DISC FILE APPARATUS

Abstract: A disc file apparatus in which many discs that are recording carriers containing large amounts of data such as document data, image data and voice data, are contained in a number of cartridges (1) which are held and filed in bins (2), and in which a number of cartridges (1) in the bins (2) are selectively taken out as required, and are supplied a player (4) to write the data onto, or read the data from, the discs in the cartridges (1). The disc file apparatus comprises fixed bins (2) for holding a number of cartridges (1) that contain discs on a number of racks (3) in parallel, a plurality of fixed players (4), (5) for writing data onto, or reading data from, the discs in the cartridges (1), and carriers (6) that move linearly between the bins (2) and the plurality of players (4), (5) along the front surfaces thereof. A cartridge (1) selectively drawn from the bin (2) is selectively supplied by the carrier (6) to any one of the players, while the cartridge (1), after it has been used by the player is returned by the carrier (6) to the initial rack (3) in the bin (2). Thus, large amounts of data are selectively read out or written at high speeds.

Description: The present invention relates to a diskfile device as is defined in the preamble of claim 1. A diskfile device of such type is known (FR-A 2 522 182) having an apparatus for selecting and reproducing of cartridges indlucing disks in which the said cartridges are swung over from a feeding position to an operating position in which an individual cartridge is inserted into a player and to which an individual cartridge is transported from the player. However, this known apparatus is not suitable to provide with high speed a large amount of information. Furthermore there is known a storage device (JP-A 59 302 63) which comprises a wide stocker in which a lot of thin cartridges including disks therein are accommodated side by side under the states stood vertically and lined in the width direction of the stocker, a stocker conveying means which conveys the stocker horizontally in the width direction of the stocker, a draw mechanism which comprises a pair of upper and lower pawls and being arranged in front of the stocker, and a player arranged by a side of the draw mechanism. As the stocker is horizontally moved by the stocker conveying means, the pair of pawls are relatively moved within a pair of grooves which are formed in the upper and lower sides of one end portion of each cartridge, so that an appointed cartridge is selected from among the many cartridges. The selected cartridge is then drawn forward from the stocker by the pair of pawls of the draw mechanism as soon as the stocker is stopped in an appointed position. The cartridge is thereafter fed to the player in which information is inserted in or extracted from the disk enclosed in the cartridge. However, the above device possesses several defects as mentioned below. (A) As the stocker is horizontally moved in order to select the appointed cartridge, a space twice as large as the width of the stocker becomes necessary for the movement of the stocker. Hence, the space is used very needlessly. (B) The stocker in which a lot of cartridges are accommodated is much heavy, so that the stocker conveying means must be constructed on a large scale. Thus, the whole device becomes not only large and heavy but also dear. (C) On account of the heavy stocker, the stocker cannot be rapidly moved, so that it cannot be possible to select the appointed cartridge on high speed, too. Thus, it is difficult to extract information successively on high speed from the disks in the cartridges. (D) As the stocker is moved by the stocker conveying means, so the size and weight of the stocker are restricted in view of its conveying speed and strength. The number of accommodated cartridges is, therefore, 20 to 30 at most and will not reach 50 to 100, so that the device is not suitable for dealing with a large amount of information. (E) The stocker is horizontally moved so as to select the appointed cartridge, so that it is difficult to perform preparatory operations, such as selecting, drawing and standing-by operations on the next appointed cartridge for extracting information successively from the disk in the next appointed cartridge while information is extracted by the player from the preceding disk. Because the position of the stocker relative to the draw mechanism is changed if the stocker is moved after the disk is fed to the player, and it is impossible to return the cartridge on the player to the original position in the stocker after the extraction is over. Thus, it takes too much time to replace the preceding disk on the player with the next one, so that successive high-speed extraction of information becomes impossible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a diskfile device in which a large amount of information can be selectively inserted or extracted on high speed. The aforementioned object of the present invention can be achieved by a diskfile device as is specified in claim 1. Specific embodiments of the present invention are specified in claims 2 to 5. Brief Description of Drawings The drawings show an embodiment of a diskfile device to which this invention is oriented. Fig. 1 is a whole side view in outline of the diskfile device; Fig. 2 is a front view of the diskfile device; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the important part of the diskfile device; Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the important part of the diskfile device; Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of an overturn mechanism disposed in the carrier; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Fig. 5; Fig. 7A and 7B are sectional views taken along the line VII-VII in Fig. 5 for explaining the overturn operation of the cartridge; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in Fig. 5; and Fig. 9A and 9B are sectional views taken along the line IX-IX in Fig. 5 for explaining the action of detecting the position of overturn plate after overturning. Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention On referring to the drawings, an embodiment of the diskfile device to which this invention is oriented will be described hereinafter. As illustrated in Fig. 1 and 2, accommodated in a cartridge 1 is a recording disk (not shown). The cartridge is thin in thickness and almost square-shaped. The stocker is much larger in height and vertically located. A lot of horizontal shelves 3 are disposed in the stocker in parallel with one another, so that 50 to 100 cartridges can be horizontally accommodated in the stocker 2 in parallel with one another. Two players 4 and 5 adjacent to each other are adjacent near the bottom of the stocker 2 (or near the top of the stocker 2) for inserting information in or extracting information from the disk in the cartridge. The front sides 2a, 4a and 5a of the stocker 2 and the two players 4 and 5 are flush with one another. A cartridge is selectively drawn from the stocker by the carrier 6 and conveyed to a selected one of the two players; the carrier 6 is vertically and linearly moved in direction of arrow Y along the front sides 2a, 4a and 5a of the stocker 2 and the two players 4 and 5. The carrier transfer means 7 with drives the carrier 6 comprises, for example, a pair of right and left vertical timing belts 8. When the two timing belts 8 are driven by a motor 9, the carrier 6 is guided in a horizontal state by a pair of right and left vertical rails (not shown) to be moved on high speed in the direction of arrow Y. Next, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, a pair of right and left grooves 11 are provided on the respective right and left sides 1b of the one end 1a of the cartridge 1, and a pair of right and left pawls 12 engageable with the respective grooves of a selected one of the cartridges are mounted on the carrier 6. The pawl 12 is alomost L-shaped and the right and left pawls 12 are symmetrical with respect to the central axis. Disposed on the carrier 6 is a pawl transfer means 13 which horizontally moves the pawls 12 in direction of arrow X, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the carrier travel which is shown by arrow Y. The pawl transfer means 13 comprises, for example, a pair of right and left timing belts 14. When the timing belts 14 are driven by a motor 15, the pair of pawls 12 are guided by a pair of right and left horizontal rails 16 to be horizontally moved in the direction of arrow X between an advanced position indicated in solid lines and a retreated position indicated in chain-dotted lins in Figure 3. The pawl transfer means 13 is disposed on one of the upper and lower sides of a overturn plate 18, which is horizontally arranged within an almost U-shaped frame 17 of the carrier 6 and turns in direction of arrow Z a or Z b in Figure 2 at an angle of 180° on a central axis X' parallal to the direction of arrow X. Provided on the other side of the swing palte 18 is a cartridge holder which will be described later, and the pawls 12 are horizontally moved within the cartridge holder 23 in the direction of arrow X by pawl drive members mentioned later, which are guided by a pair of right and left slits 19 in the swing plate 18, respectively. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the pairs of grooves 11 of the cartridges accommodated in the stocker 2 and put on the players 4 and 5 are on vertical line Y' which is parallel to the direction of arrow Y, that is, the direction of the carrier travel. When the carrier 6 is linearly and vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y under the state that the pawls 12 have been brought to the advanced position indicated in solid lines in Figure 3, the pawls 12 are moved in the direction of arrow Y in the grooves 11 of the cartridges without touching the cartridges 1. The cartridges 1 and pawls 12 never interfere with the vertical movement of the carrier 6. Next, a number of motions concerning a high speed extraction of information by the diskfile device constituted as mentioned above will be described on referring to Figure 1. In position 1 ○ of the pawls 12 of the carrier 6, the second cartridge 1 is fed to the upper player 4, and in the lower player 5, there is the first cartridge from the disk of which information has been already extracted. After the second cartridge 1 is fed to the upper player 4, the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a , so that the pawls 12 move from position 1 ○ to position 2 ○ and engage the respective grooves 11 of the first cartridge 1 on the lower player 5. While the pawls 12 move from position 1 ○ to position 2 ○, the second cartridge 1 fed to the upper player 4 is drawn into the upper player 4 and information is extracted from the disk in the second cartridge 1, and during the extraction of information, the first cartridge on the lower player 5 is returned back to its shelf 3 in the stocker 2, and then, a number of preparatory motions for the extraction of information from the third catridge 1, such as selection, drawing-out, conveyance and waiting for supply to the lower player 5 are conducted on high speed. That is, as the pawls 12 of the carrier 6 engaged with the first cartridge on the lower player 5 is horizontally moved in the direction of arrow X a from position 2 ○ to position 3 ○ in order to have the first cartridge 1 received in the carrier 6, in other words, in a cartridge holder provided in the swing plate 18. Then, the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y b and stopped in the position where the first cartridge can be returned back to its shelf 3, and the pawls 12 are horizontally moved in the direction of arrow X b from position 4 ○ to position 5 ○, so that the first cartridge 1 is accommodated in its shelf 3 of the stocker 2. The carrier 6 is then vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a in order to select the third cartridge. At this time, the pawls 12 move vertically within the grooves 11 of the cartridges 1. After the carrier 6 stops near the third cartridge 1, the pawls 12 are horizontally moved from position 6 ○ to position 7 ○ and engage with the third cartridge 1, so that the third cartridge 1 can be drawn from its shelf 3 in the stocker 2 into the carrier 6. As soon as the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a , and stopped near the lower player 5, the pawls 12 is horizontally moved from position 3 ○ to position 2 ○ in the direction of arrow X b , and the third cartridge 1 is fed to the lower player 5. When a chain of preparatory actions are taken on high speed and the second cartridge is ejected from the upper player 4 after the extraction is over, the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y b to move the pawls 12 from position 2 ○ to position 1 ○ and the pawls 12 are engaged with the respective grooves 11 of the second cartridge 1 in the upper player 4. While the pawls 12 are moved from position 2 ○ to position 1 ○, the third cartridge 1 fed to the lower player 5 is drawn into the lower player 5 and information is extracted from the disk in the third cartridge 1, and next preparatory actions as mentioned above are taken on high speed by means of the carrier 6 which is near the upper player 4. In the meantime, double-faced disks can be used in the above diskfile device, and therefore, the swing plate 18 in the carrier 6 is turned at an angle of 180° in the direction of arrow Z a or Z b in Figure 2 on the central axis X' so as to select A-face on B-face of the disk in the cartridge 1 while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a in order that the cartridge 1 drawn from its shelf 3 in the stocker 2 is fed to the player 4 or 5, or while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y b so as to return the cartridge 1 back to its shelf 3 in the stocker 2 from the player 4 or 5. In case of the above diskfile device, information can also be inserted on high speed by the players 4 and 5. The cartridges 1 accommodated in the stocker 2 are successively drawn out and information is inserted in turn in the disks in the cartridges 1 same as information is extracted as mentioned above. At the time when information is inserted in or extracted from the disk in the cartridge 1 by the player 4 or 5, the following two methods are to be utilized: one is to drive the disk in a state of holding it in the cartridge 1, and the other is to separate the upper half and the lower half of the cartridge 1 in the vertical direction to drive the disk. In case of the latter, it becomes possible to sandwich the disk between the upper half and lower half to make the cartridge 1 much thinner after information is inserted in or extracted from the disk, so that the cartridges 1 is accommodated much more in the stocker 2. Next, the overturn mechanism of the overturn plate 18 disposed on the carrier 6 will be described hereinafter on referring to Figures 5 to 9B. A pair of shafts 21 and 22 are disposed on one side 18a of the overturn plate 18 and the cartridge holder 23 is disposed on the other side (18b) of the overturn plate 18. On the side 18a of the overturn plate 18, there is also disposed the above-mentioned pawl transfer means 13. The pair of shafts 21 and 22 are horizontally arranged over the central portion of the overturn plate 18 along its width direction, that is, along the right to left direction in Figure 5, and spaced apart distance ℓ from each other in the direction of central line X', which is parallel to the direction of arrow X to which the cartridge is moved. As shown in Figures 7A and 7B, the shafts 21 and 22 are rotatably supported respectively by a plurality of brackets 24a and 24b which are disposed on a support plate 24 horizontally fixed to the central portion of a frame 17 along its vertical thickness direction, and a pair of brackets 25 and 26 fixed on one side 18a of the overturn plate 18 are rotatably fitted to the shafts 21 and 22. One of the shafts 21 is fixed to one of the brackets 25 and rotated integrally with the overturn plate 18. A motor 28 is horizontally arranged between the pair of shafts 21 and 22 in alignment therewith, and fixed to one of the brackets 24a of the support plate 24. The motor shaft 29 of the motor 28 is connected to one of the shafts 21 through a coupling 30 and a rotation angle detector 31 of the motor shaft 29 is included in the motor 28. Next, the cartridge holder 23 is so formed like a flat case as to be balanced with the thickness and width of the cartridge 1. As shown in Figure 6, the cartridge 1 is horizontally drawn into or from the cartridge holder 23 through its opening 33 which is disposed on one end of the cartridge holder 23 opposite to the front side 2a of the stocker 2, and the pair of pawls 12 are respectively moved along the right and left insides of the cartridge holder 23 by a pair of right and left pawl drive members 34 which are driven by the pair of right and left timing belts 14. That is, the pawl drive members 34 are slidingly guided by the pair of right and left rails 16 fixed on the one side 18a of the overturn plate 18 as shown in Figure 8, and are connected with the respective timing belts 14 at one ends 34a and with the respective pawls 12 at the other ends 34b, which is inserted in the cartridge holder 23 through the slit 19 provided in the swing plate 18. A pair of upper and lower guide rails 35 for guiding the cartridge 1 which is drawn into or from the cartridge holder 23, are disposed on the right and left insides of the cartridge holder 23 and that above and below the other end 34b of the pawl drive member 34. Next, it will be described hereinafter how the cartridge 1 conveyed by the carrier 6 is turned over from A-face to B-face or the reverse. When the timing belts 14 are driven by the motor 15 in the direction of arrow X a in Figures 5 and 6 in order to move the pawls 12 in the same direction from the advanced position indicated in chain-dotted lines to the retreated position indicated in solid lines as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cartridge 1 is horizontally drawn from the stocker 2 or the player 4, 5 into the cartridge holder 23 of the carrier 6 by the pawls. On the contrary, when the timing belts 14 are driven by the motor 15 in the direction of arrow X b in Figures 5 and 6 in order to move the pawls 12 in the same direction from the retreated position indicated in solid lines to the advanced position indicated in chain-dotted lines as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cartridge 1 in the cartridge holder 23 of the carrier 6 is horizontally drawn into the stocker 2 or the player 4 or 5 by the pawls 12. Under the state that the cartridge 1 is horizontally held within the cartridge holder 23 of the carrier 6 as shown in Figures 7A and 9A, if one of the shafts 21 is rotated at an angle of 180° in the direction of arrow Z a by the motor 28, the overturn plate 18 is turned on the shafts 21 and 22 at an angle of 180° in the direction of arrow Z a , so that the horizontal A-or B-face of the disk in the cartridge 1 held in the cartridge holder 23 is changed from the states shown in Figures 7A and 9A to the states shown in Figures 7B and 9B. And on the contrary, if the shafts 21 is rotated at an angle of 180° in the direction of arrow Z b by the motor 28 under the states shown in Figures 7B and 9B, the overturn plate 18 is turned at an angle of 180° in the direction of arrow Z b on the shafts 21 and 22, so that the horizontal A- or B-face of the disk is changed from the state shown in Figurse 7B and 9B to the state shown in Figures 7A and 9A. At this time, the positions of the overturn plate 18 shown in Figures 7A and 9A or Figures 7B and 9B are accurately detected by the rotation angle detector 31 included in the motor 28, and due to the detection, the overturn plate 18 is horizontally held as it is in the positions shown in Figures 7A and 9B or Figures 7B and 9B by means of a servomechanism. As shown in Figure 1, the above action of the cartridge 1 is efficiently performed while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a to convey the cartridge 1 from the stocker 2 to the player 4 or 5, or while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y b to convey the cartridge from the player 4 or 5 to the stocker 2. Thus, the A- or B-face of the disk in the cartridge 1 drawn from the stocker 2 can be freely turned over before the cartridge 1 is fed to the player 4 or 5, so that information can be inserted in or extracted from either of the A- and B-faces of the disk in the player 4, 5. Next, the movement controlling mechanism of the carrier 6 actuated due to the overturing action of the overturn plate 18 will be described according to Figures 5 to 9B. In order to detect the upper position of the overturn plate 18 shown in Figure 7B or 9B and the lower position thereof shown in Figure 7A or 9A, two first sensors 37 and 38 are secured to the rear side of the frame 17. Used as the two first sensors are optical sensors each of which comprises a light emission element and a light reception element (not shown). A pair of right and left shutters 39 and 40 secured to the overturn plate 18 are alternately inserted between the light emission element and the light reception element of the first sensors 37 and 38 so that the detection output may be alternately delivered by the first sensors 37 and 38. The cartridge holder 23 on the other side of the overturn plate 18 is brought under or over the axis of the shafts 21 and 22 as shown in Figures 7A or 7B, due to turning of the overturn plate 18 at an angle of 180°. Secured as shown in Figures 5 and 6 to one of the front sides of the frame 17 are a pair of upper and lower second sensors 42 and 41, which are so arranged as to correspond with the lower position and the upper position of the cartridge holder 23. That is, as shown in Figure 6, the pair of lower and upper second sensors 41 and 42 are secured with space ℓ₁ which corresponds with the space between the lower position and the upper position of the cartridge holder 23. The second sensors 41 and 42 also comprise a light emission element and a light reception element (not shown) as same as the first sensors 37 and 38. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, a vertical plate 43 is secured to both one of the front sides 24 of the stocker 2 and one of the front sides 4a and 5a of the players 4 and 5. The vertical plate 43 is inserted between the light emission elements and the light reception elements of the second sensors 41 and 42. Provided in the vertical plate 43 are a lot of detected portions 44 comprising indentations, each of which is so formed as to correspond with both the respective shelves 3 of the stocker 2 and the respective cartridge inserting portions of the players 4 and 5. the number of the detected portions 44 is counted by the second sensors 41 and 42 as the carrier 6 vertically moves to detect the appointed detected portion 44, in the position of which the motor 9 of the carrier transfer means 7 is stopped. The frist sensors 37 and 38 detect which of the positions, the upper position or the lower position, the overturn plate 18 is located, and the change-over in the second sensors 41 and 42 occurs due to a signal produced by the first sensor 37, 38. Then, the selected one of the second sensors 41 and 42 is brought into operation. Next, it will be described hereinafter how to control the movement of the carrier 6 while the overturn plate 18 is overturned. As shown in Figure 1, the cartridge 1 is overturned due to turning of the overturn plate 18 at the angle of 180° while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a to convey the cartridge 1 from the stocker 2 to the player 4 or 5, or while the carrier 6 is vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y b to return the cartridge 1 back to the stocker 2 from the player 4 or 5. Thus, if the cartridge 1 held in the cartridge holder 23 is, for example, so turned at the angle of 180° as to be changed from the state shown in Figure 9B to the state shown in Figure 9A during the vertical movement of the carrier 6 in the direction of arrow Y a or Y b and is located under the axis of the shafts 21 and 22, the shutter 39 is inserted between the light emission element and the light reception element of the first sensor 37 as shown in Figure 9A and the detection output is delivered by the sensor 37, so that the lower second sensor 41 shown in Figure 6 is brought into operation. When the carrier 6 vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a or Y b reaches the cartridge inserting position to either of the player 4, 5 shown in Figure 1, or to the appointed shelf 3 of the stocker 2 as the detected portion 44 near the player 4, 5 or the appointed shelf 3 is detected by the second sensor 41 due to counting in turn the detected portions 44 as mentioned above, the motor 9 of the carrier transfer means 7 is stopped to locate the carrier 6 thereat. On the occasion, the second sensor 41 is arranged in a position corresponding with the cartridge holder 23 overturned to its lower position, so that the cartridge holder 23 is accurately positioned in the cartridge inserting position of either of the players 4, 5 or the appointed shelf 3. When the cartridge holder 23 is turned at the angle of 180° so as to be changed its position from the state shown in Figure 9A to the state shown in Figure 9B during the vertical movement of the carrier 6 in the direction of arrow Y a or Y b and the cartridge 1 in the cartridge holder 23 is brought over the axis of the shafts 21 and 22, the other shutter 40 is inserted between the light emission element and the light reception element of the other first sensor 38 as shown in Figure 9B, so that the upper second sensor 42 shown in Figure 6 comes into operation due to the detection output from the other first sensor 38. When the carrier 6 vertically moved in the direction of arrow Y a or Y b reaches the cartridge inserting position of either of the player 4, 5 or the appointed shelf 3 of the stocker 2 shown in Figure 1, as the detected portion 44 near the player 4, 5 or the appointed shelf 3 is detected by the second sensor 42 due to counting in turn the detected portions 44 as mentioned above, the motor 9 of the carrier transfer means 7 is stopped to locate the carrier 6 thereat. On the occasion, the second sensor 42 is arranged in a position corresponding with the cartridge holder 23 overturned to its upper position, so that the cartridge holder 23 is accurately positioned in the cartridge inserting position of either of the player 4, 5 or the appointed shelf 3. Thus, it can be accurately performed to deliver the cartridge 1 to the player 4, 5 or the shelf 3 of the stocker 2, or to receive the cartirdge 1 from the player 4, 5 or the shelf 3 after the carrier 6 has been stopped. Having described an embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention. For example, the carrier and pawls are not limited to the constructions shown in the embodiment but can be various in kind. The carrier transfer means and pawl transfer means are also not limited to the constructions shown in the embodiment but can be various in kind. In the embodiment, the cartridges are horizontally accommodated in parallel with one another in the vertical direction of the stocker that has a good height, but there is not objection if the cartridges are vertically accommodated in parallel with one another in the horizontal direction of the stocker that has a wide frontage and the carrier is horizontally moved along the front side of the stocker. And in the embodiment, the plurality of players are arranged below the stocker, but there is also no objection if the plurality of players are arranged above the stocker, or separately above and below the stocker. In addition, the mechanism to draw the cartridge into or from the cartridge holder in the carrier does not necessarily comprise the pair of pawls and the pawl transfer means as shown in the embodiment, but can be various in kind. In the embodiment, the overturn plate is driven by the motor both in the directions of arrow Z a in Figure 7A and arrow Z b in Figure 9B, but there is no objection if the overturn plate is driven by the motor in only one direction, for example, in the direction of arrow Z a , and in the direction of arrow Z b , a spring force is utilized to enable it to be returned back. In the embodiment, the optical sensors are used for the first sensor and the second sensor, but there is no objection if the sensors of various sorts, such as mechanical sensors, magnetic sensors and photoelectric sensors are used. In addition, these sensors can be contact type sensors or non-contact type sensors. This invention is suited for diskfile devices of various sorts, whereby information transmitted by documents, images, sounds or mixed ones of the above means can be stored in disks, and suited for devices for only reproducing (or extracting), or for recording and reproducing devices which are capable of both reproducing (extracting) and recording (inserting).

Claims: A diskfile device comprising: a stationary stocker (2) for accommodating a lot of cartridges (1) in parallel with one another in respective shelves (3) of said stationary stocker, said cartridge (1) including a disk; a player (4) for inserting information in and extracting information from said disk in the cartridge (1); and a carrier (6) for conveying said cartridge (1) selectively drawn from said stocker (3) and feeding said cartridge (1) to said player (4), said carrier (6) including an overturn plate (18) by which said cartridge (1) is rotatably held at an angle of 180° and which is driven by a motor (28), characterized in that said overturn plate (18) holding a cartridge (1) drawn from said stocker (2) is rotated at the angle of 180° by said motor (28) so as to turn said cartridge (1) from A-face to B-face or the reverse, while said cartridge (1) is conveyed to said player (4) by said carrier (6), or while a cartridge (1) received from said player (4) and held on said overturn plate (18) is conveyed to said stocker (2) by said carrier (6). A diskfile device according to claim 1 wherein sensors are provided so as to detect two positions of said overturn plate (18) after rotation of said overturn plate at the angle of 180°. A diskfile device according to claim 2, wherein the said player (4) is a stationary player, the said overturn plate (18) is pivotally secured to said carrier (6) within an almost U-shaped frame (17) of said carrier (6), a pair of shafts (21, 22) are disposed on one side (18a) of said overturn plate (18) and a cartridge holder (23) is disposed on the other side (18b) of said overturn plate (18), said pair of shafts (21, 22) are arranged over the central portion of said overturn plate (18) along the width direction of said overturn plate and spaced apart distance (ℓ) from each other in direction of central line (X'), which is parallel to direction (X) to which said cartridge (1) is moved, said overturn plate (18) is turned on said pair of shafts (21, 22) at an angle of 180°, the said motor (28) is arranged between said pair of shafts (21, 22) in alignment therewith so as to drive one of said shafts (21), and said cartridge (1) is turned from A-face to B-face or the reverse due to turning of said overturn plate (18) at the angle of 180° by said motor (28), while a cartridge (1) drawn from said stocker (2) is held in said cartridge holder (23) in the overturn plate (18) and conveyed to said player (4) by said carrier (6), or while a cartridge (1) received from said player (4) is held in said cartridge holder (23) in the overturn plate (18) and conveyed to said stocker (2) by said carrier (6). A diskfile device according to claim 3, wherein two first sensors (37, 38) are secured to said frame (17) so as to detect two turned positions of said overturn plate (18), two second sensors (41, 42) are secured to respective positions on said frame (17) which correspond with two positions of said cartridge holder (23) which is brought both sides of said shaftes (21, 22) due to turning of said overturn plate (18), said second sensors (41, 42) detect a lot of detected portions (44) provided in positions in said shelves (3) of the stocker (2) and a cartridge inserting portion of said player (4), a turned position of said overturn plate (18) is so detected by one of said first sensors (37, 38) when said overturn plate (18) is turned at the angle of 180° during conveying of said cartridge (1) by said carrier (6) as to bring a corresponding second sensor (41) or (42) into operation, and said corresponding sensor (41) or (42) detects an appointed detected portion (44), so that said carrier (6) is stopped so as to put said cartridge holder (23) in a position to insert a cartridge (1) held in said cartridge holder (23) into said player (4), or into an appointed shelf (3) of said stocker (2). A diskfile device according to claim 4 wherein said first sensors (37, 38) and said second sensors (41) are optical sensors each of which comprises a light emission element and a light reception element.

Inventors: FUJITA, SHIN-ICHI SONY CORPORATION, TOI, HIROSHI SONY CORPORATION, URAGAKI, MAKOTO SONY CORPORATION
Applicants: SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G11B17
IPC codes: G11B17