JPH0544911Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) This invention involves inserting information storage shaped articles arranged in a housing into an information reading device, or
The present invention relates to an information storage fixed shaped article loading/unloading device for returning the information storage fixed shaped articles from an information reading device to their original alignment position.

(Prior art and its problems) In the conventional example of this type of information storage shaped article loading/unloading device, a picker for inserting and removing the information storage shaped articles into and out of the information storage shaped article aligning section and the information reading device in the housing. As shown in FIG. 14, the information storage shaped product 3 is gripped from above and below by fingers 2, in which the base ends of a pair of gripping pieces 1 are pivoted to each other so as to open and close in the vertical direction. The information storage shaped product 3 is inserted into and removed from the product sorting section and the information reading device.

However, in such a configuration, if there is a difference in height between the information storage shaped product aligning section or the information reading device and the picker, unreasonable force will be applied to the information storage shaped product 3 during the above-mentioned insertion/removal operation. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the picker must be increased, which causes the problem of complicated positioning control and increased costs.

(Purpose of the invention) This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problem. Even if there is a slight deviation in height between the information storage shaped product aligning section, the information reading device, and the picker, the information cannot be stored. To provide an information storage shaped article loading/unloading device capable of automatically absorbing the deviation during the insertion/removal operation of a shaped storage article to smoothly insert/remove the shaped article, and having an extremely simple configuration.

(Means for Achieving the Object) In order to achieve the above object, this invention moves the front surface of the information storage shaped article aligning section and the information reading device provided in the housing to store information therein. In an information storage fixed shaped product loading/unloading device comprising a picker for inserting and removing a fixed shaped product, the picker has a pair of left and right fingers that open and close in a horizontal plane to grip the information storage fixed shaped product. A supporting part for the information storage shaped article taken in by the fingers is provided, and a support part is provided so as to be movable forward and backward in the insertion/removal direction, and a support part is provided at the front end of the information storage shaped article in the insertion/removal direction of the support part, and a support part is provided so as to be movable forward and backward in the insertion/removal direction. An inclined guide surface is formed, and a finger roller is rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft at the tip of the finger and grips the information storage shaped product in a vertically movable manner. When correcting the height position deviation that occurs between the alignment part or the information reading device and the picker using the guide surface that the information storage shaped product comes into contact with during the insertion/removal operation, the correction operation is performed by the rotation of the finger roller. We make sure it runs smoothly.

(Example) Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the main parts of an information-shaped product loading/unloading device which is an embodiment of this invention, and Figs.
Figure 4 is a front sectional view of each entry/exit device,
A side sectional view and a plan sectional view are shown.

In this loading/unloading device, shelves 13 for storing cassettes 12, which are shaped information storage products, are arranged vertically in multiple stages on the back side of the housing 11. Cassette deck 14 which is an information reading device
is located.

A guide column 1 is located on the left side inside the housing 11.
5 and a guide rail 16 are vertically provided on the right side, and a picker 17 is attached astride the guide column 15 and the guide rail 16 so as to be able to move up and down. That is, the guide column 15 passes through the front left end side of the generally U-shaped picker frame 18, and a pair of front and rear guide rollers 19 are provided at the right end of the picker frame 18.
a and 19b sandwich the guide rail 16.

On the other hand, a pair of front and rear sprockets 20a and 20b are arranged in parallel on the ceiling inside the housing 11, and a counterweight 22 is connected to one end of a chain 21 wound between these sprockets 20a and 20b. The picker 17 is suspended from the other end. The sprocket 20a has a pulley 24, a belt 25, a pulley 26,
This is transmitted through a speed reducer 27, and the picker 17 is moved up and down in front of the cassette 12 and the cassette deck 14 by driving the motor 23.

The picker 17 is for inserting and removing the cassette 12 into and from the shelf 13 and the cassette deck 14, and as shown in FIG.
Between 8b and 8b is a pusher 28 for pushing the cassette 12 toward the shelf 13 and the cassette deck 14.
is installed so that it can be moved freely back and forth.
That is, this pusher 28 is slidably suspended between left and right advance/retreat guide rods 29 (only the left side is shown in FIG. 1). Furthermore, this pusher 28 is fixed to a part of a belt 30 provided at the lower part of the picker frame 18, and moves forward and backward as this belt 30 is switched between forward and reverse directions by a forward and backward drive motor 31. is configured to do so.

As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of left and right fingers 32 are pivotally supported on the pusher 28 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. This finger 32
consists of an L-shaped lever 33 and a finger roller 34 pivoted to an arm 33a in front of the lever 33 with its axis horizontal, and a dry bearing 34c is mounted on the outer periphery of the roller shaft 34a of the finger roller 34. An elastic member 34b made of rubber or the like is rotatably covered therebetween. One end of a link member 35 is pivotally connected to the arm portion 33b of each of these fingers 32 that faces toward the rear of the lever 33.
The other end of each of these link members 35 is pivotally connected to opposing positions across a support shaft 37 of a disc 36 which is pivotally supported at the center of the pusher 28 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. . The disk 36 is connected to a finger drive motor 38 provided on the lower surface of the pusher 28, and as the disk 36 is rotated left and right by the drive of this motor 38, the lever 33 and the link member 35 are rotated. The left and right finger rollers 34 swing under the action of the link mechanism formed by the cassette 12, so that the cassette 12 can be gripped and released from the left and right sides.

The lower side of the picker frame 18 is attached to the shelf 13 and the cassette deck 14 by fingers 32.
A picker shelf 59 is provided for placing the cassettes 12 taken in from the picker 17 side. This Pocket Shelf 59 has cassette 1.
a pair of left and right cassette support plates 60 on which cassettes 2 are mounted;
The front part of the cassette support plate 60 is formed with a guide surface 60a that slopes downward toward the front. A tapered guide surface 61a is formed that expands toward the center.

Further, a pair of height position detection sensors 39a and 39b are provided at the left end of the picker frame 18, while a mark plate 40 facing the sensors 39a and 39b is provided at the left side inside the housing 11.
As shown in FIG.
are arranged in vertical columns. Between the marks A and B, the upper end of one mark A and the lower end of the other mark B, and the lower end of one mark A and the upper end of the other mark B are alternately set at a predetermined height. They are arranged at different heights so that they coexist within a range h, and the above height range h provides a range within which the picker 17 is allowed to stop as a height position corresponding to each shelf 13. . Also, the bottom end of one mark A is the cassette deck 1.
It is adjusted to the height position H of 4.

Furthermore, cassette detection sensors 41a and 41b, each consisting of a light emitter and a light receiver, are mounted on the left arm section 18a and the right arm section 18b of the picker frame 18. The other sensor 41b is located at a lower position than the right arm portion 18b, and they are provided so as to face each other, and when the picker 17 moves up and down, these sensors 41a,
When the optical axis 42 connecting between 41b and 41b is interrupted by the cassette 12 that protrudes from the shelf 13,
It is configured to stop the lifting and lowering operation of the picker 17 to prevent the picker 17 from colliding with the protruding cassette 12. In addition, the sensor 41
a and 41b are also used as sensors for detecting the presence of the cassette 12 on the picker 17 side.

In addition, the shelf 13 that stores the cassette 12
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, there are a pair of left and right side guide pieces 13 that guide both sides of the cassette 12.
a, and a pair of left and right bottom guide plates 13b that guide the bottom of the cassette 12. The inside of the side guide pieces 13a is formed with a tapered surface that expands toward the front, and the front part of the bottom guide plate 13b is The cassette 12 is tilted toward the picker 17 from a position slightly shifted from the shelf 13.
Even if it is inserted by
It is constructed so that it can be corrected by the guiding action of 3 itself.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the structure of the above-mentioned mechanism and control circuit 43 of this access device.
4 is a TV monitor 45 using a cassette deck 14;
8 to 12 set in advance in response to detection signals from the sensors 39a, 39b, 41a, 41b and other sensors and input signals from the operation panel 46. It is configured to control the drive of each motor 23, 31, 38 via a relay driver 47 based on the program shown in the flow diagram. In FIG. 1, a sensor 49 detects whether the cassette 12 is on the picker shelf 59;
2 is a sensor for confirming the position of the pusher 28; 53 and 54 are sensors for confirming the open/closed state of the finger 32; 55 is a picker 1;
This is a sensor that detects the end of the upward movement range of No.7.

Next, the operation of this entrance/exit device will be explained with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 to 12. The overall operation is as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
An initialization step _S1 is executed in which the cassette 12 is set at a reference position at the lowest end opposite to the cassette 4, and then a main step _S2 is executed in which the picker 17 moves the cassette 12 in and out.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the initializing operation, first in step _S3 , the height position detection sensors 39a and 39b confirm whether the picker 17 is at the height position at the end of the operation. In this program, when the cassette 12 is returned to its original shelf 13, the picker 17 stops at the height of the shelf 13, so it is determined that the height is not at the correct height during this check. Then, it is assumed that an error has occurred, and execution moves to step _S4 of error handling. This proper position is confirmed by detecting the corresponding marks A and B shown in FIG. 7 by the sensors 39a and 39b.
This can be confirmed from the fact that it is located within the stop tolerance range h shown in the figure. If it is confirmed that the cassette 12 is in the proper position, the process moves to step _S5 , where it is checked whether there is any cassette 12 left on the picker 17 side or whether the cassette 12 is removed from the shelf 13 based on the detection signals of the cassette detection sensors 41a and 41b. A check is made to see if there are any protrusions. If the cassette 12 is detected here, it is assumed that an error has occurred and execution moves to step _S4 for error processing.

If the cassette 12 is not detected, the process moves to step _S6 , and a descending command is issued to the picker 17.
That is, the picker 17 is connected to the lifting drive motor 23.
Rotational drive in the direction of lowering is commanded. Then, when the picker 17 starts to descend, step _S7 is executed, and the sensors 41a and 41b check whether the cassette 12 is protruding from the shelf 13 during its descent, in parallel with the descent. If the cassette 12 is detected at this time, the process moves to step _S8 , where the lowering of the picker 17 is stopped, and execution proceeds to step _S9 , which is error processing. This prevents the picker 12 from hitting the protruding cassette 12. During this downward movement, the part of the optical axis 42 between the sensors 41a and 41b near the sensor 41b is first blocked by the cassette 12, but as shown in FIG. A predetermined interval α ₁ is set in advance to allow for the descent due to inertia from when the protrusion of the cassette 12 is detected until the picker 17 stops, and therefore collisions due to inertia are prevented.

When it is confirmed by the sensors 41a and 41b that there is no protrusion of the cassette 12, it is confirmed in the next step _S10 whether the lowest position, that is, the reference position facing the cassette deck 14 has been reached. This confirmation is performed by the height position detection sensor 39 in FIG.
This is confirmed by determining whether or not marks A and 39a respectively detect corresponding marks A and B.
If it is determined that the reference position has not been reached, the execution returns to step _S6 , and thereafter steps _S6 to _S10 are repeated until it is confirmed that the reference position has been reached.

In step _S10 , when it is confirmed that the reference position has been reached, that is, the mark A shown in FIG.
If neither of the corresponding sensors 39a and 39b detect B, the time delay step
After passing through _S11 , the lifting drive motor 2 is activated at step _S12 .
3 is stopped. That is, Pitzker 17
At this time, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.
8, the sensor 39a, 3 reaches the stop position where it is released from the chain 21.
9b is located at a position slightly below the cassette deck height position H shown in FIG. 7, and does not face either of the marks A and B. When the picker 17 stops, the value of the counter that counts the height position of the picker 17 is reset in step _S13 .
After the above execution, execution returns to the main step _S2 described above.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the main operation, when a desired cassette number is input from the operation panel 46 shown in FIG. 6 in step _S14 , the next step is started.
Execution moves to S ₁₅ . In step _S15 , the picker 17 is raised by a series of operations according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, which will be described later, and stops at the height of the shelf 13 in which the desired cassette 12 is stored. Then in step S ₁₆ , Shielf 13
The cassette 12 is taken out from there. This take-out operation is performed by rotating the disk 36 shown in FIG. 5 clockwise by driving the finger drive motor 38.
In conjunction with this, the finger 32 rotates from the open state shown by the imaginary line in the figure to the closed state shown by the solid line. That is, by this operation, the finger rollers 34 of the left and right fingers 32
However, cassette 1 stored on shelf 13
2 is held from both sides. Thereafter, the pusher 28 is moved backward by the forward/backward drive motor 31, whereby the cassette 12 held by the fingers 32 is pulled out from the shelf 13 and stored in the picker shelf 59. In this pull-out operation, even if there is a slight deviation in the height position between the shelf 13 and the picker 17, the guide surface 60a that slopes downward at the front of the cassette support plate 60 will not guide the cassette support plate 60 as shown in FIG. The cassette 12 is smoothly pulled out without being subjected to excessive force by vertically correcting the gripping position by rotating the finger rollers 34.

The relative rotational movement of the finger roller 34 holding the cassette 12 in the vertical direction with respect to the cassette 12 is performed by the finger roller 34 as shown in FIG.
This is achieved because the rotational frictional force between the elastic member 34b on the outer periphery of the roller shaft 34a and the cassette 12 is large, whereas the rotational frictional force between the elastic member 34b and the roller shaft 34a is reduced by interposing the dry bearing 34c. be done. In FIG. 13, the imaginary line of the cassette 12 indicates the upper limit of the height at which it can be taken into the picker 17, and the solid line indicates the lower limit. By this operation, the height position deviation is allowed to be within ±1/2 of the height dimension of the cassette 12.

When the removal of the cassette 12 is completed, the step
At step _S17 , it is checked whether the cassette 12 is completely loaded onto the picker shelf 59. This confirmation is performed by the previously mentioned cassette detection sensors 41a and 41b and a sensor 49 on the front side of the picker frame 18 as shown in FIG. When these sensors 41a, 41b, and 49 do not detect the cassette 12, it is assumed that a malfunction has occurred, and the error processing step _S18 is performed.
Move on to execution. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the loading of the cassette 12 has been completed, execution proceeds to the next step _S19 . In this step _S19 , the picker 17 moves downward by a series of operations according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Stop at a position.

Next, in step _S20 , after the cassette 12 is released from the fingers 32 of the picker 17, the cassette 12 is inserted from the picker 17 into the cassette deck 14. This insertion operation is performed by moving the pusher 28 forward by driving the forward/backward drive motor 31. When the insertion of the cassette 12 is completed, the pusher 28 is moved back to a position where the sensor 50 at the front of the picker frame ₁₈ detects the pusher 28 in step S21. Then, in step _S22 , cassette 12 is loaded.
A check is made to see if it has been completely inserted into the cassette deck 14. This confirmation is performed by the sensors 41a, 41b, and 49 mentioned above, and when any of these sensors 41a, 41b, and 49 detects the cassette 12, it is assumed that a malfunction has occurred, and step S of error processing is performed. Move on to execution of ₂₃ .

On the other hand, when the insertion of the cassette 12 is confirmed, the next step _S24 is executed, and the pusher 28 is kept on standby at a position where the sensor 51 shown in FIG. 1 detects this. Then, in step _S25 , reproduction of the image by the cassette deck 14 is started, and when the reproduction is finished or interrupted in step _S26 , the ejection of the cassette from the cassette deck 14 is confirmed in the next step _S27 . This confirmation is performed using the cassette detection sensors 41a and 41b mentioned above.
It is carried out by. When the cassette eject is confirmed, the next step _S28 moves the cassette 1 from the cassette deck 14 to the pickup shelf 59.
2 is taken in, and then in step _S29 it is confirmed whether the cassette has been taken in. If the confirmation is not possible, the process moves to step _S30 for error processing.
The operations in steps S ₂₈ to _{S 30} are similar to the steps S ₁₆ to S 30 described above for taking out the cassette 12 from the shelf 13.
Same operation as _S18 .

When it is confirmed that the cassette 12 has been taken in, the picker 17 is raised and the cassette 12 is taken out in step _S31 through a series of operations according to the _flowchart in FIG. It stops at the original height of the shelf 13. Then, in steps _S32 and _S33 , the cassette 12 is returned from the picker 17 to the shelf 13, and the return of the cassette 12 is confirmed in step _S34 , and if the confirmation cannot be made, execution moves to step _S35 for error processing. It can be done. The series of operations in steps _S32 to _S35 is the same as the operation of inserting the cassette 12 into the cassette deck 14 in steps _S20 to _S23 described above.

Steps S ₁₅ and S ₃₁ during the above main execution
The operation in the flowchart of FIG. 11 showing the movement of the picker 17 in is performed by the following procedure. First, by step S ₃₆ , the current picker 1
The magnitude relationship between the height position of 7 and the height position of the target shelf 13 is determined. This determination is made based on the count value obtained by the up-down counter counting the detection signals of the marks A and B shown in FIG. This is done by comparing it with the count value corresponding to the height position. If it is determined that the count value corresponding to the target shelf 13 is larger, step _S37
The picker 17 is commanded to rise, and then, in step _S38 , addition is performed to the current count value at the timing of the rise of the mark detection signal of one of the sensors 39a, 39b. On the other hand, if it is determined in step _S36 that the current count value is larger, the picker 1 is changed in step _S39 .
7 is commanded to lower, and then in step _S40 , the current count value is subtracted at the timing of the rise of the mark detection signal of one of the sensors 39a, 39b. In FIG. 7, symbol a indicates a position corresponding to the rise of the mark detection signal during the above-mentioned rise, and symbol b indicates a position corresponding to the rise of the mark detection signal during fall.

When the picker 17 starts moving up and down, the cassette 12 is moved from the shelf 13 to the cassette 12 in step _S41 .
A check is made to see if there are any protrusions.
This confirmation is performed using the cassette detection sensor 41 mentioned above.
a, 41b. When the protrusion of the cassette 12 is detected, step _S42 is executed to stop the picker 17 from moving up and down, and step _S43 is executed.
Execution shifts to error handling. This pick car 1
In the stopping operation accompanying the detection of the cassette protrusion during the upward/downward movement of step 7, in the downward movement, the sensor 41 shown in FIG.
The part of the optical axis 42 between a and 41b near the sensor 41b is first blocked by the cassette 12, and due to the inertia of the picker 17 due to the distance α ₁ set between this part of the optical axis 42 and the lower end of the picker 17. Cassette 1
Collision with 2 is prevented. On the other hand, in the rising operation, the part of the optical axis 42 of the sensors 41a, 41b near the sensor 41a is first blocked by the cassette 12, but there is also a predetermined distance between this part of the optical axis 42 and the upper end of the picker 17. The interval α ₂ is set in advance,
Therefore, the cassette 12 due to the inertia of the picker 17
collision is prevented.

When it is confirmed in step _S41 that there is no protrusion of the cassette 12, it is then determined in step _S44 whether the current count value and the count value corresponding to the desired height position of the shelf 13 are equal. be done. If it is determined that they are not equal, the process returns to step _S36 and the same process is repeated. If it is determined in step _S44 that the current count value is equal to the count value corresponding to the target shelf 13, the process moves to step _S45 and the picker 17 stops. Next, in step _S46 , it is checked whether the height of the picker 17 is within the permissible stop range indicated by the symbol h in FIG. This confirmation is performed by both the two height position detection sensors 39a and 39b detecting the corresponding marks A and B. If it is determined that the stop tolerance is not within the range, step S ₄₇
The height position is corrected by slightly moving the picker 17 up and down.

Also, during the main execution mentioned above,
The operations from step _S6 ' to step _S13 ' in the flowchart of FIG _{. 12} showing the movement of the picker 17 to the reference position in S17 are similar to step _S6 in the initialization flowchart shown in FIG. The operation is the same as that from step _S13 .

(Effects of the invention) As described above, according to the information-shaped product loading and unloading device of this invention, information is stored by a pair of fingers that have rotatable finger rollers with their axes facing horizontally forward and that open and close from side to side. Since it is configured to grip a regular shaped product, the information storage regular shaped product is held on both sides by the pair of left and right finger rollers, and the information storage regular shaped product is held at a height between the information storage regular shaped product alignment unit, the information reading device, and the picker. When the misalignment of the information storage shaped product is corrected by the guide surface that comes into contact with the information storage shaped product during insertion/removal operation, the correction operation is performed smoothly by the rotation of the finger roller, and there is no need to force the information storage shaped product. There is no risk of damage due to the application of force, and the configuration is extremely simple, resulting in a significant cost reduction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a picker of an information-shaped product loading/unloading device which is an embodiment of this invention;
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a front sectional view, a side sectional view, and a horizontal sectional view of the access device; Figure 5 is a plan view showing the finger section of the picker; and Figure 6 is a control circuit of the access device. 7 is a diagram showing the arrangement of height position detection marks, FIGS. 8 to 12 are flowcharts showing the operating procedure of the loading/unloading device, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the operation of loading a cassette into the picker shelf. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 14, is a side view of a main part of a conventional example. 12...cassette (information storage shaped product), 14...
...Cassette deck (information reading device), 17...
Pitzker, 32...Finger, 34...Fingerola.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A picker is provided that moves the front side of the information storage shaped article arrangement section and the information reading device provided in the housing to insert and remove the information storage shaped article therefrom. In the picker, the picker is provided with a pair of left and right fingers that open and close in a horizontal plane to grip the information storage shaped product, and the picker is provided with a pair of left and right fingers that can move forward and backward in the direction of insertion and removal of the information storage shaped product. A support part is provided for the information storage shaped article taken in by the finger, and a guide surface that slopes downward toward the front is formed at the front end of the support part in the insertion/removal direction of the information storage shaped article, and the finger An information storage shaped article loading/unloading device, characterized in that a finger roller is provided at the tip of the information storage shaped article rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft and grips the information storage shaped article so as to be movable up and down. (2) The information storage shaped product loading/unloading device according to claim 1, wherein the finger roller has an elastic member coated on the outer periphery of the roller shaft via a dry bearing.