Cassette transfer apparatus

An apparatus for automatically exchanging a number of record medium cassettes includes a housing, a cassette storing device arranged within said housing for storing the cassettes, recording and reproducing devices arranged within said housing for recording and reproducing information on and from the record medium cassettes, a cassette transporting device arranged within said housing for transporting a plurality of cassette hand over units, a mail box having a cassette supply room and a cassette receipt room, a transport unit for transporting the cassettes between the cassette hand over units and the mail box. By using a plurality of cassette hand over units, the cassettes can be transported efficiently. By using the mail box, a new cassette can be automatically supplied into the housing and an unnecessary cassette can be automatically removed from the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically exchanging 
a number of record medium cassettes with respect to a recording and 
reproducing device or devices. Such an automatic cassette exchange 
apparatus may be advantageously used in a mass storage system of computer 
and broadcasting equipment. It should be noted that in the present 
specification, the record medium cassette means a cassette or cartridge of 
any shape and construction containing any kind of a record medium on and 
from which any kind of information can be recorded and reproduced. 
2. Related Art Statement 
A known automatic cassette exchange apparatus includes a cassette storing 
means for storing a number of record medium cassettes, a recording and 
reproducing means for recording and reproducing information on and from 
the record medium cassettes, a cassette transporting means for 
transporting the record medium cassettes between the cassette storing 
means and the recording and reproducing means, and a controlling means for 
controlling said cassette storing means, recording and reproducing means 
and cassette transporting means. 
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a known apparatus for automatically 
exchanging record medium cassettes. The automatic cassette exchange 
apparatus includes a housing 1, in which a cassette storing unit 2 is 
arranged rotatably. In the housing 1, four recording and reproducing units 
3 are provided above the cassette storing unit 2, and beside the cassette 
storing unit and the recording and reproducing unit, a cassette 
transporting unit 4 is arranged. 
In the known automatic cassette exchange apparatus, when a cassette stored 
in the cassette storing unit 2 is to be set into the recording and 
reproducing unit 3, the cassette is first removed from the cassette 
storing unit 2 into a cassette hand over unit 5, and then the cassette 
hand over unit is moved by the cassette transporting unit 4 into a 
position of the recording and reproducing unit 3. Finally, the cassette 
hand over unit 5 inserts the relevant cassette into the recording and 
reproducing unit 3. When a cassette installed into the recording and 
reproducing unit 3 is to be returned into the cassette storing unit 2, the 
above mentioned operations are carried out in a reverse order. 
FIGS. 2A-2D and FIGS. 3A-3B are schematic views showing the successive 
operation of the known automatic cassette exchanging apparatus. 
When a cassette M1 installed in the recording and reproducing unit 3 is to 
be replaced by a cassette M2 stored in a cassette room 2A of the cassette 
storing unit 2, at first, the cassette M1 is inserted into the cassette 
hand over unit 5 as illustrated in FIG. 2A. Then, the cassette hand over 
unit 5 is moved by the cassette transporting unit not shown in FIG. 2 into 
a position in front of an empty cassette room 2B and the cassette M1 is 
inserted into the cassette room 2A as depicted in FIG. 2B. Next, the 
cassette hand over unit 5 is moved in front of the cassette room 2A and 
the cassette M2 stored therein is inserted into the cassette hand over 
unit 5 as illustrated in FIG. 2C. Then, the cassette hand over 5 is moved 
upward into a position in front of the recording and reproducing unit 3 
and the cassette M2 is inserted into the recording and reproducing unit 3 
as shown in FIG. 2D. 
When cassettes M7, M8 - - - stored in lower cassette rooms 2G, 2H - - - 
have to be removed into upper empty cassette rooms 2A, 2B - - - , the 
cassette hand over unit 5 is first moved by the cassette transporting unit 
into a position in front of the cassette room 2G and the cassette M7 is 
inserted into the cassette hand over unit as shown in FIG. 3A. Then, the 
cassette hand over unit 5 is moved into a position in front of the 
cassette room 2A and the cassette is inserted into the cassette room 2A as 
illustrated in FIG. 3B. Next, the cassette hand over unit 5 is moved 
downward into a position in front of the cassette room 2H and the cassette 
M8 is inserted into the hand over unit. After that, the cassette hand over 
unit 5 is moved upward again into a position in front of the cassette room 
2B and the cassette M8 is inserted into the cassette room 2B. The above 
mentioned operations are repeated to remove the cassettes within the 
cassette storing unit 2. 
In the known automatic cassette exchange apparatus explained above, when 
one or more cassettes are required to be newly installed into the cassette 
storing unit 2 or one or more stored cassettes are required to be removed 
from the cassette storing unit 2, the following complicated operations 
have to be carried out. 
(a) The operation of the apparatus is stopped and a door not shown is 
opened. 
(b) Unnecessary cassette or cassettes are removed from the cassette storing 
unit 2 and one or more cassettes are newly installed in the cassette 
storing unit. 
(c) The door is closed and the apparatus is operated again. 
This operation is quite cumbersome and requires a rather long time, mainly 
due to a fact that the above explained operation could not be performed 
automatically. 
Furthermore, in the known automatic cassette exchange apparatus, if the 
cassette hand over unit 5 becomes out of order, the whole apparatus could 
not operate correctly, and thus the cassette exchange and removal could 
not be performed any more. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has for its object to provide a novel and useful 
automatic cassette exchange apparatus, in which one or more cassettes can 
be automatically installed into and removed from the cassette storing unit 
without stopping the operation of the apparatus. 
It is another object of the invention to provide an automatic cassette 
exchange apparatus, in which the cassette exchanging operation can be 
performed reliably and efficiently within a short time. 
According to a first aspect of the invention, an automatic cassette 
exchange apparatus for automatically exchanging a number of record medium 
cassettes comprises: 
a cassette storing means for storing a plurality of record medium 
cassettes; 
a recording and reproducing means for recording and reproducing information 
on and from record medium cassettes; 
a cassette transporting means for transporting the record medium cassettes 
between the cassette storing means and the recording and reproducing means 
and including a plurality of cassette hand over units and a driving unit 
for moving said plural cassette hand over units; and 
a controlling means for controlling said cassette storing means, recording 
and reproducing means and cassette transporting means. 
In a preferable embodiment of the automatic cassette exchanging apparatus 
according to the invention, said plurality of cassette hand over units are 
controlled by said controlling means independently from each other. 
In the automatic cassette exchange apparatus according to the first aspect 
of the invention, when a new record medium cassette stored in the cassette 
storing means is to be installed in the recording and reproducing means, 
the relevant cassette is first set into an empty cassette hand over unit, 
then all the cassette hand over units are moved to the recording and 
reproducing means, and then a cassette installed in the recording and 
reproducing means is transferred into an empty cassette hand over unit. 
After that, the new cassette within the cassette hand over unit is 
transferred into the recording and reproducing means. Further, when a 
plurality cassettes are to be replaced within the cassette storing means, 
all the relevant cassettes are simultaneously transferred into empty 
cassette hand over units, then the cassette hand over units are moved into 
positions in front of empty cassette rooms, and finally all the cassettes 
in the cassette hand over units are simultaneously transferred into the 
empty cassette rooms. 
According to a second aspect of the invention, an automatic cassette 
exchange apparatus for automatically exchanging a number of record medium 
cassettes comprises: 
a housing; 
a cassette storing means arranged within said housing for storing a 
plurality of record medium cassettes; 
a recording and reproducing means arranged within said housing for 
recording and reproducing information on and from record medium cassettes; 
a mailing means for supplying and removing one or more record medium 
cassettes into and from said housing; 
a cassette transporting means arranged within said housing for transporting 
the record medium cassettes among said cassette storing means, recording 
and reproducing means and mailing means, and including at least one 
cassette hand over unit and a driving unit for moving said cassette hand 
over unit; and 
a controlling means for controlling said cassette storing means, recording 
and reproducing means, mailing means and cassette transporting means. 
In a preferable embodiment according to the second aspect of the present 
invention, said mailing means includes a mail box arranged outside said 
housing, a transport unit arranged within said housing for transporting 
the cassette between said mail box and the cassette hand over unit, and a 
cassette transferring means for transferring the cassette between said 
mail box and said transport unit. In a preferable embodiment of the 
automatic cassette exchange apparatus according to the invention, said 
cassette transferring means includes a stopper for selectively allowing a 
passage of the cassette between said mail box and said transport unit, and 
said mail box includes a cassette supply room and a cassette receipt room 
arranged below said cassette supply room. 
Then, it is preferable to construct said stopper of the cassette 
transferring means such that it restricts the movement of the cassette 
from the mail box to the transport unit and the cassette falls into the 
cassette receipt room due to the force of gravity. 
In the automatic cassette exchange apparatus according to the second aspect 
of the invention, when a cassette stored in the cassette storing means or 
installed in the recording and reproducing means is to removed from the 
apparatus, the relevant cassette is first transferred into the empty 
cassette hand over unit, and then the cassette hand over unit is moved 
into a position in front of the mailing means. After that, the cassette is 
transferred from the cassette hand over unit into the mailing means. 
Finally, the mailing means remove the cassette out of the apparatus. When 
a cassette is to be newly supplied into the apparatus, the cassette is 
first set in the mailing means, and then the mailing means transports the 
cassette into the apparatus. Next, the cassette is transferred into the 
cassette hand over unit, and finally the cassette is supplied into the 
cassette storing means or recording and reproducing means by means of the 
cassette transporting means and cassette hand over unit. In order to 
perform the above operations much more efficiently, it is particularly 
preferable to provide a plurality of cassette hand over units in the 
cassette transporting means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Now the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the 
accompanying drawings. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 show an embodiment of the automatic cassette exchange 
apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention. As 
illustrated in FIG. 4, the automatic cassette exchange apparatus comprises 
a housing 11, a cassette storing device 12 storing a number of record 
medium cassettes such as opto-magnetic discs, four recording and 
reproducing devices 13-16 provided above the cassette storing device 12, 
each of which can perform the recording and/or reproducing for a cassette 
installed in a relevant recording and reproducing device, and a cassette 
transporting device 17 arranged besides the cassette storing device 12 and 
recording and reproducing devices 13-16, said cassette transporting device 
transporting the cassettes between the cassette storing device 12 and each 
of the recording and reproducing devices 13-16. 
The cassette storing device 12 includes a rotating drum, an upper cassette 
storing rooms 12A, 12B - - - and a lower cassette storing rooms 12J, 12K - 
- - , each being able to store a number of cassettes. The cassette 
transporting device 17 includes an upright guide rail 17a, a horizontal 
guide rail 17b which can move up and down along the upright guide rail 
17a, and a cassette hand over mechanism provided on the horizontal guide 
rail 34b movably along the horizontal guide rail. A plurality of cassette 
hand over units, in the present embodiment, two cassette hand over units 
18 and 19 are provided on the horizontal guide rail 17b such that the 
cassette hand over devices can move horizontally. The cassette hand over 
units 18 and 19 have the same construction which corresponds to the 
construction of the cassette storing device 12 and recording and 
reproducing devices 13-16. Within the housing 11, there is further 
provided a controller for controlling the cassette storing device 12, 
recording and reproducing devices 13-16, cassette transporting device 17 
and cassette hand over units 18 and 19. 
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the driving mechanism installed in the 
cassette hand over units 18 and 19. A pair of guide arms 22 and 23 are 
arranged rotatably about pins provided at rear ends thereof. The guide 
arms 22 and 23 have formed therein guide grooves 22a and 23a, 
respectively, and claw members 24 and 25 are fit into the grooves 22a and 
23a, respectively such that the claw members can move along the guide 
grooves. Front ends of the guide arms 22 and 23 are coupled with link 
shafts 30 and 31 of links 28 and 29, respectively, which are coupled with 
a rotary solenoid 26 by means of a link 27. By driving the rotary solenoid 
26, a distance between the front ends of the guide arms 22 and 23 can be 
adjusted. The claw members 24, 25 comprise main portions 24a, 25a 
extending in a longitudinal direction and side arm portions 24b, 25b 
extending from the main portions toward inside. At front ends of the main 
portions 24a, 25a, there are formed engaging claws 24c, 25c which can 
engage with side recesses 21a, 21b formed in side walls of a record medium 
cassette 21. 
The claw member 24 is connected to a belt 36 which is wound around rollers 
32, 33, 34 and a gear 35. The claw member 24 is connected to an endless 
belt 41 which is wound around rollers 37, 38, 39 and a gear 40. The gears 
35 and 40 coupled with a driving motor 42 such that when the driving motor 
42 is driven, the claw members 24, 25 are moved in the longitudinal 
direction X. 
When the cassette 21 is taken into the cassette hand over unit 18 or 19 
from the cassette storing device 12 or recording and reproducing devices 
13-16, at first a command is supplied from the controller to the driving 
motor 42 and the driving motor is operated. Then, the claw members 24 and 
25 are moved into such positions that they can grasp the cassette 21. 
Next, the rotary solenoid 26 is energized and the front ends of the guide 
arms 22 and 23 are rotated inwardly by means of the links 27, 28 and 29. 
During this rotation, the engaging claws 24c and 25c are engaged with the 
side recesses 21a and 21b of the cassette 21. After that, the driving 
motor 42 is driven in the opposite direction and the claw members 24 and 
25 having the cassette 21 engaged therewith are moved into the cassette 
hand over unit 18 or 19. 
When the cassette contained in the cassette hand over unit 18 or 19 is to 
be inserted into the cassette storing device 12 or one of the recording 
and reproducing devices 13-16, the driving motor 42 is driven in the 
forward direction to move the claw members 24 and 25 having the cassette 
21 engaged therewith toward the cassette storing device or recording and 
reproducing device. Then, the rotary solenoid 26 is energized to rotate 
the front ends of the guide arms 22 and 23 outwardly to remove the 
cassette 21 from the engaging claws 24c and 25c. At the same time, the 
cassette 21 is pushed toward the cassette storing device 12 or recording 
and reproducing device 13-16 by means of the side arms 24b and 25b. 
Now the operation of the automatic cassette exchange apparatus of the 
present embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. 
FIGS. 6A and 6B show successive operations for exchanging cassettes M1 and 
M2 between the cassette storing device 12 and the recording and 
reproducing device 13. 
As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the cassette M1 stored in a cassette room 12A of 
the cassette storing device 12 is taken into the cassette hand over unit 
19. Then, the cassette hand over units 18 and 19 are moved into positions 
in front of the recording and reproducing device 13 by the transporting 
device 17. 
Next, as depicted in FIG. 6B, the cassette M2 installed in the recording 
and reproducing device 13 is inserted into the empty cassette hand over 
unit 18. After that, the cassette hand over units 18 and 19 are slightly 
moved upward by the transporting device 17. Finally, the cassette M1 in 
the cassette hand over unit 19 is inserted into the recording and 
reproducing device 13. 
In this manner, in the present embodiment, upon exchanging the cassettes M1 
and M2 between the cassette storing device 12 and the recording and 
reproducing devices 13-16, it is not necessary to transport the cassette 
M2 installed in the recording and reproducing devices to the cassette 
storing device 12 prior to inserting the cassette Ml into the recording 
and reproducing devices. Therefore, a time required for such operation can 
be saved and the cassettes Ml and M2 can be exchanged in a shorter time. 
FIG. 7 illustrates the operation, in which one of the cassette hand over 
units 18 and 19, e.g. the cassette hand over unit 19 is out of order. In 
this case, the cassette exchange can be performed by using the other 
cassette hand over unit 18. Therefore, the cassette exchange apparatus can 
be still utilized. 
FIGS. 8 and 9 show the operation for transferring cassettes M1, M2 - - - 
stored in lower cassette rooms 12J, 12K - - - to upper cassette rooms 12A, 
12B - - - . In this case, two cassettes can be moved simultaneously, and 
thus this operation can be carried out within a half time as compared with 
the known cassette exchange apparatus having a single cassette hand over 
unit. 
In the present embodiment, two cassette hand over units 18 and 19 are 
provided, but according to the invention, more than two cassette hand over 
units may be provided in accordance with the driving power of the 
transporting device 17. Moreover, the cassette hand over units 18 and 19 
are constructed to handle the opto-magnetic disc, but they may be formed 
to treat other record medium cassettes such as CD, CD-R, DLT tape, VHS 
tape, 3480 tape and 3590 tape. Furthermore, the cassette hand over units 
18 and 19 may be constructed to handle different kinds of record medium 
cassettes. 
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the automatic 
cassette exchange apparatus according to the second aspect of the 
invention. In the present embodiment, portions similar to those of the 
previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and their 
explanation is dispensed with. In the present embodiment, above the 
recording and reproducing devices 13-16, there is arranged a mail unit 20, 
and the transporting device 17 is constructed such that the cassettes can 
be moved among the cassette storing device 12, recording and reproducing 
devices 13-16 and mail unit 20. To this end, also in the present 
embodiment, there are provided two cassette hand over units 18 and 19. 
FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the mail unit 20 for 
transporting cassettes from and into the housing 11 of the apparatus. To 
this end, the mail unit 20 comprises a transport unit 21 arranged within 
the housing 11, and a mail box 22 arranged outside the housing 11. 
The transport unit 21 includes a base 31 having a side arm 31a, and a 
carrier 32 supporting the cassette and arranged movably on the base 31. 
The carrier 32 is coupled with a driving motor 34 by means of a belt 33 
and is moved reciprocally in a direction A. The carrier 32 includes a 
bottom plate 32a having a size substantially equal to the cassette and a 
top plate 32b smaller than the bottom plate 32a. The bottom plate 32a and 
top plate 32b are arranged such that the cassette can be held 
therebetween. To the side arm 31a of the base 31, is secured a stopper 35 
for restricting the return of the cassette transported by the carrier 32. 
The stopper 35 comprises an electromagnetic solenoid 36 fixed to the base 
31 and a rotary plate 37 coupled with the rotary solenoid 36. The rotary 
plate 37 has formed therein a restricting portion 37a which is brought 
into contact with a rear wall of the cassette. 
FIGS. 12A-12C are schematic plan views depicting the operations of the 
stopper 35. When the rotary plate 37 is in a position illustrated in FIG. 
12A, the cassette M held by the carrier 32 is allowed to pass toward the 
mail box 22. After that, the rotary plate 37 is rotated into a position 
shown in FIG. 12B, in which the restricting portion 37a of the rotary 
plate 37 is urged against the rear wall of the cassette M. When the 
carrier 32 is returned toward the driving motor 34, the cassette M is 
removed from the carrier 32 as illustrated in FIG. 12C. After that, the 
rotary plate 37 is rotated into the position shown in FIG. 12A. 
The stopper 35 is arranged at such a position that after more than a half 
of the cassette M has been moved out of the housing 11 by the carrier 32, 
the stopper is urged against the rear wall of the cassette M. Therefore, 
when the cassette M is removed from the carrier 32 during the return 
movement of the carrier, the cassette falls down into the mail box 22 due 
to the force of gravity. 
The mail box 22 includes a cassette supply room 41 and a cassette receipt 
room 42 arranged below the cassette supply room. At the lowermost portion 
of the cassette supply room 41, there is formed an opening 43 through 
which the cassette is moved between the carrier 32 and the mail box 21. 
Within the cassette receipt room 42, there is arranged a cassette 
receiving plate 44 which is supported movably up and down by means of a 
resilient member not shown. 
Within the cassette supply room 41, there is also provided a cassette 
pushing mechanism for pushing a new cassette into the carrier 32. As shown 
in FIG. 13, the cassette pushing mechanism 45 comprises a pushing member 
51 secured to one end of an arm 52 which is secured to a slide plate 54. 
The slide plate 54 is arranged movably on a base 53 reciprocally in a 
direction B and is coupled with a driving motor 56 by means of a belt 55. 
In an inner surface of the pushing member 51, there are formed plural 
steps 51a so that the lowermost cassette of a stack of cassettes is moved 
into a position at which the cassette is pushed into the carrier 32. 
Now the operation for supplying a new cassette into the housing 11 and the 
operation for removing a cassette from the housing will be explained with 
reference to FIGS. 14-24. 
As shown in FIG. 14, in a condition that the pushing member 51 of the 
cassette pushing mechanism 45 is in a position just below the cassette 
supply room 41 of the mail box 22, a necessary cassette M1 is supplied 
into the cassette supply room 41. It should be noted that in this 
condition, the carrier 32 of the transport unit 21 has been moved near the 
mail box 22 and the stopper 35 has been in the position in which it allows 
the passage of the cassette. 
Then, the driving motor 56 of the cassette pushing mechanism 45 is 
energized to move the arm 52 outwardly. During this movement, the pushing 
member 51 is disengaged from the cassette M1 as illustrated in FIG. 15. As 
the result of this, the cassette M1 falls into a space between the pushing 
member 51 and the carrier 32. 
Next, the pushing member 51 is moved toward the carrier 32 as depicted in 
FIG. 16 to push the cassette into the carrier 32. 
Then, the driving motor 34 of the transport unit 21 is energized to move 
the carrier 32 having the cassette M1 placed thereon into a substantially 
middle of the housing 11 as shown in FIG. 17. 
During or after the above operation, an unnecessary cassette M2 in the 
storing device 12 is taken into the cassette hand over unit 18 as depicted 
in FIG. 18, and then the cassette hand over units 18 and 19 are moved to 
the carrier 32. As illustrated in FIG. 19, the transporting mechanism 17 
moves the cassette hand over units 18 and 19 into such a position that the 
empty cassette hand over unit 19 is brought in front of the carrier 32 and 
the newly supplied cassette M1 is inserted into the cassette hand over 
unit 19 as shown in FIG. 19. 
Then, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the transporting mechanism 17 moves the 
cassette hand over units 18 and 19 downward slightly into such a position 
that the cassette hand over unit 18 comes in front of the carrier 32. 
After that, the unnecessary cassette M2 in the cassette hand over unit 18 
is pushed into the cassette 32. 
Next, the transport mechanism 17 moves the cassette hand over units 18 and 
19 further downward into such a position that the cassette M1 can be moved 
into a given cassette room in the cassette storing device 12 as shown in 
FIG. 21. 
At the same time, the carrier 32 having the cassette M2 placed thereon is 
moved toward the mail box 22 as depicted in FIG. 22 and more than a half 
of the cassette M2 is projected into the cassette receipt room 42. 
Next, the carrier 32 moves leftward as shown in FIG. 23. However, since the 
movement of the cassette M2 is restricted by the stopper 35 and the 
cassette is removed from the carrier 32. Therefore, the cassette M2 is 
tilted as shown in FIG. 23 due to the force of gravity and a half of the 
cassette is inserted into the cassette receipt room 42. Then, the cassette 
M2 falls down on the cassette receipt plate 44 as illustrated in FIG. 24. 
As explained above in detail, in automatic cassette exchange apparatus of 
the present embodiment, the new cassette M1 can be automatically supplied 
into the apparatus and the unnecessary cassette M2 can be automatically 
taken out of the apparatus without stopping the operation of the 
apparatus. In this manner, the unnecessary cassette M2 can be replaced by 
the necessary cassette M1 in an automatic manner within a short time. 
Therefore, the operation efficiency of the automatic cassette exchange 
apparatus can be improved and the manual operation of the user can be 
dispensed with. 
It should be noted that in the above explanation, the operation of removing 
the unnecessary cassette M2 from the apparatus and the operation of 
supplying the new cassette Ml into the apparatus are carried out 
simultaneously, but according to the invention, these operations may be 
performed independently from each other. Furthermore, the new cassette M1 
may be installed into the recording and reproducing device or the 
unnecessary cassette M2 may be taken out of the recording and reproducing 
device. 
As explained above, according to the automatic cassette exchange apparatus 
of the invention shown in FIG. 10, the removal of cassettes from the 
apparatus as well as the supply of cassettes into the apparatus can be 
performed by the mail box without stopping the usual operation of the 
apparatus. Therefore, the operation efficiency of the apparatus can be 
improved. Furthermore, the manual operation of the user can be minimized.