Storage and retrieval system for magnetic tape cassettes
AssigneeDirect Access Corporation
InventorsJohn Leonard Semmlow, Lawrence Stark
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for storing and retrieving information-bearing units or modules, such as magnetic tape cassettes, including a fixed two-dimensional storage array, a fixed processing or play station for extracting information from the units, and a movable selection mechanism, having three degrees of freedom, for retrieving individual modules from the storage area, transferring them to the processing area and then returning them to the storage area after the information contained therein has been extracted. Additionally, the system includes means for automatically sequencing a series of units, as well as a preprocessing station for cueing up individual units for intra-unit accessing.
Claims23
A system for storing and retrieving information contained within discrete information-bearing modules, comprising:
- a. a fixed storage area for storing a plurality of discrete information-bearing modules in a two-dimensional array, each of said modules having a designated location within said array;
- b. a fixed processing station remotely situated from said fixed storage area for extracting information from individual modules;
- c. a movable selection mechanism having three degrees of freedom for retrieving an individual module from said storage area and for transferring it to said fixed processing station and for restoring the same to its designated position within said storage area after information has been extracted therefrom;
- d. memory means remote from said storage area for storing a predetermined schedule of modules to be sequenced through said fixed processing station;
- e. input means for enabling said predetermined schedule of modules to be entered in said memory means;
- f. means for automatically controlling said selection mechanism to sequentially retrieve, process and restore modules according to said fixed predetermined schedule stored in said memory means;
- and
- g. additional means for initializing each information-bearing module before next being processed at said fixed processing station.
A system for storing and retrieving information contained within discrete information-bearing modules, comprising:
- a. a fixed storage area for storing a plurality of discrete information-bearing modules in a two-dimensional array, each of said modules having a designated location within said array;
- b. a fixed processing station remotely situated from said fixed storage area for extracting information from individual modules;
- c. a fixed pre-processing station remotely situated from said storage area;
- d. means for transferring a module within said pre-processing station to said processing station and returning the module back to said pre-processing station after information has been extracted therefrom;
- and
- e. a selection mechanism having three degrees of freedom for retrieving an individual module from said storage area and for transferring it to said preprocessing station and for restoring the same to its designated position within said storage area after it has been returned to said pre-processing station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.