JPH11339264A - Recording medium supplying and collecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically supply a recording medium for a recording and to collect a record medium after recording is finished by controlling the operations of each internal device, analyzing an abnormal operation, monitoring an active/nonactive condition and providing the information of each internal device to an external device. SOLUTION: Containers, in which recording cassette tapes are stored, are stacked up from a direction 'a' and a flat truck, on which the containers are mounted, is supplied from the external. When a supply instruction is received, a flat truck supply moving device 1 carries a flat truck 20 to the position where a container separating device 2 is located and the containers are separated. Then, a supply robot 3 takes out a recording cassette tape from a container and moves the tape on a supplying conveyer 9. Then, a cassette tape attitude inspecting and attitude correcting device 8 inspects/corrects individually separated recording cassette tape and a cassette tape separating and attitude converting device 10 supplies these tapes to the direction (a direction 'd') toward a dubbing device, which is a host device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium supply / recovery apparatus for automatically supplying / collecting a recording medium for recording and a recorded recording medium to / from a dubbing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording medium for recording is supplied to a dubbing apparatus from a container in which a plurality of recording mediums are stored. The recorded recording medium collected from the dubbing device is stored in a container and sent to the next step. Conventionally, removal of a recording medium for recording from a container, and incorporation of a recorded recording medium into a container,
Was done by workers.

[0003]

Therefore, not only is the physical load on the operator required to supply the recording medium for recording to the dubbing apparatus by removing the recording medium from the container, but also to collect the recorded recording medium from the dubbing apparatus. However, these operations require many man-hours, and the conventional recording medium supply / recovery means is disadvantageous in terms of production efficiency. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium supply / recovery apparatus which automatically supplies a recording medium for recording and recovers a recorded recording medium to a dubbing apparatus or the like without requiring an operator.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a method of arranging a plurality of floor bogies in which containers accommodating a plurality of recording mediums are stacked in a predetermined direction. A floor carriage transfer / supply device (1) which is separated and transferred one by one to the container; and the containers stacked and loaded on the floor carriage supplied to a predetermined position by the floor carriage transfer / supply device Is automatically separated one by one, and is supplied to the next device. The container separating device (2), and the empty floor cart is transferred by the container separating device, and Depending on the situation, this is temporarily stored in an empty-floor trolley / stacking device (13) for supplying it to the next device, and the container stored in a container supplied one by one from the container de-stacking device. Take out the recording medium for recording Extraction recording recording medium device (3)
And supplying the recording medium taken out by the recording medium take-out device to an external device based on the contents of a supply instruction from the outside, and that the directions of the front and back surfaces of the recording medium are correct during supply. Inspection is performed to determine whether or not the paper is supplied. If the supplied posture is not correct, the posture inspection / posture correction device (8) that automatically corrects the container and the container that has been emptied by the recording medium removal device for recording are integrated. And an empty container transfer / stacking device (5) for supplying the empty container to the next device; and an empty container supplied from the empty container transfer / stacking device for recording the recorded recording medium collected from the external device. A recording medium taking-in device (4) for taking a predetermined number into the container, and a container into which the recorded recording medium has been taken in by the recorded recording medium taking device A container stacking device (6) for sequentially stacking a predetermined number of stages one by one on the empty floor cart placed at a predetermined position by the empty floor cart transfer / stacking device, and the container A floor trolley discharging device (7) for discharging the floor trolley on which the containers are stacked by the stacking device to the outside, and controlling the operation of each of the internal devices,
A control device (14) for self-diagnosing an abnormal operation of each of the internal devices and monitoring an operation / non-operation state, and providing the external device with information on each of the internal devices. A recording medium supply / recovery device is provided.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A recording medium (video cassette tape) supply / recovery apparatus for a video soft tape dubbing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a video cassette tape supply / recovery apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the flow of each of the container, the cassette tape, and the floor cart. First, a flow from supply to collection of a cassette tape as a recording medium will be described. From the direction a in FIG. 1, a floor carriage in a state in which containers accommodating recording cassette tapes are stacked and stacked is supplied from the outside. When receiving a supply instruction from a dubbing device (not shown) which is a higher-level device, the floor bogie supply / transfer device 1 transports the floor bogie 20 to a position where the container leveling device 2 is located, where the container leveling is performed. Will be The separated containers are transported in the f direction.
Next, the supply robot 3 (recording medium removal device)
, The recording cassette tape is taken out of the container and transferred onto the supply conveyor 9. Further, after the cassette tape for recording separated into individual recording tapes is inspected and corrected by the cassette tape attitude inspecting and cassette tape attitude correcting apparatus 8 by the cassette tape separating attitude converting apparatus 10, the direction of the dubbing apparatus as the upper apparatus is changed. (D direction)
To supply. The flow of the recorded cassette tape on the collecting side is as follows. The recorded cassette tape conveyed in the direction e from the dubbing device, which is a higher-level device, is first loaded into the cassette tape stacking posture changing device 1.
The number is collected into a predetermined number by 1 and supplied to the collection conveyor 12. From the collection conveyor 12, the collection robot 4 (recorded recording medium taking-in device) stores the cassette tapes of the predetermined number as described above in a container, and the container is transported in the i direction. After a predetermined number of containers are conveyed into the container stacking device 6, a predetermined number of containers are stacked on the floor trolley, and the container is discharged in the direction c by the floor trolley discharging device 7, and the process is shifted to the next step (outside).

Next, the flow of the floor carriage 20 and the container will be described. In FIG. 1, the floor bogies that have been emptied as a result of the sequential leveling by the container leveling device 2 are b
It is transferred in the direction. Here, if there is already a floor truck at the position of the container stacking device 6 to which the floor truck should be transferred next (when a time lag occurs in the flow between the upper dubbing device and the floor truck), it is empty. Is temporarily discharged in the direction (j direction) of the floor bogie stock apparatus 13 (empty bogie transfer and stacking apparatus) for stocking empty floor bogies. The floor bogie stock device 13 stocks or supplies empty bogies as needed. Further, the flow of the container 80 is such that the empty container 80 is transferred via the supply robot 3 in the g direction,
The container is temporarily stocked by the container stock device 5 (empty container transfer stacking device). The empty container is conveyed to the recording cassette tape take-in position in the h direction as needed by the container stock device 5 similarly to the floor cart.
The control device 14 automatically controls the operation of each device and communicates with the dubbing device of the host device.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the floor carriage transfer / supply device 1. This figure is a combination of two floor bogie transfer / supply devices having the same configuration, but the details of the device to be transferred in the b direction are omitted, and the transfer in the a direction is mainly shown. It is. In this embodiment, the supply quantity of the floor cart is 7
The number of floor trolleys can be easily increased by extending or connecting the devices linearly.
Also, by connecting two devices at right angles as in the present embodiment, the flow can be changed in direction. That is,
The floor cart can be freely transferred by various combinations.

A method of transferring a floor cart will be described with reference to FIGS. The floor cart 20 (the outline is shown by a two-dot chain line) is a
It is supplied between the fixed guide 18 and the width correction guide 19 from the direction. At this time, the number of supplies is the same as described above, but it is easy to transfer any number of 1 to 7 units and any position in the apparatus. Slider 17 to which hook 16 is attached
Has a reflective photoelectric switch 22 for detecting a floor carriage, and a slider 17 is operated by the drive unit 15 to detect the floor carriage. The floor carriage in the present embodiment is one in which a free roller is attached to an equilateral angle iron, but after detecting the floor carriage, the cylinder 24 operates and the width correction guide 19 is moved to the fixed guide 18 side which should be based on the floor carriage. Correct the pressing position. FIG. 3 is provided with three similar position correcting cylinders, which are arranged so as to absorb variations in floor bogie dimensions by dividing the cylinders. next,
As shown in FIG. 4, the hook 16 is operated by the cylinder 23 (the operation of the hook 16 is indicated by a two-dot chain line) to hold the floor cart. In this state, the device is transferred to a predetermined position 21 at the front end of the apparatus shown in FIG.
6 is released. Then, by detecting the transmission type photoelectric switch 26 for detecting the presence or absence of the floor carriage at the front end, the transfer operation is sequentially performed to supply the floor carriage.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the outline of the container stacking and unstacking apparatus (6, 2). FIG. 5 is a front view,
FIG. 6 shows a slider section. Both devices are similar devices, and in that configuration, the drive unit 27 moves the slider 28 up and down. This slider 28 has a cylinder 29 for holding a container,
30 and conveyers 32 and 33 via a drive motor 31 for taking in or taking out containers. For example, when the container is to be separated, the slider 28 is lowered by the drive unit 27 in a state where the conveyors 32 and 33 are opened by the cylinders 29 and 30 as shown by the two-dot chain lines in FIG. Next, a sensor (transmission type photoelectric switch, the optical axis is indicated by an alternate long and short dash line) 34 detects the uppermost container stacked. After this detection, the slider 28 stops, but the sensor 34 is set so that the conveyors 32 and 33 stop at the position facing the concave portion of the container. Then, the conveyors 32 and 33 are closed, and the slider 28 is closed.
Rises to a predetermined position, which is the container discharge height, and the motor 31 is driven to supply the container to the next device.

Next, the stacking of containers will be described.
The container is transferred from the front device to the slider 28 via the conveyors 32 and 33, and the slider 28 descends while holding the container as shown in FIG. When descending, the descending container lands on the floor bogie or the already stacked container. When the slider 28 continues to descend, the sensor (transmission type photoelectric switch, the optical axis of which is indicated by a one-dot chain line) 35 is detected by the landed container, and the slider 28 stops. Subsequently, the conveyors 32 and 33 are opened by the cylinders 29 and 30, the slider 28 is lifted without contacting the stacked containers, and the stacking is completed. By repeating these series of operations sequentially, the container is received from the preceding device and the stacking operation is performed.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of a container. The flow of the container will be described.
The container housing the recording cassette tape is transferred to the cassette tape take-out area 37, and the empty container accumulation area 38 is taken out after taking out the recording cassette tape.
Will be transferred to In this area, if there is a container in the cassette tape take-in area 39 which is the next area, accumulation is performed as needed, and if there is no container, the accumulated container is discharged and supplied. Therefore, in the container accumulation area 38, the situation of the front and rear areas is constantly monitored and grasped, and the container is automatically taken in from the previous area, accumulated, and supplied to the next area. The container containing the cassette tape recorded in the cassette tape take-in area 39 is transferred to the container stacking area 81.

Next, the operation of each device for taking the flow of the container will be described with reference to FIG. In the transfer from the container separation area 36, the slide plate 40 equipped with the conveyor 42 is lifted by the cylinder 41 and is transferred to the cassette tape removal area 37. When the container arrives at this area, the cylinder 41 descends and lands on the container horizontal transfer conveyor 49. The transfer to the empty container accumulation area and the cassette tape take-in area is performed by the container horizontal transfer conveyor 49, and the stop in each area is performed by the stoppers 53 and 54.

A method of stacking in an empty container stacking area will be described. First, the claws 45, 46 holding the stacked containers are opened by the cylinders 43, 44, and land on the containers already on this area. Further, the lifting plate 47 is raised by the cylinder 48, but is raised to a position beyond the closed position of the claws 45 and 46, the claws 45 and 46 are closed, and the lifting plate 47 is lowered to complete the accumulation. The discharge of the containers in the stacked state is performed in the order of raising the lifting plate 47, opening the claws 45 and 46, lowering the lifting plate 47, and closing the claws. In this embodiment, even when the air is shut off while holding the container, an end-keep cylinder is employed to prevent the stacking container from dropping, and this is used. Next, the flow from the cassette tape take-in area 39 to the container stacking area 81 is performed by assembling the same device as the cassette tape take-in area, raising the slide plate 50 by the cylinder 52, and feeding the next area by the equipped conveyor 51. The transfer to the container stacking area 55 is performed.

Referring to FIG. 9, the following describes how to take out a recording cassette tape stored in a container and how to take a recorded cassette tape into the container. Here, the respective devices of the supply robot 3 and the collection robot 4 are arranged symmetrically to perform each operation. However, the slider unit 68 of the cylinder 58 that operates in the Y direction (transverse transfer).
Is provided with a cylinder 55 that moves in the Z direction (up and down) and further has cylinders 56 and 57 for handling. First, the removal of the cassette tape will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A total of 40 cassette tapes are stored in two rows of 20 rows each. The protruding shaft 60 is raised by the cylinder 59, and the container bottom plate 66 is raised. In this state, the Z-direction cylinder 55 is lowered, and the cassette tape 61 is handled by the handlers 64 and 65 attached to the cylinders 56 and 57, and the cylinder 55 is raised to complete the removal of the first row. Further, in this held state, Y
The direction cylinder 58 moves to the conveyor 63 side and the cylinder 5
5 falls, the handler opens, and the operation in the first row is completed. Next, the cassette tape 62 in the second row is taken out similarly to the method in the first row. However, the Y direction cylinder 58 is 2
It has an intermediate stop stopper 67 at the row position,
The switching of the second row and the second row is performed. As for the take-in on the collecting side, the cassette tape is handled from the conveyor 63 side, and is arranged in the first row in the same manner as the above-described take-in.
The operation is performed sequentially with the second column.

FIG. 10 shows an arrangement of a recording cassette tape separating posture changing device and a posture correcting device. A recording cassette tape is supplied to the supply conveyor 9 with the guard panel facing upward and the surface (window side) facing the flow direction of the conveyor. Next, they are separated one by one by the cassette tape separating posture changing device 10 and transfer to the posture changing conveyor 69 in the same posture. Then, the recording cassette tape arrives at the conveyor end surface guide 71, and the presence or absence of a lug surface of the video cassette is detected and determined by a sensor (reflection type photoelectric switch) 72. After this inspection, the recording cassette tape is branched and transferred in the right angle direction by the transfer pusher 70. At this time, if the postures are different, the posture is corrected by the cassette tape posture correcting device 8 as the next device, and the cassette tape for recording is supplied to the dubbing device as the external device.

FIG. 11 shows a state where the attitude of the cassette tape is changed. Slider 7 of cassette tape separating device 10
By 4, it is transferred to the posture changing conveyor 69, and comes into contact with the guide 73 in the conveyor conveyance direction as shown in the side view, and the posture becomes the window surface.

[0018]

As described above, the product supply device of the present invention has the following effects. (A) Based on an instruction from a higher-level device such as a dubbing device, the supply and recovery of the recording medium can be automatically and smoothly performed without manual intervention, and the number of man-hours can be greatly reduced. (B) Product scratches in appearance that occur during supply and collection, which have been performed manually, are eliminated, which is advantageous in terms of quality. (C) Printing process, labeling process, insertion process into the box,
It is a versatile facility that can be used for many recording media supply applications, such as film packaging processes. (D) The number of supplies and the number of collections can be managed automatically without manual intervention. (E) The operation state / non-operation state can be managed more efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of an entire embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a floor carriage transfer / supply device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a slider unit of a floor carriage transfer / supply device of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a container stacking / unstacking apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a slider portion of a container stacking / separating device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a container flow in one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a container flow operation according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for taking in and taking out a cassette tape of one embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of a posture conversion device and a posture correction device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a cassette tape attitude conversion of one embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Floor trolley transfer and supply apparatus 2 Container unstacking apparatus 3 Supply robot (recording medium take-out apparatus) 4 Recovery robot (recorded recording medium taking-in apparatus) 5 Container stock apparatus (empty container transfer and accumulation apparatus) 6 Container stacking Apparatus 7 Floor bogie discharging device 8 Cassette tape posture correcting device (posture inspection / posture correcting device) 9 Supply conveyor 10 Cassette tape separating posture converting device 13 Floor bogie stock device (empty floor bogie transfer / stacking device) 14 Control device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A floor carriage transfer / supply, in which a plurality of floor carriages in which containers accommodating a plurality of recording mediums are stacked are arranged in a predetermined direction, and separated and transferred one by one to predetermined positions. A container, and a container that is automatically stacked one by one and the container that is stacked and loaded on the floor cart supplied to a predetermined position by the floor cart transfer / supply device and supplied to the next machine. By means of the apparatus and the container unstacking apparatus, the empty floor carriage is transferred and the empty floor carriage is temporarily stocked or supplied to the next apparatus according to the situation of the next apparatus. An accumulating device; a recording-medium take-out device for taking out the recording medium contained in a container supplied one by one from the container-separating device; The supplied recording medium for recording is supplied to an external device based on the contents of a supply instruction from the outside, and it is inspected whether or not the respective directions of the front and back surfaces of the recording medium for recording are supplied correctly at the time of supply. A posture inspection / posture correction device that automatically corrects the supply posture if the supply posture is not correct; and an empty container transfer unit that collects empty containers by the recording medium removal device and supplies the empty container to the next device. Loading / stacking device; a recorded recording medium taking-in device for taking a predetermined number of recorded recording media collected from the external device into the empty container supplied from the empty container transfer / stacking device; An empty state in which the container into which the recorded recording medium has been taken in by the medium taking-in device is placed at a predetermined position by the empty floor cart transfer / stacking device. A container stacking device for sequentially stacking the floor bogies one by one for a predetermined number of stages, and a floor bogie discharging device for discharging the floor bogies on which the containers are stacked by the container stacking device to the outside. Controlling the operation of each of the internal devices, self-diagnosing the abnormal operation of each of the internal devices, and monitoring the operating / non-operating state; A recording medium supply / recovery device, comprising: a control device for providing information.