JPH0950665A - Automatic storage medium changing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply and discharge a storage medium to and from a case body under the operating state of the device. SOLUTION: A keeping box 12 for keeping storage media, a recording and reproducing mechanism 13-16 for recording and reproducing information on a storage medium and a carrier mechanism 18 for carrying a transfer mechanism 19 and 20 for the storage medium are provided inside the case body 11. A mail mechanism 17 consisting of a carrier part 21 for carrying the storage medium inside and outside the case body 11 and a mail box 22 for supplying the storage medium to this carrier part 21 is provided above the recording and reproducing mechanism 13-16, and the carrier part 21 is provided inside the case body 11 while the mail box 22 is provided outside the case body 11. The storage medium is transferred by the transfer mechanism 19 and 20 between itself and the keeping box 12, the recording and reproducing mechanism 13-16 and the mail mechanism 17. The carrier part 21 is provided with a stopper 35 for releasing the storage medium from a carrier 32, while the mail box 22 is provided with a push-in mechanism 45 for pushing the storage medium into the carrier 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage medium automatic exchange device used for a mass storage device of a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional storage medium automatic exchanging device of this type includes storage means for storing a large number of storage media, recording / reproducing means for recording / reproducing information on / from the storage media, storage means and recording / reproducing means for these storage means. A transport means for transporting the storage medium is provided inside the box body, and the transport means is provided with a delivery means for delivering the storage medium to the storage means and the recording / reproducing means. Is connected to the control means and is automatically controlled.

For example, as shown in a perspective view of the box body 1 in FIG. 16, a storage means 2 is rotatably installed inside the box body 1, and, for example, four storage means 2 are provided above the storage means 2. The recording / reproducing means 3 is arranged. Further, a conveying means 4 is provided on the side of the storing means 2 and the recording / reproducing means 3, and a delivering means 5 for delivering a storage medium to the storing means 2 and the recording / reproducing means 3 is provided on the conveying means 4. Is installed.

In such a storage medium automatic exchanging device, when the storage medium stored in the storage means 2 is loaded into the recording / reproducing means 3, the delivery means 5 takes out the storage medium from the storage means 2 and the conveying means 4 is provided. The delivery means 5 to the recording / reproducing means 3
And the delivery means 5 transfers the storage medium to the recording / reproducing means 3.
To insert. Then, the storage medium loaded in the recording / reproducing means 3 is stored in the storing means 2 in the reverse order of the above.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the unnecessary storage medium stored in the storage means 2 is taken out of the box 1, or the necessary storage medium is stored in the box 1.
When replenishing the storage means 2 from the outside, (a) stop the operation of the device and open the door (not shown). (B) Remove unnecessary storage media and replenish the necessary storage media. (C) Close the door and restart the device. Therefore, there is a problem in that the operation rate of the device is lowered and much labor is required.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an automatic storage medium exchange device capable of automatically supplying or discharging a storage medium.

[0007]

An automatic storage medium exchange apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes storage means for storing a large number of storage media and recording for recording / reproducing information on / from the storage media. In a storage medium automatic exchange device provided with a reproducing means and a conveying means for conveying the storage medium delivery means inside a box body, a mail means for supplying or discharging the storage medium to or from the box body is provided. It is characterized in that the delivery means delivers the storage medium to the storage means, the recording / reproducing means and the mail means.

In the automatic storage medium exchanging device having the above-mentioned structure, when the storage medium is discharged from the inside of the box to the outside,
The delivery means takes out the storage medium from the storage means or the recording / reproduction means, the delivery means conveys the storage medium to the mail means, and the mail means receives the storage medium from the delivery means and discharges it to the outside of the box. Further, when the storage medium is supplied from the outside of the box to the inside, the mail means conveys the storage medium from the outside to the inside of the box, the delivery means takes out the storage medium from the mail means, and the delivery means transfers the storage medium. Is conveyed to the storage means or the recording / reproducing means, and the delivering means delivers the storage medium to the storing means or the recording / reproducing means.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which a box body 11 is seen through and a part of which is cut away. Inside the box body 11, a storage 12 for storing a large number of storage media such as DLT tape cartridges is installed. , Storage 1
For example, four recording / reproducing mechanisms 13 to 16 for recording / reproducing information on / from a storage medium are disposed above the storage medium 2.
Above the recording / reproducing mechanisms 13 to 16, a storage medium is provided in a box body 1.
A mail mechanism 17 is provided for supplying the inside from the outside of 1 and vice versa.

Beside the storage 12 and the recording / reproducing mechanisms 13-16, a storage medium 12 and recording / reproducing mechanisms 13-1 are provided.
6 and the mail mechanism 17, a transport mechanism 18 for transporting is disposed, and the transport mechanism 18 includes the storage 12, the recording / reproducing mechanism 1.
For example, two delivery mechanisms 19 and 20 for delivering a recording medium to the mail mechanisms 3 to 16 and the mail mechanism 17 are mounted. The box 11 has a storage 12 and a recording / reproducing mechanism 1
A controller (not shown) for controlling the 3 to 16, the mail mechanism 17, the transport mechanism 18, and the delivery mechanisms 19 and 20 is provided.

The storage 12 is, for example, a drum-shaped rotating body, and is provided with a large number of storage chambers 12a for storing storage media. The transport mechanism 18 is provided with a vertical guide rail 18a that is vertically installed and a horizontal guide rail 18b that is vertically movably installed on the vertical guide rail 18a. Is attached to. These transfer mechanisms 19 and 2
Reference numeral 0 is a mechanism corresponding to the storage 12, the recording / reproducing mechanisms 13 to 16 and the mail mechanism 17, and here both transfer mechanisms 19 and 20 have the same configuration.

On the other hand, the mail mechanism 17 is constructed as shown in the perspective view of FIG.
2 for transporting from inside to outside of the container or vice versa
1 and a mail box 22 that supplies a necessary storage medium to the transport unit 21 and receives an unnecessary storage medium from the transport unit 21. The transport unit 21 is installed inside the box body 11,
The mail box 22 is fixed to the outside of the box body 11.

In the transport section 21, a base 31 having side arm portions 31a is provided inside the box body 11, and a carrier 32 for mounting a storage medium is slidably mounted on the upper surface of the base 31. The carrier 32 is connected to a drive motor 34 via a belt 33 and is driven in a bidirectional A direction. Further, the carrier 32 has a bottom plate 32a having substantially the same size as the storage medium, and a top plate 32b smaller than the bottom plate 32a.
The storage medium is sandwiched between the bottom plate 32a and the top plate 32b. And base 3
A stopper 35 that restricts the return of the storage medium carried by the carrier 32 is attached to the first side arm portion 31a.

The stopper 35 includes a rotary electromagnetic solenoid 36 fixed to the base 31, and the electromagnetic solenoid 3
6 and a rotary plate 37 that is driven to rotate, and the rotary plate 37 is provided with a restricting portion 37a that comes into contact with and separates from the trailing edge of the storage medium. The rotating plate 37 rotates to the position shown in the plan view of FIG. 3A to allow the storage medium M mounted on the carrier 32 to pass to the mail box 22 side, and to rotate to the position shown in FIG. 3B to rotate the carrier. The return of the storage medium M mounted in 32 is regulated. Then, when the carrier 32 returns while the storage medium M is regulated by the stopper 35, the storage medium M is left out of the carrier 32 as shown in FIG. 3C, and then the rotary plate 37 is moved to the state shown in FIG. Rotate to the same position as.

Here, the stopper 35 is arranged at the following position. That is, the stopper 35 presses the trailing edge of the storage medium M after the portion of the carrier 32 that exceeds half of the storage medium M is projected to the outside of the box body 11. As a result, the storage medium M is left out of the carrier 32 when the carrier 32 returns, and the storage medium M left unattended
Is dropped into the mail box 22 by the action of gravity.

A replenishing chamber 41 for replenishing the storage medium M to be loaded in the transport unit 21 is provided in the upper part of the mail box 22, and a receiving chamber for receiving the storage medium M transported by the transport unit 21. 42 is provided at the bottom.
At the lowermost portion of the replenishment chamber 41, an entrance / exit 43 for allowing the storage medium M to move in and out of the carrier 32 is provided, and in the receiving chamber 42, a receiving plate 44 for receiving the storage medium M discharged from the carrier 32, It is movably supported up and down by an elastic body (not shown).

Further, a pushing mechanism 45 for pushing the storage medium M into the carrier 32 is provided on the opposite side of the entrance / exit 43 of the mail box 22. The pushing mechanism 45 is configured as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4, and the pushing member 51 that comes into contact with and separates from the side surface of the storage medium M is held at one end of the arm 52 and the arm 5
2 is fixed to a sliding plate 54 which slides on the base 53 in both directions B, and the sliding plate 54 drives the drive motor 5 via a belt 55.
6. A plurality of stepped portions 51 a that are inclined upward and outward are formed inside the pushing member 51, and the lowest storage medium M loaded on the upper portion of the pushing member 51 is pushed into the carrier 32 stepwise. It is supposed to be moved to.

Next, a series of operations for supplying the storage medium M from the outside of the box body 11 to the inside and discharging the storage medium M from the inside of the box body 11 to the outside are shown in the operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. It will be explained based on.

(1) As shown in FIG. 5, the necessary storage medium M1 is replenished in the replenishing chamber 41 with the pushing member 51 of the pushing mechanism 45 positioned directly below the replenishing chamber 41 of the mail box 22.
At this time, the carrier 32 of the transport unit 21 is moved to the mail box 22 side, and the stopper 35 is in a position to pass the carrier 32 and the storage medium M1.

(2) The arm 52 is moved outward by the operation of the drive motor 56 of the pushing mechanism 45, and the pushing member 51 is removed from the lower surface of the storage medium M1 as shown in FIG. As a result, the storage medium M1 falls between the pushing member 51 and the carrier 32.

(3) As shown in FIG. 7, the pushing member 51 moves toward the carrier 32 and pushes the storage medium M1 into the carrier 32.

(4) By the operation of the drive motor 34 of the transport section 21, the carrier 32 carrying the storage medium M1 is moved to substantially the center of the box 11 as shown in FIG.

(5) At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, the upper delivery mechanism 19 of the delivery mechanisms 19 and 20 is
The unnecessary storage medium M2 is taken out from the storage 12, and the transfer mechanisms 18 and 20 transfer the transfer mechanisms 19 and 20 to the vicinity of the carrier 32.

(6) As shown in FIG. 10, the transport mechanism 18 transports the empty delivery mechanism 20 to the front of the carrier 32, and the delivery mechanism 20 takes out the storage medium M1 from the carrier 32.

(7) As shown in FIG. 11, the transport mechanism 18 slightly moves the delivery mechanisms 19 and 20 downward, and the delivery mechanism 19 pushes the storage medium M2 into the empty carrier 32.

(8) As shown in FIG. 12, the transfer mechanism 18 transfers the delivery mechanisms 19 and 20 to the storage 12.

(9) At the same time, as shown in FIG. 13, the carrier 32 on which the storage medium M2 is mounted moves to the mail box 22 side, and a part of the storage medium M2 which exceeds half of the storage medium M2 is projected into the receiving chamber 42 to stop the stopper. 35 holds the trailing edge of the storage medium M2.

(10) The carrier 32 moves leftward as shown in FIG. As a result, the storage medium M2 becomes
The movement of the storage medium M2 is restricted by the carrier 32, and the storage medium M2 is left to stand.

(11) Then, as shown in FIG.
M2 drops onto the receiving plate 44 in the receiving chamber 42.

As described above, in the embodiment, the required storage medium M1 can be automatically supplied from the outside to the inside of the box 11 while the apparatus is operating, and at the same time, the unnecessary storage medium M2 is supplied to the box 1.
1 can be automatically discharged from the inside to the outside. Therefore, the required storage medium M1 and the unnecessary storage medium M2 can be automatically exchanged without stopping the device, the operation rate of the device can be improved, and the labor can be saved.

In the embodiment described above, the operation of supplying the necessary storage medium M1 and the operation of discharging the unnecessary storage medium M2 have been described in parallel, but only the operation of supplying the necessary storage medium M1 is described. Alternatively, only the operation of ejecting the unnecessary storage medium M2 can be performed. In addition, the necessary storage medium M1 and the unnecessary storage medium M2 are supplied to or discharged from the storage 12.
It is also possible to directly supply or discharge them to the recording / reproducing mechanisms 13 to 16. And the storage media M, M
1 and M2 were explained as DLT tape cartridges,
Other CDs, CD-Rs, magneto-optical disks, VHS tape cartridges, 3480 tape cartridges, etc. can also be handled.

[0032]

As described above, the storage medium automatic exchange device according to the present invention is provided with the mail means for supplying the storage medium from the outside of the box to the inside or vice versa. The storage medium can be automatically supplied or discharged while the device is operating, so that the operating rate of the device can be improved and the labor can be saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which a box is seen through and a part is cut away.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in which a part of a mail mechanism is cut away.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of a stopper.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pushing mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 13 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 15 is an operation explanatory view of the pushing mechanism.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a conventional example in which a box body is seen through.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Box 12 Storage 13-16 Recording / reproducing mechanism 17 Mail mechanism 18 Mail mechanism 18 Transfer mechanism 19, 20 Delivery mechanism 21 Transfer section 22 Mail box 32 Carrier 35 Stopper 41 Replenishment chamber 42 Receiving chamber 43 Doorway 45 Pushing mechanism 51 Pushing member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Storage means for storing a large number of storage media,
In a storage medium automatic exchange device, which comprises a recording / reproducing means for recording / reproducing information on / from the storage medium and a conveying means for conveying a delivery means of the storage medium, the storage medium is the box body. An automatic storage medium exchanging device, characterized in that a mail means for supplying or discharging from the box is provided, and the delivering means delivers the storage medium to the storing means, the recording / reproducing means and the mail means. 2. The e-mail means comprises a carrying section which is provided inside the box body and carries the storage medium, and a replenishing section which is provided outside the box body and replenishes the storage medium with the carrying section. Item 1. The storage medium automatic exchange device according to item 1. 3. The automatic storage medium exchange according to claim 2, wherein the transport section is provided with means for leaving the storage medium after transporting a portion exceeding half of the storage medium to the outside of the box body. apparatus.