JPS6222288A - Device for supplying and classifying floppy disk - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an accommodating space of a floppy disk compact and prevent the generation of a jamming by overlapping plural floppy disk and supplying. CONSTITUTION:Plural floppy disks FD are overlapped and supplied to a floppy disk magazine 2. A lowermost disk of these disks FD is taken out by a take out device of the magazine 2, grasped by a clamping handle 511 of a moving means 5, inserted into a prescribed floppy disk driver 4 and subjected to a test or the like. After the test is completed, the disk FD is classified and accommodated in an accommodating part corresponding to a stocker 3 through a dropping chute 6. By supplying the plural disks and processing every one, the accommodating space of the floppy disks can be made compact and the generation of the jamming can be prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] A floppy disk supply and sorting device that takes out B number of floppy disks one by one, transfers them to each processing section, and after processing, distributes and stores them in a predetermined storage location. The floppy disks are stacked, and one floppy disk is separated from the lowest one and supplied to the processing section.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention automatically stores multiple floppy disks in sequence.
This relates to a floppy disk supply and sorting device that stores floppy disks in a predetermined location after supplying the disks to a processing section and performing processing (9), such as testing electrical and magnetic characteristics.

With the development of information processing technology and processing systems, floppy disks of various sizes have been used as simpler and more portable information storage media, and floppy disks have been made smaller and have higher density storage. are beginning to be mass-produced.

Therefore, even in the floppy disk, which is becoming popular as a storage medium, there is an increasing demand for it to be a storage medium with higher precision.

However, the state of individual storage media cannot be said to be exactly the same due to their electrical and magnetic properties.Therefore, the electrical and magnetic properties of floppy disks are measured and tested, and depending on the test results, the conditions of use as a storage medium, such as , different restrictions may arise, such as those that can be used at standard density and those that can be used at double density.

Against this background, there is a demand for the development of a sorting device that can test a large number of floppy disks at once and automatically sort them without taking up much installation space.

This type of sorting apparatus also includes a series of apparatuses for automatic feeding, processing, and sorting of a copying apparatus that obtains multiple floppy disks from a single floppy disk.

[Conventional technology]

As this type of automatic testing and sorting machine for floppy disks, a device has been proposed that transports floppy disks one by one on a line, supplies them to a testing section, and discharges them after testing.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, such devices are designed with the assumption that they will be connected to input lines and output lines, so the overall size of the device is unavoidable, and it is difficult to use it alone as a test device. It also required a lot of installation space.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and by supplying multiple floppy disks in a stacked manner, the storage space for floppy disks can be reduced and the occurrence of floppy disk supply troubles (jamming) can be eliminated. Because of that.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention will be explained with reference to the diagram of the entire sorting device shown in FIG. In the figure, the present invention basically consists of a floppy disk supply unit (2) having a mechanism for loading a plurality of floppy disks (FD) into one
D) includes a plurality of processing units (4) that perform predetermined processing, and a floppy disk storage unit (3) that stores the floppy disks in predetermined storage locations after the processing is completed in the processing units (4).
), and the supply section (2), the processing section (4), and the storage section (
3) comprises a transfer means (5) for transferring the floppy disks one by one.

The supply unit (2) consists of a floppy disk magazine 2, etc., which vertically stacks a plurality of floppy disks (FD) horizontally, and is equipped with a mechanism for separating and taking in one disk from the lowest position.

In the illustrated example, the processing section (4) includes four floppy disk drivers 4 for testing electrical and magnetic characteristics.

The storage unit (3) has a stocker 3 that stores the floppy disks (FD) processed by the processing unit (4) in different levels based on the processing results such as tests, and stores the floppy disks (FD) to the stocker 3. Falling sheet 6
It is equipped with

The floppy disk (FD) transfer means (5) is from the supply section (2) to one floppy disk (FD).
A clamping hand 511 that grips a predetermined processing section (2
) consists of a conveyor rail 51, a conveyor belt 52, etc., which are conveyed so as to be attached to the floppy disk driver 2.

[Effect]

First, in the present invention, the floppy disk (FD) is stacked vertically, and in order to separate one disk from the bottom and take out the floppy disk (FD), the floppy disk (FD) supply unit is small. has been made into Since it has a mechanism to take out the floppy disk (FD) from below, one floppy disk (FD) is taken out from the bottom of the stacked floppy disk magazine 2.
is directly held by the hand 511 of the transfer means (5),
It is inserted into a predetermined floppy disk driver 4.

Therefore, the movement of the hand is a reciprocating movement on a substantially straight line, which is simplified. In addition, since a plurality of falling shoes are individually positioned between the hand 511 and the insertion slot of the floppy disk driver 4, the floppy disk (FD) installed by the floppy disk driver 4 can be
After the processing (test, etc.) is completed, the floppy disk (FD) held by the hand 511 is pulled out and dropped into the drop chute 6 located at a predetermined position, so that the floppy disk (FD) can be easily removed. can be sorted and stored.

In this example, a stocker 3 is disposed in a portion where sorted floppy disks are stored, but this stocker can be removed and linked with other devices using conveyance means such as a belt conveyor.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

FIG. 5 shows an external view of the floppy disk sorting device of the present invention in a plan view (a), a front view (bl), and a side view (C). In the figure, 1 indicates the floppy disk sorting device, and 2 This is a floppy disk magazine that serves as a disk supply section.In the device 1, an operating section 9 is exposed outside.

On the other hand, inside the device 1, there are a plurality of floppy disk drivers 4, a plurality of stockers 3 for storing processed floppy disks, and a means for transporting floppy disks.
There is a hand moving section 5, etc., and a sequencer 7 that manages and controls the operation of the entire device, and a processing device 8 that executes test items by program control etc. are housed inside. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire main part of the sorting device of the present invention, and the casing, control section, etc. of the device are omitted. Hereinafter, the same reference numerals indicate the same objects, including in Fig. 5.
A moving unit 5 of a hand 511 serving as a means for transporting a floppy disk moves along a transport belt 5 on the left and right sides of the figure on a transport rail 51.
2 makes the hand part movable. This conveyor belt 52 is driven by a belt timing pulley 53 connected to a pulse motor 54. Based on this moving unit 5, the floppy disk transport means includes a hand 511 that grips a single floppy disk and releases it at a predetermined position, and a floppy disk clamp cylinder that controls the opening and closing of the hand 511. 58. Detection mechanism for detecting the presence or absence of a floppy disk (using a photocoupler, etc.) 512. Floppy disk dry detection
The lock opening/closing cylinder 57 of 4, the cylinder 55 for driving the hands back and forth, and the floppy disk holder are piece 5.
It consists of 10 mag.

The hand 511 and the floppy disk holder are the pieces 510.
As shown in the upper part of Figure 1, this is equivalent to a support plate that prevents the floppy disk stored in a soft case from deforming due to gravity and makes it easier to insert the floppy disk into the insertion slot of the floppy disk driver 4. When the piece is dropped into the drop chute 6 after processing, both side plates of the piece open and close in the direction of the arrows shown in the figure to allow the piece to fall.

The floppy disk stocker 3 is stacked sequentially from the bottom to the top in order to easily catch the floppy disks dropped into the drop chute 6. For this purpose, an elevator drive section including a pulse motor 31, a rack, a pinion, etc. is provided, and the elevator is moved down at a predetermined pitch each time a predetermined number of floppy disks are stored.

2 (al, bl, and (C) are perspective views of the main parts of the floppy disk supply section (2) in FIG. 1 viewed from the direction of the double arrow, partially cut away. In Figure (a), floppy disks (FD) are stacked and supplied in a floppy disk magazine 2.
At the bottom of the base plate 20 is a suction plate 21 shown in FIG. 2(C).
It is installed so that it can move up and down relative to 0.

As shown in FIG. 2(b), this vertical movement is caused by the air cylinder 23 for vertical movement pushing the cam 24 to raise the shaft 25, and the plate piece 26 equipped with rollers that sandwich the shaft 25 to rise. The suction plate to which the plate piece 26 is attached is raised, and the lowering is controlled by the reverse operation of the cylinder 23.

The suction plate 21 has a plurality of holes 22 connected internally to the suction section 214 by a vacuum suction device (path shown in the figure) 8 or the like at the periphery, and a hole 270 in the center. This central hole 270 has the same shape as the hole in the floppy disk into which the rotational drive shaft of the floppy disk driver is inserted, and is used for a position correction mechanism for the floppy disk housed in the soft case. Generally, during the manufacturing process of floppy disks, the case is partially opened so that the floppy disk storage medium itself can be taken out and replaced for testing and other purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the position of the floppy disk storage medium.

One of the features of the present invention is that it is configured in consideration of even the position correction. That is, the movable arm 27 for medium position correction is attached to the holder tube 272 so as to be movable up and down toward the slope plate 29 on the base plate 200 side corresponding to the hole 270 in the suction plate 21.
installed inside.

One end 27a of this arm 27 has a spring 27 attached to the wall of the cylinder 272.
It is pressed at 1. Then, as the roller attached to the lower end of the cylinder 272 moves on the inclined part of the slope plate 29, the other end 27b of the arm hits the dock 28 attached to the suction plate 21 and is pushed down, and the - @2
7a moves toward the center of the hole 270 and toward the opposite wall to correct the position of the storage medium in the floppy disk case that is attracted to the attraction plate 21. Note that 212 is a holder that houses the entire holder tube 272, and is provided to move the arm 27 along the axis 216 together with the suction plate. This suction plate 21
Air cylinder 21 for front and rear driving to move etc.
0 is attached.

The operation of these mechanisms will be explained below with reference to FIG. 3, which is a diagram illustrating a floppy disk feeding method.

In FIG. 3, (al, (b), (C1, (dl) shows the state of FIG. 2 viewed from a cross section, and tel shows a plan view as an example of a floppy disk.

In FIG. 3, (a) shows the initial state, fb1 shows the holder and the suction plate in the retracted state, (C) shows the suction plate in the lowered state, and (dl) shows the holder and the suction plate in the advanced state.

Here, each state will be explained.

(al Initial state) The lowest floppy disk of the floppy disks stacked in the magazine 2 is suctioned to the suction plate 21 by suction from the vacuum suction unit 214. At this time, the arm 27 for correcting the position of the medium It is in.

(bl holder and suction plate retracted state) As the suction plate 21 and holder 212 move to the right in the figure along the shaft 216, the floppy disk FD attracted to the suction plate 21 changes from the floppy disk 1 opened in the magazine 21. It passes through the notch 215 with the thickness of the sheet and is once taken out to the side opposite to the transfer hand section 5 side of the sorting device (see Fig. 2).At this time, as the holder 212 retreats, the holder cylinder 272 rises on the slope plate 29 against the spring 213.

(C1 suction plate lower yield state) Next, the suction plate 21 is lowered by the rotation of the cam 24 as the pressure of the vertical movement air cylinder 23 is released.At the same time, the arm 27 is pushed into the hole 270 of the suction plate 21. ,
One end 27a projects upward from the hole. As the other end 27b of the arm 27 collides with the dock 28 of the suction plate 21, the one end 27a of the arm 27 rotates to the right in the figure.

That is, at this time, as shown in FIG. 3(e), the storage medium of the floppy disk FD is projected into the opening F1 of the soft case, and the center case hole F2 and the hole F of the storage medium are pushed out.
Even if the storage medium 3 is deviated by the distance ML, the storage medium is pushed back into the soft case by the movement of the arm 27, and the position is corrected to a predetermined position within the case.

(d) Suction plate forward state As the holder 212 and the suction plate 21 are moved toward the transfer hand portion 5 by the forward/backward driving cylinder 210, the holder 212 descends the slope plate 29 and the holder 212 reaches the initial position. At this point, the floppy disk suctioned to the suction plate 21 is released from suction, is gripped by the hand 511, and is attached to the empty driver 4 of the floppy disk driver 4 shown in FIG. Therefore, the cylinder 2 for vertical movement of the suction plate 21
By pressing the cam 24 at step 3, the suction plate 21 returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 3 (al) and is ready to suction the next floppy disk.

In this way, the vertically stacked floppy disks are taken into the floppy disk transfer means one by one, starting from the lowest one, and are transported to a predetermined processing section.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the floppy disk sorting device shown in FIG. It shows the transport timing and the timing of the floppy disk supply section and the hand section related to loading and unloading floppy disks into the floppy disk drive, and the time flow is divided into floppy disk supply operation and processing/sorting operation time periods. It shows.

FIG. 4 will be explained below based on FIG. 1.

First, the sorting device is started, and the vertical movement (by the cylinder 23) and back-and-forth movement (by the cylinder 210) of the vacuum suction plate of the floppy disk supply section is performed by the vacuum suction operation (
The relationship between the forward movement and the downward movement, which are started after suction by suction from the vacuum suction port 214, is as explained in FIG. 3.

When one floppy disk FD comes closer to the hand 511 than the suction plate 21, the hand 511 moves forward by the cylinder 55 and when the floppy disk is detected by the floppy disk detection mechanism 512, the floppy disk clamp claw (hand part) It opens under the control of the cylinder 58 and grips the floppy disk. Next, the hand part moves back and the empty floppy disk driver 4 is inserted.
It is conveyed to a predetermined position by a conveying pulse motor 54. Next, the hand section advances so as to insert the floppy disk into the floppy disk insertion slot of the floppy disk driver 4, and the floppy disk is attached to the driver 4, and the clamp claws 511a and 511b of the hand section are inserted.
will be held.

After completing this installation, the floppy disk driver 40
The lock is locked by rotating the lock opening/closing cylinder 57.

) The floppy disk driver performs writing/reading tests on the storage medium for standard, double density, and double-sided, and after the test, the hand section 511 is placed in the position of the corresponding floppy disk driver 4 by the sorting signal output from the device control section. (This movement is carried out by the transport rail 51
The belt 52 is used as a guide.

When the floppy disk driver 4 reaches a predetermined position, the hand section is moved forward, a piece of the floppy disk is gripped by the clamp claw of the hand, and the floppy disk driver 40 is unlocked by the lock opening/closing cylinder 57, and the hand section is moved back. and is transported to a predetermined drop chute 6 position.

It was explained earlier that each of these drop chutes 6 is directly connected to the stocker 3, but in sorting, for example, items with a signal level at a predetermined level in a writing/reading test are considered to have passed, and items that have passed double density on both sides are It is classified into four types: ■ Passing with double density on one side, ■ Passing with standard density on both sides, and ■ Passing with standard density on one side.

Stonker 3 corresponds to these levels based on test results
is stored via the falling chute 6.

This discharge into the drop chute 6 is performed by opening the clamp claws 511a and 511b of the hand 511 and opening both arms of the floppy disk receiver $510 by driving a cylinder.

Through the above operations, the stacked floppy disks are taken in one after another, tested by a predetermined floppy disk driver, and after the test is completed, they are sorted and stored in stockers according to the test results.

The basic configuration of the sorting device according to the present invention can be used with either a floppy disk in a hard case or a floppy disk in a soft case.

However, considering the weight of the floppy disks that are stacked vertically in the floppy disk supply section, this method is particularly effective for floppy disks in soft cases.

Furthermore, in the case of a floppy disk that is housed in a soft case, if one side is held by hand, the other side bends downward, making it difficult to insert it into a floppy disk driver. In order to prevent the other side of the floppy disk from hanging down, the floppy disk holder is provided with a piece to hold the other side of the floppy disk. This support piece is not needed if the floppy disk is in a hard case because it will not bend.

In the above example, the test sorting of floppy disks was explained, but in addition, one floppy disk with information stored is attached to one floppy disk driver, and an unused floppy disk is attached to another empty floppy disk driver. Please note that it can also be used as a sorting device for a floppy disk copying device that attaches a floppy disk to make copies.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a sorting device for sorting floppy disks that is miniaturized and eliminates problems such as jamming of floppy disks. It can be provided as a single unit or as a simple automatic device that can be easily incorporated into a production line.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figure 1 is an overall view of the sorting device of the present invention. Figures 2 (a), (bl, and C) are views of the floppy disk supply section in Figure 1 from the direction of the double arrow. Figures 3 (a), (b), (C), (dl show the state of Figure 2 viewed from a cross section; (Figure 81) is the initial state, (bl figure is the holder and suction plate retracted state, (
C) Figure shows the suction plate in a lowered state, Figure (d) shows the holder and suction plate in an advanced state, Figure 3 (e) shows a plan view of an example of a floppy disk, and Figure 4 shows the first 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the floppy disk sorting device shown in the figure, and is a time chart showing the operation of each part on the horizontal axis. FIG. 5 is a plan view (al, It is shown in the front view (kll) and the side view (C). FD: Floppy disk 2; Floppy disk magazine 3 Nisto car 4: Floppy disk driver 51 = Conveyance rail 511: Hand 52: Conveyance belt 6: Drop chute (' 23 4-section device external medullary fan S standing

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A floppy disk supply unit (2) that has a mechanism for loading multiple floppy disks (FD) into one floppy disk, and a plurality of processing units (2) that perform predetermined processing on the floppy disks.
4), a floppy disk storage section (3) that distributes and stores floppy disks in predetermined storage locations after processing in the processing section; and a floppy disk storage section (3) that stores the floppy disks in predetermined storage locations; , a transfer means (5) for transferring the floppy disk one by one.
A floppy disk supply and sorting device, characterized in that the supply unit separates a plurality of floppy disks stacked one by one from the lowest floppy disk and supplies the separated floppy disks to the transfer means. (2) The floppy disk supply unit (2) includes a floppy disk storage medium position correction means,
The floppy disk supply and sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the floppy disks taken in one by one are corrected in position each time and delivered to the transfer means (5).