Cartridge transferring robot for library apparatus, and library apparatus

A cartridge transferring robot for use in a library apparatus including a storage rack for storing cartridges each accommodating a storage medium, a cartridge entry/exit station for entry/exit of said cartridge, and a deck for carrying out access to said storage medium within said cartridge, said cartridge transferring robot comprising a picker section including a hand mechanism for gripping said cartridge for insertion and extraction of said cartridge at cartridge conveyance within said library apparatus and a moving mechanism for moving said picker section up to a given position, said hand mechanism being equipped with a mounter mechanism for applying a pressing force to said cartridge to insert said cartridge into said deck, and said mounter mechanism including:

• a mounter arm placed to be movable in a direction of coming into contact with an end surface of said cartridge to push said cartridge into said deck;
• a pinion made to engage with a rack formed on said mounter arm;
• and
• a rotational drive mechanism for rotating said pinion to move said mounter arm in said direction.

A library apparatus comprising:

• a storage rack for storing cartridges each accommodating a storage medium;
• a cartridge entry/exit station for entry/exit of said cartridge;
• a deck for carrying out access to said storage medium within said cartridge;
• and
• a cartridge transferring robot including a picker section having a hand mechanism for gripping said cartridge for insertion/extraction of said cartridge and a moving mechanism for moving said picker section to a given position, to transfer said cartridge among said storage rack, said cartridge entry/exit station and said deck,
• said hand mechanism of said cartridge transferring robot including:
• a pair of upper and lower hand members made to vertically come into contact with said cartridge to grip said cartridge;
• a hand base to which said pair of upper and lower hand members are fitted to be vertically slidable;
• a biasing mechanism for biasing said pair of upper and lower hand members in closing directions of gripping said cartridge;
• a pair of upper and lower cam followers attached to said pair of upper and lower hand members, respectively;
• a cam placed between said pair of upper and lower cam followers for adjusting a separation between said pair of upper and lower cam followers to cause said pair of upper and lower hand members to take opening and closing actions against a biasing force of said biasing mechanism;
• and
• a drive mechanism for rotationally driving said cam.

A library apparatus comprising:

• a storage rack for storing cartridges each accommodating a storage medium;
• a cartridge entry/exit station for entry/exit of said cartridge;
• a deck for carrying out access to said storage medium within said cartridge;
• and
• a cartridge transferring robot including a picker section having a hand mechanism for gripping said cartridge for insertion/extraction of said cartridge and a moving mechanism for moving said picker section to a given position, to transfer said cartridge among said storage rack, said cartridge entry/exit station and said deck,
• wherein said hand mechanism of said cartridge transferring robot includes a mounter mechanism for applying a pressing force to said cartridge to insert said cartridge into said deck, and said mounter mechanism comprises:
• a mounter arm placed to be movable in a direction of coming into contact with an end surface of said cartridge to push said cartridge into said deck;
• a pinion made to engage with a rack formed on said mounter arm;
• and
• a rotational drive mechanism for rotating said pinion to move said mounter arm in said direction.

A library apparatus comprising:

• a storage rack for storing cartridges each accommodating a storage medium;
• a cartridge entry/exit station for entry/exit of said cartridge;
• a deck for carrying out access to said storage medium within said cartridge;
• and
• a cartridge transferring robot including a picker section having a hand mechanism for gripping said cartridge for insertion/extraction of said cartridge and a moving mechanism for moving said picker section to a given position, to transfer said cartridge among said storage rack, said cartridge entry/exit station and said deck,
• wherein said cartridge transferring robot includes:
• a first sensor for detecting the fact that said cartridge is inserted into between a pair of upper and lower hand members constituting said hand mechanism;
• and
• a second sensor for detecting the fact that an end surface of said cartridge reaches a given position after said first sensor detects the insertion of said cartridge.