U.S. patent number 3,697,680 [Application Number 05/007,884] was granted by the patent office on 1972-10-10 for storage and retrieval system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Varian Adco. Invention is credited to Wayne D. Anstin.
United States Patent |
3,697,680 |
Anstin |
October 10, 1972 |
STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
Abstract
Documents or information in the form of microfilm or other
permanent form are mounted on rectangular frames or carriers which
are edge coded by notching. A plurality of carriers are stored in
one or more elongated storage bins with the bins arranged
side-by-side. An electromechanical carriage is adapted to move to a
selected bin and then to move over the selected bin to store or
retrieve carriers. During retrieval, the coded edges are scanned
and an electrical control starts a retrieval cycle to retrieve the
carrier having the desired document. The carrier is transported to
a display location where the document or information is read and
made available for use as a display, hard copy, or video signal.
The electrical control includes a memory which remembers the bin
location of each carrier whereby the bin containing the desired
carrier is selected and scanned to locate the desired carrier. In
refiling, the bin from which the carriers were removed is selected
and the carriers are filed sequentially in open locations.
Inventors: |
Anstin; Wayne D. (Cupertino,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Varian Adco (Palo Alto,
CA)
|
Family
ID: |
21728621 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/007,884 |
Filed: |
February 2, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
348/107; 348/112;
414/273 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K
17/0009 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06K
17/00 (20060101); B65g 001/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;214/16.4A,16.4R
;178/6,6.8 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Forlenza; Gerald M.
Assistant Examiner: Johnson; R.
Claims
I claim:
1. A system of the character described for storing and retrieving
carriers including at least one storage bin having means for
receiving and holding a plurality of carriers in spaced
relationship, a carriage adapted to be associated with said bin and
including a portion adapted to move along said bin, ejector means
on said carriage portion for ejecting selected carriers from said
bin, means for selectively stopping said carriage portion along
said bin whereby to position said ejector over a selected carrier
so that it can be ejected from the bin, a viewing area for viewing
said carriers, and means for receiving the ejected carriers and
transporting same to the viewing area.
2. A system as in claim 1 including means on said carriage portion
for receiving carriers from said viewing area, means for
transporting carriers from said viewing area to said receiving
means, means for selectively stopping said carriage in cooperative
relationship with open bin positions, and means on said receiving
means for inserting a carrier into said open bin position.
3. A system of the character described for storing and retrieving
carriers including at least one storage bin having means for
receiving and holding a plurality of carriers in spaced
relationship, said carriers including an identifying code, a
carriage adapted to be associated with said bin and including a
portion moving along said bin, a head mounted on said carriage
portion for movement therewith, said head including sensing means
for sensing the identifying code, ejector means for ejecting
selected carriers, means responsive to sensing of the identifying
code of a selected carrier for stopping said carriage to position
said ejector means over the selected carrier to eject the carrier
from the bin.
4. A system as in claim 3 wherein said identifying code comprises
notches formed along at least one edge of said carriers, and said
sensing means comprises a light adapted to project towards said
slots and a photocell spaced from said light and adapted to receive
light reflected from the edge of said carrier.
5. A system as in claim 3 wherein said head is movable with respect
to the carriage portion whereby after said carriage portion has
been stopped the head can be accurately positioned along the
bin.
6. A system as in claim 3 wherein said bin includes a plurality of
locating marks accurately located with respect to said carrier
positions, said head includes means for viewing the locating marks
on said bins and means are responsive to stoppage of said carriage
portion for moving said head along said bin whereby said viewing
means views said marks and generates a signal, and means responsive
to a predetermined mark count for stopping said head to thereby
accurately locate the ejector over the selected carrier.
7. A system as in claim 6 including means responsive to movement of
the ejector for returning the ejector to its starting position.
8. A system as in claim 7 including means for returning the head to
its starting position following ejection of a selected carrier.
9. A system as in claim 8 including means responsive to return of
the head to the starting position for starting movement of the
carriage portion along said bin.
10. A system as in claim 9 including means disposed at the end of
said bin for sensing the movement of said carriage to the end of
said bin, and means responsive to said sensing means for returning
the carriage portion to its starting position.
11. A system of the character described for storing and retrieving
carriers including a frame, a plurality of elongated storage bins
located side-by-side and each having means for receiving and
holding a plurality of carriers in spaced relationship mounted on
said frame, a carriage adapted to move across said bins, means for
stopping and locating said carriage in cooperative relationship
with a selected bin, said carriage including a portion adapted to
move along said bin, ejector means on said carriage portion for
ejecting selected carriers from said bin, means for selectively
stopping said carriage portion along said bin whereby to position
said ejector over a selected carrier so that it can be ejected from
the bin, a viewing area for viewing said carriers, and means for
receiving rejected carriers and transporting same to the viewing
area.
12. A system as in claim 11 including means on said carriage
portion for receiving carriers from said viewing area, means for
transporting carriers from said viewing area to said receiving
means, means for selectively stopping said carriage in cooperative
relationship with open bin positions, and means on said receiving
means for inserting a carrier into said open bin position.
13. A system of the character described for storing and retrieving
carriers including a plurality of elongated storage bins located
side-by-side and each having means for receiving and holding a
plurality of carriers in spaced relationship mounted on said frame,
said carriers including an identifying code, a carriage mounted on
said frame for movement across said bins, means for stopping and
locating said carriage in cooperative relationship with a selected
bin, said carriage including a portion adapted to move along said
bin, a head mounted on said carriage portion for movement
therewith, said head including sensing means for sensing the
identifying code, ejector means for ejecting selected carriers,
means responsive to sensing of the identifying code of a selected
carrier for stopping said carriage to position said ejector means
over the selected carrier to eject the carrier from the bin.
14. A system as in claim 13 wherein said identifying code comprises
notches formed along at least one edge of said carrier, and said
sensing means comprises a light adapted to project light towards
said slots and a phototransducer spaced from said light source and
adapted to receive light reflected from the edge of said
carrier.
15. A system as in claim 13 wherein said head is movable with
respect to the carriage portion whereby after said carriage portion
has stopped the head can be accurately positioned along said
bin.
16. A system as in claim 13 wherein each of said bins includes a
plurality of locating marks accurately located with respect to said
carrier positions, said head includes means for viewing the
location marks on said bins, means responsive to stoppage of said
carrier portion for moving said head along said bin whereby the
viewing means views said marks and generates a signal for each
mark, and means responsive to a predetermined mark count for
stopping said head to thereby accurately locate the ejector over
the selected carrier.
17. A system as in claim 16 including means responsive to movement
of the ejector for returning same to its starting position.
18. A system as in claim 17 including means for returning the head
to its starting position following ejection of a selected
carrier.
19. A system as in claim 18 including means responsive to return of
the head to the starting position for starting movement of the
carriage portion along said bin.
20. A system as in claim 19 including means disposed at the end of
each of said bins for sensing the movement of said carriage to the
end of the selected bin, and means responsive to said sensing means
for returning the carriage portion to its starting position.
21. A system as in claim 11 wherein said means for transporting
said carriers to said viewing area comprises a conveyor belt
disposed to move beneath said selected bin to transport the
carriers to one end of said frame, and conveyor belt means for
receiving said carrier and transporting same to the viewing
area.
22. A system as in claim 21 wherein said conveyor belt means
includes means for stopping and lifting said carriers as they are
delivered to the viewing area, and means for selectively viewing
said carriers.
23. A system as in claim 2 wherein said carrier receiving means is
adapted to receive a plurality of carriers in stacked relationship,
and to present said carriers sequentially to said means for
inserting carriers into the open slots.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a document and information
storage and retrieval system and more particularly to an automated
system for filing, storing, retrieving, displaying, copying,
refiling and updating documents and information carried on carriers
as, for example, in the form of microfilm.
Document and information storage systems using coded cards or
carriers are known in the art. The cards or carriers are coded,
stored and retrieved in a variety of ways. In general, a face
coding is employed whereby the face or a portion of the face of
each card or carrier must be scanned in order to select the desired
carrier. To conserve storage space, the cards or carriers are
packed in such a manner that they are touching one another. This
requires that they must either be separated in order to scan the
coded face and separated to allow the selected carriers to be
removed. Other systems utilize roll microfilm and strip microfilm
which is fed past a reader or copier. Still other storage systems
utilize video tape.
The major difficulty with prior art systems is the lack of ability
to, upon command, automatically, rapidly and accurately find,
retrieve and display or copy any desired stored documents and to
update and store documents in the system no matter how large the
size of the file.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved
document and information storage and retrieval system.
It is another object of the invention to provide a document storage
and retrieval system which, upon command, automatically, rapidly
and accurately finds documents stored in bins, retrieves the
documents, displays or copies the documents and then stores the
documents in their respective bin.
It is another object of the invention to provide a document storage
and retrieval system in which the documents can be easily
up-dated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an
improved search and refile head for a document storage and
retrieval system.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an
improved document carrier.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are achieved by a
system which includes a plurality of elongated storage bins
disposed side-by-side and each including means for receiving and
holding a plurality of coded document carriers in spaced
face-to-face parallel relationship. A carriage is adapted to move
to and then along a selected bin. The carriage includes a storage
and retrieval head which includes means for reading the code on the
carriers, transmitting a signal to the electrical control circuit
which serves to stop the carriage when a selected carrier is found.
The search and refile head then moves within the carriage to
register with and then release the selected carrier. A transport
means accepts the retrieved carrier and transports it to a display
station where the document carried by the carrier is read, copied
or displayed. Upon completion of the reading, display and/or copy
operation, the carrier is returned to the storage and retrieval
head where it is transported along the bin and re-inserted into the
first open filing space.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a storage and retrieval system
in accordance with the invention including a storage unit,
operator's console and copy and display apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a storage unit showing the storage bins,
carriage, reading station, and camera and carrier transport
belts.
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view taken generally along the line
3--3 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 4--4 of
FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a partial rear elevational view taken generally along the
line 5--5 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a side elevational view taken along the line 6--6 of FIG.
2.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the carriage taken generally along
the line 7--7 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective broken view of a storage bin.
FIG. 8A is an enlarged view of the portion 8A--8A of FIG. 8.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9--9 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 10 is a plan view of the carriage and storage and retrieval
head.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of the storage and retrieval head
shown in outline in FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a view, partly in section, of the carrier retrieval or
eject mechanism.
FIG. 13 is a side elevational view showing the carrier retrieval
and refile mechanism.
FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 14--14
of FIG. 2 showing storage bins arranged side-by-side.
FIGS. 15A - 15E and FIGS. 16A - 16E show the progressive positions
of the refile mechanism during a refile operation.
FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of the search and read
controls.
FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of the refile controls.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The system of the present invention includes a multilevel storage
cabinet 11 having a plurality of storage levels 12, each of which
contains a storage unit of the type shown in FIG. 2. Each level 12
includes a plurality of side-by-side elongated bins which hold
edge-notched film carriers. Each level includes scanning,
retrieval, transportation, display and refiling system for
selectively filing and retrieving carriers carrying documentary or
other information.
An electrical control console 13 is associated with the storage
cabinet and levels for indexing appropriate cabinet level and bins
within each storage level. The electrical control apparatus
includes a memory for remembering the bin location of each carrier.
In addition, there is provided an apparatus 14 which serves to
provide hard copy, transmit video information or otherwise display
the document or information on the selected carrier.
In operation, when a particular document of information is desired,
its normal decimal, numerical or alpha-numerical code is entered in
the keyboard 16 of the operator's console. As the code is entered,
it is converted to machine-readable code utilized by the system for
selecting the appropriate storage cabinet, level and bin within the
level where the carrier containing the information is stored.
Thereafter, the carriage moves over and searches through the
selected bin to retrieve or eject the desired carrier and present
it for reading. It can be viewed at 17 or printed in hard copy at
14.
Each storage level, FIGS. 2 through 11, is self-contained. The
level includes a suitable support frame 21 including cross members
22 (FIGS. 2, 14) which receive and support the sub-assemblies and
elongated storage bins 23 which are arranged in side-by-side
relationship. The storage bins serve to receive and retain carriers
24, FIGS. 8 and 8A. The carriers include a rectangular frame 26
having a window or opening 27. The frame serves to hold microfilm
28 or other document or information storage member. The rectangular
carrier includes edge-notching or coding 29. The edge coding may
comprise a binary, decimal binary, octal or other suitable
machine-readable code which will allow the system to search for, to
locate and select carriers containing the desired document or
information.
The carriers 24 are inserted into opposed cooperating grooves 31
formed in the side walls of the storage bins. In general, the
storage bins are in the form of a tray with open top and bottom.
The rectangular carriers are held vertically in the bins in the
spaced grooves 31. The edge-notched code in each of the carriers is
presented at the top of the bin where it can be easily read. If
required, it is possible also to apply a code to the other edge of
the carrier where it is exposed at the bottom of the bin. The
carriers are suitably retained in the storage bins. For example, a
resilient member 32 can be placed along the bottom edge of one side
of the bin to close the end of the grooves whereby to prevent the
carrier from slipping through the bin under its own weight but
which yields to allow the carrier to pass when the carrier is being
ejected or retrieved.
One of the sides of the storage bin includes marks 33 which are
employed in connection with the search and refile head for
accurately positioning the head over the correct carrier during a
retrieval or refile operation, whereby the correct carrier is
retrieved or refiled.
A carriage 34 is mounted for movement in the X direction to
cooperate with a selected bin 23. The search and refile head 36
moves over the selected bin in the Y-direction to select a
particular carrier or carriers as will be presently described.
The carriage 34 includes spaced support bearings 37 which ride on
spaced shafts 38 (supported on the frame 21) to allow the carriage
to move in the X-direction. The search and refile head 36 is
carried on bearings 39 which support the head on spaced shafts 41
supported by the movable carriage for movement in the Y-direction.
The carrier is moved by a belt, chain or cable 42 driven by a motor
43 mounted on the frame 21. The carriage is secured to the belt 42
so that it moves with the belt along the shafts 38 when the belt is
driven by the motor 43.
A plurality of switches 44 (FIGS. 2 and 5) are disposed on the
frame 21 next to the carriage 34. The switches are actuated by a
cam (not shown) mounted on the carriage. There is one switch 44
associated with each bin and is adapted, when actuated, to send a
signal to the electrical controls. When the carriage is over the
desired bin, it actuates the corresponding switch and the control
turns off power to the motor 43 to stop the carriage.
Means are provided for accurately positioning the carriage with
respect to the selected bin. The positioning mechanism is shown
more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 7. It comprises a pin 46 which is urged
downwardly by spring 47. The pin is held in its retracted position
by means of a cable 48 cooperating with the lever arm 49 pivoted at
the end 51 and engaged at its other end by the solenoid armature
52. When the solenoid 53 is energized, the pin is retracted and the
carriage can move in the X-direction. When the carriage is stopped,
the pin fits into a tapered hole 54 on plate 55 carried by the
frame and thereby moves and positions the carriage.
The search and refile head 36 is moved along spaced shafts 41 by
means of a drive belt 56 driven from a motor 57 (FIGS. 2, 5). The
motor is energized after the pin 46 has been seated to locate the
carriage in the X-direction. The search and refile head is suitably
attached to the belt and is moved in the Y-direction as the belt
rotates.
The search and refile head is shown in more detail in FIGS. 10, 11,
12 and 13. The mechanism includes a code or card-reading assembly
58 mounted on the front end of the search and refile head. The
sensing assembly 58 comprises a plurality of parallel light sources
59 disposed to project light 61 at an angle towards the top edge of
the carriers. A phototransducer 62 is positioned to receive light
reflected from the top edge of the carriers. The light source 59
and phototransducer 62 are arranged in such a manner so as to lie
exactly opposite to each other and are equal in number to the
selected code. Preferably, the light sources 59 project a
collimated light beam which is adapted to shine directly on the top
edge of the film carriers 24. The light is reflected off of the top
edge of the film carriers and is sensed by the phototransducers.
One or more of the collimated light beams will pass through the
notched portion and not be sensed. Thus, an identifying binary code
can be provided by appropriately notching the edges. When the code
reference number of the desired document is entered by the system
operator into the control, this number is translated to the
corresponding carrier code and applied to a comparator, whereby
when the selected carrier code is generated by the phototransducer,
a command signal is generated which stops the Y-drive motor 57.
Simultaneously, a dynamic braking assembly 63 mounted on the side
of the carriage engages the shaft 41 and locks the carriage against
further movement. Thus, the carriage is positioned along the
bin.
The carriage includes means for advancing the search and refile
head within the carriage to accurately position the head over the
selected carrier to retrieve or eject the carrier from the storage
bin. Thus, the search and refile head 36 includes a sub-carriage 71
carried by spaced bearings 72 mounted on shafts 73 (FIG. 10)
mounted on the carriage 34. A drive motor 74 is mounted on the
carriage 34 and drives lead screw 76. The lead screw is provided
with a nut 77 connected to one of the bearings 72 to move the head
36 in the Y-direction in response to energization of the motor 74.
Thus, after the carriage 34 is locked in place on the rods 41, the
sub-carriage 71 moves responsive to rotation of the lead screw
76.
When the sensing assembly 58 senses the desired carrier, the
carriage is locked in place along the bin. Simultaneously, the
motor 74 is energized to bring into alignment the carrier ejector
blade 70 (FIG. 12). As previously described, each of the bins
carries reference marks 33 along one top edge. A sensor 78
comprising a light source 79 and phototransducer 81 is mounted on
the side of the head to scan the reference marks and generate
signals each time a mark is scanned. There is a fixed physical
distance between the centerline of the blade and reference mark
sensor. Thus, when the desired carrier is sensed and the carriage
stops, the storage bin slot reference mark sensor is turned on
along with the motor 74 thereby moving the search and refile head
forward. The storage bin slots are a fixed distance apart from the
centerline of one slot to the centerline of the next; the reference
marks are a corresponding precise distance apart equal to the
centerline spacing of the bin slots. The distance between the
ejector blade and the carrier sensor is fixed. Thus, after a
carrier is sensed by the scanner 58, the search and refile head is
moved ahead a given number of reference marks. For the sake of
example, assume that the distance equals eight reference marks.
The, the refile head carriage moves forward until eight reference
marks after the desired carrier is sensed and the carriage stopped,
at which time the motor 74 is turned off. The ejector blade 70 is
located accurately over the selected carrier.
After the carrier is ejected as will be presently described, the
motor 74 is reversed to return the head to its original position.
Its normal or return position is determined by engagement of the
microswitch 82 which turns off the motor 74 and resets the control
circuit.
The ejector blade 70 is driven by a pair of parallel screws 83
which threadably receive members 84 attached to the blade 70. The
screws are rotated by means of a motor 86 which drives shaft 87 and
lead screw 83. Gear means 88 drive shaft 89 which engages gear 91
to drive the other lead screw 83. The lead screws 83 also act as
guides for the ejector blade to ensure that it is properly aligned
as it enters the bin to eject the carrier from its associated
grooves.
Spaced brackets 92 are attached to control shaft 93. When the
ejector blade has reached its forward position and has ejected the
film carrier from the associated bin slot, the member 84 engages
bracket 92 to move shaft 93 which rotates the lever arm 94 pivoted
at 96 to actuate switches 97 and 98. Switch 97 is connected in
circuit to reverse the ejector blade motor 86 and retract the
blade. In its fully retracted position, the bracket 92 is engaged
by member 84 to actuate switch 98 and turn off the motor 86.
The electrical signal generated by the closing of the switch 98
energizes the search and refile stepper motor 74 to retract the
search and refile head 36. When the limit switch 82 is actuated, it
generates a signal which stops the search and refile head. In
addition, the signal turns on the code sensor 58 and starts the Y
drive motor 57 which drives the search and refile carriage further
down the storage bin. As it is driven, the code reader 58 continues
to search for selected film carriers. If it finds a selected
carrier, it will eject it in the manner described; if not, when it
reaches the end of the storage bin, it will actuate a limit switch
99 which will stop and reverse the motor 57 and signal completion
of the search of that particular bin. The search drive motor and
refile head assembly is returned to its start position where it
actuates a switch which is located at the retracted position of the
assembly (not shown in the drawings) to stop the motor 57.
Actuation of the switch turns off the Y-direction drive motor 57;
it releases the fine alignment positioning pin 46 and again
energizes the X-direction drive motor 43 to return the carriage to
its starting position when it is ready to receive the next command
signal to re-position the carriage for searching another or the
same bin.
Means are provided for moving the carriers 24 which are ejected
from the bins to an area 101 (FIG. 2) where the document or
information contained on the carriers 24 can be viewed or read. In
the embodiment of the invention shown, the transport means
comprises a conveyor belt system.
A conveyor belt 102 is located below each of the bins and moves in
the direction indicated by the arrows 103. The conveyor belt is
supported on spaced rollers suitably mounted to the frame 21. The
plurality of conveyor belts 102 may be driven by a single motor
(not shown). Alternately, there may be provided a single conveyor
belt 102 which travels in the X-direction with the carriage so that
it underlies the selected bin. Thus, when a carrier is ejected, it
falls downwardly onto the fast moving belt 102 and is delivered to
the far end of the machine. The carrier then falls onto a belt 104
which moves the carrier toward the reading area 101. The carrier is
then moved onto belt 105 which brings the carrier upwardly and
deposits the same onto conveying means 106 which may, for example,
comprise spaced O-ring belts 107 which are adapted to receive the
carrier frame and move the carrier to the display or read
position.
The spaced O-ring belt 107 allow light from a light source 108
(FIG. 9) to travel upwardly through the document in the carrier to
illuminate the document for viewing by the television camera. As
the retrieved carrier 24 moves up along the belt 105, it activates
a sensing means (not shown). The signal generated by the sensing
means actuates a solenoid (not shown) that is attached to the arm
109 at each of the viewing stations. The downward action of the
corresponding arm moves the film carrier lifters 111, 112, 113, 114
(FIG. 4) down below the level of the O-ring belt 107 and moves the
view area stops 116, 117, 118, 119 away from the belt 107 leaving
the first stop 116 in position. Movement of the stops 117, 118, 119
allows passage of the first film carriers into the first view area
121. A sensor (not shown) is located at each view area. Thus, when
the carrier is in the view area 121, the sensor is activated and it
releases the solenoid associated with the next stop 117 which
brings the stop into position and simultaneously lifts the lifter
114. This procedure is repeated until carriers are positioned in
the view areas 122, 123, 124. Thus, by selectively operating the
stops responsive to passage and positioning of film carriers, four
or more film carriers may be positioned for viewing and lifted
above the belt 107.
The viewing or reading means may comprise a video camera which is
mounted for movement to selectively view each of the areas and
generate an electrical signal which is transmitted to the display
station 13 and copying station 14. The reading means may also
include film copier, hard copier, optical viewer, flying spot
scanner or the like.
The camera 126 is mounted on a carriage 127 which rides on spaced
shafts 128. The carriage is driven by the lead screw 129 to
position the camera opposite a selected viewing area. The screw is
driven by motor 131 via belt 132. Rather than bringing the carriers
upright, the camera views the carriers through a mirror 133 (FIG.
4). The signal is then derived by the video camera and transmitted
along the line 134.
After the information on the carriers has been read, means are
provided for actuating the stop and lift solenoids to release the
carriers. The carriers then drop onto O-ring belt 107 and are moved
and delivered to the belt 136 which brings the carriers upwardly
and delivers them to the feed belt 137 associated with the search
and refile head 36.
As the first film carrier 24 moves onto the belt 137, a sensing
assembly 138 which may comprise a light source and phototransducers
senses the film carrier and generates a signal which is transmitted
to the control circuit. The solenoid 139 is energized and it
rotates a pair of arms 141 mounted on the sides of the receiving
station 142 into place, FIGS. 15A, 16A. Normally, the arms 141 are
in the position flush against the side wall of the receiving
station. When the arms are rotated into position, they receive the
film carriers 24 as they are moved into the receiving station 142
by the belt 137 through the opening in the back wall of the
station. When all of the film carriers 24 are in the station 142,
the solenoid 139 is deenergized and the arms 141 are rotated flush
with the side walls of the receiving station 142. This allows the
stacked carriers 24 to drop down into the station where the
carriers are received and held by spaced arms 146 which extend
inwardly into the station, FIGS. 15B, 16B. The arms 146 are mounted
on shafts 147 which are connected at their upper ends to cranks
148. The cranks are interconnected by linkage 149 and rotated by
solenoid 151. Each of the shafts carries second arms 152 disposed
at 90.degree. with respect to the arms 146 and below the same a
distance corresponding to the thickness of a carrier. Thus,
rotation of the shafts 147 by cranks 148 moves the arms 146 away
from the lower carrier and the arms 152 into place to receive the
carrier above the first carrier stacked in the receiving station.
When the arms are rotated to the retracted position, the bottom
carrier is released by the arms 146 and the stack is held by the
arms 152. Thus, means are provided for individually releasing the
carriers from the stack.
When all of the film carriers are in the station 142, a signal is
generated and transmitted to the control circuit. The control
circuit turns on the motor 43 to move the carriage into position
with the bin from which the carriers were originally retrieved.
When it locates the storage bin, it stops and is located in the
manner previously described. The search and refile head 36 moves
along the bins. A storage bin slot sensor (not shown) including a
light source and phototransducer move with the carriage as it moves
along the bins and generates a sensor signal when an open bin slot
is located which stops the carriage so that the search and refile
head assembly is directly over the open storage bin slot.
At the same time, the solenoid 151 which rotates the upper cranks
48 is energized to rotate shafts 147 and release the next carrier,
FIGS. 15C, 16C.
As the arms 146, 152 are returned to their normal position and the
lower carrier is released and falls onto an erector plate 153,
FIGS. 15C, 16C, at the same time rotary erector solenoid 154 is
energized and it rotates the arm 152. The solenoid 154 rotates the
erector plate to a vertical position, FIGS. 15D, 16D. After the
erector plate has been fully erected, solenoid 156 is energized and
serves to rotate the arms 157 which drive the injector blade 153 to
engage the top of the carrier and urge the same downwardly into the
open slot in the storage bin, FIGS. 15E, 16E. The injector is then
retracted.
At this point the storage bin slot sensor senses a filled slot and
generates a signal which is transmitted to the control circuit.
This signal releases the dynamic brake and the motor 57 moves the
carriage along the bin looking for the next available open bin slot
in which to store the next film carrier. When an open bin slot is
found, the head assembly stops and the next carrier is placed into
the storage bin.
When all the film carriers have been refiled, the motor 57 is
reversed and the carriage is returned to its starting position.
As described above, the various mechanical operations are initiated
and controlled by sensors and switches on the apparatus and
associated memory and control circuits. FIG. 17 is a schematic
block diagram of the search and read control, and FIG. 18 shows the
refile control.
Control console 13 and keyboard 16 are shown on the left side of
FIG. 17. A request for one or more documents, consisting of one or
more carriers, is initiated by actuating the reset button 166 which
generates a signal to reset the logic in the bin memory 167 and
chip memory 168. The bin memory includes a suitable electronic
memory which can be in the form of a logic circuit or core memory
which remembers the particular storage bin in which each of the
various carriers is located. The bin memory also includes logic
circuits and registers for remembering the carriers which are being
requested.
The operator enters carrier requests by operation of input switches
169. The requests are applied to a programmer 170 which serves to
store the information regarding the requests and to release one
request at a time to the bin memory 167 and to the chip memory 168.
The bin memory 167 provides a ready signal to the gate 171 when it
has found the bin address and the address to the bin coincidence
gate 172. After all requests have been entered, the execute button
173 is depressed and provides a signal to the gate 171. When the
gate 171 receives signals from the bin memory 167, the chip memory
168 and the execute signal, it provides an on signal to the run
logic circuit 174. This starts the carriage motor 43 to move the
carriage in the X-direction along the bins. As soon as the carriage
moves, it turns on the bin start position switch whereby the
circuit 174 continues to apply power to the carriage motor 43 so
that it continues to move along the bins and sequentially actuates
the bin location switches 44 each having a characteristic signal.
When the signal generated as a result of depression of a switch 44
coincides with the signal from the bin memory 167, a stop signal is
applied to the run logic circuit 174 to turn off the motor 43 and
stop the carriage and to deenergize the position solenoid 53 to
accurately locate the carriage with respect to the selected bin.
The coincidence signal is also applied from bin coincidence to the
logic circuit 175 which starts the search and refile head motor 57
to move the search and refile head assembly 36 along the length of
the bins. The chip memory 168 applies a signal to coincidence gate
176 which identifies the first requested carrier. As the search and
refile head moves along the bin, the code reader 58 applies signals
corresponding to the code on each of the carriers which it reads as
the head moves along the bin to the coincidence gate 176. When the
chip code read by the reader 58 corresponds to the chip memory
signal, the coincidence gate 176 generates an output signal which
is applied to the logic 175 to stop the search and refile head
motor 57, to the view area control circuit 178 which controls the
view area lifters and stops, to the belt motor 179 to start the
belt and to the motor control 181 which turns on the head motor 74.
The signal from the coincidence gate 176 also enables the mark
counter 182 which receives the signals from the mark reader 78.
When a predetermined count is reached, it generates an off signal
which is applied to motor control 181 to stop the head motor 74.
This accurately locates the ejector blade 70, as previously
described, and resets the side mark counter 182. The output of the
counter 182 is also applied to control circuit 183 which starts the
eject motor 86 to move the ejector blade downwardly and eject the
selected carrier. As soon as the blade reaches its extreme
position, it activates the switch 97 which applies a signal to the
reverse control 184 to reverse the eject motor which then travels
back until the switch 98 is activated, at which time the motor 86
is turned off. This signal is also applied to the motor control 186
which reverses the direction of the head motor 74 and returns the
head back to its starting position, at which point it actuates
switch 82 which turns off the head motor 74.
Actuation of the switch 82 also serves to apply a signal to the
control circuit 175 which starts the search and refile head motor
57. The sequence of operations just described is repeated until all
the carriers in the particular bin have been ejected.
When the search and refile head reaches the end of its travel, it
strikes the bin scan complete switch 187 which serves to reset the
chip memory, apply a signal to the search and refile head reverse
control circuit 188 to reverse the head motor and retract the head
along the bin to its starting position where the carriage start
switch 180 is actuated to enable the carriage to move to the next
bin.
Additionally, the signal enables the view control 178 which serves
to control the solenoids associated with the lifters 111, 112, 113,
114 and the stops 116, 117, 118 and 119 to thereby appropriately
position the carriers above the O-ring belt 107 for viewing. The
carriage is brought back to its original start position by the
reverse circuit 191 and the conveyor belt motors are turned off.
The view area control 178 receives the signal and controls the
video camera for sequential positioning to read the carriers at
each of the positions 121, 122, 123 and 124. Controls (not shown)
are also included in the console whereby the operator can
selectively position the camera to read any one of the desired
carriers.
When the operator has completed retrieving the desired information,
the operator commands a refile sequence. The refile sequence is
commenced by depressing the refile button 191 which sends a control
signal to the view area control 178, FIG. 18. The view area control
starts the motor which drives the O-ring belts 107, the belt 136
and the collector belt 142. A signal is also applied to the gate
192. The view area control 178 serves to sequentially lower the
lifters 114, 113, 112, 111 and to sequentially withdraw the stops
116, 117, 118 and 119 to thereby sequentially present the carriers
to the O-ring belt 107 where they move onto the belts 136 and 137.
When all of the chips have been collected in the collector
mechanism 142, which occurs a predetermined time after the start of
the sequence, a signal is applied by the delay circuit 193 to the
bin memory 167. The bin memory applies a signal to the gate 192
which controls the circuit 173 to start the carriage motor 57. The
bin memory 167 sends a bin address signal to the bin coincidence
gate 172 which is adapted to receive signals from the switches 44
and when the switch corresponding to the bin from which the
carriers were received is activated, provides an output signal
which stops the carriage motor 57 and actuates the position
solenoid 53. Simultaneously, it applies a signal to the control
circuit 175 to start the search and refile motor 57. This moves the
head along the bin until the first empty position is located by the
empty bin reader 195. When the empty bin reader 195 finds an empty
slot, it generates a signal which is applied to the coincidence
gate 196. The output from gate 196 is applied to the circuit 175 to
stop the motor 57 and to turn on the head motor 74. As the head
motor drives the search and refile head forward, the side marks are
read by the reader 78 and applied to the side mark counter which,
after counting a predetermined number of marks, activates the
circuit 181 to stop the head so that the carrier insert mechanism
overlies the empty slot. At the same time, the counter is reset.
The arms 146, 152 are rotated to drop one of the carriers into the
chip erect mechanism 153 and after a short time delay, introduced
by the circuit 197, the chip is erected. After another time delay
introduced by the delay 198, the insert solenoid 156 is turned on
to thereby insert the carrier into the open slot. After another
predetermined time delay introduced by the time delay 199, the head
motor reverse circuit 186 is triggered to turn on the motor 74 and
withdraw the head until the head start position switch 82 is
actuated to stop the head motor 74. Simultaneously, the circuit 175
is controlled to start the carriage so that it continues to move
forward along the bin until the next empty slot is located where
the sequence of operation just described is continued. When the bin
scan complete switch 187 is reached by the carriage, the reverse
circuit 188 is activated to return the carriage to the start
position.
It is, of course, apparent that sensors can be substituted for the
various time delay circuits 197, 198 and 199 whereby these time
delay circuits sense the dropping of the carrier, erection of the
erect mechanism and insertion of the carrier.
It is appropriate at this time to explain the reason for the side
mark reader and counter. It is contemplated that the apparatus will
move relatively fast and thus when the chip code reader or empty
bin slot reader locates a desired carrier or an empty bin slot, the
carriage motor will be turned off; however, due to inertia, it may
move some slight amount whereby the ejector or inserter blade would
not be accurately located. Thus, the apparatus includes marks on
the sides of the bins and a reader which serves to accurately count
the marks and to advance the head so that it will be exactly
positioned over the desired slot in the bin.
It is to be observed that the present system provides for storage
of carriers in selected bins and memories to remember the
particular bin location of each of the carriers. However, the
location of the carriers within the bins is not in the present
embodiment stored in memory. The apparatus relies rather upon
scanning each carrier in a bin to locate the selected carriers in
the bin.
* * * * *