JPH02134764A - Automatic information medium carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten an exchange wait time of a recording medium by loading/ ejecting of a recording medium to/from a read/write section with a magazine section. CONSTITUTION:A finger 17 gripping a recording medium 14 taken out from a containing storage is moved to a position of a magazine 22 near a read/write section 12 with an access mechanism 13 to load the medium 14 onto the magazine 22. Suppose that a recording medium 14' is loaded onto the read/write section 12 and read/written, then the medium 14' is ejected from the magazine 23, gripped and the magazines 22, 23 are descended to load the medium 14 into the magazine 22. Then the magazines 22, 23 are lifted up and the finger 17 moves the medium 14' of the magazine 23 to carry to a prescribed location of the storage with the access mechanism 13. Through the constitution above, the next medium is in standby in the vicinity and replaced in the magazine as soon as the read/write is finished, the recording medium replacement time is reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention stores a plurality of cartridges storing disk-shaped recording media such as optical disks and magnetic disks in a cartridge storage section, and automatically selects any one of them. The present invention relates to an automatic information medium transfer device that can take out a recording medium and attach it to an information recording/reproducing unit to write or read information.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, this type of automatic information medium transfer device reads and writes data to and from a cartridge storage 1 by moving a large number of cartridges 4 containing disk-shaped recording media into a cartridge storage 1. By arranging the reading/writing section 2 in parallel and providing an access mechanism 3 for transferring the cartridge 4 within the storage 1 or between the storage 1 and the reading/writing section 2, it is possible to transfer the cartridge 4 to the upper level without manual intervention. It is configured such that any cartridge 4 can be loaded into or removed from the read/write section 2 according to instructions from the device.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The above-mentioned conventional automatic information medium transfer devices generally tend to be large in size because they hold a large number of recording media. Therefore, there is a problem that the floor space or the height of the apparatus is high, and due to the large size, it takes a long time to transport the cartridge 4, and the waiting time at the time of replacement becomes long. That is, the cartridge 4 must be transferred by the access mechanism 3 to the reading/writing section 2 at a position distant from the storage 1, and then loaded into the reading/writing section 2.
When the cartridge 4 taken out from the writing section 2 is returned to a predetermined location in the storage 1 by the access mechanism 3, it must be transported a long distance, and the time taken is proportional to the distance of transport. . As a means to solve this problem, there is a method of increasing the transfer speed of the access mechanism 3, but with this kind of means, vibration, noise, impact, etc. of the device may be generated, which may cause reading or writing errors on the information medium. became.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention arranges first and second magazine sections near the insertion section of the reading/writing section, so that the following A recording medium is inserted into the first magazine section, and at the same time as reading/writing of the previous recording medium is completed, the previous recording medium is transferred to the second magazine section, and the next recording medium that is waiting in the first magazine section is moved to the second magazine section. The recording medium in the second magazine section is loaded into the reading/writing section, and then the recording medium in the second magazine section is transferred to a predetermined storage.

According to the above configuration, since the loading and unloading of recording media into the read/write section is performed between the magazine section and the magazine section, the time required for this is short and constant regardless of the transfer time between the storage and storage. This makes it possible to shorten the waiting time when replacing the recording medium.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic information medium transfer apparatus according to the present invention, in which a storage 11 stores a large number of recording media 14 separately on shelves 15.

Further, a read/write section 12 for reading/writing from/to the recording medium 14 is arranged at a predetermined location. First and second magazine sections 22 and 23 are provided near the recording medium insertion entrance on the front side of the reading/writing section 12. The finger part 17 of the access mechanism section 13 is connected to the storage 1
1 and reads/writes the recording medium 14 in the reading/writing section 12.
It is to be transferred to. The control unit 16 also has a connection control unit with the host device, an access mechanism control unit 19 and a read/write unit.
A write control unit 20 is provided, and a microprocessor 21
controls the operation of each part.

FIG. 2 shows the finger part 1 of the access mechanism section 13 in FIG.
7 and the storage 11, and Figure 3 shows the relationship between the finger part 1
7, a magazine section 22, 23, and a reading/writing section 12. FIG.

First, in FIG. 2, the recording medium 14 stored in the storage 11 is gripped by the finger part 17 of the access mechanism section 13. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the recording medium 14 is held by the finger part 17. The finger part 17 has a mechanism that can rotate up and down as shown by the arrow, or in order to read/write on the front and back sides of the recording medium 14.

Next, FIG. 3 will be explained. FIG. 3 shows that the finger portion 17 holding the recording medium 14 taken out from the storage 11 is moved by the access mechanism section 13 to the position of the first magazine 22 near the read/write section 12. , a state in which the recording medium 14 is inserted into the first magazine section 22 is shown. Also, Figure 3 has already been read! l/Writing section 1
2 shows a state in which the previous recording medium 14' is loaded and being read/written. The recording medium 14' loaded in the reading/writing section 12 is taken out and held by the second magazine section 23, and then the magazine section 22.23 descends and is held by the first magazine section 22. The recorded recording medium 14 is loaded into the read/write unit 12. Thereafter, the magazine section 23 is raised, and the finger portion 17 grasps the recording medium 14' of the second magazine section 23, and the access mechanism section 13 transfers it to a predetermined location in the storage 11.

As is clear from the above operation explanation, during reading/writing, the next recording medium is made to wait near the additional reading/writing section 12, and as soon as the previous reading/writing is completed, it is taken out and held in the magazine section. At the same time, the next recording medium is loaded into the reading/recessed portion, so that the time required to replace the recording medium is shortened.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, according to the present invention, the time for loading and unloading a recording medium between the magazine section and the reading/writing section is equal to the time for transporting the recording medium to and from the storage. It is possible to provide a highly efficient and inexpensive automatic information medium transfer device that can be extremely short regardless of the size of the transfer device, and can exchange recording media in a short time even if the transfer device becomes large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic information medium transfer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of main parts showing the relationship between the fingers of the access mechanism and the storage, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing the relationship with a reading/writing section. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a conventional automatic information medium transfer device. 11...Storage, 12...Reading/writing section, 13...Access mechanism section, 14° body, 2
2...First magazine section, magazine section. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shige Awano 14'... Recording medium 23... Second Takashi and one other person Figure 2 Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] The first and second parts are arranged near the insertion part of the read/write part.
Insert the next recording medium into the first magazine part during reading/writing, and remove the previous recording medium from the reading/writing part at the same time as reading/writing of the previous recording medium is completed. and move it to the second magazine section.
After that, the automatic information processing apparatus includes means for loading the next recording medium waiting in the first magazine section into the reading/writing section and then transporting the recording medium in the second magazine section to a predetermined storage. Media transport device.