JPH08195014A - Assembled information recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the number of parts and to make a mechanism simple without applying any load on a carrier driving system. CONSTITUTION: During pulling-out of an optical disk cartridge 5 from a housing, a hand 11 is closed so as to position a hook 31 in the tip of the hand 11 in a place opposite a cartridge stopper 7, by advancing this the engagement of the cartridge stopper 7 with the cartridge 5 is released and the cartridge 5 is grasped by the hook 31. Conversely, during inserting of the cartridge, a cartridge side end 9 is pushed by the contact slope 33 of the hand tip. During each of pulling-out and inserting, stop position control is performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to transporting a cartridge in a collective information recording apparatus which can be equipped with a large number of cartridges containing an information recording medium such as an optical disk in order to store a large amount of information. Regarding mating / unmating technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A collective type optical disk device temporarily stores a specified optical disk in a box called an accessor from an optical disk storage according to a command from a host system.
A drive for recording and reproducing on an optical disc is carried and loaded, and information is recorded or reproduced on the optical disc medium.
After the operation of the drive is completed, the accessor receives the optical disk cartridge from the drive, conveys the optical disk cartridge to the designated position in the cartridge storage, and stores it. The collective optical disk device automatically performs this series of operations in response to a command from the host system, and it is also possible to mount a plurality of drives and operate them simultaneously.

In the collective type optical disk device having such a structure, a cartridge stopper utilizing the force of a leaf spring is used in order to prevent an accident such as the cartridge jumping out of the storage shelf and dropping during storage of the disk cartridge. It is provided. If an example of this cartridge stopper is shown, as shown in FIG. 5, a semi-circular protrusion 51 is provided at the tip of the leaf spring, and it is constantly pressed against the side surface of the cartridge to prevent the cartridge from popping out. Take the method of doing. However, this method merely holds the cartridge in the storage shelf by the frictional force due to the biasing force of the leaf spring, and cannot withstand strong vibrations and shocks. on the other hand,
If the biasing force of the leaf spring is increased to prevent falling, the load on the drive system will increase when the cartridge is inserted and removed.
The mechanical consumption of the motor and the driving force transmission system is accelerated.

As a countermeasure against this, for example, JP-A-63-83
There is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 949. This technique includes a case for storing a cartridge, a cartridge stopper for preventing the cartridge stored in the case from popping out, a hand mechanism having a hand for holding and conveying the cartridge, and a front and rear of the hand mechanism. A hand frame provided with a rail for movement, a guide provided on the hand frame, and a lever guided by the guide to release the cartridge stopper before the cartridge stopper comes into contact when the cartridge is taken in and out. And a spring spring provided between the lever and the hand frame for holding the position of the lever when the cartridge stopper is released.

[0005]

In this prior art, in order to avoid the load on the drive system at the time of inserting / removing the cartridge, the stopper is temporarily released at the time of pulling out / inserting the cartridge, so that the lock of the cartridge stopper is released. A mechanism for holding the cartridge and a mechanism for holding and inserting the cartridge are separately required. Therefore, the structure is complicated, the reliability is poor, and the cost is considerably high. In view of the background described above, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts and simplify the mechanism by releasing the stopper with the same member as the cartridge gripping mechanism for insertion and removal, and also to give a load to the drive system. It is to provide an insertion / extraction mechanism that does not happen.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a collective information recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a cartridge housing comprising a plurality of cartridge housings for housing a cartridge containing an information recording medium, and the above information. A reader / writer that reads and / or writes a recording medium, and a cartridge transport mechanism that accommodates the cartridge and transports the cartridge between the cartridge storage and the reader / writer, the cartridge transport mechanism comprising: A cartridge withdrawing mechanism that accommodates the cartridge from either the cartridge storage or the reader / writer; a cartridge insertion mechanism that inserts the cartridge into either the cartridge storage or the reader / writer; the cartridge storage and the reader / writer; And a transport drive unit for moving between The cartridge has a groove on the exterior side thereof. Further, each cartridge housing portion has a cartridge stopper that engages with the groove portion of each cartridge by an urging force to lock the cartridge and has a gap between the cartridge exterior side portion. On the other hand, the cartridge withdrawing mechanism is composed of a pair of hands and a hand moving mechanism for moving the hand forward and backward with respect to the cartridge. Each of the pair of hands has a hook at the tip thereof. The hand stopper is provided so as to be rotatable upward and to face each other inwardly and to be biased inwardly so that its tip end stops at a position facing the gap. The hook at the tip of the hand has an engagement slope formed at its inner rear end. In the collective information recording apparatus of the present invention, when the cartridge is pulled out, the above-mentioned members resist the urging force by advancing the hand toward the cartridge by the hand moving mechanism and inserting the hook tip into the gap. After disengaging the cartridge stopper from the groove to engage the engaging slope with the groove, the hand moving mechanism retracts the hand to accommodate the cartridge in the cartridge transport mechanism.

Further, the collective information recording apparatus of the present invention is the above collective information recording apparatus, wherein the hook has an abutting slope at the inner tip thereof. When the cartridge is inserted, the hand moving mechanism advances the hand toward the cartridge storage portion or the reader / writer to bring the contact slope into contact with the cartridge side end portion while the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge storage portion. Alternatively, it is configured to be pushed into the reader / writer.

Further, the collective information recording apparatus of the present invention is the collective information recording apparatus having a contact slant surface at the above-mentioned hand tip, wherein the hand moving mechanism is configured such that the groove portion of the cartridge and the cartridge stopper are in progress during the advance thereof. And a stop control device for stopping the forward movement of the hand moving mechanism at a position related to the detection.

[0009]

In the collective information recording apparatus of the present invention, the cartridge exists in each of the cartridge housings of the cartridge housing with the groove thereof being locked by the cartridge stopper. There is a gap between the tip of the cartridge stopper and the outer side surface of the cartridge.
On the other hand, the pair of hands are provided in contact with the hand stopper so that the tips of the pair of hands are inwardly biased toward each other and are stopped at positions facing the gap. When the hand is moved forward by the hand transfer mechanism, the hook tip of the hand breaks into the gap,
This pushes the cartridge stopper outward. In order to further advance the hand, the hook portion slidably moves the outer end portion of the cartridge and fits in the groove portion.
When the hand is moved backward by the hand moving mechanism in this state, the cartridge is engaged with the engaging slope of the rear end of the hook and drawn into the cartridge transport mechanism.

At the time of inserting the cartridge, when the hand moving mechanism advances the hand toward the cartridge housing portion or the reader / writer, the hook at the tip of the hand is
Since the inner end has an abutment slope, the abutment slope is brought into contact with the cartridge side end while the cartridge is pushed into the cartridge storage section or the reader / writer.
The cartridge moves forward while pushing the cartridge stopper outward and is stored in the storage portion. When the cartridge reaches a predetermined storage position, the stop position detection device detects it, and the stop control device operates to stop the advance of the hand movement mechanism.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A detailed description will be given below of a collective type optical disc apparatus which is one embodiment of the collective type information recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of the collective optical disc apparatus of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing details of a cartridge carrying mechanism, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a cartridge inserting / removing operation, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an optical disk drive that is an example of a reader / writer and a cartridge that incorporates an optical disk that is an example of an information recording medium.

First, FIG. 4 shows a characteristic portion of the cartridge 5 used in the collective optical disc apparatus of this embodiment and the optical disc drive 3 for recording and reproducing information on the optical disc medium 51 accommodated in the cartridge 5.
Will be described with reference to. Generally, an optical disc medium 51 capable of recording and reproducing a large amount of data is housed in a cartridge 5 in order to prevent the medium surface from being damaged, and the cartridge 5 is loaded into a cartridge insertion slot 30 of a disc drive 3. Then, the shutter 52 of the cartridge 5 is opened and the optical disk medium 51 is moved to the disk drive 3
The optical disk medium 51 is rotated in the vicinity of the inner optical head to perform recording and reproduction. The cartridge 5 is provided with concave groove portions 8 on both side surfaces for holding when the cartridge 5 is inserted into or removed from the storage case 2 or the disk drive 3.

Next, an outline of the configuration and operation of the entire collective type optical disk device in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Referring to FIG. 1, in this collective type optical disc apparatus 1, a cartridge storage 2 capable of storing a plurality of cartridges 5 and a disc drive 3 for recording and reproducing on an optical disc medium 51 are arranged in the same row. Then, the cartridge 5 can be transported between these. The cartridge storage 2 is provided with a cartridge storage shelf 6 for storing a plurality of cartridges 5. As shown in the drawing, leaf springs punched in a comb shape are screwed to both side surfaces of the cartridge storage 2, and a cartridge stopper 7 is attached to each tip thereof.
Is attached to the groove portion 8 of the cartridge 5 by the elasticity of the leaf spring so as to prevent the optical disk cartridge from jumping out and dropping.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the cartridge transporting mechanism 4 which stores and holds the cartridge 5 between the cartridge storage 2 and the disk drive 3 is provided with a cartridge extracting mechanism and a cartridge inserting mechanism. The accessor 21 is fastened to the ball screw shaft 22 and the guide shaft 24, and is driven by the power of the motor 23. In the accessor 21, a drive system is constituted by a motor 20, a ball screw shaft 18, a guide shaft 19 and the like provided at the lower part of the insertion / removal mechanism supporting portion 25, and for holding the cartridge 5 on the hand mechanism supporting portion 12. A pair of hands 11 is provided. The hand mechanism support 12 is driven by the power of the motor 20.

Returning to FIG. 1, the basic operation of the cartridge transport mechanism 4 is executed by an instruction from a host system (not shown), and the designated cartridge 5 is taken out from the cartridge storage 2 and transported to the disk drive 3 to be carried. To load. When the recording and reproducing of information in the disc drive 3 are completed, the optical disc cartridge 5 is received from the disc drive 3, conveyed and stored in the designated storage rack 6 of the cartridge storage 2. In the case where a plurality of disk drives 3 are mounted, this series of operations may be configured such that even if one disk drive 3 is recording or reproducing, the cartridge can be transported to another drive 3. Good.

Referring to FIG. 2, a detailed structure around the accessor 21 and the hand 11 is shown. In this figure, an accessor 21 includes a hand mechanism supporting portion 12, a motor 20, and a ball screw shaft 1 which constitute the above-mentioned drive system.
8 and the guide shaft 19 are attached to the insertion / removal mechanism supporting portion 25, and further, on the bottom surface of the accessor 21,
A return flag 55, an insertion stop flag 56, and a withdrawal stop flag 5 for detecting each stop position of the hand mechanism support portion 12.
7 are attached in a line. Further, a position detector 58 for detecting the above-mentioned flags 55, 56, 57 is attached to the hand mechanism support portion 12. When the hand mechanism support 12 and the hand 11 move, the position detector 58 detects the respective flags and controls the motor 20.

The details around the hand mechanism portion will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5 as well. First, in FIG. 3, the hand 1
1 is rotatably fitted to a rotary shaft 16 fixed to the hand mechanism support 12. A spring 15 is stretched between a pin 13 provided on the hand 11 and a pin 14 fixed to the hand mechanism supporting portion 12, and the hand 11 is biased inward by the force of the spring, and the hand mechanism supporting portion 12 It is in contact with the hand stopper 17 provided on the. Further, a hook 31 (FIG. 5) is provided at the tip of the hand 11, an engaging slope 32 for engaging with the groove 8 of the cartridge 5 is provided at the inner rear end thereof, and an exterior of the cartridge 5 is provided at the inner tip. A contact slope 33 is formed which contacts the side end 9.

Finally, the operation relating to the insertion / removal of the optical disk cartridge 5 around the cartridge storage 2 and the hand 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) (b) (c). In these figures, the cartridge 5
Although only one side of each of the hands 11 and 11 is displayed, actually, the hands 11 are similar to each other and exist in symmetrical positions to form a pair.

First, the operation of inserting the optical disk cartridge 5 into the cartridge storage 2 (see FIG. 1) will be described. At this time, the hand mechanism support portion 12 moves from the position of the return flag 55 to the position of the insertion stop flag 56 shown in FIG. 3B as shown in FIG. The operation returns to the position shown in a). FIG.
At the return stop position shown in (a), the contact slope 33 (FIG. 5) at the tip of the hand 11 is close to the exterior side end 9 which is the front corner of the cartridge 5, and the hand mechanism support 12
When the hand 11 moves forward by the motor 20, the cartridge 5 moves forward while being pressed against the contact slope 33 of the hand 11. When the tip portion of the cartridge 5 reaches the cartridge storage case 2, it comes into contact with the cartridge stopper 7 and further advances it while spreading it. In the cartridge 5, the position detector 58 detects the insertion stop flag 56 and stops at a position slightly advanced after the groove 8 reaches the position of the cartridge stopper 7 and the stopper 7 is fitted (FIG. 3B. )).

Next, the hand 11 is retracted, and the cartridge 5 is securely held on the cartridge storage shelf 6 by the cartridge stopper 7. The hand mechanism support portion 12 and the hand 11 retreat without holding the cartridge 5, the position detector 58 detects the return flag 55, and stops there (when the cartridge 5 is not present in FIG. 3A). ).

Next, the operation of pulling out the optical disk cartridge 5 from the cartridge storage 2 will be described. At this time, the hand mechanism support portion 12 moves from the position of the return flag 55 (however, the cartridge 5 does not exist) as shown in FIG. 3A to the position of the pull-out stop flag 57 as shown in FIG. 3C. Then, the cartridge 5 is gripped, retracted, and returned to the position of the return flag 55 as shown in FIG.

When the hand mechanism supporting portion 12 and the hand 11 advance from the return position (however, the cartridge 5 does not exist) in FIG. 3A and reach the cartridge storage shelf 2 (FIG. 1), first, the hand 11 moves. Cartridge 5 at the tip
It contacts the side end 9 of the vehicle and moves forward while riding. The hand 11 moves forward while further expanding the cartridge stopper 7, and the position detector 58 stops pulling out at a position slightly advanced after the hook 31 portion (FIG. 5) of the hand 11 is fitted into the groove portion 8 of the cartridge 5. The flag 57 is detected and stopped. After that, the pair of hands 11 engage the engaging slopes 33 with the groove portions 8 respectively and retreat while holding the cartridge 5. When retracting, first, the front end of the cartridge 5 is a return stopper 59 provided on the bottom surface of the accessor 21.
(FIG. 2), the cartridge 5 stops. Further, the hand mechanism supporting portion 12 and the hand 11 are retracted, the hook 31 of the hand 11 is pulled out from the groove portion 8 of the cartridge 5, and the side end portion 9 of the cartridge 5 is slightly touched by the contact slope 33 of the hand 11. At the retracted position, the position detector 58 detects the return flag 55 and stops (FIG. 3).
(See (a)).

In this embodiment, the hand mechanism supporting portion 12 and the hand 11 are slightly moved forward or backward to detect the flag. That is, the cartridge stopper 7 and the groove portion 8 of the hand 11 at each point. The reason for this is that the fitting with and is surely performed without being affected by variations in parts.

Although the present embodiment is as described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the configuration can be changed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the drive system using the ball screw shaft used in the cartridge transport mechanism 4 and the accessor 21 is an example,
Various linear drive means such as belt drive using two shafts and belt drive using a spline shaft can be used. Further, the flag detecting means for the stop position control is also an example, and since the position control is possible even if the drive motor 20 having the rotation pulse generator built therein is used, the flag detecting means is unnecessary in this case. Becomes

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, in the collective information processing apparatus of the present invention, the engagement of the cartridge stopper with respect to the cartridge is performed only when the cartridge is taken in and out of the storage, and the insertion / removal operation is performed. Therefore, even if the urging force of the cartridge stopper in the normal state is weak, there is an effect of preventing the cartridge from dropping. This makes it possible to reduce the load on the transport drive system. Moreover, since the stopper releasing operation and the cartridge holding operation can be performed with a pair of hands,
According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and simplify the mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a collective optical disc device which is an embodiment of the collective information recording device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an accessor of this embodiment including a cartridge pull-out mechanism and a cartridge insertion mechanism.

FIG. 3A is an explanatory view of a state when the hand moving mechanism support portion is at the return stop position in the cartridge transport mechanism of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3B is the hand movement mechanism support portion at the insertion stop position. And (c) is a state explanatory view when the hand moving mechanism support portion is at the pulling-out stop position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an outer appearance of an optical disk drive that is an example of a reader / writer according to the present invention and a cartridge that incorporates an optical disk that is an example of an information recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of a cartridge stopper and a hand.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional cartridge storage shelf.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Collective Optical Disk Device 2 Cartridge Storage 3 Optical Disk Drive 4 Cartridge Transport Mechanism 5 Cartridge 6 Cartridge Storage Shelf 7 Cartridge Stopper 8 Groove 10 Gap 11 Hand 31 Hook 32 Engagement Slope 33 Abutment Slope

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge housing comprising a plurality of cartridge housings for housing a cartridge containing an information recording medium, a reader / writer for reading and / or writing the information recording medium, and a housing for accommodating the cartridge. A collective information recording device comprising a cartridge transport mechanism for transporting between a cartridge storage and a reader / writer, wherein the cartridge transport mechanism stores the cartridge from either the cartridge storage or the reader / writer. An exterior of the cartridge, which includes a pull-out mechanism, a cartridge insertion mechanism that inserts the cartridge into either the cartridge storage or the reader / writer, and a transport drive unit that moves between the cartridge storage and the reader / writer. Grooves are formed on the side, The cartridge storage portion has a cartridge stopper that engages with the groove portion of each cartridge by an urging force and locks the cartridge while maintaining a gap between the cartridge exterior side portion and the cartridge withdrawing mechanism. It consists of a pair of gripping hands and a hand moving mechanism that moves the hand forward and backward with respect to the cartridge. Each of the pair of hands has a hook at its tip and is rotatable on the hand moving mechanism. Are provided so as to abut on the hand stopper so as to stop at a position where the hook tip faces the gap by being biased inwardly and facing each other. When the cartridge is pulled out, the hand moving mechanism advances the hand toward the cartridge and hooks are formed. By inserting the end into the gap, the engagement of the cartridge stopper with the groove is released against the biasing force to engage the engaging slope with the groove, and then the hand moving mechanism retracts the hand. A collective information recording device, wherein the cartridge is configured to be housed in a cartridge transport mechanism. 2. The collective information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hook has an abutting slope formed on an inner front end thereof, and the hand moving mechanism directs the hand to the cartridge storage portion or the reader / writer when the cartridge is inserted. A collective type information recording device, characterized in that the cartridge is pushed into the cartridge housing portion or the reader / writer while advancing toward the cartridge so that the contact slope is brought into contact with the end portion on the cartridge side. 3. The collective information recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the hand moving mechanism detects a position where the groove portion of the cartridge and the cartridge stopper are engaged with each other while the hand moving mechanism is moving forward. A collective information recording device comprising a stop position control device for stopping the forward movement of the hand moving mechanism at a position related to the detection.