JPH09212977A - Optical disk automatic changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical disc automatic changer which can immediately detect an error in the stage that a magazine is set to the automatic changer when a cartridge is inversely inserted into the magazine. SOLUTION: In an optical disk automatic changer where the disk cartridge is set by loading a magazine 2 accommodating a plurality of disk cartridges conforming to ISO to the automatic changer 1, the magazine 2 is provided with a cutout portion in accordance with the shape of disc cartridge at the side surface of the inserting side of the automatic changer. Moreover, the automatic changer 1 provided with a light emitting element for projecting a light beam to the space formed by the cutout portion when the magazine is to be loaded and a light receiving element for detecting the optical beam. Thereby, such space can be detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magazine type optical disc autochanger using an ISO compliant disc cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art To handle enormous amounts of data, various optical disks such as magneto-optical disks are used.
Suitable for information processing and management. Therefore, an optical disc autochanger that handles a large number of optical discs is promising in an information-oriented society in which the amount of data to be used will increase in the future.

There are various types of optical disc autochangers, but 3.5-inch magneto-optical disc cartridges (IS13963 ... 230) conforming to the ISO standard.
MB, IS10090 ... 128MB), a so-called magazine type autochanger that stores a plurality of disc cartridges in a magazine and inserts / removes the magazine unit into / from the autochanger main body is a mainstream of small devices. It has become.

An example of such a magazine type autochanger is shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an autochanger body, 8 is an optical disk drive,
7 is a loading section for storing a magazine, 2 is a magazine,
Reference numeral 9 is a host computer (for example, a personal computer).

The user manually prepares the optical disk autochanger by storing the desired disk cartridge in the magazine 2 and setting the magazine in the autochanger body 1.

This auto changer is usually
It is connected to the host computer 9,
used. That is, the host computer designates the disc cartridge to be used as the optical disc autochanger, and the autochanger takes the cartridge out of the magazine and sets it in the drive. Done.

In this example, the drive 8 is mounted on a carriage (not shown), moves in the direction of the arrow, and stops in front of the slot of the magazine in which the designated cartridge is stored. The carriage is also equipped with a device (not shown) for loading and unloading the cartridge.
The cartridge is inserted into the drive 8.

In such a magazine type auto changer, when the disc cartridge is set in the magazine,
The state is as shown in FIG. However, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 4, the front and back may be inserted by mistake. This is because, as shown in FIG. 6, the shape of the disk cartridge in the portion that enters the magazine is the same in the vertical direction. Therefore, the shape of the magazine cannot prevent the reverse insertion.

For this reason, even if the magazine is set in the autochanger with the cartridge inserted in the reverse orientation, when the cartridge is loaded into the drive, the loading cannot be performed on the drive side. That is, the automatic changer recognizes that loading cannot be performed, and the user is instructed to reconfirm the mounting of the disk cartridge, so that the normal setting can be performed.

[0010]

However, in this method, the user mounts the magazine and then issues a read (or write) command to load the disk cartridge, the drive side rejects, and the auto changer side loads. After deciding that it cannot be done, a reverse insertion instruction is issued to the user, which takes too much time.

If the cartridge is not sufficiently inserted into the magazine, the cartridge may project from the magazine as shown in FIG. If the magazine is set in the autochanger body in this state, there is a problem that the cartridge collides with the protruding cartridge when the carriage moves in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG.

Further, in the conventional auto changer, when the cartridge is taken out from the magazine with the auto changer loaded, there is some trouble.
When the cartridge stopped in the middle of pulling out from the magazine as shown in FIG. 7, there was no means for detecting this situation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. An object of the present invention is to detect this error immediately when the cartridge is set in the main body of the autochanger when the cartridge is mistakenly inserted in the magazine by mistake. The purpose is to provide an optical disc autochanger.

Another object of the present invention is to detect an optical disk autochanger immediately after the magazine is set in the autochanger body even when the cartridge is not sufficiently inserted into the magazine. To provide.

Still another object of the present invention is to detect this state even when the cartridge is taken out from the magazine when the cartridge is taken out from the magazine while being loaded in the autochanger. It is to provide an optical disc autochanger capable of performing.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an optical disc in which a plurality of ISO-compliant disc cartridges are mounted in an autochanger body to set the disc cartridges. In the autochanger, the magazine has a notch on the side of the autochanger insertion side in accordance with the shape of the disc cartridge.
When the magazine is mounted, a light emitting element that projects a light beam into a space vacated by the notch and a light receiving element that detects the light beam are provided, and the space is detected by the light emitting element.

In this case, in the present invention, the autochanger main body side can be configured such that the space is detected after the selected cartridge is taken out from the mounted magazine.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 and 2 best show the features of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view of an optical disk changer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an optical disc changer main body, 2 is a magazine, 3 is a disc cartridge, 4 is a light beam, 5 is an LED, 6 is a light receiving sensor, 7 is a magazine loading section of an autochanger, and 8 is a direction of an arrow in FIG. A drive to be carried, and 9 is a host computer.

To set the disc cartridge 3 in the main body 1 of the optical disc autochanger, first, the disc cartridge 3 is set in the magazine 2 in advance.

When the disc cartridge 3 is properly mounted in the magazine 2, and the magazine 2 is set in the autochanger body 1, a magazine detection switch (not shown) provided on the autochanger side sets the magazine 2 therein. Detect that A computer (not shown) compatible with the autochanger is the magazine 2
When it is detected that is inserted into the autochanger body 1, the LED 5 is turned on as shown in FIG.

The light beam emitted from the LED horizontally reaches the light receiving sensor 6 in the width direction of the magazine 2 as indicated by reference numeral 4 in FIG. When the host computer detects that light has entered the light receiving sensor 6, it determines that the disk cartridge is properly set in the magazine 2 and shifts to a normal operation mode as an autochanger. The position of this ray is seen from the side, as shown in FIG.

When the cartridge is properly installed, the corners of the cartridge 3 are at the positions indicated by the solid lines. Therefore, when viewed from the side, there is a space between the magazine 2 and the cartridge 3 where the light beam passes. Located in a state where it is formed. Therefore, when the cartridge 3 is properly mounted, the light receiving sensor 6 can detect light.

Next, the case where the disc cartridge 3 is mounted in the magazine in reverse will be described. When a magazine is set in the autochanger body 1, a magazine detection switch (not shown) detects that the magazine is set. A computer (not shown) corresponding to the auto changer is set to L when the magazine 2 is detected.
Turn on the ED. As described above, the light beam emitted from the LED travels in the direction of reference numeral 4 in FIG. 2, but the cartridge 3 mounted in the opposite direction is in a state where the corner portion blocks the light beam as shown by the dotted line in FIG. Therefore, the light receiving sensor 6 cannot be reached.

When the light receiving sensor 6 receives no light, the computer determines that the disc cartridge 3 is not properly set in the magazine 2, and the optical disc autochanger indicates to the connected host computer that the cartridge is Send a message to the effect that it is not installed properly.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the cartridge is mounted in the magazine in reverse, it works effectively when the magazine is mounted in the main body of the autochanger. However, not only that, but also the magazine. On the other hand, even when the cartridge is not securely attached to the back, the function can be effectively exhibited.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the cartridge is not fully inserted into the magazine. Also in this case, the position of the ray of light 4 shown in FIG. 1 is blocked by the cartridge protruding from the front surface of the magazine 2, and the light does not reach the light receiving sensor. Then, the autochanger sends a message to the effect that "the cartridge is not installed correctly" to the connected host computer. (Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the configuration of the optical disc autochanger 1, the magazine 2, the disc cartridge 3 and the like, the light emitting element 5 for the light beam 4,
The arrangement of the light receiving element 6 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

To set the disc cartridge in the optical disc autochanger, first set the disc cartridge 3 in the magazine 2. In response to a command from the computer to which the autochanger body is connected, the autochanger takes out the cartridge 3 selected from the magazine 2 and drives it (not shown).
Insert

At the time of taking out, the cartridge is moved in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. The solid line cartridge shows the state when the ejection is successful, and the computer corresponding to the autochanger controls the magazine 2 to emit the light beam 4 after a predetermined time has elapsed after issuing the ejection command. The space defined by the cartridge 3 is detected. If space can be detected, cartridge 3
Is taken out successfully.

If the cartridge 3 is not properly taken out due to some trouble, the cartridge 3 cannot be taken out from the magazine 2 properly, and the cartridge 3 stops as shown by the dotted line in FIG. Then, after the computer corresponding to the autochanger issues a take-out command, it is controlled to irradiate the light beam 4 after a fixed time, but the light beam 4 is blocked by the cartridge 3 stopped at the position shown by the dotted line, The expected space cannot be detected.

In this case, in the auto changer, the cartridge 3 is returned once in the magazine 2 and then,
Eject again or send a message to the host computer stating "Cartridge could not be loaded".

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By installing multiple magazines containing ISO-compliant disc cartridges into the autochanger body,
In the optical disc autochanger in which the setting of the disc cartridge is performed, the magazine is provided with a notch on the side surface of the autochanger insertion side in accordance with the shape of the disc cartridge,
In addition, the autochanger body is equipped with a light emitting element that projects a light beam into a space vacated by the notch and a light receiving element that detects the light beam when the magazine is mounted, thereby detecting the space. To do.

Therefore, when there is a reverse insertion of the disc cartridge into the magazine, the user can be quickly informed of this at least when the autochanger is loaded with the magazine. Further, even when the cartridge is not sufficiently mounted in the magazine, the user can be notified of the situation at an early opportunity.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect when the disc cartridge is not properly taken out from the magazine. Therefore, it is possible to quickly retry the taking out and notify the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is likewise an explanatory view showing a mode of use.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration of an optical disc autochanger.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a cartridge is mounted in a magazine.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a cartridge is attached to a magazine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outer shape of a cartridge.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional optical disc autochanger.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Autochanger body 2 Magazine 3 Disk cartridge 4 Light beam 5 LED 6 Light receiving sensor 7 Magazine loading section 8 Drive 9 Host computer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical disc autochanger in which a plurality of magazines accommodating ISO-compliant disc cartridges are mounted in an autochanger body to set the disc cartridges. A cutout is provided according to the shape of the disc cartridge, and when the magazine is mounted on the autochanger body, a light emitting element that projects a light beam into the empty space by the cutout and a light beam is detected. An optical disc autochanger characterized by being equipped with a light receiving element for detecting the space. 2. The autochanger main body side is configured so that the detection of the space is performed after the selected cartridge is taken out from the mounted magazine. Optical disc auto changer.