Abstract:
A library apparatus can reduce number of motors to be incorporated and can reduce number of parts for simplification of construction for contributing to down-sizing of the apparatus and reducing a cost. The library apparatus of a storage media reads and/or writes information from and in a storage medium housed in a cartridge by withdrawing a desired one of a plurality of cartridges housed within a magazine which is loaded in an apparatus body, by cartridge loading and unloading means and loading the withdrawn cartridge in medium drive means. The cartridge loading and unloading means performs loading and unloading of the magazine to the apparatus body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a library apparatus of storage media, in which a magazine housing a plurality of cartridges, each receiving a storage medium, is loaded, and a desired one of the storage media received within the magazine is accessed for reading information from the storage medium, writing information in the storage medium, and performing both of reading and writing information. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement in a loading mechanism for loading and ejecting the magazine. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     There has been known a library apparatus, in which the magazine housing therein a plurality of cartridges, each of which receives therein a storage medium, is loaded, a storage medium in a desired cartridge is accessed to be taken out for loading to a medium drive device for performing reading and/or writing information from and in the medium. Among this kind of library apparatus, as a loading mechanism for loading and unloading a magazine employing a digital audio disk (DAD), such as a compact disk or the like, as the storage medium, has been disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 9-245410, for “Magazine Loading Type Disk Drive”, Japanese Patent No. 2568065, for “Multi-Disk Player”. 
     The loading mechanisms for loading and unloading the magazines as disclosed in the above-identified publications are designed for performing loading and unloading utilizing a driving force of a motor in view of that a conventionally employed structure for manually loading and unloading the magazine utilizing a biasing means, such as a spring or the like, can cause unstability in loading and unloading operation of the magazine. 
     General construction of the magazine loading mechanism utilizing the driving force of the motor, as set for above, is illustrated in FIG.  36 . In a magazine  2  to be provided for a library apparatus  1  houses three cartridges  3 , each of which receives therein a storage medium. On the lower portion of the external side surface of a casing of the magazine  2 , a rack  2   a  are provided. On the other hand, in the front side portion of the library apparatus  1 , the cartridge transporting mechanism which can be lifted up and down, is arranged. On a lower portion in the rear side, a medium driving device  5  for performing reading from and writing in the storage medium housed in the cartridge, is arranged. In the upper side of the medium driving device  5 , a holder device  6  for receiving the loaded magazine  2 , is arranged. The magazine  2  is inserted into the holder device  6  through an opening formed in the front side. On the side edge of the opening, a magazine feeding motor  7  is provided. On an output shaft of the magazine feeding motor, a pinion  8  for meshing with the rack  2   a  of the magazine is secured. On the front surface of the housing of the library apparatus  1 , a lid body  1   a  which swings about one edge thereof for opening and closing an opening formed therein. 
     Upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, by pushing the lid body  1   a  with the magazine  2 , the lid body  1   a  is opened in response to pushing force exerted through the magazine  2  for permitting insertion of the magazine  2 . At this time, the cartridge transporting mechanism  3  is located at a lowered position. The magazine  2  is moved as guided by an upper surface of the cartridge transporting mechanism  3 . When the magazine is pushed to locate the rack  2   a  providing on the casing of the magazine  2  to mesh with the pinion  2   a , the position of the magazine  2  is detected by a not shown sensor. By a detection signal of the sensor, the magazine feeding motor  7  is actuated to drive the pinion for rotation. By rotation of the pinion, the rack  2   a  is driven to move for drawing the magazine  2  into the holder device  6 . When the magazine  2  is inserted to a predetermined position within the holder device  6 , the magazine at the predetermined position is detected by a not shown sensor. In response to the detection signal of the sensor, the magazine feeding motor  7  is stopped to place the magazine in a condition loaded in the library device. 
     In the condition where the magazine  2  is loaded, the storage media housed in the cartridges received within the magazine can be loaded on the medium driving device  5 . Upon loading the storage medium on the medium driving device  5 , the cartridge transporting mechanism  4  is elevated up to the position opposing to the desired cartridge  3 . Then, by means of a not shown gripping means provided in the cartridge transporting mechanism  4 , the cartridge  3  is gripped and is withdrawn from the magazine  2  by inserting and withdrawing mechanism which is designed to move the gripping means in horizontal direction, Then, the cartridge  3  is held on the cartridge transporting mechanism  4 . Thereafter, the cartridge transporting mechanism  4  is lowered to oppose to the medium driving device  5 . Then, the held cartridge is pushed out to insert into the medium driving device  5 . Thus, reading and writing from and in the storage medium housed in the cartridge  3  can bed performed. For exchanging the storage medium, the cartridge  3  is withdrawn from the medium driving device  5  by the cartridge transporting mechanism  4  to return into the magazine  2 , and then, another cartridge  3  is withdrawn from the magazine and insert into the medium driving device  5 . 
     However, in the conventional library device, a lifting motor for driving the cartridge transporting mechanism  4  for lifting up and down, a inserting and withdrawing motor for driving the gripping means in horizontal direction for moving the cartridge  3  and so forth are incorporated in addition to the magazine feeding motor  7 . Namely, since at least three motors are employed, a large number of parts are required and construction becomes complicate. Also, since at least three motors are provided, installation spaces therefore are required to increase the size of the library apparatus. 
     On the other hand, since the pinion  8  has to be arranged at the position out of the range of up and down motion of the cartridge transporting mechanism  4 , the pinion  9  is arranged in the vicinity of the holder device  6 . On the other hand, when the magazine  2  is ejected from the library apparatus  1 , the magazine  2  has to be projected from the lid body  1   a  of the library apparatus  1  in the extent of permitting gripping by human finger. Furthermore, at this projected position, the tip end of the rack  2   a  has to be kept in meshing engagement with the pinion  8 . Therefore, a length of the magazine in the loading direction has to correspond to a sum of a length of the cartridge transporting mechanism  4  and a length to project from the library apparatus  1 . Therefore, the magazine  2  is required to have approximately double of a length of the cartridge  3  to make the magazine bulky. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a library apparatus which can reduce number of motors to be incorporated and whereby to reduce number of parts for simplification of construction, contributing to down-sizing of the apparatus and reducing a cost. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a library apparatus of a storage media for reading and/or writing information from and in a storage medium housed in a cartridge by withdrawing a desired one of a plurality of cartridges housed within a magazine which is loaded in an apparatus body, by cartridge loading and unloading means and loading the withdrawn cartridge in medium drive means, comprises: 
     the cartridge loading, and unloading means performs loading and unloading of the magazine to the apparatus body. 
     Namely, by the cartridge loading and unloading means performing loading and unloading the cartridge from the magazine, loading and unloading of the magazine is also performed. Therefore, dedicated motor for loading the magazine is unnecessary to provide. Therefore, number of parts can be reduced and construction can be simplified. 
     In the preferred construction, a magazine holder for receiving the magazine is provided within the apparatus body, and the cartridge loading and unloading means transports the magazine inserted through a magazine insertion opening of the apparatus body to the magazine holder, and then grips and withdraws a desired one of cartridges from the loaded magazine. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means may transport the magazine inserted through the magazine insertion opening by repeating operation for a plurality of times. 
     Since the magazine houses the cartridges, the size of the magazine is greater than the size of the cartridges. The stroke of loading and unloading operation by the cartridge loading and unloading means is required to be sufficiently large for loading and unloading the cartridge, which is not sufficient for loading and unloading the magazine in and from the library apparatus. In such case, the magazine inserted through the magazine insertion opening of the apparatus body can be transported to the magazine holder by repeating operation for a plurality of times. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means may be mounted on cartridge moving means which is moved up and down with mounting the cartridge loading and unloading means. The cartridge loading and unloading means may be provided with latching portion and the magazine is provided with a latch receiving portion for releasably engaging with the latching portion, and the latching portion and the latch receiving portion may be engaged and released by up and down motion of the cartridge loading and unloading means by the cartridge moving means. 
     One cartridge withdrawn from the magazine by the cartridge loading and unloading means is moved to the media drive means by the cartridge moving means as supported by the cartridge loading and unloading means. Also, when one cartridge is moved to the medium drive means by the cartridge moving means after withdrawing one cartridge form the magazine by the cartridge loading and unloading means, the magazine is separated from the cartridge loading and unloading means. 
     The library apparatus may further comprise magazine positioning means for positioning the magazine inserted through the magazine insertion opening at a predetermined position located away from the magazine holder, and the cartridge loading and unloading means may transport the magazine from the predetermined position to the magazine holder. The magazine positioning means may be provided on a lid body closing the magazine insertion opening and may be responsive to pushing of the magazine through the magazine insertion opening to be placed at open position, the magazine positioning means may engage with the magazine in the condition where the lid body is opened, to position the magazine at the predetermined position, the magazine positioning means may release engagement with the magazine as shifted by driving means, the cartridge loading and unloading means may transport the magazine into the magazine holder after releasing the magazine positioning means from the magazine. 
     By this, unless the magazine is not positioned at the predetermined position, it cannot be loaded. Therefore, loading operation can be performed certainly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given herebelow and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to be limitative to the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only. 
     In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view seeing through an general construction of the internal structure of a library apparatus according to the present invention, which the library apparatus is illustrated together with a magazine adapted to the shown library apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a construction of a cartridge transporting mechanism of the library apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a construction of a hand device built in the cartridge transporting device; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a construction of a picker device built-in the hand device which is, in turn, built-in the cartridge transporting device; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a lid body and a front mask of the library apparatus as viewed from outside of the library apparatus, for explaining a mounting structure of the lid body; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a lid body and a front mask of the library apparatus as viewed from inside of the library apparatus, for explaining a mounting structure of the lid body; 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view showing the library apparatus shown by cutting out the front portion for explaining the mounting structure of the lid body; 
     FIG. 8 is a partly sectioned front elevation of the library apparatus with partly cutting out the front portion thereof for explaining the mounting structure of the lid body; 
     FIG. 9 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the library apparatus with partly cutting out the front portion thereof for explaining the mounting structure of the lid body; 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of portion A in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition where the lid body is closed; 
     FIG. 12 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition immediately after insertion of the magazine; 
     FIG. 13 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition where the inserted magazine is positioned by engaging with positioning means; 
     FIG. 14 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition where the lid body is closed; 
     FIG. 15 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition where the positioning means positioned the magazine is released; 
     FIG. 16 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation of the lid body upon insertion of a magazine, showing a condition where the magazine is further inserted from the position positioned by the positioning means; 
     FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition before loading the magazine; 
     FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is inserted into an insertion opening; 
     FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition immediately before moving the inserted magazine to the holder device; 
     FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is inserted into the holder device at midway; 
     FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition immediately before loading of magazine to the holder device; 
     FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the front portion of the library apparatus illustrated with omitting a part of the library apparatus in order to explain operation upon loading the magazine in the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is loaded in the holder device; 
     FIG. 23 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation upon opening the lid body, which shows a condition where the lid body is closed; 
     FIG. 24 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation upon opening the lid body, which shows a condition where a solenoid initiates actuation for opening the lid body; 
     FIG. 25 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation upon opening the lid body, which shows a condition where the lid body is opened at midway; 
     FIG. 26 is a partly sectioned right side elevation of the front portion of the library apparatus for explaining operation upon opening the lid body, which shows a condition where the lid body is opened; 
     FIG. 27 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is loaded in the holder device; 
     FIG. 28 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition immediately before engaging latching means with latch receiving means of the magazine; 
     FIG. 29 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the latching means is engaged with the latch receiving means of the magazine; 
     FIG. 30 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is withdrawn from the holder device; 
     FIG. 31 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the latch receiving means of the magazine withdrawn to the midway is engaged with the latching means; 
     FIG. 32 is a partly sectioned perspective view of the front portion of the library showing the library apparatus with omitting a part in order to explain operation upon ejecting the magazine from the library apparatus, which shows a condition where the magazine is ejected, at which the magazine can be gripped and withdrawn; 
     FIG. 33 is a schematic block diagram of a control portion for controlling driving upon loading and unloading the magazine into and from the library apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 34 is a flowchart for showing the case where the magazine is loaded in the library apparatus; 
     FIG. 35 is a flowchart for showing the case where the magazine is ejected from the library apparatus; and 
     FIG. 36 is a perspective view for explaining a structure of the conventional library apparatus. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention will be discussed hereinafter in detail in terms of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instance, well-known structures are not shown in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscure the present invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a library apparatus  20  and a magazine  10  to be loaded in the library apparatus. A housing of the library apparatus  20  is illustrated in see through manner for explanatorily showing the internal construction. 
     To the magazine  10  to be loaded to the library apparatus  20 , a desired number of cartridges  11  are releasably received. In the shown embodiment, three cartridges  11  are received in the magazine  10 . In each cartridge  11 , a storage medium for reading and writing information or both is received. At an appropriate position on the upper surface of a top plate of the magazine  10 , a latch receiving portion  12  serving as latching receiving means formed by a recessed portion, through opening or the like of an arbitrary shape, is provided. In the shown embodiment, the four latch receiving portions are formed in the top plate at four positions. The latch receiving portion formed on the rear side of the library apparatus is identified by the reference numeral  12   a , and the latch receiving portion formed on the front side of the library apparatus is identified by the reference numeral  12   b.    
     The library apparatus  20  is constructed with a housing  21  formed in substantially rectangular parallelpiped shape, a cartridge transporting device  30 , a medium driving device  50  as medium driving means for performing reading and writing information for the storage medium received in the cartridge  11 , a magazine holder  60  holding the magazine within the housing  21 , and control portion  70  for controlling operation of the library apparatus  20 , The cartridge transporting device  30 , the medium driving device  50 , the magazine holder  60  and the control portion  70  are housed within the housing  21 . On the other hand, in the front surface of the housing  21 , a lid body  22  swingable about a lower edge. The lid body  22  is installed on the front mask  23 . 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a general construction of the cartridge transporting device  30 . As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge transporting device  30  is arranged at the front portion of the housing  21 . The cartridge transporting device  30  is constructed by mounting a hand device  40  which is movable in a direction for loading and unloading the cartridge  11  into and from the medium driving device  50  and thus serve as the cartridge loading and unloading means, and a picker device  32  as cartridge moving means, on which the cartridge transporting device  30  is mounted. The picker device  32  is disposed between a bottom base  30   a  as lower bas plate and a top base  30   b  as an upper base plate. On edge portions on the front side of the bottom base  30   a  and the top base  30   b , vertically extending guide rods  33  are supported at both end portions. The other edge portions of the bottom base  30   a  and the top base  30   b  are connected by a wall plate  30   c . Namely, a frame is formed by the bottom base  30   a , the top base  30   b , the guide rod  33  and the wall plate  30   c . The picker device  32  is arranged within the frame. 
     Adjacent the guide rod  33 , a screw shaft  34  is arranged. Both ends of the screw shaft  34  are rotatably supported on the bottom base  30   a  and the top base  30   b . A shaft driving motor  35  is supported in the vicinity of the screw shaft  34 . Rotation of an output shaft of the shaft driving motor  35  is transmitted to the screw shaft  34  via a power transmission mechanism, such as a not shown gear train. 
     On the other hand, a slider  36  is provided at one end portion of a picker base  32   a  of the picker device  32 . The guide rod  33  is inserted through a through hole formed in the slider  36 . Therefore, the picker device  32  is lifted up and down as guided by the guide rod  33 . It should be noted that it may be preferred to connect the picker device  32  and the guide rod  33  by not shown guide means, such as a vertically extending guide hole formed as elongated hole in the wall plate  30   c , and providing guide projection loosely inserting into the guide hole on the picker base  32   a , for smoothly lifting up and down the picker device  32 . Then, a guide pin  36   a  is extended from the slider  36 . A tip end portion of the guide pin  36   a  is loosely inserted into a screw groove  34   a  of a screw portion of the screw shaft  34 . 
     The hand device  40  is provided on the picker base  32   a  of the picker device  32 . FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a general construction of the hand device  40  as viewed from the front side. The hand device  40  has a hand plate  41 . On both end portions of the hand plate  41 , a pair of hands  42  are supported for pivoting about vertical axes. By pivoting motion, the hands  42  are opened and closed for gripping the side surfaces of the cartridge  11  at the closed position. In the vicinity of the base end portion of a pair of hands  42 , a hand spring  42   a  is stretched. By a restoring force of the hand spring  42   a , the hands  42  are biased in closing direction. On the other hand, at a position between a pair of hands  42 , a pair or pushers  43  are slidably supported in moving direction of the hand plate  41 . The pushers  43  are biased by restoring force of the pusher springs  43   a  to extend toward the hands  42 . It should be noted that the opening and closing mechanism of the hands  42  may be similar to the known mechanism. 
     In the center portion of the hand plate  41 , bracket portions  41   b  and  41   c  are formed projecting frontwardly. On the lower side of the bracket portions  41   b  and  41   c , a guide roller  44  are rotatably supported. Then, both ends of the front side of the hand plate  41  are bent at front end portion into substantially channel shaped configuration after projecting frontwardly, and are bent downwardly at rear end portion for forming hooking craw portions  45  as latching means. The hooking claw portion  45  is formed into a shape releasably engaging with latch receiving portion  12  formed in the magazine  10 . It should be noted that the hand device  40  may be similar to the conventionally known mechanism and in the alternative, a construction, in which the hooking claw portion  45  is provided for the known mechanism. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a general construction of the picker device as viewed from the front side. As shown in FIG. 4, in the lower portion of the picker base  32   a , a gear base plate  32   b  is mounted. On the gear base plate  32   b , a pair of guide rails  81  are mounted with orienting its longitudinal axis along a moving direction of the hand plate  41 . On the other hand, between a pair of guide rails  81 , a pair of driving pulleys  82   a  and  82   b  provided at front and rear end portions of the gear base plate  32   b  are rotatably supported. Between these driving pulleys  82   a  and  82   b , a drive belt  83  is stretched. On the other hand, on the side portion of the front portion of the gear plate  32   b , a hand driving motor  84  is mounted so that rotation of an output shaft thereof is transmitted to the driving pulley  82   a  with appropriately changing speed by an appropriate gear train  85 . 
     Then, the hand plate  41  is secured to the driving belt  83 . On the other hand, the guide rollers  44  are engaged with the guide rail  81 . Accordingly, when the driving belt  83  is driven by the driving pulleys  82   a  and  82   b , the guide rollers  44  are guided along the guide rails  81  for moving the hand plate  41  in horizontal direction. 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are illustration of the lid body  22 . FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lid body as viewed from outside of the housing  21  and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the lid body as viewed from inside of the housing. A lower center portion of the front mask  23  is formed an opening to define a magazine insertion opening. The lid body  22  is provided for closing the magazine insertion opening. The lid body  22  is supported by a shaft  22   a  extending along the lower side edge of the front mask  23  for pivotal motion thereabout. At a position offset from the center portion, the lid body  22  is formed with an engaging hole  22   b  which is substantially rectangular through opening. In the upper portion of the engaging hole  22   b , a hook portion  22   c  is formed for covering the engaging hole  22   b  with a given distance from a back surface of the lid body  22  by projecting rearwardly and downwardly bending the tip end. 
     On the back surface of the lid body  22 , a substantially L-shaped lid body engaging plate  24  is arranged. A support arm  24   a  forming a part of the L-shaped lid body engaging plate  24 , extends along the lower edge portion of the lid body  22  to reach the side portion of the lid body  22 . On the other hand, an action arm  24   b  forming the other portion of the L-shaped lid body engaging plate  24  extend to the position opposing to the engaging hole  22   b . The tip end portion of the action arm  24   b  is bent frontwardly to form an engaging projection  24   c . The engaging projection  24   c  extends through the engaging hole  22   b to project to the front surface side of the lid body  22  for a predetermined length. The support arm  24   a  of the lid body engaging plate  24  is supported coaxially with the shaft  22   a  of the lid body  22  so that the lid body engaging plate  24  may pivot about the shaft  22   a.    
     On the other hand, an engaging hook portion  25  is formed in the tip end portion of the support arm  24   a , as shown in FIG.  10 . The engaging hook portion  25  is formed into arc-shaped configuration with a curvature centered at about an axis parallel to the shaft  22 . On the rear side of the engaging hook  25 , a solenoid  26  which serves as positioning means driving means is provided as fixed on the bottom plate of the housing  21 . An actuation rod  26   a  of the solenoid extends frontwardly. An engaging portion  27  formed at the tip end of the actuation rod  26   a  is engaged with the arc-shaped engaging hook portion  25  at the inside of the arc. Therefore, when the solenoid  26  is actuated to retract the actuation rod  26   a , the engaging hook portion  25  is pivoted. Then, the lid body engaging plate  24  having the engaging hook  25  is pivoted about the shaft  22  so that the engaging projection  24   c  is retracted within the engaging hole  22   b . On the other hand, the lid body engaging plate  24  is biased by the restoring force of a return spring  28  which is formed with a torsion coil spring, toward the back surface of the lid body  22 . 
     In the control portion  70 , a drive control portion  72  is included for driving the shaft driving motor  35 , the hand driving motor  84  and the solenoid  26 . FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing a general construction of the drive control portion  71 . The drive control portion  71  includes CPU  72  executing a predetermined sequence according to a command from a host computer  70   a  as a superior unit, a motor drivers  73  and  74  for outputting drive signals according to a command from CPU  72 , and a solenoid driver  75 . 
     The shaft driving motor  35  for lifting the picker device  32  up and down, is driven for revolution in the direction commanded by an output signal of the motor driver  74 . Also, the hand driving motor  84  for shifting the hand plate  41  is driven for revolution in the direction commanded by an output signal of the motor driver  73 . On the other hand, the solenoid  26  is turned ON and OFF by the output signal of the solenoid driver  75  for shifting the actuation rod  26   a  in the given direction. 
     The operation of the library apparatus according to the present invention constructed as set forth above, will be discussed with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 34 and 35. 
     FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the case where the magazine  10  is loaded in the library apparatus  10 . For waiting insertion of the magazine  10  through the magazine insertion opening, the picker device  32  is elevated at the uppermost position and thus is located at a transportation home position (hereinafter referred to as “transporting HP”) as an origin, and the hand device  40  is shifted to the most frontwardly shifted position at an origin which position is referred to as loading and unloading home position (hereinafter referred to as “loading and unloading HP”), respectively (step  3400 ). Thus, preparation for loading the magazine  10  is completed (step  3401 ). 
     FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing the library apparatus in the condition before insertion of the magazine, with cutting out the side surface thereof. At this condition, the lid body engaging plate  24  is biased by the restoring force of the return spring  28  to abut against the lid body  22  to place the latter in a condition closing the magazine insertion opening. At this condition, the engaging projection  24   c  formed at the tip end portion of the action arm  24   b  of the lid body engaging plate  24  is projected front side of the lid body through the engaging hole  22   b  formed through the lid body  22 . On the other hand, the actuation rod  26   a  of the solenoid  26  is maintained in projected position. 
     Upon loading the magazine  10  in the library apparatus  20 , as shown in FIG. 17, the magazine  10  is inserted through the magazine insertion hole with pushing the lid body  22  by the magazine  10 . FIG. 12 is a section of the side surface of the library apparatus showing the initial condition where the magazine  10  is just inserted. The magazine  10  is slightly inserted. In response to this, the lid body  20  is depressed to pivot toward inside of the housing  21  about the shaft  22   a . By further inserting the magazine  10 , the lid body  22  is further pivoted to be positioned in substantially horizontally oriented position with directly the front surface upwardly. The magazine  10  moves with sliding on the front surface of the lid body  22  to contact with the engaging projection  24   c  as shown in FIG.  18 . By abutting the front end of the magazine  10  onto the engaging projection  24   c , further insertion of the magazine  10  becomes impossible. At this time, as shown in FIG. 18, the latch receiving portion  12   a  formed in the magazine  10  is positioned below the hooking claw portion  45  of the hand device  40  in the loading and unloading HP. 
     When the magazine  10  at the position where the front end is abutted onto the engaging projection  24   c , is detected by not shown position sensor for example, the magazine  10  is situated in the condition where insertion thereof is completed (step  3402 /YES). Then, a signal indicative of insertion completion is output to the control portion  70 . Then, the host computer  70   a  transmits the command for drawing the magazine  10  to CPU  72 . CPU  72  transmits a drive signal for the solenoid driver  75 . Then, the solenoid driver  75  actuates the solenoid  26  (step  3403 ). By this, the actuation rod  26   a  is retracted to cause pivotal movement of the engaging hook portion  25  about the shaft  22  which engages with the tip end of the actuation rod  26   a , in clockwise direction in FIG.  13 . Since the engaging hook portion  25  is formed on the lid body engaging plate  24 , the lid body engaging plate  24  is pivoted in the same direction to cause releasing of engagement with the magazine  10  by withdrawing the engaging projection  24   c  from the engaging hole  22   b.    
     On the other hand, CPU  72  transmits a drive signal to the motor driver to drive the shaft driving motor  35  (step  3403 ). By revolution of the shaft driving motor  35 , the screw shaft  34  connected thereto is driven to rotate. Since the guide pin  36   a  is connected to the screw shaft  34 , the guide pin  36   a  is driven vertically along the screw groove  34   a . As a result, the picker device  32 , on which the guide pin  36   a  is provided, is elevated. 
     It should be appreciated that the vertical direction of motion of the picker device  32  is variable depending upon rotating direction of the screw shaft  34 . Upon loading the magazine  10 , the picker device  32  located at the transportation HP is lowered. Namely, the shaft driving motor  35  is driven for revolution in the direction for lowering the picker device  32 . This direction of revolution of the shaft driving motor  35  is hereinafter referred to as forward direction. When the picker device  32  is lowered, the hooking claw portion  45  provided in the hand plate  41  is inserted into the latch receiving portion  12   a  formed in the top plate of the magazine, as shown in FIG.  19 . It should be noted that the position where the magazine is positioned by abutting onto the engaging projection  24   c  corresponds to the position where the engaging claw portion  45  and latch receiving portion  12   a  are engaged. Then, at the condition where the engaging claw portion  45  and the latch receiving portion  12   a  are engaged, the shaft driving motor  35  is stopped. 
     Once the engaging claw portion engages with the latch receiving portion  12   a , CPU  72  feeds a drive signal to the hand drive motor  84  for actuation (step  3404 ). When the hand driving motor  84  is actuated to transmit rotational output thereto to the driving pulley  83   a  through the gear train  85 , the driving belt  83  stretched between the driving pulley  83   a  and the driving pulley  83   b  is driven to circulate. Since the hand plate  41  is engaged with the drive belt  83 , the hand plate  41  is also shifted according to circulation of the drive belt  83 . Shifting direction of the hand plate  41  is variable depending upon the direction of revolution of the hand driving motor  84 . Upon loading the magazine  10 , the hand plate  41  is retracted inside of the library apparatus  20 . It should be noted that the driving direction of the hand driving motor  84  in this case is hereinafter referred to as forward direction. When the hand plate  41  is retracted, the magazine, the latching receiving portion thereof being in engagement with the hooking claw portion  45 , is then drawn toward the magazine holder  60 . This condition is shown in FIG.  20 . 
     At this time, if the magazine  10  can be received within the magazine holder  60  at one time of retracting action of the hand plate  41 , loading of the magazine  10  can be completed. However, since the shifting operation of the hand plate  41  is for transferring the cartridge  11  in the loaded magazine  10  to the media drive device  50 , it is only required a stroke sufficient for withdrawing the cartridge  11  from the magazine  10  and inserting the cartridge into the medium drive device  50 . In contrast to this, since the magazine  10  is designed to receive the cartridges therein and is greater than the cartridge in certain extent, and also, a part of the magazine  10  is required to be projected from the magazine insertion opening of the library device upon loading and unloading the magazine  10 . Therefore, the shifting distance of the magazine upon loading the magazine  10  within the magazine holder  60  should be greater than the stroke required for withdrawing and inserting the cartridge from and into the magazine. Accordingly, retracting operation of the hand plate at one time should be insufficient for completing loading operation of the magazine  10 . 
     Therefore, once the hand driving motor  84  is driven to the maximum retracting stroke of the hand plate  41 , the hand driving motor  84  is stopped. Then, the shaft drive motor  35  is driven in reverse direction to elevate the picker device  32  to the transportation HP (step  3405 ). By upward movement of the picker device  32 , the hooking claw portion  45  is released from the latch receiving portion  12   a  of the magazine. Then, the hand driving motor  84  is driven in reverse direction to extract the hand plate  41  to the loading and unloading HP (step  3406 ). Subsequently, the shaft driving portion  35  is driven in forward direction to lower the picker device  32 . Then, as shown in FIG. 21, the hooking claw portion  45  is located at front side beyond the front face of the magazine  10  (step  3407 ). As lowered down to the predetermined position, the shaft driving motor  35  is stopped. Then, the hand driving motor  8   s  is driven in forward direction. By driving the hand driving motor  84  in forward direction, the hand plate  41  is again retracted to abut the hooking claw portion  45  with the front face of the magazine to push the magazine  10 . Therefore, the magazine  10  is fed inner side of the library apparatus to be received in the magazine holder  60  as shown in FIG. 22 (step  3408 ). 
     Once it is confirmed that the magazine  10  is received within the magazine holder  60  and is locked therein so as not to be easily released therefrom (step  3409 /Yes), the solenoid  26  is stopped (step  3411 ). By stopping actuation of the solenoid  26 , the actuation rod  26   a  becomes free to constraint by the engaging hook portion  25  to make the lid body engaging plate  24  free. Therefore, the lid body engaging plate  24  is biased toward the lid body  22  by the restoring force of the return spring  28  to pivot the lid body into the closed position. Once the lid body  22  is closed, a sequence of magazine loading operation to the library apparatus  20  is completed (step  4310 ). 
     Once loading of the magazine  10  is completed, the picker device  32  is moved to the transportation HP and the hand device  40  is moved to the loading and unloading HP to wait for command from the host computer  70   a . When the command is received from the host computer  70   a , the picker device  32  is lowered to the position where the cartridge  11  in the magazine  10  loaded in the magazine holder  60  can be withdrawn. Then, the hand plate  41  is driven to retract so that the hand may grip the cartridge  11 . Then, by driving the hand plate  41  frontwardly, the cartridge  11  is withdrawn from the magazine  10  to transfer to the picker device  32 . 
     Then, the picker device  32  is lowered to place the cartridge  11  held by the picker device  32  at a position to insert into the media drive device  50 . Then, the hand plate  41  is retracted to load the cartridge in the media drive device  50 . Subsequently, by driving the hand plate to the loading and unloading HP, the cartridge  11  is placed in a position loaded in the medium drive device  50 . The medium drive device  50  can read and write information for the storage medium received in the cartridge  11 . 
     In order to exchange the cartridge  11 , the hand plate  41  is retracted to grip the cartridge loaded in the medium drive device  50 . Then, the hand plate  41  is driven frontwardly to withdraw the cartridge  11  from the medium drive device  50  to return to the space within the magazine. Thereafter, the next cartridge  11  to be loaded in the medium drive device  50  is withdrawn from the magazine  10  to transport to the medium drive device  50 . It should be noted that for gripping operation of the cartridge  11  by the hand  42 , known loading and unloading mechanisms can be employed. 
     FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing the case where the magazine  10  is ejected from the library apparatus  20 . When a command for ejecting the magazine  10  is issued from the host computer  70   a , drive signals are fed from CPU  72  to the motor drivers  73  and  74  to actuate the shaft driving motor  35  and the hand driving motor  84 . Then, as shown in FIG. 27, the picker device  32  is placed at the transportation HP and the hand device  40  is loading and unloading HP (step  3500 ). On the other hand, by feeding the drive signal from CPU  72  to the solenoid driver  75 , the solenoid  26  is actuated to retract the actuation rod  26   a  to open the lid body (step  3501 ). 
     FIG. 23 shows a condition where the lid body  22  is closed. At this condition, when the actuation rod  26   a  of the solenoids  26  is retracted to cause pivotal motion of the engaging hook portion  25 . Then, the lid body engaging plate  24  is pivoted in clockwise direction in FIG.  23 . By this pivotal motion, as shown in FIG. 24, the back surface of the action arm  24   b  of the lid body engaging plate  24  contacts with the hook portion  22   c  formed on the back surface of the lid body  22 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 25, the lid body  22  is pivoted in the same direction as pivoting direction of the lid body engaging plate  24  to open the lid body  22 . Then, when the lid body  22  is pivoted to the position as being oriented in substantially horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 26, it becomes possible to eject the magazine. It should be noted that the engaging projection  24   c  of the lid body engaging plate  24  is drawn below the lid body  22  to as not to interfere ejection of the magazine  10 . 
     Next, the hand driving motor  84  is driven in forward direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 28, the hand device  40  is retracted up top the rearmost position (step  3502 ). Associating with retracting of the hand device  40 , the hooking claw portion  45  is also retracted to be placed above the latch receiving portion  12   b  of the magazine  10 . At this condition, the shaft driving motor  35  is driven in forward direction, the picker device  32  is lowered (step  3503 ). As shown in FIG. 29, the hooking claw portion  45  is inserted into the latch receiving portion  12   b  to engage therewith. 
     Then, by driving the hand device  40  to the loading and unloading HP by driving the hand driving motor  84  in reverse direction (step  3504 ), the magazine  10  can be withdrawn from the magazine holder  60  as shown in FIG.  30 . Furthermore, the magazine  10  can only be withdrawn at halfway in the first forward operation of the hand device  40 . Therefore, second withdrawing operation is performed. Namely, by driving the shaft driving motor  35  and the hand driving motor  84  in reverse direction, respectively, the picker device  32  is placed at the transportation HP and the hand device  40  is placed in the loading and unloading HP (step  3505 ). 
     Next, the hand driving motor  84  is driven in forward direction, the hand device  40  is retracted to the rearmost position (step  3506 ). Also, the shaft driving motor  35  is driven in forward direction, the picker device  32  is lowered (step  3507 . By lowering the picker device  32 , the hooking claw portion  45  can engage with the back surface of the magazine  10 . By driving the hand driving motor  84  in forward direction, the hand device  40  is driven frontwardly to the loading and unloading HP (step  3508 ). Then, the back surface of the magazine  10  is pushed by the hooking claw portion  45  to project the front portion of the magazine  10  from the insertion hole of the library apparatus  20  to complete ejecting operation of the magazine  10  (step  3510 ). 
     Then, by stopping actuation of the solenoid, the lid body  22  is permitted to be placed at the closed position for closing the insertion opening by the restoring force of the return spring  28 . Thus, by withdrawing the magazine from the insertion opening, the lid body  22  is placed at the closed position. 
     As set forth above, the cartridge loading and unloading means for withdrawing desired one cartridge from the magazine, can perform loading and unloading of the magazine to the apparatus body. Accordingly, number of motors to be provided in the library apparatus can be reduced. Thus, number of parts can be reduced according to reduction of number of motors. Thus, construction can be simplified. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means transports the magazine inserted through a magazine insertion opening of the apparatus body to the magazine holder, and then grips and withdraws a desired one of cartridges from the loaded magazine. Therefore, loading operation of the magazine and withdrawing of the cartridge can be performed sequentially. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means transports the magazine inserted through the magazine insertion opening by repeating operation for a plurality of times. Therefore, even when the stroke for inserting and withdrawing the cartridge to and from the magazine is too short for loading and unloading operation of the magazine, the magazine can be certainly loaded and unloaded. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means is mounted on cartridge moving means which is moved up and down with mounting the cartridge loading and unloading means. The cartridge withdrawn from the magazine by the cartridge loading and unloading means can be stably loaded in the medium drive means. 
     The cartridge loading and unloading means is provided with latching portion and the magazine is provided with a latch receiving portion for releasably engaging with the latching portion, the latching portion and the latch receiving portion are engaged and released by up and down motion of the cartridge loading and unloading means by the cartridge moving means. Therefore, after withdrawing the cartridge from the magazine by the cartridge loading and unloading means, the magazine can be automatically separated from the cartridge loading and unloading means by operation of the cartridge moving means. 
     The magazine can be certainly positioned before setting in the magazine holder. Therefore, loading operation of the magazine can be assured. 
     The magazine positioning means is provided on a lid body closing the magazine insertion opening, the magazine can certainly be positioned at the predetermined position associating with opening of the lid body. Therefore, loading operation of the magazine can be assured. 
     Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various changes, emission and additions may be made therein and thereto, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be understood as limited to the specific embodiment set out above but to include all possible embodiments which can be embodied within a scope encompassed and equivalent thereof with respect to the feature set out in the appended claims. 
     The embodiment has been discussed to perform loading or unloading operation of the magazine by loading and unloading operation of the hand device twice. However, it is also possible to perform loading and unloading operation of the hand device for one time or three times.