Patent ID: 7145747

Claim:
A data cartridge library comprising: a frame; a data cartridge magazine, operatively attached to said frame, for providing a plurality of data cartridge storage spaces; a drive, operatively attached to said frame, for writing data onto a recording medium located within a data cartridge and/or reading data from a recording medium located within a data cartridge; a picker, operatively attached to said frame, that is capable of grasping a data cartridge, releasing a grasped data cartridge, inserting a grasped data cartridge into a data cartridge storage space in said data cartridge magazine, inserting a grasped data cartridge into said drive, retracting a grasped data cartridge from a data cartridge storage space in said data cartridge magazine, and retracting a grasped data cartridge from said drive; and an elevator, operatively attached to said frame, for moving said picker such that said picker can perform grasping, retracting and inserting operations in the moving of a data cartridge between any one of said data cartridge storage spaces and said drive; wherein said picker comprises: a base plate that is operatively connected to said elevator; a grasper, operatively connected to said base plate, with a pair of members that are capable of being placed in a closed position that is suitable for grasping a data cartridge and an open position that is suitable for releasing a grasped data cartridge; wherein said grasper comprises a grasper cam follower; a crank that is operatively connected to said base plate so as to be capable of rotating about an axis; a grasper cam driver, operatively connected to said crank, for cooperating with said grasper cam follower to manipulate at least one of said pair of members so as to place said pair of members in at least one of said open and closed positions; wherein said crank is capable of being used to rotate said grasper cam driver through a range; wherein for a first portion said range, said grasper cam driver and said grasper cam follower operate to place said members in one of said open state and said closed state; and wherein for a second portion of said range that does not substantially overlap with said first portion of said range, said grasper cam driver and said grasper cam operate to place said members in the other of said open state and said closed state.