Reading method and apparatus for cartridge library
First Claim
1. Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:
- a transportable frame;
contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, the contacting means being translatable through a range of positions in response to the displacement of a unit of information storage medium;
means for sensing the translation of said contacting means through at least one of said positions and for generating a signal indicative of the location of said unit of information storage medium relative to a reference point on said frame; and
,reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automated magnetic tape catridge library system houses a plurality of tape drives (56A-56E) and a plurality of racks (70) wherein magnetic tape cartridges are stored. A cartridge transport assembly (100) serves to retrieve a cartridge from a cartridge cell (826) of a rack (70) and to load the cartridge into a target tape drive (56), and vice versa. The cartridge transport assembly (100) includes a pair of engagement fingers (402A, 402B) which engage a selected cartridge upon contact with the cartridge, and a biased plunger (438). The plunger (438) has a bar code reader (446) internally mounted therein for reading bar code indicia on the cartridges and for detecting tracking indicia (868) provided on projections (866) of the cartridge racks (70). A method for library inventory, necessitated by possible manual removal or insertion of cartridges after opening of a library door (26), is also provided. A library map has stored therein cartridge label bar code values and the precise X, Y, and Z coordinates for each cartridge in the library system.
121 Citations
43 Claims
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1. Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:
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a transportable frame; contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, the contacting means being translatable through a range of positions in response to the displacement of a unit of information storage medium; means for sensing the translation of said contacting means through at least one of said positions and for generating a signal indicative of the location of said unit of information storage medium relative to a reference point on said frame; and
,reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means.
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2. Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:
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a transportable frame; contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, said contacting means being resiliently biased to bear against said unit of information storage medium; and
,reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means. - View Dependent Claims (3, 6)
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4. Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:
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a transportable frame, said frame including a reference surface in which an aperture is provided; contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, wherein said contacting means at least partially extends through said aperture in said reference surface; and
,reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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7. Apparatus for transporting a cartridge stored in a library, said apparatus comprising:
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a transportable frame; plunger means mounted on said frame and resiliently biased to physically contact a cartridge; and
,reading means for reading an indicia provided on said cartridge, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said plunger means. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system comprising:
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a drive for at least reading information from said information storage medium units when a unit is loaded into said drive; a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon; means for mounting said plurality of racks according to a predefined organization; unit transport means comprising; a transport frame; contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit; and
,reading means mounted for reading indicia provided on said units of information storage medium and for detecting said indicia on said racks, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means; displacement means for displacing said unit transport means whereby said transport means transports said cartridges between said cells in said racks and said drive. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of operating a library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system being of the type having a transport assembly for engaging and transporting said information storage medium units, said method comprising:
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providing a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon; verifying the physical presence in said library system of each of said racks; detecting indicia on each of said racks and using said detection of indicia to determine a set of reference coordinates for each of said racks; determining a set of coordinates for each of said cells included in each of said racks; storing in a memory said set of coordinates for each of said cells included in each of said racks; verifying the physical presence of units in each of said cells in said racks; reading an indicia provided on units in cells of said racks which have units physically present therein; and
,storing in said memory a value indicative of said unit indicia for those units which have indicia provided thereon - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38)
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36. The method of claim 44, wherein said step of detecting indicia on each of said racks involves using reader means mounted on said transport assembly to locate coordinates of edges of a reflective projection provided on each of said racks.
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39. A method of operating a library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system being of the type having a transport assembly for engaging and transporting said information storage medium units, said method comprising:
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providing a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon; using a translatable contacting means to physically contact racks included in said library system to verify the physical presence of each of said racks; using reading means mounted on said contacting means to detect indicia on each of said racks; and using said detecting of indicia to determined a set of reference coordinates for each of said racks whose presence was verified in said library system. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification