Patent ID: 7499241

Claim:
A media cartridge autoloader comprising: a media cartridge picker including a turntable capable of supporting a media cartridge and rotating to change the orientation of the media cartridge supported thereby; a turntable rotating mechanism configured to rotate the turntable; and a media cartridge transport mechanism provided on the turntable and configured to transport the media cartridge onto and off of the turntable; a mail slot through which the media cartridge is inserted or ejected; at least one media drive into which the media cartridge is loaded; and at least one media cartridge storage section configured to store the media cartridge therein; wherein the mail slot, the read/write media drive, and the media cartridge storage section are arranged near the media cartridge picker; the media cartridge transport mechanism includes a rotary arm configured to rotate bilaterally; a drive mechanism configured to rotate the rotary arm; an arm position detector configured to detect a position of the rotated rotary arm; and a media cartridge pin configured to move between a position within the turntable and a position outside the turntable in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary arm, so as to transport the media cartridge; the rotary arm has a reference position such that the media cartridge pin is located outside the turntable, and a home position such that the media cartridge pin is located within the turntable, and is configured to be positioned at the home position as a result of rotating in one direction to the reference position and then rotating in the opposite direction through a predetermined angle, the rotary arm including a special shape section that opposes the arm position detector when the rotary arm is rotated to the reference position and has a different shape from a normal section of the rotary arm; and the arm position detector detects an arrival of the rotary arm at the reference position in response to a detection of the special shape section.