JPS63244440A - Cassette auto-changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a continuous reproducing cycle time by mounting a reproducing device on a carriage part, to make it movable and to take in and out a cassette directly between a cassette shelf and reproducing device. CONSTITUTION:The title device is composed of the cassette shelf 1 in which plural cassettes are stored, a carriage part 3 to move so as to take in and out plural cassettes respectively at the front face of the cassette shelf 1 and the reproducing device mounted on the carriage part 3. VTR 11-14 is mounted on the carriage 3 and with the VTR 11-14 being moved together with the carriage 3 the taking in and out of cassettes C1, C2, C3, C4... can be directly performed among the VTR 11-14 and shelves B1, B2, B3, B4.... The cassette taking in and out can thus be effected without the medium of the carriage and the time tc spent for changing a cassette is shortened.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] This invention provides a system in which a large number of cassettes are stored in a cassette shelf,
The present invention relates to a cassette autochanger in which desired cassettes are sequentially selected from among these cassettes and installed in a playback device.

[Summary of the invention]

In this invention, a large number of cassettes are stored on a cassette shelf,
Desired cassettes are sequentially selected from these cassettes and installed in the playback device.In the cassette autochanger, the playback device is placed on the carriage section, the playback device is made movable, and the playback device is moved between the cassette shelf and the playback device. By allowing direct loading and unloading of cassettes, continuous playback cycle time can be shortened.

[Conventional technology]

For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-182049, a large number of cassettes 1 are stored in a cassette shelf, and desired cassettes are sequentially selected from among these cassettes, and V
A cassette autochanger that is automatically installed in a TR is known.

That is, FIG. 4 is an example of a conventional cassette autochanger. In FIG. 4, 51 is a cassette shelf, and the cassette shelf 51 includes shelves B51, B52, B53,
B54, . . . are arranged. These shelves B51,
Cassettes C51, C52, C53, C54, . . . are stored in each of B52, B53, B54, .

61 to 64 are VTRs. The cassette insertion slots 61A to 64A of the VTRs 61 to 64 have shelf B5 of the cassette shelf 51.
1, B52, B53, B54, ... Cassettes C51, C52, C53, C54, ...
... will be installed.

53 is a carriage. The carriage 53 is provided with a moving mechanism (not shown), and this moving mechanism allows the carriage 53 to move as shown by arrow B. Shelves B51, B52, B53, B54 of the cassette shelf 51,
Cassettes C51, C52, C stored in ...
53, C54, .
~64A is installed. In addition, the cassette C installed in the cassette insertion slots 61A to 64A of the VTRs 61 to 64
51, C52, C53, C54, .
52, B53, B54, etc.

With such a cassette autochanger, VTR6
By performing playback without switching between numbers 1 to 64, playback can be continued without interruption.

FIG. 5 shows, for example, shelves B51, B52 of the cassette shelf 51,
B53, B54, ... cassette C51, C52
, C53, C54, .
- Figure 5D), operating state of carriage 53 (Figure 5E)
, respectively show the moving state of the carriage 53 (FIG. 5F). At the 5th mF, 71 is a movement curve of the carriage 53, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing the position at that time.

In FIG. 5, when the reproduction of the cassette C51 installed in the VTR 61 is completed at time T,1, the cassette 1-
From the point in time when C51 playback ended, VTR62
Then, reproduction of the cassette C52 is started.

Time T when playback of cassette C52 ends on VTR62
From SZ, the VTR 63 starts playing the cassette C53, and from time T,3 when the VTR 63 finishes playing the cassette C53, the VTR 64 starts playing the cassette C54. By the time T54 when the VTR 64 finishes playing the cassette C54, the next cassette C55 to be played has been installed in the VTR 61 in place of the previously played cassette C51, and preparations for playback have been completed. When the reproduction of the cassette C54 ends at time T54, the VTR 61 reproduces the cassette C55.

That is, when the reproduction of cassette 7)C51 is completed at time Tel, the VTR 61 performs rewinding and unloading operations. The time required for this rewinding and unloading is ta. From the time tsI (FIG. 5E) when the unloading operation has been completed in the VTR 61 and the carriage 53 has completed its movement to the position corresponding to the cassette insertion slot 61A of the VTR 61, as shown in FIG. 6A, the VTR 6] The cassette C51 is placed on the carriage 53.

At time t5□, when the cassette C51 from the VTR 61 is completely loaded onto the carriage 753, the gear ridge 53 is moved to the position of the shelf B51, as shown in FIG. 6B.

When the carriage 53 is moved to the position of the shelf B51 at time ts3, as shown in FIG.

When the storage of the cassette tray C51 on the shelf B51 is completed at time ts4, as shown in the sixth diagram, the carriage 53
is moved to the position of shelf B55.

When the carriage 53 completes its movement to the position of shelf B55 at time t'ss, as shown in FIG.
The cassette C55 stored in the cartridge C55 is placed on the carriage 53.

When the cassette C55 is completely placed on the carriage 53 at time tsb, the carriage 53 is moved to the position of the cassette insertion opening 61A of the VTR 61, as shown in FIG. 6F.

Time t5? When the carriage 53 is completely moved to the position of the cassette insertion port 61A of the VTR 61, the cassette C55 placed on the carriage 53 is loaded into the cassette insertion port 61A of the VTR 61, as shown in FIG. 6G. .

When the cassette C55 is loaded into the VTR 61 at time tsa, the carriage 53 is inserted into the cassette insertion slot 61 of the VTR 61.
It is moved from the position A to the position of the cassette insertion slot 62A of the VTR 62. Then, the cassette C52 installed in the VTR 62 is placed on the carriage 53 and moved to the position of the shelf B52. When the carriage 53 moves to the position of the shelf B52, the cassette C52 is stored on the shelf B52. When the cassette C52 is stored on the shelf B52, the carriage 53 is moved from the position of the shelf B52 to the position of the shelf B56. When the gear ridge 53 is moved to the position of the shelf 56, the cassette C56 stored on the shelf B56 is placed on the carriage 53. Then, the carriage 53 is placed on the shelf B5.
6 to the VTR 62 position, and the cassette C
56 is attached to the VTR 62.

Hereinafter, in the same manner, cassette C played on the VTR63
53 is stored on the shelf B53, and a cassette C54 played on the VTR 64 is stored on the shelf B54. And VTR
Cassette C57 on shelf B57 is installed in 63, and VTR6
The cassette C58 of the shelf B5B is attached to the cassette C58 on the shelf B5B.

In this way, when the playback continues without interruption, there is a limit to the playback time that can be taken per VTR. In other words, there is a limit to the minimum playback time (continuous playback cycle time) Ts that can be taken per VTR when switching between multiple VTRs and playing back without interruption, and this continuous playback cycle time T is It can be obtained as follows.

Let the continuous playback cycle time be T, and the number of VTRs be N.
Let t8 be the access time of the VTR for the cassette that has been played, tb be the access time of the VTR for the cassette 1- that will be played from now on, and tc be the time required to replace the cassette. In other words, ta is the time required to rewind and unload the tape of the cassette after it has been played. t is the time required to load the tape of the cassette to be played and to feed the tape to the desired playback start position.

1c is the time required to place the played cassette on a carriage and transport it to the cassette shelf, then take out the cassette to be played from the cassette shelf, place it on the carriage and transport it to the VTR, and then load this cassette into the VTR. be.

Focusing on one VTR, the time from the end of playing the cassette loaded in this VTR until the preparation for starting playing the next cassette is completed (for example, the time TSI to T in FIG. 5A) 4) includes at least the time (-ta) for rewinding and unloading the cassette that has finished playing, and the time (-ta) for transporting this cassette to the cassette shelf.
Time to install a new cassette into this VTR (-tc)
The total time (ta+j, +tc> minutes) is required, including the time (-tb) for loading and sending the tape to the playback start position.During this time, the other (N-1) VTRs are being switched and playing without interruption. Assuming that playback continues, 1
The playback time per unit is at least (ta +t, +t
c)/(N-1) is required. Therefore, (t +
When tb+tc)/(N-1) is larger than the carriage cycle time Tea, the continuous playback cycle time T is Ts = (ta +tb +tc)/(
N-1) can be obtained by combining ・−■.

From Equation 0, the continuous playback cycle time Ts can be determined by increasing the number N of VTRs or by changing the VTR access times ta, t.
b. It can be shortened by reducing the time tC required for replacing the cassette.

However, since there is only one carriage for transferring cassettes, cassettes cannot be transferred for multiple VTRs at the same time. Therefore, even if the number N of VTRs is increased, the continuous cycle time T5 is lower than the carriage cycle time T5.
e It cannot be less than a.

That is, when (ta + tb + tc) / (N-1) is smaller than the carriage cycle time T ea,
The continuous cycle time T, is equal to the carriage cycle time Tea. Carriage cycle time T
e a is the time required for the carriage to perform one operation, and is the sum of the time 1c required to replace the cassette for one VTR and the time required for the carriage to move to the next VTR position.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In this way, the continuous playback cycle time T5 can be increased by increasing the number N of VTRs or by increasing the access time ta of the VTRs.
% Lb can be reduced by reducing the time 1c required to transfer the cassette. The access time La5jb of the VTR is determined by the performance of the VTR and cannot be made smaller. If the number N of VTRs is increased, the continuous playback cycle time Ts will be shortened, but the continuous playback cycle time T and the carriage cycle time T
It cannot be made smaller than cm. Therefore, in order to shorten the continuous reproduction cycle time T, it is necessary to shorten the time tC required for cassette transfer.

With conventional cassette autochangers, VTR61~
64 and shelves B51, B52, B53, B54, etc.
cassettes C51 and C via the carriage 53.
52, C53, C54, etc. are put in and taken out. Therefore, the time 1c required for transferring the cassettes is the time required for transferring the cassettes C3, C3, C52, C53, C54, . .
..., move the carriage 53 to the shelf B51.1352,
Transfer to B53, B54, etc., and move to carriage 5.
3 to cassette C51, C52, C53, C54,...
... on shelves B51, B52, B53, B54, etc.
・Time to store and shelves B51, B52, B53
, B54,... new cassettes C51, C5
2, take out the cassettes C53, C54, etc., place them on the carriage 53 and transfer them to the VTRs 61-64, and transfer the cassettes C51, C52 from the carriage 53 to the VTRs 61-64.
, C53, C54, etc. will be required for the time it takes to install them. In order to shorten the time 1C required to transfer the cassette, it is conceivable to increase the moving speed of the carriage 53. However, increasing the moving speed of the carriage 53 increases costs, and increasing the moving speed of the carriage 53 causes problems such as increased damage to the cassette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cassette autochanger that can shorten cassette transfer time without increasing carriage movement speed and can shorten continuous playback cycle time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cassette autochanger that has a simple structure, reduces costs, and improves maintainability.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a cassette rack that includes a cassette shelf in which a plurality of cassettes are stored, a carriage section that moves on the front surface of the cassette shelf so that the plurality of cassettes can be taken in and out, and a playback device placed on the carriage section. It's an auto changer.

[Effect]

VTR II to 14 are placed on the carriage 3, and VTR1
1 to 14 are moved together with the carriage 3. As a result, VTRII~14 and shelves B1, B2, B3, B4,...
...Cassettes CI, C2, C3, C4,...
You can directly put in and take out... For this reason,
The cassette can be taken in and out without using the carriage, and the time tc required for replacing the cassette is shortened.

Continuous playback cycle time T, where the number of VTRs is N, the VTR access time for the cassette that has finished playing is t8, and the VTR for the cassette that will be played from now on is
If the access time of TR is tb and the time required to exchange the cassette is tc, then (ta +t, +tc)/
When (N-1) is larger than the carriage cycle time T c i , Ts - (ta +t, +tc)/
(N-1). (ta +t, +tc
)/(N-1) is the carriage cycle time Tea
When smaller, the continuous regeneration cycle time T, is
During the time tc required to replace the cassette, the carriage reaches the next V.
It is determined by the time including the time required to move to the TR position.

Therefore, by shortening the time 1c required to replace the cassette, the continuous reproduction cycle time T can be shortened.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a cassette shelf, and the cassette shelf 1 is provided with shelves B1, B2, B3, B4, . . . . Cassettes C1, C2, C3, C4, . . . are stored in each of these shelves B1, B2, B3, B4, .

3 is a carriage, and the carriage 3 has four V
TRII, 12.13.14 is placed. The carriage 3 is provided with a moving mechanism, although not shown. By this moving mechanism, the carrying nozzle 3 is moved on the front surface IA of the cassette shelf 1 as shown by arrow A.

Each column of cassette shelf 1 B1, B2, B3, B4,...
Although not shown, drive rollers for inserting or ejecting the cassettes C1, C2, C3, C4, . . . stored therein are provided in the . By this driving roller, each column B1, B2, B3, B of the cassette shelf 1 is
4. Cassette insertion slot 1 of VTR11-14
Cassettes CI, C2, C3 between 1A to 14A, respectively.
, C4, . . . can be directly inserted and removed.

Carriage 3 allows cassette shelves B1, B2, B3, B
4. A shelf in which a desired cassette is stored, and a V for loading and unloading the cassette in VTRII-14.
so that the position corresponds to the cassette insertion slot of the TR.
VTRII-14 is moved. And cassette shelf B
1, B2, B3, B4, and VTRII~14
cassette]・Cassette C between insertion slots 11A to 14A
I, C2, C3, C4, etc. are put in and taken out.

FIG. 2 shows, for example, shelves B1, B2, B3 of cassette shelf 1,
B4, ... cassette CI, C2, C3, C4,
Attach ... to VTRII to 14 in order, and
VT when playing I to 14 in sequence without interruption
The operating states of the RIIs to 14 (FIGS. 2A to 2D), the operating states of the carriage 3 a<FIG. 2E), and the moving states of the carriage 3 and the VTRs 11 to 14 placed thereon (FIGS. F
) respectively. In FIG. 2F, reference numeral 21 indicates a movement curve of the carriage 3 and the VTRII to 14 placed thereon, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing the position at that time.

In FIG. 2, when the playback of the cassette CI attached to the VTRII at time T1 is completed, the cassette CI
The VTR 12 starts playing the cassette C2 from the time T when the playback of the cassette C2 ends.

Time T2 when the VTR 12 finishes playing the cassette C2
Playback of cassette C3 starts on VTR 13, and VT
At time T3, when the playback power of the cassette C3 is terminated at R13, the VTR 14 starts playing the cassette C4. VT
At R14, the playback of C4 ends at time T4.
By now, the cassette C5 to be played next has been installed in the VTRII in place of the previously played cassette CI, and preparations for playback have been completed. When the reproduction of the cassette C4 ends at time T4, the cassette C5 is reproduced on the VTRII.

That is, when the reproduction of the cassette C1 is completed at time T, the VTRII performs rewinding and unloading operations. The time required for this rewinding and unloading is 1 m. The unloading operation has been completed in the VTR 11, and the carriage 3 and the VTR placed thereon have been completely unloaded.
TR11-14 are the cassette insertion slots 11A of VTRII
1. When the movement is completed so that the position of B1 and the position of shelf B1 correspond to each other. From (FIG. 2E), as shown in FIG. 3A, storage of the cassette C1 installed in the VTRII into 1IBI is started.

When the cassettes 71 and C1 are completely stored in the shelf B1 at time t2, as shown in FIG. 3B, the carriage 3 and Movement of VTRII-14 is started.

At time t3, the carriage 3 and the VTR 1 placed thereon
When the movement of cassettes 1 to 14 is completed, as shown in FIG.
Installation begins.

When the loading of the cassette into the VTRII is completed at time 4, the cassette C5 loaded into the VTRII is loaded and the tape is fed to the playback start position. The time for transporting the tape to this loading and playback start position is t.

From time t4 to t5, (ta + t6 + tc)
/(N-1) is the carriage cycle time Tea(to
+Ld).

Carriage 3 and the VTR placed thereon from time t4
Although the movement of the carriages II to 14 may be started, in this example, the movement of the carriage 3 is stopped between time points t4 and t5.

At time t, ~t6, the carriage 3 and the V placed on it
TRII~14 is the cassette insertion slot 12A of the VTR 12
The position of 1llllB2 is moved so that it corresponds to the position of 1llllB2. Then, the cassette C2 is stored from the VTR 12 on the shelf B2. When the cassette C2 is stored on the shelf B2, the carriage 3 and the VTRII to 14 placed thereon are
VTR12 (7) Cassette insertion slot 12A position and shelf B6
The cassette C6 on the shelf B6 is mounted on the VTR 12.

Thereafter, the cassettes C3 and C4, which have been similarly played by the VTR 13 and VTR 14, are stored on the shelves B3 and B4, respectively, and the cassettes 1-C7 and C8 of the shelves B7 and B8 are attached to the VTR 13 and the VTR 14, respectively.

In this way, the cassettes] ~ shelves B1, B2, B3 of shelf 1
, B4, ... cassettes C1 and C stored in...
2, C3, C4, ・ ・ ・ ・ are VTR11~1
4, and VTRII-14 are sequentially played back without interruption.

Shelf B1, B2, B3, B4 of cassette shelf 1...
and VTR11-14 cassette insertion slot lIA-1.4A
The cassettes F can be taken in and out directly by moving the VTRII-14 with the carriage 3. Therefore, the time t required to replace the cassette. transfer the played cassettes from VTRs 11 to 14 to shelves BIB2, B3, and B.
4, the time to store the VTRII~14 in the carriage 3 and the cassettes C1 and C2 to be played next.
, C3, C4, etc. are stored on shelves B1 and B.
2, B3, B4, etc. and the time to transfer the cassettes C1, C2, C3, C4, etc. to be played next to the shelves B1, B2, B3, B4, etc. From VTR11
-14 cassette insertion slots 11A to 14A are required. The time required to replace this cassette 1~ is 1c
Since there is no need to move the cartridge back and forth, the time is reduced compared to conventional cassette autochangers.

Note that the present invention can be similarly applied to the case of exchanging magnetic disks or optical disks.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, by moving the VTRII-14 together with the carriage 3, the
VTRll-14 and shelves B1, B2, B3, B4,...
Cassettes C1, C2, C3, C4,...
You can directly put in and take out... Therefore, compared to a conventional cassette autochanger that inserts and removes cassettes via a carriage, the time tc required for changing cassettes is shortened, and the continuous playback cycle time T3
can be shortened. That is, as mentioned above,
If the number of VTRs is N, the access time of the VTR for the cassette that has finished playing is tl, the access time of the VTR for the cassette to be played is , and the time required to replace the cassette is tC, then the continuous playback cycle time is T, ha, (ta +tb tentc)
/ (N-1) is the carriage cycle time Te a
When it is larger, Ts - (ti +t, +tc)/(N-1). When (t, 10t, 10tc)/(N-1) is smaller than the carriage cycle time Tea, the continuous reproduction cycle time T is equal to the carriage cycle time Tea.

In a conventional auto changer that takes in and out cassettes via a carriage, the total access time (ta 1, ) of the VTR is, for example, 12 seconds, the time Lc required to change the cassette I is, for example, 7 seconds, and the carriage moves until the next VTR. Assuming that the moving time is 1 second and the carriage cycle time is 8 seconds ((7+1) seconds), the continuous playback cycle time T when the number of VTRs N is (N=3) is (ta + tb + jc) / ( N-1) = 9.5, and (ta + tb + tc)/(N-1) is larger than the cartridge cycle time (-8 seconds), so Ts-9.5 seconds.

When the number of VTRs N is (N=4), the continuous playback cycle time T is (5 + tb + tc) / (N-1) -6,33, and (ta +t, +tC) / (N-1) Since T is smaller than the carriage cycle time (-8 seconds), the continuous reproduction cycle time T is Ts-7+1=8 seconds.

The continuous cycle time T when the number of VTRs N is (N=5) is (Lm +tb +tC) / (N-1) = 4.7
5, and in this case, (ta → −jb +Lc)
/(N-1) is smaller than the carriage cycle time (-8 seconds), so the continuous playback cycle time is T.

teeth, Ts=7+1=8 seconds becomes.

In contrast, in the cassette autochanger to which the present invention is applied, the total access time (ti
+tb) remains unchanged at 12 seconds, for example, but the time tc required for replacing the cassette can be shortened to, for example, 3 seconds. In this case, the continuous playback cycle time T when the number N of VTRs is (N=3).

is (ta + tb + tc) / (N-1) = 7.5, and since (t, + tb + tc) / (N 1) is larger than the carriage cycle time (-4 seconds), T, = 7. It will be 5 seconds.

When the number of VTRs N is (N=4), the continuous playback cycle time Ts is (ta +tb +tc)/(N-1)=5, and (ta +t, +jc)/(N-1) is the carriage cycle. Since it is greater than time (-4 seconds), T, -5 seconds.

When the number of VTRs N is (N=5), the continuous playback cycle quim T is (ta + tb + tc)/(N-1) = 3.75, and (ta + tb + tc)/ (N-1) is the carriage cycle. Since it is smaller than time (-4 seconds), it becomes T, -4 seconds.

As described above, according to the present invention, the continuous reproduction cycle time can be shortened without increasing the moving speed of the carriage. Furthermore, without changing the continuous regeneration cycle time, the moving speed of the carriage can be slowed down, reducing costs and preventing damage to the cassette. Further, according to the present invention, since the VTRs 61 to 64 are movable, maintenance of the VTRs 61 to 64 can be performed easily.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of this invention, Fig. 2 is a time chart used to explain an embodiment of this invention, Fig. 3 is a front view used to explain the operation of this invention, and Fig. 4 is a conventional FIG. 5 is a time chart used to explain an example of a conventional cassette autochanger, and FIG. 6 is a front view used to explain the operation of an example of a conventional cassette autochanger. Explanation of the main symbols in the drawing: Cassette shelf, 3: Carriage 7, 11-14: VT
R. Agent: Patent Attorney Masato Sugiura 8,000 1. Arc ts1~ts2
B crawl 1. ? ? 1. ts2xts 3 Go to Figure 6 Figure 6 B 6 size, t53-t54 Figure 6 C

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cassette shelf in which a plurality of cassettes are stored, a carriage part that moves the front surface of the cassette shelf to take in and take out cassettes stored in the cassette shelf, and a playback device mounted on the carriage part. A cassette auto changer.