JPH10320887A - Disk cleaning device and disk automatic changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk cleaning device capable of automatically cleaning a disk for recording/reproducing information and to provide a disk automatic changer provided with the device. SOLUTION: This disk cleaning device 4 is constituted in such a manner that it is loaded/unloaded on/from a disk automatic changer 1A for automatically changing a plurality of disks for recording/reproducing information, the disk is automatically inserted/pulled out to be cleaned when it is loaded on the disk automatic changer 1A and another disk is inserted/pulled out to be cleaned when it is unloaded from the disk automatic changer 1A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk cleaning device for automatically cleaning an information recording / reproducing disk and a disk for automatically replacing a plurality of information recording / reproducing disks with the disk cleaning device. It relates to an autochanger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a plurality of information recording / reproducing disks such as optical disks are stored, a corresponding disk is automatically selected in accordance with a command signal, and automatically replaced with a disk already loaded in a disk drive. Alternatively, a disk autochanger that automatically loads a disk drive with no disk loaded is often used.

When such a disk autochanger is used for a long time, for example, contaminants such as dust and dirt adhere to the recording / reproducing surface of the disk stored in the cartridge, which adversely affects the recording and reproducing performance of information by the disk drive. May be exerted. Therefore, the disk stored in the cartridge needs to be cleaned, for example, at the time of recording or reproducing information or periodically, so that the recording / reproducing surface of the disk must be clean. In the conventional disk autochanger, the user manually removes all cartridges from the storage shelf and cleans the disks stored in each cartridge one by one.

[0004]

Since the conventional disk autochanger does not have a disk cleaning device, the disk cleaning operation is performed manually as described above. Accordingly, there is a problem that the number of steps for cleaning the discs stored in all the cartridges one by one becomes enormous, thereby imposing excessive labor on the operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a disk cleaning device capable of automatically cleaning a disk for recording and reproducing information and a disk autochanger provided with the disk cleaning device. With the goal.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a disk cleaning device detachable from a disk autochanger for automatically exchanging a plurality of information recording / reproducing disks. When the disc is mounted on the autochanger, the disc can be automatically taken in and out for cleaning, and when the disc is detached from the disc autochanger, another disc can be taken in and out for cleaning. This is achieved by a certain disk cleaning device.

According to the above configuration, a plurality of optical disks stored in the disk autochanger are automatically cleaned, so that there is no need to manually perform a cleaning operation.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below is a preferred specific example of the present invention,
Although various technically preferable limits are given, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a disk autochanger according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional side view thereof. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the disk cleaning device of the present invention. This disc autochanger 1A includes a large number of cartridges 1 (for example, 50 cartridges) each containing a disc D for recording and reproducing information.
(100 to 100 sheets), a disk drive 3 for recording / reproducing the supplied disk D, a disk cleaning device 4 having a cleaning mechanism 24a for cleaning the disk D, and a disk A disk transport mechanism 5 for transporting a disk to a desired portion between the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4, a control circuit 6 for controlling the drive of the disk cleaning device 4, the disk transport mechanism 5, and the like, a disk cleaning device 4 and a control circuit 6 The power supply unit 7 supplies a drive current to the power supply unit and the like, and a housing 8 housing the power supply unit 7 and the like.

The housing 8 includes a vertically long frame 9 framed by a shape member and the like, a front panel 10 and a rear panel 11 covering the front and rear of the frame 9, and a side panel 12 covering left and right sides of the frame 9. , 13 and an upper surface panel 14 which also covers the upper surface. At the top of the front panel 10, a horizontally long supply / drain port 15 for inserting the cartridge 1 and a display panel 16 for displaying the operation status of the disk drive 3, the disk cleaning device 4, and other necessary information. Is provided.
The rear panel 11 is rotatable in the horizontal direction by a hinge. By opening the rear panel 11 to expose the inside of the file housing 8, the disk D stored in the stocker 2 is manually operated. It is possible to take out or check the disk transport mechanism 5, for example.

[0011] Of the stocker 2, the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4 housed in the housing 8 having such a configuration, the disk drive 3 is disposed at the lowest stage, and the disk cleaning device is placed thereon. 4 are arranged, and a plurality of stockers 2 are arranged thereon. The stocker 2, the disk drive 3, and the disk cleaning device 4 are all fixed to the frame 9 or a panel fixed to the frame 9 by mounting plates 2a, 3a, and 4a. Therefore, for example, attachment / detachment of the disk cleaning device 4 to / from the disk autochanger 1A is performed by attaching / detaching the screws of the attachment plate 4a.
It can be done simply by removing it. The positioning of the rear surface of the disk cleaning device 4 is performed by positioning pins 4b provided on the rear surface side.

The stocker 2 is in the form of a rectangular housing with an opening on the rear side, and a number of shelves, which form a pair in the left-right direction, are provided at equal intervals in the up-down direction. Numerous disk storage shelves 17
(For example, in the case of 100 stages, Ni = 100, i = 1, 2, 2,
3,... 100). One disk D is stored in each disk storage shelf 17 in a state of being stored in the cartridge 1. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the cartridge 1 has a pair of half halves 1 vertically stacked.
a, 1b and a shutter 19 for opening and closing an opening window 18 provided at a position facing each of the halves 1a, 1b. A disk D is rotatably accommodated in a space formed inside the halves 1a, lb. ing. A chucking hub 20 is provided at the center of the disk D, and the disk D is chucked by the chucking mechanisms of the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4 via the chucking hub 20 to rotate integrally. Driven.

The disk drive 3 is for writing and reading information on and from the disk D in the cartridge 1 and has an insertion port 21 opened on the rear side. Has been matched to. The cartridge 1 is inserted into the disk drive 3 from the insertion slot 21, and the inserted cartridge 1 is removed again from the insertion slot 21 after a predetermined operation.

The disk cleaning device 4 is for cleaning the surface of the disk D in the cartridge 1 and has an insertion port 22 which is also opened on the rear side. The insertion port 22 is also provided on the opening surface of the stocker 2 and the disk drive. 3 is matched with the insertion port 21. The cartridge 1 is inserted into the disk drive 3 from the insertion slot 22, and the inserted cartridge 1 is removed from the insertion slot 21 again after a predetermined operation. In addition, an AC inlet and a communication connector are provided on the front side, so that not only the use within the disc autochanger 1A but also the removal of the disc from the disc autochanger 1A, a power supply is connected to the AC inlet to supply power, and the communication is performed. By connecting a computer to the connector for access, it can be used alone outside the disc autochanger 1A.

The disk cleaning device 4 includes a cleaning mechanism 24a, an air compressor 24b, and a control board 24c for cleaning the disk D of the cartridge 1. The detailed structure of the cleaning mechanism 24a is shown in FIGS. The cleaning mechanism 24a includes an upper arm plate 25 and a lower arm plate 26, which are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, an arm operation cam 27 that swings the two arm plates 25, 26 to move toward and away from each other, A cam motor 28 for rotating the arm operation cam 27, a spindle motor 29 for rotating the disk D, and a disk holder 30 for urging the disk D against the spindle motor 29 with a predetermined pressure;
Further, two sets of suction sheets 31 and an air injection mechanism 32 are provided.

The pair of upper and lower arm plates 25 and 26 are disposed so as to face each other up and down with a gap slightly larger than the thickness of the cartridge 1 inside the insertion opening 22. Bearings 25a, 26a are provided on both sides of the arm plates 25, 26 on the side of the insertion opening 22, respectively. A pivot 38 is rotatably fitted to these bearings 25a, 26a. The pair of arm plates 25 and 26 are supported so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. The pivot 38
Are fixed to a chassis-side member (not shown) of the disk cleaning device 4. This pair of arm plates 25, 2
6 are provided on both sides opposite to the bearing pieces 25a, 26a, respectively, with support pieces 25b, 26b projecting inward from each other.
The upper and lower cam rollers 41 and 42 are rotatably supported by these. And two sets of upper and lower cam rollers 4
The arm operation cam 27 is rotatably interposed between the first and second arm members 42. A cam shaft 43 penetrates the two arm operation cams 27, and a rotation shaft of a cam motor 28 fixed to a chassis member is connected to one end of the cam shaft 43 penetrating the one arm operation cam 27. ing.

Further, between the pair of arm plates 25 and 26,
A pair of upper and lower cam rollers 41 and 42 is provided by a spring (not shown).
Are pressed against the arm operation cam 27, respectively. Therefore, the pair of arm plates 25 and 26 are pivoted upward or downward by the size of the wrist h in conjunction with the pivoting operation of the arm operation cam 27. Further, the spindle motor 29 is fixed substantially at the center of the lower arm plate 26,
The rotating portion 29a protrudes toward the upper arm plate 25, and a magnet 39 for attracting the chucking hub 20 of the disk D is accommodated in a concave portion of the rotating portion 29a. An insertion hole is provided at the center of the magnet 39, and the spindle shaft 29b of the spindle motor 29 penetrates the insertion hole and projects above the rotating part 29a. The rotating portion 29a of the spindle motor 29 is inserted into the opening window 18 of the cartridge 1, and the spindle shaft 29b is fitted in the center hole of the chucking hub 20 of the disk D.

A disc holder 30 is mounted on the upper arm plate 25 so as to face the spindle motor 29. The disc holder 30 is rotatably supported by the upper arm plate 25, is attracted by a magnet 39 accommodated in a rotating part 29a of a spindle motor 29, and is chucked between the rotating part 29a and the chucking hub 20 of the disk D.
Is configured to be able to be held. Further, the upper arm plate 25 is provided with an air injection mechanism 32 for cleaning the surface of the disk D. The air injection mechanism 32 blows air onto the surface of the disk D. The air ejection mechanism 32 includes an air ejector 35 having a button head 33 and an ejection nozzle 34, an ejection cam 36 for moving the button head 33 forward and backward, and a motor 37 for rotating the ejection cam 36. And
The button head 33 and the injection nozzle 34 are provided on one side in the longitudinal direction of the air ejector 35. When the button head 33 is pressed backward by the ejection cam 36, the operation causes the air to pass through the air ejector 35. Is the injection nozzle 34
Emitted from.

The air ejector 35 is installed so as to be located substantially at the center of the recording surface of the disk D, and the ejection cam 36 contacts the upper surface of the button head 33. The injection cam 36 is fixed to a rotation shaft of a motor 37 penetrating the upper arm plate 25. In addition, the suction sheet 31 is for sucking the contaminants such as dust and dirt attached to the surface of the disk D after being blown off by air, and is provided on both sides of the upper arm plate 25 and the lower arm plate 26. It is installed and can be replaced from the front during maintenance. Although not shown, the disk cleaning device 4
Is provided with a shutter opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the shutter 19 in conjunction with the operation of taking the cartridge 1 in and out.
When the cartridge 1 is mounted at the predetermined position, the shutter 19 is completely opened.

The cartridge 1 supplied to the disk cleaning device 4 having such a configuration is automatically transported between the disk cleaning device 4 and the stocker 2 and the disk drive 3 by the disk transport mechanism 5. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the disk transport mechanism 5 includes a carrier 50 for taking the cartridge 1 in and out of the stocker 2 and the disk cleaning device 4 and the like, and vertically moving the carrier 50 in the vertical direction (the direction of the arrow Y). Transport unit 51 for transporting the carrier 50 and the carrier 50 in the front-rear direction (arrow X
(Conveying direction) horizontally.

The carrier 50 is provided with a gripper for gripping the cartridge 1 and performing an operation of pulling and pushing. The upper and lower transporting section 51 includes, for example, a pair of left and right timing belts 53 stretched in the vertical direction, and a motor 54 for driving the timing belts 53 to travel. The timing belt 53 is provided between a driving pulley 55 rotatably supported above and below the file housing 8 and a driven pulley 56, and the carrier 50 is fixed to a part of the timing belt 53.
Further, a drive belt 58 is stretched between the drive pulley 55 and a motor pulley 57 fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor 54, and the timing belt 53 is caused to run in the vertical direction via the drive belt 58 by the motor 54. Accordingly, the sheet is guided by a pair of guide rails (not shown) extending in the vertical direction, and is conveyed in the vertical direction Y while maintaining the horizontal state.

The front-rear transport unit 52 receives the cartridge 1 inserted from the supply / discharge port 15 and stores it in an appropriate disk storage unit 17 of the stocker 2 or a cartridge 1 stored in an appropriate disk storage unit 17. For taking out and discharging to the outside. The front-rear transport unit 52 includes a guide rail 60 extending in the front-rear direction X.
, A wire 61 wound in the front-rear direction, a motor 62 for running the wire 61, and the like. The wire 61 includes a driving pulley attached to a rotating shaft of a motor 62 fixed to a rear end of the guide rail 60, and a driven pulley 63 rotatably supported at a front end of the guide rail 60.
The wire 62 is transported in the front-rear direction X in a horizontal state by running the wire 61 in the front-rear direction by the motor 62.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control circuit 6 and the power supply unit 7 are arranged side by side with the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4 in a state where the control circuit 6 is stacked on the power supply unit 7. I have. Control circuit 6
Are the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4
The power supply unit 7 supplies a drive current to the entire disk autochanger 1A including the control circuit 6. An operation panel having various operation keys of the control circuit 6 and a power switch of the power supply unit 7 is attached to the front panel 10, and the control circuit 6 performs processing to be described later by using input signals from the various operation keys as data. Run.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control circuit 6 is composed of, for example, a one-chip type microcomputer, for example, an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) for 4-bit parallel processing.
70, a storage device (ROM) 71 in which a predetermined program is written in advance, a storage device (RAM) 72 in which information can be written and rewritten, and a signal for managing time and sending a signal at a preset time. An output interface 73, an input interface 74, an output interface 75, and the like are provided, and these are electrically connected via a bus line 76. The input interface 74 is connected to a commander 77 such as a main computer of a broadcasting station, for example, and key input means 78 including various operation keys described above, and these information are calculated through the input interface 74. It is connected to the processing device 70 and the like.

Further, various motors 54 and 62 of the disk transport mechanism 5 are connected to an output interface 75 of the control circuit 6.
And other electrical devices are electrically connected, and the cleaning mechanism 2 of the disc cleaning device 4 is
A cam motor 28, a spindle motor 29, and a motor 37 for operating the motor 4a are electrically connected, and are driven and controlled based on a control signal output from the control circuit 6 to execute a predetermined operation. That is, the drive of the disk transport mechanism 5 is controlled by the control circuit 6, and transports the disk D contained in the cartridge 1 between the stocker 2, the disk drive 3 and the disk cleaning device 4. When the disk D is supplied to the cleaning mechanism 24a in the disk cleaning device 4, the cam motor 28 rotates the arm operation cam 27 to bring the pair of arm plates 25 and 26 close to each other, and the spindle motor 29 and the disk holder 30 And the disk D is chucked. Thereafter, the chucked disk D is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed by the spindle motor 29. Further, the motor 37 sequentially injects air from each of the injection nozzles 34 of the air injector 35 through the operation of the injection cam 36 which is sequentially driven.

The disk transport mechanism 5 by the control circuit 6
The operation of the cleaning mechanism 24a is controlled by the commander 8.
This is performed based on a command signal input from 0 and an operation signal input from key input means 81 as an operation unit. Then, the control circuit 6 executes predetermined arithmetic processing based on an input signal such as an operation signal, and a control signal corresponding to the arithmetic result is transmitted to the motor 54 of the disk transport mechanism 5, the cam motor 28 of the cleaning mechanism 24a, the spindle motor 29 and the motor 37. That is, the control circuit 6
Executes a predetermined control process such as the one shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. This flowchart shows a control program for the disk autochanger 1A in which a large number (for example, 100) of disks D are stored. Based on the control processing by the control circuit 6, the disk transport mechanism 5 executes a predetermined operation as shown in the flowchart of the operation procedure shown in FIG. 10, for example, to transport the disk D to the cleaning mechanism 24a and the like. 24a cleans the disk D by executing a predetermined operation, for example, as shown in the flowchart of the operation procedure shown in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, the control processing of the control circuit 6 is started by operating an operation start switch, and processing such as initial setting is performed. Then, in step S1, command information is read,
Next, the process proceeds to step S2 to determine whether a command signal has been input. This command input is determined, for example, by automatically inputting a command signal of “reproducing the information recorded on the disk D” from the commander 80 or inputting the command signal from the key input unit 81 by a manual operation of the operator. To see if they are there.

If it is determined in step S2 that "command input is present", the flow shifts to step S3 to determine the type of the command input. That is, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the command signal determined as "command input present" in step S2 requires the cleaning of the disk D by the cleaning mechanism 24a. If the signal is a signal for selecting the disk D to be reproduced, and the reproduction of the disk D is associated with the cleaning, and the disk D must be cleaned before the reproduction, a message “Cleaning is required. Command. " On the other hand, when the command signal does not require the cleaning of the disk D, for example, when an emergency reproduction stop signal is input during the reproduction,
It is determined that the command is not a command requiring cleaning.

If it is determined in step S3 that the command is a command requiring cleaning, the process then proceeds to step S4, where data necessary for cleaning the disk D, that is, the disk transport mechanism 5 and a request to convey data for causing the cleaning mechanism 24a to perform a predetermined operation.
1 and received from the RAM 72. Then, step S5
Then, a control signal corresponding to the cleaning command is output from the output interface 75 to the disk transport mechanism 5 and the cleaning mechanism 24a (the cam motor 28, the spindle motor 29, and the motor 37), and the disk D is cleaned.

Thereafter, the flow shifts to step S6, where it is determined whether or not the cleaning process of the disk D by the cleaning mechanism 24a and the transportation process to the disk drive 3 or the like which may be required thereafter are completed. If the result of determination in step S6 is that predetermined processing has not been completed, processing returns to step S1 and repeats the processing of steps S1 to S6 described above. On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S6 is that predetermined processing has ended, the processing ends here. If it is determined in step S3 that the command is a command requiring cleaning, the process proceeds to step S4 to execute the processing corresponding to the other commands as described above.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, step S2
If it is determined that there is no command input, the routine enters a disk D cleaning processing routine.

In this cleaning processing routine, as shown in FIG. 9, in step S11, information relating to the apparatus state as to whether the recording / reproducing operation by the disk autochanger 1A is performed or stopped is read. This device state information can be obtained, for example, by checking the on / off state of the power switch of the main circuit of the power supply unit 7. In this case, the drive current of the control circuit 6 is supplied via the sub-circuit of the power supply unit 7.
Thereafter, the process shifts to step S12 to determine whether or not the disc autochanger 1A is in a stopped state.

If it is determined in step S12 that the disk autochanger 1A is not in the stop state, that is, if the power switch of the main circuit is turned on, the operation of the disk autochanger 1A is continued. Thus, the cleaning processing routine ends, and the process returns to the processing routine of FIG. 8 again. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the power switch of the main circuit is turned off or the like, the disc autochanger 1A is in the stopped state, and it is determined that the operation of the disc autochanger 1A, such as reproduction, has been completed. Then, control goes to a step S13.

In step S13, "1" is set in the shelf position storage area provided in the RAM 72. next,
The process proceeds to step S14 to read the timer information of the timer 73. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not the current time is within a predetermined time zone (for example, from 0:00 am to 8:00 am). The determination as to whether or not the time is within the predetermined time is to check whether or not the disc autochanger 1A is not used, for example, at a time zone such as at night. If it is not within the range of 8:00 am, it is determined that it is not nighttime, and the processing is ended here and the processing returns to the processing routine of FIG.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S15, if it is determined that the current time is within the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S16, where the set value of the shelf position storage area is set to “i ≦ 100”. If not, that is, if the value of i exceeds 100, it is determined that the cleaning processing of all the disks D has been completed, and the processing is ended by this, and FIG.
It returns to the processing routine of. In contrast, step S16
If the value of i does not exceed 100, it is determined that "i.ltoreq.100", and the process proceeds to the next step S17 to clean the remaining unprocessed disk D. .

In step S17, a control signal for executing the cleaning operation is output, and the disk transport mechanism 5 is operated as shown in FIG. 10, and the cleaning mechanism 24a is operated as shown in FIG. After the completion of this cleaning operation, the process shifts to step S18 to replace the set value of the shelf position storage area with a value obtained by adding 1 to the previous value. Next, the process returns to step S14, and thereafter, the processing of steps S14 to S18 is repeated.
Then, if it is determined in step S15 that the predetermined time period has been exceeded, or if it is determined in step S16 that all the disks D have been cleaned, the process is terminated. Return to the processing routine of FIG.

Next, an operation procedure of the disk transport mechanism 5 which is driven and controlled based on the above-described control program will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, when the cleaning process is started, first, in step T1, one of the disk storage shelves Ni (i = 1 to 100) of the stocker 2 has one disk storage shelve Ni (for example, From the first storage shelf N1) is read. The reading of the disk storage shelf Ni may be performed one by one from the upper side of the stocker 2 as in the present embodiment, or may be performed from the lower side or from an arbitrary portion. Next, the process proceeds to step T2 to determine whether or not the disk D is stored in the disk storage shelf N1. As a result of this determination, if the disk D is not stored in the disk storage shelf N1, there is no disk D to be cleaned in the disk storage shelf N1, and the process ends here. Then, the process for the next disk storage shelf N2 is executed.

On the other hand, if the disk D is stored in the disk storage shelf Ni (for example, the second storage willow N2 from the top), the process proceeds to step T3 and the disk storage shelf N
Before step 2, the carrier 50 is moved. In this case, the motor 5 of the disk transport mechanism 5 is controlled based on the control signal of the control circuit 6.
4 is supplied with a drive current. As a result, the drive pulley 55 is rotationally driven from the motor pulley 57 via the drive belt 58, and the timing belt 53 of the vertical transport unit 51 is moved in the vertical direction, so that the carrier 50 moves in front of the predetermined disk storage shelf N2.

Next, in step T4, the disk D is moved in the horizontal direction while being stored in the cartridge 1, and the cartridge 1 is removed from the disk storage shelf 2 and stored in the carrier 50. Next, the process proceeds to step T5, in which the vertical transport unit 51 is driven through the operation of the motor 54, and the carrier 50 is lowered to move to the front of the disk cleaning device 4. Then, the flow shifts to step T6, where the disc D is loaded into the carrier 50 while the cartridge 1 remains.
The cartridge 1 is inserted into the disk cleaning device 4 through the insertion port 22, and the cartridge 1 is set at a predetermined position of the cleaning mechanism 24a (the state of FIG. 4).

The cartridge 1 is moved to the cleaning mechanism 2
When the cartridge 1 is set in the cartridge cleaning device 4a, a shutter 1
Is opened, and a part of the disc D accommodated therein is exposed from the upper and lower opening windows 18. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cleaning mechanism 24a and the disc holder 30 face the opening window 18 on the upper surface of the cartridge 1, while the spindle motor 29 faces the opening window 18 on the lower surface. . Next, the process proceeds to step T7, where the drive of the cleaning mechanism 24a is controlled to execute cleaning of the upper surface of the disk D. The operation of the cleaning mechanism 24a shown in step T7 will be described later with reference to FIG.
1 will be described in detail.

Thereafter, the process shifts to step T8 to determine whether or not the cleaning of the disk D is completed. If the result of this determination is that the cleaning of the disk D has not been completed, the process returns to step T8 again, and the disk D
Until the cleaning is completed, the process of step T8 is repeated. If the result of the determination in step T8 is that the cleaning of the disk D has been completed, the process proceeds to step T9.
Move to In this step T9, the cartridge 1 is pulled out of the disk cleaning device 4 and the carrier 50 is removed.
Housed in During this movement, the opening window 18 of the cartridge 1 is closed by the movement of the shutter 19, and the disk D is transported to the carrier 50 while being stored in the cartridge 1.

Thereafter, the flow shifts to step T10, where the carrier 50 is moved to the position before the original disk storage shelf N2 of the stocker 2. Next, the process proceeds to step T11, in which the cartridge 1 is moved in the horizontal direction, taken out of the carrier 50, and stored in the disk storage shelf N2. As a result, the disk D stored in the second disk storage shelf N2 from the top
Is completed. This operation procedure for moving the disk is repeated until the processing of the 100th disk storage shelf N100 is completed within the above-mentioned predetermined time period.

Next, an operation procedure of the cleaning mechanism 24a driven and controlled based on the above-described control program will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, when the cleaning process is started, first, in step T21, the cam motor 2
8 is driven to rotate the pair of arm operation cams 27, 27, and the upper and lower arm plates 2 are actuated through the operation of cam rollers 41, 42 that come into contact with cam surfaces provided on the outer peripheral surface of each cam 27.
5, 26 are pivoted inwardly of each other about pivots 38, 38, respectively. As a result, the upper and lower arm plates 25 and 26 rotate in the directions facing each other by an angle corresponding to the lift h of the arm operation cam 27, and the spindle shaft 29b of the spindle motor 29 fixed to the lower arm plate 26 The disk holder 30 is inserted into the center hole of the chucking hub 20, and the lower surface of the chucking hub 20 is supported by the rotating portion 29 a, while the disc holder 30 rotatably supported by the upper arm plate 25 is pressed against the upper surface of the chucking hub 20. . Thus, the chucking hub 20 of the disk D is sandwiched between the spindle motor 29 and the disk holder 30, and the chucking operation is completed.

Next, in step T22, the air injection mechanism 32 is driven to blow air onto the surface of the disk D. That is, the motor 37 of the air injection mechanism 32 is driven to rotate the injection cam 36, and the injection head 36 presses the button head 33. Thereby, the air ejector 35
The air filled inside is ejected from the ejection nozzle 34, and the air is blown to the surface of the disk D, so that the blown-off contaminants such as dust and dust adsorb to the suction sheet 31. The suction sheet 31 is replaced at the time of periodic inspection.

Next, in step T23, the cam motor 28 is driven to rotate the pair of arm operation cams 27, 27 so as to widen the interval between the cam rollers 41, 42 which are in sliding contact with the cam surfaces of the respective cams 27. The upper and lower arm plates 25, 26 are pivoted outward from each other. Thus, the upper and lower arm plates 2 are moved by an angle corresponding to the lift h of the arm operation cam 27.
The spindle motor 29 of the lower arm plate 26 moves downward from the lower surface of the chucking hub 20 of the disk D while the disk presser 30 of the upper arm plate 25 chucks. It moves upward from the upper surface of the hub 20. Thus, the chucking hub 20 formed by the spindle motor 29 and the disc holder 30 is
Is released. This makes it possible to remove the cartridge 1 from the disk cleaning device 4.

In the above embodiment, the motors of the disk transport mechanism 5 and the cleaning mechanism 24a are controlled by one arithmetic processing unit (CPU). For example, as shown in FIG. And the respective CPUs can be controlled by a multi-processing system. The control circuit includes a host computer 90 to which a commander 80 and a key input unit 81 are connected, and a first computer for controlling a disk autochanger.
Arithmetic processing unit 91 and a second disk drive control
, A third arithmetic processing unit 93 for controlling disk transport, and a fourth arithmetic processing unit 94 for cleaning control.

A first arithmetic processing unit 91 and a second arithmetic processing unit 92 are connected to the host computer 90 by a bus line 95. Further, the first arithmetic processing unit 91 is connected to a third arithmetic processing unit 93 of the disk transport control unit 100 by a bus line 96, and the cleaning control unit 10 by a bus line 97.
One fourth arithmetic processing unit 94 is connected. The third arithmetic processing unit 93 includes the disk transport mechanism 5
The motor 54 for vertical movement and the motor 62 for forward and backward movement are connected, and the fourth arithmetic processing unit 94 is connected to the cam motor 28, the spindle motor 29, the motor 37 and the like of the disk cleaning device 4. I have. By storing the cleaning control program in the host computer 90 of the control circuit having such a configuration and issuing a primitive command from the host computer 90 to the disk autochanger 1A, the above processing can be performed efficiently.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which only one surface of the disk D is cleaned by the cleaning mechanism 24a has been described.
A cleaning mechanism 24a may be provided in each of the disks 5 and 26 to clean both surfaces of the disk D at the same time. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the upper and lower arm plates 25 and 26 are rotated by the cam mechanism to perform the chucking operation of the disk D has been described.
Are provided so that they can be moved in parallel in the vertical direction.
6, the chucking operation of the disk D may be performed by the parallel movement.

Further, in the above embodiment, the method of determining the disk D to be cleaned
In the example described above, a control program for inspecting all the disk storage shelves 17 provided and sequentially cleaning all the stored disks D is used. The discs are classified into used discs and unused discs. The discs are stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 72 as a use detecting means, and only unused discs D are used in a time zone when the disc autochanger 1A is not used, such as at night. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is transported and cleaned. In this case, only the minimum necessary disk D is handled, so that the cleaning process can be performed efficiently and quickly. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the disk D stored in the cartridge 1 is cleaned has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a disk autochanger that can directly handle a bare disk D. Further, the present invention can be applied to a disk autochanger having a disk drive that performs recording and / or reproduction using a disk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk.

As described above, according to the disk cleaning mechanism, since the spindle motor, the pair of arm plates, and the air nozzle are provided, the disk cleaning operation can be automatically performed with a simple structure.
Moreover, it can be performed quickly and reliably. Therefore, dust, dirt, and the like adhering to the surface of the disk can be peeled off, and recording and reproduction can be performed accurately and faithfully at the time of subsequent recording or reproduction. According to the disk autochanger, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the disk and a control circuit for controlling the drive of the disk transport mechanism and transporting the disk to the cleaning mechanism are provided, so that a command is input or an operation key is pressed. By performing such operations, the disk can be automatically supplied to the cleaning mechanism and automatically cleaned. Therefore, since dust and dirt can be automatically removed from the surface of the disk, accurate and faithful recording / reproduction can be realized in the subsequent recording or reproduction. Then, by controlling the operation of the cleaning mechanism by the control circuit, it is possible to perform the cleaning of the disk periodically and automatically without any human operation in a time zone such as nighttime when the human is not using it.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, a disc for recording and reproducing information can be automatically cleaned.
The burden on the operator can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a disc autochanger according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the disc autochanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the disk cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of a cleaning mechanism of the disk cleaning device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cleaning mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a cartridge containing a disk.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of control means of the disk autochanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a first flowchart illustrating a cleaning process performed by the control unit in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a second flowchart showing a cleaning process by the control unit of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of moving a disk by the control means of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a cleaning mechanism by the control unit of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing another example of the control means of the disk autochanger of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1A: Disk automatic changer, 1: Cartridge, 2: Stocker, 3: Disk drive, 4: Disk cleaning device, 5, Disk transport mechanism, 6, Control circuit, 7 ... power supply unit, 8 ... housing, 22 ... insertion opening, 24a ... cleaning mechanism, 24b ... air compressor, 2
4c: control board, 25: upper arm plate, 26 ...
.Lower arm plates, 25a, 26a ... bearing pieces, 27 ..
・ Arm operation cam, 28 ... Cam motor, 29 ...
Spindle motor, 29a ... rotating part, 29b ...
Spindle shaft, 30 ... disk press, 31 ... suction sheet, 32 ... air ejection mechanism, 33 ... button head, 34 ... injection nozzle, 35 ... air ejector, 36 ... .Injection cam, 37 ... motor, 38 ...
-Axis, 39 ... magnet, 40 ... axis, 41,
42: cam roller, 43: cam shaft, D: disk

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A disc cleaning device detachable from a disc autochanger for automatically exchanging a plurality of information recording / reproducing discs, wherein when the disc autochanger is mounted, the disc is automatically removed. A disk cleaning device capable of being taken out and put in for cleaning, and being detached from the disk autochanger, being able to put in and take out another disk for cleaning. 2. The disk cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising: a motor for rotating and driving an information recording / reproducing disk, wherein said motor is disposed on one side and said motor is disposed on one side; A pair of arm plates for sometimes attaching and detaching the disk to and from the motor, and air blowing means attached to at least one of the arm plates and blowing air to a surface of the disk mounted on the motor. A disk cleaning device according to item 1. 3. The disk cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a replaceable suction means for sucking contaminants blown off by said air blowing means. 4. A disc autochanger for automatically exchanging a plurality of information recording / reproducing discs, comprising: a disc cleaning device which is unitized and is detachable; A disk autochanger characterized by comprising: