Patent ID: 9334117
Filing Date: 2016-05-10
CPC Classification: B65G,G11B

Claim Text:
1. In a shuttle complex system having a plurality of library strings (LS) connected by at least two shuttle connections (SC), the shuttle connections moving a cartridge including a storage medium between library strings LS via at least two relay-point library strings LS (relay-point LS) among the library strings LS using a movable car, a method for determining a relay-point library string when a library manager moves a particular cartridge (specific cartridge) to an empty drive (target drive) for mounting, the method comprising: (a) receiving a command from an application to mount a specific cartridge in a library string located on one side of the relay-point library string; (b) searching for the target drive for mounting the specific cartridge among the plurality of library strings LS, and finding the target drive in a library string on an other side of an interposed relay-point library string relative to the library string in which the specific cartridge is located; (c) selecting a relay-point library string of a plurality of relay-point library strings LS on the basis of predetermined conditions to move the specific cartridge using at least two shuttle connections SC to the found target drive; and (d) searching to determine whether or not there is a newly available drive in the relay-point library string other than the selected relay-point library string before the selected cartridge reaches the selected relay-point library string (selected relay-point LS); and wherein searching for the newly available drive (d) further comprises moving the specific cartridge to the library string with the newly available drive instead of to the target drive when a drive becomes newly available.