Patent ID: 7508621
Filing Date: 2009-03-24
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A data cartridge library comprising: a frame; a shelf system, operatively attached to said frame, for supporting at least two cartridge magazines and comprising at least one shelf; a drive that is operatively attached to said frame; a magazine transport device, operatively attached to said frame, for moving a magazine comprised of a frame structure that defines a space for accommodating a plurality of data cartridges and an opening in the horizontal plane through which a data cartridge can be inserted/removed into/from the space in a vertical direction, and a partitioning structure that divides the space into a plurality of substantially parallel slots with each slot capable of accommodating a data cartridge, and when such a magazine is associated with the library, the magazine is oriented such that a data cartridge held within one of said plurality of slots is oriented such that the face of the data cartridge with the greatest surface area lies in a substantially vertical plane; and a cartridge transport device, operatively attached to said frame, for moving a data cartridge between a data cartridge magazine and said drive; wherein said magazine transport device is capable of moving a magazine to a site at which at least two of the plurality of substantially parallel slots of the magazine are exposed to said cartridge transport; wherein said cartridge transport comprises: a grasper for grasping a data cartridge and releasing a previously grasped data cartridge; and a grasper transport, located adjacent to said site, for horizontally displacing said grasper so that said grasper is able to insert/remove a data cartridge into/from each of the at least two of the plurality of substantially parallel slots of a magazine positioned at said site.