High-capacity media library
AssigneeQuantum Corporation
InventorCarsten Hermann Prigge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and techniques for providing more storage capacity in a media library. The media library may include a plurality of media cartridge storage slots in a plurality of storage magazines. The media library may include a robotic picker device for retrieving media cartridges from the media cartridge storage slots. The media cartridge storage slots may be dual-cartridge storage slots configured to hold two media cartridges and/or the robotic picker device may be a dual-slot robotic picker device.
Claims20
A media library system, the system comprising:
- a frame;
- a media storage portion supported by the frame, the media storage portion comprising:
- a first column of media cartridge storage magazines, and
- a second column of media cartridge storage magazines,
- wherein media cartridge storage magazines in the first column and the second column comprise multiple dual-cartridge storage slots configured to receive two media cartridges;
- a media drive portion supported by the frame, the media drive portion comprising a plurality of media drives, each media drive of the plurality of media drives being configured to read data from a media cartridge when the media cartridge is inserted into the media drive;
- and
- a robotic picker device supported by the frame and configured to move in an interior space of the media library and selectively retrieve a media cartridge stored in the media storage portion and place the media cartridge into one of the plurality of media drives, the robotic picker device comprising:
- a first slot configured to receive a first media cartridge and a second slot configured to receive a second media cartridge.
A media library system, the system comprising:
- a frame;
- a media storage portion supported by the frame, the media storage portion comprising:
- at least one column of media cartridge storage magazines, wherein at least some of the storage magazines comprise multiple dual-cartridge storage slots;
- a media drive portion supported by the frame, the media drive portion comprising a plurality of media drives, each particular drive of the plurality of media drives being configured to read data from a media cartridge when the media cartridge is inserted into the particular drive;
- and
- a robotic picker device supported by the frame and configured to selectively retrieve a media cartridge stored in the media storage portion and place the media cartridge into one of the plurality of media drives.
A method performed by a media library system, the media library system comprising a plurality of media cartridge storage magazines arranged in at least one column, with at least some of the storage magazines having multiple dual-cartridge storage slots configured to receive media cartridges, one or more media drives, a robotic picker device, the method comprising:
- moving, with the robotic picker device, a first media cartridge from a first dual-cartridge storage slot into a first slot of the robotic picker device, the first media cartridge being in a first portion of the first dual-cartridge storage slot;
- moving the robotic picker device to align a second slot of the robotic picker device with the first dual-cartridge storage slot;
- moving, with the robotic picker device, a second media cartridge from the first dual-cartridge storage slot into the second slot of the robotic picker device, the second media cartridge being in a second portion of the first dual-cartridge storage slot;
- moving the robotic picker device to align the second slot with a first media drive of the one or more media drives;
- and
- moving, with the robotic picker device, the second media cartridge into the first media drive of the one or more media drives.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.