JPH0634289B2 - Disk device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention stores a disc-shaped storage medium such as an optical disc (collectively referred to as a disc medium in this specification) housed in a case by a medium handling mechanism. The present invention relates to a disk device configured to carry in and carry out between a storage and a holding member, and carry while being held by the holding member.

[Prior Art] As an optical disk device of this type, there is an optical disk library device. In this optical disk library device,
The optical disk media (optical disk cartridges) housed in the case one by one are vertically arranged in the storage case, and the optical disk cartridges are taken out from the storage case by the medium handling mechanism and transported to the position of the disk drive unit to drive the disk. It is loaded into the unit. The optical disc cartridge from which information has been read or written by the disc drive unit is taken out from the disc drive unit by the medium handling mechanism, conveyed to the storage position, and stored in the storage case.

The optical disk cartridge is conveyed while being held by the holding member. The mechanism for loading the optical disk cartridge from the storage or the disk drive unit to the holding member or unloading the optical disk cartridge from the holding member to the storage or the disk drive unit is to push the rotation drive roller to one side of the optical disk cartridge and rotate it to the other side. It was configured to press the rotating roller that is not driven.

Since a disk drive unit that can read and write information on both sides of an optical disk medium is expensive, a disk drive unit that can read and write information on only one side is generally used. Therefore, the medium handling mechanism also includes a mechanism for reversing the front and back of the optical disk cartridge held by the holding member. Conventionally, such a medium handling mechanism has been configured to reverse the front and back of the optical disc cartridge in a state where the transport operation is stopped. For example, when it is necessary to take out the optical disc cartridge from the storage and turn it over and then load it in the disc drive unit, perform the reversing operation at the position where the optical disc cartridge is taken out, and then start the optical disc cartridge transport operation. Was becoming.

[Problems to be Solved] As described above, the mechanism for loading and unloading the optical disk cartridge into and from the holding member of the medium handling mechanism has a structure in which only one side surface of the optical disk cartridge is fed by the rotation driving roller, so that the optical disk cartridge is loaded. There was a problem that it was easy to lean to the left and right when carrying out. In particular, a case such as a cartridge for accommodating a disk medium has a large ratio of width to height for accommodating a disk and has a plate shape. As a result, unlike cases such as cassette tapes and video tapes that have a certain height, the area of the rollers that come into contact with the side surface is small and the distance in the width direction makes it easy to transfer the drive rollers. Then, there is a drawback that the case tends to tilt. If the optical disk cartridge is tilted, it may not be possible to smoothly carry it in and carry it, or the optical disk cartridge may be damaged.

Further, conventionally, since the load is concentrated on the rotary drive roller because only one side of the optical disk cartridge is fed by the rotary drive roller, and especially when the optical disk cartridge is tilted, the load on the rotary drive roller increases. There is also a problem that the wear of the rubber roller) is severe and the life of the rotary drive roller is short.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a disk device which improves the mechanism for loading and unloading a disk medium and solves the above-mentioned conventional problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A feature of the disk device of the present invention for achieving such an object is that the case in which the disk medium is housed is stacked and housed at a predetermined interval so that the case can be taken in and out. And a holding member that faces the storage unit and holds the case. Medium for carrying in and out the case between at least the storage unit and the holding member and carrying the case while holding the case on the holding member. In a disk device including a handling mechanism, the medium handling mechanism includes a pair of first drive rollers that engage with two left and right side surfaces of a case housed in the storage section when viewed from the front of the storage section, and when viewed from the storage section side. A second drive roller that is arranged after the first drive roller and engages with the two side surfaces, a drive mechanism that synchronously rotates the first and second drive rollers at the same peripheral speed, and one of the two side surfaces. So that the first and second drive rollers abutting on one side are supported in a fixed state in the width direction of the case, and the first and second drive rollers abutting on the other of the two side surfaces are made to follow the other. And a drive roller support mechanism that supports the drive roller so as to be movable in the width direction.

[Operation] Even when a plate-shaped case having a distance in the width direction compared to the height is conveyed like a cartridge for storing a disk medium, one side of the pair of drive rollers is fixed to the fixed side as described above. Since one side has a buffer function as a follower side and two pairs of drive rollers are synchronously rotated at the same peripheral speed by contact at four places on both left and right sides, the conveying direction (driving direction) with low resistance in the contact state (driving direction) The plate-shaped case naturally follows the direction of rotation of the roller, and even if an inclination occurs, it is forced in the conveyance direction and is accommodated in the holding member in a state in which the inclination does not occur.

Moreover, since the load is evenly distributed to the drive rollers on each side of the disk medium storage case, and the disk medium is less likely to tilt, wear of the drive roller is less likely to occur and the life of the drive roller is extended.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of a disk device according to the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a storage box in which optical disk cartridges (optical disk media stored in a case) 12 are horizontally arranged vertically as shown in the drawing so that they can be taken in and out.

Below the storage case 10, the disk drive units 14, 1
6 is provided. This disk drive unit 14,
Reference numeral 16 includes an optical head for reading or writing information on one side of the optical disc medium, a spindle for rotating the optical disc medium, and the like. The optical disc cartridges can be loaded and unloaded with windows 14A, 16 provided on one surface of the casings of the disc drive units 14, 16.
A (14A is not shown).

A medium handling mechanism 20 is provided on the side of the disk drive units 14, 16 facing the windows 14A, 16B. The medium handling mechanism 20 takes out the optical disk cartridge from the storage case 10, conveys it downward while holding the same, and drives it to the disk drive unit 14 or 16.
The optical disc cartridge from the disc drive unit 14 or 16 and then conveys it upward while holding it and stores it in the original storage position of the storage case 10 and, if necessary, reverses the front and back of the optical disc cartridge. The configuration is as described below.

The medium handling mechanism 20 has an elevator 22. The elevator 22 is moved up and down by ball screws 26 and 28 driven by a belt by a motor 24. A box-shaped holder 30 for holding an optical disk cartridge is supported by the elevator 22 so as to rotate at least 180 degrees from the horizontal position shown in the drawing as indicated by an arrow 32. A motor 36 for rotating the holder 30 is fixed to the elevator 22, and the rotational force thereof is transmitted to the support shaft 34 of the holder 30 by a belt.

The medium handling mechanism 20 is also provided with a carry-in / carry-out mechanism for taking the optical disk cartridge into the holder 30 and sending the optical disk cartridge from the holder 30. This loading / unloading mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, levers 38A, 38B, 38C and 38D are arranged on both sides of the elevator 22. Rubber rollers 40A, 40B, 40C, 40D are rotatably supported at the tip ends of the levers 38A, 38B, 38C, 38D, respectively, and the rubber rollers 42 are also provided at the base end portions.
A, 42B, 42C and 42D are rotatably supported respectively, and a pair of rubber rollers on the same lever are connected between the rotation shafts by belts 44A, 44B, 44C and 44D. Further, the rotary shafts 41A and 41C of the rubber rollers 42A and 42C are connected by a timing belt 43 stretched below the elevator 22.

The levers 38A to 38D have rubber rollers 42 at the base end thereof.
Elevator 2 that can rotate around the spindles A to 42D
It is attached to 2. U-shaped notches 46A and 46C are formed at the bases of the levers 38A and 38C, respectively.
Rotating rollers 48B and 48D that engage with the notches 46A and 46C are attached to the bases of 8B and 38D. Therefore, the levers 38A, 38B and the levers 38C, 3
8D rotates in conjunction with each other.

With the levers 38A to 38D rotated inward from the illustrated positions so that the rubber rollers 40A to 40D come to the carry-in / carry-out positions shown by imaginary lines, respectively, the rubber rollers 42A,
The transmission roller 50A, 50B which presses 42B and the rubber roller 42C, 42D, respectively, is rotatably provided in the elevator 22. The rotation of the spline shaft 53 (FIG. 1) provided so as to penetrate the elevator 22 is transmitted to the rubber rollers 40A and 40B via the spline gear 52 and the transmission roller 50A. Reference numeral 55 is a motor for driving the spline shaft 53 by a belt (FIG. 1).

54B and 54D are cams that engage with the rotating rollers 55B and 55D attached to the bases of the levers 38A and 38D,
U-shaped notches 56B and 56D are formed. 60
A, 60B, 60C, 60D are levers 38A, 38B,
38C and 38D are tension springs that urge the 38C and 38D to rotate outward. 58B and 58D are cams 54B and 54
It is a rotary solenoid for driving D.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a control unit 62 is provided at the bottom of the disc device. This control unit 62 is
It is a part that performs communication with a higher-level device (not shown) and controls the disk drive units 14, 16 and the medium handling mechanism 20 based on commands from the higher-level device. Further, in connection with the control of the medium handling mechanism 20, a detector for detecting the elevator 22 is provided along the moving path of the elevator 22, that is, the transport path of the optical disk cartridge, but it is not shown.

Next, the operation of this disk device will be described. When an instruction to read or write a certain optical disk cartridge is given from the host device, the control unit 62 controls the drive of the motor 24 so as to move the elevator 22 to a height position corresponding to the designated storage position of the optical disk cartridge. To do.

When the positioning is completed, the control unit 62 energizes the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D. Cam 54B,
54D are rotary solenoids 58B and 58D, respectively.
Is rotated to an angle at which the rotational force, the force of the recovery spring, and the forces of the springs 60A to 60C are balanced. The cam 54B is, for example, about 6
It rotates 7.5 degrees to the angle shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, and likewise, the cam 54D rotates, for example, about 25 degrees to the angle shown in the imaginary line in FIG. 2 (the rotation roller 55D has a notch 54D).
Do not escape from). As a result, the levers 38A to 38D are rotated inward from the position shown in FIG. 2, and the rubber rollers 40A to 40D are occupied at the carry-in / carry-out position inside the side surface of the holder 30 as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. Then, the rubber rollers 40A and 40C facing each other are pressed against the side surface of the end portion of the target optical disk cartridge.

Here, when a load is applied to the rubber roller 40A, the lever 3
8A rotates a little to the outside, but a considerably large force is required to rotate it, and the peripheral surface portion of the cam 54B that engages with the rotating roller 55B is a substantially perfect circle. Therefore, the positions of the rubber rollers 40A and 40B are kept substantially constant. On the other hand, the levers 38C and 38D can rotate even if a relatively small load is applied to the rubber rollers 40C and 40D.

At almost the same time as the energization of the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D, the control unit 62 rotates the motor 55 in the forward direction to rotate the rubber rollers 40A to 40D in the loading direction. The rubber rollers 40A to 40D are configured to be driven by the transmission system as described above, and rotate synchronously at the same peripheral speed. The rubber rollers 40A and 40C are pressed against the side surface of the front end portion of the intended optical disc cartridge protruding from the storage case 10 to rotate, and the optical disc cartridge is pulled out horizontally. After the optical disk cartridge is pulled out by a certain amount, the rubber rollers 40B and 40D are also pressed against the side surface of the optical disk cartridge and rotated, so that the optical disk cartridge 12 is pulled out. In this way, the target optical disk cartridge is carried into the holder 30.

During this loading, the widthwise position of the optical disk cartridge is held substantially constant by the rubber rollers 40A and 40B, and the rubber rollers 40C and 40D follow the side surface of the optical disk cartridge and press the optical disk cartridge against the rubber rollers 40A and 40B with a substantially constant pressure. Acts like. The same applies when carrying out later.

In this way, the optical disc cartridge is fed and driven by the rubber rollers 40A to 40D on both sides, so that the optical disc cartridge can be smoothly carried in (carried out) without tilting. Therefore, the load is not concentrated on the driving rubber roller on one side, and the load is always evenly distributed on the rubber rollers 40A to 40C on both sides, so that the rubber rollers 40A to 40D are less likely to be worn and the life is extended as compared with the conventional case.

When this loading is completed, the control unit 62 stops the motor 55 and stops the rotation of the rubber rollers 40A to 40D.
At the same time, the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D are deenergized. The action of the return springs and the springs 60A to 60D inside the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D causes the cam 54 to move.
B and 54D are restored to the angle shown by the solid line in FIG. As a result, the levers 38A to 38D rotate outward to the angular positions shown in FIG. 2, the rubber rollers 40A to 40D are separated from the side surface of the optical disk cartridge held by the holder 30, and further, the rubber rollers 40A to 40D are separated from the side wall of the holder 30 by a certain amount. Escaped to the outside. Therefore, even if the holder 30 is rotated, it does not collide with the rubber rollers 40A to 40D, and even if the elevator 22 is moved up and down, the rubber rollers 40A and 40C collide with the optical disk cartridge stored in the storage case 10. There is also nothing to do.

Next, the control unit 62 controls the disk drive unit (for example, 14) to load the target optical disk cartridge.
Motor 24 so that it is conveyed to the height position of window 14A of
To drive. When the transportation is completed, the control unit 62
Urges the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D to rotate the levers 38A to 38B inward to move the rubber rollers 40A to
By moving 40D to the carry-in / carry-out position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2 and rotating the motor 55 in the opposite direction, the optical disk cartridge is sent out from the holder 30 and loaded into the disk drive unit 14. Then, reading or writing of information by the disk drive unit 14 is started.

In the case of reading, the read information is transferred to the host device via the control unit 62. In the case of writing information, the control unit 62 transfers to the disk drive unit 14 the write information stored in the internal memory and previously transferred from the host device.

Since such control is general, the details are omitted.

This disc device has two disc drive units 1
4, 16 can read or write information at the same time. For example, one disk drive unit 1
When the reading or writing of information for the optical disk cartridge previously loaded in the other disk drive unit 16 is completed while the reading or writing of information is being performed in step 4, the control unit 62 causes the elevator 22 to move to the window 16A of the disk drive unit 16. Move to the front of. Then, by energizing the rotary solenoids 58B and 58D and rotating the motor 55 in the forward direction, the optical disk cartridge protruding from the window 16A of the disk drive unit 16 is carried into the holder 30.

When the loading is completed, the rotary solenoids 58B, 5B
After deactivating 8D and stopping the motor 55, the motor 24 is driven to convey the optical disk cartridge to the storage position. When transported to the storage position,
The control unit 62 controls the medium handling mechanism 20 so that the optical disk cartridge is carried out from the holder 30 and stored in the storage case 10.

Now, when it is necessary to reverse the front and back of the optical disk cartridge taken out from the storage case 10 or the optical disk cartridge taken out from the disk drive unit 14 or 16, the control unit 62 drives the motor 36 while the optical disk cartridge is being conveyed to hold the holder 30. 180
The optical disk cartridge is turned upside down and turned over. In this way, since the reversal is performed during the transportation of the optical disk cartridge and the start of the transportation operation is not waited until the completion of the reversing operation as in the conventional case, the optical disk cartridge is taken out from the storage 10 and the disk drive unit 14 or The time for transport to 16 and vice versa is reduced.

Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be implemented by appropriately modifying the configuration of each part of the device.

For example, regarding the mechanism for loading / unloading the optical disk cartridge into / from the holder, rubber rollers 40C and 40D are used.
Is separately provided with a spline shaft for rotationally driving the transmission roller 50B, and by connecting the spline shaft to the spline shaft 53 by a timing belt or the like, the rubber rollers 40A to 40D are synchronously rotationally driven at the same peripheral speed. You may change suitably.
It can also be rotated by a mechanism other than the rotation levers 38A to 38D cam mechanism. Further, the turning lever 38A to
It is also possible to directly advance and retract the rubber rollers 40A to 40D by a linear solenoid or the like without interposing 38D.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a disk device used in a state where a disk medium other than the optical disk medium, such as a magnetic disk medium or a floppy disk medium, is housed in a case.

[Effects of the Invention] As can be understood from the above description, in the present invention, one of the pair of drive rollers is set as the fixed side, and the other side is set as the follower side so as to have a cushioning function. The two pairs of drive rollers are synchronously rotated at the same peripheral speed by the contact.

As a result, the case of the disk medium is fed and driven on both sides, so that it is unlikely to be tilted, smooth loading and unloading is possible, and damage to the disk medium is less likely to occur.
An excellent disc that does not suffer from the conventional problems such as the wear of the drive roller is less likely to occur and the life of the drive roller is extended because the load is evenly distributed to the drive rollers on each side of the disc medium and the tilt of the disc medium is unlikely to occur. The device can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall structure of a disk device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic plan view showing a loading / unloading mechanism of an optical disk cartridge. 10 ... storage, 12 ... optical disk cartridge, 1
4, 16 ... Disk drive unit, 20 ... Medium handling mechanism, 22 ... Elevator, 30 ... Holder, 38A to 38D ... Rotating lever, 40A to 40D ...
... rubber roller (driving roller), 44A to 44D ... belt, 42A to 42D ... rubber roller, 43 ... timing belt, 50A, 50B ... transmission roller, 53 ... spline shaft, 54B, 54D ... cam, 58B,
58D ... Rotary solenoid, 62 ... Control unit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Taisuke Mohri 300, Hisado, Nakai-cho, Ashigagami-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture, inside Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd. In the factory (56) References JP 61-11963 (JP, A) JP 58-121173 (JP, A) JP 45-35153 (JP, B1)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage part for accommodating a plurality of cases in which disk media are stored so as to be stacked and stored at a predetermined interval, and a holding member which is arranged so as to face the storage part and holds the case. In a disk device comprising a medium handling mechanism that carries in and carries out the case between the storage section and the holding member and conveys the case while holding the case in the holding member, the medium handling mechanism includes the storage section. Of the case housed in the pair of first left and right sides as viewed from the front of the housing section.
Drive roller, a second drive roller which is disposed after the first drive roller when viewed from the storage section side and engages with the second side surface, and the first and second drive rollers are synchronously rotated at the same peripheral speed. And a first and a second drive roller that are in contact with one of the two side surfaces in a fixed state in the width direction of the case, and are in contact with the other of the two side surfaces. And a drive roller support mechanism for movably supporting the second drive roller in the width direction so as to follow the other. 2. The drive roller support mechanism retracts and supports the first and second drive rollers, which are in contact with the two side surfaces during conveyance of the case, in a direction away from the two side surfaces. The disk device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism. 3. The advancing / retreating support mechanism has a turning lever,
The first and second drive rollers are rotatably supported on the tip end side of the rotation lever, and the rotation lever is rotated by a cam, whereby the first and second drive rollers are moved to the above-mentioned two positions.
The disk device according to claim 2, wherein the disk device is brought into contact with a side surface or retracted from the two side surfaces.