JPH087422A - Magnetic tape library device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a device mechanism by improving a medium housing efficiency and effectively utilizing an accessor robot in a magnetic tape library device for laterally carrying a magnetic tape cartridge (medium) on a planar housing shelf. CONSTITUTION:In a medium housing unit 1, medium housing shelves 5a and 5b are disposed along the lateral carrying route of an accessor robot 3 and a medium housing shelf 5c is disposed along the reversing route of a device terminal part. Also, the device is constructed in such a manner that a hand 8 can access the vicinity of a column 7 and is provided with one row of the medium housing shelves 5a and 5b and a cartridge loading/unloading mechanism 4 mounted thereon. The locking mechanism 15 of the rotational movement of the cartridge loading/unloading mechanism 4 is operated from inside the device by means of the operation of the hand 8. Thus, while miniaturizing, making thin and simplifying the device and reducing power consumption and costs, the tape cartridge is loaded sufficiently strongly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic tape library technique, and more particularly to a technique effectively applied to the improvement of the storage efficiency of a cartridge type magnetic tape using a flat storage shelf and the simplification of a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a library device for storing a large number of cartridge type magnetic tapes, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 01-28 is known.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 5056, there is known one configured by a combination of a horizontal storage mechanism and a flat storage rack having horizontal and vertical overlaps.

[0003]

As shown in FIG. 5, a magnetic tape library apparatus having a conventional flat storage shelf and an accessor robot for horizontal transportation has a cartridge at a position excluding a dead space on the left and right of the accessor robot. Since they were arranged, there was a limit in improving the cartridge storage efficiency.

Further, the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism has the function of transferring the cartridge to / from the accessor robot.
It must be mounted on the same plane as the storage rack. For this reason, the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism requires an area corresponding to a storage rack which is about 2 to 3 times the number of loaded or ejected cartridges for mounting.

Further, since the operator operates the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism safely, the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism must be completely shut off from the transport path of the accessor robot when loading / unloading the cartridge. Therefore, an independent cartridge transport mechanism is provided between the operator and the accessor robot, or a safety cover and a lock drive mechanism for controlling the opening / closing operation are required at the transfer portion, which complicates the structure of the apparatus. It was

An object of the present invention is to improve the cartridge storage efficiency by effectively utilizing the inversion area of the accessor robot and the dead space in a magnetic tape library apparatus having a flat storage rack and a horizontal transfer accessor robot. It is to provide a magnetic tape library device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape library device in which the cartridge storage efficiency is improved by realizing a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism with high mounting efficiency.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape library device which simplifies the device and saves labor by realizing the safety lock mechanism operation of the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism by controlling the accessor robot. To provide.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in the magnetic tape library apparatus of the present invention, a storage shelf is arranged on one side of the end portion of the apparatus along the inversion path of the accessor robot, and the accessor robot is inverted. The operation of the cartridge is controlled by controlling the rotation or the stop of the operation according to the position of the storage rack.

1) The magnetic tape library device of the present invention has a structure in which the reversing operation of the accessor robot can be rotated by 180 ° or more, and a storage shelf is provided at the other end of the device along the reversing path of the accessor robot. They are arranged in one row.

Further, 2) the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism of the magnetic tape library apparatus of the present invention rotates and moves the one row of storage shelves arranged at the end portion of the apparatus about the supporting portions provided above and below. Thus, a part of it also serves as the exterior surface of the library device.

3) In the magnetic tape library apparatus of the present invention, the lock mechanism at the time of the rotational movement of the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism is moved forward / backward by using the insertion / ejection operation of the hand part of the accessor robot. The key is locked or unlocked.

[0014]

[Action]

According to the magnetic tape library device of the present invention described in 1) above, the storage shelves at the end of the device are arranged in a semicircular shape along the reversing path of the accessor robot, so that the storage shelves are planarly stored in the same size region. Since the cartridge can be stored in the semi-circular area compared to when the shelves are arranged, the storage efficiency of the cartridge is improved.

Further, according to the magnetic tape library apparatus of the present invention described in 2), in the unstored area which has been conventionally secured only as the dead space of the accessor robot,
You can place storage shelves, so you can effectively use the space,
The cartridge storage efficiency is improved.

Further, according to the magnetic tape library apparatus of the present invention described in 3), the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism is separated from the flat storage shelf, and the single-row storage shelf arranged at the end of the apparatus can be accessed. Since it has such a structure, it can be mounted without making the adjacent storage shelves an unstored area.

The improvement of the cartridge storage efficiency is particularly effective for the construction of the library device having a small storage portion.

Further, since the lock mechanism portion of the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism can control the accessor robot and lock or unlock the key by the operation of the hand portion thereof, the solenoid used in the prior art and its driving circuit and other mechanisms and No circuits are needed. As a result, the mechanism can be simplified.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A magnetic tape library device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing the main part of the magnetic tape library device of this embodiment. This device is roughly divided into two parts as follows. One is a control unit 2 including a magnetic tape control device / driving device 9, an overall control system of an accessor robot 3 (not shown), and a power supply. The other is a medium storage unit 1 including a plurality of medium storage shelves 5a to 5c, an accessor robot 3, a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism 4 for transferring a medium 18 between the apparatus and the outside, and an operation panel 10. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1 or 2, the medium storage unit 1 has a plurality of medium storage shelves 5a and 5b arranged along the horizontal transport path of the accessor robot 3, and the hand base 6 is inverted at the end of the unit. Media storage shelf 5c along the route
Has been arranged. Here, a part of the medium storage shelf 5c is
It has a triangular shape that fills the space between the media 18.

The hand base 6 of the accessor robot 3 is arranged at a position avoiding the column 7 and rotatable by 180 ° or more. In the dead space at the end of the unit by the column 7, one row of medium storage shelves 5b and 5c and the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism 4 are mounted along the reversing path of the hand base 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism 4, medium storage shelves 13a and 13b are fixed inside a box-shaped rotating base 11 and are supported by bearings 14a and 14b arranged vertically. , It rotates around this and moves inside and outside the device. A rotation sensor flag 17 is attached to the rotation base 11.

The rotation sensor 16 for detecting the storage state of the rotation base 11 allows the medium 1 by the accessor robot 3 to be detected.
It is possible to recognize whether or not it is in a position where the transfer operation of 8 is possible. A lock handle 12 is mounted on the rotation base 11, and when the rotation sensor 16 detects the stored state, the lock key 12 is temporarily locked unless an external operation is performed. Becomes Figure 2 in this state
By operating the operation panel 10 shown in FIG. 1, the accessor robot 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is controlled, the lock mechanism 15 is operated by the hand 8, and the rotation base 11 can be locked and unlocked from inside the device. There is.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the slider 19 of the lock mechanism 15 is provided with a slide groove 19b, which is guided by the slide pin 20 to guide the hand 8.
It is designed to slide on the operating axis of. The operation of the slider 19 is in two stages: keying or unlocking,
The lock pin 19c provided on the slider 19 is pushed into the lock groove 11a in the lower portion of the rotation base 11 to be in a keyed state. The combination of the positioning groove 19a provided on the slider 19 and the positioning spring 21 has a structure that guarantees the position of the lock pin 19c when keying or releasing.

A lock sensor flag 19d is mounted on the slider 19, and a lock sensor 22 for detecting the position of the slider 19 can recognize that the key-engaging operation or the key-releasing operation has been performed reliably. .

The following effects can be obtained from these embodiments. In a magnetic tape library device having a flat storage rack and a horizontal transport mechanism, the storage racks can be arranged more efficiently than before, and the cartridge storage efficiency is improved.

Since the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism has a structure in which the storage rack separated from the flat storage rack is rotationally moved, the cartridge storage / discharge mechanism can be mounted without removing the adjacent storage rack, so that the cartridge storage efficiency is improved.

The locking mechanism of the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism can be driven by an accessor robot operation, which simplifies the apparatus and saves labor.

Although the present invention has been specifically described based on the embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Absent.

[0030]

In the magnetic tape library apparatus having the flat storage rack and the horizontal transport mechanism, the storage effective space of the medium storage section is increased and the cartridge storage efficiency is improved.

When the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism is mounted, it can be mounted efficiently without spending a space corresponding to an adjacent medium storage rack, so that the cartridge storage efficiency is improved.

By substituting the lock mechanism driving section of the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism by the operation of the accessor robot, the apparatus can be simplified and the labor can be saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a magnetic tape library device according to an embodiment of the present invention as seen from above.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a magnetic tape library device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism of the magnetic tape library apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a part of a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism of the magnetic tape library apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a magnetic tape library device according to a conventional embodiment as viewed from above.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Medium storage unit, 2 ... Control unit, 3 ... Accessor robot, 4 ... Cartridge loading / unloading mechanism, 5a ... Medium storage rack,
5b ... medium storage shelf, 5c ... medium storage shelf,
6 ... hand base, 7 ... column,
8 ... Hand, 9 ... Magnetic tape control device / driving device, 10 ... Operation panel, 11 ...
Rotating base, 11a ... Lock groove, 1
2 ... Lock handle, 13a ... Medium storage shelf,
13b ... medium storage shelf, 14a ... bearing,
14b ... Bearing, 15 ... Lock mechanism,
16 ... Storage sensor, 17 ... Storage sensor flag, 18 ... Medium, 19 ... Slider,
19a ... Positioning groove, 19b ... Slide groove, 19c ... Lock pin, 19d ...
Lock sensor flag, 20 ... Slide pin, 2
1 ... Positioning spring, 22 ... Lock sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikatsu Kasahara 2880, Kozu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Computer Equipment Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A storage shelf for storing a plurality of cartridges, a magnetic tape drive device for recording and reproducing desired information to and from the cartridge, and a cartridge between the magnetic tape drive device and the storage rack. In a magnetic tape library device having an accessor robot that performs a transfer operation and a cartridge loading / unloading mechanism for transferring the cartridge to / from the outside, the storage shelf includes a portion arranged along a horizontal transfer path of the accessor robot. And a portion arranged along the reverse conveyance path of the accessor robot. 2. The magnetic tape library device according to claim 1, wherein the accessor robot has a rotation operating range of 180 ° or more, and a storage shelf corresponding to the operating range is provided at the end of the magnetic tape library device. A magnetic tape library device characterized by being arranged. 3. The magnetic tape library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism is located at an end portion of the magnetic tape library apparatus, and is rotationally moved to move the cartridge from the outside of the magnetic tape library apparatus. A magnetic tape library device which is characterized by loading and unloading. 4. The magnetic tape library apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cartridge loading / unloading mechanism has a lock mechanism for fixing or releasing the rotational movement, and the accessor robot is used from inside the magnetic tape library apparatus. A magnetic tape library device characterized by operating the lock mechanism.