JPS6322371B2 - - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article transport device for transporting data cartridges used in mass storage devices, and in particular to a method for detecting the position of a picker section for taking out and storing data cartridges from a hangar. This process is performed when a parity error in a control signal is detected, and prevents the cartridge from being in an abnormally stored state in which a portion of the cartridge protrudes from the storage.

Background of the Technology As shown in Figure 1a, in a mass storage system (MSS), shelf-shaped storage units 1 are arranged facing each other.
A detacher cartridge 2 is stored in each cell 1 of A and 1B. 4 is a mechanism for accessing an arbitrary data cartridge, and a picker 4F is positioned at a desired cartridge 1 within the cell. This involves movement in the horizontal direction (X direction), movement in the vertical direction (Y direction), and movement in the rotational direction (Z direction). Movement in the Z direction selects storage compartments 1A and 1B.
Do this by rotating it 180°. Pitsuka 4
F moves forward by converting the rotational motion of the picker motor 4C in FIG. 2 into a back and forth motion (the converter is not shown). When the picker magnet 4B integrated with the picker 4F is driven in this state, the cartridge 2 to which the metal piece is attached is attracted. Then, by rotating the motor 4C in the reverse direction, the picker 4F moves backward and draws the cartridge 2 attracted to the magnet 4B from inside the cell 1 onto the carriage 4A. After that, the data recording mechanism (storage 1A) reads and writes information on the magnetic tape in the cartridge 2.
The access mechanism 4 moves to the entrance 3A (located on the back of the printer) and inserts the cartridge 2 there. Entrance 3A
is provided in the storage 1A together with the outlet 3B, with its cell 1 and end face aligned, and extends through the storage to reach the data recording mechanism on the back side. When data is read and written by the data recording mechanism described above, the cartridge 2 is automatically sent to the exit 3B, so the access mechanism 4 discards it and returns it to the original cell 1.
and store it on the 4th floor. Storing is performed by first driving the picker motor 4C to advance the picker 4F, cutting off the power to the picker magnet 4B when the cartridge 2 is stored in the cell 1, and then retracting the picker 4F. This completes the series of operations.

FIG. 1b is an explanatory diagram of the cartridge 2. FIG. This cartridge 2 starts from the front end of a cylindrical plastic container 2A with a length of 10 cm and an outer diameter of about 4 to 5 cm.
A magnetic tape 2D wound around a reel 2C having a length of 10 cm and an outer diameter of about 3 to 4 cm and provided with a metal piece 2B that attracts the picker magnet 4B is inserted and held.
At the entrance 3A in FIG. 1A, the cartridge 2 containing the magnetic tape is inserted into the data recording/reproducing mechanism.
Then, within the mechanism, the tape is taken out from the cartridge, and it is set in the tape winding and rewinding mechanism to read and write data.Then, the tape is put into the cartridge, and the cartridge is transferred to the exit 3B.
Return to

The picker operation is controlled by an access mechanism control circuit 11 in FIG.
It will be held in The operations of Picker 4F (including Magnet 4B) can be roughly divided into non-operating standby state,
There are a forward movement state, a backward movement state, a forward movement state, and a backward movement state, and the control circuit 11 recognizes which of these states it is in. Further, the position of the picker 4F is detected by causing three light emitting elements L1, L2, L3 to emit light and recognizing light reception signals from the corresponding light receiving elements S1, S2, S3. The light emitting elements L1 to L3 are driven in a time-division manner by decoding four types of light emitting element drive control signals CNT by a decoding circuit 12 on the picker side. In other words, the signal CNT is conditioned at a certain timing, and the decode circuit 12 decodes it to drive only the light emitting element L1. At this time, the light receiving element S1
The control circuit 11 recognizes the output. At the next timing, the control circuit 11 updates the signal CNT, drives the light emitting element L2, and samples the output of the light receiving element S2. Thereafter, L3 and other light emitting elements of the access mechanism 4 are similarly driven, and the outputs of the corresponding light receiving elements are sampled. The updating of the CNT and the sampling period of the light receiving element are made sufficiently small for the mechanical operation of the picker. In this way, the positions of the picker and cartridge are recognized from the combination of S1 to S3. For example, the illustrated states are S1 on, S2 off, and S3 off, which is the state immediately before the cartridge 2 is returned to the cell 1. When the return operation starts, S1 turns off, S2
It changes to on, S3 off, etc.

Prior Art and Problems By the way, in this way, multiple types of control signals CNT are used to detect the position of the picker 4F, and a long signal with multiple core wires is sent to the access mechanism 4 (including the picker) that moves the signal. If data is transmitted using the cable 13, malfunctions may occur due to momentary or permanent disconnection or noise. for example
When one of the CNT signal lines transmits an erroneous signal to the decoding circuit 12 of Pitzka, the control circuit 11 samples the light receiving element S3 with the intention of driving the light emitting element L3, but in reality it samples the light receiving element S3. The light emitting element is driven and therefore the detection output is simply determined to be off even though it should actually be on. When such a detection error occurs, the control circuit 11 turns off the picker magnet 4B after the cartridge 2 is completely stored in the cell 1, and the cartridge 2 is inserted about halfway into the cell 1 when the picker 4F should be moved backward. In such a situation, the magnet 4B may be cut off, the picker 4F may be moved backwards, and the next move may be made. If the cartridge 2 is in an incompletely retracted state with a portion protruding, the subsequent movement of the access mechanism 4 will collide with the cartridge 2, causing mechanical damage and destroying important information recorded on the tape inside. You might end up losing it.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention detects an error in the control signal of a picker position detector, and when an error is detected, moves the picker forward, backward, or The purpose is to control the picker magnet and safely store or hold the data cartridge.

Structure of the Invention The present invention includes an access mechanism for taking out an arbitrary article from a shelf-shaped article storage and storing the article into the storage, and a control signal for position detection sent to the access mechanism through a cable. and an access mechanism control circuit that receives a position detection signal from the article, and the access mechanism includes an electromagnetic suction device that attracts the article, a picker that moves the suction device forward and backward, and a picker that receives the control signal and determines the position of the picker. In an article conveyance device having a position detector for detection, the access mechanism side is provided with a circuit that generates parity of a received control signal, and the control circuit side is provided with a circuit that generates parity of a received control signal.
a parity check circuit that compares the parity from the parity generation circuit with the parity of the control signal before transmission; and a parity check circuit that compares the parity from the parity generation circuit with the parity of the control signal before transmission; If it is in the article storage backward operation state, the picker is driven backward for a certain period of time, and if the article storage forward operation condition is, the picker is driven forward for a certain period of time, and then the electromagnetic adsorption device is turned off, and then the picker is driven backward for a certain period of time, and The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a processing circuit for detecting a parity error, which drives the picker backward for a certain period of time in the article retrieval backward operation state or performs the same operation as in the storage forward operation state. This will be explained in detail with reference to.

Embodiment of the Invention FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention. 11 is the aforementioned access mechanism control circuit; 12
13 is a decoding circuit; 13 is a cable; a light emitting element drive control signal CNT; a parity signal P from a parity generation circuit 14; and a picker magnet drive circuit 17.
, a picker drive signal SG2 from the picker forward drive circuit 16 and the picker backward drive circuit 18, and a light reception signal SG3 from the light receiving elements S1 to S3. 15 is a parity error detection circuit, and SG4 is its abnormality detection signal. 19 and 24 are OR gates, 20 and 25 are AND gates, and 21 to 23 and 26 are timers.
When the access mechanism control circuit 11 sends the light emitting element drive control signal CNT to the decoding circuit 12 of the access mechanism 4 via the cable 13, the decoding circuit 12 decodes it and outputs the corresponding light emitting element L1, L.
2, one of L3 is driven. At this time, a parity generation circuit 14 provided in the access mechanism 4 generates parity, and the parity is transmitted to the control circuit 1 via a cable 13.
Send it back to the first side. The returned parity P is compared with the parity of the signal CNT in the parity error detection circuit 15, and if there is a parity error, an abnormality detection signal is issued.
Set SG4 to logic 1. If there is no parity error, the control circuit 11 samples the corresponding ones of the light receiving elements S1, S2, and S3, recognizes the position of the picker 4F, and operates the picker forward drive circuit 16, picker backward drive circuit 17, and picker magnet drive circuit 18. The picker 4F is moved forward and backward, and the magnet 4B is turned on and off by sending appropriate signals to the picker 4F.

On the other hand, if there is a parity error, the information from the light receiving elements S1, S2, and S3 is meaningless and cannot be used. Therefore, in the present invention, the above-mentioned condition ~
Depending on the situation, process as follows. If a parity error occurs during forward storage or retraction when taking out, the picker 4F may be holding the cartridge 2, or there is a possibility that the cartridge 2 will be held, so the following steps should be taken to safely and reliably return the cartridge to the cell 1. That is, since the access mechanism control circuit 11 is outputting the cartridge storing advance signal or the cartridge ejecting backward signal at this time, the output of the OR circuit 19 is logic 1.
On the other hand, since the abnormality detection signal of the parity error detection circuit 15 is also logic 1, the output of the AND circuit 20 becomes logic 1, and at the rising edge of the signal, the timer 21 activates the sufficient time required for the picker advance operation (for example, 1
2 seconds) and outputs a logic 1, which is input to the forward drive circuit 16 to move the picker 4F forward during that period. The timer 22 at the next stage outputs a logic 1 from the falling edge of the input for the time required for the magnet 4B to disappear, and transmits this to the picker magnet drive circuit 17 as a magnet off signal SG5. Final stage timer 2
3 outputs a logic 1 for a sufficient time (for example, 1 second) to retract the picker 4F from the falling edge of the input, and inputs this to the backward drive circuit 18 to move the picker 4F back.
to retreat.

On the other hand, when a parity error occurs during the cartridge ejection forward operation or the storage backward operation, since the control circuit 11 generates the cartridge ejection advance signal or the storage backward signal, the output of the OR circuit 24 becomes logic 1, and the AND circuit 25 outputs a logic 1. The output of is logic 1
become. At this time, since the cartridge 2 is still stored in the cell 1, the output of the timer 26 is input to the backward drive circuit 18, so that only the picker 4F is moved sufficiently backward.

By the way, some large-capacity storage devices have a cartridge input section (special cell) that inputs data cartridges manually, and this can insert a large number of cartridges, and the inserted cartridges The access mechanism takes out the special cells one by one, starting from the lowest one (general cells do not have such a slope, and only one cartridge can fit into each cell) along the slope, and passes the special cells to the entrance 3A of the data recording mechanism. There is something that is structured to carry it to. In this case, when Pitsuka 4F takes out one cartridge from the special cell, the next cartridge rolls down and occupies the lowest position, so once the cartridge has been taken out, it cannot be returned again. . In this case, the cartridge eject retreat signal is input to the OR circuit 24, and the cartridge 2
Hold it in the carriage 4A while moving it backwards with the picker 4F to ensure safety.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, if an error is detected as a result of checking the control signal of the picker's position detector and it is found that the position detector signal cannot be used, the operating state of the picker can be changed. The data cartridge containing important information can be safely protected because the picker is appropriately controlled according to the timing, and this is achieved with a relatively simple circuit configuration, so there is no need to increase costs. is obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an article conveying device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1A and 1B are article storage, 1 is a cell, and 2
is a cartridge, 4 is an access mechanism, 4F is a picker, 4B is an electromagnetic adsorption device, 11 is an access mechanism control circuit, 13 is a cable, 14 is a parity generation circuit, 15 is a parity error detection circuit, 19 to 26
is a processing circuit when detecting a parity error.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Taking out an arbitrary article from a shelf-shaped article storage,
and an access mechanism for storing articles in the storage;
an access mechanism control circuit that sends a control signal for position detection to the access mechanism through a cable and receives a position detection signal from the mechanism; In an article conveyance device having a picker that moves forward and backward, and a position detector that detects the position of the picker in response to the control signal, the access mechanism side is provided with a circuit that generates parity of the received control signal, Further, on the control circuit side, there is a parity check circuit that compares the parity from the parity generation circuit with the parity of the control signal before transmission, and an operation of the picker when a parity error signal detected by the parity check circuit is generated. If the state is an article retrieving forward operation state or an article storage backward operation state, the picker is driven backward for a certain period of time, and if it is an article storage forward operation state, the picker is driven forward for a certain period of time, and then the electromagnetic suction device is turned off, and then the picker is driven backward for a certain period of time. The picker is characterized by being provided with a processing circuit for detecting a parity error, which drives the picker backward for a certain period of time, and further drives the picker backward for a certain period of time if it is in the article retrieval and backward operation state, or performs the same operation as in the storage forward operation state. Goods conveyance equipment.