JPH05109059A - Common transport mechanism of a number of types of cassettes - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a flexible common transport mechanism which transports various kinds of cassettes for magnetic disks with a different diameter commonly and stably. CONSTITUTION:In a roller-type cassette transport mechanism 3, stage-difference parts (p), (q), and (r) in multiple stages where two leg parts 12 are engaged are provided at each of a plurality of rollers 37, thus achieving a highly efficient transport of cassettes owing to its flexibility when applying it to a transport mechanism group where a plurality of sets of transport mechanisms are placed in parallel.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for commonly carrying various types of cassettes for accommodating disks having different diameters.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A magnetic disk (hereinafter, simply referred to as a disk) which is widely used as a recording medium is subjected to quality inspection in a manufacturing process or the like. In the inspection, the disc is housed in a cassette and transported between inspection devices. FIG. 2 shows an example of a cassette. The cassette 1 is made of plastics mold, and is provided with a large number of grooves for inserting the discs 2 on both inner sides, and reinforcing ribs are provided at important points.
The two ribs along the entire length of the bottom face form the leg portion 12. The size of the cassette 1 varies depending on the diameter of the disc to be stored, and thus the distance w between the two leg portions has a size. 3A and 3B show a roller type cassette carrying mechanism which is widely used as an example of a carrying mechanism. FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. 3C is a vertical sectional view. In Figures 3 (a) and (b),
In the transport mechanism 3, a large number of rollers 32 are axially supported by two side plates 311 constituting a frame 31 at a constant interval, and pulleys 33 attached to the shafts of the rollers and belts engaging the pulleys.
34 and a drive motor 35 that circulates the belt. The transport mechanism 3 is provided between the inspection devices, and its total length L is usually about 2 to 3 m. The cassette 1 is placed across 3 to 4 rollers and is conveyed in the direction of arrow A by the rotation of the rollers. In FIG. 3 (c), each roller 32 is provided with a step portion 321 into which the two legs 12 of the cassette 1 fit, and the cassette placed on this is prevented from swaying left and right and stably conveyed. To be done. In addition,
The length of the step portion is made substantially equal to the distance w between the two leg portions 12.

[0003]

In recent years, magnetic disks have been improved in recording performance due to the progress of magnetic media and have been downsized, and their diameter is 5 times that of the conventional one.
There are various types such as 3.5 inch or 2.5 inch, including inch inch. For these various discs with different diameters, cassettes of compatible sizes are used. Here, for example, when an attempt is made to convey a 3.5-inch cassette by the conventional 5-inch transport mechanism, the interval w between the two leg portions 12 is different, so the roller 32
Do not fit on the stepped part 321 of. FIG. 4 (a) shows this. If the length w of the step portion is adapted to the cassette for 5 inches, the gap w'for 3.5 inches is smaller than w, so they are not fitted, It sways to the left and right, and stable transportation is not achieved. On the other hand, as shown in the figure, both side plates 31 of the frame
There is a method of attaching the auxiliary plate 36 to 1 to suppress the horizontal sway of the cassette 1, and it is considered to be effective unless flexibility and installation work are problems. Next, due to the spread of OA equipment and the like, the demand for disks is increasing more and more, and in order to respond to this and improve the inspection capability, parallel inspection is performed by a plurality of inspection devices. In this case, a plurality of sets of transport mechanisms 3 are arranged in parallel between the plurality of inspection devices. Figure 4
Shows this, and n sets of transport mechanisms 3-1, 3-2 ...,
When 3-n are arranged close to each other to form a transport mechanism group, and the width of one set is W, the total width is nW. Width W is about 220m for the conventional 5 inch cassette
m, on the other hand, n may be 8, and its full width nW
Reaches almost 1.8 m. In order to convey various cassettes having different sizes to such a conveyance mechanism group, if the above-mentioned auxiliary plate 38 is mounted for each conveyance mechanism, it is possible to convey various kinds of cassettes. However, the problem is that the entire width of the transport mechanism group is so large that it is difficult to attach / detach the auxiliary plates on the inner side, except for those on both sides. There are many drawbacks, such as having to stop the transport operation. The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible common transfer mechanism by adding a device to the conventional roller 32 so that various cassettes having different sizes are commonly and stably transferred. It is what

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a common transport mechanism for various types of cassettes that achieves the above object.
In the above cassette carrying mechanism, a plurality of rollers are provided with a multi-stage stepped portion into which two respective leg portions of various cassettes for accommodating disks having different diameters are fitted.

[0005]

[Function] Various cassettes mounted on the rollers of the transport mechanism are fitted with corresponding two stepped portions provided on the rollers, and the fitted stepped portions prevent left and right swaying. And it is conveyed stably. In this case, since the stepped portion is provided in multiple stages, it is highly flexible in that various cassettes can be freely placed and transported regardless of type, and moreover, multiple sets of transport mechanisms are arranged in parallel. If this is applied to the installed transport mechanism group, the cassette can be transported with high efficiency due to its flexibility.

[0006]

FIG. 1 shows a vertical section of a transport mechanism 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is 5 inches, 3.5 inches.
The three types of cassettes 1 for inch and 2.5 inch disks are respectively marked by a solid line, a dotted line and a dashed line. In this invention, a plurality of rollers
The configuration other than 37 is the same as that of FIG.
Is provided with three stepped parts p, q and r having intervals w ₁ , w ₂ and w _{3 which} are equal to the intervals between the two legs 12 of each of the three types of cassettes. Similar to the case of FIG. 3, each roller is rotated by circulating the belt 34 by the drive motor 35. On the other hand, the cassette is freely placed regardless of the type, and both leg portions 12 are fitted into the corresponding stepped portions to prevent lateral swaying and are stably transported.

[0007]

As described above, in the common transport mechanism according to the present invention, the roller is provided with the multi-stepped portions, and various types of discs such as 5 inch, 3.5 inch, and 2.5 inch are provided. Any of the above cassettes can be freely placed, stable and flexible for common transportation, and when applied to a transportation mechanism group in which multiple sets of transportation mechanisms are arranged in parallel. Is capable of highly efficient cassette transportation due to its flexibility, and there is a great contribution to efficient transportation of a cassette in which many types are mixed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a transport mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention and a perspective view of three types of disk cassettes mounted on the transport mechanism.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing an example of a magnetic disk cassette.

3A and 3B show a roller type conventional cassette carrying mechanism, in which FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. 3C is a vertical sectional view.

FIG. 4A is an explanatory view of problems of a conventional cassette transfer mechanism for cassettes having different sizes, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory view of problems when a plurality of sets of transfer mechanisms are arranged in parallel. is there.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Cassette, 11 ... Groove, 12 ... Leg part, 2 ... Magnetic disk,
Or disc, 3 ... cassette transport mechanism, 31 ... frame, 311 ... both side plates, 32 ... conventional roller, 33 ... pulley,
34 ... Belt, 35 ... Drive motor, 36 ... Auxiliary plate, 37 ... Roller according to the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Having two legs along the entire length of the bottom surface,
Targeting a cassette that stores a disk, the cassette is configured by a plurality of rollers having a step portion into which the two leg portions are fitted, and the rollers placed by the drive motor are rotated to rotate the rollers. In the cassette transport mechanism for transporting, the multi-level stepped portions into which the two leg portions of each of the various types of cassettes that store the discs having different diameters are fitted are provided in each of the plurality of rollers. A common transport mechanism for various types of cassettes.