JPH09104508A - Control method for carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent damaging of a carrier or cartridge caused by collision of the carrier with a contained article such as the cartridge at high speed in a control method for a carrying device for charging/discharging a target article to/from a containing rack for containing a number of articles on a vertical plane by the carrier movable closely facing it. SOLUTION: Prior to carrying action to contained articles by a carrier 62, it is recognized that the articles are not protruded from a containing rack 52, and in the case where the articles are not contained correctly, alarm is given, with carrying action stopped. Protrusion of the articles is detected by the carrier 62 moved at low speed to be struck to the articles to increase moving load of the carrier 62. Protrusion of the articles may also be detected by use of an optical beam.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method applied to a carrier device for taking out a target stored item from a storage rack and carrying it to a target position, and vice versa.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microfilm cartridge exchanging device is known in which a large number of microfilm cartridges are stored in a storage shelf, a target cartridge is selected and conveyed to a scanner, and a target image is read by the scanner. Is more.

For example, there is one in which a cartridge is stored in a vertically flat storage shelf so that the cartridge can be taken in and out from the front surface, and a carrier, that is, a carrier of the cartridge is moved on the front surface of the storage shelf. This carrier is moved to the front of the target cartridge, the cartridge is taken into the carrier, and it is conveyed to another target position, for example, a scanner for searching / reading an image, and a predetermined process, for example, image searching / reading is performed. It is a thing. Conversely, the processed cartridge is carried to the target storage position and returned to the storage rack.

[0004]

In this case, it suffices if the cartridges to be stored are correctly stored in the storage shelves. However, if vibration is applied to the storage shelves, some of the cartridges may protrude from the storage shelves. is there. When the carrier moves in this state, the carrier comes into contact with the protruding cartridge.

It is desirable for the carrier to move at high speed for high-speed retrieval. However, if the moving speed of the carrier becomes high, the impact when the carrier hits the protruding cartridge becomes large. Therefore, the carrier and the cartridge may be damaged.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is a method of controlling a carrier device capable of preventing a carrier from colliding with a stored item such as a cartridge at a high speed and damaging the carrier or the cartridge. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to control a carrying device for taking in and out a target storage item by a carrier which moves in close proximity to a storage rack for storing a large number of storage items arranged on a vertical plane. In advance, before the carrying operation of the stored item by the carrier, it is confirmed that the stored item does not project from the storage shelf, and if the stored item is not normally stored, a warning is issued and the transport operation is stopped. And a control method for a transfer device.

As a method of detecting that the stored item is protruding, the carrier can be moved at a low speed, and this carrier can be detected because the moving load of the carrier is increased by hitting the stored item. For example, the load current of the motor that moves the carrier is monitored, and it can be determined from the fact that this current has rapidly increased.

It is also possible to detect the protrusion of a stored item using a light beam. For example, a flat reflecting mirror is provided along one side of the storage shelf, while a light beam emitting element and sensor are provided on the carrier, and the light beam emitted from the carrier is reflected while the carrier is traveling along the other side of the storage shelf. It is configured to be reflected by a mirror and detected by a sensor.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a view showing a usage state of a storage / retrieval device for a microfilm cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of its overall structure, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a carrier, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the same, FIG. 5 is a right side view, FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining the arrangement of guide rollers, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are front views showing examples of guide roller arrangement for holding the carrier with respect to the moving bar. It is a figure. FIG. 9 is a right side view showing the carrier pickup means, FIG. 10 is a plan view of the same, and FIG.
Is also an exploded perspective view, FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the switching means of the buffer, FIGS. 13 and 14 are plan views showing the operation thereof, and FIG. 15 is a flow chart of the operation.

[0011]

[Overall Configuration] In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 is a host computer (HOST), which is composed of a personal computer (personal computer) or a workstation. A keyboard 12 and a printer 14 are connected to the host computer 10. Reference numeral 16 is a scanner, which searches the microfilm and reads (scans) the image. The host computer 10 has a warning device 10
A is connected. As will be described later, the warning device 10A is activated when the protrusion of the cartridge 54 from the storage shelf 52 is detected, and informs the operator.

The scanner 16 is connected to the host computer 10 by a bus (BUS) 18 (FIG. 2) based on the SCSI standard. That is, they are connected by the SCSI interface. The scanner 16 is a microfilm control unit (MC for short).
20 and a roll film retrieval unit (abbreviated as RRU) 22.

The MCU 20 has a microcomputer, controls the search operation of the RRU 22, and
The image of the searched frame is read by moving the line sensor and stored in the memory 20A such as a DRAM. The RRU 22 sends a roll microfilm and searches for a desired frame.

24 is a microfilm installation
The system (abbreviated as MIS) accommodates a large number of microfilm cartridges, selects a desired cartridge, and loads it into the RRU 22 of the scanner 16. The MIS 24 is controlled by the MCU 20. That is, when the MCU 20 specifies a cartridge containing a frame to be searched, and the corresponding cartridge is not loaded in the RRU 22, the MCU 20 is
The operation of S24 is performed, and the cartridge is replaced with a corresponding cartridge.

[0015]

[Structure of Storage Shelf] MIS24 square case 5 here
In 0, a vertical and flat cartridge storage shelf 52 is stored. The cartridge storage shelf 52 accommodates a large number of cartridges 54 so that they can be taken in and out from the front surface. In addition, the guide rails 56 (5
6a to 6d) are respectively fixed, and a horizontal moving bar 58 is guided by two facing guide rails 56a and 56c to move up and down. The other two guide rails 5 facing each other
A vertical moving bar 60 is guided by 6b and 56d to move in the left-right direction.

The horizontal moving bar 58 and the vertical moving bar 60 have a substantially H-shaped cross section and move up and down and left and right while being orthogonal to each other. A carrier 62 that conveys the cartridge is slidably attached to both moving bars 58 and 60 near the intersection. Horizontal moving bar 5
8 is fixed to a belt 64 stretched around a pair of pulleys located near both ends of the guide rail 56a. The vertical moving bar 60 is fixed to a belt 66 stretched around a pair of pulleys located near both ends of the guide rail 56d.
The belts 64 and 66 travel and are positioned by motors 68 and 70 as bar driving means connected to one pulley.

The carrier 62 is held near the intersection of the moving bars 58, 60 by nine guide rollers as shown in FIGS. On the plane containing the transfer bars 58, 60, the carrier 62 is shown in FIG.
One guide roller 72 (72a, 72b) rolls on the horizontal moving bar 58, and the other two guide rollers 74 (74
a, 74b) rollingly contacts the vertical moving bar 60.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, these guide rollers 72 and 74 roll on the different running contact surfaces of the same moving bars 58 and 60 to regulate the rotation of the carrier 62 in one direction. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the guide roller 72
a and 72b are in rolling contact with the moving bar 58 so as to restrict the rightward rotation (arrow A direction) of the carrier 62, and the guide rollers 74a and 74b rotate leftward (arrow B direction) of the carrier 62. To contact the moving bar 60 so as to regulate the temperature.

Here, a straight line passing through the centers of the guide rollers 72a and 72b is L ₁ , a straight line passing through the centers of the guide rollers 74a and 74b is L _2, and an intersection point between them is P. Both of these guide rollers 72, 74 are held on the carrier 62,
Since it is considered that there is no relative movement, rotation of the carrier 62 to the right (direction A) is restricted by the guide roller 72, and rotation of the carrier 62 to the left (direction B) is restricted by the guide roller 74. Therefore, the carrier 62 is accurately positioned without floating with respect to the moving bars 58 and 60 which always move in an orthogonal relationship.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, each guide rail 72, 7
4 is configured to restrict the rotation in the opposite direction to the case of FIG. Therefore, as in the case of FIG. 7, the carrier 62 can be accurately positioned near the intersection of the two moving bars 58, 60 without allowing play.

Further, the movement of the carrier 62 in the front-back direction, that is, the movement in the direction traversing the plane including both the moving bars 58 and 60, causes the guide roller 7 to sandwich the horizontal moving bar 58 from above and below.
6 (76a, 76b) and three guide rollers 78 (78a, 78b, 78) that sandwich the vertical moving bar 60 from the front and rear.
c) and are regulated.

The conventional general method for holding the carrier 62 on the moving bars 58, 60 is that the carrier 62 is for each moving bar 58, 60 on and orthogonal to the plane containing the moving bars 58, 60. A minimum of six guide rollers were required for each moving bar 58, 60 to prevent tilting in the plane. That is, the moving bar 5
Three guide rollers were required in each of the length direction of 8, 60 and the direction perpendicular to the plane. Therefore, a total of 12 guide rollers are required for both the moving bars 58, 60.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the moving bar 5
By utilizing the fact that 8 and 60 are always orthogonal to each other, both moving bars 58 and 60 are sandwiched by the guide rollers 72 and 74.
Therefore, the number of guide rollers is greatly reduced, and in this embodiment, it is possible to use only nine guide rollers.

As a result, the horizontal and vertical moving bars 58 and 60 are independently moved by the motors 68 and 70, and the amount of movement is monitored by the MCU 20, whereby the carrier 62 can be moved to an appropriate position. The cartridge storage shelf 52 and the scanner 16 are located within the movable range of the carrier 62. In this embodiment, the scanner 16 is located in the lower right corner of this range of motion.

Based on the order of the MCU 20, the carrier 62 checks whether or not the cartridge 54 projects from the storage shelf 52, as described later, prior to the conveyance of the cartridge 54. Then, after confirming that the cartridge 54 does not project, the carrying operation of the cartridge 54 is started.

That is, a predetermined cartridge 54 is taken from the cartridge storage shelf 52, conveyed to the scanner 16 and inserted into the cartridge attaching / detaching port 16a, and the cartridge for which retrieval has been completed is taken in from the scanner 16 and a predetermined position of the cartridge storage shelf 52. Return to. During this carrying operation, the carrier 62 runs at high speed.

When the image retrieved by the scanner 16 is read,
This image is stored in the memory 20A. The image data is sent to the host computer 10, where appropriate image processing is performed and then output to the printer 14. It is also stored in a memory (not shown) such as another magneto-optical disk or output to another external device.

[0028]

[Structure of Carrier] Next, the structure of the carrier 62 will be described. This carrier 62 has one pickup means 100.
And a buffer 102. Pickup means 100
Is a guide rod 104 fixed horizontally and longitudinally to the upper part of the carrier 62 in the housing,
4, two linear bearings 106, 106 slidably held, and these linear bearings 106,
The buffer 102 whose upper end is fixed to 106 and whose lower end is described later
The support plate 110 is engaged with the groove 108 and slides, and the claw members 112 and 114 attached to the support plate 110.

Below the guide rod 104, an endless belt 120 wound around a pair of pulleys 116 and 118 extends parallel to the guide rod 104. One pulley 116
Is rotated in both directions by a gad motor 122 containing a reduction gear. The support plate 110 is fixed in the middle of the belt 120. As a result, when the belt 120 travels in an arbitrary direction by the rotation of the motor 122, the support plate 110 is guided by the belt 120 by the guide rod 104 and moves back and forth. A wire may be used instead of the belt 120.

The claw members 112 and 114 are substantially L-shaped,
The center thereof is rotatably held by the support plate 110 by pins 124 and 126, and one ends of both are connected by a pin 128 and interlock so as to rotate in opposite directions. Claw member 1
The other ends of the reference numerals 12 and 114 are claws that can engage with the engaging recesses 54a and 54b formed on the end surface of the cartridge 54.

Further, one claw member 114 is provided with an arm portion 130 projecting to the side opposite to the claw, and this arm portion 13 is provided.
Rotation of 0 causes the claws of the claw members 112 and 114 to open and close vertically. A push plate 132 is vertically movable on the support plate 110.
Is held, and its lower end is connected to the arm 130. The push plate 132 is provided with a habit of returning upward by a spring (not shown). Therefore, the claw member 11
2, 114 are urged in the closing direction. Above the upper end of the push plate 132 is an angle member 134 having an L-shaped cross section.
Are arranged parallel to the guide rod 104.

The angle member 134 has parallel slant grooves 138 for engaging at least two pins 136, 136 fixed to the housing of the carrier 62, as shown in FIG.
Holds 138. The angle member 134 is biased rightward in FIG. 11 by the spring 140. That is, the angle member 134 is biased in the direction in which the grooves 138, 138 are guided by the pin 136 and return obliquely upward. The angle member 134 can be moved by being pulled in the opposite direction by the electromagnetic solenoid 142. At this time, the inclined groove 138 is guided by the pin 136 and the angle member 134 moves obliquely downward.

Therefore, the angle member 134 is formed in the inclined groove 13.
Move up and down diagonally along 8. The push plate 13
A roller is attached to the upper end of 2, and the roller rolls on the horizontal lower surface of the angle member 134. As a result, no matter where the support plate 110 is located within the range of the guide rod 104, when the angle member 134 returns obliquely upward,
The push plate 132 rises, and the claws of the claw members 112 and 114 open. When the electromagnetic solenoid 142 is excited and the angle member 134 is pulled to the left side in FIG. 11, the angle member 1
34 descends diagonally downward. Therefore, the push plate 132 is pushed down, and the claws of the claw members 112 and 114 are closed.

By opening and closing the pawl in this manner, the pawl can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaging recesses 54a and 54b of the cartridge 54. Further, by opening and closing the claws and sliding the entire pickup means 100 on the guide rod 104, the cartridge 54 is placed between the storage shelf 52 and the buffer 102, and between the buffer 102 and the scanner 16.
It can be moved in and out of.

[0035]

[Structure of Buffer] Next, the buffer 102 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the buffer 102 can vertically accommodate two cartridges 54 parallel to the sliding direction of the pickup means 100. This buffer 10
On the lower surface of 2, there are three guide rollers 15 that are in rolling contact with guide rails 154 and 154 fixed to the housing of the carrier 62.
6 are attached. The guide rails 154, 15
Reference numeral 4 is orthogonal to the sliding direction of the pickup means 100 and is fixed horizontally.

A pin 158 shown in FIG. 12 is provided so as to project near the center of the lower surface of the buffer 102. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 160 denotes a bell crank type drive lever, the vicinity of the center of which is supported by the housing of the carrier 62. A long hole 162 is provided at one end of the drive lever 160,
The pin 158 is engaged with the elongated hole 162. The other end of the drive lever 160 is connected to a crank pin 166 driven by a motor 164 by a link 168.

As a result, when the link 168 is pushed in the direction of the arrow by rotating the motor 164 in the direction of the arrow (clockwise direction) in FIG. 12, the drive lever 160 rotates in the counterclockwise direction. Therefore, the buffer 102 moves to the left in plan view as shown in FIG. On the contrary, when the motor 164 rotates counterclockwise, the drive lever 160 rotates clockwise,
The buffer 102 moves to the right side in plan view as shown in FIG. When the buffer 102 is moved in this way, the pickup means 100 is retracted to the outside (left side in FIG. 9) of the buffer 102 as shown by a virtual line in FIG.
The pickup means 100 is also retracted to this imaginary line position when the carrier 62 moves.

An arcuate and horizontal light-shielding plate 170 is integrally provided near the fulcrum of the drive lever 160. By detecting the notch 172 provided in the light shielding plate 170 with the optical sensor 174, the position of the drive lever 160, that is, the position of the buffer 102 can be detected.

The buffer 102 is open at the upper side, and the lower part of the pickup means 100 is at the accommodation chamber 15.
You can enter 0, 152. That is, the buffer 102
Is on the left side (position in FIG. 14), the right side storage chamber 1
The pickup means 100 can enter the 50, and can enter the left accommodation chamber 152 when the buffer 102 is on the right side (position of FIG. 13).

The pick-up means 100 is provided in each accommodation chamber 1
When entering 50, 152, each accommodation chamber 150, 15
It is as described above that the lower end of the support plate 110 engages with the grooves 108, 108 provided at the bottom of the second slide. By engaging the support plate 110 with the groove 108 in this manner,
The lateral movement of the pickup means 100 is prevented, and the claw members 112, 1 for the engaging recesses 54a, 54b of the cartridge 54 are provided.
It is possible to accurately engage and disengage 24.

[0041]

[Cartridge Protrusion Detection Operation] Next, the operation of detecting the cartridge protrusion will be described. The MCU 20 has a storage shelf 52
Before the target cartridges 54 are conveyed to the scanner 16, it is checked whether all the cartridges 54 are correctly stored in the storage shelves 52 based on the operation of turning on the power switch or the like.

For this purpose, the MCU 20 runs the carrier 62 at a low speed in front of the storage rack 52 so as to cover the entire storage area (step 200 in FIG. 15). Here, the low speed is a speed at which damage is not caused even if the carrier 62 hits the cartridge 54, and is, for example, about 1/10 of the speed (about 600 mm / min) during high-speed traveling during normal conveyance (about 50 mm / min).

When the carrier 62 rises from the position facing the cartridge 54 at the lower left corner of the storage shelf 52 and reaches the upper end as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 1, for example, the thickness of one cartridge 54 moves to the right. Repeated vertical movement while moving.
Carrier 62 if there is a protruding cartridge 54
And stops (step 202 in FIG. 15). Therefore, the load on the motor 68 or 70 for moving the carrier 62 increases rapidly. This sudden increase in load can be detected from the increase in motor current. Further, when an encoder for detecting the rotations of the motors 68, 70 is provided, the output of the encoder does not change, and thus the increase in load may be similarly detected.

When detecting that the cartridge 54 is protruding in this way, the MCU 20 sends a warning signal to the host computer 10. Based on this warning signal, the host computer 10 operates the warning device 10A (FIG. 2) to notify the operator (step 20 in FIG. 15).
4).

As described above, the carrier 62 is moved at a low speed over the entire storage area, and it is confirmed that no cartridge 54 is projected (step 20 in FIG. 15).
6) Then, the original transport operation is started (step 208).
That is, the carrier 62 travels at a high speed to carry the target cartridge 54 to the scanner 16, and returns the cartridge 54 which has undergone the image search by the scanner 16 to the original position of the storage shelf 52.

[0046]

[Carrier Transfer Operation] The following transfer operation will be described. The MCU 20 first moves the carrier 62 at a high speed in front of the cartridge 54 to be selected in the storage shelf 52. At this time, the buffer 102 may be on either side, and the pick-up means 100 is withdrawn from the buffer 102.

When the carrier 62 reaches the position of the target cartridge 54, the MCU 20 advances the pick-up means 100 and passes through one of the accommodating chambers, for example 150, and inserts its claw members 112, 114 into the cartridge 5 in the accommodating shelf 52.
4 is engaged. At this time, the electromagnetic solenoid 142 may be de-excited to temporarily open the pawl, but the pawl may be opened in the cartridge 54.
It may be pressed against to open the claw.

When the electromagnetic solenoid 142 is excited to close the pawl and the pick-up means 100 is retracted, the cartridge 54 is drawn into one accommodation chamber 150. MCU
20 moves the carrier 62 in front of the cartridge attachment / detachment port 16a of the scanner 16 at high speed. Then, the pickup means 100 is advanced to push out the cartridge 54 in the accommodation chamber 150 to the cartridge attaching / detaching port 16a. After that, the electromagnetic solenoid 142 is de-excited to open the pawl, and the pickup means 100 is retracted.

The scanner 16 performs a predetermined process such as searching the fed cartridge 54 and reading an image. During this process, the carrier 62 goes to the position of the next cartridge 54 on the storage shelf 52, and either storage chamber, eg, 1
The cartridge 54 is incorporated into the cartridge 50. At this time, the pickup means 100 stores the cartridge 54 in the accommodation chamber 150.
Open, open the claw to release the cartridge 54 from the claw,
After that, only the pickup means 100 further retracts and completely exits the buffer 102.

In this state, the carrier 62 returns to the cartridge attaching / detaching port 16a of the scanner 16, while the buffer 102 slides to the opposite side by the motor 164. In this case, the buffer 102 moves to the right, and the accommodation room 152 comes in front of the pickup means 100. And scanner 1
When the processing of the cartridge 54 that has been processed in 6 is completed, the pickup means 100 advances through the accommodation chamber 152, extracts the processed cartridge 54 from the cartridge attaching / detaching port 16a, and puts it in the accommodation chamber 152. After releasing from the nail, it further retracts and exits from the buffer 102.

The pickup means 100 is a buffer 102.
Upon exiting from the buffer 102, the buffer 102 slides to the opposite side again, and the accommodation chamber 150 for accommodating the next cartridge 54 is placed in front of the pickup means 100. Then, the pick-up means 100 moves forward, pushes the cartridge 54, which is to be processed next, and is to be processed next, while grasping it with the claw and sending it to the cartridge attaching / detaching port 16a. Then, the pick-up means 100 is retracted, the buffer 102 is switched, and the carrier 62 is moved at a high speed to the position where the processed cartridge 54 should be returned in the storage shelf 52, and the carrier 62 is moved.
Return to

As described above, while one cartridge 54 is being processed by the scanner 16, the next cartridge 54 is processed.
Of the processed cartridge 54 in the carrier 62 and waits in the vicinity of the scanner 16.
After being taken into the vacant storage chamber 150 or 152, the buffer 102 is switched to immediately supply the next cartridge 54 to the scanner 16. Therefore, it is possible to quickly replace the cartridge 54 with respect to the scanner 16.

Further, the forward / backward drive means (formed by the endless belt 120, the pulleys 116, 118, the motor 122, etc.) and the claw open / close drive means (formed by the electromagnetic solenoid 142, etc.) of the pickup means 100 are carriers. Two
It is held on the housing side of No. 6. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight of the movable portion that moves back and forth together with the support plate 110 and the claw members 112 and 114. Also, it is not necessary to connect an electric wiring cord to this movable part.

A sensor for detecting attachment / detachment of the cartridge 54 may be provided near the claw members 112, 114, but in this case, a wiring cord connected to a movable portion is required. However, the cord can be made sufficiently thin and light, unlike when driving a motor or a plunger.

Therefore, it is possible to increase the moving speed of the support plate 110. Further, by eliminating the need for a wiring cord for the support plate 110 or by making the wiring cord thin and lightweight, it is possible to eliminate the risk of the wiring cord being broken.

[0056]

Other Embodiments In the storage shelf 52 of the microfilm cartridge 54 in the above embodiment, the gap between the stored cartridge 54 and the carrier 62 is small, usually 5 m.
Very small at about m. Therefore, when the amount of protrusion of the cartridge 54 is small, it is convenient to push the cartridge 54 back to its original normal position by moving the carrier 62.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the push plate 300 for pushing back the cartridge 54 as described above. The push plate 300 is attached to the front surface (the surface facing the cartridge 54) of the carrier 62, and the peripheral edge thereof is inclined to form a substantially square dish. This push plate 300
Needless to say, a window 302 through which the cartridge 54 and the claw members 112 and 114 pass is formed in the. The attached state of the push plate 300 is also shown in phantom lines in FIGS.

Therefore, if the amount of protrusion of the cartridge 54 is small, the cartridge 62 can be pushed against the inclined surface of the peripheral edge of the push plate 300 by moving the carrier 62 to which the push plate 300 is attached. Therefore, if the amount of protrusion of the cartridge 54 is small, it is possible to move to the carrying operation without issuing a warning or stopping, and the processing can be performed quickly.

[0059]

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 17 is a front view of a storage shelf showing another embodiment of the present invention. At the top of this storage shelf 52A,
The reflecting mirror 304 is horizontally attached so as to slightly project to the front surface (carrier 62A side) of the cartridge 54. On the other hand, on the carrier 62A, an emitting element 308 that emits a light beam 206 substantially vertically upward, and the light beam 2
A sensor 310 for detecting the light 306A reflected by the reflecting mirror 304 of No. 06 is attached.

The carrier 62A moves horizontally at the lowermost part of the storage rack 52A in conjunction with the operation of turning on the power switch or the like. At this time, the emitting element 308 emits the light beam 306 upward, and the light beam 306 reflected by the reflecting mirror 304 is emitted.
A is detected by the sensor 310. Cartridge 54
If is projected into the path of this light beam 306, the incident beam of sensor 310 disappears. From this, it is possible to detect the protrusion of the cartridge 54.

The above embodiment conveys the microfilm cartridge 54, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a storage shelf such as a video tape cassette, a video disc, a compact disc or the like. You can also

[0062]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is confirmed that the stored item does not project from the storage rack prior to the conveying operation of the stored item, and if the stored item is projected, a warning is issued. Then, the operator is notified, and the conveyance operation thereafter is stopped to return the protruding stored items to the correct storage position. Therefore, during transportation, there is no possibility that the carrier collides with the projecting stored item at a high speed and damages the carrier or the stored item.

Here, in order to detect the protrusion of the stored items,
For example, the carrier can be moved at a low speed, and it can be configured to detect that the carrier hits a protruding storage item (claim 2). In this case, it is possible to configure only by software by a computer without adding special parts, and the mechanical configuration is simple.

It is also possible to make the light beam traverse up and down or left and right on the front surface of the storage rack, and to detect the projection of the storage product because the storage item has entered the path of the light beam. ).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a usage state of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a transport unit.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a transport unit.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the transport unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining the arrangement of guide rollers.

FIG. 7 is a front view for explaining an arrangement example of guide rollers.

FIG. 8 is a front view for explaining an arrangement example of guide rollers.

FIG. 9 is a right side view showing a carrier and a pickup means.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing buffer switching means.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a buffer switching operation.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a buffer switching operation.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a push plate.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Host computer 10A Warning device 16 Scanner 16a Cartridge attaching / detaching port 20 MCU (microfilm control installation system) as a transport controller 24 MIS (microfilm installation system) 52, 52A containing a transport device of the invention Cartridge storage Shelf 54 Micro film cartridge which is a storage item 62, 62A Carrier 68, 70 Motor for moving carrier 100 Pickup means 102 Buffer 300 Push plate 304 Reflector 306, 306A Light beam 308 Light beam emitting element 310 Light beam sensor

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 30, 1996

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0020

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the guide rollers 72, 7 are
4 is configured to restrict the rotation in the opposite direction to the case of FIG. Therefore, as in the case of FIG. 7, the carrier 62 can be accurately positioned near the intersection of the two moving bars 58, 60 without allowing play.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0021

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The movement of the carrier 62 in the front-rear direction, that is, the movement in the direction traversing the plane including both the moving bars 58 and 60, causes the guide roller 7 to sandwich the horizontal moving bar 58 from the front and rear.
6 (76a, 76b) and three guide rollers 78 (78a, 78b, 78) that sandwich the vertical moving bar 60 from the front and rear.
c) and are regulated.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0031

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further, one claw member 114 is provided with an arm portion 130 projecting to the side opposite to the claw, and this arm portion 13 is provided.
Rotation of 0 causes the claws of the claw members 112 and 114 to open and close vertically. A push plate 132 is vertically movable on the support plate 110.
Is held, and its lower end is connected to the arm 130. The push plate 132 is provided with a habit of returning upward by a spring (not shown). Therefore, the claw member 11
2, 114 are urged in the opening direction . Above the upper end of the push plate 132 is an angle member 134 having an L-shaped cross section.
Are arranged parallel to the guide rod 104.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0040

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The pick-up means 100 is provided in each accommodation chamber 1
When entering 50, 152, each accommodation chamber 150, 15
It is as described above that the lower end of the support plate 110 engages with the grooves 108, 108 provided at the bottom of the second slide. By engaging the support plate 110 with the groove 108 in this manner,
The lateral movement of the pickup means 100 is prevented, and the claw members 112 , 1 for the engaging recesses 54a, 54b of the cartridge 54 are provided.
It is possible to accurately engage and disengage 14 .

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0042

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

For this purpose, the MCU 20 runs the carrier 62 at a low speed in front of the storage rack 52 so as to cover the entire storage area (step 200 in FIG. 15). Here, the low speed is a speed at which damage is not caused even when the carrier 62 hits the cartridge 54, and is, for example, about 1/10 of the speed ( about 600 mm / sec ) during high-speed traveling during normal conveyance ( about 50 mm / sec ).

[Procedure correction 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0045

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

As described above, the carrier 62 is moved at a low speed over the entire storage area, and it is confirmed that no cartridge 54 is projected (step 20 in FIG. 15).
6) Then, the original transport operation is started (step 208).
That is, the carrier 62 travels at high speed to carry the target cartridge 54 to the scanner 16, and returns the cartridge 54 which has undergone the image search by the scanner 16 to the original position of the storage shelf 52 (step 210) .

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction item name] 0053

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further, the forward / backward drive means (formed by the endless belt 120, the pulleys 116, 118, the motor 122, etc.) and the claw open / close drive means (formed by the electromagnetic solenoid 142, etc.) of the pickup means 100 are carriers. 6
It is held on the case 2 side. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight of the movable portion that moves back and forth together with the support plate 110 and the claw members 112 and 114. Also, it is not necessary to connect an electric wiring cord to this movable part.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0059

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0059]

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 17 is a front view of a storage shelf showing another embodiment of the present invention. At the top of this storage shelf 52A,
The reflecting mirror 304 is horizontally attached so as to slightly project to the front surface (carrier 62A side) of the cartridge 54. On the other hand, on the carrier 62A, an emitting element 308 that emits the light beam 206 upward in a substantially vertical direction, and the light beam 3
A sensor 310 for detecting the light 306A reflected by the reflecting mirror 304 of No. 06 is attached.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Explanation of sign

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Explanation of reference numerals] 10 host computer 10A warning device 16 scanner 16a cartridge attaching / detaching port 20 MCU (microfilm control unit ) as a transport controller 24 MIS (microfilm installation system) 52 having the transport device of the present invention, 52A Cartridge storage shelf 54 Micro film cartridge 62 as a storage object 62, 62A Carrier 68, 70 Motor for moving carrier 100 Pickup means 102 Buffer 300 Push plate 304 Reflector 306, 306A Light beam 308 Light beam emitting element 310 Light beam Sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of controlling a carrier device for moving a target storage item in and out by a carrier that moves in close proximity to a storage rack for storing a large number of storage items arranged on a vertical plane, wherein the carrier transports the storage item. Prior to the action,
Make sure that the contents are not protruding from the storage shelf,
If the stored items are not stored normally, a warning is issued and the transfer operation is stopped, and a control method of the transfer device. 2. The method of controlling a carrier device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is moved over the entire storage area of the storage rack at a lower speed than during the carrying operation, and the protrusion of the stored object is detected because the carrier contacts the stored object. . 3. The control method of the carrier device according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion of the stored item is detected because the stored item is present in the path of the light beam passing in front of the storage area of the storage rack.