction of the slide table, wherein the cassette import is a cassette inserted from the cassette insertion slot and placed on the slide table. Are dropped on the tray by sliding the slide table, and the cassettes dropped into the tray are sequentially loaded on the stocker by the transfer device.

[Action]

In the cassette autochanger configured as described above, when a cassette is inserted into the cassette import from the cassette insertion slot, the cassette is dropped on the lower tray by sliding the slide table. Then, the cassettes in the tray are sequentially loaded on the stocker by the transfer machine. Therefore, the next cassette can be placed on the cassette import slide table even before the transfer machine comes to pick up the cassette for cassette import.

Further, since the drive member for sliding the slide table is provided at a position retracted from the slide direction of the slide table, the drive member does not hinder the movement of the slide table.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cassette autochanger to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. This cassette autochanger is designed to be able to perform continuous video reproduction for a long time using an 8 mm video tape cassette.

First, the entire cassette autochanger 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the cassette autochanger 1, there is provided a transfer machine 3 for transferring a cassette 2 which is an 8 mm video tape cassette at a high speed in a left-right direction (arrow a direction) and a vertical direction (arrow b direction). Stockers 4 are arranged in two rows before and after the locus of movement of the transfer machine 3, and each stocker 4 is provided with a large number of storage shelves 5 for storing a large number of cassettes 2 in multiple stages in the left-right direction and the vertical direction. I have. A plurality of front-loading recording / reproducing devices 6 used for reproducing the cassette 2 are provided in multiple stages in the left-right direction and the up-down direction, for example, on the rear side of the movement locus of the transfer device 3. The transfer mechanism 7 of the transfer machine 3 is, for example,
Transfer mechanism along the vertical guide rails 8 by means of a servomotor 9 with encoder via a timing belt 10, and the transfer machine 2 along with the vertical guide rails 8 along a pair of upper and lower horizontal guide rails 11. And a horizontal transfer structure for transferring in the left-right direction by a pair of upper and lower timing belts 13 by a servomotor 12 with an encoder.

When loading the cassette into the cassette autochanger 1, the operator imports the cassette.
While inserting the cassettes 2 one by one into the
Key number on the operation panel 16
Is operated, the cassettes 2 sequentially inserted into the cassette import 14 are sequentially transferred by the transfer device 3 to the predetermined storage shelves 5 corresponding to the code numbers of the stockers 4 and stored therein. Is done.
Also, the cassette 2 from the cassette autochanger 1
When the cassette 1 is taken out, the code numbers of the cassettes 1 are sequentially input into the operation panel 16, and the cassettes 2 in the predetermined storage shelves 5 corresponding to the code numbers of the stockers 4 are sequentially transferred to the plurality of cassette out ports 15 by the transfer device 3. It is transferred and sent out.

The cassette autochanger 1 transfers the cassette 2 from a predetermined storage shelf 5 of the stocker 4 to the transfer machine 3.
And sequentially supplies them to a predetermined recording / reproducing device 6 to perform continuous video reproduction for a long time.

Next, the structure and operation of each part of the cassette autochanger 1 will be sequentially described.

First, the outline of the transfer operation of the cassette 2 by the transfer device 3 between the stocker 4 and the recording / reproducing device 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

The transfer machine 3 is provided with a pair of symmetrical holding means 17 for holding both sides 2a of the cassette 2 from both sides, and a turntable 18 for reversing the direction of the holding means 17 by 180 ° in the horizontal direction. A large number of cassettes 2 are stored horizontally in a large number of storage shelves 5 of the stocker 4 with the rear end face 2b facing the transfer machine 3 and the front cover 2c facing the side opposite to the transfer machine 3. .

Then, the cassette 2 is inserted into the transfer machine 3 from the predetermined storage shelf 5 of the stocker 4 by the clamping means 17 by an arrow c or c '.
After receiving in the direction, the transfer machine 3
9 while moving in the directions of arrows a and b in FIG.
18 is turned 180 ° in the direction of arrow d or d ′,
The front lid 2c of the cassette 2 sandwiched by 7 is directed toward the front of the recording / reproducing device 6. Then, the cassette 2 is inserted into the cassette insertion opening 6a of the recording / reproducing apparatus 6 in the direction of arrow c from the front lid 2c side by the holding means 17. The cassette 2 inserted in the recording / reproducing apparatus 6 is loaded by a normal front loading mechanism (not shown) of the recording / reproducing apparatus 6 to perform video reproduction. The operation of returning the cassette 2 after video reproduction to the original storage shelf 5 of the stocker 4 by the transfer device 3 is the reverse of the above operation.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, the cassette import is performed.
14 will be described in detail.

Inside a cassette insertion opening 22 provided in the vertical front panel 21, a cassette insertion guide 23 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is provided. Then, the cassette insertion guide 23
A pair of horizontal left and right slide tables 24a, 24b is provided at the lower part of the cassette. These slide tables 24a, 24b are perpendicular to and opposite to the horizontal cassette insertion direction (direction of arrow e) from the cassette insertion slot 22. Horizontal direction (arrows f, g
Direction). The slide tables 24a and 24b are guided by a guide mechanism (not shown) and slid in the directions of arrows f and g, but are urged to slide in the directions of arrows f 'and g' by a plurality of tension springs 25. The stoppers 26a and 26b are configured to be brought into contact with each other and stopped.

A horizontal tray 28 is provided below the two slide tables 24a and 24b, and the cross-sectional shape of the peripheral wall 28a rising above the tray 28 is substantially U-shaped. Therefore, the tray 28 has two surfaces, an upper surface and a side surface, which are open, an upper surface opening is formed in the cassette drop port 29, and a side surface opening is formed in the cassette outlet 30. A vertical rotating shaft 32 is mounted on the horizontal bottom panel 31 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows h and h ', and the tray 28 is relatively rotated in the directions of arrows h and h' above the upper end 32a of the rotating shaft 32. Mounted freely. A pair of pins perpendicular to both ends 33a, 33b of the torsion spring 33 wound around the outer periphery of the upper end 32a of the rotating shaft 32.
One pin 34 is fixed to the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 32 via a projection 36, and the other pin 35 is
It is fixed to the lower part of 28. A cassette pushing arm 37 is mounted on the opposite side of the tray 28 from the cassette outlet 30 via a vertical fulcrum shaft 38 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows i and i '. Is urged to rotate in the direction of arrow i.

The slide tables 24a and 24b have a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional symmetrical shape.
a 'and 24b' are wrapped around the tray 28 below the tray 28 so as to have a step.

A pair of rollers 42a, 42b each composed of a bearing is attached to the tip of a pair of rotary arms 41a, 41b having an upper and lower steps fixed to the outer periphery of the rotary shaft 32.
a, 42b are lower sides 24a ', 2 of both slide tables 24a, 24b.
4b 'is configured to be able to contact and separate from the horizontal direction.
Therefore, the presence of the pair of rotary arms 41a and 41b (a driving member for sliding the slide table) has little restriction on the slide amount and area of both slide tables 24a and 24b. The one roller 42a is also configured to be able to abut and separate from the free end 37a of the cassette pushing arm 37 in the horizontal direction. The motor shaft 44 of the servo motor 43 attached to the bottom panel 31 and the rotary shaft 32 are linked via a pair of timing pulleys 45a and 45b and a timing belt 46. Further, a pair of stoppers 48a, 48b for stopping the rotation of the tray 28 is provided by a pair of protrusions 47a, 47b provided on the side surface of the tray 28 alternately contacting each other.

Note that the cassette out port 15 is configured as a simple horizontal shelf 50 configured in a plurality of stages in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a cassette outlet 51 is provided on the front surface of each horizontal shelf 50.

Next, an operation of loading the cassette 2 into the cassette autochanger 1 using the cassette import 14 will be described.

First, as shown by the solid lines in FIGS. 2A, 3 and 4,
The operator inserts the cassette 2 from the front lid 2c side into the cassette insertion opening 22 in the direction of arrow e, and places the cassette 2 horizontally on both slide tables 24a and 24b in the cassette insertion guide 23. At this time, the operator reads the code number of the inserted cassette 2 from the bar code label 52 or the like adhered to the rear end face 2b of the inserted cassette 2, and reads the operation panel 16 shown in FIG. The ten key 16a is operated, and the code number is inputted into the operation panel 16.

On the other hand, when the cassette insertion is detected by a sensor (not shown) or the like, the servomotor 43 is driven, and the rotation shaft 32 is rotated through the timing belt 46 by an angle within 90 ° in the direction of arrow h in FIG. It is positively rotated by θ _1. Then, as shown by the chain line in FIGS.
Both rollers 42a, 42b at the tip of 41a, 41b are both slide tables
By pressing the lower sides 24a ', 24b' of the slide tables 24a, 24b, the slide tables 24a, 24b are slid in the directions of the arrows f, g against the tension spring 25, and a gap 53 between the slide tables 24a, 24b is formed.
There is increased from G ₁ to G _2. As a result, the cassettes 2 placed on the slide tables 24a and 24b are moved by their own weight from the gap 23 through the cassette drop opening 29, as shown by a dashed line in FIGS. At this time, as shown in Fig. 5A, the tray
Since one of the protrusions 47a is in contact with one of the stoppers 48a from the direction of arrow h, the tray 28 is not rotated at all,
Only one end 33a of the torsion spring 33 is moved in the direction of the arrow h by the pin 34 of the rotating shaft 32 to the position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 5A.

Then, after the cassette 2 has fallen into the tray 28, the rotary shaft 32 is reversely rotated in the direction of arrow h 'in FIG. 5A by the servomotor 43. At this time, the rotation shaft 32 has the angle θ
'After returning direction, continuing the arrow h' by the arrow h ₁ is reversely rotated by the direction of all 180 ° angle theta _2. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the pin 34 of the rotating shaft 32 causes the torsion spring 33 to rotate.
Of 'in order to be driven in the direction, the tray 28 from the state of Figure 5A arrow h to the state of Figure 5B' pins 35 of the tray 28 through the other end 33b is an arrow h by the same angle theta ₂ in the direction 180 。It is reversed. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the other protrusion of the tray 28 is formed.
47b is brought into contact with the other stopper 48b from the direction of arrow h ', and the tray 28 is stopped at a position where the tray 28 is inverted by 180 °. Then, the cassette 2 in the tray 28 is turned 180 ° by inversion of the tray 28 by 180 °, and the rear end face 2b of the cassette 2 is directed toward the transfer machine 3 shown in FIG. 8 as shown in FIG. 2B. Will be.

Incidentally, at this time, the arrow two rotary arms 41a, by the reverse rotation of the angle theta ₁ to the arrow h 'direction 41b, as shown by the solid line in FIGS. 3 and 4, both the slide table 24a, by 24b is a tension spring 25 The stopper 26 is moved back in the f 'and g' directions.
a, 26b again contact. Then, both rotating arms 41a, 4
'By the reverse rotation of the angle theta ₂ in the direction, both rollers 42a, 42b are both slide table 24a, lower side portion 24a of 24b' subsequent arrow h = 1b, go spaced 'from the arrow h' 24b in direction.

Then, after the rotation of the tray 28 inverted by 180 ° in the direction of the arrow h ′ is stopped by the stopper 48b, the servo motor 43
It is reversely rotated by a predetermined angle theta ₃ in the arrow h 'direction Figure 5B subsequently rotating shaft 32 by. Then, one roller
42a pushes the free end 37a of the cassette pushing arm 37 in the direction of arrow h ', and the cassette pushing arm 37 is rotated in the direction of arrow i' against the torsion spring 39. As a result, the distal end portion 37b of the cassette pushing arm 37 is inserted into the tray 28 from the notch 54 provided in the peripheral wall 28a of the tray 28, and the front cover 2c of the cassette 2 is inserted.
2B and 5B, the rear end face 2b side of the cassette 2 in the tray 28 is moved from the cassette outlet 30 to the transfer machine 3 side by a fixed distance l as shown by a chain line in FIG. 2B and FIG. 5B. Extruded in the direction. At this time, since the tray 28 does not rotate, only the other end 32b of the torsion spring 32 is moved by the pin 34 of the rotating shaft 32 in the direction of the arrow h 'to the position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 5B.

Thereafter, as shown by a chain line in FIGS. 2B and 5B, the cassette 2 is moved by a pair of holding means 17 of the transfer machine 3.
The cassette 2 is pulled out from the cassette outlet 30 into the transfer machine 2 in the direction of the arrow c and received in the transfer machine 3. Then, as described with reference to FIG.
Is transferred to and stored in a predetermined storage shelf 5 corresponding to the code number.

After this, the rotation shaft 32 is moved to the 5A by the servomotor 43.
It is moved back in the direction of arrow h to the original position indicated by the solid line in the figure,
The cassette pushing arm 37 is moved by the torsion spring 39 in FIG.
The tray 28 is moved back in the direction of the arrow i 'from the position of the dashed line to the position of the solid line, and the tray 28 is moved by the pins 34, 35 and the torsion spring 33 in the direction of the arrow h from the position of Fig. 5B to the position of Fig. 5A.
It is inverted by 0 ゜ and returned to the original state.

By the way, according to this cassette import 14, 2A
The cassette 2 inserted in the direction of arrow e from the cassette insertion slot 22 and placed on both slide tables 24a and 24b as shown by the solid line in the drawing is inserted into the tray 28 in the direction of arrow j as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2A. 2B, the cassette 2 is inverted by 180 ° as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2B and is sent out from the cassette outlet 30 to the transfer machine 3 in the direction of arrow c.
The cassette 2 in the tray 28 indicated by a solid line
2B using the time between the two to arrive
As indicated by the dashed line, the operator inserts the next cassette 2 from the cassette insertion slot 22 onto both slide tables 24a and 24b by arrows e.
Insert the cassette 2 from the bar code label 52
The operation of reading the code number and driving it into the operation panel 16 in FIG. 9 can be performed.

When removing the cassette 2 from the cassette autochanger 1, the operation panel 16 shown in FIG.
When the code numbers of the cassettes 1 are sequentially input to the cassette 2, the cassettes 2 taken out from the predetermined storage shelves 5 corresponding to the code numbers of the stockers 4 by the transfer machine 3 are shown in FIGS.
Multiple horizontal shelves of cassette out port 15 shown in Figure 2B
It is sequentially sent out from the direction of arrow c 'into 50.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various effective changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the recording / reproducing device 6 is used exclusively for reproduction, and the continuous video reproduction of the cassette 2 is performed for a long time. It is possible to perform both continuous recording and continuous reproduction over a long period of time.

Further, the present invention is not limited to an auto changer for a video tape cassette, but is also applicable to an auto changer for an audio tape cassette or a disk cassette.

〔The invention's effect〕

The present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects.

Since the cassette inserted from the cassette insertion slot of the cassette import and placed on the slide table was once dropped into the lower tray, and then sequentially loaded into the stocker by the transfer machine, the cassette was dropped into the tray. By utilizing the time until the cassette is picked up by the transfer machine, the next cassette can be inserted from the cassette insertion slot onto the slide table, and can be driven into the code number operation panel of the inserted cassette.
Therefore, the time required for the transfer device to receive the cassette dropped in the tray is not a wasteful waiting time, and the work of sequentially loading a large number of cassettes into the stocker can be performed efficiently and in a short time.

In addition, since the driving member for sliding the slide table is provided at a position retracted from the sliding direction of the slide table, the driving member does not hinder the movement of the slide table, and the movement amount and area of the slide table can be reduced. There are few restrictions. Therefore, the area of the slide table can be increased and the cassette can be reliably mounted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a cassette in / out boat, FIG. 2A and FIG.
2B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cassette import illustrating the loading operation of the cassette 2, FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the slide table and the tray, FIG.
5A and 5B are views taken along the line VV of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a drive mechanism of the slide table and the tray. FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view for explaining a cassette transfer operation, and FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the entire cassette autochanger. In the reference numerals used in the drawings, 2 ... cassette 3 ... transfer machine 4 ... stocker 5 ... storage shelf 6 ... recording / reproducing device 14 ... cassette import 22 ... cassette insertion port 24a, 24b ... slide table 28 ... Tray.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stocker having a number of storage shelves for storing a number of cassettes, a recording / reproducing device for sequentially recording and / or reproducing the cassettes, and a cassette selectively provided between the stocker and the recording / reproducing device. A transfer machine for transferring, and a cassette import for temporarily storing a cassette inserted from outside the main body through a cassette insertion port provided in the main body, the cassette stored in the cassette import using the transfer machine In the cassette autochanger configured to be sequentially loaded on the stocker, the cassette import includes a slide table on which a cassette inserted from the cassette insertion port can be placed, and a tray disposed below the slide table. The driving member for sliding the slide table is The cassette import is inserted into the cassette insertion slot, and the cassette placed on the slide table is dropped onto the tray by sliding the slide table. A cassette automatic changer, wherein the cassettes dropped into the tray are sequentially loaded on the stocker by the transfer machine.