Patent ID: 7151718

Claim:
A system for storing data media with automatic access to each of the data media, comprising at least one storage device for storing the data media, a read/writer of the data media, a picking and transfer device for transferring each data medium separately between the storage device and the read/writer, or vice versa, in which each storage device comprises a series of rotary support platters stacked one on top of the other which are carried by a vertical column and which can be rotated separately using an appropriate drive device acting on the periphery of each of the support platters to rotate these between a storage position and an access position, in which each support platter comprises a series of storage spaces, closed toward the outside in a horizontal plane, to accommodate the data media, and an opening arranged with the storage spaces in a concentric circle around the central column, the arrangement being such that when all the support platters are in their storage position their openings are vertically aligned one on top of the other to define an open channel in which the openings of the support platters are slots with a diameter greater than that of the data media and open to the periphery of the platters and in which the drive devices for driving the platters are designed to cause the platters to rotate in both directions, characterized in that the read/writer and the picking and transfer device are situated near the open channel defined by the slots in the platters, in that the read/writer is a unit independent of the storage system and comprises a multiplicity of individual readers and/or writers stacked one on top of the other near the picking and transfer device, and in that the latter is designed to slide along the open channel defined by the slots.