JPS61233458A - Holding and retrieving device for information medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten access time by forming an information medium holding and retrieving device of radially arranged plural cassettes, a carrier, a holder and a motor that shifts the carrier vertically. CONSTITUTION:A table is formed beforehand in a computer and number N of cassettes and coordinates (V,M) that indicate stored position are stored in form of a correlation table. When information is impressed to a register, the value of V and the value of M are loaded respectively, and the shaft of a motor 44 and the shaft of a motor 24 rotate, and a carrier 31 goes up to specified height, and at the same time rotated by specified amount, and the holding part aims at front face of the cassette. When it is confirmed that the cassette is held by the holder, the computer returns the carrier 31 to the home position. The cassette is loaded in the insertion port 16 of a reproducer 17 and a disk in the cassette is used for reproduction.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an information medium holding and retrieval device or an autochanger, and more specifically, it relates to an information medium holding and retrieval device or an autochanger. The present invention relates to an information medium holding and retrieval device or an autochanger that selects an information medium and returns the information medium to its original position after reproducing and recording the information medium.

(Prior art) As a conventional device of this kind, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-92471
There is something disclosed in the publication No. That is, in the conventional device, a rack storing cassettes as information media is driven linearly or rotatably, and when the cassette to be selected comes in front of the take-out device, the rack is stopped, and then the take-out device takes out the cassette and loads it into the deck for playback and recording.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional device, in order to increase the storage capacity of cassettes, the rack must be lengthened in the driving direction, and it is difficult to increase the storage capacity unless the installation space is expanded. there were.

Therefore, the technical object of the present invention is to increase the amount of cassettes that can be stored without increasing the installation space.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to solve the above technical problem, the technical means taken in the present invention is to provide a plurality of cassettes arranged radially and weightwise, and a plurality of cassettes arranged on a plane. a stand rotatably provided around the center point of a drawn circular arc; a guide shaft erected on the stand; a carrier mounted on the guide shaft and movable along the guide shaft; a holder that is mounted on the carrier so as to be movable forward and backward and grips one of the cassettes; a first motor that rotates the stand; and a second motor that is attached to the lower surface of the stand and that moves the carrier in the vertical direction. An information medium holding and retrieval device was constructed from the above.

(Operation) The above technical means operates as follows. That's 9,
The carrier moves up and down along the guide shaft to face the cassette to be selected, and does not rotate integrally with the base. When the carrier aims at the cassette, the holder protrudes from the carrier and grips the cassette, and then the holder moves to the carrier. The carrier moves up and down and rotates to face the deck for playing and recording the cassette. Therefore, if the conventional device and the device according to the present invention have the same installation area, the latter can accommodate more cassettes than the former, and the above problems can be solved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 16, a storage section 12 is provided on a base 11 of an information medium holding and retrieval device or autochanger 10. As shown in FIGS. However, the storage section 12 is
Upper row 13. It has a three-layer structure of the middle tier 14 and the lower tier 15, and the right end of each tier is flush, but only the left end 13b of the upper tier 13, the left end 14b of the middle tier 14, and the left end 15b of the lower tier 15 are separated. It stands out. And upper row 1
A playback v& (recorder or recorder may also be used) 17 equipped with an insertion port 16 is arranged below the left end 13b of the storage section 12, adjacent to the middle 14 and lower 15 of the storage section 12. There is. Upper tier 13 (middle tier 14 and lower tier 1) of storage section 12
5), spaces S are defined in a radial and overlapping manner by partitions (not shown), and each space S accommodates a cassette 18. Thus, the cassettes 18 are arranged radially and stacked in three stages. A double-sided playable optical disc (not shown) is stored inside the cassette 18, and as will be described in detail later, when the cassette 18 is loaded into the insertion slot 16 of the player 17, the optical disc is played. It has become. In addition, the space is (V, M
), which corresponds to the serial number assigned to each cassette)18. ■ is an integer from 1 to 3, V=1 is in the upper row 13, V=2 is in the middle row 14
and V=3 means that the desired cassette 18 is contained in the lower stage 15, and M is the cassette 1 in question.
8 is an integer indicating the position clockwise from the left end of each stage.

The inner surface 12c of the storage portion 12 has an arc shape when viewed from above, and a shaft 20 is fixedly erected at a point on the base 11 that is the center of the arc. A lower stand 22 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 20 via a bearing 21 (FIG. 8). A gear 22 is provided on the lower outer periphery of the lower stand 22.
a is formed, and this gear 22a is connected to a shaft (not shown) of a motor 24 via a timing belt 23.
It is operatively connected to a gear (not shown) fixed to. A pair of guide shafts 25, 25 and a balancer guide 26 are erected on the lower stand 22, and the tips of these three shafts are connected to a common upper stand 27 to adjust the parallelism between each axis or the pitch between each axis. is kept constant. An arm 28 protrudes from the upper stand 27 , and the tip of this arm 28 is attached to the upper stand 27 as the motor 24 is driven.
When rotated integrally with the lower stand 22, it always draws an arc that is the same as the inner circumferential surface 12c of the storage portion 12. A sensor 29 is attached to the arm 28, and an inner peripheral portion of an arc-shaped plate 30 is loosely fitted into the bifurcated detection portion 29a of the sensor 29. Therefore, on the inner circumference of the plate 30, M number of sleeves 30a are provided on the upper stage 13.
They are carved radially to correspond to the spaces in the sensor 29, and as the sensor 29 rotates, it is possible to know which space in the circumferential direction the detection part 29a of the sensor 29 is detecting. It looks like this. Further, the outer peripheral portion of the plate 30 is fixed to the top portion 12d of the storage portion 12 at a proper location.

A pair of guide shafts 25 erected on the lower stand 22. ．． 25 has ears 31a, 3 formed on both sides of the carrier 31.
1a is slidably mounted, and the carrier 31 is movable up and down along the guide shaft 25. Lower stand 22
A pulley 32 is also rotatably mounted on the bracket 33 fixed to the base 27, and a pulley 34 is rotatably mounted on the bracket 33 fixed to the base 27. A retainer 35 is fixed to one ear 31a of the carrier 31, and a wire 37 is installed between the lower end 35b of the retainer 25 and the wire wheel 32.
A wire 38 is installed between the upper end 35a of the wire wheel 32 and the wire wheel 32 via the pulley 34. Note that the wires 37 and 38 are wound multiple times in opposite directions on the wire wheel 32, respectively.

A slider 36 mounted on the balancer guide 26 so as to be vertically movable is fixed to a wire 38. A gear 40 is integrally attached to the wire wheel 32, and this gear 40 engages with a worm gear 42 rotatably mounted on a shaft 41. A gear 43 is integrally formed at the bottom of the worm gear 42 (FIG. 6), and this gear 43 and a gear 45 fixed to the shaft of a motor 44 mounted on the lower base 22 are connected to the timing. They are operatively connected by a belt. Also,
A plate 46 with radial slits (as shown) carved on the outer periphery is fixed above the gear 45, and the outer periphery of this plate 46 is connected to the bifurcated detection portion 47 of the sensor 47.
It is loosely fitted into the s. (Thus, as the shaft of the motor 44 rotates, the carrier 31 moves up and down, and the rotational speed of the shaft is stored in the computer 50 moment by moment via the sensor 47.

The carrier 31 consists of a main body 51 and a gripping part 52. A base end 52a of the gripping part 52 is received in the main body 51 and can rotate relative to the main body 51 via a bearing 53. is maintained. However, carrier 3
1 is always located at the home position, that is, at a location corresponding to the lower stage 15 of the storage section 12 before starting the device, and when an instruction is given from the computer 50, the motor 44 is driven to move up and detect the sensor 47. By checking the number of revolutions of the motor 44 counted through the computer 50, the motor 44 is stopped at a position corresponding to either the upper stage 13 or the middle stage 14 of the storage section 12. In order to accurately move the carrier 31 from the hoe position to the relevant position (or vice versa), the carrier 3
The projecting piece 54 protruding from the main body 51 of 1 has a bifurcated detection portion 55a of the photosensor 55 and a photosensor 56.
A bifurcated detection section 56a is attached.

Therefore, between the upper stand 22 and the lower stand 27, there is a plate 5.
7 is installed, and the plate 58 attached at right angles to the plate 57 is the bifurcated detection part 55a of the sensor 55.
It is loosely fitted inside. The plate 58 has slits 59, 60 and 61 at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.
are engraved, and these three slits are
The upper stage 13 degrees corresponds to the middle stage 14 and the lower stage 15 of 2. Further, below the plate 58,
A protruding piece 62 protrudes, and this protruding piece 62 is loosely fitted into the detection portion 56a of the sensor 56 when the carrier 31 is at the home position. The computer 50 is configured to understand that the carrier 31 is located at the home position when the sensor 55 detects the slit and the sensor 56 detects the protrusion 62.

A stepping motor 71 is fixed to a bracket 70 provided integrally with the base end 52a of the gripping portion 52 of the carrier 31, and a gear 72 and an annular plate are mounted on the shaft of the bracket 70. 73 is fixed. The gear 72 engages with both a gear 76 fixed to a left end 75 of a shaft 75 in which a spiral groove 74 is carved and a gear 79 fixed to a left end 78a of a shaft 78 in which a spiral 77 is carved. ing. Left end portions 75a and 78a of shafts 75 and 78 are rotatably supported by bracket 70, and right end portion 75b of shaft 75 and right end portion 78 of shaft 78 are rotatably supported by bracket 70, respectively.
b is rotatably supported by the bracket 70, the right end 75b of the shaft 75 and the right end 78b of the shaft 78 protrude into the holes 81a and 81a' of the main body 81 of the holder 80, and the spiral grooves 74 and 77 , are engaged with pins (not shown) integral with the main body 81 within the holes 81a and 81a', respectively.

Thus, the holder 80 is movable within the grip portion 52, and the movement is performed by rotation of the shafts 75 and 78 as the pulse motor 71 is driven. and,
The amount of movement is determined by a signal supplied to the pulse motor 71. It should be noted that checking whether the shaft of the pulse motor 71 has rotated by a predetermined amount and the holder 80 has stroked by a predetermined amount is done using a slit carved in a plate 73 that rotates integrally with the shaft of the pulse motor 71. 73a, by counting how many times the photo sensor 82 has passed through the bifurcated detection portion 82a.

The holder 80 includes a main body 81 and a cover 8 that covers the side surface of the main body 81.
However, a space 84 is defined between the cover 83 and the main body 81, and on the upper and lower sides thereof,
A pair of engagement members 85, 85' are provided. The engaging member 85 (85') has a horizontal part 85b (85''b) with a claw 85a and 85°a at the tip, and a horizontal part 85b (85''b).
5° b) Vertical part 85cC85° inward from the rear end
C), and is pivotally supported at the rear end of the horizontal portion 85b (85'b) by a pin 86 (86') that connects the cover 83 and the main body 81. two engaging members 8
5.85" vertical part esc, as'c is lever 8
One end 87a and the other end 87b of 7, husband, pin 8
8 and pin 89, and lever 87
is loosely fitted into a split groove 90b of a movable iron core 90a of a solenoid 90 disposed in the space 84, and is fixed to the movable iron core 90a with a pin 94. Upper end 8 of lever 87
7a and the lower end portion 87b are biased toward the left in FIG. 14 by springs 91 and 91°, respectively.
It is biased away from the solenoid 90.

The movable iron core 90a is attracted in the direction of the solenoid 90 when the solenoid 90 is energized.
Even if 7 is pressed against springs 91 and 91',
The movable iron core 90a can be moved in the direction of the solenoid 90. Note that excessive rotation of the engaging member 85a (85''a) in the clockwise (counterclockwise) direction due to the pressing of the spring 91 (91'') against the lever 87 is prevented by the locking portion 85d (
85°d). In addition, the locking member 8
The claw portion 85a (85'a) of 5 (85') is
When rotated counterclockwise (clockwise), it is loosely fitted into a groove 52b on the upper surface 52a side (52d on the lower surface 52C side) of the inner surface of the grip portion 52.

Inside the holder 80, sensors 92 and 93 are also arranged at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction.
The sensor 92 is located on the front surface 18a of the cassette 18.
b, the sensor 92 aims at a portion 18c on the front surface 18a of the cassette 18, respectively. Front side 18 of cassette 18
A reflective tape 94 is attached to the portion 18b of a, but nothing is attached to the portion 18C. As a result, the holder 80 approaches the cassette 18 direction, and the holder 80 approaches the cassette 18 direction.
After the claw portion 85a (85° a) rides on the upper (lower) slope 18d (18e) of the cassette 18, the recess 18
When engaged with f (18g), the sensor 92 senses the reflective tape 94, and this fact is transmitted to the computer 50. Further, the claw portion 85a (85'a) of the holder 80 is on the slope 18d.
(18e), when getting over the engaging member 85 (85'
)'s straight section 85c (85° C) displaces the lever 87 toward the solenoid 90 against the spring 91.91°, and the claw section 85a (85° a) engages the concave section 18f (18g).
When engaged with the lever 87, the spring 91.91
' It is designed to return to its original position due to its elastic force. Thus, the lever 87 protrudes in the radial direction of the movable iron core 90a, and the claw portion 85 of the engaging member 85 (85')
When engaged with the concave portion 18f (18g) of the cassette 18 (85''), the bifurcated detection portion 95a of the photosensor 95 is shielded from light only once as the lever 87 reciprocates. In this way, when the detection section 95a of the sensor 95 shifts by one gear, this fact is transmitted to the computer 50, and it is confirmed that the holder 80 has completely gripped the cassette 18.

On the outer periphery of the base portion 52a of the grip portion 52 of the carrier 31,
Gear 96 and plate 97 are fixed, and gear 9
6 engages with a gear (not shown) that rotates integrally with the shaft (not shown) of a motor 97 fixed to the main body 51 of the carrier 31. In response to a command from the computer 50, the motor 97 operates while the carrier 31 is descending toward the home position after the cassette 18 is completely stored in the grip portion 52 of the carrier 31.
The grip portion 52 of the carrier 31 can be rotated by 90 degrees in one direction or 90' in the other direction. The reason why the grip part 52 of the carrier 31 is rotated 90 degrees in one direction by the drive of the motor 97 is because the computer 50 receives a command to reproduce the A side of the selected cassette 18 and the sensor 92 reflects This is the case when the mark 94 is detected, or when the computer 5o receives a command to reproduce the B side and the sensor 93 does not detect the reflective mark. Therefore, whether or not the carrier 31 has been rotated by 90 degrees in one direction (the other direction) is checked by sensing the slit 99a (99b) formed in the plate 99 by the detection section 98a of the sensor 98. . Furthermore, when the gripping section 52 of the carrier 31 grips the cassette 18 ejected from the insertion port 16 of the regenerator 17 and stores it in its original position, the cassette is rotated 90'' in one direction or the other direction. , the said 90”
The sensor 98 detects a slit 99C formed in the plate 99 to determine whether the rotation has been performed reliably. Note that the slit 99c is located between the slit 99a and the slit 99b, and the slits that are connected to each other have different 90' phases.

In order to move the carrier 31 to the home position, the motor 44 is driven to lower the carrier 31 to a predetermined height, and the motor 24 is also driven to move the carrier 31 to the home position.
This is done by rotating the carrier 31 counterclockwise until the grip 52 of the carrier 31 is aimed at the leftmost cassette as seen in FIG. The transition to the home position of the carrier 31 is detected by the sensors 55, 56 and 100, respectively, in the slit 61. This is done by detecting the protrusions 62 and 101.

Computer 5, which controls autochanger 10,
The function of the autochanger 10 will be explained in conjunction with each sensor and each motor, as well as an overall explanation of the operation of the autochanger 10.

The computer 50 is connected to a main computer 102, which controls the autochanger 10, a cathode ray tube (not shown), and other devices in a unified manner. The main computer 102 is connected to a terminal device equipped with a button or key 103, and by pressing the key 103, the number of the cassette to be selected and whether side A or B of the disc in the cassette to be played are displayed. The information of
The signal is sent to the computer 50, and the cassette number N is stored in register R1, and if the playback side is side A (side B), 1 (O) is stored in register R2. . A table T is generated in advance in the computer 5°, and contains the cassette number N and the coordinates (V) indicating its storage position.

M) is stored in the form of a comparison table, and when information is applied to registers R1 and R2, the contents of registers R1 and R2 are compared with the contents of table T, and the value of V is stored in register R3. , the value of M is loaded into register R4, respectively. Registers R3 and R4
When data is applied to , the shaft of the motor 44 and the shaft of the motor 24 are rotated according to the value, so that the carrier 31 is raised to a predetermined height and rotated by a predetermined amount at the same time. It has become.

Thus, when the carrier 31 is stationary, its gripping portion 5
2 is aimed at the front surface 18a of the cassette 18. Whether the position at which the carrier 31 has stopped is correct is determined by comparing whether the sensor 29 detects the M-th slit of the plate 30 and the sensor 55 detects the M-th slit of the protrusion 58, respectively. It is now done by If the resting position of the carrier 31 is not correct, the computer 50 will sound a warning light or buzzer 1.04 to inform the operator of this fact.

When the carrier 31 is stationary at the correct position, its gripping portion 52
When the computer 50 confirms that the target is aimed at the front surface 18a of the cassette 18 to be selected, the computer 50 drives the pulse motor 71.

As the pulse motor 71 is driven, a pair of shafts 75.7
8 rotates, and this rotation causes the holder 80 to move into the cassette 1.
The holder 80, which holds the cassette 18 while being pushed out by a predetermined amount (pushed out) and grips the cassette 18, is moved by a predetermined amount while a signal is supplied from the computer 50 to the pulse motor 71 (specifically, is set in register R5), but whether the stroke is made as long as it was set in advance depends on how many times the sensor 84 detects the slit 73a carved in the plate 73. That is, the counted number of times is stored in register R6, but register R7 contains the number of revolutions of the shaft that must be counted when the pulse signal is supplied to the pulse motor 71. The contents of register R6 and register R7 are compared, and if they do not match, the computer 50 turns on a warning light or buzzer 104 to indicate that the holder 80 has been stroked by a predetermined amount. Inform the operator that there is no such thing.

The computer 50 causes the holder 80 to be inserted into the cassette 18.
When it is confirmed that the stroke has been made until it almost touches the
It is checked whether the holder 80 holds the cassette 18. That is, the holder 80 is the cassette 18
Holding means that the locking piece 85 of the holder 80
The claw portion 85a (85'a) of (85') engages with the recess 18f (18g) of the cassette 18, but before this engagement, the claw portion of the locking piece 85 (85') 85a (85゛a) cassette 18 slope 18d (1
8e), the sensor 95 detects the reciprocating movement of the lever 87. Specifically, due to the reciprocating movement of the lever 87, the detection part 95a of the sensor 95 temporarily If the holder 80 cannot hold the cassette 18 due to some trouble, the pulse motor 71
At the same time as the rotation of the shaft of , resistors R8 and R
9 is loaded with "0 DEG", and the computer 50 activates a warning light or buzzer 104 to notify the operator that the cassette 18 has not been gripped.

When it is confirmed that the holder 80 or cassette 18 has been gripped, the sensors 92 and 93 start detection activities, and the sensor 92 (93) senses the reflective mark, and if the sensor 92 (93) does not sense the reflective mark, register R9 (R8) is set to “0”. (In the embodiment, sensor 92 detects reflective mark 94 and sensor 93 detects nothing, so registers R8 and R9 are loaded with "1" and "0", respectively. ) Here, the computer 50 registers R8
If the value of only one of R9 and R9 is “1°,”
Reverse the shaft of pulse motor 71 and remove cassette 1.
8 in the grip part 51 of the carrier 31, otherwise an alarm or alarm buzzer 104 will sound and the sensor 9
2 (93) or more or the absence of reflective mark 83,
The operator will be informed. Pulse motor-8
When it is confirmed that the main body 0 has returned to its original position and the cassette 18 has been correctly inserted into the gripping part 51, the computer 50 controls the motor 44 and the motor 2.
4 to return the carrier 31 to its home position. Whether the carrier 31 has returned to its home position is confirmed by the same method as the method used to confirm whether the carrier 31 has been moved from its home position to its cassette removal position.

In the process of moving the carrier 31 to the home position, the computer 50 drives the motor 97 to move the gripping portion of the carrier 31 so that the surface to be regenerated is the upper side in FIGS. 1 and 2. 32 by 90° or 190°. That is, if the content of register R2 is "1° 8A side playback information) and the content of register R8 is "1', and the content of register R2 is "0"
(8-screen playback information) and the content of register R8 is "O", the rotation is performed by 90 degrees.
The detection part 98a of the sensor 98 detects whether the rotation of ° has been made reliably through the slit 99a created in the plate 99.
This is done by checking whether it has been sensed.

After the carrier 31 returns to the home position with the cassette 18 accommodated, the cassette 18 is transferred to the playback machine 17.
The disc in the cassette 18 is loaded into the insertion slot 16 of the cassette 18 for playback, and after the playback is finished, the cassette 18 is automatically ejected from the insertion slot 16 of the playback [7], and the carrier 31 grips the cassette 18. , it will be re-stored in its original space. After returning the cassette 18 to its original space, the carrier 31 returns to its home position and waits for the next selection command.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention includes a plurality of cassettes arranged radially and weightwise, and a stand rotatably provided around the center point of an arc drawn by the cassettes on a plane. , a guide shaft erected on the stand; a carrier mounted on the guide shaft and movable along the guide shaft; and a carrier mounted on the carrier so as to be movable forward and backward, grasping one of the cassettes. Since the information medium holding and retrieval device is composed of a holder that rotates the carrier, a first motor that rotates the base, and a second motor that is attached to the bottom surface of the base and moves the carrier in the vertical direction, the cassette can be rotated in three dimensions. Not only can the cassette be stored in the cassette, but the holder that accesses the cassette can be moved up and down while rotating, reducing access time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autochanger or information medium holding and retrieval device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the first device, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the first device (provided that the carrier and its related components are (not shown), FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a carrier and a means for guiding the carrier, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower part of the means for guiding the carrier, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a carrier integrated with a wire wheel for moving the carrier up and down. A sectional view of the vicinity of the gear, Fig. 7 is a view showing how the sensor is installed to check the amount of rotation of the carrier, Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the connection state between the lower stand and the plate, and Fig. 9 is a plan view of the carrier. , FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the vicinity of the sensor that checks the amount of rotation of the gripping part of the carrier, FIG. 12 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 11, and FIG. A perspective view showing a state in which the holder of the grip part and the cassette oppose each other, FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the holder,
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the relationship between the computer controlling the first illustrated device, each sensor, each motor, and the main computer, and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the process from the start of taking out a cassette in the first illustrated device to the loading of the cassette into the player. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure performed by a computer during 18...Cassettes 22...units, 24.44...
Motor, 31...Carrier, 80...Holder

Claims (1)

[Claims] a plurality of cassettes arranged radially and weightwise, a stand rotatably provided around the center point of an arc drawn by the cassettes on a plane, and a guide shaft erected on the stand;
a carrier mounted on the guide shaft and movable along the guide shaft; a holder mounted on the carrier so as to be movable forward and backward and gripping one of the cassettes; and a first motor for rotating the table. and a second member attached to the bottom surface of the table and configured to move the carrier in the vertical direction.
An information medium holding and retrieval device equipped with a motor.