Abstract:
Disk changer devices and correlated disk acquisition procedures and disk management system. In the disk changer devices, an interface unit is coupled to a host system, at least one disk storage unit stores a plurality of disks, and a control unit is coupled to the interface unit. A disk acquisition unit is coupled to the control unit, and comprises a gripper retrieving a desired disk from the disk storage unit, a first driver moving the gripper along a vertical direction, a second driver moving the gripper along a horizontal direction, and a disk push unit comprising at least one disk push rod, pushing the desired disk to the gripper from the disk storage unit, wherein the control unit drivers the gripper to retrieve the desired disk and deliver it to a disk processing unit, according to a command from the host system.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The invention relates to changer devices, and more particularly, to disk changer devices.  
         [0002]     Recently, as disks are widely used, management and access of disks is important for users. Thus, there is a need for an apparatus storing a plurality of disks, providing access thereto quickly without changing disks manually.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     Embodiments of a disk change device comprises an interface unit coupled to a host system, in which at least one disk storage unit stores a plurality of disks and a control unit is coupled to the interface unit. A disk acquisition unit is coupled to the control unit, and comprises a gripper removing a desired disk from the disk storage unit, a first driver moving the gripper along a vertical direction, a second driver moving the gripper along a horizontal direction, and a disk push unit comprising at least one disk push rod, pushing the desired disk to the gripper from the disk storage unit, wherein the control unit drivers the gripper to retrieve the desired disk and deliver to a disk processing unit, according to a command from the host system.  
         [0004]     Also disclosed are embodiments of a disk acquisition procedure, in which location of a desired disk in the disk storage unit is obtained according to a command from the host system. A corresponding vertical distance, a corresponding horizontal direction and a corresponding horizontal distance are obtained according to the location of the desired disk. The first driver and the second driver are driven to move the gripper to the location of the desired disk according to the corresponding vertical distance, the corresponding horizontal direction and the corresponding horizontal distance. The disk push unit is activated to push the desired disk to an opening of the gripper from the disk storage unit. Finally, the desired disk is retrieved and delivered to the disk processing unit.  
         [0005]     Also disclosed are embodiments of a recovery procedure for abnormal power-down, in which a gripper&#39;s home position is detected. A normal initial procedure is executed when the gripper is in a home position, and whether the gripper is activated is detected when the gripper is not in the home position. A homing procedure and the normal initial procedure are executed when the disk push unit is activated. The home procedure comprises, opening the gripper, driving the second driver to move the gripper to a central position, closing the gripper, and moving the gripper to the home position. Whether a disk is present in the gripper is detected when the disk push unit is not activated. The disk is located to a backup slot in the disk storage unit and the homing procedure and the normal initial procedure are executed when the disk is held by the gripper. The gripper is moved to the home position and the normal initial procedure is executed when no disk is held by the gripper.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     The invention can be more fully understood by the subsequent detailed description and examples with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a disk changer device;  
         [0008]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are structural diagrams of exemplary embodiment of a disk changer device;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3A  shows an example of a gripper;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3B  is a structural diagram of an example of a gripper;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a disk acquisition procedure.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the disk acquisition procedure shown in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a detailed flowchart of the embodiment of a disk acquisition procedure;  
         [0014]     FIGS.  7 A˜ 7 C are diagrams illustrating the disk acquisition procedure shown in  FIG. 6 ; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a recovery procedure of abnormal power-down. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]      FIGS. 1, 2A  and  2 B are diagrams showing an exemplary embodiment of a disk changer device. The disk management system comprises a disk changer device  100  and a disk processing unit  200 . The disk changer device  100  acquires a desired disk and delivers it to the disk processing unit  200  according to a command from an external host system  300 . For example, the disk changer device  100  can be coupled to the host system via a universal serial bus (USB). The disk processing unit  200  can be a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a CD-RW, a DVD+RW or the like to access or burn disks. The disks can be compact disks, optical disks and the like.  
         [0017]     The disk changer device  100  comprises an interface unit  10 , a control unit  20 , a disk acquisition unit  30  and disk storage units  42  and  44 . The interface unit  10  is coupled to the host system  300 , the control unit  20  and the disk processing unit  200 , in which the interface unit  10  is coupled to the host system through universal serial bus (USB) and coupled to the disk processing unit  200  through an integrated device electronics (IDE) interface. The disk storage units  42  and  44  shown in  FIG. 2A  each comprise a plurality of slots storing disks and having a backup slot ( 441  and  442 ) storing disks during recovery from power-down. The interface unit  10  can be a PL-2507 control chip and the disk storage units  42  and  44  can be disk racks.  
         [0018]     The control unit  20  is coupled between the interface unit  10  and the disk acquisition unit  30 , and, can for example, be a microprocessor or a processing unit, calculating location of a desired disk and obtaining a vertical distance, a horizontal direction (left or right) and a horizontal direction according to a command from the host system  300 .  
         [0019]     The disk acquisition unit  30  is coupled to the control unit  20  to deliver disks between the disk storage units  42  and  44  and the disk processing unit  200 , and comprises a disk counting unit  32 , a first driver  34 , a second driver  36 , a gripper  38  and a disk push unit  39 . The first driver  34  drives the gripper  38  along the vertical direction, and the second driver  36  drives the gripper  38  along the horizontal direction. For example, the first driver  34  and the second driver  36  can be step motors, driving the gripper  38  along the vertical direction and the horizontal direction respectively. The gripper  38  retrieves a desired disk from the disk storage units  42  and  44 , and the disk push unit  39 , comprising two disk push rods  391  and  392  as shown in  FIG. 2A , pushes the desired disks to the gripper  38  from the disk storage units  42  or  44 .  
         [0020]     The control unit  20  drivers the disk acquisition unit  30  to acquire a desired disk and delivers it to the disk processing unit  200 . For example, the control unit  20  drives the first and second drivers  34  and  36  to move the gripper  38  to the location of the desired disk, activates the disk push unit  39  to push the desired disk to the gripper  38  from the disk storage unit, and drives the first and second drivers to deliver the desired disk to the disk processing unit  200 . The disk counting unit  32  counts the disks in the disk storage units  42  and  44 . For example, the disk counting unit  32  can comprise two disk counters to count the disks in the disk storage units  42  and  44  respectively. Each disk count can include an emitter and a receiver disposed on the gripper  38  and the disk push rods  391  and  392  respectively, such that a disk is determined to be present when the receiver cannot receive the signal from the corresponding emitter.  
         [0021]     As shown in  FIG. 3A , the gripper  38  comprises an opening  381  to retrieve disks, and the sensors  382  and  383  are disposed on two sides of the gripper  38  to detect whether the disk is held by the gripper  38 . As shown in  FIG. 3B , the sensors  384  and  385  detect whether the opening  381  is closed, in which the sensor  384  is activated when the opening  381  is opened and the sensor  385  is activated when the opening  381  is closed.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a disk acquisition procedure.  FIG. 5  is a diagram of the disk changer device. First, in step S 102 , the control unit  20  calculates the location of the desired disk, for example, disk  46 , and obtains a corresponding vertical distance Dv, a corresponding horizontal direction Dd and a corresponding distance Dh accordingly (in step S 104 ). In step S 106 , the control unit  20  drives the first driver and the second driver  34  and  36  to move the gripper  38  to the location of the desired disk  46  according to the corresponding vertical distance Dv, the corresponding horizontal direction Dd and the corresponding distance Dh. The control unit  20  activates the gripper  38  to open the opening thereof before the gripper  38  reaches the desired disk  46 . Then, in step S 108 , the control unit  20  activates the disk push unit  39  to push the desired disk  46  to the opening of the gripper  38  from the disk storage unit  42 . Finally, in step S 110 , the control unit  20  activates the gripper  38  to retrieve the desired disk  46  and delivers the desired disk  46  to the disk processing unit  200  by the first and second drivers  34  and  36 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating steps S 106 ˜S 110  in  FIG. 4  in more detail. In step S 202 , the control unit  20  detects whether the gripper  38  is in a home position P 0 . If not, step S 204  is executed, the first driver and second driver are driven to move the gripper  38  to the home position P 0 . If the gripper  38  is in the home position P 0 , the control unit  20  driver the first driver  34  to move the gripper  38  a corresponding vertical distance Dv along the vertical direction Ddv in step S 206 . In step S 208 , the control unit  20  drives the second driver to move the gripper  38  a first distance D 1  to reach the first position CS 1  from the central position P 0  along the horizontal direction Dd. In step S 210 , the opening  381  is opened when the gripper  38  reaches the first position CS 1 , as shown in  FIG. 7A .  
         [0024]     Then, in step S 212 , the control unit  20  detects whether the opening  381  is opened by the sensor  384  in the gripper  38 . If the opening  381  is not opened, a first error elimination procedure is executed in step S 214 . If the opening  381  is opened, the control unit  20  drives the second driver  36  to move the gripper  38  the horizontal distance Dh from the central position P 0  along the horizontal direction and to reach the location CG 1  of the desired disk  46  in step  216 . Then, in step S 218 , the control unit  20  activates the disk push unit  39  to push the desired disk  46  to the opening  381  from the disk storage unit  42 . In this embodiment, the control unit  20  activates the disk push rod  391  of the disk push unit  39  to push the desired disk  46  to the opening  381  of the gripper  38 . In step S 220 , the control unit  20  activates the gripper  38  to close the opening  381 , as shown in  FIG. 7B . In step S 222 , the control unit  20  detects whether the opening  381  is closed by the sensor  385  of the gripper  38 . If the opening  381  is not closed, a second error elimination procedure is executed in step S 224 . If the opening  381  is closed, in step S 226 , the control unit  20  drives the second driver to move the gripper  38  to a second position CS 2  along a reverse direction of the horizontal direction as shown in  FIG. 7C .  
         [0025]     In step S 228 , the control unit  20  drives the first driver to move the gripper  38  to the disk load position PF 1  such that the desired disk  46  can be processed by the disk processing unit  200  as shown in  FIG. 5 . In step S 230 , the control unit  20  detects whether the desired gripper  38  is at the disk load position PF 1 . If so, the disk acquisition procedure is complete. If not, a third error elimination procedure is executed in step S 232 . In the embodiments, the horizontal direction is left and the disk load position is PF 1  because the desired disk is in the disk storage unit  42 . On the contrary, the horizontal direction is right and the disk load position is PF 2  when the desired disk is in the disk storage unit  44 . Thus, the invention can acquire a desired disk from the disk storage units for data read or burning without changing disks manually according to the command from the external host system.  
         [0026]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a recovery procedure of abnormal power-off. In step S 302 , the control unit  20  detects whether the gripper  38  is in the home position P 0  as shown in  FIG. 5 . If so, a normal initial procedure is executed and the recovery procedure is compete in step S 304 . If not, the control unit  20  detects whether the disk push unit  39  is activated in step S 306 .  
         [0027]     If the disk push unit  39  is activated in step S 306 , the control unit  20  executes a homing procedure and the normal initial procedure in step S 304  and the recovery procedure is complete. In the homing procedure, the opening  381  of gripper  38  is opened, the second driver  36  is driven to move the gripper  38  to the central position CP, the opening  381  of the gripper  38  is closed, and the gripper  38  is moved to the home position P 0 .  
         [0028]     If the disk push unit  39  is not activated in step S 306 , the control unit  20  detects whether the gripper holds a disk in step S 310 . If not, the control unit  20  drives the first and second drivers to move the gripper  38  to the home position P 0 . Then, a normal initial procedure in step S 304  is executed and the recovery procedure is complete.  
         [0029]     If a disk is held by the gripper  38 , the control unit  20  drives the first and second drivers to move the clipped disk to backup slots  441  or  442  in the disk storage units  42  and  44  in step S 314 . Then, the homing procedure in step S 308  and the normal initial procedure in step S 304  are executed and the recovery procedure is complete.  
         [0030]     The invention moves the gripper to the home position and the held disk to the backup slot in order to prevent abnormal operation after the disk changer device is abnormally powered down.  
         [0031]     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.