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US 7,119,983 B2Granted
Tape library
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsYoshitsugu Taki, Masahiro Kodama, Ryuji Takatsuka, Toshiya Kurokawa
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AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsYoshitsugu Taki, Masahiro Kodama, Ryuji Takatsuka, Toshiya Kurokawa
Estimating the term…
The invention provides a tape library wherein the accommodated number of cassette tapes can be adjusted freely. Where one or more expansion units are connected to a basic unit, when a transport mechanism is positioned within the basic unit, a control circuit section of the basic unit controls the position and operation of the transport mechanism with reference to a position reference point of the basic unit, but when the transport mechanism is within an expansion unit, the control circuit section controls the position and operation of the transport mechanism with reference to a position reference point of the expansion unit. The control circuit section and the transparent mechanism of the basic unit are interconnected by a flat cable like an elongated belt which includes a plurality of conductors extending in parallel to each other and joined together with an insulating material, and when an expansion unit is coupled, the cable for interconnecting the transport mechanism and the control circuit section need not be replaced. This allows smooth coupling of an expansion unit and smooth transportation of a recording medium in the expansion unit to a recording and/or playback section by the transport mechanism of the basic unit.
A basic unit, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
The cassettes being arranged in multiple levels: the cassettes being transferred to a fixed recorder or player using a moving carriage
With rotatable magazine: the cassettes being arranged in a single level
Automatic cassette changing arrangements; automatic tape changing arrangements: control of the cassette changing arrangement
Disposition of constructional parts in the apparatus, e.g. of power supply, of modules: the apparatus comprising a plurality of…
Term ended 5 Nov 2021 (estimated)
This invention relates to a recording and/or playback apparatus, and more particularly to a recording and/or playback apparatus called tape library which accommodates a plurality of cassette tapes and records or plays back data onto or from a selected one of the cassette tapes.
Where a large amount of data is handled, it is necessary to back up data of a server. Such backup is usually performed by recording data onto a compact disk. However, where a large recording capacity is required, a cassette tape, for example, an 8 mm tape or the like is used. Since much time is required for accessing to a cassette tape, a cassette tape is used to back up a large amount of data, while data which are used frequently are recorded onto and played back from a compact disk. A cassette tape has a storage capacity of approximately 50 to 100 GB.
A recording and/or playback apparatus called tape library for recording or playing back data onto or from tape cassettes requires an accommodation mechanism for accommodating cassette tapes, a recording and playback mechanism for recording or playing back the cassette tapes, and a feeding mechanism for feeding a cassette tape between the accommodation mechanism and the recording and playback mechanism.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a basic unit of a tape library to which the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the basic unit of FIG. 1 as viewed obliquely from below;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a table that is a component of a cassette shelf of the basic unit of FIG. 1;
1. General Configuration of the Tape Library
An appearance of a tape library to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. 11. The tape library may be implemented as various combinations of several units, and FIG. 11 shows the tape library which is one of such possible combinations. Referring to FIG. 11, the tape library 1 shown includes a basic unit 2 positioned at the bottom thereof, three expansion units 3, and an expansion unit 4 positioned at the top thereof.
The basic unit signifies a unit essentially required for the tape library, and the expansion units are those units which need not necessarily be provided but may be provided in suitable quantity in accordance with the number of cassette tapes used frequently.