JPH01259271A - Recording medium inspection instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a storage medium to be inspection instrument continuously by conveying, inspecting, and discharging the storage medium which is supplied continuously by using a stacker, a carrier, and a destacker. CONSTITUTION:The recording medium 1 conveyed by a supply means 3 is stored on respective shelves 7A of the stacker 7 driven by a pulse motor 12 sheet by sheet in order. The carrier 9 which constitutes an intermediate conveying means 5 receives the storage medium 1 to be inspected from said stacker 7 at a 1st position and stores it on its storage shelf 9A by blocks. Then the carrier 9 moves as shown by an arrow A to a replacement position and passes and receives the storage medium 1 to and from the inspection unit 6 of an inspecting means 2 at this position. The carrier 9 further moves as shown by the arrow A after the inspection and is set at a discharge position. At this position, storage media 1 stored on respective shelves of the carrier 9 are moved to the destacker 8, block by block, and then discharged from the destacker 8 to the discharging mean, sheet by sheet.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention mainly relates to an apparatus ζ for inspecting a recording medium such as a floppy disk.

[Prior art and its problems] A device has been developed that supplies and inspects recording media such as floppy disks in a multi-stage arrangement (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983-1999-1).
34782 and JP-A-63-34783). This inspection device has a hopper stacked in multiple stages and supplies recording media, and an inspection unit is provided opposite the hopper. Between the inspection unit and the hopper,
- A recording medium ejection/supply unit is provided that can be moved vertically and horizontally. The discharge-supply unit moves to supply the recording medium from the hopper to the inspection unit, and discharges the recording medium inspected by the inspection unit. The inspection device having this structure can be conveniently used for inspecting recording media supplied in a stacked state. However, it is not possible to directly supply recording media that are continuously supplied. Therefore, when used in conjunction with a recording medium manufacturing and assembly line, it is necessary to stack the recording media in order to supply them, which reduces transport efficiency. Inspection devices for recording media that are continuously fed have also been developed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 6:3-31026 and 63-31080). This inspection device includes an inspection unit disposed near a recording medium supply conveyor, and a supply/discharge unit disposed between the inspection unit and the supply conveyor, in which a supply carrier and a discharge carrier are disposed above and below. ing. The supply/discharge unit moves vertically and horizontally to feed the carriers supplied from the supply conveyor to the inspection unit.
The carrier that has been inspected is being taken out from the inspection unit. In an inspection unit with this structure, since the supply/discharge unit transfers one recording medium, it is difficult to increase the recording medium transfer capability of the supply/discharge unit. Therefore, in order to increase the processing capacity per unit time, it is necessary to use a large number of supply and discharge units or to increase the moving speed of the supply and discharge units, and this control becomes difficult. [Object of the present invention] This invention was developed with the aim of solving the drawbacks of these conventional recording medium inspection devices.An important purpose of the present invention is that recording media can be continuously supplied and It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium inspection device that can efficiently transfer a recording medium between a supply means, an inspection means, and an ejection means, and further allows a simple transfer mechanism for the recording medium.

[Means for Solving Conventional Problems] The recording medium inspection device of the present invention includes a recording medium supplying means, a recording medium inspection means, a discharge means for the inspected recording medium, a supplying means and an inspection means. and intermediate transport means for transporting the recording medium between the recording medium and the ejection means. In order to increase the processing capacity per unit time, the inspection means are
It has a multistage inspection unit to which recording media arranged in multiple stages are supplied and inspected. The inspection time for the recording medium is determined by the capacity of the recording medium and the inspection items. By increasing the number of inspection units, the number of sheets per unit time can be increased. Therefore, the number of inspection units) is adjusted depending on the processing capacity. The intermediate transport means includes a stacker for arranging recording media sent from the supply means in multiple stages, a carrier for supplying the multi-stage recording media from the stacker and transporting the supplied recording media to the inspection means and the ejection means, and The recording medium inspected by the inspection means is supplied via a carrier to a destacker. The stacker includes a stack shelf that moves vertically in synchronization with the feeding of the recording medium from the feeding means and stores the fed recording media in a stacked manner in multiple stages. The carrier has a plurality of storage shelves into which stacked recording media are sent from the stacker. The carrier also has a supply position where recording media are supplied from the stacker to the storage shelf, an exchange position where the supplied recording media are taken in and out between the inspection means and the storage shelf, and a position where the recording media supplied from the inspection means are stored. It is movably disposed here between a discharge position for discharging the medium from the storage shelf to the destacker. The destacker is equipped with a stack of magazines that are supplied in a multi-stage arrangement from recording media or carriers that have been inspected by the inspection means. [Operations and Effects] The recording medium inspection apparatus of the present invention includes an intermediate transfer means or a stacker, a carrier, and a destacker. The stacker stacks recording media supplied from the supply means in multiple stages. The recording media stacked in the stacker are sent in a stacked state to the storage shelf of the carrier. Thereafter, the carrier is moved to the exchange position, and the recording medium is transferred in a stacked state from the carrier to the inspection means. The multistage inspection means inspects a plurality of recording media at the same time. The recording medium that has been inspected is transferred from the inspection means to the carrier. Thereafter, the carrier is moved to the ejection position t and transferred from the carrier storage shelf to the recording medium destacker. The destacker sends out the recording media stacked in multiple stages one by one to the ejection means. The apparatus of the present invention that inspects recording media through the above operations stacks recording media in multiple stages using a stacker that continuously supplies the recording media, transports the stacked recording media as one block, and on the discharge side, uses a destacker to stack the recording media in multiple stages. Since the printed recording media are discharged one by one, the recording media can be continuously supplied, and the recording media can be easily connected to an automatic manufacturing and assembly device. Furthermore, the carrier transports the multi-stage recording medium from the stacker to the inspection means and also transports the recording medium from the inspection means to the de-stacker. The mechanism allows for efficient transfer, and the ability to easily increase the ability to transfer recording media can also be realized. [Preferred Embodiments] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments shown below are illustrative of an inspection device for embodying the technical idea of this invention, and the inspection device of this invention has the following embodiments: It is not specific to the structure of Various modifications may be made to the inspection device of the present invention within the scope of the claims. Further, in this specification, in order to make the claims easier to understand, numbers corresponding to the members shown in the embodiments are appended to the members shown in the claims. However, the parts described in the claims are by no means specific to the parts shown in the embodiments. FIGS. 1 and 3 show a recording medium inspection apparatus. However, in order to make it easier to understand, in FIG. 1, the position of the inspection means 2 is shown shifted backward from the position where it is actually installed, and the stacker 7 and the destacker 8 are also shown in different positions from their actual positions. In contrast, it is illustrated somewhat apart from the carrier 9. This inspection device includes a supply means 3 for the recording medium 1 and a recording medium 1.
2, a discharge means 4 for the inspected recording medium 1, and an intermediate transport means 5 for transporting the recording medium 1 between the supply means 3, the inspection means 2, and the discharge means 4. The inspection means 2 inspects whether the recording medium 1 is sufficiently usable. The inspection items of the inspection means 2 are the recording medium 10
Determined based on type and usage. If the recording medium 1 is a floppy disk, for example, the average output voltage, modulation, resolution, etc. are inspected. The time for the inspection means 2 to inspect one recording medium 1 is determined by the type of recording medium 1 and the inspection items. The inspection means 2 is
In order to increase the throughput per hour, a plurality of inspection units 6 are stacked in multiple stages. In the inspection means 2 shown in FIG. 1, inspection units 6 stacked in multiple stages are arranged in two rows. If the recording medium 1 is a floppy disk, the inspection unit!・6 can be used with a floppy disk drive. Floppy disk drives are manufactured for use in computers and can be stacked in multiple tiers. Floppy disk drives for computers are produced in large quantities at low cost. Therefore, by using a computer disk drive, the testing means can be made inexpensive. However, the inspection units 6 do not necessarily have to have a structure that can be separated one by one. Therefore, it goes without saying that an inspection means in which inseparable inspection units are arranged in multiple stages can also be used. The intermediate transfer means 5 includes a stacker 7 that arranges the recording media 1 sent from the supply means 3 in multiple stages, and a multi-stage recording medium 1 is supplied from the stacker 7, and the supplied recording medium 1 is transferred to the inspection means 2 and discharged. The recording medium 1 inspected by the inspection means 2 is supplied to the destacker 8 via the carrier 9. The stacker 7 includes a stack shelf 7A that moves vertically in synchronization with the feeding of the recording medium 1 from the feeding means 3 and stores the fed recording medium 1 stacked in multiple stages. The stack 1] 1I7A rises from the position where the recording medium 1 is fed by the supply conveyor while maintaining a horizontal position, rotates 180 degrees between the upper end and the lower end, and moves. One end of this stack shelf 7A is extended vertically and
It is fixed to the chain 10 of the strip. 2 chain chain 1
0 is hung on a sprocket 11 of a rotating shaft that is supported horizontally and spaced apart from each other. The upper rotary shaft is connected to a pulse motor 128, and the pulse motor 12 rotates the rotary shaft at a constant pitch, and the stack shelf 7A is raised at regular intervals. Pulse motor 12
The operation is synchronized with the operation of feeding the supply means 3 or the recording medium 1. That is, each time the supply means 3 feeds one recording medium 1 to the stack shelf 7A, the pulse motor 12 is rotated by a predetermined angle, and the pulse motor 12 is rotated by a predetermined angle and the recording medium 1 is delivered to the stack shelf 7A of the next stage.
Move to the position where it will be sent. The pulse motor does not rotate when the recording medium 1 is fed from the stack shelf 7A to the carrier 9 and when the recording medium 1 is fed from the supply means 3 to the stack shelf 7A. The recording media 1 stacked in multiple stages on the stack shelf 7A are
While being held in a stacked state, from the carrier 9 to the inspection means 2,
Further, it is transferred from the inspection means 2 to the destacker 8 via the carrier 9=12-. Therefore, the stacking shelves 7A, 8A, the carrier 9, the inspection means 2, and the destacker 8 stack the recording media 1 at the same intervals, and have the same number of stacking stages of the recording media. The carrier 9 has a storage shelf 9A into which the stacked recording media 1 are sent from the stacker 7. The storage shelf 9A is open on both sides so that the recording medium 1 can be supplied and discharged from both sides. The carrier 9 shown in FIG. 1 has four rows of storage shelves 9A. This carrier 9 holds two rows of recording media 1 in one
It is taken in and out of the inspection means 2 as a floater. Although not shown, if there is one row of inspection means, a carrier with two rows of storage shelves is used. In addition, if the inspection means has three rows,
A carrier with six rows of storage shelves is used. In this way, when the carrier 2 has storage shelves with double rows of the inspection means, the recording medium 1 is taken out from and put into the inspection means 2 from the carrier 9, and then the recording medium 1 is put in and taken out from the stacker 7 or the destacker 8, 9 has the feature of being able to take in and out the recording medium 1 most efficiently. The carrier 9 has a supply position where the recording medium 1 is supplied from the stacker 7 to the storage shelf 9A, an exchange position where the supplied recording medium 1 is put in and taken out between the inspection means 2 and the storage shelf 9A, and an inspection means 2. It is movably disposed between the storage shelf 9A and a discharge position where the recording medium 1 supplied from the storage shelf 9A is discharged to the destacker 8. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a stacker, a carrier, and a destacker transport recording media together with the same number of stacked stages. In this case, the supply position, exchange position, and discharge position of the recording medium 1 are on the same horizontal plane. However, the stacker and destacker can stack recording media in a greater number of stages than the carrier can stack recording media in. In this case, the number of stacked recording media that are transported together is limited by the number of carrier stages. The number of recording media stacked on the carrier is sent from the stacker to the carrier, and from the carrier to the destacker. From the stacker to the carrier, the recording media stacked on top of the stacker are sent together. The recording medium is ejected from the carrier onto the top of the destacker. That is, the stacker and the destacker transport the recording medium at the top of the stack. In this way, when transporting a recording medium in a certain number of stages of the stacker and destacker, the recording medium is not supplied to the carrier and discharged from the carrier, but the recording medium is fed from the supply means to the lower part, or the recording medium is conveyed to the lower part by the discharge means. can be discharged. The carrier 9 shown in FIG. 1 is horizontally movable via a kite or the like (not shown), for example. As shown in FIG. 2, this carrier 9 moves horizontally to a fixed position and stops. Although a mechanism for horizontally moving the carrier 9 is not shown, any mechanism that can move the carrier 9 to a specific position can be used. The carrier 9 is shown in (1), (3), and
It moves to the three positions shown in (5) and stops. The same mechanism as the stacker 7 can be used for the destacker 8. The destacker 8 and the inspection means 2 are discharged to the opposite side of the stacker 7. In Fig. 2 (1), when the carrier 9 is moved to the rightmost position, the stacker 7
is located near the leftmost storage shelf 9A, the inspection means 2 is located near the two central rows of storage shelves 9A, and the destacker 8 is located near the rightmost storage 41]l]9A. In this invention, the carrier 9 is transferred from the stacker 7 to the carrier 9.
Further, the member for transporting the stacked recording medium 1 from the carrier 9 to the destacker 8 between the inspection means 2 and the inspection means 2 is not specified. As shown in FIG. 1, a pusher 13 for pushing out the recording medium 1 from the stack shelf 7A can be used from the stacker 7 to the carrier 9. Also, from carrier 9 to death stacker 8
A bushing 14 having the same structure can also be used. Between the carrier 9 and the inspection means 2, a mechanism can be used that pushes the recording medium 1 from the carrier 9 into the inspection means 2, and also grasps the recording medium l of the inspection means 2 with its tip and pulls it from the inspection means 2 into the carrier 9. . The recording medium 1 inspection means 2 configured as described above transports the recording medium 1 and inspects the recording medium 1 in the following state. However, the hatched area in FIG. 2 indicates the position where the uninspected recording medium 1 is stored, and the grid-like hatched area indicates the area where the inspected recording medium is stored. (2) A supply container serving as the supply means 3 continuously supplies the recording medium 1 to the stacker 7. The stacker 7 rises in synchronization with the supply of the recording medium 1 from the supply conveyor. That is, each time one recording medium 1 is supplied from the supply conveyor to the stack shelf 7A, the stack shelf 7A moves up one stage. (2) The stack shelves 7A of the stacker 7 store the same number of recording media 1 as the storage shelves 9A of the carrier 9. In this state, the leftmost storage shelf 9A of the carrier 9 approaches the stacker 7, as shown in FIG. 2(1). ■ The recording medium 1 is pushed from the stacker 7 into the leftmost storage shelf 9A of the carrier 9. Figure 2 (2) ■ After that,
Furthermore, the recording media 1 are fed into the stacker 7 and stacked. The carrier 9 moves to the position shown in FIG. 2(3). The recording media 1 stacked on the stacker 7 are sent to the storage shelf 9A in the second row on the left. FIG. 2 (4) (4) The carrier 9 moves to the leftmost position, and the recording medium 1 is sent from the carrier 9 to the inspection means 2, and the carrier 9 becomes empty. (6), (7) (2) The carrier 9 moves one row to the left, and the recording media 1 stacked on the stacker 7 are again sent to the leftmost storage shelf 9A of the carrier 9. Thereafter, the carrier 9 moves one column further to the left. Figure 2 (
8), (9) ■ The carriers 9 stacked in the stacker 7 are sent to the storage shelf 9A in the second row from the left. At this time, the recording medium 1 that has been inspected by the inspection means 2 is returned from the inspection means 2 to the storage shelf 9A in the two right rows of the carrier 9. Figure 2 (1
0) ■ The carrier 9 moves to the leftmost position, and the recording medium 1 is sent from the carrier 9 to the inspection means 2. In this state, the recording medium 1 in the storage shelf 9A in the second row from the right is delivered to the destacker 8. Figure 2 (11), (
12) ■ The destacker 8 sends out the recording media 1 to the ejection means 4 in order. At this time, the carrier 9 moves one column to the left in order to discharge the recording medium 1 from the next storage shelf 9A to the destacker 8. FIG. 2 (13) ■ When all the recording media 1 are sent out from the destacker 8 to the ejection means 4, the recording media 1 are sent from the carrier 9 to the destacker 8. Figure 2 (1 [
Phase] After that, the recording media 1 stacked on the stacker 7 are
The recording medium 1 is sent to the leftmost storage shelf 9A. Second
(15) After that, the recording medium 1 is inspected by repeating the operations shown in (9) to (14) in FIG.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inspection device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic plan process diagram showing a state in which a recording medium is fed into a carrier, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the inspection device. It is a diagram. 1... Recording medium, 2... Inspection means, 3... Supply means, 4... Discharge means, 5... Intermediate transport means , 6...
Inspection unit, 7...Stacker, 7A...
...Stack shelf, 8...Destacker, 8A
...Stack shelf, 9...Carrier,
9A...Storage shelf, 10...Chain, 11...Sprocket, 12...
・Pulse motor 1 13...buzzing, 14...bumping. Figure 3 Σ 75 1 / IA f

Claims (1)

[Claims] Supply means 3 for the recording medium 1, inspection means 2 for the recording medium 1, ejection means 4 for the inspected recording medium 1, and between the supply means 3, the inspection means 2, and the ejection means 4. In the recording medium inspection apparatus, the inspection means 2 has a multistage inspection unit 6 to which recording media 1 arranged in multiple stages are supplied and inspected. The intermediate transfer means 5 includes a stacker 7 for arranging the recording media 1 sent from the supply means 3 in multiple stages, and a multi-stage recording medium 1 is supplied from the stacker 7, and the intermediate transport means 5 transfers the supplied recording medium 1 to the inspection means 2. It is equipped with a carrier 9 to be sent to the ejection means 4 and a destacker 8 to which the recording medium 1 inspected by the inspection means 2 is supplied via the carrier 9.
and a destacker 8 have the following configurations. (a) The stacker 7 includes a stack shelf 7A that moves vertically in synchronization with the feeding of the recording medium 1 from the feeding means 3 and stores the fed recording medium 1 stacked in multiple stages. (b) The carrier 9 has a plurality of storage shelves 9A into which the stacked recording media 1 are sent from the stacker 7, and
A supply position where the recording medium 1 is supplied from the stacker 7 to the storage shelf 9A, an exchange position where the supplied recording medium 1 is taken in and out between the inspection means 2 and the storage shelf 9A, and a replacement position where the recording medium 1 supplied from the inspection means 2 is supplied from the inspection means 2 to the storage shelf 9A. It is movably disposed between the storage shelf 9A and a discharge position where the recording medium 1 is discharged to the destacker 8. (c) The destacker 8 has a stack shelf 8A to which the recording media 1 inspected by the inspection means 2 are supplied from the carrier 9 in a multi-stage arrangement.