CA1127297A - Drive machine moving magnetic disks only partially therein for data transfer - Google Patents
Drive machine moving magnetic disks only partially therein for data transferInfo
- Publication number
- CA1127297A CA1127297A CA314,022A CA314022A CA1127297A CA 1127297 A CA1127297 A CA 1127297A CA 314022 A CA314022 A CA 314022A CA 1127297 A CA1127297 A CA 1127297A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- disk
- jacket
- diskette
- stack
- machine
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
- G11B5/00—Recording by magnetisation or demagnetisation of a record carrier; Reproducing by magnetic means; Record carriers therefor
- G11B5/48—Disposition or mounting of heads or head supports relative to record carriers ; arrangements of heads, e.g. for scanning the record carrier to increase the relative speed
- G11B5/54—Disposition or mounting of heads or head supports relative to record carriers ; arrangements of heads, e.g. for scanning the record carrier to increase the relative speed with provision for moving the head into or out of its operative position or across tracks
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
- G11B17/00—Guiding record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor
- G11B17/22—Guiding record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor from random access magazine of disc records
- G11B17/28—Guiding record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor from random access magazine of disc records the magazine having a cylindrical shape with horizontal axis
Abstract
DRIVE MACHINE MOVING MAGNETIC DISKS
ONLY PARTIALLY THEREIN FOR DATA TRANSFER
Abstract of the Disclosure A machine operative to sequentially pull jacketed flexible magnetic disks (which may be termed "diskettes") into a data transferring position in the machine directly from a carriage or from a magazine carried by the carriage and to return the diskette back into the carriage or magazine. The jackets of the diskettes are square; and the carriage and the magazine are provided with flat sided, flat bottomed store grooves for holding such diskettes. The machine is likewise provided with a diskette receptor groove having flat sides and a flat bottom and holding a diskette in its data transferring position in the machine. The flat sided and bottomed grooves cooperating with the square diskette jackets prevent a binding or jamming of the diskettes as they are moved from the carriage or magazine into the machine and back again, and the movement of a diskette is only partially out of a store groove in the carriage or magazine so that the diskette is certain to be moved completely back into its original store groove in the carriage or magazine after a data transfer has taken place and so that the machine is shortened to this extent. The carriage has a few store grooves for a few diskettes desired to be individually used, and the magazine has a greater number of diskette store grooves for a group of diskettes desired to be used together.
ONLY PARTIALLY THEREIN FOR DATA TRANSFER
Abstract of the Disclosure A machine operative to sequentially pull jacketed flexible magnetic disks (which may be termed "diskettes") into a data transferring position in the machine directly from a carriage or from a magazine carried by the carriage and to return the diskette back into the carriage or magazine. The jackets of the diskettes are square; and the carriage and the magazine are provided with flat sided, flat bottomed store grooves for holding such diskettes. The machine is likewise provided with a diskette receptor groove having flat sides and a flat bottom and holding a diskette in its data transferring position in the machine. The flat sided and bottomed grooves cooperating with the square diskette jackets prevent a binding or jamming of the diskettes as they are moved from the carriage or magazine into the machine and back again, and the movement of a diskette is only partially out of a store groove in the carriage or magazine so that the diskette is certain to be moved completely back into its original store groove in the carriage or magazine after a data transfer has taken place and so that the machine is shortened to this extent. The carriage has a few store grooves for a few diskettes desired to be individually used, and the magazine has a greater number of diskette store grooves for a group of diskettes desired to be used together.
Description
~'. ! 97 ~ . ,
2 5 - ~
2~ Cross-References to Related Ap~llcat;ons ~8 ` The invent~on hereof is rel~ted to those o~ the 29 - fol lowing app1 ications:
~7 ~ 7 1 Gripping ~evice For Magnetic Diskettes, Inventors: W.E. Beuch et 2 al, U.S. Patent 4,173,427, issued November 6, 1979.
2~ Cross-References to Related Ap~llcat;ons ~8 ` The invent~on hereof is rel~ted to those o~ the 29 - fol lowing app1 ications:
~7 ~ 7 1 Gripping ~evice For Magnetic Diskettes, Inventors: W.E. Beuch et 2 al, U.S. Patent 4,173,427, issued November 6, 1979.
3 Magazine-Lid Combination For Jacketed Magnetic Disks, Inventors:
4 M.E. Bothun et al, U.S. Patent 4,162,007 ;ssued July 2~, 197g.
Magnetic Diskette Magazine, Inventor: D.R. Wilson, U.S. Patent 6 4,162,006 issued July 24, 1979.
7 Background of the Invention 8 The invention relates to jacketed magnetic record disks (which ma~y 9 be termed "diskettes"), and still more particularly the invention re lates to a disk file machine for selectively drawing such diskettes into 11 the machine for a data transferring action.
12 Jacketed magnetic disks or diskettes have previously been proposed 13 for example, in U.S. Patent 3,668,658. A disk file machine for utiliz-14 ing a series of such diskettes has also been proposed in U.S. Patent 3,846,836. The machine disclosed in the latter patent includes a bin on 16 top of the machine for holding a series of the diskettes. The diskettes 17 are dropped serially one at a time, completely out of the bin, into a 18 data transferring posit;on; and the machine includes a mechanism for 19 then driving the disk rntatively and moving a transducer into engagement with the disk for a data transferring action while the disk is in this 21 data transferring position. When this action is completed, the steps 22 are reversed to move the transducer out of engagement with the disk and 23 to then move the diskette upwardly back into the bin.
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l Summary of the Invention -3 It is an object of the present invention to provide 4 an improved disk file machine particularly for jacke-ted fleY~ible matJnetic disks or diskettes by means of which individual ones of a series of such 6 diskettes may be selectively loaded into a d~ta transferrin9 positlon from 7 original positions in store grooves contained in a carriage or -in a mayazi.ne $ mounted on the carriage. The carriage is movable transversely of the planeg of a diskette in its data transferr;ng position so as to bring different ones of the diskette containing grooves into this plane.
ll More particularly, it is an object o-f the invention 12 to move the diskettes from original positions in diskette store grooves in such a manner that the diskettes are assured of moving back into identically the same store grooves in which they were originally placed ~hereby any certain one oF the diskettes may be operated on by the 16 machine simply by moving the carriage to the same position as previously 17 for this same diskette.
18 In th;s connection, it is a more specific object of lg the invention to provide such a machine having a data transferring position in such close proximity to a diskette in its original position 21 in its store groove of the carr;age or magazine so that the diskette 22 . remains partially in this groove.when it is in its-data transferring 23 position in the machine whereby the diskette is certain to be returned 24 into the same store groove as that in which it was originally and whereby the machine is shortened by the amount the diskette remains in 2~ its original store groove. :~
27 . It is also an obJect to provide an improved carriage 28 construction having just a few store grooves therein for receiving a 29 few individual diskettes for individual usage thereof and hav1ng at 3~ least one cavity for receiving a magazine adapted to store a greater 31 number of diskettes that will be used as~a group.
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- . , 1 rief Description oF the Drawin~s 3 FIG. 1 is a top plan view oF a disk flle machine 4 incorporating -the invention, the machine being illustrated with a so-calle~l "fron-t" end.on which a transla-table d;skette carrying carriage and magazlne 6 are shown ~on the leFt end of the Figure);
7 FIG. 2 ;s an isometr;c view oF the machine taken 8 from the left front end thereoF and showing a pair of the magazines and g showing also a pair of electronic boards on the left and righ-t sides of the machine;
11 FIG. 3 is an isometric view of internal parts of the 12 machine and taken substantially from line 3-3 of FIG. 1 in the direction 13 indicated;
14 FIG. 4 is an isometric view of other internal parts of the machine including a ro-tatable cam wheel and taken from line 4-4 16 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated;
17 FIG. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view on an 18 enlarged scale taken from substantially the same standpoint as FIG. 4 19 and showing the cam wheel above-mentioned along with other internal parts movable under the action of the cam wheel;
21 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an eniarged 22 scale taken on line 6-6 of FIG. l;
23 FTG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged 24 scale taken on.line 7-7 of FIG. 3 and showing the translatable carriage in a position slightly shifted from its FIG. 1 position;
26 FIG. 8 is a plan view oF a disk-jacket unit or "diskette"
27 that may be used in the machine; and 28 . FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of one of -the magazines 29 usable with the machine and taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 1.
1 Description of the Preferred Embodiment 3 The disk file mach;ne shown in FIGS. l-7 util;zes !' 4 jacketed magnetic disk units or assemblies 30 of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent 3,668,658. These may be termed "diskettes". Such an 6 assembly 30 is shown in FIG. 8 and comprises a thin flat flexible maynet;c 7 disk 32 of plastic material rotatably disposed ;n a thin flat square 8 jacket 34 of somewhat thicker but somewhat flexible plastic material. As g the diskette is shown in FIG. 8, it has the straight bottom, top and side lo edges 34a, 34b, 34c and 34d. The jacket 34 has coincident central ll openings 36 and coincident radially extending oblong openings or slots 38 l2 in its two thicknesses. The disk 32 has a central opening 40 which is of smaller diameter -than the openings 36 so that the disk 34 is revealed within the openings 36.
The jacketed disk assemblies 30 may be uséd individually 16 by the disk drive machine or may be disposed in an aligned series within l7 maga~ines 42 (see FIGS. l, 2 and 9) which are adapted to be received by l8 the machine. Each of the magazines 42 has a bottom 42b and a top 42t l9 and is provided with internal parallel grooves 44 in the bottom 42b and top 42t. There are the same number of grooves 44 in the bottom 42b and 2l top 42t, and they all have the same dimensions transversely so that each 22 of the grooves 44 in the top 42t is directly above a groove 44 in the 23 bottom 42b. Disk assemblies 30 are stored in the grooves 44~ and each 24 is held from sideward movement in the magazine by the sides 44b of a pair of grooves 44 vertically aligned with each other. The groove 26 bottoms 44a and the groove sides 44b are all flat surfaces (see FIG. 9).
27 The machine comprises a rigid horizontal bed or base 46, 28 a pair of upright standards 48 and 50 fixed to the base 46 and a pair 29 of upright backbones 52 and 54 also fixed to the base ~6 (see FIG. 1).
A carriage 56 in the form of a tray for receiving the magazines 42 and also ~L27~
1 for receiving individual disk assemblies 30 is translatably disposed on the 2 base ~6 by means of a center rail 58 and a pair of side rails 60 and 62.
3 Suitàble rollers or o-ther low fric-tion bearing means may be provided for supporting the carriaye 56 with respect to the rails 58J 60 and 62 so tha-t the carriage 56 may move ;n the direc-tion 64 across the bed 4~. The 6 carriage 56 is provided with a pair of cavities 66 each for receiving one 7 of the magazines ~2 and is also provided with a series of upwardly slanting 8 spaced support rods 68 be-tween which the disk assemblies 30 may be g individually disposed. The carriage 56 is provided with horizontal parallel open ~op diskette store grooves 70 disposed vertically be-tween ll each of the spaces between the rods 68 for supporting the lower edges 34b 12- of the individual disk assemblies 30 disposed between the rods 68. The 13 grooves 70 have flat hori~ontal bottoms 70a and flat vertical side faces 14 70b ~see FIG. 7), and the rear end o~ the groove 70 is indicated at 70c in FIG. 7.
16 The carriage 56 is moved in the direction 64 by 17 means of a motor 72 which is preferably of the electrical stepping type.
18 This is accomplished by means o~ a belt 74 which is of rubber like material19 and is preferably internally toothed. The belt 74 passes over the drive pulley 76 of the motor 72 and over idlers 78, 80 and 82. The pass o~
21 the belt 74 between the idlers 78 and 82 is fixed to the carriage 55 22 so that, as the belt 74 is driven by the motor 72, it moves the carriage 5623 in the direction 64. A sensor switch 84 is provided at one end of the 24 travel of the carriage 56.
A diskette receiving slot 8h (see ~IGS. 3 and 5) is 2~ provided between the standards 48 and 50, and a diskette supporting member 88 27 is fixed to the lower edge of the backbone 52 and extends partially 28 into the slot 86. The member 88 is provided with a horizontal diskette 29 receptor groove 90 for receiving a diskette 30 moved into the machine through the slot 86a and a protrusion 91 on the backbone 52 limits .
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1 movement oF the diskette 30 in the slot 90. A sensor switch 92 is 2 provided at the end of the groove 90 remote from the slot 86. The 3 groove 90 has a flat horizontal bottom surface 90c and Flat ver-tical 4 side faces 90b (see FIG. 7). The bottom surFace 90c is s'lightly higher than the bottom surface 70a; and the groove 90 is provide~ with an init;al, 6 upward'ly slanting bottom cam surFace 90a connected with the surface 90c and 7 having its front edge 90d slightly lower than the surface 70a.
8 A disk drive spindle 94 is rotatably dlsposed in g the backbone 54, and the spindle 94 is rotatably driven by means of a lo pulley 96 fixed with respect to the spindle 94 (see FIGS. 1 and 3).
11 The pulley 96 and therefore the spindle 94 are driven from a drive 12- mo~or 98 by means of the driven pulley 100 of the motor 98 and a belt 102 13 extending around the pulleys 100 and 96~
14 An arm 104 is swingably mounted on the backbone 54 by means of a p;vot rod 106 (see FIG. 3). A suitable return spring (not 16 shown) is provided to yieldably hold the arm 104 swung away from the 17 spindle 94. A colle-t 110 is carried by and has a lost motion connection 18 with a downward extension 112 of the swing arm 104, and spring means ;~
19 '(not shown) is provided between the collet.llO and the extensi.on 112.
The swing arm 104 carries a roller 116 on its lower end.
21 An arm 120 is swingably disposed on the backbone 54 by22. means of a pivot rod 122 (see FIG. 5), and a return sp,ring l24 is effective 23 between the swing arm 120 and the backbone 54 for yieldably holding the 2~ swing arm 120 swung outwardly in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 5. The swing arm 120 carries a pressure member 126 having a 26 lost motion connection with the swing arm 124 by virtue of a pair of 27 ears 128 (see FIG. 1) inteyral with the pressure member 126 and extending 28 through slots in the swing arm 120 and formed to overlie the 29 back surfac,e of the swing arm 120. A leaf spring '130 is disposed betweenthe pressure member.l26 and the swing arm 120 for yieldably holding the .
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1 portions of the ears 128 overlying the swing arm 120 in contact with the 2 swing arm 120. The backbone 54 is provided with a platen sur~ace 132 3 (see FIG. 1) opposite the pressure member 126. The swing arm 120 is 4 provided with an extension 134 for moving the swing arm as will be hereinafter described.
6 A transducer carriaye assembly 136 (see FIGS. 3 and 7 5) is slideably disposed on a pair of guide rods 138 which are F;xed to 8 and within the backbone 54 to extend horizontally as the machine is 9 illustrated. The carriage assembly 136 may be that disclosed in U.S.
Patent 4,089,029 issued May 9, 1978 of Castrodale et al, and includes a 11 swing arm 140 carrying a magnetic head or transducer 142 that is adapted 12 to extend through a slot 38 in a diskette 30 for data transferring 13 action when the diskette 30 is in a reading/writing data trans~erring 14 position in the machine as will be subsequently explained. The swing arm 140 is mounted with respect to the main body of the assembly 136 by means of a thin flexure spring 144, and a return spring 146 is provided 17 for yieldably moving the swing arm 140 in the direction toward the left 18 side oF the machine (which is the same as the left side of the FIG. 3 19 assembly). The assembly 136 also carries a similar swing arm 140a on its opposite side carrying a transducer 142a to be simultaneously ef-21 fective on the disk 32 of a diskette 30 along with the transducer 142.
22 The swing arm 140a is supported by flexure spring 144a and is acted on 23 by return spring 146a (see FIG. 5), springs 144a and 146a being similar 24 to springs 144 and 146. The two swing arms 140 and 140a may be inter-connected so that they move together in accordance with the teachings of 26 said U.S. Patent 4,089,029. The swing arm 140 is provided with a tab 27 148 which overlies the swing arm 120 so that as the swing arm 120 is 28 moved under the action of the spring 124 (in the counterclockwise 29 direction as seen in FIG. 5), it engages the tab 148 and moves the swing arm 140 against the action of the return spring 146 to disengage the 1 transducer 142 with respect to a disk 32 then beneath the transducer 142.
2 This action of the swing arm 120 will likewise move transducer 142a on 3 the opposite side of the disk 32 away from the disk due to the inter-4 connection between the arms 140 and 140a as described in said U.S. ~atent 4,0~9,0~9.
6 The transducer assembly 136 is slideably moved on 7 the rods 138 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) by means of an electric motor 150 pre-8 ferably of the electrical stepping type. A thin flexible metal band 9 151 has a fixed connection 152 with the assembly 136, and the band 151 extends around the output pulley 153 of the motor 150 and around an 11 idler pulley 154 (see FIG. 3) carried by the backbone 54 for moving the 12 transducer carriage assembly 136 when the motor 150 is actuated.
13 The swing arms 104 and 120 are moved against their 14 return springs by means of cams 156 and 158 formed on a cam roll or wheel 160 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The cam wheel 160 is rotatably disposed 16 on the backbone 52 by means of a shaft 162 fixed to the backbone 52.
17 The cam wheel 160 is driven by means of a motor 164 of the electrical 18 stepping type and is in particular driven by an internally toothed belt 19 166 that passes around the output pulley or roll 168 of the motor 164 and around an idler pulley or roll 170 rotatably disposed on a shaft 21 172 that is fixed in the backbone 52. The wheel 160 and pulleys 168 22 and 170 are externally toothed to match with the internal teeth on the 23 belt 166. It will be observed from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the cams 156 24 and 158 are nearly diametrically opposite each other and that the cam 156 is located closer to the center of the wheel 160 than the cam 158.
26 The cam 156 is in alignment with the roller 116 so that it acts on the 27 roller 116 and moves the swing arm 104 against its return spring, and 28 the cam 158 is in alignment with the lever extension 134 so that the 29 cam 158 swings the arm 120 against the action of its return spring. Itwill be observed from FIG. 3 that the roller 116 and the end of the 31 lever extension 134 :`
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1 are just about opposite each other (substantially on the same level with 2 respect to the bed 46), and the cams 156 and 158 are effective on the 3 roller 116 and the lever extension 134 therefore at approximately the 4 same time as the wheel 160 rotates. The cam wheel 160 may ro~ate in either the direction A or in the reverse direction B as ind~cated in 6 FIG. 4.
7 A diskette picker assembly 180 is fixed on a ~ reciprocable member 182 that is slideable on a pair of rods 184 held by 9 and fixed with respect to the backbone 52 (see FIG. 4). The assembly 180 inciudes a pair of arms 186 and 188 anchored in the reciprocable 11 member 182, and the arms 186 and 188 have outwardly diverging cam sur-12 faces on their ends so as to have a clothespin-like configuration and 13 function in this respect. The arm 186 is rigid for its complete length, 1~ and the arm 188 has a thin flexible flat spring portion 190 so that the arm ends of the assembly 180 are thus yieldably held together. The 16 assembly 180 may more specifically have the construction disclosed in 17 U.S. Patent 4,173,427.
18 The reciprocable member 182 is provided with a 19 vertical slot 192, and the slot 192 is adapted to receive the end of a pin 194 that is vulcani~ed onto the outer side of the belt 166. The 21 reciprocable member 182 is provided with a notch 196, and a detent 22 spring 198 carried by the backbone 52 is adapted to enter into the notch 23 196 at one end of the travel of the member 182. A sensor switch 200 is 24 provided at the other end of the travel of the reciprocable member 182.
The sensor switch 200 may be of the photoelectric type and may be act-26 uated by a blade 201 carried by the member 182.
27 In order to strip the picker assembly 180 from 28 a diskette 30, it is necessary to hold the diskette from movement. A
29 diskette blocker 208 is provided for this purpose (see FIG. 6), and it extends through a transversely extending slot 210 in communication with 1 the slot 86 between the standards 48 and 50. The blocker 208 is swirlgably 2 disposed on a pin 212 fixed to the back side of the standard 50, and the 3 blocker 208 is actuated by the swingable armature 214 o-f an electromaynet 216 4 that is fixed to the backside of the standard 50. A return spr-ing 218 is provided for the armature 214, and a sensor s~Jitch 220 ~e-tects the 6 position o~ the armature 214.
7 A magazine 42 may be held by any suitable means in a 8 cavity 66 provided in the carriage 56. Such means may include a latch 222 g which is urged against the back end of a magazine 42 ~y means of a lo leaf spring 224 ~see FIGS. 1 and 2).
11 In operation, a diskette 30 may be positioned for 12 example between a pair of the rods 68 and in the corresponding slot 70 13 of the carriage 56 to be in an original loading position. The rods 68 14 and the slot slides 70b function as spacers and supports for this diskette 30 and any in the other slots 70. The diskette 30 is positioned 16 within the groove 70 in the disposition in which it is shown ;n FIG. 8;
17 with the slots 38 extending horizontally and with the jacket edge 34a, 18 which is that jacket edge adjacent the slots 38, being located at the 19 slot 86 and at the standards 48 and 50. The diskette bottom edge 34b restson the bottom surface 70a of the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 is 21 disposed- The picker assembly 180 at this time is drawn inwardly of the 22 machine and may be in its FIG. 4 position. The pin 194 carried by the 23 belt 166 is in engayement with the reciprocable member 182 and is in the 24 slot 192 of this member. The cam wheel 160 and the drive pulley 168 are in thelr positions as illustrated in FIG. 4.
26 The motor 72 is actuated at this time so as to move the27 carriage 56 i~ direction 64 to bring the diskette 30 and its groove 70 into28 exact alignment with the slot 86 and thus in exact alignment with the 29 groove 90. The diskette edge 34a is at rear end 7~c (see FIG. 7) o~ the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 is disposed and is thus at the spacing , 1 shown in FIG. 7 between the groove end 70c and the front groove edge 90d.
2 The motor 72 is effective by means of the belt 74 running over the pulleys 3 78i 80 and 82 for providing this movemen-t oF the carriage ~6.
4 The picker assembly 180 is at this time moved toward the front o~ the machine (toward the right as seen in FIG. 4). For -this 6 purpose, the motor 164 is actuated to drive the belt 166 over the pulleys 168, 7 160 and 170, with the pulley 160 rotating in direction A. ~he belt 166 8 propels the reciprocable member 182 by virtue of the pin 194 engaging g in the slot 192, and the member 182 together with the picker assembly 180 are moved toward the front oF the machinei with the member 182 sliding 11 on the rails 184. This movement is continued until the picker assembly 180 12 moves through the slot 86 and embraces the diskette 30 which is retained 13 between a pair of the rods 68 and in one of the grooves 70 of the carriage 56.
14 The diskette 30 is prevented from movement forwardly out of the slot 70 by means of any suitable diskette backing portion of the carriage 56 at 16 the end of the diskette holding groove 70 which is remote from the slot 86.
17 The picker assembly 180 in embracing the diskette 30 has its arm 188 moved 18 away from the arm 186 against the spring action of the spring-portion 1909 19 with the outwardly diverging cam surfaces on the ends of the arms 186 and 188 allowing the diskette to enter between the arms. The picker assembly 180 21 then grips or grasps the d;skette 30 by the fric-tional action of the 22 arms 186 and 188 on the diskette 30 under the action of the flat spring -23 portion 190. It is intended that the electromagnet 216 (see FIG. 6) shall be 24 energized at this time so as to cause its armature 214 to swing the blocker 208 to move it out of alignment with the vertical slot 86.
26 The reciprocable member 182 at the end of its movement toward the front 27 Of the machine actuates the switch 200 which may be used as desired for 28 controlling the electromagnet 216 and motor 164. It may be noted that 2g the portion of the blocker 208 that crosses the slot 86 is at-a lower 3Q level than the picker arms 186 and 188 so that the arms 186 and 188 . . .
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3L3L~7 ~3~7 1 may go their f~lll stroke forwardly with no inter~`erence with the 2 blocker 208 even though the electromagne-t 216 might be deenergized at 3 the t-ime.
4 It will be noted that -the picker asselnbly ~80 graspsS the diskette 30 at a place very close to the lower edge 3~b of the diskette 6 which is in contact with the bottom surface 70a of the groove 70. The 7 diskette jacket 3~ may for example be eight inches (203mm) square, and the8 arms 186 and 188 grasp the diskette between 3/16 inch (~.71nm~ and 5/8 inch g (15.3nlm) from the lower edge 3~b of the diskette jacket 34 in contact with the bottom 70a of the groove 70, with the diskette arms 186 and 188 11 being of sufficient width to extend for 3/16 inch (4.7mm) along the side 12 edge 34a of the diskette jacket 34. There will thus be substantially no couples or tilting due to friction on the diskette 30 as it is subsequently 14 drawn back into the machin~. It will be understood that these dimensions lS are given for the purpose of example only and may well be changed.
16 With the blocker 208 being out of alignment with the 17 slot 86 by virtue of deenergization of the electromagnet 216, and with 18 the picker assembly 180 engaging the diskette 30, the motor 164 is 19 reversed so as to drive the cam wheel 160 in the direction B by means of the belt 166. The movement of the belt 166 along with the wheel 160 21 propels the reciprocable member 182 backwardly ~to the lef~ as seen in 22 FIG. 4) by virtue of the drive connection between the belt 166 and the 23 member 182 including the pin 194 disposed in the slot 192. The diskette 24 30 is drawn through the slot 86 in a diskette withdrawal plane by the picker assembly 180 and moves into and through. the groove 90. The initial 26 cam portion 90a (siee FIG. 7) .causes the diskette 30 to move to a leve1 27 slightly higher than the bottom 70a of the groove 70 when it is in groove 90.
28 The movement of the diskette 30 continues backwardly still in this same plane 29 and with the diskette 30 resting on the groove bottom 90c until the diskette impinges on and is stopped by the protrusion 91 of the backbone 5~. The ~LlZ,~
1 diskette 30 is then in position so that the center of the disk opening 402 is in alignmen-t with the center of the spindle 94 and with the center of the 3 collet 110. A portion of the diske-tte 30 remains within the slot 86 an~
4 part of -the diskette protrudes from the slo-t 86 and lies w;thin the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 was originally pos-itioned, so that the disket,te 30 6 may subsequently be moved fu'lly back into the same slot 70 in ~hich it was 7 original,ly positioned. If the diskette jacket for example is eigh-t inches 8 (203mm) square, it may protrude from the slot 86 suf-ficiently so that 1.9 9 inches (48mm) of it may remain in the groove 70. The bottom edge 34b of the diskette jacket 34 rests on the bottom 90c of the groove 90 at this time but 11 has no contact with the,bottom 70a of the groove 70 due -to the d-ifference in 12 levels of the two groove bottoms. The bottom of the groove 90 at this time13 thus has the sole control of the level of the diskette 30, which'is at its data transferring position with respect to the transducers 142 and 142a.
The position of the diskette 30 at this time is shown in FIG. 7.
16 With the diskette 30 being in engagement with the 17 protrusion 91, movement of the reciprocable member 182 and the picker 18 assembly 180 continues rearwardly un-til the end of movement in this 19 direction is reached at which the detent spring 198 engages in the notch 196 of the member 182. During this mo~ement of the picker assembly 180 21 and reciprocable member 182 after the diskette 30 has abutted the - '~
22 protrus;on 91, the picker arms 186 and 188 snap back off the disket~e 23 jacket 34; and the assembly 180,is drawn off of the dis~ette 30 and is 24 separated from it. The detent spring 198 then holds the reciprocable member 182 and picker assembly 180 in positions disassociated from the 26 diskette 30 during continued operation of the machine either for 27 magnetically reading or wniting on the disk 32. The picker assembly 180 ?8 thus has no diske1.te clamping and disk rotation impeding actions at this 29 time.
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1 On continued rotation of the cam wheel 160 in 2 direction B, the cam 156 contacts the roller 116 and swings the arm 104 3 clockwise as seen in FIG. 3. The arm 104 is effective through extension 4 portion 112 on the collet 110, and the collet 110 is thus moved into the spindle 94 and through the hole 40 of the diskette 30, The collet 110 6 is tapered and accurately centers the disk 32 with respect to the lony 7 itudinal center line of the spindle 94 and, as the cam wheel 160 con-8 tinues in its rotation in direction B, clamps the disk 32 between the 9 collet 110 and the spindle 94. The spindle 94 may be in continuous rotation due to the driving action of the motor 98; and, when the disk 11 32 is so clamped between the collet 110 and the spindle 94, the disk 32 12 is drivingly rotated within its stationary jacket 34 located in groove 13 90. On this continued rotation of the cam wheel 160, with the accom-14 panying movement of the belt 166, the pin 194 travels about the drive pulley 168 and thus moves out of the slot 192 of the reciprocable member 16 182. The driving connection between the pin 194 and the reciprocable 17 member 182 is thus broken on this and further rotative movement of the 18 cam wheel 16Q in direction B and corresponding movement of the belt 166.
19 When the collet 110 is in full disk clamping position with respect to the spindle 94 and on continued rotation of cam 21 wheel 160 in direction B, the cam 158 strikes the extension 134 of the 22 swing arm 120 and starts to swing the arm 120 in the clockwise direction 23 as seen in FIG. 5. The tab 148 of the swing arm 140 of the transducer 24 assembly 136 overlies the swing arm 120, and the swing arm 140 of the transducer assembly 136 begins movement toward the disk 32 under the 26 action of the spring 146. The movement of the swing arm 120 continues 27 and finally the transducer 142 fully engages with the disk 32 through a 28 jacket slot 38. The transducer 142 may be held in contact with the disk 29 32 under the action of other spring means incorporated in the transducer carriage assembly 136 as described in U.S. Patent 4,089,029.
-~L 2 7 ~3~7 1 Likewise, the other swing arm 140a on the other side of the disk 32 2 is at the same time moved to be in ~ull transducer disk enyaged position 3 due to the interconnection between the swing arms 1~0 and l~Oa of the 4 transducer assembly as described in said Castrodale et al application.
The pressure member 126 as previous1y descr;bed is 6 carried by the swing arm 120, and the pressure member 126 clalnps -t~e 7 diskette 30 between it and the platen surface 132 of the backbone 54.
8 This occurs simultaneously with the transducer engaging motions just 9 described. This clamping action is by virtue of the spring action o~
the leaf spring 130 between the swing arm 120 and the pressure member 126, 11 with the ears 123 extending to a greater extent throuyh the swing arm 120.
12 The clamping action by the pressure member 126 on -the jacket 34 is upstream 13 (considering the direction of disk rotation C) of the slots 38 in the 14 jacket 34 through which the transducers 142 and 142a extend, the disk rotation direction C being in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 8.
16 The spring 130 is of insufficient strength to provide a substantial 17 impedance to the rotation of the disk 32 through the pressure member 126 18 but is of sufficient strength so that the pressure member 126 maintains 19 the disk 32 in a single desired plane. With the disk 32 being in this plane~and with the transducers 142 and 142a being in engagement with the 21 disk 32 through the slots 38, the transducers may be utilized for either 22 writing data on the disk 32 magnetically or magnetically reading 23 previously written data on the ~isk 32. The transducers 142 and 142a Inay 24 be moved radially of the disk 32 in the radially extending slots 38 so as to prescribe different concentric magnetic tracks on the disk 32 26 as the disk rotates by so actuating the motor 150 to move the transducer 27 assembly 136 along the guide rods l38l with the band 151 providing the 28 drivirlg connection between the motor 150 and the transducer assembly 136.29 After a data transfer has taken place using the transducers 142 and 142a, the motor 164 is reversed so as to rotate the ~ 7 ~3~7 1 cam wheel 160 in the direction A. The cam 158 -First moves o-ff of the 2 extension 134 of the sw;ng arm 120, and the transducers 1~2 and 1~2a are 3 thus disengaged From the disk 32. The swing arm 120 moves under the 4 action of its return spr;ng 12~ dur;ng this action. The pressure pIate IZ6 is withdrawn from engaging relationship with the platen surface 132 with ~he 6 same movement of the swing arm 120 so that the diskette 30 is uncIaInped.
7 With fur-ther rotation of the cam wheel 160 in direction A under the ac-tion of the mo-tor 16~, the cam 156 rides off of the roller 116 and allows -the g arm 104 to swiny in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 3. The swing arm 104 and particularly its extension 112 are then efFective to pull 11 the collet 110 out of the driviny spindle 94 and completely disenyaye the 12 collet with respect to the disk 32.
13 During this rotation of cam wheel 160 in direction A, 14 the belt 166 of course moves along with the wheel 160, since it has a toothed engagement with the periphery of the wheel 160. The pin 194 16 travels down toward the drive pulley 168 and Finally enters the slot 192.
17 With further rotation of the wheel 160 in the direction A, the reciprocable18 member 182 and picker assembly 180 move toward the front of the machine 19 (toward the right as seen in FIG. ~).
With a slight additional movement of the reciprocable 21 member 182 and picker assembly 180 from the position at which the detent 22 spring l98 is in engagement with the sides of the notch 196, the picker 23 assembly 180 contacts the diskette 30 and begins to move the diskette 30 24 farther out of the groove 90 and farther into the carriage groove 70 in which the diskette 30 was originally placed. About 1/~ of the length of 26 the bottom diskette edge 34b remains in the groove 70 in th~ data 27 transferring position of the diskette 30, so there is no 4uestion that the 28 diskette may be returned into any other than its original groove 70. The 29 upwardly slanting rods 68 support and guide the upper portion of the diskette 30 in -this forward movement of the diskette. Initiallyg the picker R0978-007 17~
l arms 186 and 188 may not embrace the diske-t-te 30, since the pressure provided 2 by the flat spring portion l90 is eFfective to hold the end~ oF the arms 1~6 3 and 190 in somewha-t forceful engagement; but the picker assembly '180 4 nevertheless is eFfective for mov-ing the diskette 30 Forward'ly ~arther , into its original groove 70.
6. As the motor 16~ continues to drive the cam wheel 160 in 7 the direction A, the reciprocable member 182 and picker assembly 180 8 continue to propel the diskette 30 forwardly in the original groove 70, 9 until finaily the diskette 30 rides down the cam surface 90a and reaches the end oF the-groove 70 with its complete edge 34b resting on the groove ll bottom 70a. The diskette 30 has then passed completely through the 12- slot 86 and is then completely out of the machine. The picker assembly 18013 may then at th;s time embrace and grip the diskette 30, but this is of no 14 consequence. At this position of the reciprocable member 182, the switch 200 is actuated for control purposes. The electromagnet 216 may be either 16 energized or deenergized during this movement of the disket~e 30 into 17 its original groove 70. If the electromagnet 216 ;s in deenergized condition l8 at this-time, the return spring 218 is effective to ho1d the blocker 208 l9 against the diskette 30 as it traYels out of the groove 90, but the return spring 218 is of insufficient effect to provide any substantial impediment 21 to this disk m'ovemPnt.
22 In order to complete the operation, the electromagnet 216 23 is deenergized i~ it has not been previously deenergized; and the spring 218 , `
24 is effective to swing the blocker 208 so that it lies across the slot 86.
The diskette 30 lying in the slot 70 into which it has just been fully 26 thrust as just described then can have no movement back into the machine.
27 The motor 164 is again reversed to drive the cam wheel 160 in the direction B, 28 and the reciprocable member 182 and the picker assembly 180 are moved back 29 into the machine. The picker assembly arms 186 and 188 snap back o-ff of the diskette jacket 349 and the diskette 30 that has been previously R0978-007, ~18- , ~L~ 7~ Y
1 moved into the machine for a reading or writin~ action is completely 2 released. The carriage 56 may -then be moved in direction 64 under the 3 actuation of the motor 72 to move another o-f the diskettes 30 within 4 another groove 70 and between other spaced rods 68 into al-igninent with the slot 86 so that a corresponding reacling or writing action ma~ take 6 place with respect to this diskette.
7 Diskettes 30 are held in vertical spaced relation within a magazine 42 by grooves 44 and particularly by the flat side surfaces 44b g thereof an~ may be similarly drawn into the machine through slot 86 lo for a reading or writing action and returned into the same groove 44 1l within the magazine. I-t is only necessary that the desired diskette 12- within certain vertically aligned upper and lower grooves q4 in the 13 magazine be moved initially into alignment with the slot 86 by translating the carriage 56 in direction 64 to accordingly move the magazine. The machine then functions in the same manner as has been previously described 16 in connection with one of the free diskettes 30 held by rods 68, with the 17 picker arms 186 and 188 reaching into the magazine to pull a diskette 30 18 out of the magazine and finally returning the diskette 30 after data 19 transfer. The diskette 30 in its movement partially out of aligned upper and lower grooves 44 and into groove 90 travels along the flat groove bottom 21 surfaces 44a, and at least corners on the upper and lower diskette edges 34b 22 and 34d are in sliding contact with the groove bottoms 44a during most of 23 the movement of the diskette 30 partially out of and then again back into 24 the original grooves 44 for the diskettes.
The flat surfaced groove bottoms 44a, 70a and 90c 26 matching the straight bottom an~ top edges 34b and 34d of a diskette 30 27 assure an easy movement of a d~skette 30 through groove 90 and into 28 contact with abutment 91 for data transfer and assure an ~asy return 29 movement of the diskette 30 to be fully in the grooves 44 or in the groove 70O The flat side groove surfaces 44b, 70b and 90b match the ~ .
~978-007 -19-.
~. --~%~7~9~
1 normally flat surfaced iacket 34; and, even though the jacke-t 34 may be 2 slightly warped due to improper storage, nevertheless, the diskette 30 3 moves through the grooves 4~, 70 and 90 without jamming due to the 4 existence of the flat groove sides 44a~ 70b and 90b. This is par-ticularlytrue s;nce the jacket 34 ;s square, and the marginal por-t~ons of a jacket 6 34 adjacent the edges 34b and 34d tends to rema;n ;n -flat face to face 7 contact with the flat groove side surfaces 44b, 7Pb and 90b. Since a 8 diskette 30 is withdrawn out of -the grooves ~4 or a groove 70 for only g about 75% of the length of the diskette measured along -the upper and lower diskette-edges 34b and 34d, there is no question but that the 11 diskette moves back into its original grooves 44 or original groove 70 12- rather than into other grooves 44 or 70. This same diskette may then be easily located for a second, later data transferring action by moving 14 carriage 56 in direction 64 to its original position For this diskette.
The disk drive machine is also shortened from its length that would 16 otherwise be necessary, since the original and data transferring positions17 of a diskette 30 overlap by about 25 percent of the length of the diskette.
18 - As the carriage ~6 is illustrated, it has three of 19 the individual diskette support;ng grooves 70, and these constitute "easy load" grooves for supporting just this -Few number of diskettes 30 for the 21 rapid and convenient feeding of one, two or three diskettes 30 possible 22 without first loading a magazine 42. The diskettes 30 can be quickly 23 positioned in these grooves 70 without involving a magazine 429 and any 24 one of these individually loadable diskettes can be selected and loaded just as if it was in one of the magazines 42. The "easy load" grooves 70 26 can be used either with or without the magazines 42 in place. In brief, !
27 the following three sign;ificant functions are provided by the "easy load"28 grooves 70 29 1. The "easy load" grooves 70 provide the convenience of using the automatically loading disk drive as if it were a conventional ~ - .
~7~
l diskette drive for the inser-tion of a single diskette. This 2 usage ~ill occur in cases in which a relatively small amount 3 of I/O (Input/Outputj data exchange is required with another 4 product employing a disk drive.
S 2. In cases in which two or three diske-t-tes 30 may be involved 6 in a data exchange, not normally of a save/restore na-ture~
7 the use o-F these three grooves 70 combines not only the convenience of easy accessibility to the drive for -these 9 diskettes but also provides khe automa-tic loading and selection function in which the carriage 56 is moved by ll the stepping motor 72 to its stepped positions in which 12 one of the grooves 70 is aligned with the groove 90.
13 3. The.individual diskette receiving grooves 70 eliminate 14 unnecessary loading of the magazines 42 and unloading there~f which exposes a disk to possible contamination 16 by reason of finger contact through the iacket slots 38.
17 . . In contrast with the individual diskettes 30 used in 18 the grooves 70, the magazines 42 have sets of ten vertically aligned l9 grooves 44 so that the magazines may each contain ten of the diskettes 30.
The diskettes 30 are those which are normally used as a group9 such as in :
21 a save!restore operation; and it is desirable that these diskettes be 22 stored together and in the same sequence. The magazines 42 eFficiently 23 provide this function.
.
. 1
Magnetic Diskette Magazine, Inventor: D.R. Wilson, U.S. Patent 6 4,162,006 issued July 24, 1979.
7 Background of the Invention 8 The invention relates to jacketed magnetic record disks (which ma~y 9 be termed "diskettes"), and still more particularly the invention re lates to a disk file machine for selectively drawing such diskettes into 11 the machine for a data transferring action.
12 Jacketed magnetic disks or diskettes have previously been proposed 13 for example, in U.S. Patent 3,668,658. A disk file machine for utiliz-14 ing a series of such diskettes has also been proposed in U.S. Patent 3,846,836. The machine disclosed in the latter patent includes a bin on 16 top of the machine for holding a series of the diskettes. The diskettes 17 are dropped serially one at a time, completely out of the bin, into a 18 data transferring posit;on; and the machine includes a mechanism for 19 then driving the disk rntatively and moving a transducer into engagement with the disk for a data transferring action while the disk is in this 21 data transferring position. When this action is completed, the steps 22 are reversed to move the transducer out of engagement with the disk and 23 to then move the diskette upwardly back into the bin.
~ ~`
7~
l Summary of the Invention -3 It is an object of the present invention to provide 4 an improved disk file machine particularly for jacke-ted fleY~ible matJnetic disks or diskettes by means of which individual ones of a series of such 6 diskettes may be selectively loaded into a d~ta transferrin9 positlon from 7 original positions in store grooves contained in a carriage or -in a mayazi.ne $ mounted on the carriage. The carriage is movable transversely of the planeg of a diskette in its data transferr;ng position so as to bring different ones of the diskette containing grooves into this plane.
ll More particularly, it is an object o-f the invention 12 to move the diskettes from original positions in diskette store grooves in such a manner that the diskettes are assured of moving back into identically the same store grooves in which they were originally placed ~hereby any certain one oF the diskettes may be operated on by the 16 machine simply by moving the carriage to the same position as previously 17 for this same diskette.
18 In th;s connection, it is a more specific object of lg the invention to provide such a machine having a data transferring position in such close proximity to a diskette in its original position 21 in its store groove of the carr;age or magazine so that the diskette 22 . remains partially in this groove.when it is in its-data transferring 23 position in the machine whereby the diskette is certain to be returned 24 into the same store groove as that in which it was originally and whereby the machine is shortened by the amount the diskette remains in 2~ its original store groove. :~
27 . It is also an obJect to provide an improved carriage 28 construction having just a few store grooves therein for receiving a 29 few individual diskettes for individual usage thereof and hav1ng at 3~ least one cavity for receiving a magazine adapted to store a greater 31 number of diskettes that will be used as~a group.
R0~78-007 -3-.
- . , 1 rief Description oF the Drawin~s 3 FIG. 1 is a top plan view oF a disk flle machine 4 incorporating -the invention, the machine being illustrated with a so-calle~l "fron-t" end.on which a transla-table d;skette carrying carriage and magazlne 6 are shown ~on the leFt end of the Figure);
7 FIG. 2 ;s an isometr;c view oF the machine taken 8 from the left front end thereoF and showing a pair of the magazines and g showing also a pair of electronic boards on the left and righ-t sides of the machine;
11 FIG. 3 is an isometric view of internal parts of the 12 machine and taken substantially from line 3-3 of FIG. 1 in the direction 13 indicated;
14 FIG. 4 is an isometric view of other internal parts of the machine including a ro-tatable cam wheel and taken from line 4-4 16 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated;
17 FIG. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view on an 18 enlarged scale taken from substantially the same standpoint as FIG. 4 19 and showing the cam wheel above-mentioned along with other internal parts movable under the action of the cam wheel;
21 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an eniarged 22 scale taken on line 6-6 of FIG. l;
23 FTG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged 24 scale taken on.line 7-7 of FIG. 3 and showing the translatable carriage in a position slightly shifted from its FIG. 1 position;
26 FIG. 8 is a plan view oF a disk-jacket unit or "diskette"
27 that may be used in the machine; and 28 . FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of one of -the magazines 29 usable with the machine and taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 1.
1 Description of the Preferred Embodiment 3 The disk file mach;ne shown in FIGS. l-7 util;zes !' 4 jacketed magnetic disk units or assemblies 30 of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent 3,668,658. These may be termed "diskettes". Such an 6 assembly 30 is shown in FIG. 8 and comprises a thin flat flexible maynet;c 7 disk 32 of plastic material rotatably disposed ;n a thin flat square 8 jacket 34 of somewhat thicker but somewhat flexible plastic material. As g the diskette is shown in FIG. 8, it has the straight bottom, top and side lo edges 34a, 34b, 34c and 34d. The jacket 34 has coincident central ll openings 36 and coincident radially extending oblong openings or slots 38 l2 in its two thicknesses. The disk 32 has a central opening 40 which is of smaller diameter -than the openings 36 so that the disk 34 is revealed within the openings 36.
The jacketed disk assemblies 30 may be uséd individually 16 by the disk drive machine or may be disposed in an aligned series within l7 maga~ines 42 (see FIGS. l, 2 and 9) which are adapted to be received by l8 the machine. Each of the magazines 42 has a bottom 42b and a top 42t l9 and is provided with internal parallel grooves 44 in the bottom 42b and top 42t. There are the same number of grooves 44 in the bottom 42b and 2l top 42t, and they all have the same dimensions transversely so that each 22 of the grooves 44 in the top 42t is directly above a groove 44 in the 23 bottom 42b. Disk assemblies 30 are stored in the grooves 44~ and each 24 is held from sideward movement in the magazine by the sides 44b of a pair of grooves 44 vertically aligned with each other. The groove 26 bottoms 44a and the groove sides 44b are all flat surfaces (see FIG. 9).
27 The machine comprises a rigid horizontal bed or base 46, 28 a pair of upright standards 48 and 50 fixed to the base 46 and a pair 29 of upright backbones 52 and 54 also fixed to the base ~6 (see FIG. 1).
A carriage 56 in the form of a tray for receiving the magazines 42 and also ~L27~
1 for receiving individual disk assemblies 30 is translatably disposed on the 2 base ~6 by means of a center rail 58 and a pair of side rails 60 and 62.
3 Suitàble rollers or o-ther low fric-tion bearing means may be provided for supporting the carriaye 56 with respect to the rails 58J 60 and 62 so tha-t the carriage 56 may move ;n the direc-tion 64 across the bed 4~. The 6 carriage 56 is provided with a pair of cavities 66 each for receiving one 7 of the magazines ~2 and is also provided with a series of upwardly slanting 8 spaced support rods 68 be-tween which the disk assemblies 30 may be g individually disposed. The carriage 56 is provided with horizontal parallel open ~op diskette store grooves 70 disposed vertically be-tween ll each of the spaces between the rods 68 for supporting the lower edges 34b 12- of the individual disk assemblies 30 disposed between the rods 68. The 13 grooves 70 have flat hori~ontal bottoms 70a and flat vertical side faces 14 70b ~see FIG. 7), and the rear end o~ the groove 70 is indicated at 70c in FIG. 7.
16 The carriage 56 is moved in the direction 64 by 17 means of a motor 72 which is preferably of the electrical stepping type.
18 This is accomplished by means o~ a belt 74 which is of rubber like material19 and is preferably internally toothed. The belt 74 passes over the drive pulley 76 of the motor 72 and over idlers 78, 80 and 82. The pass o~
21 the belt 74 between the idlers 78 and 82 is fixed to the carriage 55 22 so that, as the belt 74 is driven by the motor 72, it moves the carriage 5623 in the direction 64. A sensor switch 84 is provided at one end of the 24 travel of the carriage 56.
A diskette receiving slot 8h (see ~IGS. 3 and 5) is 2~ provided between the standards 48 and 50, and a diskette supporting member 88 27 is fixed to the lower edge of the backbone 52 and extends partially 28 into the slot 86. The member 88 is provided with a horizontal diskette 29 receptor groove 90 for receiving a diskette 30 moved into the machine through the slot 86a and a protrusion 91 on the backbone 52 limits .
R0978-007 -~-7~2~3~
1 movement oF the diskette 30 in the slot 90. A sensor switch 92 is 2 provided at the end of the groove 90 remote from the slot 86. The 3 groove 90 has a flat horizontal bottom surface 90c and Flat ver-tical 4 side faces 90b (see FIG. 7). The bottom surFace 90c is s'lightly higher than the bottom surface 70a; and the groove 90 is provide~ with an init;al, 6 upward'ly slanting bottom cam surFace 90a connected with the surface 90c and 7 having its front edge 90d slightly lower than the surface 70a.
8 A disk drive spindle 94 is rotatably dlsposed in g the backbone 54, and the spindle 94 is rotatably driven by means of a lo pulley 96 fixed with respect to the spindle 94 (see FIGS. 1 and 3).
11 The pulley 96 and therefore the spindle 94 are driven from a drive 12- mo~or 98 by means of the driven pulley 100 of the motor 98 and a belt 102 13 extending around the pulleys 100 and 96~
14 An arm 104 is swingably mounted on the backbone 54 by means of a p;vot rod 106 (see FIG. 3). A suitable return spring (not 16 shown) is provided to yieldably hold the arm 104 swung away from the 17 spindle 94. A colle-t 110 is carried by and has a lost motion connection 18 with a downward extension 112 of the swing arm 104, and spring means ;~
19 '(not shown) is provided between the collet.llO and the extensi.on 112.
The swing arm 104 carries a roller 116 on its lower end.
21 An arm 120 is swingably disposed on the backbone 54 by22. means of a pivot rod 122 (see FIG. 5), and a return sp,ring l24 is effective 23 between the swing arm 120 and the backbone 54 for yieldably holding the 2~ swing arm 120 swung outwardly in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 5. The swing arm 120 carries a pressure member 126 having a 26 lost motion connection with the swing arm 124 by virtue of a pair of 27 ears 128 (see FIG. 1) inteyral with the pressure member 126 and extending 28 through slots in the swing arm 120 and formed to overlie the 29 back surfac,e of the swing arm 120. A leaf spring '130 is disposed betweenthe pressure member.l26 and the swing arm 120 for yieldably holding the .
~2,72~
1 portions of the ears 128 overlying the swing arm 120 in contact with the 2 swing arm 120. The backbone 54 is provided with a platen sur~ace 132 3 (see FIG. 1) opposite the pressure member 126. The swing arm 120 is 4 provided with an extension 134 for moving the swing arm as will be hereinafter described.
6 A transducer carriaye assembly 136 (see FIGS. 3 and 7 5) is slideably disposed on a pair of guide rods 138 which are F;xed to 8 and within the backbone 54 to extend horizontally as the machine is 9 illustrated. The carriage assembly 136 may be that disclosed in U.S.
Patent 4,089,029 issued May 9, 1978 of Castrodale et al, and includes a 11 swing arm 140 carrying a magnetic head or transducer 142 that is adapted 12 to extend through a slot 38 in a diskette 30 for data transferring 13 action when the diskette 30 is in a reading/writing data trans~erring 14 position in the machine as will be subsequently explained. The swing arm 140 is mounted with respect to the main body of the assembly 136 by means of a thin flexure spring 144, and a return spring 146 is provided 17 for yieldably moving the swing arm 140 in the direction toward the left 18 side oF the machine (which is the same as the left side of the FIG. 3 19 assembly). The assembly 136 also carries a similar swing arm 140a on its opposite side carrying a transducer 142a to be simultaneously ef-21 fective on the disk 32 of a diskette 30 along with the transducer 142.
22 The swing arm 140a is supported by flexure spring 144a and is acted on 23 by return spring 146a (see FIG. 5), springs 144a and 146a being similar 24 to springs 144 and 146. The two swing arms 140 and 140a may be inter-connected so that they move together in accordance with the teachings of 26 said U.S. Patent 4,089,029. The swing arm 140 is provided with a tab 27 148 which overlies the swing arm 120 so that as the swing arm 120 is 28 moved under the action of the spring 124 (in the counterclockwise 29 direction as seen in FIG. 5), it engages the tab 148 and moves the swing arm 140 against the action of the return spring 146 to disengage the 1 transducer 142 with respect to a disk 32 then beneath the transducer 142.
2 This action of the swing arm 120 will likewise move transducer 142a on 3 the opposite side of the disk 32 away from the disk due to the inter-4 connection between the arms 140 and 140a as described in said U.S. ~atent 4,0~9,0~9.
6 The transducer assembly 136 is slideably moved on 7 the rods 138 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) by means of an electric motor 150 pre-8 ferably of the electrical stepping type. A thin flexible metal band 9 151 has a fixed connection 152 with the assembly 136, and the band 151 extends around the output pulley 153 of the motor 150 and around an 11 idler pulley 154 (see FIG. 3) carried by the backbone 54 for moving the 12 transducer carriage assembly 136 when the motor 150 is actuated.
13 The swing arms 104 and 120 are moved against their 14 return springs by means of cams 156 and 158 formed on a cam roll or wheel 160 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The cam wheel 160 is rotatably disposed 16 on the backbone 52 by means of a shaft 162 fixed to the backbone 52.
17 The cam wheel 160 is driven by means of a motor 164 of the electrical 18 stepping type and is in particular driven by an internally toothed belt 19 166 that passes around the output pulley or roll 168 of the motor 164 and around an idler pulley or roll 170 rotatably disposed on a shaft 21 172 that is fixed in the backbone 52. The wheel 160 and pulleys 168 22 and 170 are externally toothed to match with the internal teeth on the 23 belt 166. It will be observed from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the cams 156 24 and 158 are nearly diametrically opposite each other and that the cam 156 is located closer to the center of the wheel 160 than the cam 158.
26 The cam 156 is in alignment with the roller 116 so that it acts on the 27 roller 116 and moves the swing arm 104 against its return spring, and 28 the cam 158 is in alignment with the lever extension 134 so that the 29 cam 158 swings the arm 120 against the action of its return spring. Itwill be observed from FIG. 3 that the roller 116 and the end of the 31 lever extension 134 :`
~L2~7~
1 are just about opposite each other (substantially on the same level with 2 respect to the bed 46), and the cams 156 and 158 are effective on the 3 roller 116 and the lever extension 134 therefore at approximately the 4 same time as the wheel 160 rotates. The cam wheel 160 may ro~ate in either the direction A or in the reverse direction B as ind~cated in 6 FIG. 4.
7 A diskette picker assembly 180 is fixed on a ~ reciprocable member 182 that is slideable on a pair of rods 184 held by 9 and fixed with respect to the backbone 52 (see FIG. 4). The assembly 180 inciudes a pair of arms 186 and 188 anchored in the reciprocable 11 member 182, and the arms 186 and 188 have outwardly diverging cam sur-12 faces on their ends so as to have a clothespin-like configuration and 13 function in this respect. The arm 186 is rigid for its complete length, 1~ and the arm 188 has a thin flexible flat spring portion 190 so that the arm ends of the assembly 180 are thus yieldably held together. The 16 assembly 180 may more specifically have the construction disclosed in 17 U.S. Patent 4,173,427.
18 The reciprocable member 182 is provided with a 19 vertical slot 192, and the slot 192 is adapted to receive the end of a pin 194 that is vulcani~ed onto the outer side of the belt 166. The 21 reciprocable member 182 is provided with a notch 196, and a detent 22 spring 198 carried by the backbone 52 is adapted to enter into the notch 23 196 at one end of the travel of the member 182. A sensor switch 200 is 24 provided at the other end of the travel of the reciprocable member 182.
The sensor switch 200 may be of the photoelectric type and may be act-26 uated by a blade 201 carried by the member 182.
27 In order to strip the picker assembly 180 from 28 a diskette 30, it is necessary to hold the diskette from movement. A
29 diskette blocker 208 is provided for this purpose (see FIG. 6), and it extends through a transversely extending slot 210 in communication with 1 the slot 86 between the standards 48 and 50. The blocker 208 is swirlgably 2 disposed on a pin 212 fixed to the back side of the standard 50, and the 3 blocker 208 is actuated by the swingable armature 214 o-f an electromaynet 216 4 that is fixed to the backside of the standard 50. A return spr-ing 218 is provided for the armature 214, and a sensor s~Jitch 220 ~e-tects the 6 position o~ the armature 214.
7 A magazine 42 may be held by any suitable means in a 8 cavity 66 provided in the carriage 56. Such means may include a latch 222 g which is urged against the back end of a magazine 42 ~y means of a lo leaf spring 224 ~see FIGS. 1 and 2).
11 In operation, a diskette 30 may be positioned for 12 example between a pair of the rods 68 and in the corresponding slot 70 13 of the carriage 56 to be in an original loading position. The rods 68 14 and the slot slides 70b function as spacers and supports for this diskette 30 and any in the other slots 70. The diskette 30 is positioned 16 within the groove 70 in the disposition in which it is shown ;n FIG. 8;
17 with the slots 38 extending horizontally and with the jacket edge 34a, 18 which is that jacket edge adjacent the slots 38, being located at the 19 slot 86 and at the standards 48 and 50. The diskette bottom edge 34b restson the bottom surface 70a of the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 is 21 disposed- The picker assembly 180 at this time is drawn inwardly of the 22 machine and may be in its FIG. 4 position. The pin 194 carried by the 23 belt 166 is in engayement with the reciprocable member 182 and is in the 24 slot 192 of this member. The cam wheel 160 and the drive pulley 168 are in thelr positions as illustrated in FIG. 4.
26 The motor 72 is actuated at this time so as to move the27 carriage 56 i~ direction 64 to bring the diskette 30 and its groove 70 into28 exact alignment with the slot 86 and thus in exact alignment with the 29 groove 90. The diskette edge 34a is at rear end 7~c (see FIG. 7) o~ the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 is disposed and is thus at the spacing , 1 shown in FIG. 7 between the groove end 70c and the front groove edge 90d.
2 The motor 72 is effective by means of the belt 74 running over the pulleys 3 78i 80 and 82 for providing this movemen-t oF the carriage ~6.
4 The picker assembly 180 is at this time moved toward the front o~ the machine (toward the right as seen in FIG. 4). For -this 6 purpose, the motor 164 is actuated to drive the belt 166 over the pulleys 168, 7 160 and 170, with the pulley 160 rotating in direction A. ~he belt 166 8 propels the reciprocable member 182 by virtue of the pin 194 engaging g in the slot 192, and the member 182 together with the picker assembly 180 are moved toward the front oF the machinei with the member 182 sliding 11 on the rails 184. This movement is continued until the picker assembly 180 12 moves through the slot 86 and embraces the diskette 30 which is retained 13 between a pair of the rods 68 and in one of the grooves 70 of the carriage 56.
14 The diskette 30 is prevented from movement forwardly out of the slot 70 by means of any suitable diskette backing portion of the carriage 56 at 16 the end of the diskette holding groove 70 which is remote from the slot 86.
17 The picker assembly 180 in embracing the diskette 30 has its arm 188 moved 18 away from the arm 186 against the spring action of the spring-portion 1909 19 with the outwardly diverging cam surfaces on the ends of the arms 186 and 188 allowing the diskette to enter between the arms. The picker assembly 180 21 then grips or grasps the d;skette 30 by the fric-tional action of the 22 arms 186 and 188 on the diskette 30 under the action of the flat spring -23 portion 190. It is intended that the electromagnet 216 (see FIG. 6) shall be 24 energized at this time so as to cause its armature 214 to swing the blocker 208 to move it out of alignment with the vertical slot 86.
26 The reciprocable member 182 at the end of its movement toward the front 27 Of the machine actuates the switch 200 which may be used as desired for 28 controlling the electromagnet 216 and motor 164. It may be noted that 2g the portion of the blocker 208 that crosses the slot 86 is at-a lower 3Q level than the picker arms 186 and 188 so that the arms 186 and 188 . . .
.
3L3L~7 ~3~7 1 may go their f~lll stroke forwardly with no inter~`erence with the 2 blocker 208 even though the electromagne-t 216 might be deenergized at 3 the t-ime.
4 It will be noted that -the picker asselnbly ~80 graspsS the diskette 30 at a place very close to the lower edge 3~b of the diskette 6 which is in contact with the bottom surface 70a of the groove 70. The 7 diskette jacket 3~ may for example be eight inches (203mm) square, and the8 arms 186 and 188 grasp the diskette between 3/16 inch (~.71nm~ and 5/8 inch g (15.3nlm) from the lower edge 3~b of the diskette jacket 34 in contact with the bottom 70a of the groove 70, with the diskette arms 186 and 188 11 being of sufficient width to extend for 3/16 inch (4.7mm) along the side 12 edge 34a of the diskette jacket 34. There will thus be substantially no couples or tilting due to friction on the diskette 30 as it is subsequently 14 drawn back into the machin~. It will be understood that these dimensions lS are given for the purpose of example only and may well be changed.
16 With the blocker 208 being out of alignment with the 17 slot 86 by virtue of deenergization of the electromagnet 216, and with 18 the picker assembly 180 engaging the diskette 30, the motor 164 is 19 reversed so as to drive the cam wheel 160 in the direction B by means of the belt 166. The movement of the belt 166 along with the wheel 160 21 propels the reciprocable member 182 backwardly ~to the lef~ as seen in 22 FIG. 4) by virtue of the drive connection between the belt 166 and the 23 member 182 including the pin 194 disposed in the slot 192. The diskette 24 30 is drawn through the slot 86 in a diskette withdrawal plane by the picker assembly 180 and moves into and through. the groove 90. The initial 26 cam portion 90a (siee FIG. 7) .causes the diskette 30 to move to a leve1 27 slightly higher than the bottom 70a of the groove 70 when it is in groove 90.
28 The movement of the diskette 30 continues backwardly still in this same plane 29 and with the diskette 30 resting on the groove bottom 90c until the diskette impinges on and is stopped by the protrusion 91 of the backbone 5~. The ~LlZ,~
1 diskette 30 is then in position so that the center of the disk opening 402 is in alignmen-t with the center of the spindle 94 and with the center of the 3 collet 110. A portion of the diske-tte 30 remains within the slot 86 an~
4 part of -the diskette protrudes from the slo-t 86 and lies w;thin the groove 70 in which the diskette 30 was originally pos-itioned, so that the disket,te 30 6 may subsequently be moved fu'lly back into the same slot 70 in ~hich it was 7 original,ly positioned. If the diskette jacket for example is eigh-t inches 8 (203mm) square, it may protrude from the slot 86 suf-ficiently so that 1.9 9 inches (48mm) of it may remain in the groove 70. The bottom edge 34b of the diskette jacket 34 rests on the bottom 90c of the groove 90 at this time but 11 has no contact with the,bottom 70a of the groove 70 due -to the d-ifference in 12 levels of the two groove bottoms. The bottom of the groove 90 at this time13 thus has the sole control of the level of the diskette 30, which'is at its data transferring position with respect to the transducers 142 and 142a.
The position of the diskette 30 at this time is shown in FIG. 7.
16 With the diskette 30 being in engagement with the 17 protrusion 91, movement of the reciprocable member 182 and the picker 18 assembly 180 continues rearwardly un-til the end of movement in this 19 direction is reached at which the detent spring 198 engages in the notch 196 of the member 182. During this mo~ement of the picker assembly 180 21 and reciprocable member 182 after the diskette 30 has abutted the - '~
22 protrus;on 91, the picker arms 186 and 188 snap back off the disket~e 23 jacket 34; and the assembly 180,is drawn off of the dis~ette 30 and is 24 separated from it. The detent spring 198 then holds the reciprocable member 182 and picker assembly 180 in positions disassociated from the 26 diskette 30 during continued operation of the machine either for 27 magnetically reading or wniting on the disk 32. The picker assembly 180 ?8 thus has no diske1.te clamping and disk rotation impeding actions at this 29 time.
~ZJ'729~
1 On continued rotation of the cam wheel 160 in 2 direction B, the cam 156 contacts the roller 116 and swings the arm 104 3 clockwise as seen in FIG. 3. The arm 104 is effective through extension 4 portion 112 on the collet 110, and the collet 110 is thus moved into the spindle 94 and through the hole 40 of the diskette 30, The collet 110 6 is tapered and accurately centers the disk 32 with respect to the lony 7 itudinal center line of the spindle 94 and, as the cam wheel 160 con-8 tinues in its rotation in direction B, clamps the disk 32 between the 9 collet 110 and the spindle 94. The spindle 94 may be in continuous rotation due to the driving action of the motor 98; and, when the disk 11 32 is so clamped between the collet 110 and the spindle 94, the disk 32 12 is drivingly rotated within its stationary jacket 34 located in groove 13 90. On this continued rotation of the cam wheel 160, with the accom-14 panying movement of the belt 166, the pin 194 travels about the drive pulley 168 and thus moves out of the slot 192 of the reciprocable member 16 182. The driving connection between the pin 194 and the reciprocable 17 member 182 is thus broken on this and further rotative movement of the 18 cam wheel 16Q in direction B and corresponding movement of the belt 166.
19 When the collet 110 is in full disk clamping position with respect to the spindle 94 and on continued rotation of cam 21 wheel 160 in direction B, the cam 158 strikes the extension 134 of the 22 swing arm 120 and starts to swing the arm 120 in the clockwise direction 23 as seen in FIG. 5. The tab 148 of the swing arm 140 of the transducer 24 assembly 136 overlies the swing arm 120, and the swing arm 140 of the transducer assembly 136 begins movement toward the disk 32 under the 26 action of the spring 146. The movement of the swing arm 120 continues 27 and finally the transducer 142 fully engages with the disk 32 through a 28 jacket slot 38. The transducer 142 may be held in contact with the disk 29 32 under the action of other spring means incorporated in the transducer carriage assembly 136 as described in U.S. Patent 4,089,029.
-~L 2 7 ~3~7 1 Likewise, the other swing arm 140a on the other side of the disk 32 2 is at the same time moved to be in ~ull transducer disk enyaged position 3 due to the interconnection between the swing arms 1~0 and l~Oa of the 4 transducer assembly as described in said Castrodale et al application.
The pressure member 126 as previous1y descr;bed is 6 carried by the swing arm 120, and the pressure member 126 clalnps -t~e 7 diskette 30 between it and the platen surface 132 of the backbone 54.
8 This occurs simultaneously with the transducer engaging motions just 9 described. This clamping action is by virtue of the spring action o~
the leaf spring 130 between the swing arm 120 and the pressure member 126, 11 with the ears 123 extending to a greater extent throuyh the swing arm 120.
12 The clamping action by the pressure member 126 on -the jacket 34 is upstream 13 (considering the direction of disk rotation C) of the slots 38 in the 14 jacket 34 through which the transducers 142 and 142a extend, the disk rotation direction C being in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 8.
16 The spring 130 is of insufficient strength to provide a substantial 17 impedance to the rotation of the disk 32 through the pressure member 126 18 but is of sufficient strength so that the pressure member 126 maintains 19 the disk 32 in a single desired plane. With the disk 32 being in this plane~and with the transducers 142 and 142a being in engagement with the 21 disk 32 through the slots 38, the transducers may be utilized for either 22 writing data on the disk 32 magnetically or magnetically reading 23 previously written data on the ~isk 32. The transducers 142 and 142a Inay 24 be moved radially of the disk 32 in the radially extending slots 38 so as to prescribe different concentric magnetic tracks on the disk 32 26 as the disk rotates by so actuating the motor 150 to move the transducer 27 assembly 136 along the guide rods l38l with the band 151 providing the 28 drivirlg connection between the motor 150 and the transducer assembly 136.29 After a data transfer has taken place using the transducers 142 and 142a, the motor 164 is reversed so as to rotate the ~ 7 ~3~7 1 cam wheel 160 in the direction A. The cam 158 -First moves o-ff of the 2 extension 134 of the sw;ng arm 120, and the transducers 1~2 and 1~2a are 3 thus disengaged From the disk 32. The swing arm 120 moves under the 4 action of its return spr;ng 12~ dur;ng this action. The pressure pIate IZ6 is withdrawn from engaging relationship with the platen surface 132 with ~he 6 same movement of the swing arm 120 so that the diskette 30 is uncIaInped.
7 With fur-ther rotation of the cam wheel 160 in direction A under the ac-tion of the mo-tor 16~, the cam 156 rides off of the roller 116 and allows -the g arm 104 to swiny in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 3. The swing arm 104 and particularly its extension 112 are then efFective to pull 11 the collet 110 out of the driviny spindle 94 and completely disenyaye the 12 collet with respect to the disk 32.
13 During this rotation of cam wheel 160 in direction A, 14 the belt 166 of course moves along with the wheel 160, since it has a toothed engagement with the periphery of the wheel 160. The pin 194 16 travels down toward the drive pulley 168 and Finally enters the slot 192.
17 With further rotation of the wheel 160 in the direction A, the reciprocable18 member 182 and picker assembly 180 move toward the front of the machine 19 (toward the right as seen in FIG. ~).
With a slight additional movement of the reciprocable 21 member 182 and picker assembly 180 from the position at which the detent 22 spring l98 is in engagement with the sides of the notch 196, the picker 23 assembly 180 contacts the diskette 30 and begins to move the diskette 30 24 farther out of the groove 90 and farther into the carriage groove 70 in which the diskette 30 was originally placed. About 1/~ of the length of 26 the bottom diskette edge 34b remains in the groove 70 in th~ data 27 transferring position of the diskette 30, so there is no 4uestion that the 28 diskette may be returned into any other than its original groove 70. The 29 upwardly slanting rods 68 support and guide the upper portion of the diskette 30 in -this forward movement of the diskette. Initiallyg the picker R0978-007 17~
l arms 186 and 188 may not embrace the diske-t-te 30, since the pressure provided 2 by the flat spring portion l90 is eFfective to hold the end~ oF the arms 1~6 3 and 190 in somewha-t forceful engagement; but the picker assembly '180 4 nevertheless is eFfective for mov-ing the diskette 30 Forward'ly ~arther , into its original groove 70.
6. As the motor 16~ continues to drive the cam wheel 160 in 7 the direction A, the reciprocable member 182 and picker assembly 180 8 continue to propel the diskette 30 forwardly in the original groove 70, 9 until finaily the diskette 30 rides down the cam surface 90a and reaches the end oF the-groove 70 with its complete edge 34b resting on the groove ll bottom 70a. The diskette 30 has then passed completely through the 12- slot 86 and is then completely out of the machine. The picker assembly 18013 may then at th;s time embrace and grip the diskette 30, but this is of no 14 consequence. At this position of the reciprocable member 182, the switch 200 is actuated for control purposes. The electromagnet 216 may be either 16 energized or deenergized during this movement of the disket~e 30 into 17 its original groove 70. If the electromagnet 216 ;s in deenergized condition l8 at this-time, the return spring 218 is effective to ho1d the blocker 208 l9 against the diskette 30 as it traYels out of the groove 90, but the return spring 218 is of insufficient effect to provide any substantial impediment 21 to this disk m'ovemPnt.
22 In order to complete the operation, the electromagnet 216 23 is deenergized i~ it has not been previously deenergized; and the spring 218 , `
24 is effective to swing the blocker 208 so that it lies across the slot 86.
The diskette 30 lying in the slot 70 into which it has just been fully 26 thrust as just described then can have no movement back into the machine.
27 The motor 164 is again reversed to drive the cam wheel 160 in the direction B, 28 and the reciprocable member 182 and the picker assembly 180 are moved back 29 into the machine. The picker assembly arms 186 and 188 snap back o-ff of the diskette jacket 349 and the diskette 30 that has been previously R0978-007, ~18- , ~L~ 7~ Y
1 moved into the machine for a reading or writin~ action is completely 2 released. The carriage 56 may -then be moved in direction 64 under the 3 actuation of the motor 72 to move another o-f the diskettes 30 within 4 another groove 70 and between other spaced rods 68 into al-igninent with the slot 86 so that a corresponding reacling or writing action ma~ take 6 place with respect to this diskette.
7 Diskettes 30 are held in vertical spaced relation within a magazine 42 by grooves 44 and particularly by the flat side surfaces 44b g thereof an~ may be similarly drawn into the machine through slot 86 lo for a reading or writing action and returned into the same groove 44 1l within the magazine. I-t is only necessary that the desired diskette 12- within certain vertically aligned upper and lower grooves q4 in the 13 magazine be moved initially into alignment with the slot 86 by translating the carriage 56 in direction 64 to accordingly move the magazine. The machine then functions in the same manner as has been previously described 16 in connection with one of the free diskettes 30 held by rods 68, with the 17 picker arms 186 and 188 reaching into the magazine to pull a diskette 30 18 out of the magazine and finally returning the diskette 30 after data 19 transfer. The diskette 30 in its movement partially out of aligned upper and lower grooves 44 and into groove 90 travels along the flat groove bottom 21 surfaces 44a, and at least corners on the upper and lower diskette edges 34b 22 and 34d are in sliding contact with the groove bottoms 44a during most of 23 the movement of the diskette 30 partially out of and then again back into 24 the original grooves 44 for the diskettes.
The flat surfaced groove bottoms 44a, 70a and 90c 26 matching the straight bottom an~ top edges 34b and 34d of a diskette 30 27 assure an easy movement of a d~skette 30 through groove 90 and into 28 contact with abutment 91 for data transfer and assure an ~asy return 29 movement of the diskette 30 to be fully in the grooves 44 or in the groove 70O The flat side groove surfaces 44b, 70b and 90b match the ~ .
~978-007 -19-.
~. --~%~7~9~
1 normally flat surfaced iacket 34; and, even though the jacke-t 34 may be 2 slightly warped due to improper storage, nevertheless, the diskette 30 3 moves through the grooves 4~, 70 and 90 without jamming due to the 4 existence of the flat groove sides 44a~ 70b and 90b. This is par-ticularlytrue s;nce the jacket 34 ;s square, and the marginal por-t~ons of a jacket 6 34 adjacent the edges 34b and 34d tends to rema;n ;n -flat face to face 7 contact with the flat groove side surfaces 44b, 7Pb and 90b. Since a 8 diskette 30 is withdrawn out of -the grooves ~4 or a groove 70 for only g about 75% of the length of the diskette measured along -the upper and lower diskette-edges 34b and 34d, there is no question but that the 11 diskette moves back into its original grooves 44 or original groove 70 12- rather than into other grooves 44 or 70. This same diskette may then be easily located for a second, later data transferring action by moving 14 carriage 56 in direction 64 to its original position For this diskette.
The disk drive machine is also shortened from its length that would 16 otherwise be necessary, since the original and data transferring positions17 of a diskette 30 overlap by about 25 percent of the length of the diskette.
18 - As the carriage ~6 is illustrated, it has three of 19 the individual diskette support;ng grooves 70, and these constitute "easy load" grooves for supporting just this -Few number of diskettes 30 for the 21 rapid and convenient feeding of one, two or three diskettes 30 possible 22 without first loading a magazine 42. The diskettes 30 can be quickly 23 positioned in these grooves 70 without involving a magazine 429 and any 24 one of these individually loadable diskettes can be selected and loaded just as if it was in one of the magazines 42. The "easy load" grooves 70 26 can be used either with or without the magazines 42 in place. In brief, !
27 the following three sign;ificant functions are provided by the "easy load"28 grooves 70 29 1. The "easy load" grooves 70 provide the convenience of using the automatically loading disk drive as if it were a conventional ~ - .
~7~
l diskette drive for the inser-tion of a single diskette. This 2 usage ~ill occur in cases in which a relatively small amount 3 of I/O (Input/Outputj data exchange is required with another 4 product employing a disk drive.
S 2. In cases in which two or three diske-t-tes 30 may be involved 6 in a data exchange, not normally of a save/restore na-ture~
7 the use o-F these three grooves 70 combines not only the convenience of easy accessibility to the drive for -these 9 diskettes but also provides khe automa-tic loading and selection function in which the carriage 56 is moved by ll the stepping motor 72 to its stepped positions in which 12 one of the grooves 70 is aligned with the groove 90.
13 3. The.individual diskette receiving grooves 70 eliminate 14 unnecessary loading of the magazines 42 and unloading there~f which exposes a disk to possible contamination 16 by reason of finger contact through the iacket slots 38.
17 . . In contrast with the individual diskettes 30 used in 18 the grooves 70, the magazines 42 have sets of ten vertically aligned l9 grooves 44 so that the magazines may each contain ten of the diskettes 30.
The diskettes 30 are those which are normally used as a group9 such as in :
21 a save!restore operation; and it is desirable that these diskettes be 22 stored together and in the same sequence. The magazines 42 eFficiently 23 provide this function.
.
. 1
Claims (10)
1. A machine for providing data transference with information carrying disks rotatively disposed in thin flat jackets to form disk-jacket assemblies; including first means for storing a series of said disk-jacket assemblies including spaced dividers on opposite sides of the jackets for holding said assemblies spaced, second means for delineating a data transferring position of a disk-jacket assembly in a certain plane thereof, means for moving said first and second means with respect to each other so that any of said disk-jacket assemblies as stored by said first means may be moved into said plane, and means operative for moving the disk-jacket assembly which is in said plane into said data transferring position with the disk-jacket assembly being only partially moved out from between its dividers on opposite sides of the disk-jacket assembly and this disk-jacket assembly remaining supported by these dividers.
2. A machine as defined in claim 1 wherein each thin flat jacket has a pair of opposite straight, parallel jacket defining edges, said first storing means including:
a tray having spaced portions providing a series of parallel, open top grooves of -transverse dimensions suitable so that each receives one of the straight, jacket defining edges of one of the jacketed disks; and a magazine fixed with respect to said tray and having a bottom and a top, said bottom and top having opposite parallel internal grooves formed therein opposite ones of which in said bottom and top are of sufficient transverse dimensions to receive the opposite straight, jacket defining edges of one of the jacketed disks.
a tray having spaced portions providing a series of parallel, open top grooves of -transverse dimensions suitable so that each receives one of the straight, jacket defining edges of one of the jacketed disks; and a magazine fixed with respect to said tray and having a bottom and a top, said bottom and top having opposite parallel internal grooves formed therein opposite ones of which in said bottom and top are of sufficient transverse dimensions to receive the opposite straight, jacket defining edges of one of the jacketed disks.
3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 and including jacketed disks separating parts located above said portions of said tray forming said open top grooves for bracing and separating the jacketed disks within said open top grooves.
4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 and including means for translatably mounting said tray so that it constitutes a carriage where-by any of the open top grooves or the grooves in said magazine may be moved into alignment with a disk withdrawal plane; and means for moving a jacketed disk out of its containing groove when the jacketed disk and the groove holding the disk are in said plane.
5. A machine for providing data transference with disk-jacket assemblies which include information carrying disks rotatably disposed in thin flat rectangular jackets having a certain length measured parallel with a base edge of the assembly,each of said jackets having coincident central holes in its two thicknesses and having an elongate hole in one jacket thickness extending parallel with a base edge of the jacket and between an adjoining front edge of the jacket and the center of said central holes, said machine comprising:
storing means for storing a stack of said disk-jacket assemblies, position defining means defining a data transferring position of a disk-jacket assembly in the plane of one of the disk-jacket assemblies in said stack and which is located closer to the position of the disk-jacket assembly in said stack than the length of the jacket and measured along the base edge of the disk-jacket assembly from the front edge of the disk-jacket assembly in said stack to the front edge of the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position so that said central holes and said elongate hole.of the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position are exposed with respect to the re-maining disk-jacket assemblies in said stack and the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position retains its place in said stack, means for moving said storing means and said position defining means with respect to each other so that any of said disk-jacket assem-blies in said stack may be in said plane, means operative to move the disk-jacket assembly which is in said plane and in said stack in the direction of its base edge with its front edge foremost for said distance less than the base edge length into said data transferring position so that said central holes and said elongate hole of the disk-jacket assembly are exposed and so that the disk-jacket assembly retains its place in said stack, drive means positioned outside of said stack so as to extend through said central holes in the jacket of the disk-jacket assembly in said data transferring position for driving the disk thereof, and a transducer positioned outside of said stack so as to be moveable into said elongate hole in the disk-jacket assembly in said data trans-ferring position for a transfer of data with respect to the disk thereof.
storing means for storing a stack of said disk-jacket assemblies, position defining means defining a data transferring position of a disk-jacket assembly in the plane of one of the disk-jacket assemblies in said stack and which is located closer to the position of the disk-jacket assembly in said stack than the length of the jacket and measured along the base edge of the disk-jacket assembly from the front edge of the disk-jacket assembly in said stack to the front edge of the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position so that said central holes and said elongate hole.of the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position are exposed with respect to the re-maining disk-jacket assemblies in said stack and the disk-jacket assembly when in said data transferring position retains its place in said stack, means for moving said storing means and said position defining means with respect to each other so that any of said disk-jacket assem-blies in said stack may be in said plane, means operative to move the disk-jacket assembly which is in said plane and in said stack in the direction of its base edge with its front edge foremost for said distance less than the base edge length into said data transferring position so that said central holes and said elongate hole of the disk-jacket assembly are exposed and so that the disk-jacket assembly retains its place in said stack, drive means positioned outside of said stack so as to extend through said central holes in the jacket of the disk-jacket assembly in said data transferring position for driving the disk thereof, and a transducer positioned outside of said stack so as to be moveable into said elongate hole in the disk-jacket assembly in said data trans-ferring position for a transfer of data with respect to the disk thereof.
6. A machine as set forth in claim 5 and including guide means effective on said base edge of a disk-jacket assembly in said plane and in said stack for guiding the disk-jacket assembly from its position in said stack to said data transferring position.
7. A machine as set forth in claim 5, said position defining means including means defining a receptor groove for receiving a said base edge of a disk-jacket assembly and said storing means including additional groove defining means providing a series of store grooves each for receiving a said base edge of a disk-jacket assembly.
8. A machine as set forth in claim 7, and including abutment means carried by said position defining means and effective for limiting the movement of a disk-jacket assembly into said receptor groove so that the disk-jacket assembly remains in its place in said stack.
9. A machine as set forth in claim 5, said position defining means constituting a stationary unit and said storing means constitut-ing a carriage moveably mounted with respect to said stationary unit.
10. A method for transferring data with respect to information carrying disks rotatably disposed in thin flat rectangular jackets each having coincident central holes in its two thicknesses and having an elongate hole in one jacket thickness extending parallel with a base edge of the jacket and between an adjoining front edge of the jacket and the center of said central holes to form disk-jacket assemblies, the steps which comprise:
placing said disk-jacket assemblies in a stack with their said front edges in alignment on one face of the stack, moving a selected one of the disk-jacket assemblies in said stack with its said front edge foremost only partially out of the stack so that it retains its place in the stack and for a distance which exposes its said aligned central holes and its said elongate hole with respect to the remainder of the disk-jacket assemblies in the stack, driving the disk of the disk-jacket assembly so partially removed from the stack utilizing driving means extending through said central holes, and inserting a transducer through the elongate hole of the disk-jacket assembly so partially removed from the stack for transferring data with respect to the disk thereof.
placing said disk-jacket assemblies in a stack with their said front edges in alignment on one face of the stack, moving a selected one of the disk-jacket assemblies in said stack with its said front edge foremost only partially out of the stack so that it retains its place in the stack and for a distance which exposes its said aligned central holes and its said elongate hole with respect to the remainder of the disk-jacket assemblies in the stack, driving the disk of the disk-jacket assembly so partially removed from the stack utilizing driving means extending through said central holes, and inserting a transducer through the elongate hole of the disk-jacket assembly so partially removed from the stack for transferring data with respect to the disk thereof.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US05/888,437 US4170030A (en) | 1978-03-20 | 1978-03-20 | Drive machine moving magnetic disks only partially therein for data transfer |
| US888,437 | 1978-03-20 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1127297A true CA1127297A (en) | 1982-07-06 |
Family
ID=25393172
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA314,022A Expired CA1127297A (en) | 1978-03-20 | 1978-10-24 | Drive machine moving magnetic disks only partially therein for data transfer |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4170030A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS5923029B2 (en) |
| BR (1) | BR7901685A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1127297A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE2910657C2 (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1166702B (en) |
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| US4226570A (en) * | 1979-01-29 | 1980-10-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Blocker for magnetic diskette gripper |
| JPS57181473A (en) * | 1981-05-02 | 1982-11-08 | Pioneer Electronic Corp | Disc player |
| US4571645A (en) * | 1982-07-29 | 1986-02-18 | Ixi Laboratories, Inc. | Horizontal flexible disk loading and sorting/collating mechanism |
| US4502133A (en) * | 1982-11-30 | 1985-02-26 | Rca Corporation | Automatic handling mechanism for an optical disc enclosed in a protective cartridge |
| JPS59231772A (en) * | 1983-06-13 | 1984-12-26 | Toshiba Corp | Automatic disk changing device |
| JPS6065279U (en) * | 1983-10-08 | 1985-05-09 | 日本マランツ株式会社 | Compact disk player tray box |
| JPS6098140U (en) * | 1983-12-07 | 1985-07-04 | 日本マランツ株式会社 | Disc clamp device for compact disc player |
| US5122914A (en) * | 1984-01-17 | 1992-06-16 | Norand Corporation | Disk drive system with transportable carrier and mounting assembly |
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| US4633350A (en) * | 1984-01-17 | 1986-12-30 | Norand Corporation | Information storage system with readily removable high capacity disk drive unit |
| US4644427A (en) * | 1984-03-13 | 1987-02-17 | Ashby Harrel D | Diskette loading apparatus |
| JPS60243865A (en) * | 1984-05-17 | 1985-12-03 | Toshiba Corp | Automatic disk exchanging device |
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| US4685095A (en) * | 1984-07-11 | 1987-08-04 | Filenet Corporation | Optical storage and retrieval device |
| US4675856A (en) * | 1984-07-11 | 1987-06-23 | Filenet Corporation | Optical storage and retrieval device |
| EP0168107A3 (en) * | 1984-07-11 | 1988-01-13 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. | Magazine for a plurality of disc-shaped information carriers contained in holders and combination of a disc-player with such a magazine |
| DE3645200C2 (en) * | 1985-03-08 | 1992-05-14 | Pioneer Electronic Corp., Tokio/Tokyo, Jp | |
| EP0212244B1 (en) * | 1985-07-12 | 1990-06-13 | Pioneer Electronic Corporation | Disk player |
| JPH0721917B2 (en) * | 1985-08-08 | 1995-03-08 | パイオニア株式会社 | Multi-disc player |
| US4860133A (en) * | 1986-04-11 | 1989-08-22 | Ampex Corporation | Cassette bin structure including a bin section for loading and unloading cassettes |
| JP2521338Y2 (en) * | 1986-06-02 | 1996-12-25 | 日本ビクター株式会社 | Disk playback device |
| US4949328A (en) * | 1987-02-18 | 1990-08-14 | Pioneer Electronic Corporation | Disk player for playing both sides of a disk or multiple disks without ejection thereof and a disk player with a disk being played that overlaps disks stored in a storage receptor |
| JPH01133256A (en) * | 1987-11-18 | 1989-05-25 | Sanyo Electric Co Ltd | Carrier member for auto-changer |
| JPH0197447U (en) * | 1987-12-21 | 1989-06-28 | ||
| US5107474A (en) * | 1988-07-15 | 1992-04-21 | Pioneer Electronic Corporation | Multi-magazine disc player |
| US5084859A (en) * | 1988-07-15 | 1992-01-28 | Pioneer Electronic Corporation | Multi-magazine disc player |
| US5034935A (en) * | 1988-07-15 | 1991-07-23 | Pioneer Electronic Corporation | Multi-magazine disc player |
| US5062093A (en) * | 1988-12-22 | 1991-10-29 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Optical disk cartridge insertion apparatus for an optical disk storage and handling system |
| US5101387A (en) * | 1989-01-18 | 1992-03-31 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Lateral displacement control assembly for an optical disk handling system |
| US5014255A (en) * | 1989-02-02 | 1991-05-07 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Optical disk cartridge handling apparatus with passive cartridge engagement assembly |
| JPH02216661A (en) * | 1989-02-16 | 1990-08-29 | Pioneer Electron Corp | Disk player with magazine changer |
| US5010536A (en) * | 1989-02-22 | 1991-04-23 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Cartridge handling system |
| US5043962A (en) * | 1989-03-21 | 1991-08-27 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Cartridge handling system |
| US5153862A (en) * | 1989-11-06 | 1992-10-06 | North American Philips Corporation | Cassette for storing, moving and loading optical storage disk cartridges |
| JPH0798923A (en) * | 1993-09-29 | 1995-04-11 | Pioneer Electron Corp | Disk changer |
| US5588796A (en) * | 1994-04-18 | 1996-12-31 | Atg Cygnet Inc. | Apparatus and method for handling information storage media |
| US5460476A (en) * | 1994-06-21 | 1995-10-24 | International Business Machines Corporation | Dual gripper picker assembly for an automated storage system |
| US6330217B1 (en) | 1995-06-16 | 2001-12-11 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Media cartridge insertion apparatus for a media cartridge storage and handling system |
| JP7388718B2 (en) | 2018-04-26 | 2023-11-29 | 富士カプセル株式会社 | Soft capsule coating composition |
Family Cites Families (10)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2281547A (en) * | 1937-12-20 | 1942-05-05 | Edward F Andrews | Automatic phonograph |
| DE1161052B (en) * | 1962-12-13 | 1964-01-09 | Nsm Appbau Ges Mit Beschraenkt | Disk magazine |
| BE757866A (en) * | 1969-12-22 | 1971-04-01 | Ibm | MAGNETIC DISC MEMORY ELEMENT AND RECORDING APPARATUS IN USE |
| DE2150524C3 (en) * | 1971-10-06 | 1974-06-27 | Ted Bildplatten Ag Aeg-Telefunken-Teldec, Zug (Schweiz | Method for feeding a recording medium into a playback device, as well as playback device and protective cover for carrying out the method |
| US3912279A (en) * | 1973-08-14 | 1975-10-14 | Ted Bildplatten | Operating program control for a record playback device |
| US3846836A (en) * | 1973-08-30 | 1974-11-05 | Ibm | Loading and unloading mechanism for flexible magnetic disks |
| US3913137A (en) * | 1973-11-23 | 1975-10-14 | Sycor Inc | Twin flexible disc recorder with movable heads |
| AU507089B2 (en) * | 1976-03-26 | 1980-01-31 | Basf Aktiengesellschaft | Changeover mechanism for recording media, especially for floppy disks |
| DE2612853C3 (en) * | 1976-03-26 | 1980-08-21 | Basf Ag, 6700 Ludwigshafen | Changer device for disk-shaped recording media |
| DE2612854C3 (en) * | 1976-03-26 | 1980-09-04 | Basf Ag, 6700 Ludwigshafen | Magazine and device for a variety of recording media |
-
1978
- 1978-03-20 US US05/888,437 patent/US4170030A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1978-10-24 CA CA314,022A patent/CA1127297A/en not_active Expired
-
1979
- 1979-02-14 JP JP54015126A patent/JPS5923029B2/en not_active Expired
- 1979-03-16 IT IT21033/79A patent/IT1166702B/en active
- 1979-03-17 DE DE2910657A patent/DE2910657C2/en not_active Expired
- 1979-03-19 BR BR7901685A patent/BR7901685A/en unknown
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| BR7901685A (en) | 1979-10-16 |
| IT1166702B (en) | 1987-05-06 |
| DE2910657A1 (en) | 1979-09-27 |
| US4170030A (en) | 1979-10-02 |
| IT7921033A0 (en) | 1979-03-16 |
| JPS54128312A (en) | 1979-10-04 |
| DE2910657C2 (en) | 1986-11-06 |
| JPS5923029B2 (en) | 1984-05-30 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |