JPH07130071A - Recording medium cartridge library device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use another driving device even when a driving device corresponding to a magazine is in use in the library device equipped with plural magazines, each housing a large number of recording medium cartridges and read and write driving devices corresponding to the individual magazines respectively to be used in read and write processing on the cartridges. CONSTITUTION:The library device is provided with a transfer mechanism 4 for transferring a cartridge C between plural individual magazines 2A and 2B. Even when a driving device corresponding to a magazine housing a cartridge desired to be used afresh is already in use for another cartridge, while a driving device corresponding to some other magazine is vacant, the fresh cartridge is transferred to the magazine corresponding to this driving device, so that the fresh cartridge can be read and written by using the vacant driving device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with a plurality of magazines (housing aggregates) in which a large number of optical disk cartridges and other cartridge type recording media are housed, and a read / write drive device corresponding to each magazine is used. The present invention relates to a recording medium cartridge library apparatus for reading and writing recording medium cartridges, and more particularly to a recording medium cartridge library apparatus capable of transferring recording medium cartridges between a plurality of magazines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording medium cartridge library device (hereinafter, simply referred to as a library device) is a device for storing, reading and writing a recording medium cartridge (hereinafter, simply referred to as a cartridge). As shown in an example in FIG. 4, the library apparatus 1 reads and writes data of the cartridges C and a plurality of magazines 2A and 2B that respectively store a plurality of cartridges C in individual storage cells 7 (individual storage units). A drive mechanism (not shown) for moving the magazines 2A, 2B to the drive devices 3A, 3B and the desired cartridge storage cell 7 facing the drive devices 3A, 3B.
And a transport mechanism (not shown) for exchanging cartridges between the storage cells 7 of the magazines 2A and 2B moved to the facing position and the drive devices 3A and 3B. The drive devices 3A and 3B are provided corresponding to the respective magazines 2A and 2B, and the moving mechanism has a moving mechanism of the respective magazines 2A and 2B.
B can be rotated independently or in conjunction with each other.

When reading / writing the cartridge C, first, the magazine 2A, to the position where the storage cell 7 storing the desired cartridge C faces the drive units 3A, 3B.
2B is moved (in the case of FIG. 4, rotated). Next, the cartridge C is transferred from the corresponding storage cell 7 of the magazine 2A, 2B to the corresponding drive device 3A, 3B,
It is inserted into the driving device 3A or 3B and read / written.

[0004]

However, in the conventional library device, the drive device corresponding to the magazine in which the cartridge (second cartridge) to be newly used is accommodated (while the first cartridge is being read / written). ), Even if the drive device corresponding to another magazine is vacant, the cartridge (second cartridge) cannot be read or written, and the process waits until the process of the drive device corresponding to the magazine is completed, or There was no choice but to interrupt the processing of the drive in use (interrupting the processing of the first cartridge during reading and writing to make it available for the second cartridge).

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and even if the drive device corresponding to the magazine in which the cartridge to be newly used is accommodated, another drive device is vacant. Then, the cartridge device is transferred to the magazine corresponding to the vacant drive device, and the library device is made to be able to read and write by using the vacant drive device.

[0006]

A recording medium cartridge library apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of magazines each having a plurality of storage sections for storing a plurality of recording medium cartridges, and corresponding to each magazine. A plurality of drive devices for reading or writing the recording medium cartridge, a magazine moving mechanism for moving the magazine to a position where a desired storage section faces the drive device, and a magazine moving mechanism. A transport mechanism for transferring the recording medium cartridge between the storage unit of the magazine moved to the facing position and the drive unit, and a cartridge transfer mechanism for transferring the recording medium cartridge between the magazines. It is equipped with.

[0007]

Since the cartridge transfer mechanism for transferring the recording medium cartridges between the plurality of magazines is provided, the drive device corresponding to the magazine in which the cartridge (second cartridge) to be newly used is accommodated is already different. Even if it is being used by the cartridge (first cartridge), if the drive device corresponding to another magazine is empty, the new cartridge (second cartridge) is transferred to the magazine corresponding to the drive device. By
The new drive (second drive) can be read and written using the vacant drive.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the internal structure of a library apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the elements designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 have the same functions as those in the figure. The magazines 2A and 2B are removable so as to replace the cartridges C stored in the storage cells 7, and the cartridge read / write drive devices 3A and 3B are installed corresponding to the respective cartridges. Magazines 2A, 2B
A magazine moving mechanism (not shown) is provided corresponding to each of the magazines 2 up to the position where the storage cell 7 storing the desired cartridge C faces the drive devices 3A and 3B.
The structure is such that A and 2B can be rotationally moved. Further, a cartridge carrying mechanism (not shown) is provided in association with the driving devices 3A and 3B, and the function of this cartridge carrying mechanism causes the magazine 2 in the facing position.
The structure is such that the cartridge C can be transferred from the storage cells 7 of A and 2B to the drive devices 3A and 3B.

A cartridge transfer mechanism 4 is provided to transfer the recording medium cartridge C between the magazines 2A and 2B. A concrete example of the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 is as shown in FIG. 2, and a picker mechanism 5 that performs a take-out function of taking out the cartridge C from / into the storage cell 7 and the picker mechanism 5 is shown.
And a transfer mechanism 6 for transporting from a position corresponding to a magazine to a position corresponding to another magazine. Since two magazines are provided in this example, the transfer mechanism 6 can transfer the picker mechanism 5 between the two magazines 2A and 2B. Since the picker mechanism 5 picks the cartridge C, that is, the transfer mechanism 6 picks up the cartridge C picked by the picker mechanism 5 in the magazines 2A and 2B.
Will be transferred between. That is, magazine 2A to magazine 2B, or magazine 2B to magazine 2
The structure is such that the cartridge C can be transferred to A. Since the detailed structures themselves of the picker mechanism 5 and the transfer mechanism 6 can be configured by appropriately changing the design of a known cartridge picker, conveyor, or cartridge handling mechanism, illustration of the detailed mechanism diagram is omitted.

Next, an example of the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
For example, when it is desired to read / write a certain cartridge (first cartridge) C stored in the magazine 2A, the magazine 2A is rotated by a magazine moving mechanism (not shown) and the desired first cartridge C is rotated. Is moved to a position where the storage cell 7 storing therein and the drive device 3A face each other. Then, the cartridge C is transferred from the magazine 2A to the drive unit 3A by a cartridge transport mechanism (not shown).
Hand over to. For the transferred cartridge C, data is read and written by the drive unit 3A, and the drive unit 3A is in use.

At this time, when it is desired to read / write data from / to another cartridge (second cartridge) C in the magazine 2A, the usage status of the drive device 3B corresponding to the other magazine 2B is checked. If the drive device 3B is not in use, the following operation is performed.

First, the magazine 2A is rotated by a magazine moving mechanism (not shown) so as to move to a position where the storage cell 7 storing the second cartridge C and the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 face each other. Further, the magazine 2B is rotated by a magazine moving mechanism (not shown), and is moved to a position where the appropriate empty storage cell 7 in the magazine 2B and the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 face each other. next,
From the cell 7 on the magazine 2A side by the pick mechanism 5, the second
The cartridge C of the second cartridge C is taken into the cartridge transfer mechanism 4, and then the second cartridge C is moved together with the pick mechanism 5 by the transfer mechanism 6 to a position corresponding to the cell 7 on the magazine 2B side. The second cartridge C is transferred to the cell 7 on the magazine 2B side.

Then, the magazine 2B is rotated by a magazine moving mechanism (not shown) and moved to a position where the cell 7 storing and transferring the second cartridge C and the driving device 3B face each other. Then, the second cartridge C is loaded into the magazine 2 by a cartridge transport mechanism (not shown).
Transfer from B to drive device 3B. For the transferred cartridge C, data is read and written by the drive device 3B. In this way, the first and second cartridges C originally stored in the same magazine 2A can be simultaneously read / written and used.

In the above embodiment, the magazines 2A, 2
The cell C, which happens to be empty in the receiving magazine, is used to transfer the cartridge C between the Bs. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the magazines 2A and 2B are specially stored for transfer between magazines. The cell 7 may be provided. In addition, the drive devices 3A and 3B are used for each magazine 2
Although one unit is installed for each of A and 2B, a plurality of units may be installed for shortening the waiting time. Similarly, a plurality of cartridge transfer mechanisms 4 may be installed. Further, the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 may be rotatable around the magazines 2A and 2B to some extent. Similarly, the drive devices 3A and 3B may be rotatable to some extent around the magazines 2A and 2B. Further, three or more magazines may be provided, and in that case, the transfer mechanism 6 of the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 may be configured to be appropriately long so as to transfer to the positions corresponding to all magazines.

Further, in the above embodiment, the magazines 2A, 2
Although B is a rotary movement type, it is not limited to this, and a linear movement type magazine may be used. FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in that case, and is otherwise the same as the embodiment of FIG. 1 except that the magazines 2A and 2B move linearly. Also in this case, as described above, not only the magazines 2A and 2B can move linearly, but also the drive devices 3A and 3B and / or the cartridge transfer mechanism 4 may move linearly with respect to the magazines 2A and 2B. . Further, the number of magazines may be three or more.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the drive device corresponding to the magazine storing the cartridge to be used is in use, if the other drive device is available, that drive device is available. Since the cartridge can be transferred to another magazine corresponding to and the reading and writing of the cartridge can be performed by using the vacant drive device, (1) there is no waiting time, and the processing is fast, (2) This has the excellent effect of improving the operating rate of the drive device. Also,
(3) When a drive device corresponding to a certain magazine fails, the cartridge in the corresponding magazine can be transferred to another magazine, and the reading or writing can be performed using a normal drive device. It is also possible to expect an excellent effect that it can prevent the system from going down.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a library device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the cartridge transfer mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of the overall configuration of a conventional library device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 recording medium cartridge library device 2A, 2B magazines 3A, 3B drive device for reading / writing recording medium 4 cartridge transfer mechanism 5 picker mechanism 6 transfer mechanism 7 storage cell

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of magazines each having a plurality of storage sections for respectively storing a plurality of recording medium cartridges, and a magazine provided for each of the magazines for reading or writing the recording medium cartridges. A plurality of driving devices, a magazine moving mechanism that moves the magazine to a position where a desired storage unit faces the driving device, and a storage unit for the magazine that has been moved to the facing position by the magazine moving mechanism and the drive unit. A recording medium cartridge library apparatus comprising a transport mechanism for transferring the recording medium cartridge to and from the apparatus, and a cartridge transfer mechanism for transferring the recording medium cartridge between the magazines.