JPH03266255A - Auto-changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify receipt and delivery, and to simplify a control process by mounting a direct driving device on a carrier, and making the direct driving device access each cartridge in a cartridge storage rack. CONSTITUTION:The direct driving device 3 is mounted on the carrier 5 for approaching to the required spot of the cartridge storage rack 2, and the carrier 5 is provided with a receiving and a delivering means 6, 8 to execute the loading and the taking-out of the cartridge 7 to/from the driving device 3 and simultane ously, the taking-out and the return of the cartridge 7 to/from the cartridge storage rack 2. Then, at the the time of the selection of the cartridge 7, the approaching operation of the carrier 5 to the cartridge storage rack 2 is execut ed, and the receiving and delivering operation of the cartridge 7 is executed. Thus, the receiving and delivering operation is simplified, and time required for it is shortened, and the control process is simplified, and the repeat of opera tion and stopping is reduced, and durability is is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an autochanger that exchanges a disk cartridge containing, for example, an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk between a cartridge storage shelf and a drive device.

[Prior Art] In such an autochanger, as shown in FIG.
A carrier 35 that moves between these is equipped to move along a guide rail 34 in order to exchange the disk cartridge 37 between the two. The carrier 35 is equipped with a moving member 36 that moves in that direction in order to take in and take out the cartridge 37, and this includes a hook-shaped hand 3 for attaching and removing the cartridge 37.
8 are available.

Therefore, the hand 38 is connected to the disk cartridge 37.
is engaged and held, and the cartridge 37 is taken into the carrier 35 by the moving operation of the moving member 36, and the cartridge 37 is taken into the carrier 35.
is moved to a predetermined position in the drive device 33 or the cartridge storage shelf 32, by the reverse operation of the moving member 36,
The cartridge 37 is taken out and loaded into the drive device 33 or the cartridge storage shelf 32 while being engaged and held by the hand 38. After this, the grip on the hand 38 is released. Removal from the drive device 33 or the cartridge storage shelf 32 is also carried out using the same procedure. Further, the carrier 35 is moved between a predetermined shelf stage of the cartridge storage shelf 32 and the drive device 33 by a suitable means such as a motor.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The problem here is that when replacing a disk cartridge, the cartridge 7 is first transferred from the cartridge storage shelf 32 onto the carrier 35, and then the cartridge 7 is transferred to the carrier 35.
5 to the drive device 33, and there it is necessary to load the cartridge 7 from the carrier 35 into the drive device 33 by the reverse operation again, and the reverse operation is also required at the end of the process. For this reason, it takes time to transfer cartridges, the control process becomes complicated, and the number of repeated operations and stops increases.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and it simplifies delivery by mounting a drive device directly on a carrier and directly accessing each cartridge in a cartridge storage shelf. The aim is to provide an autochanger that can simplify the control process and shorten the delivery time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, a desired cartridge is selected from a cartridge storage shelf that stores a plurality of disk cartridges, is loaded into a drive device, and recorded/reproduced, and the drive device In an autochanger that operates to take out a cartridge from a cartridge and return it to a cartridge storage shelf, a drive device is mounted directly on a carrier for approaching a desired location on the cartridge storage shelf, and a drive device is mounted directly on a carrier to approach a desired location on the cartridge storage shelf, and the cartridge is transferred to and from the drive device. The carrier is provided with transfer means for loading and unloading and simultaneously loading and unloading cartridges to and from the cartridge storage shelf.

(Function) Therefore, when selecting a cartridge, the carrier only needs to approach the cartridge storage shelf and all that is left to do is to transfer the cartridge, which simplifies the transfer operation and shortens the time. However, the control process can be simplified, the number of repeated operations and stops can be significantly reduced, and durability can be improved.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is the main body of the disc autochanger, and one side of the interior is provided with a disc cartridge storage shelf 2 with a large number of shelves above and below, and the other side of the equipment is equipped with a guide. A rail 4 is arranged vertically alongside the cartridge storage shelf 2,
A cartridge carrier 5 is slidably disposed on the guide rail 4. And, in the carrier 5,
A drive device 3 is installed as an information recording/reproducing device for reproducing or recording information from an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk. The carrier 5 also includes:
A moving member 6 that moves in the take-in and take-out directions is provided,
At its tip, a hand 8 engages with the cartridge 7, brings it onto the carrier 5, and loads it into the drive device 3, or conversely takes out the cartridge 7 from the drive device 3 and returns it to the corresponding location on the cartridge storage shelf 2. is provided. In this way, since the operation of loading and unloading the cartridge into the drive device 3 is performed by the action of the moving member 6, it can also be used as a loading and unloading means provided in the drive device 3 itself. In order to move the carrier 5 up and down along the guide rail 4, in this embodiment, the guide rail 4 is provided with a screw, which is driven by a motor 9 provided at its lower end (or upper end). Accordingly, the carrier 5 screwed onto the guide rail 4 is raised and lowered. Further, the carrier 5 is provided with a drive means 10 for moving the moving member 6 forward or backward.

In the above embodiment, a cartridge insertion port 11 is opened in the main body l of the apparatus, and a separate cartridge storage section 2' for receiving an external disk cartridge 7' is prepared correspondingly thereto. If the cartridge 7' is loaded in the cartridge 7', the carrier 5 can be moved to this position and taken into the drive device 3 or ejected therefrom.

The drive means 9 and lO operate based on control signals from the central processing unit 13. This central processing unit 1
3, a control signal is input from the keyboard 14, for example. The central processing unit 13 is equipped with a RAM 15, a ROM 16, etc., and can be accessed via a path line 17, like a normal microcomputer.

In such a configuration, the drive means 9 is driven by a cartridge selection signal input to the central processing unit 13 from the keyboard 14, and the carrier 5 is transported to a desired shelf of the cartridge storage shelf 2, where the drive means 10 is activated. The movement moves the moving member 6 forward and backward, and the hand 8 takes out the required disk cartridge 7, and at the same time pulls it into the drive device 3. The cartridge 7 is then set in the drive device 3, and writing and reading are immediately performed. During this process, the carrier 5 is at rest.

After the disk is read or recorded by the drive device 3, the disk cartridge 7 is ejected from the drive device 3 in response to a signal from the central processing unit 13. At this time, the moving member 6 is operated in the opposite direction, and the hand 8 holds the cartridge 7 and returns it to the corresponding original shelf of the cartridge storage shelf 2.

Therefore, it is only necessary to move the carrier 5 when selecting the cartridge 7, and there is no need to move the carrier 5 until the next cartridge is selected. Since the drive device 3 is directly mounted on the carrier 5 in this way, the cartridge transfer operation between the cartridge storage shelf 2 and the drive device 3 is simplified, time can be shortened, and the control process can also be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the moving member 6 and the hand 8 are used as the transfer means, but any mechanism for transferring the cartridge 7 between the cartridge storage shelf 2 and the drive device 3 may be used. Of course it's a good thing.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention has been described in detail above, and since the drive device is mounted directly on the carrier, the drive device can be directly accessed to each cartridge in the cartridge storage shelf, and the transfer operation can be simplified. In addition to simplifying the regulatory process for this purpose, many benefits can be obtained, such as shortening the delivery time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventional example. l...Device main body, 2...Cartridge storage shelf, 3.
... Drive device, 5... Carrier, 6... Moving member, 7... Cartridge, 8... Hand.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An autochanger that operates to select a desired cartridge from a cartridge storage shelf that stores a plurality of disk cartridges, load it into a drive device, perform recording/playback, and also take out the cartridge from the drive device and return it to the cartridge storage shelf. A drive device is mounted directly on a carrier for approaching a desired location on the cartridge storage shelf, and at the same time cartridges are loaded into and removed from the drive device, cartridges are loaded into and from the cartridge storage shelf. An autochanger characterized in that the carrier is provided with a delivery means for taking out and returning.