Reading method and apparatus for cartridge library

Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:

• a transportable frame;
• contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, said contacting means being resiliently biased to bear against said unit of information storage medium;
• and,
• reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means.

Apparatus for transporting a unit of a information storage medium, said apparatus comprising:

• a transportable frame, said frame including a reference surface in which an aperture is provided;
• contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit of information storage medium, wherein said contacting means at least partially extends through said aperture in said reference surface;
• and,
• reading means for reading an indicia provided on said unit of information storage medium, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means.

Apparatus for transporting a cartridge stored in a library, said apparatus comprising:

• a transportable frame;
• plunger means mounted on said frame and resiliently biased to physically contact a cartridge;
• and,
• reading means for reading an indicia provided on said cartridge, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said plunger means.

A library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system comprising:

• a drive for at least reading information from said information storage medium units when a unit is loaded into said drive;
• a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon;
• means for mounting said plurality of racks according to a predefined organization;
• unit transport means comprising:
• a transport frame;
• contacting means mounted on said frame and positioned to physically contact a unit;
• and,
• reading means mounted for reading indicia provided on said units of information storage medium and for detecting said indicia on said racks, at least a portion of said reading means being internally mounted in said contacting means;
• displacement means for displacing said unit transport means whereby said transport means transports said cartridges between said cells in said racks and said drive.

A method of operating a library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system being of the type having a transport assembly for engaging and transporting said information storage medium units, said method comprising:

• providing a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon;
• verifying the physical presence in said library system of each of said racks;
• detecting indicia on each of said racks and using said detection of indicia to determine a set of reference coordinates for each of said racks;
• determining a set of coordinates for each of said cells included in each of said racks;
• storing in a memory said set of coordinates for each of said cells included in each of said racks;
• verifying the physical presence of units in each of said cells in said racks;
• reading an indicia provided on units in cells of said racks which have units physically present therein;
• and,
• storing in said memory a value indicative of said unit indicia for those units which have indicia provided thereon

A method of operating a library system wherein a plurality of information storage medium units are stored, said library system being of the type having a transport assembly for engaging and transporting said information storage medium units, said method comprising:

• providing a plurality of racks, each of said racks having a plurality of cells therein for storing said units, each of said racks having a detectable indicia thereon;
• using a translatable contacting means to physically contact racks included in said library system to verify the physical presence of each of said racks;
• using reading means mounted on said contacting means to detect indicia on each of said racks;
• and
• using said detecting of indicia to determined a set of reference coordinates for each of said racks whose presence was verified in said library system.