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US 4,981,409 AGranted
Cartridge auto changer
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYoshihiko Hirose, Noboru Kohmura, Shigeru Sugita, Tadashi Sato
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A catridge changer for carrying a cartridge to a utilization position and returning it to its initial position after the utilization thereof has a cartridge containing chamber for containing a number of cartridges therein, a hand member for gripping a selected cartridge, a hand moving device for moving the hand member gripping the selected cartridge to the cartridge containing chamber and the utilization position to carry the cartridge, and a correcting device for correcting the posture of the cartridge gripped by the hand member to a regular posture.
Claims7
A cartridge auto-changer for changing a square cartridge, comprising:
- storing means for storing a plurality of cartridges;
- conveying means for selectively taking a cartridge out of said storing means to convey the cartridge to a predetermined use position, said conveying means including gripping means for gripping the cartridge and moving means for moving said gripping means to convey the cartridge, said gripping means including a pinching member capable of engaging a pair of first side surfaces of the cartridge and separating it from said storing means and driving means for moving said pinching member to an engaging position and a separating position;
- detecting means for detecting whether a second side surface, perpendicular to the first side surface of the cartridge pinched by said pinching member, is correctly oriented;
- first correcting means for rotating said pinching member when said pinching member is pinching the cartridge to reverse the second side surface of the cartridge in accordance with the orientation detected by said detecting means;
- second correcting means for rotating the cartridge around an axis perpendicular to the second side surface when said pinching member is not pinching the cartridge so that said pinching member engages said first side surface of the cartridge in a correct state;
- and
- control means for controlling said moving means to convey the cartridge gripped by said pinching member to said second correcting means and the use position.
4 more elements
An information processing apparatus comprising:
- storing means for storing a plurality of holding members each holding an information record medium and having a substantially rectangular shape:
- conveying means for selectively taking one of the holding members out of said storing means to convey said holding member to a predetermined use position, said conveying means including gripping means for gripping the holding member and moving means for moving said gripping means to convey the holding member, said gripping means including a pinching member capable of engaging a pair of first side surfaces of the holding member and separating it from said storing means and driving means for moving said pinching member to an engaging position and a separating position;
- processing means for processing the information record medium of the holding member in the use position;
- first detecting means for detecting whether a second side surface, perpendicular to the first side surface of the holding member pinched by said pinching member, is correctly oriented;
- first correcting means for rotating said pinching member when said pinching member is pinching the holding member to reverse the second side surface of the holding member in accordance with the orientation detected by said detecting means;
- second detecting means for detecting whether said pinching member correctly engages the first side surface of the holding member;
- second correcting means for rotating the holding member around an axis perpendicular to the second side surface when said pinching member is not pinching the holding member so that said pinching member engages with the first side surface of the holding member in a correct state;
- and
- control means for controlling said moving means in such a manner that the holding member is conveyed directly from said storing means to the use position when said second detecting means detects a correct engagement, and the holding member is conveyed to the use position after being conveyed to said second correcting means when said second detecting means detects a noncorrect engagement.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.