Disc Library Device with Flexible Lifter for Stacked Magazine Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional disc devices face increased disc conveying time due to the need to suction and hold each disc individually, which becomes inefficient as the number of magazines and discs increases, leading to longer distances between disc drives and magazines, resulting in prolonged disc delivery times.
Innovation Solution
A disc device design featuring a carrier that retains discs in a stacked state, with a lifter that pushes out discs from a magazine tray and a picker that conveys the tray horizontally, allowing for direct vertical delivery to disc drives, and a flexibly mounted lifter that adjusts for misalignment, ensuring efficient disc delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the number of magazines and discs is increased to increase data capacity, then the data storage capacity is improved, but the distance between disc drive and magazine increases, resulting in increased disc conveying time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the disc conveying approach from horizontal movement across long distances to vertical stacking and retrieval. Multiple discs are stacked vertically on a single magazine tray, and the carrier moves vertically to deliver discs to disc drives, transforming a horizontal distance problem into a vertical space utilization solution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple discs into a single stacked configuration on one magazine tray, eliminating the need for separate magazines for each disc. This consolidation reduces the number of magazine units and their spatial distribution, thereby reducing conveying distances while maintaining high data capacity.
2Ease of operation
If discs are supplied one by one from magazine to disc drives as in conventional devices, then individual disc delivery is achieved, but considerable time is required for conveying discs to multiple disc drives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary stacking of multiple discs onto a single magazine tray before delivery. The carrier retrieves multiple pre-stacked discs in one operation and delivers them to multiple disc drives sequentially, eliminating the need for repeated individual retrieval and conveyance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier acts as an intermediary between the magazine tray and multiple disc drives. It receives a stack of discs from the magazine tray and sequentially delivers individual discs to different disc drives, enabling efficient multi-drive supply without requiring separate magazine-access operations for each drive.
3Speed
If the picker conveys magazine trays horizontally with heavy weight and low stopping accuracy, then tray conveyance is achieved, but the magazine tray may deviate from the optimal position, preventing appropriate disc delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The lifter is designed with flexible mounting that allows it to shift horizontally relative to the picker. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the lifter to compensate for positioning deviations of the magazine tray, maintaining accurate disc delivery even when the tray arrives at a deviated position due to the picker's limited stopping precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the mounting parameters of the lifter from fixed to flexible, allowing horizontal displacement. This parameter change enables the lifter to adapt its position to match the actual arrival position of the magazine tray, ensuring accurate disc transfer despite picker positioning variations.
Data Source
AI summary
The disc device includes a picker which conveys, in a horizontal direction, a magazine tray in which a plurality of discs are stored, a lifter which pushes out the plurality of discs from the magazine tray, and a carrier which shifts in a vertical direction, which retains in a stacked manner the plurality of discs pushed out by the lifter, and which supplies the discs to a plurality of disc drives, respectively. The lifter is flexibly mounted such that the lifter shifts relative to the picker in the horizontal direction.