Digital optical disc magazine
View Patent ↗Technology is provided for digital optical disc magazines. The disc magazine includes a cabinet, at least one disc drive positioned within the cabinet, and a plurality of drawers disposed in the cabinet. A plurality of disc trays are disposed in the plurality of drawers and each disc tray includes a plurality of disc locations. A bi-directional disc pusher is supported on a gantry between adjacent drawers and is positionable along the adjacent drawers proximate a selected target disc location corresponding to one of the plurality of disc locations. A robotic gripper is positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed at least partially from the target disc location by the disc pusher and to transport the disc to the disc drive.
1. An optical disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
one or more drawers in the cabinet;
at least one disc tray in the one or more drawers;
a gantry;
a disc pusher supported on the gantry within the cabinet and positionable relative to the disc tray adjacent a selected target disc location; and
a gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed from the target disc location by the disc pusher;
wherein the gripper includes two or more fingers at least one of which actuates in a radial direction with respect to a disc located at least partially within the at least one disc tray, and wherein selected ones of the two or more fingers comprise a flexible disc engaging portion.
2. The disc magazine of claim 1 , wherein the at least one disc tray includes a plurality of slots each configured to receive a disc therein.
3. The disc magazine of claim 2 , wherein the tray includes a plurality of openings each corresponding to one of the plurality of slots and positioned to receive the disc pusher.
4. The disc magazine of claim 1 , wherein the gripper includes a hub grip positioned to engage a central opening of a disc.
5. The disc magazine of claim 1 , comprising two or more drawers and wherein the disc pusher is bi-directional and located between adjacent drawers.
6. The disc magazine of claim 5 , further comprising a first actuator operative to move the disc pusher in a first direction, and a second actuator operative to move the disc pusher in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction.
7. The disc magazine of claim 1 , further comprising a disc drive positioned within the cabinet to receive a disc from the gripper.
8. A disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
at least one disc drive coupled to the cabinet;
a plurality of drawers in the cabinet;
a plurality of disc trays in at least one of the plurality of drawers, wherein each disc tray includes a plurality of disc locations;
a gantry;
a bi-directional disc pusher supported on the gantry between adjacent drawers and positionable along the adjacent drawers proximate a selected target disc location corresponding to one of the plurality of disc locations; and
a robotic gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed at least partially from the target disc location by the disc pusher and to transport the disc to the disc drive;
wherein the gripper includes two or more fingers at least one of which actuates in a radial direction with respect to a disc located within the at least one disc tray, and wherein selected ones of the two or more fingers comprise a flexible disc engaging portion.
9. The disc magazine of claim 8 , wherein each disc location is a vertically oriented slot including a corresponding opening in the at least one disc tray positioned to receive the disc pusher.
10. The disc magazine of claim 8 , wherein the gripper includes a hub grip positioned to engage a central opening of a disc.
11. The disc magazine of claim 8 , further comprising a disc sensor mounted on the gantry and operative to identify the target disc location.
12. The disc magazine of claim 8 , wherein the gripper includes one or more pivots whereby the gripper can move a disc between first and second angular orientations.
13. A disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
at least one disc drive coupled to the cabinet;
a plurality of drawers in the cabinet;
a plurality of disc trays in at least one of the plurality of drawers, wherein each disc tray includes a plurality of disc locations;
a gantry;
a bi-directional disc pusher supported on the gantry between adjacent drawers and positionable along the adjacent drawers proximate a selected target disc location corresponding to one of the plurality of disc locations; and
a robotic gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed at least partially from the target disc location by the disc pusher and transport the disc to the disc drive, wherein the gripper includes one or more pivots whereby the gripper can move the disc between first and second angular orientations and a hub grip positioned to engage a central opening of a disc.
14. The disc magazine of claim 13 , further comprising a disc sensor mounted on the gantry and operative to identify the target disc location.
15. The disc magazine of claim 14 , wherein the disc sensor is a camera.
16. An optical disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
one or more drawers in the cabinet;
at least one disc tray in the one or more drawers;
a gantry;
a disc pusher supported on the gantry within the cabinet and positionable relative to the disc tray adjacent a selected target disc location; and
a gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed from the target disc location by the disc pusher;
wherein the gripper includes two or more fingers at least one of which actuates in a radial direction with respect to a disc located at least partially within the at least one disc tray, and wherein the gripper includes a hub grip positioned to engage a central opening of a disc.
17. An optical disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
two or more drawers in the cabinet;
at least one disc tray in the one or more drawers;
a gantry;
a bi-directional disc pusher supported on the gantry within the cabinet between adjacent drawers and positionable relative to the disc tray adjacent a selected target disc location;
a first actuator operative to move the disc pusher in a first direction, and a second actuator operative to move the disc pusher in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction; and
a gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed from the target disc location by the disc pusher.
18. A disc magazine, comprising:
a cabinet;
at least one disc drive coupled to the cabinet;
a plurality of drawers in the cabinet;
a plurality of disc trays in at least one of the plurality of drawers, wherein each disc tray includes a plurality of disc locations;
a gantry;
a bi-directional disc pusher supported on the gantry between adjacent drawers and positionable along the adjacent drawers proximate a selected target disc location corresponding to one of the plurality of disc locations; and
a robotic gripper positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed at least partially from the target disc location by the disc pusher and to transport the disc to the disc drive;
wherein the gripper includes two or more fingers at least one of which actuates in a radial direction with respect to a disc located within the at least one disc tray, and wherein the gripper includes a hub grip positioned to engage a central opening of a disc.