JP3371450B2 - Cassette autochanger - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette / recorder for carrying out continuous recording and / or reproduction for a long time while automatically exchanging various cassettes containing tape-shaped recording media and disk-shaped recording media. It's about an autochanger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention, as a cassette autochanger for a television broadcasting station, automatically exchanges a plurality of types of cassettes having different sizes while continuously playing back video, recording and editing for a long time. Which has been designed to do so (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-1185).
48).

In this prior application, a center guide attached to the central portion of the storage shelf in the left-right direction is composed of a T-shaped plate having a T-shaped planar shape, and small cassettes are stored on both the left and right sides of the T-shaped plate. It was configured to accommodate a medium cassette and a large cassette on the upper part of the template.

[0004]

Therefore, in the prior application example,
When the operator manually inserts the middle cassette into the upper part of the T template, if the middle cassette is inserted at an angle, the middle cassette is caught on the left and right ends of the T template and cannot be inserted. was there.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and when an operator manually inserts a medium cassette and / or a large cassette, the medium cassette and / or the large cassette is slanted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette autochanger in which a cassette and / or a large cassette can be smoothly inserted into a regular position even if it is inserted.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, a cassette autochanger of the present invention comprises a plurality of cassettes in which recording media are stored and different sizes, and a plurality of cassettes in which the plurality of cassettes are stored. A storage shelf, a recording / reproducing device that selectively records and / or reproduces the plurality of cassettes, and a carrier that selectively conveys the plurality of cassettes between the plurality of storage shelves and the recording / reproducing device. In a cassette autochanger equipped with the above, a step in the front-rear direction is formed on the storage shelf, a small cassette storage section is formed on the front side of the step, and a middle cassette storage section and / or a large cassette is formed above the step. Forming a storage part, a part of the front surface of the step is located at a position where it can escape to the small cassette, and the middle cassette and the upper surface of the step connected diagonally from the bottom surface to the top surface. / Or is obtained by forming a riding guide for large cassettes. At this time, a center guide for positioning the middle cassette and the large cassette on the center of the storage shelf in the left-right direction is provided, and a shelf board formed of synthetic resin for each storage shelf and the shelf board are attached to the upper part. It is preferable to use a metal plate.

[0007]

In the cassette autochanger of the present invention constructed as described above, a step in the front-rear direction is formed on the storage shelf so that the small cassette can be inserted into the small cassette storage portion formed in front of the step. , A medium cassette and / or a large cassette formed on the upper part of the step, and
Alternatively, since the medium cassette and / or the large cassette riding guide for escaping with respect to the small cassette is formed in a part of the front side of the step, the operator manually operates the medium cassette and / or When inserting the large cassette, even if the medium cassette and / or the large cassette may be inserted at an angle, the medium cassette and / or the large cassette may be guided by a riding guide to guide the medium cassette and / or the large cassette. Can be smoothly inserted into the cassette compartment.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a cassette autochanger of a video cassette for a television broadcasting station will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Outline Description of Cassette Autochanger] First, an outline of the cassette autochanger will be described with reference to FIGS.

In this cassette autochanger, a plurality of types of recording formats of a magnetic tape, which is a recording medium, are mixed, and a plurality of types of cassettes having the same recording format but different sizes are mixed and recorded. It is configured to be able to selectively record and / or reproduce by a VTR which is a plurality of types of recording / reproducing apparatus for each format.

Next, the cassette / autochanger main body (hereinafter simply referred to as the main body) 1 is constituted by a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped casing, and an opening / closing door 2 is in the front in the direction of arrow a, which is horizontal. It is attached to open and close freely. Further, in the main body 1, there are two types of storage shelf units including a plurality of storage shelf units 4 having upper and lower four storage shelves 3 and a plurality of storage shelf units 6 having five upper and lower storage shelves 5. The storage shelf unit row 7 is configured by being mounted side by side vertically. A top plate unit 8 is attached to the uppermost stage of the storage shelf unit row 7.

The upper and lower parts 4 of the plurality of storage shelf units 4
It is possible to indiscriminately load the large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 10M, and 10S of three sizes with the same recording format on the storage shelves 3 in a row. In addition, the upper and lower five storage shelves 5 of the plurality of storage shelving units 6 have the same recording format and have two types of large and small cassettes 11L and 11L.
S can be mixed indiscriminately. However, the recording formats of the large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10M and 10S are different from the recording formats of the large and small cassettes 11L and 11S. Also, large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 1
Compared with the thickness of 0M and 10S, large and small cassettes 11L,
11S is thin.

Next, inside the main body 1, the large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 10M, and
Two types of VTRs 12 and 13 for different recording formats for selectively recording and / or reproducing 10S and large and small cassettes 11L and 11S are mounted together. On the front surfaces of these VTRs 12 and 13, large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10M and 10S and large and small cassettes 1 are provided, respectively.
Cassette insertion ports 12a and 13a for 1L and 11S are formed. And a plurality of storage shelves 3, 5 and VTRs
The front surfaces of 12 and 13 are aligned in a line.

Next, between the plurality of storage shelves 3 and 5 and the VTRs 12 and 13 and the opening / closing door 2 in the main body 1, a carrier 16 having a hand 15 for cassette delivery, and a plurality of the carrier 16 are provided. The storage racks 3 and 5 and the VTRs 12 and 13 are arranged along the VTRs 12 and 13, and the transporter transporting device 17 for transporting in the vertical directions a and b. In addition, the carrier 16 has
The hand 15 is provided with a plurality of storage shelves 3 and 5 and VTRs 12 and 13.
Arrows d and e, which are horizontal cassette loading and unloading directions
A hand transfer mechanism 18 for transferring in the directions f and g, which are the horizontal direction at right angles to the direction and the right and left thereof, is attached.

Next, the two types of storage rack units 4 and 6 and the VTRs 12 and 13 can be freely recombined according to the recording format of the cassette used by the user, so that these storage rack units 4 and 6 can be recombined. , 6 and VTRs 12, 13 are attached to the main body 1 in an exchangeable manner.

At this time, the outer diameters of the two kinds of storage rack units 4 and 6 and the top plate unit 8 in plan view are substantially the same, but in particular, the two kinds of storage rack units 4 and 6 are used.
The height dimensions H ₁ of the storage shelving units 4 and 6 are the same, and when performing replacement work such as changing the number of storage shelving units 4 and 6 to be used or changing the arrangement, the gap between the storage shelving units 4 and 6 is adjusted. The replacement work can be easily performed without any need for

In addition, the top plate unit 8 having the height dimension H ₂ has 2
The top plate unit 8 is vertically inverted according to the type of the storage shelf units 4 and 6 arranged at the uppermost stage of the storage shelf unit row 7, which also serves as the top plate of the storage shelf units 4 and 6 of the type. Configured to use.

[Outline of operation of cassette autochanger] Next, referring to FIG. 1 to FIG.
An outline of the operation of the autochanger will be described.

First, the operator opens the open / close door 2 and performs a manual operation for loading or replacing the plurality of cassettes 10L, 10M, 10S and 11L, 11S into the plurality of storage shelves 3, 5. At this time, large and medium cassettes 10L, 10M
The large cassette 11L is stored in the central position of the storage shelves 3 and 5 in the left-right direction, and the small cassettes 10S and 11S are stored separately on the left and right of the storage shelves 3 and 5, respectively.

In this cassette autochanger, the large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10M, 10S and the large and small cassettes 11 mixedly mounted on the plurality of storage shelves 3, 5 are mixed.
The storage positions of L and 11S are searched and stored in advance. Then, based on the cassette exchange command signal, the transport operation of the transport device 16 by the transport device transfer device 17 in the directions of arrows b and c,
In combination with the transfer operation of the hand 15 in the directions of arrows d, e, f, and g, the large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 10M, and 10S from the storage shelves 3 and 5 designated by the hand 15 are combined.
In addition, the designated cassette of the large and small cassettes 11L and 11S is selectively sandwiched and automatically withdrawn, and this is conveyed to the designated VTRs 12 and 13 and automatically inserted into the cassette insertion ports 12a and 13a. And then record and / or reproduce. The used cassettes, which have been recorded and / or reproduced and discharged to the outside of the cassette insertion openings 12a and 13a of the VTRs 12 and 13, are returned to the original storage shelves 3 and 5 by the above-described reverse operation. Then, by repeating the cassette automatic exchange operation, continuous video reproduction and recording / editing are performed for a long time.

[Description of Cassette] Next, an example of a cassette used in this cassette autochanger will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C show the front faces of the large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 10M, and 10S of the same recording format and of three sizes. These large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10M, 10
As S, a magnetic tape 20 having a tape width T ₁ of 3/4 inch, such as a digital cassette or a Umatic cassette, is used, and the cassette thickness H ₃ is large enough to match the tape width T _1. Is configured. And
As shown in FIGS. 4, 8, 11, and 12, the front ends 21 of the large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 10M, and 10S.
A front lid 23 of a large size, a medium size, and a small size for opening and closing the front opening 22 is attached to the front opening 22, and a bottom surface 24 has a front opening 22.
A bottom opening 25 and an insertion guide groove 26 connected to the center of the bottom opening 25. The insertion guide groove 26 is formed along the center of the width direction of the cassette. 27 indicates the rear end of the cassette, 28 indicates the left and right side surfaces, and 29 indicates the upper surface.

Next, FIGS. 5A and 5B show large and small cassettes 11 having the same recording format and two sizes.
L, and shows the front of the 11S, these large, small cassettes 11L, as the 11S, for example, as such as beta cassette or VHS cassette, tape width T ₂ 1/2
An inch magnetic tape 30 is used, and the cassette thickness H ₄ is constructed to have a small thickness corresponding to the tape width T ₂ . Then, as shown in FIGS. 5, 21, 23, and 24, the front ends 3 of the large and small cassettes 11L and 11S.
1 has large and small front lids 3 for opening and closing the front opening 32.
3 is attached, and a bottom surface opening 35 is formed on the bottom surface 34 so as to connect to the front surface opening 32. An inverted L-shaped tape regulation piece 36 is arranged inside the front lid 33 at the center of the bottom opening 35. A pair of left and right insertion guide grooves 37 is formed on the bottom surface 34 of the large cassette 11L. 38 indicates the rear end of each cassette, 39 indicates the left and right side surfaces, and 40 indicates the upper surface. For the cassette autochanger, for example, an 8 mm cassette having a magnetic tape width of 8 mm and other various video cassettes can also be used.

[Explanation of Storage Shelf Unit 4] Next, referring to FIG.
The storage shelf unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the storage shelf unit 4 is placed in a unit frame 42 having a substantially U-shaped planar shape, and the storage rack unit 4 is placed in a vertical position.
The storage shelves 3 are attached horizontally at equal intervals.
A pair of left and right vertical flanges 42a is formed at the front end of the unit frame 42. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of left and right vertical mounting frames 43 are provided in the main body 1, and the storage shelf unit 4 is mounted on both mounting frames 4.
3 is inserted horizontally from the front (from below in FIG. 9), and both flanges 42a are detachably attached to both attachment frames 43 by a pair of left and right positioning pins 44 and a plurality of left and right setscrews 45. .

At this time, the uppermost storage rack 3 of each storage rack unit 4 is open, and these storage rack units 4 are stacked vertically and mounted between the two mounting frames 43, so that the upper rack The lowermost storage rack unit 3 corresponding to the bottom plate of the storage rack unit 4 is configured to close the upper portion of the lower storage rack unit 4.

Next, each of the storage shelves 3 is composed of a shelf plate 46 formed of synthetic resin and a metal plate 47 formed of a light metal such as aluminum. The periphery of the metal plate 47 is firmly fixed to the unit frame 42 by a plurality of set screws, and the shelf plate 46 is fixed on the metal plate 47 by a plurality of set screws 48. Various shelf structures are easily integrally formed on the shelf board 46 with synthetic resin, and the shelf board 46 is strongly reinforced by the metal plate 47.

Next, the shelf boards 46 of the respective storage shelves 3 have the same structure, and on these shelf boards 46, the front end side (see FIG. 9).
On the left and right sides of the left and right)
0 is formed, and a middle cassette storage portion 51 and a large cassette storage portion 52 are formed in a central portion on the rear end side (upper side in FIG. 9) so as to be superposed on the center in the left-right direction. The middle cassette storage portion 51 is the space surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

At this time, each of the shelves 46 has two small cassette storage sections 50, a middle cassette storage section 51, and a large cassette storage section 5.
A step 53 in the front-rear direction is integrally formed between the
Both the small cassette storage parts 50 are lowered one step, and the middle cassette storage part 51 and the large cassette storage part 52 are formed at the same height. Further, a central raised portion 54 having the same height as that of the middle cassette storage portion 51 and the large cassette storage portion 52 is integrally formed between both the small cassette storage portions 50 of each shelf board 46. Small cassette compartment 5
The space between 0 is divided.

Next, a center guide rib 56 is integrally formed at the center of the upper portion of the central raised portion 54 on each shelf board 46, and a recess 57 is formed on the rear side thereof. Then, in the recess 57, a vertically movable center guide 5
8 is stored.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 18, the center guide 58 is made of synthetic resin. And
When the metal fulcrum pin 60 is horizontally inserted between the pair of left and right pin insertion holes 59 formed at the rear end side in the recess 57, the fulcrum pin 60 is formed at the rear end of the center guide 58. Inserted in the pin insertion hole 61, the center guide 58
Inside the small notch 62 formed in the central portion of the rear end, the elastic locking pawl 6 integrally formed with the center guide 58.
A center guide 58 is removably incorporated into the notch 57 with one touch so that 3 is fitted in a locking groove 64 formed in the center of the fulcrum pin 60. Then, a small concave portion 65 formed on the lower surface on the front side of the center guide 58 and a small pin 66 protruding in the concave portion 57.
The front end side of the center guide 58 is urged upward around the fulcrum pin 60 by a compression spring 67 which is an urging means, and a pair of left and right stoppers integrally formed on the left and right sides of the front end of the recess 57. Center guide 5 by 68
The upward rotation angle of 8 is restricted.

The center guide 58 has a rib-shaped middle cassette and a large cassette insertion guide 71 integrally formed in the rear center of the center guide rib 56 at the center of the upper end on the front end side. An inclined surface 72 is formed at the lower front end of the insertion guide 71. Further, on the front end side of the center guide 58, a pair of left and right small cassette insertion guides 73 are formed on both the left and right sides of the middle cassette and the large cassette insertion guide 71 so as to spread to the left and right sides as they move backward. Further, a pair of left and right small cassette stoppers 74 are formed at the rear ends of these small cassette insertion guides 73. The rear end portion of both small cassette insertion guides 73 and both small cassette stoppers 7
Reference numeral 4 denotes a pair of left and right cutouts 75 formed on both the left and right sides of the front end of the recess 57, which are exposed in both small cassette storage portions 50.

Next, each shelf 46 has a pair of left and right recesses 77 formed in the large cassette storage portion 52, and a pair of left and right movable middle cassette stoppers 78 are formed in these recesses 77. Is stored. The middle cassette stopper 78 is detachably incorporated in the recess 78 by the same mounting structure as the center guide 58, and is urged upward by a compression spring 80 about a fulcrum pin 79. A raised portion 81 is integrally formed at the center of the front end side of the middle cassette stopper 78, and a pair of left and right stopper surfaces 82 are integrally formed inside the raised portion 81.

Next, on each shelf board 46, a pair of left and right rides diagonally connected from the lower surface to the upper surface at a position where it can escape to the small cassette 10S at the step 53 portion of both small cassette storage sections 50. The guides 84 and 85 are integrally molded.

[Description of Cassette Storage Operation in Storage Shelf Unit 4] Next, referring to FIGS. 7 to 18, large, medium, and small cassettes 10L, 1
The operation of inserting and storing 0M and 10S will be described.

First, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 10 and 13, the large cassette 10L is horizontally inserted into the central portion of the storage rack 3 from the direction of arrow d. At this time, the large cassette 10L
When the bottom surface 24 of the large cassette 10L is placed on the central raised portion 54 and is inserted in the direction of the arrow d, the center guide rib 56 and the middle cassette / large cassette insertion guide 71 are attached to the bottom surface 2 of the large cassette 10L.
4 is relatively inserted into the insertion guide groove 26, and the large cassette 10L is guided by these to be horizontally inserted into the large cassette housing portion 52.

Then, as shown by the one-dot diagonal line in FIG.
Due to the guiding action of the inclined surface 72 of the center guide 58, the center guide 58 rotates downward about the fulcrum pin 60 against the compression spring 67 and automatically sinks into the recess 57, so that the large cassette 10L is guided by the center guide. Pass over 58 in the direction of arrow d.

However, at this time, since the center guide 58 is constantly urged upward by the compression spring 67,
The middle cassette and the large cassette insertion guide 71 are compression springs 6.
7 always elastically presses the ceiling surface of the insertion guide groove 26 on the bottom surface of the large cassette 10L from below, and even if there is some variation in the vertical spacing of the storage shelves 3,
The large cassette 10L can be correctly guided to the regular position.

Further, since the large cassette 10L rides on the raised portion 81 of the both middle cassette stoppers 78, these both middle cassette stoppers 78 also rotate downwardly around the fulcrum pin 79 against the compression spring 80, and the both middle cassette stoppers 78 rotate. The large cassette 10L automatically sinks into the recess 77, and the large cassette 10L passes over the middle cassette stopper 78 in the direction of arrow d.

The large cassette 10L has its front end 21.
Is brought into contact with the stopper surface 52a of the large cassette storage portion 52, and is correctly stored in the regular position in the large cassette storage portion 52.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 11 and 17, the middle cassette 10M is horizontally inserted into the central portion of the storage shelf 3 from the direction of arrow d. At this time, medium cassette 10M
When the bottom surface 24 of the middle cassette 10M is placed on the central raised portion 54 and is inserted in the direction of the arrow d, the center guide rib 56 and the middle cassette / large cassette insertion guide 71 are located on the bottom surface 2 of the middle cassette 10M.
4 is relatively inserted into the insertion guide groove 26, and the middle cassette 10M is guided by these to be horizontally inserted into the middle cassette housing portion 51.

Also in this case, the center guide 58 rotates downward about the fulcrum pin 60 against the compression spring 67 and automatically sinks into the recess 57, as indicated by the one-dot diagonal line in FIG. The middle cassette 10M passes over the center guide 58 in the direction of arrow d.

Also in this case, the middle cassette and the large cassette insertion guide 71 of the center guide 58 are also compressed by the compression spring 6.
Even if there is some variation in the vertical spacing of the storage shelves 7, it will be elastically pressed from below by the ceiling surface of the insertion guide groove 26 on the bottom surface of the cassette 10M by 7.
The middle cassette 10M can be correctly guided to the regular position.

The front end 21 of the middle cassette 10M is
Is inserted between both raised portions 81 of both middle cassette stoppers 78 and abutted on both stopper surfaces 82, so that they are correctly stored in the regular position in the middle cassette housing portion 51.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 12, and 15, the pair of left and right small cassettes 10S are horizontally inserted into the pair of left and right small cassette storage portions 50 of the storage shelf 3 from the direction of arrow d. To do.

At this time, bottom openings 2 of both small cassettes 10S
Since the pair of left and right riding guides 84 relatively enter the inside of 5, the bottom surfaces of both small cassettes 10S do not ride on both riding guides 84, and both small cassettes 10S
The front end 21 is brought into contact with both steps 53, and is correctly stored in the regular position in both small cassette storage portions 50.

At this time, as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 12, one end of the small cassette 10S in the left-right direction rides on the central raised portion 54, so that the small cassette 10S is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. When inserted, as shown in FIG. 17, the front end 21 of the small cassette 10S is smoothly guided by the small cassette insertion guide 73 of the center guide 58 which is projected upward from the recess 57 by the compression spring 67. To be done. Therefore, even at this time, the small cassette 10
The S can be correctly inserted in the regular position in the small cassette storage section 50.

Next, as shown by the one-dot and two-dot chain lines in FIGS. 11 and 16, the medium cassette 10M and the large cassette 10
When the medium cassette 10M and the large cassette 10L are inserted at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane on the central raised portion 54 when the medium L is inserted, the bottom surfaces of the medium cassette 10M and the large cassette 10L form a pair of left and right riding guides 84. You will be guided by either of these. Therefore, at this time,
The middle cassette 10M and the large cassette 10L do not collide with the step 53, and the middle cassette 10M and the large cassette 10L can be smoothly inserted into the middle cassette housing portion 51 and the large cassette housing portion 52.

Next, as shown by the one-dot and two-dot chain lines in FIG. 10, when the large cassette 10L is inserted, this large cassette 1
When 0L is tilted with respect to the direction of the arrow d, which is the insertion direction, and is further tilted with respect to the horizontal plane, the bottom surface of one corner portion of the front end 21 of the large cassette 10L is inserted into the pair of left and right riding guides 85. The large cassette 10L can be smoothly inserted into the large cassette storage portion 52 by guiding either one of them.

[Explanation of Storage Shelf Unit 6] Next, FIG.
29 to 29, the storage rack unit 6 will be described.

First, the storage shelf unit 6 is also vertically placed in a unit frame 87 having a substantially U-shaped plane.
The storage shelves 5 are attached horizontally at equal intervals.
A pair of left and right vertical flanges 87a is formed at the front end of the unit frame 87. Then, the storage shelf unit 6 is inserted between both mounting frames 43 in the main body 1 from the front side (see FIG.
(2) from below (horizontally), both flanges 87a are detachably attached to both attachment frames 43 by a pair of left and right positioning pins 44 and a plurality of right and left setscrews 45.

At this time, the uppermost storage rack 5 of each storage rack unit 6 is also opened, and these storage rack units 6 are stacked vertically and mounted between the two mounting frames 43, so that the upper frame The lowermost storage rack unit 5 corresponding to the bottom plate of the storage rack unit 6 is configured to close the upper portion of the lower storage rack unit 6.

Next, each of the storage shelves 5 is composed of a shelf plate 88 formed of synthetic resin and a metal plate 89 formed of a light metal such as aluminum. The periphery of the metal plate 89 is firmly fixed to the unit frame 87 by a plurality of set screws, and the shelf plate 88 is fixed on the metal plate 89 by a plurality of set screws 90. Then, various shelf structures are easily integrally formed on the shelf board 88 with synthetic resin, and the shelf board 88 is strongly reinforced by the metal plate 89.

Next, the shelf boards 88 of the respective storage shelves 5 are constructed in the same structure, and on these shelf boards 88, the front end side (see FIG. 2).
A pair of left and right small cassette storage portions 91 are formed on both the left and right sides (downside in FIG. 2), and a large cassette storage portion 92 is stacked on the center in the left-right direction at the center of the rear end side (upper side in FIG. 22). Is formed.

At this time, a step 93 in the front-rear direction is integrally formed on each shelf 88 between the small cassette storage portions 91 and the large cassette storage portion 92, so that both small cassette storage portions 91 are lowered one step. ing. A central ridge 54 having substantially the same height as the large cassette storage 92 is integrally formed between the small cassette storages 91 of the respective shelves 88, and the small ridges 54 form the small cassette storages 91. The space is divided. At the center of the front end of the central raised portion 54, there is formed a recess 95 for escape from the lower end of the tape regulation piece 36 of the large cassette 11L.

Next, as shown in FIG. 29, on the bottom surfaces 91a of both the small cassette storage portions 91 of each shelf 88, the horizontal cross-sectional shape is almost in the vicinity of the left and right side surfaces 92a of the large cassette storage portion 92. A pair of left and right reinforcing ribs 96, which are shaped like a letter and extend parallel to the cassette loading / unloading direction (arrows d and e directions), are integrally formed. These reinforcing ribs 96 are provided on the metal plates 89.
The metal plate 8 of the reinforcing ribs 96, which penetrates a pair of left and right rib through holes 97 formed in
The portion projecting downward from 9 constitutes a pair of left and right large cassette insertion guides / small cassette pressing guides 98. That is, the vertical inner facing surface of the small cassette holding guide 98 also serving as the large cassette insertion guide is the large cassette storage portion 9.
2 is formed on the large cassette insertion guide surface 99 connected to the left and right side surfaces 92a, and the horizontal lower end surface is the small cassette pressing surface 1
00 is formed.

The large cassette storage section 92 of each shelf 88
A large cassette insertion guide rib 101 that also serves as a pair of left and right reinforcing ribs is integrally formed on the upper surface of the.

[Explanation of Cassette Storage Operation in Storage Shelf Unit 6] Next, referring to FIGS. 21 to 29, the large and small cassettes 11L and 11 are transferred onto the respective storage shelves 5 in the storage shelf unit 6.
The operation of inserting and storing S will be described.

First, as shown in FIGS. 21, 23, and 26 to 28, the large cassette 11L is horizontally inserted into the central portion of the storage rack 5 from the direction of arrow d. At this time, the large cassette 11
The bottom surface 34 of the L is placed on the central raised portion 94 of the lower storage shelf 5, and the upper edge portions of the left and right side surfaces 39 of the large cassette 11L are projected to the lower surface of the upper storage shelf 5 to form a pair of left and right large cassette insertion guides. It is inserted between the pair of left and right large cassette insertion guide surfaces 99 of the combined small cassette pressing guide 98. Then, when the large cassette 11L is pushed horizontally in the direction of the arrow d, the large cassette 11L is smoothly guided by the large cassette insertion guide surfaces 99, and the large cassette 11L is horizontally inserted into the large cassette storage portion 92.

At this time, both large cassette insertion guide ribs 101 are relatively inserted into both insertion guide grooves 37 of the bottom surface 34 of the large cassette 11L. And a large cassette 1
The front end 31 of the 1L is brought into contact with the stopper surface 92b of the large cassette storage portion 92, and is correctly stored in the regular position in the large cassette storage portion 92.

Next, FIGS. 21, 24, 25 and 28
As shown in, the small cassette 11S is horizontally inserted into the pair of left and right small cassette storage portions 91 of the storage rack 5 from the direction of arrow d.

At this time, the small cassette pressing surface 100 of both the large cassette insertion guide / small cassette pressing guide 98 projecting from the bottom surface 91a of both small cassette storing portions 91 of the lower storing shelf 5 and the lower surface of the upper storing portion 5. A limited gap between (and the gap approximately the same as the cassette thickness H ₄ shown in FIG. 5)
Both small cassettes 11S are inserted horizontally from the direction of arrow d. Then, the front ends 31 of the both small cassettes 11S are brought into contact with the stopper surfaces 91b of the both small cassette accommodating portions 91 to be correctly accommodated in the regular positions in the both small cassette accommodating portions 91.

Therefore, the small cassette pressing guide 98 that also serves as both cassette insertion guides prevents a part of both small cassettes 11S from riding on the central raised portion 94 and being inserted obliquely with respect to the horizontal plane. is doing.

According to the storage rack units 4 and 6 configured as described above, three types of large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10M and 10S and two types of large and small cassettes 11L and 11S are provided for each recording format. Indiscriminately, and
Can be stored accurately. Then, FIG. 8 and FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Large, medium and small cassettes 10L,
The protrusion amounts L ₁ of the rear ends 27 and 38 of the 10M and 10S and the large and small cassettes 11L and 11S are properly aligned to a constant value.

[Explanation of Top Unit] Next, the top unit 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, 19 and 20.

The top plate unit 8 includes a vertical front plate 10
3 and a pair of top and bottom plates 105, 1 above and below the left and right side plates 104
06 is installed horizontally. Then, one top plate 105 is formed as a flat plate, and the other top plate 1
On the 06, a pair of left and right guide ribs 107 similar to the pair of left and right large cassette insertion guides / small cassette pressing guides 98 are formed.

The top plate unit 8 is at the uppermost position of the storage shelf unit row 7 as shown in FIGS.
Like the storage shelf units 4 and 6, it is horizontally inserted between both mounting frames 43, and the left and right ends of the front plate 103 are detachably attached to both mounting frames 43 by a pair of left and right positioning pins 44 and a set screw 45. To be

The top plate unit 8 also serves as the top plate of two types of storage shelf units 4 and 6 having different recording formats.

That is, FIGS. 6 and 7 show the case where the storage shelf unit 4 is arranged in the upper stage of the storage shelf unit row 7.
At this time, one top plate 105, which is a flat plate of the top plate unit 8, faces downward, the top plate unit 8 is attached to the upper part of the storage shelf unit 4, and the one top plate 10 is attached.
At 5, a top plate for closing the upper part of the storage rack unit 4 is constructed.

Next, FIGS. 19 and 20 show the case where the storage shelf unit 6 is arranged on the upper stage of the storage shelf unit row 7, and at this time, the top plate unit 8 is turned upside down to make a pair of left and right sides. With the other top plate 106 having the guide ribs 107 facing downward, the top plate unit 8 is inserted into the storage rack unit 6
And the other top plate 106 constitutes a top plate that closes the top of the storage shelf unit 6.

As described above, since the top panel unit 8 also serves as the top panel of the two types of storage rack units 4 and 6, it is necessary to prepare two types of top panels dedicated to these two types of storage rack units 4 and 6. There is no.

[Explanation of cassette protrusion sensor] Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, 20 and 21, large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10 from a plurality of storage shelves 3, 5 are shown.
Rear end 2 of M, 10S and large / small cassettes 11L, 11S
The protrusion sensors 7 and 38 will be described.

Three light emitting elements 110, 11 such as light emitting diodes are provided above and below the front surface of the storage rack unit row 7 described above.
1, 112 and three light receiving elements 113, 114, 115 such as phototransistors are vertically opposed to each other, and by these, three sets of optical sensors 116, 11 are provided.
7, 118 are configured. Then, one optical sensor 117 is arranged in the center of the front surface of the storage shelf unit row 7, and is stored in the center of the plurality of storage shelves 3, 5.
Rear end 2 of medium cassette 10L, 10M and large cassette 11L
The protrusions 7 and 38 in the direction of the arrow e are detected. Further, the other two optical sensors 116 and 118 are arranged on the left and right sides of the front surface of the storage shelf unit row 7, and mainly a pair of left and right small cassettes stored on the left and right sides of the plurality of storage shelves 3, 5. The protrusion of the rear ends 27 and 38 of the 10S and 11S in the arrow e direction is detected.

That is, as described above, the loading operation of the plurality of cassettes 10L, 10M, 10S and 11L, 11S to the plurality of storage shelves 3, 5 is performed manually by the operator. The amount of protrusion of the rear ends 27 and 38 of these cassettes in the direction of arrow e from the above may exceed the value L ₁ shown in FIGS. 8 and 21. Then 3
Detection light F emitted from the three light emitting elements 110, 111, 112 of the one optical sensor 116, 117, 118
Any of ₁ , F ₂ and F ₃ is cut off, any of the three light receiving elements 113, 114 and 115 is turned off, and the protrusion of the cassette is automatically detected. The detection state of the protrusion of the cassette is displayed by the display means and confirmed by the operator as described later.

[Description of Cassette Protrusion Detection Device] Next, a cassette protrusion detection device will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the problem at the time of detecting the protrusion of the cassette will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 31A, the three light emitting elements 110, 111, 112 and the three light receiving elements 11 of the three sets of optical sensors 116, 117, 118.
Light F emitted from each of the light emitting elements 110, 111, 112 is arranged so as to face each other.
_As shown in FIG. 31B, a cassette protrusion detection method in which ₁ , F ₂ , F ₃ are received by the respective light receiving elements 113, 114, 115 is one of a plurality of cassettes, for example, medium cassette 10M is to block some of the light F _2, by the light receiving element 114 is switched to OFF from oN, and detects the protrusion of the cassette 10M therein.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 31C, in the system in which all the light emitting elements 110, 111 and 112 emit light at the same time, the light F ₂ emitted by one light emitting element 111 is used.
Is blocked by the middle cassette 10M, so that the light F ₂ cannot be received by the light receiving element 114. However, if some of the lights F ₁ and F ₃ emitted from the other light emitting elements 110 and 112 may go around the middle cassette 10M and be erroneously detected by the light receiving element 114, the protrusion of the middle cassette 10M can be detected. Disappear.

Therefore, in this type of cassette protrusion detection device, in order to prevent the above-mentioned inconvenience, three light F
₁ , F ₂ and F ₃ are provided one by one to the light receiving elements 113, 114 and 1
Three light-emitting elements 110, 11 so that light can be received at 15.
It is necessary to turn on and turn off lights 1 and 112 in order, and to control the three light receiving elements 146, 147, and 148 in order (to switch to a light receiving enabled state).

At this time, conventionally, as shown in FIG.
Light emitting element control board 119 on which three light emitting elements 110, 111 and 112 are mounted, and three light receiving elements 113 and 11
The microcomputer 121 controls the light-receiving element control board 120 on which Nos. 4 and 115 are mounted.

That is, the microcomputer 121 first turns on the light emitting element 110, selects the light receiving element 113 facing the light emitting element 110, and reads the light receiving state of the light F ₁ from the light emitting element 110. . Next, the microcomputer 121 turns off the light emitting element 110, turns on the next light emitting element 111, selects the light receiving element 114 facing the light emitting element 111, and outputs the light F from the light emitting element 111. Read the light receiving status of ₂ . Next, the microcomputer 121 turns off the light emitting element 111 and turns on the next light emitting element 112, and the light receiving element 1 facing the light emitting element 112.
15 was selected and the light receiving state of the light F ₃ from the light emitting element 112 was controlled to be read.

Therefore, conventionally, the load on the microcomputer is large and it takes time to detect the protrusion of the cassette. Moreover, there is a problem that the microcomputer itself has to perform some display for notifying the operator of the state of the cassette protruding.

Next, the cassette protrusion detecting device shown in FIG. 30 is designed to solve the above problems. In the cassette protrusion detecting device shown in FIG. 30, the counter 123, which is the first control means, is connected to the light emitting side decoder 124 by two output lines C ₁ , and the decoder 124 is connected by three output lines C ₂ . Three light emitting elements 11 of a set of optical sensors 116, 117, 118
0, 111, 112 are connected. Then, the three light receiving elements 11 of the three sets of optical sensors 116, 117 and 118
Three storage circuits 126, 1 such as a flip-flop circuit serving as storage means are provided on the three output lines C ₃ of ₃ , 114, 115.
27 and 128 are connected, and three storage circuits 126 and 12 are connected.
Two output lines C ₁ of the counter 123 are connected to the light-receiving side decoder 125 connected to the three input / output lines C ₄ of 7, 128. The three storage circuits 126, 127, 1
The three data output lines C ₅ of 28 are connected to the gate circuit (or the buffer circuit) 129, and the three data output lines C ₆ of the gate circuit 129 are connected to the microcomputer 130 which is the second control means. There is. The control signal line C ₇ of the microcomputer 130 is connected to the gate circuit 129. Then, the three storage circuits 126 and 12
7 and 128 are connected to the three output lines C _{8 to form} three light-emitting display elements 131 and 13 such as light-emitting diodes as display means.
2 and 133 are connected.

[Explanation of operation of cassette protrusion detection device]
Next, the operation of the cassette protrusion detection device will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the counter 123 is a ternary counter, which sequentially outputs three kinds of signals of “00”, “01”, and “10” to both the light emitting side dedecoder 124 and the light receiving side decoder 125, and the light emitting side decoder 124. Is "00""01"
Three light emitting elements 11 according to three kinds of signals of "10"
0, 111, 112 are turned on in order.

At the same time, the light-receiving side decoder 125 sequentially selects the three light-receiving elements 113, 114 and 115 according to the three kinds of signals "00", "01" and "10",
These three light receiving elements 113, 114, and 115 sequentially detect the protrusion of the cassette.
Storage circuit 1 with three detection data of 13, 114, and 115
26, 127, and 128 in order.

By the above operation, the three light emitting elements 11 are
While the 0, 111, and 112 are turned on and off in order, the three light receiving elements 113, 114, and 115 facing the light emitting elements 110, 111, and 112 that are turned on are sequentially selected, and the cassette protrusion detection is performed three times. This can be sequentially performed by one light receiving element 113, 114, 115. Therefore, the light F ₁ , F as shown in FIG.
There is no inconvenience such as erroneous detection due to wraparound of _{3 into} the light receiving element 114, and the protrusion of the cassette can always be accurately detected.

The three storage circuits 126, 127,
The detection data of the _three lights F ₁ , F ₂ , and F ₃ sequentially recorded in 128 are sequentially accumulated in the gate circuit 129.
At this time, at the same time, the three detection data are output to the three light emitting display elements 131, 132 and 133, and the light emitting display elements 131, 132 and 133 immediately notify the operator of the protruding state of the cassette.

Then, the microcomputer 130 simultaneously reads out the three detection data accumulated in the gate circuit 129 and reads out the cassette protrusion information.

Then, when the protrusion of the cassette is detected, the microcomputer 130 carries out a control operation such as to make an emergency stop of the carrier 16 or to carry and stop the carrier 16 to a safe retracted position.

Therefore, according to the cassette protrusion detecting device shown in FIG. 30, the microcomputer 130 turns on / off the three light emitting elements 110, 111, 112 in order, and the three light receiving elements 113, 114, 115. There is no need to perform any control operation such as selecting in order, and the load on the microcomputer 130 can be greatly reduced.

The three light emitting elements 110, 111,
Since 112 is turned on and off in order and the three light receiving elements 113, 114, and 115 are sequentially selected, the control operation can be automatically performed by three kinds of signals “00”, “01”, and “10” of the counter 123. The cassette protrusion can be detected quickly.

The three light receiving elements 113, 114,
At the same time as the cassette ejection detection is performed by the 115, the ejection state of the cassette can be immediately notified to the operator by the three light emitting display elements 131, 132, 133 before the microcomputer 130 reads the cassette ejection information. In particular, the computer 130 does not need to display the cassette protrusion.

[Explanation of Optical Sensor for Detecting Size and Storage Position of Three Types of Cassettes in Storage Shelf Unit 4]

Next, referring to FIGS. 33 to 35, three types of large, medium and small cassettes 1 stored in the storage rack unit 4 will be described.
An optical sensor that detects the size of 0L, 10M, and 10S and the storage position will be described.

First, a pair of left and right sensor boards 136 are provided on both left and right sides of the unit frame 42 of the storage shelf unit 4.
137 includes a plurality of spacers 138 and a plurality of set screws 139.
Installed by. The sensor boards 136 and 137 are arranged over substantially the entire height of the unit frame 42.
In each of the storage shelves 6 and 137, three sets of optical sensors 140, 141, and 142 are attached to one of the storage shelves 3, and four sets of the upper and lower four shelves are attached according to the heights of the storage shelves 3 of the four upper and lower shelves, for a total of 12 sets. Each of the photosensors 140, 141, 142 and three light emitting elements 143, 144, 145 such as light emitting diodes horizontally mounted on the inner facing surfaces of the sensor substrates 136, 137 so as to face each other in the left-right direction and the photo sensors 140, 141, 142. It is composed of light receiving elements 146, 147, 148 such as transistors. The unit frame 42 has a plurality of light transmitting holes 149 facing the light emitting elements 143, 144, 145 and the light receiving elements 146, 147, 148, respectively.

Then, as shown in FIG. 33, when the large cassette 10L is correctly stored on the storage shelf 3, the four light F ₄ , F ₅ , F emitted from the three light emitting elements 143, 144, 145 are emitted. _{All of 6} and F ₇ are blocked by the large cassette 10L, and the three light receiving elements 146, 147, 1
All 48 are turned off. At this time, it is detected that the cassette stored on the storage rack 3 is the large cassette 10L and that the large cassette 10L is stored at the correct position. Note that θ ₁ and θ ₂ are the light emitting elements 143, 1
44 and 145 and the light receiving elements 146, 147, and 148 show the field angles.

Next, as shown in FIG. 34, when the middle cassette 10M is correctly stored on the storage shelf 3, only one light F ₄ emitted from one light emitting element 143 is received by the light receiving element 146. Then, the light receiving element 146 is turned on. However, all the other three lights F ₅ , F ₆ , and F ₇ emitted from the three light emitting elements 143, 144, and 145 are blocked by the middle cassette 10M, so that the two light receiving elements 1
47 and 148 are turned off. At this time, it is detected that the cassette stored on the storage rack 3 is the middle cassette 10M and that the storage position of the middle cassette 10M is correct.

Next, as shown in FIG. 35, when the pair of left and right small cassettes 10S are correctly stored on the storage shelf 3, the two light beams F ₄ and F ₅ emitted from the two light emitting elements 143 and 144 are emitted. Is received by the two light receiving elements 146, 147, and these light receiving elements 146, 147 are turned on. However, the two lights F ₅ and F ₇ obliquely emitted from the two light emitting elements 143 and 145 are blocked by the pair of left and right small cassettes 10S, and only one light receiving element 148 is turned off. Then, at this time, it is detected that the cassettes stored on the storage shelf 3 are a pair of left and right small cassettes 10S and that the storage positions of these small cassettes 10S are correct.

[Explanation of Optical Sensor for Detecting Size and Storage Position of Two Types of Cassettes in Storage Shelf Unit 6]

Next, referring to FIGS. 36 and 37, two types of large and small cassettes 11 stored in the storage rack unit 6 will be described.
An optical sensor that detects the size of L and 11S and the storage position will be described.

First, a pair of left and right sensor boards 151 are provided on both left and right sides of the unit frame 87 of the storage shelf unit 6.
Reference numeral 152 denotes a plurality of spacers 153 and a plurality of set screws 154.
Installed by. The sensor boards 151 and 152 are arranged almost all over the height of the unit frame 87.
Two sets of optical sensors 155 and 156 for one of the storage shelves 5 are attached to the storage units 1 and 152, respectively, so that a total of 10 sets of upper and lower five stages are installed according to the height of the storage shelves 5 of the upper and lower five stages. Then, the optical sensors 151 and 152 are both sensor substrates 1
Two light emitting elements 157 and 158 such as light emitting diodes and the light receiving element 1 such as phototransistors which are horizontally mounted on the inner facing surfaces of 51 and 152 so as to face each other in the left-right direction
59 and 160. The unit frame 87 has these light emitting elements 157, 158.
And a plurality of light transmission holes 161 facing the light receiving elements 159 and 160, respectively.

Then, as shown in FIG. 37, when the large cassette 11L is correctly stored on the storage rack 5, the three lights F ₈ emitted from the two light emitting elements 157 and 158,
All of F ₉ and F ₁₀ are blocked by the large cassette 11L, and the two light receiving elements 159 and 160 are turned off. At this time, it is detected that the cassette stored on the storage rack 5 is the large cassette 11L and that the large cassette 11L is stored at the correct position. Note that θ ₁ and θ
₂ is a light emitting element 157, 158 and a light receiving element 159, 16
A view angle of 0 is shown.

Next, as shown in FIG. 37, when the pair of left and right small cassettes 11S is correctly stored on the storage rack 5, one light F ₈ emitted from one light emitting element 157 is emitted.
Is received by one light receiving element 159, and this light receiving element 1
59 is turned on. However, the two light emitting elements 157, 1
The two lights F ₉ and F ₁₀ obliquely emitted from 58 are shielded by the pair of left and right small cassettes 11S, and one light receiving element 160 is turned off. Then, at this time, it is detected that the cassettes stored on the storage rack 5 are a pair of left and right small cassettes 11S and that the storage positions of these small cassettes 11S are correct.

[Explanation of Size and Storage Position Detection Device for Two Types of Cassettes] Next, referring to FIG. 38 and FIG.
Two types of large and small cassettes 11 stored in the storage shelf 5
A device for detecting the sizes of L and 11S and the storage position will be described.

First, the size and left storage position of one small cassette 11S shown in FIG. 39A, the size and right storage position of the small cassette 11S shown in FIG. 39B, and FIG. A pair of left and right small cassettes 11 shown in (C) of FIG.
When the size and the storage position of S and the size and the storage position of the large cassette 11L shown in FIG. 39D are detected by the optical sensor, as described in FIGS.
Two light emitting elements 15 of a pair of optical sensors 155 and 156
7, 158 and the light receiving elements 159, 160 are arranged so as to face each other horizontally from the left and right. Then, two lights F ₈ and F ₉ emitted from one light emitting element 157 directly in front and obliquely are emitted.
By combining the light receiving elements 159 and 160 so that light is received by one light receiving element 159 and the light F ₁₀ obliquely emitted from the other light emitting element 158 is received by one light receiving element 159,
Only two sets of optical sensors 155 having four types of cassette sizes and storage positions of (A) (B) (C) (D) of FIG.
And 156. Therefore, the number of optical sensors can be reduced.

However, in the detection method of FIG. 39, if the two light emitting elements 157 and 158 are simultaneously turned on and the two light receiving elements 159 and 160 are simultaneously switched to the light receiving state, the above four types of detection are performed. I can't do that at all. Therefore, the light emitting element 1 is provided so that the three light beams F ₈ , F ₉ , and F ₁₀ can be received by the light receiving elements 159 and 160, respectively.
It is necessary to control so that 57 and 158 are sequentially turned on and off, and the two light receiving elements 159 and 160 are sequentially selected (switched to a light receiving enabled state).

Next, in the cassette size and storage position detecting device shown in FIG. 38, the two light emitting elements 157 and 158 are sequentially turned on and off without using a microcomputer, and the two light emitting elements 157, Light F ₈ , F ₉ , and F ₁₀ from 158 can be independently detected by the two light receiving elements 159 and 160.

The cassette size and storage position detecting device shown in FIG. 38 is the counter 16 which is the first control means.
3 is connected to the light emitting side decoder 164 by one output line C ₈ , and this decoder 164 is connected by two output lines C ₉ to the two light emitting elements 1 of the two optical sensors 155 and 156.
57, 158.

The two optical sensors 155 and 156
In the two output lines C ₁₀ of the two light receiving elements 159 and 160, three storage circuits 1 such as flip-flops which are storage means.
66, 167, 168. That is, the two storage circuits 16 are connected to one output line C ₁₀ of one light receiving element 159.
6 and 167 are connected, and one of the remaining one light receiving element 160
The remaining one memory circuit 168 is connected to the output line C _{10 of the} book.

Then, the two output lines C ₁₁ of the light receiving side decoder 165 connected to the output line C ₈ of the counter 163 are connected to the three storage circuits 166, 167, 168. That is, one output line C ₁₁ of the decoder 165 is connected to one storage circuit 166, and the remaining one output line C ₁₁ is connected to the remaining two storage circuits 167 and 168.

The three storage circuits 166, 167,
Three data output lines C ₁₂ of 168 are connected to the gate circuit (or buffer circuit) 169, and three data output lines C ₁₃ of the gate circuit 169 are connected to the microcomputer 170 which is the second control means. There is. The control signal line C ₁₄ of the microcomputer 170 is connected to the gate circuit 169.
Connected to.

[Explanation of Operation of Cassette Size and Storage Position Detection Device] Next, the size and storage position detection operation of the two types of large and small cassettes 11L and 11S will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the counter 163 is a binary counter and outputs two kinds of signals of "0" and "1" to the light emitting side decoder 16
4 and the light receiving side decoder 165 are sequentially output, and the light emitting side decoder 164 turns on the two light emitting elements 157 and 158 in order in response to the two kinds of signals "0" and "1".
At the same time, the light-receiving side decoder 165 has three storage circuits 166, 167, in response to the two types of signals "0" and "1".
168 are selected in combination order.

That is, the counter 163 outputs the signal "0", for example.
Is output, the light emitting side decoder 164 causes one light receiving element 158 to emit light, and at the same time, the light receiving side decoder 16
5 selects one memory circuit 166 and one light receiving element 1
59 receives only one light F ₁₀ . Then, the detection data by the light receiving element 159 is stored in the storage circuit 166.

Next, when the counter 163 outputs the signal "1", the light emitting side decoder 164 determines that one light emitting element 1
At the same time that 57 is caused to emit light, the light receiving side decoder 165 becomes 2
By selecting one of the storage circuits 167 and 168, the two light receiving elements 159 and 160 receive the two lights F ₈ and F ₉ . Then, the two detection data obtained by the two light receiving elements 159 and 160 are stored in the two storage circuits 167 and 168.

As described above, one light receiving element 159 has two
By connecting two memory circuits 166 and 167 and selecting one memory circuit 166 and two memory circuits 167 and 168 by the light receiving side decoder 165 in the order of combination, the two light emitting elements 157 and 158 are selected. The three light beams F ₈ , F ₉ , and F ₁₀ are received by the two light receiving elements 159, 1
It can be detected independently at 60. At this time, the light F ₈ ,
Although there are three orbits of F ₉ and F ₁₀ , the light emitting element 15
Since the number of each of 7, 158 and the light receiving elements 159, 160 is two, the number of optical sensors can be reduced.

The three storage circuits 166 and 167,
The detection data of the three lights F ₈ , F ₉ , and F ₁₀ sequentially stored in 168 are sequentially stored in the gate circuit 169. Then, the microcomputer 170 uses the gate circuit 169.
3 detection data stored in the
Information on the sizes and storage positions of the large and small cassettes 11L and 11S shown in 9 is read.

At this time, if the number of light-emitting elements and the number of light-receiving elements are three and the number of storage circuits is four, the three types of large, medium and small cassettes 10L, 10 shown in FIGS.
The sizes and storage positions of the M and 10S cassettes can be detected in the same manner as in FIG.

According to the cassette size and storage position detecting apparatus shown in FIG. 38, the microcomputer 170 sequentially turns on and off the two light emitting elements 157 and 158, and the two light receiving elements 159 and 159. Since it is not necessary to perform the control operation of selecting 160 in order, the load on the microcomputer 170 can be greatly reduced.

Then, the two light emitting elements 157 and 158 are sequentially turned on and off, and the two light receiving elements 15 are
The counter 163 controls the control operation for selecting 9, 160 in order.
Since it can be automatically performed by the two signals of "0" and "1", the size and storage position of the cassette can be detected quickly.

The above is a description of one embodiment of the present invention.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. Further, the present invention is not limited to the video cassette autochanger, but can be applied to various cassette autochangers accommodating other various tape-shaped recording media and disk-shaped recording media.

[0122]

The cassette autochanger of the present invention constructed as described above has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a step in the front-rear direction is formed on the storage rack so that the small cassette can be inserted into the small cassette storage portion formed on the front side of the step, and the middle cassette and / or the large cassette can be inserted. Insert it into the middle cassette storage part and / or the large cassette storage part formed on the upper part of the step,
When the operator manually inserts the medium cassette and / or the large cassette by forming a riding guide for the medium cassette and / or the large cassette on a part of the front side of the step, the medium cassette and / or the large cassette being guided to the small cassette, Even if the large cassette may be inserted at an angle, the medium cassette and / or the large cassette may be guided by the riding guide so that the medium cassette and / or the large cassette can be smoothly inserted. Therefore, the inconvenience that the medium cassette and / or the large cassette is caught on the step does not occur, and the medium cassette and / or the large cassette can be smoothly inserted into the regular position.

Since the center guide for positioning the middle cassette and the large cassette on the center of the storage rack in the left-right direction is provided, the middle cassette and the large cassette are placed in the left-right direction of the storage rack above the step. It can be correctly positioned on the center of.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since each of the storage shelves is composed of a shelf plate formed of synthetic resin, and the shelf plate is attached to the upper metal plate, the shelf plate can be easily molded with synthetic resin. The shelf can be easily reinforced with a metal plate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an entire cassette auto changer that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway schematic side view of the above.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway schematic plan view of the above.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing three types of cassettes such as a digital cassette.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing two types of cassettes such as a beta cassette.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a storage rack unit that stores three types of cassettes and a top plate unit.

FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional side view taken along line AA of FIG. 9 of a storage rack unit that stores three types of cassettes.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a storage shelf of a storage shelf unit that stores three types of cassettes.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state where a large cassette 10L is stored in the above-mentioned storage rack.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state where the middle cassette 10M is stored in the above-mentioned storage rack.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state in which the small cassette 10S is stored in the above-mentioned storage rack.

FIG. 13 is a sectional side view taken along the line BB of FIG.

14 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line CC of FIG.

15 is a sectional side view taken along the line DD of FIG.

16 is a sectional side view taken along the line EE of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a sectional side view taken along the line FF of FIG. 9.

FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a center guide of the above-mentioned storage shelf.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing the relationship between a storage rack unit that stores two types of cassettes and a top plate unit.

20 is a front view of FIG. 19. FIG.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional side view of the storage rack unit that stores two types of cassettes, taken along the line LL in FIG. 22.

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a storage rack of a storage rack unit that stores two types of cassettes.

FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a state in which a large cassette 11L is stored in the above storage rack.

FIG. 24 is a plan view showing a state where the small cassette 11S is stored in the above-mentioned storage rack.

25 is a sectional side view taken along the line GG in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a sectional side view taken along the line HH of FIG. 22.

FIG. 27 is a sectional side view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 22.

28 is a sectional side view taken along the line JJ of FIG.

29 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line KK of FIG.

FIG. 30 is a circuit block diagram for explaining a cassette protrusion detection device from a storage rack.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram for explaining erroneous detection of protrusion of a cassette from a storage rack.

FIG. 32 is a circuit block diagram for explaining a conventional example of a cassette protrusion detection device from a storage rack.

FIG. 33 is a plan view for explaining the light detection of the size and storage position of the large cassette 10L on the storage rack.

FIG. 34 is a plan view for explaining light detection of the size and storage position of the middle cassette 10M on the storage rack.

FIG. 35 is a plan view illustrating light detection of the size and storage position of the small cassette 10S on the storage rack.

FIG. 36 is a plan view for explaining light detection of the size and storage position of the large cassette 11L on the storage rack.

FIG. 37 is a plan view for explaining light detection of the size and storage position of the small cassette 11S on the storage rack.

FIG. 38 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a device for detecting the sizes and storage positions of two types of cassettes on the storage rack.

FIG. 39 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method of detecting the sizes and storage positions of two types of cassettes on a storage rack.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 storage shelves 10L large cassette 10M medium cassette 10S small cassette 12 VTR (recording / playback device) 16 carrier 20 Magnetic tape (recording medium) 46 shelves 47 metal plate 50 Small cassette storage 51 Medium cassette compartment 52 Large cassette storage 53 steps 54 Central ridge 58 Center Guide 84,85 riding guide

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of cassettes having different sizes in which recording media are accommodated, a plurality of storage shelves in which the plurality of cassettes are accommodated, and a recording / reproducing for selectively recording and / or reproducing the plurality of cassettes. In a cassette autochanger comprising a device and a carrier for selectively carrying the plurality of cassettes between the plurality of storage shelves and the recording / reproducing device, a step in the front-rear direction is formed on the storage shelf. A small cassette storage section is formed on the front side of the step, and a middle cassette storage section and / or a large cassette storage section is formed on the upper side of the step. At the escape position, a riding guide for a medium cassette and / or a large cassette diagonally connected from the lower surface to the upper surface of the step is formed. Changer. 2. The cassette autochanger according to claim 1, further comprising a center guide for positioning the middle cassette and the large cassette on the center of the storage rack in the left-right direction. 3. The cassette autochanger according to claim 1, wherein each of the storage shelves is composed of a shelf plate formed of synthetic resin and a metal plate attached to the upper part of the shelf plate.