JPH05205373A - Large capacity storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the jumping of a recording medium out of a cell housing it by vibration, etc., by utilizing a simple constitution regarding the large capacity storage device. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with a cylindrical and freely rotable housing shelf where plural shelves 10 to 20 are piled up housing plural cells 3 for storing recording media 9, an accessor for storing the recording media specified by a mechanical hand 6 which moves along the cylindrical direction of the housing shelf on the cells 3 of the housing shelf or taking them out and a cylindrical side wall 1 provided with a releasing part corresponding to a cell width for restraining the jumping of the recording media 9 out of the cells 3 covering outer periphery of the housing shelf and allowing the accessing operation of the accessor. When the accessing operation is executed for one cell of one shelf, the housing shelves are piled up by shifting the position in the circumferential direction of the cell 3 of every shelf so as to restrain the jumping out of the recording media 9 stored in the cells of the other shelves by the side wall 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mass storage device used as an external storage device of a computer system, and particularly with a simple structure, the recording medium pops out from a cell storing the recording medium by vibration or the like. The present invention relates to a large-capacity storage device that does not exist.

In recent years, with the increase in the amount of information in computer systems, various automated mass storage devices that do not require operator intervention have been provided as means for storing this information.

This mass storage device is provided with an accommodation shelf for accommodating a large number of recording media such as magnetic tape cartridges and optical disk cartridges, and a plurality of cells for accommodating the recording media provided in the accommodation shelf are respectively provided with recording media. The storage medium is stored, and the required recording medium is taken out from the cell of the accommodation shelf by the accessor mechanism section provided with the mechanical hand, conveyed to the recording / reproducing section and set, and data writing / reading is performed.

When the writing / reading of the data is completed, the recording medium is taken out from the recording / reproducing section again,
In addition to transporting to the cells of the storage rack and storing it, the recording medium that is no longer needed according to the instruction from the host device is transported to the loading / unloading mechanism section and the operator takes it out. , Is configured as a kind of automatic warehouse that is transported to a recording / reproducing unit and set, or transported to a cell and stored.

By the way, in a computer system, it is required to manage a large amount of data efficiently.
For this reason, large-capacity storage devices must be downsized to meet market needs.

For this reason, it is necessary to simplify the structure of the mass storage device. However, since the recording medium of the mass storage device is not fixed when stored in the cell, strong vibration of low frequency due to an earthquake or the like occurs. There is a risk that the recording medium will pop out of the cell if the. Therefore, with a compact and economical configuration,
It is necessary to prevent this pop-out.

[0007]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a mass storage device. 5A is a top view of the mass storage device 8, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the mass storage device 8.

Reference numeral 1 designates a side wall which prevents the recording medium stored in the cell 3, for example, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 from protruding. The reference numeral 2 constitutes a cylindrical rotatable storage shelf in which a plurality of shelves each accommodating a plurality of magnetic tape cartridges 4 are housed and a plurality of shelves are stacked so that one cell 3 of each shelf is lined up in a row. It is a cell drum.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a cell for storing the magnetic tape cartridge 4, and a plurality of cells are provided on a plurality of shelves constituting the cell drum 2. Reference numeral 4 is a magnetic tape cartridge for recording data.

An accessor 5 is arranged corresponding to one cell row of the cell drum 2 and carries the magnetic tape cartridge 4 between the cell 3 and the drive device 7 for recording / reproducing data to / from the magnetic tape cartridge 4. is there.

Reference numeral 6 is a mechanical hand for carrying the magnetic tape cartridge 4. A drive device 7 records or reproduces data on or from the magnetic tape cartridge 4.

In the mass storage device 8, the cell drum 2 is indicated by an arrow A.
Alternatively, the cell 3 stored in the magnetic tape cartridge 4 designated for transportation is opposed to the accessor 5 and stopped by rotating in the direction of B.

Then, the mechanical hand 6 of the accessor 5 is rotated in the direction of arrow C or D and is moved in the direction of arrow E or F to move the cell 3 in which the magnetic tape cartridge 4 designated for transportation is stored. When it is positioned at the position, the picker of the mechanical hand 6 is inserted into the cell, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is gripped, and the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is pulled out from the cell 3, so that the mechanical hand 6 moves in the direction of arrow C or D. While rotating, it is moved in the direction of arrow E or F to be transported and set to the drive device 7 for recording / reproducing data.

When the writing / reading of data is completed by the drive device 7, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is taken out from the drive device 7 by the picker of the mechanical hand 6, the mechanical hand 6 is opposed to the cell drum 2, and the cell drum 2 is rotated. Then, after the cell 3 designated for storage is opposed to the accessor 5, the mechanical hand 6 is positioned at the designated cell 3 in the same manner as described above, and the transported magnetic tape cartridge 4 is stored.

[0015]

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the prior art. The side wall 1 covers the periphery of the cell drum 2 so that the magnetic tape cartridge 4 does not jump out of the cell 3, but is illustrated so that the picker of the mechanical hand 6 of the accessor 5 can hold the magnetic tape cartridge 4. As described above, one surface corresponding to one cell row of the cell drum 2 is open.

That is, the surface of the cell 3 facing the cell group in the vertical column is open, and the surface of the other cell 3'or the cell 3 '' facing the cell group in the vertical column is covered. When the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is stored in the cell 3,
Since it is not fixed to the cell 3, when a low-frequency strong vibration such as an earthquake acts, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 may be ejected from the cell 3 which is not covered by the side wall 1 and may be dropped at worst.

To prevent this danger, it is necessary to provide a door for opening and closing the open surface of the side wall 1 for each cell 3. For this purpose, in synchronization with the operation of the mechanical hand 6 of the accessor 5. However, a mechanism for opening and closing only the door facing the cell 3 in which the mechanical hand 6 is positioned is required for the number of stacked shelves, and there is a problem in that size reduction and price reduction cannot be achieved.

In view of such a problem, the present invention arranges the cells 3 of a plurality of shelves constituting the cell drum 2 so that the positions of the cells 3 are displaced from each other, and only the cell on which the mechanical hand 6 is positioned is the side wall 1. By facing the open surface and partially covering the cells of the remaining shelves with the side wall 1, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is prevented from protruding and the size and cost are reduced. There is.

[0019]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. The mass storage device includes a plurality of recording media 9
A record specified by a cylindrical rotatable storage shelf in which a plurality of shelves 10 to 20 each storing a plurality of cells 3 are stacked, and a mechanical hand 6 that moves along the cylindrical direction of the storage shelf. An accessor for performing an access operation for storing the medium 9 in the cell 3 of the accommodation shelf or taking it out of the cell 3, and for controlling the access operation of the accessor while covering the outer periphery of the accommodation shelf to prevent the recording medium 9 from protruding from the cell 3. In order to allow, a cylindrical side wall 1 having an open surface corresponding to the cell width in the circumferential direction of the storage shelf is provided.

When the access operation of the accessor is performed on one cell of one shelf, the storage shelf is
The circumferential positions of the cells 3 of each of the shelves are shifted and stacked so that the recording media 9 stored in the cells of the other shelves can be prevented from protruding by the side wall 1.

Further, the displacement amount of the cells 3 in the circumferential direction of each of the shelves 10 to 20 of the storage shelves is stacked with the width of the surface of the recording medium 9 facing the accessor in the circumferential direction being W. When the number of shelves is N and the number of cells 3 provided in each shelf is M, W / (N + 1) is set, and the circumference is equally divided, and the shift amount is 2W / (M). N + 1) is provided.

Further, first detecting means for detecting a reference position for detecting the rotation amount of the storage rack, and first detecting means for detecting the rotation amount of the storage rack from the reference position detected by the first detection means. When the accessor is made to perform the access operation, the shift amount at the M location is 2 W / (N + 1) based on the detection result of the second detection means.
After the rotation of the storage rack is stopped at a position where the center position of the position corresponding to the edge of the open surface of the side wall 1, the mechanical hand 6 of the accessor reaches the rack position to which the designated cell belongs. After waiting, the accommodation rack is rotated again so that the designated cell faces the mechanical hand 6.

[0023]

With the above-mentioned configuration, each shelf 10-2
Since the recording medium 9 stored in each cell 0 of 0 is always partially or entirely covered by the side wall 1 except the recording medium 9 of the cell 3 facing the mechanical hand 6, Even if strong vibration such as an earthquake acts, it does not jump out of the cell 3.

That is, for example, between the shelves 13 and 14, 2 W /
When the shift amount of (N + 1) is provided, the shift amount between the cell 3 of the shelf 13 and the cell 3 of the shelf 14 is 2 W / (N + 1), but as shown in the figure, the center position of this shift amount is the side wall. When the rotation of the storage shelves is stopped at a position corresponding to the edge of the open surface of No. 1, the recording medium 9 stored in the cells 3 of all shelves 10 to 20 is partially or entirely covered by the side wall 1. Be seen.

Therefore, this state is maintained until the mechanical hand 6 reaches the designated shelf position, and after the mechanical hand 6 is positioned at the designated shelf position,
When the storage shelf is rotated and stopped so that the designated cell 3 faces the mechanical hand 6, the recording medium 9 can be prevented from jumping out of the cell 3 by the side wall 1 and the mechanical hand 6.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the present invention.

The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 denote the same functions.
In FIG. 2, the processor 25 reads a program stored in the control memory 26 to operate, receives a command transmitted from the host device 21 via the interface circuit 22,
If this command is a command to move the magnetic tape cartridge 4 from the cell 3 to the drive device 7 shown in FIG. 5, the output of the vibration detection sensor 35 is checked via the interface circuit 29, and strong vibration such as an earthquake is not detected. Then, the cell drum drive circuit 28 is controlled to drive the motor 27 and rotate the cell drum 2.

At the same time, by controlling the accessor control circuit 31 via the interface circuit 29 to drive the accessor 5, the mechanical hand 6 shown in FIG.
And position it at the designated shelf position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cell drum 2 of the present invention is stacked by sequentially shifting the positions of the cells 3 provided on the shelves 10 to 20, respectively. That is, the width of the magnetic tape cartridge 4 stored in the cell 3 facing the accessor 5 shown in FIG.
Let N be the number of stages of 20 to 20 and M be the number of cells 3 provided on each of the shelves 10 to 20, the shift amount of the position of each cell 3 of each of the shelves 10 to 20 is W for each adjacent shelf. / (N + 1), and divide the circumference equally into M points, and this shift amount is 2
A location that is W / (N + 1) is provided.

When the cell drum 2 is stopped at the position where the center position of this portion coincides with the edge of the open surface of the side wall 1,
As shown in FIG. 1, since the magnetic tape cartridges 4 stored in all the cells 3 are partially or wholly covered by the side walls 1, they are prevented from jumping out of the cells 3 by strong vibration. Since the mechanical hand 6 cannot access the magnetic tape cartridge 4, it becomes an inaccessible position.

In this embodiment, the inaccessible position is provided between the shelves 14 and 15, and the inaccessible position is detected by the inaccessible position detection sensor 33 as shown by a pulse 33 in FIG. Is being sent.

In order to position the cell drum 2 at the reference position when the power is turned on, the reference position detection sensor 32 detects the reference position detected once per one rotation of the cell drum 2 as shown by a pulse 32 in FIG. Then, the pulse is transmitted.

Further, the cell position detecting sensor 34 detects the position of the cell 3 in each column as shown in a to k of FIG. 3 like the pulse shown in FIG. 3 and sends the pulse. The reference position detection sensor 32, the inaccessible position detection sensor 33, and the cell position detection sensor 34 are, for example, tachometers attached to the rotary shaft of the cell drum 2, and are respectively shown in FIG.
32 to 34 are generated.

The processor 25 receives these pulses, recognizes the rotation amount of the cell drum 2 from the reference position,
Assuming that the designated shelf number is 10 and the designated cell number is a, the cell drum 2 is rotated, and when the inaccessible position L existing between the cell numbers e and f is detected, the cell drum is detected. Stop 2.

The mechanical hand 6 has a shelf number 10
When the cell drum 2 is positioned at position 2, the cell drum 2 is rotated again, and the cell 3 having the cell number a is opposed to the mechanical hand 6 to stop the rotation of the cell drum 2 as shown in FIG.

When the vibration detecting sensor 35 detects a strong vibration while the cell drum 2 is rotating, the processor 25 stops the rotation of the cell drum 2 at the closest inaccessible position.

When the cell 3 having the cell number a faces the mechanical hand 6, the processor 25 drives the accessor 5 to cause the mechanical hand 6 to hold the magnetic tape cartridge 4 and carry it to the drive device 7 shown in FIG. Let it set.

Then, when the writing / reading preparation completion is reported to the host device 21 via the interface circuit 22 and the write command is received, the data received via the interface circuit 22 is controlled by the buffer control circuit 24 and buffered. It is stored in the memory 23.

Then, the data is sent to the drive control circuit 30 via the interface circuit 29, and the data is written in the designated address of the magnetic tape cartridge 4 set in the drive device 7.

When a read command is received, the drive control circuit 30 is controlled so that the drive device 7 stores the data read from the designated address of the magnetic tape cartridge 4 in the buffer memory 23, and the interface circuit 22 is operated. Then, it is sent to the host device 21.

When the processor 25 receives an instruction from the host device 21 to store the magnetic tape cartridge 4 set in the drive device 7 in the cell 3, for example, the designated shelf number is 20 and the cell number is k. The cell drum 2 is rotated similarly to the above, and when the inaccessible position L existing between the cell numbers e and f is detected, the cell drum 2 is stopped.

At the same time, the accessor 5 is driven at the same time as described above, and the mechanical hand 6 shown in FIG. 5 is opposed to the drive device 7. After the magnetic tape cartridge 4 in the drive device 7 is gripped and taken out, the mechanical hand 6 is removed. Are opposed to the cell drum 2. Then, it is positioned at the designated shelf number 20.

The processor 25 rotates the cell drum 2 again, and when the cell 3 having the cell number k is opposed to the mechanical hand 6, the cell drum 2 is stopped. Then, the magnetic tape cartridge 4 held by the mechanical hand 6
Is stored in cell 3 with cell number k.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of FIG. When selecting the magnetic tape cartridge 4,
The processor 25 rotates the cell drum 2 in step (1) and stops the cell drum 2 at the inaccessible position based on the detection result of the inaccessible position detection sensor 33.

Subsequently, in step (2), the processor 25 causes the mechanical hand 6 to face the cell drum 2 and positions the mechanical hand 6 at the designated shelf position. Then, in step (3), the cell drum 2 is rotated again, the designated cell is made to face the mechanical hand 6, and the cell drum 2 is stopped.

The processor 25 causes the mechanical hand 6 to take out the magnetic tape cartridge 4 from the designated cell in step (4), and causes the mechanical hand 6 to face the drive device 7 in step (5).

Then, in step (6), the magnetic tape cartridge 4 held by the mechanical hand 6 is set in the drive device 7. When storing the magnetic tape cartridge 4, the processor 25 rotates the cell drum 2 in step (7) and stops the cell drum 2 at the inaccessible position based on the detection result of the inaccessible position detection sensor 33.

Then, in step (8), the mechanical hand 6 is opposed to the drive device 7, and in step (9), the magnetic tape cartridge 4 is removed from the drive device 7 by the mechanical hand 6.

Subsequently, in step (10), the processor 25 causes the mechanical hand 6 to face the cell drum 2 and positions the mechanical hand 6 at the designated shelf position. Then, in step (11), the cell drum 2 is rotated again so that the designated cell faces the mechanical hand 6.

Then, the processor 25 stores the magnetic tape cartridge 4 in the opposing cell in step (12). In this embodiment, the shelves are sequentially shifted and stacked, but it is not necessary to shift the shelves in order in this way, and it goes without saying that the shelves may be shifted in an arbitrary combination for each arbitrary shelves.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotation of the cell drum is stopped at an inaccessible position provided in the vicinity of the designated cell when there is no strong vibration such as an earthquake, and the mechanical hand of the accessor is designated in this state. After the cell is positioned at the specified shelf position, the cell drum is rotated again so that the designated cell faces the mechanical hand.Therefore, except for the cell accessed by the mechanical hand, the magnetic tape cartridges stored in other cells are Part or all is always covered by the sidewall.

Therefore, even if strong vibrations such as an earthquake are applied, the magnetic tape cartridge being accessed by the mechanical hand is prevented from falling by the mechanical hand, and the magnetic tape cartridges stored in other cells do not fall by the side wall. Be blocked.

Therefore, it is not necessary to provide an opening / closing mechanism for each cell, and it is possible to provide a small-sized and economical mass storage device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of FIG.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a mass storage device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the conventional technology.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sidewall 2 Cell Drum 3 Cell 4 Magnetic Tape Cartridge 5 Accessor 6 Mechanical Hand 7 Drive Device 8 Mass Storage Device 9 Recording Medium 10-20 Shelf 21 Upper Device 22, 29 Interface Circuit 23 Buffer Memory 24 Buffer Control Circuit 25 Processor 26 Control Storage 27 Motor 28 Cell drum drive circuit 30 Drive control circuit 31 Accessor control circuit 32 Reference position detection sensor 33 Inaccessible position detection sensor 34 Cell position detection sensor 35 Vibration detection sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical rotatable storage shelf in which a plurality of shelves (10) to (20) accommodating a plurality of cells (3) respectively accommodating a plurality of recording media (9) are stacked, and the accommodating shelf. Mechanical hand that moves along the cylindrical direction of the shelf
(6) stores the specified recording medium (9) in the cell (3) of the storage shelf or performs access operation to take out from the cell (3), and the cell that covers the outer periphery of the storage shelf. Recording media from (3) (9)
A large-capacity memory having a cylindrical side wall (1) having an open surface corresponding to the cell width in the circumferential direction of the storage shelf in order to suppress the pop-out of the accessor and to allow the access operation of the accessor. In the storage shelf, when the access operation of the accessor is performed on one cell of one shelf, the recording medium (9) stored in the cell of another shelf pops out by the side wall (1). The position of the cell (3) on each shelf in the circumferential direction is
A large-capacity storage device characterized by being stacked in a staggered manner. 2. A cell for each of said shelves (10) to (20) of said storage shelves.
The amount of positional deviation in the circumferential direction of (3) is W, the width of the surface of the recording medium (9) facing the accessor in the circumferential direction is W, and the number of stacked shelves is N. ) To (20), where M is the number of cells (3), W / (N + 1) is set, and the circumference is equally divided and the shift amount is 2 W / M at M points.
2. The mass storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a portion that is (N + 1). 3. The mass storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: first detection means for detecting a reference position for detecting a rotation amount of the storage rack; and the storage from the reference position detected by the first detection means. When the second detecting means for detecting the rotation amount of the shelf is provided, and the accessor is made to perform the access operation, the deviation amount of the M portion is 2 W / (based on the detection result of the second detecting means. After the rotation of the storage rack is stopped at a position where the center position of the position (N + 1) coincides with the edge of the open surface of the side wall (1), the mechanical hand (6) of the accessor is moved to the designated cell. The mass storage according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the storage rack is rotated again until the rack position to which it belongs is rotated and the designated cell is made to face the mechanical hand (6). apparatus.