JP4665918B2 - Library device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a library device, and includes a plurality of drive devices each including a magnetic tape device that drives a cartridge that is mounted on an information device and constitutes a storage device, and wraps a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic tape. The present invention relates to a library apparatus having the same.

  A library device conventionally used as a storage device includes a plurality of drive devices such as magnetic tape devices, a cartridge magazine having a plurality of cells for storing data cartridges such as magnetic tapes, and an accessor for transferring data cartridges. A mechanism, and an accessor controller (accessor control unit) that controls each component of the accessor mechanism.

Here, the communication between the drive device and the accessor controller is performed by serial communication mainly via a dedicated interface unit (RS-232C circuit unit, RS-422 circuit unit, etc.).
When a failure occurs in the drive device, the accessor controller acquires the failure information of the drive device by communication via the dedicated interface unit.

  However, if there is a problem in communication via the interface unit, even if the accessor controller recognizes the occurrence of a failure, the failure location is on the drive device side or on the accessor controller (or accessor mechanism) side. However, it is difficult to identify, and even when there is a problem with the drive device, it is difficult to confirm the failure state.

On the other hand, a drive device used as a single unit is usually provided with a status display section on the front surface of a housing in which a data cartridge insertion slot is formed, to indicate status information of the drive device. You can know the status information from the display.
However, when the drive device is incorporated into a library device, the display on the status display unit cannot be visually confirmed from the outside.

  Therefore, when a problem occurs in communication via the interface unit, when trying to know the failure state of the drive device using the drive device status display unit, the drive device must be taken out of the library device and checked. I had to. Furthermore, it is necessary to stop the system to which the library apparatus is connected.

Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which a camera built-in dummy cartridge having the same dimensions as the data cartridge is transferred to a target position inside the library apparatus by an accessor mechanism, and image information at this target position is acquired. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
A technique is proposed in which the position of the rotating rod provided in the drive device at the time of fitting (insertion) and ejection of the data cartridge with respect to the drive device is determined using a linear scanning camera provided in the hand assembly as a robot. (For example, see Patent Document 2)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-162461 Special table 2001-503905 gazette

The problem to be solved is that accurate fault information cannot be obtained with certainty in the prior art.
For example, when there is a problem in communication via the dedicated interface unit, even if the accessor controller recognizes the occurrence of the failure, it cannot be determined whether the failure location is the drive device side or the accessor mechanism side.
In addition, even when trying to know the failure state of the drive device, the above prior art cannot reliably obtain failure information.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a library apparatus that can accurately obtain fault information.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention includes a cartridge driving unit that is incorporated in an information device and drives a cartridge, a cartridge storage that stores the cartridge, and at least the cartridge driving unit and the cartridge storage. The present invention relates to a library apparatus comprising a cartridge transfer means for transferring the cartridge and a control means for controlling each component, and the cartridge drive means displays a predetermined state including a failure of the cartridge drive means. Status display means for performing the medium transport control processing and failure related information acquisition processing, and the cartridge transport means is mounted on the transport body on which the cartridge is mounted and the transport body. Imaging means, and the control means is configured to As part of the management, by operating the imaging means to acquire an image of the bar code attached to the cartridge, while executing the process of recognizing the identification information of the cartridge, in the fault-related information acquisition process, a predetermined when the communication with the cartridge drive means becomes impossible, as a response to this, to the cartridge drive means so Demuka the carrier, and operating the imaging means, by imaging the status display means, the It is characterized in that an error determination process for acquiring a state display image of the cartridge driving means and determining the presence or absence of a failure is executed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the library apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising template storage means in which a template of the state display image is registered, wherein the control means is the cartridge driving means suspected of a failure. The state display image acquired from the state display means is collated with the template to recognize the state of the cartridge driving means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the library apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the status display means comprises a plurality of LEDs so that LED display corresponding to the type of failure is made. It is characterized by having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the library apparatus according to the first aspect , comprising a plurality of the cartridge driving means and the cartridge storage divided into a plurality of cells. The cartridge is transported between the cartridge driving means, between the cells, and between the cartridge driving means and the cells.

According to the configuration of the present invention, the state of the cartridge driving unit , for example, the state of the failure can be surely recognized based on the state display image acquired from the state display unit of the cartridge driving unit suspected of the failure .

By acquiring the status display image from the status display means of the cartridge drive means suspected of being faulty, the object of reliably obtaining accurate fault information has been realized.

  1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a magnetic tape library apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the magnetic tape library apparatus, and FIG. 3 is the magnetic tape library apparatus. FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the picker of the magnetic tape library apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a process for explaining the operation of the magnetic tape library apparatus. It is a procedure figure.

  A magnetic tape library device 1 of this example is mounted on an information device to constitute a storage device, for example, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a data cartridge 2 in which a magnetic tape as a computer-readable recording medium is packaged. A plurality of drive devices 3, 3,... For writing and reading (recording and reproducing) data, and a plurality of cells 4, for storing the data cartridges 2 in a horizontal state. .., An accessor mechanism 6 for transferring the data cartridge 2 between the drive devices 3 and 3, between the cells 4 and 4, and between the drive device 3 and the cell 4, and an accessor And an accessor controller 7 for controlling each part of the mechanism 6. The magnetic tape library apparatus 1 has a communication path. And the host computer 8 is connected.

  In the library device 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the drive devices 3, 3,... Are arranged in a plurality of layers in the vertical direction, and each cartridge magazine 5 has a plurality of cells 4, 4,. Are arranged in a plurality of layers in the vertical direction, and both cartridge magazines 5 and 5 are arranged so that the entrance / exit of the data cartridge 2 of the cell 4 faces each other across the movement region R of the picker 11. The devices 3, 3,... Are arranged at the back of the moving region R so that the insertion port 12 faces the front surface of the picker 11.

Each drive device 3 transmits and receives data to and from the host computer 8. For example, data written from the data cartridge 2 loaded in the drive device 3 is read by the operator's operation from the host computer 8 and transmitted to the host computer 8, and the updated data received from the host computer 8 is loaded. Write to 2.
Further, in the drive device 3, as shown in FIG. 3, a status display unit 14 for indicating status information of the drive device 3 is provided on the front surface of the housing 13 in which the insertion port 12 of the data cartridge 2 is formed. ing.

The status display unit 14 includes a plurality of power on / off states, operation states (reading or writing / stopping), failure states (drive hardware error, medium malfunction, etc.), data cartridge filling / non-filling, and the like. It displays by seed LED, 7 segment LED, etc. For example, a 7-segment LED displays a number corresponding to the type of failure.
Further, the drive device 3 transmits the state information to the accessor controller 7 and the host computer 8 via the interface unit.
In this example, the drive device 3 includes a drive device main body and a drive controller.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the accessor mechanism 6 moves to the position where the drive device 3 or the predetermined cell 4 is arranged, and the picker 11 for inserting and pulling out the data cartridge 2 and the picker 11 along the horizontal direction X. The picker horizontal movement motor 16 for displacing the picker, the picker vertical movement motor 17 for displacing the picker 11 along the vertical direction Y, and the picker 11 storing the data cartridge 2 are connected via the turntable 18. A picker rotation motor 19 for rotation is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the picker 11 includes a pair of picker arms 21 and 21 for holding the data cartridge 2, a status display image of the status display unit 14 of the drive device 3, and a barcode attached to the data cartridge 2. And an image input unit 23 for reading state information and bar code information, and a picker drive motor 24 including a stepping motor for driving the picker arms 21 and 21 and the image input unit 23. Yes.

The image input unit 23 includes a camera lens, and an imaging device including a CMOS imaging element that photoelectrically converts an image formed through the camera lens and outputs an image signal as an electrical signal.
The image input unit 23 is displaced along the insertion / extraction direction A of the data cartridge 2 by the picker driving motor 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the accessor controller 7 includes a main control unit 25 that controls each component of the accessor controller main body, a storage unit 26 that stores processing programs executed by the main control unit 25, various data, and the like. It includes an input / output control unit 27, a drive control unit 28, an image processing unit 29, a display unit 31 including a liquid crystal panel, and an operation unit 32.
The main control unit 25 executes various processing programs stored in the storage unit 26, controls each component using various registers and flags secured in the storage unit 26, and performs medium conveyance control processing and failure related information. Execute acquisition processing.

  When the main control unit 25 receives a medium transfer command from the host computer 8 in the medium transfer control process, the picker horizontal movement motor 16, the picker vertical movement motor 17, the picker rotation motor 19, The picker drive motor 24 is controlled to drive the picker 11, and the data cartridge 2 is transferred between the drive devices 3 and 3, between the cells 4 and 4, and between the drive device 3 and the cell 4.

  In the medium conveyance control process, the picker drive motor 24 is controlled to adjust the distance between the barcode arrangement position and the camera lens, and the barcode is set via the image input unit 23 and the image processing unit 29. A barcode image acquisition process for acquiring an image and storing it in the image information storage area of the storage unit 26 and a barcode information recognition process for recognizing barcode information including identification information of the data cartridge 2 are included.

  In the failure-related information acquisition process, the main control unit 25 receives a failure information from a predetermined drive device 3 via the input / output control unit 27 or becomes unable to communicate with the drive device 3 when a failure occurs. Through the picker driving process for moving the picker 11 to the drive device 3 suspected of being in doubt and the image input unit 23 and the image processing unit 29, the state display image of the target drive device 3 is acquired, and the image information is stored in the storage unit 26. A state display image acquisition process to be stored in the area, an error determination process for determining the presence / absence of a fault and the type of fault, and an error information display control process for displaying error information on the display unit 31 are executed.

The picker driving process includes a camera position adjusting process that controls the picker driving motor 24 to adjust the distance between the status display unit 14 of the drive device 3 and the camera lens.
In the status display image acquisition process, the main control unit 25 performs, for example, a display image of a plurality of types of LEDs on the status display unit 14 (lighting / extinction of each LED, or a combination), and a display image of a 7-segment LED (fault failure). Image such as a number corresponding to the type) is acquired.

In the error determination process, the state display image acquired in the state display image acquisition process is collated with the template of the state display image registered in the information storage unit of the storage unit 26 in advance by performing pattern matching, and the state display information Includes status display information recognition processing.
Here, as status display information, for example, the type of fault (drive hardware error, medium fault, etc.) associated with the number of 7-segment LEDs, power on / off, and operating status (reading or writing) Data cartridge filling / non-filling, etc.

  The storage unit 26 includes a semiconductor memory such as a ROM and a RAM, and a program storage area in which various processing programs such as a medium transport control processing program and a failure related information acquisition processing program executed by the main control unit 25 are stored; It has an information storage area in which various information such as a template such as a status display image and setting information is stored.

The program storage area has a medium transport control processing program storage area and a failure related information acquisition processing program storage area.
The information storage area includes a template storage area in which a template for a state display image is stored, and an image information storage area in which acquired image information (a state display image and a barcode image) is stored.

The input / output control unit 27 includes an RS-232C circuit unit and an RS-422 circuit unit for communicating with each drive device 3 and an external tester, and a SCSI control unit for communicating with the host computer 8. ing.
The drive control unit 28 controls the picker horizontal movement motor 16, the picker vertical movement motor 17, the picker rotation motor 19, and the picker drive motor 24.
The image processing unit 29 performs A / D conversion on the image signal sent from the image input unit 23 and performs image processing such as gamma conversion and color space conversion on the digitized signal.

Next, the operation of the library apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
For example, when the main control unit 25 becomes unable to communicate with the predetermined drive device 3 and detects the occurrence of a failure (step SA11 (FIG. 5)), the picker horizontal movement motor 16, And the picker vertical movement motor 17 is controlled to displace the picker 11 along the horizontal direction X and the vertical direction Y, to move the picker 11 to the drive device 3 suspected of being in trouble, and via the drive control unit 28. Then, the picker rotation motor 19 is controlled to rotate the picker 11 along the horizontal plane so that the camera lens of the image input unit 23 is disposed facing the state display unit 14 of the drive device 3 (step SA12). .

Next, the main control unit 25 controls the picker drive motor 24 via the drive control unit 28 to displace the image input unit 23 along the insertion / extraction direction A of the data cartridge 2, and the state display unit 14 and the camera The distance to the lens is adjusted, and the image input unit 23 is displaced to a position where the state display image can be read (step SA13).
Next, the main control unit 25 acquires a state display image via the image input unit 23 and the image processing unit 29, and stores it in the image information storage area of the storage unit 26 (step SA14).

Next, the main control unit 25 compares the state display image with the template image, recognizes the state display information, and determines the presence / absence of the failure and the type of the failure (step SA15).
Next, the main control unit 25 displays the failure content (error information) of the drive device 3 on the display unit 31 (step SA16).

The main control unit 25 usually acquires failure information from the drive device 3 via the input / output control unit (for example, the RS-422 circuit unit) 27 at the same time. Even when the failure information cannot be acquired, the failure analysis can be performed by acquiring the state display image of the drive device 3.
In this example, the main control unit 25 normally acquires information of substantially the same type as information obtained via the image input unit 23 via the input / output control unit 27.
can get.

  As described above, according to the configuration of this example, the main control unit 25 moves the picker 11 to the drive device 3 suspected of failure in the picker driving process, and performs the image input unit 23 and the image in the state display image acquisition process. A status display image of the target drive device 3 is acquired via the processing unit 29, and in the error determination process, the status display image is checked against the template to recognize the status display information. Since the type of failure or the like is determined, for example, even when failure information of the drive device 3 cannot be obtained via the dedicated interface unit, accurate failure information can be reliably obtained through another path.

  Further, for example, when there is a problem with the dedicated interface unit, even if the accessor controller 7 recognizes the occurrence of the failure, the failure location is detected on the drive device 3 side by acquiring the status display image of the drive device 3. In addition, it is possible to specify the accessor controller 7 (or the accessor mechanism 6) side, and it is possible to contribute to the identification of the failure location and the suspected component (FRU), and to improve the accuracy of the failure analysis.

Further, since the state of the drive device 3 can be confirmed without taking out the drive device 3 from the magnetic tape library device 1, for example, it is not necessary to stop to the host computer 8 to which the library device 1 is connected. Fault information and the like can be acquired.
Further, when the library apparatus having the function of acquiring the barcode information of the data cartridge 2 is used in an improved manner, the hardware and the program for acquiring the barcode information can be diverted almost as it is, which increases the cost. There is nothing.

The difference between this example and the first embodiment described above is that the status display unit of the drive device has an indicator lamp that indicates a different state by a different blinking pattern, and the main control unit of the accessor controller The point is that the state information is recognized based on the blinking pattern.
Since the configuration other than this is substantially the same as the configuration of the first embodiment described above, the description thereof will be simplified.

The status display unit of the drive device in this example has a plurality of types of indicator lights (for example, a ready lamp indicating a power supply state and an operating state, an error lamp indicating a failure state, etc.), and different states depending on different flashing patterns. Represents.
The main control unit of the accessor controller recognizes the state information corresponding to the blinking pattern of the acquired state display image in the error determination processing in the failure related information acquisition processing, and determines the presence / absence of the failure and the type of failure.
Also, blinking pattern information and state information are stored in the information storage area of the storage unit in association with each other.

According to the configuration of this example, substantially the same effect as that of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.
In addition, accurate information can be acquired while maintaining low cost.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Are also included in the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the access control controller performs picker driving processing, status display image acquisition processing, error determination processing, error information display control processing, and the like by the main control unit executing a corresponding control program. As described above, some or all of the picker driving process, status display image acquisition process, error determination process, error information transmission process, etc. are performed using dedicated hardware, and a program corresponding to a part is executed. May be processed.

Also, the picker driving process, the status display image acquisition process, the error determination process, the error information transmission process, and the like may be executed by separate CPUs, for example, by a single CPU.
Alternatively, an error message may be displayed on the status display unit, and characters may be recognized in the error determination process. Further, a predetermined state display may be performed by a combination of a plurality of indicator lights. Further, a plurality of indicator lights of the same type may be arranged, and the state information may be associated with the arrangement position.

  In the status display section, for example, a white LED, a green LED, a red LED, or a blue LED indicates whether the power is on / off, the operation state (reading or writing), the failure state, and the data cartridge filling / non-filling. You may show by the indicator lamp which consists of.

In addition, an A / D conversion unit that performs A / D conversion of an image signal and an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing may be mounted on the picker. Further, error information may be transmitted to the host computer by error information transmission processing.
Further, the image input unit does not necessarily have to be moved together with the picker, but may be disposed for each drive device, for example.

  As a cartridge (recording medium), in addition to a magnetic tape cartridge, it is generally applicable when using a cartridge in which another computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic disk cartridge or a compact disk cartridge is packaged.

1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a magnetic tape library apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the magnetic tape library apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the drive apparatus of the magnetic tape library apparatus. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the structure of the picker of the magnetic tape library apparatus. It is a processing procedure figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the magnetic tape library apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Magnetic tape library device (library device)
2 Data cartridge (cartridge)
3 Drive device (cartridge drive means)
4 cells 5 cartridge magazine (cartridge storage)
6 Accessor mechanism (cartridge transfer means)
7 Accessor controller 11 Picker (conveyer)
14 Status display section (status display means)
23 Image input unit ( imaging means )
25 Main control unit ( control means )
26 Memory unit

Claims (4)

Incorporated in information equipment, cartridge driving means for driving the cartridge, cartridge storage for storing the cartridge, cartridge transfer means for transferring the cartridge at least between the cartridge driving means and the cartridge storage, and each component A library device comprising control means for controlling
The cartridge driving means has a state display means for displaying a predetermined state including a failure occurrence of the cartridge driving means,
The control means executes a medium transport control process and a failure related information acquisition process,
The cartridge transfer means has a transport body on which the cartridge is mounted and an imaging means attached to the transport body,
In the medium transport control process, the control unit performs a process of operating the imaging unit to acquire a barcode image attached to the cartridge and recognizing the identification information of the cartridge as part of the process. While running
Wherein the fault-related information acquisition process, when the communication with the predetermined cartridge drive means becomes impossible, as a response to this, to the cartridge drive means so Demuka the carrier, and operating the imaging means, the state A library apparatus characterized in that a status display image of the cartridge drive unit is acquired by imaging a display unit, and an error determination process for determining the presence or absence of a failure is executed.   A template storage unit in which a template of the state display image is registered; and the control unit compares the state display image acquired from the state display unit of the cartridge driving unit suspected of a failure with the template. 2. The library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state of the cartridge driving means is recognized. The library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the status display unit is configured to display an LED corresponding to the type of failure by including a plurality of LEDs .   A plurality of the cartridge drive means; and the cartridge storage divided into a plurality of cells, wherein the cartridge transfer means includes the cartridge drive means, the cells, and the cartridge drive means and the cells. The library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is transferred between the two.

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