JPH07262746A - External storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply impart an identification mark consisting of a character or a symbol of printing type onto a recording medium such as a floppy disk by optionally providing a print function in an external storage device. CONSTITUTION:This external storage system is provided with a disk drive device 1 being the external storage device, a printer part for the identification mark and a control part controlling the printer part. The disk drive device 1 records or reproduces information on/from the floppy disk 2 of a rewritable recording medium. The printer part is provided so that a positional relation relative to the floppy disk 2 which the information is recorded to or reproduced from by the disk drive device 1, is decided unequivocally, and is provided with a thermal head unit 4 and a stepping motor 5 and a belt 6 for moving the unit 4 to print the identification mark on the housing of the floppy disk 2. Further, the control part controls the printing work of the printer part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various OA (Office Au) such as a word processor (hereinafter abbreviated as "word processor") and a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as "personal computer").
tomation) equipment, electronic still camera or VTR
The present invention relates to an external storage system suitable for managing a storage medium recorded or reproduced by an external storage device for storing information used for home electric appliances such as (video tape recorder).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, word processors and personal computers have become extremely popular not only in offices but also at home. Considering the normal usage pattern of these OA devices, the created text or input information is saved in a storage medium such as a floppy disk via an auxiliary storage device. As a matter of course, the number of floppy disks owned increases as the eel climbs, and it becomes difficult to manage floppy disks such as what text is stored in which floppy disk or what data is stored.

In magnetic recording represented by a floppy disk, it is generally difficult to directly see the recorded information. Therefore, in order to manage the storage medium, it is necessary to make it identifiable by giving visible information. It is essential.

As such means, a label (hereinafter abbreviated as "label") having an adhesive on its back side, which is called a color label for jobs or an index label attached at the time of purchasing a storage medium, has been used for identification. A mark (hereinafter referred to as an "identification mark") is written by hand, or the identification mark itself is printed using a word processor or the like, and the mark is attached to the housing of the floppy disk. The housing protects the storage medium and is called a jacket in the case of a 5.25-inch or 8-inch floppy disk and a plastic cartridge in the case of a 3.5-inch floppy disk. It should be noted that the label referred to in the present invention is different from the display label that is attached at the time of shipment by the manufacturer of the storage medium for the purpose of clearly indicating the recording density, the product name, etc. What you do.

As described above, when handwriting on these labels, there is no particular problem except that the identification mark is provided with the character face as it is handwritten, but when the identification mark itself is printed using a word processor or the like. OA
Compared to standardized A4 size or B4 size papers that are normally used in equipment, the label is very small and troubles occur easily in the paper transport section of OA equipment printers, and printing is started. It is difficult to select the position (launching position), and it takes a lot of trouble to print properly on the desired layout.

The identification mark referred to in the present invention is usually called an index or a heading, and if it can be directly recognized by human eyes, its format, printing method, etc. are particularly limited. Instead, for example, character information such as "prepared text 001", "application patent", "private", or "□□□-□",
Even if it is a symbol with encryption function such as "☆☆☆", "12345", "AS1", etc., it is a list of creation date, word processor, computer model name, input file name, etc. Alternatively, a combination mark or the like of these may be used. In addition, optically readable barcodes or OCR to enable mechanical control
It is also possible to add a standardized code such as. That is, if characters or symbols can be printed in a visible state, those printed can form an identification mark.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above points, the present invention is an external storage system capable of printing information based on information stored in a storage medium very easily in the storage medium. Is provided.

Furthermore, depending on the setting, standardized identification marks can always be printed on a label on a label, and a very uniform form can be obtained, and automatic retrieval management of storage media is possible. It can be used effectively.

In the present invention, the external storage device is
A type in which a storage medium is removable from the storage device. That is, information is recorded (written) or reproduced (read) on a storage medium called an exchangeable storage medium that can be removed from the storage device and stored. At present, a magnetic recording method is mainly used as a rewritable storage method, and a typical external storage apparatus is a disk drive apparatus using a floppy disk as a storage medium or a cassette tape recorder apparatus using a magnetic cassette tape as a storage medium. However, the external storage device of the present invention may be an external storage device using a rewritable exchangeable storage medium such as a phase change type optical disk, etc., in addition to these.

[0010]

The external storage system of the present invention that achieves the above-mentioned object is an external storage device that records (writes) or reproduces (reads) information on a rewritable storage medium. A printer unit capable of uniquely determining a relative positional relationship with a storage medium for recording or reproducing information by an external storage device and printing on a housing of the storage medium, and recording or reproducing information by the external storage device. An external storage system comprising: a control unit that controls the printer unit to print information corresponding to stored contents of a storage medium on a housing of the storage medium.

[0011]

An important requirement of the present invention is that a print function is provided in association with the external storage device, and the relative positional relationship between the print head section and the storage medium is uniquely determined. There is the point that an identification mark etc. can be added by printing type characters or symbols with, and it is possible to add a beautiful type type label to the storage medium without operating a word processor etc. as before. . The print unit is preferably capable of printing while the storage medium is inserted in the external storage device, but the print unit and the external storage device are separate entities, and the storage medium is replaced by the external storage device for printing. What is necessary is that the printing can be performed in a state where the relative positional relationship between the print head unit and the storage medium is uniquely determined.

The printing method of the printer unit of the present invention is not particularly limited, but a suitable printing method should be selected according to the form of the storage medium. That is, for example, in the case of a disk drive device compatible with 5.25-inch and 8-inch floppy disks, a non-impact printer such as a thermal recording type or an inkjet type is suitable because the mechanical strength of the housing (jacket) is not sufficient. Is.

Of course, the printing of characters or symbols is not limited to the case of giving it as a special identification mark, and for example, general "name" and "date of creation of storage medium".
It can also be used to print just like.

As for the printing of characters or symbols, as described in the embodiments described later, the identification name is printed as it is at the same time as the setting operation of the identification name at the time of formatting or initialization of the storage medium itself is performed. Alternatively, the printing may be performed independently of the operation.

The control section of the printer section in the present invention may be any one as long as it controls the print contents as described above.
A computer device or the like that records or reproduces data on a storage medium is preferably used. For example, what reads the stored contents of the storage medium and prints the above-mentioned information corresponding to the contents on the label is used.

[0016]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited by the examples. Rather,
It brings the following applications and developments.

FIG. 1 is a model diagram showing an embodiment of an external storage system of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a disk drive device used in this external storage system. The inside of the disk drive device in which the 5.25-inch floppy disk 2 as a storage medium is inserted is viewed from above (side of the floppy disk display label 21 side). The direction of inserting the floppy disk 2 into the disk drive device 1 is shown by an arrow 23. Although the magnetic head unit 3 is shown in the drawing, the other mechanisms that are essentially indispensable to the disk drive device do not affect the present invention and are not shown. In addition to the display label 21, nothing is written on the floppy disk.
2 is already pasted. The thermal head unit 4 is incorporated so as to be positioned above the label 22 with the floppy disk inserted. The thermal head is a type for a serial printer mounted on a word processor or the like and has a heat generating area of 1 × 24 dots. The heat generating portion is on the back surface of the thermal head unit 4 in the figure, and 24 dots are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the thermal head unit moving direction 41. The lateral width of the label 22 is covered by the feeding mechanism including the stepping motor 5 and the belt 6. In addition,
The thermal head unit feed guide and the pressure contact mechanism for the label 22 surface are not shown. Further, in this embodiment, a personal computer (not shown) is used as the control unit.

In this embodiment, an identification mark is printed on the label 22 when the floppy disk is initialized. That is, when the floppy disk is initialized by the control unit, if the "/ V" parameter is specified for "FORMAT" of the MS-DOS external command, the volume label can be input after formatting is complete, and in the case of Kanji (double-byte). Can be added within 5 characters and within 11 half-width alphanumeric characters. Upon receiving this code signal, the code conversion table temporarily develops an image pattern on the memory (print buffer) of the control unit, and sends it to the thermal head drive unit and the stepping motor drive unit. This made it possible to print a type-type identification mark similar to a word processor.

In the external storage system of this embodiment, when the identification mark was added to the five floppy disks, a very uniform label layout could be realized.

[0020]

As described above, by using the external storage system of the present invention, a very clean and unified label can be realized without using a separate word processor or the like as in the past. The systematic storage medium can be managed more than ever, and it can be effectively used especially for OA devices such as word processors and personal computers, or home electric appliances such as VTRs and electronic still cameras.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a model diagram showing an example of an embodiment of an external storage system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Disk drive device 2: Floppy disk 21: Display label 22: Label 23: Insertion direction 3: Magnetic head unit 4: Thermal head unit 41: Moving direction 5: Stepping motor 6: Belt

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A relative positional relationship between an external storage device for recording (writing) or reproducing (reading) information on a rewritable storage medium and a storage medium for recording or reproducing information by the external storage device. And a printer unit capable of printing on the housing of the storage medium, and for printing information on the housing of the storage medium, the information corresponding to the stored contents of the storage medium in which information is recorded or reproduced by the external storage device. An external storage system comprising: a control unit that controls the printer unit. 2. The external storage system according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium is a disk-shaped storage medium (disk). 3. The external storage system according to claim 2, wherein the disk-shaped storage medium (disk) magnetically records (writes) or reproduces (reads) information. 4. The external storage system according to claim 2, wherein the printing is printing of a volume label name input at the time of initialization of the storage medium.