JPH0798918A - Auto-changer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the auto-changer device which is formable to a smaller size and is capable of positioning a transporting unit and the media in this transporting unit by a simple mechanism. CONSTITUTION:The transporting unit 4 takes the medium 5 out of a drive 3, returns the medium into a magazine 2, takes the fresh medium out of the magazine and sets the medium in the drive 3 at the time of executing a medium exchange. The transporting unit 4 is movably mounted at a transporting unit driving section 6. An arm 4a inclines in a direction where force is applied when this force is applied on this arm 4a. The arm 4a, therefore, inclines toward the medium 5 and can absorb the deviation between the position of the transporting unit 4 and the medium housing position when the arm 4a is inserted into the magazine 2 even if the position of the transporting unit 4 deviates from the medium storage position. The medium 5 is moved by a roller 4b until sensors S1, S2 disposed in the transporting unit 4 detect the presence of the medium 5, by which the medium in the transporting unit is positioned with good accuracy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, large-capacity storage media such as magneto-optical disks have been put into practical use, and along with this, a plurality of storage media such as magneto-optical disks (hereinafter referred to as media) are stored in magazines or the like. An automatic changer device for automatically taking out a desired medium, setting it on a deck, and reading / writing has been developed.

The present invention relates to the above-mentioned auto changer device, and in particular, the present invention aims at downsizing of the device and
The present invention relates to an automatic changer device that can position a transport unit and a medium with a simple mechanism.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 9A and 9B are views showing an example of the configuration of an autochanger device which is the premise of the present invention. FIG. 9A is a view of the autochanger device seen from above, and FIG. 9B is a view seen from the side. Is. In the figure, 100 is an autochanger device, 101 is a drive for reading / writing a medium, 102 is a magazine accommodating a plurality of media, a plurality of slots are formed in the magazine 102, and a medium 110 is stored in the plurality of slots. It is stored. When using the autochanger device, the user stores the required medium in the magazine, pulls out the magazine storage portion of the autochanger device, opens the upper lid, and sets the magazine.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a transport unit for taking out the medium 110 from the magazine 102, setting it in the drive 101, and taking out the medium from the drive 101 for reading / writing, and returning it to the magazine. 104 is a worm shaft for moving the transport unit 103. A gear that meshes with the worm shaft 104 is provided at the bottom of the transport unit 103, and when the worm shaft 104 rotates, the transport unit 103
Moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Reference numeral 204 is a conveyance motor that drives the worm shaft.

The transport unit 103 is provided with a take-in arm 141 for taking out the medium from the magazine 102 and rollers for feeding the taken-out medium to the opposite side of the carry unit 103, and the carry unit 103 is moved forward and backward by the take-up arm 141. After the medium 110 is taken out from the disk, the medium is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Also, drive 10
The medium taken out of 1 is moved in the same manner as described above and returned to the magazine 102.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the above-mentioned autochanger device. In FIG.
Is a transport unit, 204 is a transport motor for moving the transport unit 103 including a pulse motor, and the like, 134
Is a roller driving motor that drives a medium moving roller provided in the transport unit 103, 144 is a motor that is provided in a load unit that will be described later in the transport unit, and is a motor that moves the load unit, and 145 is provided in the transport unit 103. The motor for driving the take-in arm for grasping the medium and a clutch plate described later, and S1 to S3 are sensors for detecting the presence of the medium. The motors 134 and 144 are, for example, DC motors and the like, and the motor 145 is It is composed of a pulse motor.

Further, 101 is a deck for reading / writing a medium, 31 is a motor 204, 145, etc.,
A driver board that captures the outputs of the sensors S1 to S3,
Reference numeral 32 is a control board for controlling the autochanger device, 33 is a power supply unit, 34 is a host computer, and the driver board 31, the control boat 32, and the power supply unit 33 are, for example, drives in the autochanger device of FIG. It is installed in a space beside 101 and is connected to a host computer 34 provided outside the autochanger device via an interface (not shown).

When a command for medium exchange is sent from the host computer 34, the above-mentioned control
Conveyor motor 2 with board 32 and triber board 31
04, motors 134 and 144 provided in the transport unit
Etc. are driven to exchange the medium. That is, drive 10
The medium set to 1 is taken out by the take-in arm 141 and returned to the magazine 102, and then the next medium stored in the magazine 102 is taken out by the carrying unit 103 and set in the drive 101.

Next, an example of the structure of the above-mentioned transport unit 103 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the transport unit 103, which is shown in FIG.
Shows a front view, and (b) shows a side view. In the figure, reference numeral 131 is a U-shaped frame plate, and a transport unit driving unit 133 is attached to the lower portion of the frame plate 131. Then, the transport unit drive unit 13
When the gear 3 of FIG. 3 engages with the worm shaft 104 shown in FIG. 9 and the carry motor 204 shown in FIG. 9 rotates, the carry unit 103 moves in the left-right direction in FIG. In the front-back direction].

Reference numerals 132a, 132a ', and 132c denote medium 1.
10 rollers, and eight rollers are provided so as to sandwich the medium from both right and left sides of the medium 110 in FIG. 11B, and rollers 132a and 132 visible in FIG.
Reference numeral a'denotes a driving side roller driven by a motor 134 described later, and a roller opposed to the rollers 132a and 132a '(a roller 132c in the same figure (b), not visible in the same figure (a)) is a driven side roller. Is.

The roller 132a 'is connected by a shaft 132b', and one end of the shaft 132b 'is connected to a roller driving motor 134 via a gear train 135a. Also,
The other end of the shaft 132b 'is connected to the shaft 132b of the roller 132a via a gear train 135b. Therefore, when the roller driving motor 134 rotates, the roller 132
a ′ and 132a rotate, and the medium 1 is rotated depending on the rotation direction.
10 is moved in the left-right direction in FIG. The driven roller [the roller 132c in the same figure (b)] is coupled by a shaft 132d, is attached to the frame plate 131 by a bearing 132e, and is biased toward the medium 110 by a spring (not shown).

Further, S1, S2 and S3 are sensors for detecting the presence of the medium. The positions of the medium taken in by the rollers 132a and 132a 'are detected by the sensors S1 and S2, and the output thereof outputs the roller driving motor 134. Are controlled to position the medium 110 in the transport unit. As will be described later, the sensor S3 is a sensor that detects the medium position when the medium is pushed into the drive by the pushing arm, and when the medium is set in the drive,
The roller 132a 'feeds the medium to a position not detected by the sensor S3, and then the pushing arm pushes the medium into the deck.

Reference numeral 136 denotes a push-in arm for pushing the medium 110 into the deck. The push-in arm 136 is movably attached to a guide plate 137, as will be described later, and the attaching plate 137a of the guide plate 137 is attached to the frame plate 131. It is attached to the top and bottom (attachment not shown). Reference numeral 138 denotes a rack for moving a loading unit 140, which will be described later, in the left-right direction in FIG. 1A, engages with a pinion 142 provided in the loading unit 140, and the pinion 142 rotates to load the loading unit 1
40 moves in the left-right direction (note that a pinion 142 is also provided in the lower part of the load part 140, and a rack 138 is provided in the lower part of the frame plate 131 correspondingly, but it is shown in the figure. Absent.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the construction of the loading section 140 shown in FIG. 11, in which 143 is a sheet metal of the loading section, and the upper and lower ends of the sheet metal 143 are bent toward the front side in the figure. And pin 1 vertically from the bent part
43a and the end portions 142b and 142c of the shaft connected to the pinion 142 for driving the load portion are projected. Then, the pin 143a and the end portions 142b and 142c of the shaft engage with the long grooves provided in the upper and lower portions of the frame plate 131 of FIG.
The loading part 140 moves in the left-right direction in FIG. 12 along the long groove.

A motor 144 is attached to the metal plate 143 of the load section,
The pinion 142, the gear train 145a, the motor 145, the clutch portion 146, the take-in arm 141, and the like are attached. The motor 144 is coupled to a shaft 142a connected to the pinion 142 via a gear train 144a,
When 44 rotates, the pinion 142 that engages with the rack 138 attached to the frame plate 131 of the transport unit.
Rotates, and the loading section 140 moves in the left-right direction in FIG.

The motor 145 is a motor for driving a take-up arm 141 for gripping a medium and actuating a clutch plate which will be described later. The rotation shaft of the motor 145 has a clutch portion including a clutch plate and the like via a gear train 145a. 146. FIG. 13 shows the clutch unit 14
6, take-in arm 141 and push-in arm 136
It is a figure which shows the relationship of (refer FIG. 11), the same figure (a) is the whole structure, (b), (c) is operation | movement of the pushing arm 136, (d) is the connection relationship of the pushing arm 136 and the guide plate 137. FIG.

In FIG. 1A, the take-in arm 14
Reference numeral 1 is pivotally supported by a metal plate 143 of the load section 140 by a shaft 141d, and is rotatably coupled to a connecting plate 141b by a pin 141c. Further, the connecting plate 141b is rotatably connected to the arm driving plate 141a by a pin,
The arm drive plate 141a rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure when the motor 145 provided in the load section 140 rotates (note that in the figure, the motor 145 and the arm drive plate 141a).
Are coaxially coupled, but actually, as shown in FIG. 5, the motor 145 and the arm drive plate 141a are coupled via a gear train).

Therefore, when the arm drive plate 141a rotates counterclockwise, the distance between the tips of the take-up arms 141 becomes narrower and the medium is grasped. When the arm drive plate 141a rotates clockwise, the distance between the tips of the take-up arms 141 decreases. It becomes wider and the medium is released. A clutch plate drive plate 146e is connected coaxially with the motor 145 and the arm drive plate 141a, and a pin 146b for driving the clutch plate 146a is attached to the clutch plate drive plate 146e. Then, when the motor 145 further rotates in the clockwise direction from the state where the intake arm 141 is opened, the pin 14
6a contacts the clutch plate 146a to rotate the clutch plate 146a clockwise around the shaft 146d, and the pushing arm driving unit 1 connected to the clutch plate 146a.
Push 46c up. The clutch plate 146a,
The pushing arm drive unit 146c is provided on the clutch unit 146 of the load unit 140, and when the load unit 140 moves in the left-right direction in FIG. 5, the clutch plate 146 is correspondingly moved.
a, the pushing arm drive unit 146c also moves in the left-right direction.

On the other hand, the pushing arm 136 is shown in FIG.
, A pin 136a fixed to the pushing arm 136 is inserted into the concave portion of the guide plate 137 attached to the frame plate 131 of the transport unit 13,
136b is the first long groove 1 provided in the frame plate 131
37a and the second long groove 137b are engaged. That is, the pins 136 are penetrated through the long grooves 137a and 137b.
a and 136b are holes 136c and 1 of the pushing arm 136.
The push-in arm 136 is fixed to 36d, and can be slightly rotated along the long grooves 137a and 137b provided in the guide plate 137 and can be moved in the left-right direction.

Therefore, when the pushing arm driving portion 146c connected to the clutch plate 146a is located below the pushing arm, the pushing arm 136 is urged by the compression spring 136c to rotate as shown in FIG. It is moving and the tip of the pusher arm does not contact the medium 110 to be pushed. Here, when the load arm 140 moves from the right side to the left side in FIG. 11 in a state where the push arm drive section 146c moves to the position where the push arm 136 contacts, the rear end of the push arm 136 is pushed by the push arm drive section 146c. Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, the pushing arm 136 pivots a little, and its leading end comes into contact with the trailing end of the medium 110.
Along with the movement of the loading section 140, the pushing arm moves to the left in the figure (c) and pushes in the medium 110.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a state in which the transport unit is loading and unloading the medium of the magazine. FIG. 14 is a view of the magazine and the transport unit as seen from above, in which 102 is a magazine. 110 is a medium, 102a is a partition plate between the media of the magazine, 103 is a transport unit,
141 is a take-in arm of the transport unit. As shown in the figure, when the medium 110 stored in the magazine 102 is taken in and out, the take-in arm 14 of the transport unit is used.
1 holds the medium 110, in which case the transport unit 1
03 must be accurately positioned in front of the medium 110. Therefore, the transport unit 1 has been conventionally used.
The stop position of the transport unit 103 and the position of the magazine 102 are accurately adjusted so that each medium in the magazine 102 is located at the position where the 03 is stopped. Also, magazine 1
In order to absorb the manufacturing variation of 02, the partition plate 10
The width of 2a was required to be 2 mm or more.

[0022]

As described above, in the conventional autochanger device, it is necessary to adjust the position of the medium in the transport unit and the magazine in order to ensure the accuracy of loading and unloading the disc, and the adjustment work is manually performed. There was a problem such as requiring Further, the partition plate of the magazine needs to have a width of 2 mm or more, and there is a drawback that the size of the apparatus becomes large when the number of media stored in the magazine is large.

Further, as described above, since the rollers in the transport unit are driven by the DC motor, when the medium is taken into the transport unit, the rollers are stopped at the position where the sensors S1 and S2 detect the medium. However, the DC motor moves to some extent due to inertia, making it difficult to accurately position the medium. To control this,
For example, a strong brake or a means for controlling the speed at the time of moving the medium is required, but the provision of such means has a problem of increasing the cost of the apparatus.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a first object of the present invention is to provide an autochanger device capable of downsizing the device. . A second object of the present invention is to provide an automatic changer device capable of surely taking in and out a medium without adjusting the positions of the transport unit and the magazine.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an automatic changer device capable of positioning a transport unit and a medium in the transport unit with a simple mechanism. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an automatic changer device capable of accurately positioning a medium in a transport unit even if an inexpensive motor such as a DC motor is used as a roller driving motor of the transport unit. is there.

[0026]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an autochanger device, 2
Is a magazine that stores the medium 5, 2a is a partition plate between the media 5, 3 is a drive that reads / writes the medium 5, 4 is the medium 5 that is loaded from the magazine 2 and set in the drive 3, and the medium 5 is loaded from the drive A transport unit for returning to the magazine 2, 4a is a take-in arm for gripping the medium, 4b is a roller for feeding the medium attached to the carry unit 4 [FIG. 1 (b)], 4c is a tilt detecting means for detecting the tilt of the take-in arm, S1 and S2 are sensors for detecting the presence or absence of the medium 5 [FIG. 1 (b)], and the sensor S
1 and S2 are provided in the vicinity of both end positions of the medium 5 positioned in the transport unit 4.

Reference numeral 6 is a transport unit drive section, 7 is a worm shaft, 8 is a transport motor for moving the transport unit 4, and the transport unit drive section 6, the worm shaft 7 and the transport motor 8 constitute transport unit transfer means. The transfer unit 4 is attached to the transfer unit transfer means so that the transfer arm 4a can be moved in that direction when a force is applied to the transfer arm 4a in the moving direction of the transfer unit 4. Further, 9 is a control means for controlling the autochanger device 1.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1A, includes a magazine 2 storing a plurality of media 5, and a drive 3 for reading / writing the media. A transport unit 4 for holding the medium 5 by the take-in arm 4a, taking the medium 5 in and out of the magazine 2, setting the medium 5 in the drive 3, and taking in the medium 5 from the drive 3; When a force is applied to the moving direction of the transport unit 4a, the transport unit 4 is attached so that the take-in arm 4a can move in that direction, and the transport unit transport means transports the transport unit 4 to each medium position of the magazine 2. 6,
7, 8 and control means 9 for controlling the transport unit transfer means 6, 7, 8 for positioning the transport unit 4 at each medium storage position of the magazine 2 and for controlling the loading / unloading of the medium 5 by the transport unit 4. In the provided autochanger device, when the transport unit 4 inserts and removes the medium 5 in and from the magazine 2, the take-in arm 4a is inserted into the magazine 2 and then the medium 5 is taken in and out.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, arm inclination detecting means 4c for detecting the inclination of the take-in arm 4a of the transport unit 4 is provided, and the control means 9 is provided with the arm inclination detecting means 4c. When the inclination of the take-in arm 4a is detected, the transport unit transfer means 6, 7, 8 are driven to correct the position of the transport unit 4.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, a spring is provided between the transport unit 4 and the transport unit transfer means 6, 7, 8. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1B, a magazine 2 for storing a medium, a drive 3 for reading / writing the medium, and a roller 4b for taking in the medium 5 from the magazine 2 or the drive 3b. And the first and second sensors S1 and S2 which are provided near both ends of the loaded medium 5 and detect the presence or absence of the medium 5, and load and transport the medium from the magazine 2 or the drive 3. The transport unit 4 and the first provided on the transport unit 4.
And the roller 4 based on the outputs of the second sensors S1 and S2.
In the automatic changer device including the control means 9 for controlling the driving of the medium b in the transport unit 4 to position the medium 5 in the transport unit 4, the control means 9 drives the roller 4b to perform the first movement.
By moving the medium 5 a predetermined number of times until both the second sensors S1 and S2 detect the presence of the medium 5,
The medium 5 in the transport unit 4 is configured to be positioned.

[0031]

In FIG. 1A, when the worm shaft 7 driven by the carry motor 8 rotates, the carry unit 4 moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure. When the medium of the drive 3 is exchanged, the transport unit 4 takes out the medium 5 from the drive 3 and returns it to the magazine 2, takes out the new medium 5 from the magazine 2 and sets it in the drive 3.

The transport unit 4 is movably attached to the transport unit drive unit 6 via a spring or the like, and when a force is applied to the take-in arm 4a of the carry unit 4, the take-in arm 4a tilts in that direction. Further, when the transport unit 4 takes in and out the medium 5 of the magazine 2, the take-in arm 4a is first inserted into the magazine, and then the medium is taken in and out.

Therefore, when the position of the transport unit 4 is deviated from the medium storage position of the magazine 2, when the take-in arm 4a is inserted into the magazine 2, the take-up arm 4a tilts toward the medium 5 and the transport unit 4 moves. The shift between the position and the medium storage position can be absorbed. Further, the transport unit 4 is provided with a tilting unit 4c for detecting the tilt of the take-in arm, and when the tilting unit 4c detects the tilt, the position of the transport unit 4 is corrected to determine the position of the transport unit 4 and the medium storage position. Can be corrected.

In FIG. 1B, the transport unit 4 moves the medium 5 taken in from the magazine 2 or the drive 3 by the roller 4b to take it into a predetermined position in the transport unit 4, and carries it to the drive 3 or the magazine 2. The sensors S1 and S2 provided in the transport unit 4 output the presence or absence of the medium 5 to the control means 9 when the medium 5 is taken into the transport unit 4. The controller 9 drives the roller 4b a predetermined number of times to move the medium 5 and position the medium until the sensors S1 and S2 both detect the presence of the medium 5.

In the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, the transport unit 4 is movably attached to the transport unit drive section 6, and the take-in arm 4 is also provided.
Since the medium 5 is inserted / removed after the a is inserted into the magazine 2, even if the position of the transport unit 4 deviates from the medium storage position of the magazine 2, the position of the transport unit 4 and the medium storage position are The gap can be absorbed.

Therefore, the medium can be taken in and out of the magazine without strictly adjusting the stop position of the transport unit 4 and the storage position of each medium in the magazine 2. Further, the width of the partition plate 2a of the magazine 2 can be reduced, and the magazine can be reduced even when the number of media is large. Therefore, the autochanger device can be downsized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, an inclination means 4c for detecting the inclination of the take-in arm is provided, and when the inclination means 4c detects the inclination, the position of the transport unit 4 is set. Since I am trying to correct it,
In addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, even if there is a large deviation between the position of the transport unit 4 and the medium storage position of the magazine 2, the positional shift of the transport unit 4 can be corrected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, since the transport unit 4 and the transport unit drive section 6 are movably attached via a spring, the transport unit 4 It is possible to easily absorb the deviation between the position of and the medium storage position. Claim 4 of the present invention
In the present invention, as described above, the roller 4b is rotated a predetermined number of times until both the sensors S1 and S2 detect the presence of the medium 5.
Since the medium is driven to move the medium 5 and position the medium, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the medium and a DC
By using an inexpensive motor such as a motor, the medium in the transport unit can be accurately positioned by simple control. Also, since the positioning accuracy can be improved,
It is not necessary to design the width of the transport unit to be large considering the positioning error of the medium, and the transport unit can be downsized.

[0039]

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a carrying unit of this embodiment takes a medium in and out of a magazine. ) Shows a view of the magazine and the transport unit as seen from above, and FIG. 8B shows a view as seen from the side.

In the figure, 12 is a magazine for storing the medium, 12a is a partition plate provided between the media, and the inclined portion 121 is provided at the front edge of the partition plate 12a as shown in the figure.
Is provided so that even if the position of the take-in arm 141 is slightly laterally displaced, the take-in arm 141 is inserted into the magazine along the inclined portion 121. The width of the partition plate 12a is smaller than the width of the partition plate shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 110 is a medium, and 13 is a transport unit. In the figure, only the schematic configuration of the transport unit is shown, and the detailed configuration is omitted. In the transport unit 13, 132 is a roller that feeds a medium, 141 is a take-in arm, and the leading end of the take-in arm 141 is formed thin as shown in FIG.
1 can be inserted into the magazine along the inclined portion 121.

In the figure, a pair of rollers 13
Although only two are shown, two pairs of rollers are provided as shown in FIG. 11 when feeding the medium in both directions of the transport unit as described above. Further, as the transport unit 13, for example, a transport unit having the configuration shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 may be used, but a transport unit having another configuration may be used, and the magazine and the drive are different from the transport unit. When the medium is provided in the same direction, the medium may be fed in only one direction, and only a pair of rollers may be used.

Reference numeral 104 is a worm shaft for moving the transport unit, and 133 is a transport unit drive unit provided with a gear that engages with the worm shaft 104. In the present embodiment,
The transport unit drive section 133 and the main body of the transport unit 13 are coupled by a spring 133a, and the main body of the transport unit 13 is configured to be slightly movable with respect to the transport unit drive section 133. Alternatively, the spring 133a may not be provided, and a play may be provided between the transport unit driving unit 133 and the transport unit 13 main body so that the transport unit 13 main body can be slightly moved with respect to the transport unit driving unit 133. In addition, the transport unit drive unit 133 and the transport unit 1
3 may be fixed, and play may be provided between the transport unit drive unit 133 and the worm shaft 104.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the procedure for loading / unloading the medium into / from the magazine in the above-mentioned embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the movement of the arm when the medium is returned to the magazine, and this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. When taking out the medium from the magazine, as shown in FIG.
In step S1, the transport unit 13 is set to the magazine 1
2 to the target medium position in step 2, and step S2
At, the take-out arm 141 is taken out to grab the medium.

In step S3, the medium is taken into the carrying unit by the rollers 132 of the carrying unit 13, and the taking-in of the medium is completed. When returning the medium to the magazine, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4, the transport unit 13 is moved to the medium storage position in the magazine, and then the take-in arm 141 of the transport unit 13 is moved in step S1. Put it in the magazine [see FIG. 4 (a)].

In step S2, the medium 110 is returned to the magazine by the rollers 132 (see FIG. 4B). In step S3, the take-up arm 141 is temporarily returned [see FIG. 4 (c)], the take-up arm 141 is engaged with the concave portion of the medium, and the medium 110 is pushed again [FIG.
(See (d)], the return of the medium is completed. In the present embodiment, as described above, a spring or play is provided between the main body of the transport unit 13 and the transport unit drive section 133 so that the main body of the transport unit 13 can be slightly moved with respect to the transport unit drive section 133. Everything from magazine 12 to medium 1
When the medium 10 is taken out or the medium 110 is returned to the magazine 12, the take-up arm 141 is first taken out and inserted into the magazine. Therefore, the position of the transport unit 13 is slightly deviated from the medium storage position of the magazine 12. Even
The take-in arm 141 can be inserted into the magazine along the inclined portion 121 of the partition plate 12a.

Therefore, the medium can be taken in and out of the magazine without strictly adjusting the stop position of the transport unit 13 and the storage position of each medium in the magazine. Further, the width of the partition plate of the magazine 12 can be reduced, and the size of the magazine can be reduced even when the number of media is large. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, 13 is a transport unit, 141 is a take-up arm, 104 is a worm shaft, and 133 is a transport unit drive section, which are shown in FIG. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. Although the magazine 12 is omitted in the figure, the magazine 12 shown in FIG. 2 is also used in this embodiment.
A magazine similar to is used. Note that the detailed configuration of the transport unit 13 is also omitted in FIG.

Reference numeral 133a is a spring provided between the transport unit drive section 133 and the transport unit 13, and the transport unit 13 and the transport unit drive section 133 are connected by a shaft 13a provided in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The take-in arm 141 of the transport unit 13 is rotatable in the direction of the arrow in the figure with the shaft 13a as the fulcrum of rotation. Reference numeral 13b is a tilt detection sensor that detects the tilt of the arm, and the output of the tilt detection sensor 13b is input to the control device of the autochanger device.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the procedure for taking in the medium to the carrying unit in the present embodiment. In step S1, the carrying unit 13 is moved to the target medium position in the magazine 12, and in step S2, the taking-in arm 141. Put in the magazine. In step S3, the tilt of the take-in arm 141 is determined by the output of the tilt detection sensor 13b. When the take-in arm 141 is tilted, in step S6, the carry motor 204 that moves the carry unit 13 is moved.
(See FIG. 9 described above) is rotated to take up the intake arm 14
The inclination of 1 is corrected, and the process returns to step S3. When the inclination of the take-in arm 141 is corrected, the taking-out of the take-up arm 141 is completed in step S4, and in step S5, the medium is grasped by the take-up arm 141, taken into the transport unit 13, and the medium take-in is completed.

In the present embodiment, the intake arm 14
1 is configured to be rotatable about a shaft 13a as a fulcrum, and an inclination detection sensor 1 for detecting the inclination of the take-in arm
3b is provided, and the position of the transport unit 13 is adjusted by the inclination of the take-in arm 141 when the arm is taken out in the magazine. Therefore, only a simple mechanism is added to the transport unit 13, so that the first embodiment Similar to transport unit 1
The medium can be taken in and out of the magazine without strictly adjusting the stop position of 3 and the storage position of each medium of the magazine.

By the way, in the carrying unit shown in FIG. 11, the sensors S1 and S2 are provided in the carrying unit,
The position of the medium taken into the transport unit is detected by the sensors S1 and S2, and the DC motor that drives the roller is stopped to position the medium. However, as described above, even if the roller is stopped at the position where the sensors S1 and S2 detect the medium, the DC motor moves due to inertia to some extent, and it is difficult to accurately position the medium.

The third embodiment shown below is an embodiment for solving the above-mentioned problems. In this embodiment, the medium is accurately positioned in the transport unit without providing a special mechanism. An example is shown. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a medium positioning operation in the transport unit according to the present embodiment,
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of this embodiment. In FIG. 7, 13 is a transport unit, S1 and S2 are sensors for detecting the medium position, and 110 is a medium. Further, in the present embodiment, a counter for medium position correction (not shown) is provided on the control board 32 shown in FIG. 10, and the medium positioning is controlled by the counter for medium position correction.

Next, this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In step S1 of FIG. 8, a specified number of times is set in the medium position correction counter, and in step S2,
Whether or not there is a medium in the rear sensor (sensor S2 in FIG. 7) is determined. If there is no medium [state in FIG. 7 (b)], the process proceeds to step S5, where the medium position is corrected (the medium is returned,
(See FIG. 7). If it is determined in step S2 that there is a medium, the process proceeds to step S3 to determine whether or not there is a medium in the front sensor (sensor S1 in FIG. 7). a)], the medium position is corrected (the medium is fed, see FIG. 7) in step S6.

When it is determined in step S3 that the medium is in the front sensor [state of FIG. 7 (c)], the process proceeds to step S4, the correction counter is cleared, and the process ends.
If the medium position is corrected (returned) in step S5, the process goes to step S7, the medium position correction counter is decremented by 1, and it is determined in step S8 whether the correction counter is 0 or not. Returns to step S2.

When the medium position is corrected (sent) in step S6, the same as in the above step S6.
7 and decrement the medium position correction counter by 1 to step S8
It is determined whether the correction counter is 0 or not. If it is not 0, the process returns to step S2. The above processing is repeated until the medium position correction counter reaches 0, and when the content of the correction counter becomes 0, it is determined in steps S9 and S10 whether or not there is a medium in the rear sensor and the front sensor, and the rear sensor If there is a medium in both the front sensor and the front sensor [state in FIG. 7 (c)], the process ends. Further, even if the value of the medium position correction counter becomes 0, if there is a medium only in the rear sensor or the front sensor [state of FIG. 7 (a) or (b)], the process proceeds to step S11 and a hardware error occurs. To end. As described above, in this embodiment, the medium is detected by the rear sensor and the front sensor, and the medium returning operation and the medium return operation are performed until the medium is set in the fixed position within the number of times set in the medium position correction counter. Since the feeding operation is performed, a sensor that detects the presence or absence of the medium,
An inexpensive motor such as a DC motor can be used to accurately position the medium in the transport unit. For this reason,
It is not necessary to design the width of the transport unit to be large considering the positioning error of the medium, and the transport unit can be downsized.

[0056]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention.
In the inventions (1) to (3), the transport unit 4 is movably attached to the transport unit drive unit 6, and the medium is taken in and out after the take-in arm is inserted into the magazine. Even if the medium storage position is displaced, the displacement between the transport unit position and the medium storage position can be absorbed. For this reason,
The medium can be taken in and out of the magazine without strictly adjusting the stop position of the transport unit and the storage position of each medium in the magazine. Furthermore, the width of the partition plate of the magazine can be narrowed, and the magazine can be made small even when the number of media is large. Therefore, the autochanger device can be downsized.

Further, the tilting means for detecting the tilt of the take-in arm is provided, and when the tilting means detects the tilt, the position of the carrying unit is corrected, so that the deviation between the position of the carrying unit and the medium storage position of the magazine is large. However, it is possible to correct the positional deviation of the transport unit. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the rollers are driven a predetermined number of times to move the medium to position the medium until the sensors provided before and after the transport unit detect the presence of the medium. A sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the medium and an inexpensive motor such as a DC motor can be used to accurately control the medium in the transport unit without providing a brake or a means for controlling the speed at the time of moving the medium. Can be positioned. Therefore, it is not necessary to design the width of the transport unit to be large considering the positioning error of the medium, the transport unit can be downsized, and the autochanger device can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for loading and unloading a medium in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a medium returning operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for loading a medium in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a medium positioning operation in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an autochanger device which is a premise of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an autochanger device which is a premise of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transport unit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a load unit of the transport unit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a relationship between a clutch unit, an arm, and a pushing arm.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,100 Autochanger device 2,12 Magazine 2a 12a Partition plate 3,101 Drive 5 110 Medium 4,13 Transport unit 4a, 141 Intake arm 4b, 132 Roller 4c Inclination detection means S1, S2 Sensor 6,133 Transport unit drive unit 7 , 104 Worm shaft 8,204 Conveyor motor 9 Control means 13a Shaft 13b Tilt detection sensor 133a Spring

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A magazine (2) containing a plurality of media (5)
The drive (3) that reads / writes the medium, and the medium (5) that holds the medium (5) with the take-in arm (4a), moves the medium (5) into and out of the magazine (2), and drives the drive (3). When a force in the moving direction of the transport unit (4) is applied to the transport unit (4) that sets the medium (5) to the medium and loads the medium (5) from the drive (3), and the loading arm (4a). , Transport unit transfer means (6,7,8) for transporting the transport unit (4) to each medium position of the magazine (2), with the transport unit (4) attached so that the take-in arm (4a) can move in that direction. And the transport unit transfer means (6,7,8) are controlled.
The transport unit (4) is provided with the control unit (9) for positioning the medium (4) at each medium storage position of the magazine (2) and controlling the loading and unloading of the medium (5) by the transport unit (4). When loading / unloading the medium (5) in (2), the transfer unit (4) is controlled so that the loading arm (4a) is inserted into the magazine (2) and then the medium (5) is loaded / unloaded. Auto changer device. 2. The take-in arm (4a) of the transfer unit (4)
The arm inclination detecting means (4c) for detecting the inclination of the
When the inclination of a) is detected, the transport unit transfer means (6, 7,
8. The automatic changer device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the transport unit (4) is corrected by driving 8). 3. The autochanger device according to claim 1, wherein a spring is provided between the transport unit (4) and the transport unit transfer means (6, 7, 8). 4. A magazine (2) for storing the medium, a drive (3) for reading / writing the medium, a roller (4b) for taking in the medium (5) from the magazine (2) or the drive (3), and taking in the medium. It is provided near both ends of the medium (5) and has first and second sensors (S1, S2) for detecting the presence or absence of the medium (5), and the magazine (2) or drive (3) A transport unit (4) for taking in and transporting a medium, and first and second sensors provided in the transport unit (4)
Control means for controlling the drive of the roller (4b) based on the output of (S1, S2) to position the medium (5) in the transport unit (4)
(9) The control means (9) drives the roller (4b), and the first and second sensors (S1, S2) both detect the presence of the medium (5) a predetermined number of times. The automatic changer device is characterized in that the medium (5) is positioned in the transport unit (4) by moving the medium (5).