JPH0454292B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording medium inspection device for inspecting recording media such as floppy disk cartridges and optical disk cartridges.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, such a recording medium inspection medium is generally
A recording medium that has one inspection unit that records and reproduces information on the recording medium for inspection of the recording medium, supplies the recording medium to it, records and reproduces information, and has finished recording and reproducing information. After the recording medium is ejected, the recording medium is again supplied to the inspection unit, and thus the recording medium is inspected.

Handling such as feeding and discharging such a recording medium is now performed manually or by a recording medium handling mechanism. The recording medium handling mechanism is generally adapted to both supply and eject the recording medium by a single carrier capable of transporting the recording medium in both directions.

[Problems to be Solved] Depending on the type of recording medium, the content of the inspection, etc., the processing time of the inspection unit for one recording medium becomes considerably long. However, since conventional recording medium inspection devices generally have only one inspection unit,
In the case of recording media or inspection contents that require a long processing time such as inspection reproduction, there is a problem that a sufficient inspection processing speed cannot be achieved.

Furthermore, even in devices that automate the handling of recording media, the recording media handling mechanism feeds and discharges the recording media using a common carrier, so the handling time of the recording media is relatively long, and therefore the inspection unit is This increases the operation stop time and reduces the inspection processing speed.

[Object of the Invention] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium inspection apparatus that improves the conventional problems and improves the inspection processing speed.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A feature of the recording medium inspection device of the present invention for achieving such an object is that a plurality of inspection units are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction so that the recording medium delivery positions coincide. a recording medium inspection device having a plurality of columns arranged in the vertical direction; and a recording medium inspection device provided along the column direction at a predetermined distance from the inspection device, and supplying the recording medium before inspection to the inspection unit. a recording medium supplying means for the recording medium supplying means; a recording medium discharging means provided vertically above or below the recording medium supplying means for receiving the inspected recording medium discharged from the inspection unit; an inspection device and the recording medium; A plurality of inspection units are disposed between the recording medium supply means and the recording medium supply means, and are provided corresponding to each inspection unit that receives the recording medium from the recording medium supply means in correspondence with each inspection unit in one row, and supplies the recording medium to each inspection unit in one row. a supply carrier; a plurality of ejection carriers that are arranged above or below each of the plurality of supply carriers and receive recording media from a row of inspection units and eject them to a recording medium ejection means; and a plurality of supply carriers. and vertical moving means for moving the plurality of discharge carriers together in the longitudinal direction of the inspection device and selectively positioning one of the plurality of carriers in a certain row of the inspection unit, After the carrier receives the recording medium from a certain line of inspection units, a plurality of supply carriers deliver the recording medium before inspection to the certain line of inspection units, and then the ejection carrier receives the recording medium to the recording medium ejection means. The recording medium is discharged or the supply carrier receives the recording medium before inspection from the recording medium supply means. .

[Function] In this way, a carrier mechanism for handling the recording medium is interposed between the inspection unit and the recording medium supply/discharge means such as a belt conveyance mechanism, and this carrier mechanism is constituted by a supply carrier and a discharge carrier, Furthermore, the discharge carrier is arranged above or below the supply carrier, and is configured so that both of them move along the front side (recording medium delivery surface) of the inspection device, so that each discharge carrier records the data from the inspection unit in each row. After receiving the medium, the recording medium before inspection is simultaneously loaded from each supply carrier into each inspection unit, and furthermore, the recording medium is continuously recorded on the recording medium supplying or discharging means such as a belt conveying mechanism. Since the medium is delivered or received, the handling process from loading and unloading the recording medium to each inspection unit to supplying or discharging the recording medium can be performed continuously. In addition, it is possible to cycle through the loading, unloading, and loading of recording media, making it possible to efficiently inspect many recording media.

In addition, since it has a plurality of recording medium handling mechanisms corresponding to each row of the inspection unit, it is possible to feed and discharge recording media in parallel to each row. Operation stop time can be shortened.

Therefore, the inspection processing speed of the apparatus as a whole can be significantly improved compared to the conventional method.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording medium inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

In this figure, numerals 10 each indicate an inspection unit, and as shown in the figure, a large number of inspection units are arranged in a plurality of rows in a matrix. Each inspection unit 10
A drive unit is used to record and reproduce information on a recording medium in order to inspect the recording medium, and may be similar to the drive unit for the recording medium in question. It has a built-in mechanism such as a mechanism for pushing out and an eject mechanism for pushing out.

A recording medium handling mechanism for supplying and discharging recording media to and from the inspection unit 10 is provided corresponding to each row of inspection units 10. The recording medium handling mechanism for each column is
It has a supply carrier 12 and a discharge carrier 14.

The supply carrier 12 takes in the recording medium 18 from the carry-in belt 16 at the take-in position and supplies it to the inspection unit 10 .

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the internal structure of the supply carrier 12 in a simplified manner. As shown, inside the supply carrier 12 is a recording medium 18.
A conveyor belt 20 and a press roller 22 that take in and convey the conveyor belt 20 and a press roller 22
There is a pusher 24 for pushing out the recording medium conveyed by the inspection unit 10 toward the inspection unit 10 side.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the recording medium 18 is carried by the carry-in belt 16 to the recording medium take-in position of each supply carrier 12, and is kept waiting there. A pusher 26 that pushes the recording medium 18 on the carry-in belt 16 toward the supply carrier 12 is provided near each recording medium take-in position in order to assist the recording medium take-in operation by the supply carrier 12. The drive mechanism for this pusher 26 is omitted in the figure.

The discharge carrier 14 takes in the inspected recording medium from the inspection unit 10 and discharges it onto the discharge belt 28 at the discharge position. The internal structure of this discharge carrier 14 is similar to that of the supply carrier 1.
The internal structure is similar to that of 2.

The supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14 are
As shown in the figure, they are stacked one on top of the other and fixed to the support plate 30. Lifting plates 32a and 32b are fixed to both ends of this support plate 30.

34 is the conveyor belt 2 of the supply carrier 12 of each row.
It is a transmission shaft for transmitting rotational force to the
As shown, it passes through each supply carrier 12, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by lifting plates 32a and 32b, respectively. This transmission shaft 34 is rotationally driven directly by a motor 36 fixed to the elevating plate 32a or indirectly via a belt or the like.

38 is the conveyor belt 2 of the discharge carrier 14 of each row.
It is a transmission shaft for transmitting rotational force to the
As shown, it passes through each discharge carrier 14, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by lifting plates 32a and 32b, respectively. This transmission shaft 38 is rotationally driven directly by a motor 40 fixed to the elevating plate 32a or indirectly via a belt or the like.

The elevating plates 32a and 32b are guided by guide shafts 42 to 48, respectively, and are movable in the vertical direction (in the row direction of the inspection units 10).

50 and 52 are elevating plates 32a and 32b, respectively.
This is a screw shaft for raising and lowering.
54 and 56 are screw shafts 50 and 56, respectively.
52, and is fixed to a fixed part (not shown). Each motor 54,5
Gears 58 and 60 are fixed to the rotating shaft of 6 and mesh with gears 62 and 64 of screw shafts 50 and 52, respectively.

With such a configuration, the motors 54, 56
By operating the screw shafts 50, 52 and rotating the screw shafts 50, 52, the elevating plates 32a, 32b can be raised or lowered.

66, 68 are brakes connected to the gears 58, 60. By operating the brakes 66, 68, the stopping positions of the elevating plates 32a, 32b can be precisely controlled.

In this way, by controlling the motors 54, 56 and the brakes 66, 68, the supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14 of each recording medium handling mechanism are precisely positioned immediately in front of any inspection unit 10 in the corresponding row. It's becoming like that.

In addition, motors 36, 40, 54, 56, brakes 66, 68, carry-in belt 16, carry-out belt 2
8, pusher 26, inspection unit 10, etc., are naturally provided, but are not shown.

In addition, in connection with such control, sensors for detecting the positions of the supply carrier 12, discharge carrier 14, carry-in belt 16, etc., the presence or absence of a recording medium on the carry-in belt 16, and records on the supply carrier 12 and discharge carrier 14, etc. Naturally, sensors are installed to detect the presence or absence of media, etc.
It is omitted from the figure.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing an example of the operation of this recording medium inspection apparatus. Note that the operations of each column of the inspection unit 10 are exactly the same. The operation will be explained below with reference to this time chart.

The inspection units 10 in each row are sequentially supplied with recording media starting from the top row, and start operations such as recording and reproducing in sequence.

Inspection unit 1 on the top stage starts operation first
When the operation such as recording and reproducing 0 ends at the point in time, the discharge carrier 14, which had been at the home position HPb (at the same height as the carry-in/out belt 28), moves to the height of the inspection unit 10 on the uppermost stage. Positioned.

Once this positioning is done, the discharge carrier 14
starts the operation of taking in the recording medium from the inspection unit 10.

At a point after this recording medium loading operation is completed, the supply carrier 12 is positioned at the level of the uppermost inspection unit 10.

Once this positioning is done, the supply carrier 12
supplies the recording medium (already taken in) to the inspection unit 10 at the top.

At a point after this recording medium supply operation is completed, the supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14
are positioned at respective home positions HPa (at the same height as the carry-in belt 16) and HPb. Furthermore, the inspection unit 10 at the top stage starts recording and reproducing information on the supplied recording medium. Now, all the inspection units 10 from the top to the bottom of each column are in operation again.

When the supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14 are positioned, the supply carrier 12 takes in the recording medium from the carry-in belt 16, and at the same time the discharge carrier 14 discharges the recording medium (inspected recording medium) onto the carry-out belt 28.

Thereafter, the recording medium is carried in by the carry-in belt 16, and the inspected recording medium is carried out by the carry-out belt 28. In addition, the recording medium that was taken out is
According to the inspection results, by means not shown, the sheets are sorted into, for example, double-sided passes, single-sided passes, and both-sided fails.

Thereafter, at the point in time, the second stage inspection unit 10
When the operation is completed, it will return to the home position.
The discharge carrier 14 that has reached HPb is positioned at the height of the second stage inspection unit 10.

Once this positioning is achieved, the discharge carrier 14 begins to take in the recording medium from the inspection unit 10.

At a point after this recording medium loading operation is completed, the supply carrier 12 is positioned at the height of the second inspection unit 10.

Once this positioning is done, the supply carrier 12
supplies the recording medium (already taken in) to the second-stage inspection unit.

At a point after this recording medium supply operation is completed, the supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14
are positioned at their respective home positions HPa and HPb, and take in and eject the recording medium.

The second inspection unit 10 starts recording and reproducing information on the supplied recording medium. Now, all the inspection units 10 from the top to the bottom of each column are in operation again.

Thereafter, the carry-in belt 16 and the carry-out belt 28 are activated.

Recording media are similarly supplied and discharged to the third and subsequent inspection units 10.

In this way, only one of the inspection units 10 in each row temporarily stops operating to discharge and supply the recording medium, but the remaining inspection units 10 continue to operate.

A recording medium handling mechanism is provided for each column, and the inspection unit 1 at the same level in each column
Since the recording media are ejected and supplied to all rows at the same time, the inspection unit is not forced to wait for the recording media to be ejected and supplied, unlike in the case where there is only one recording medium handling mechanism for all columns.

Moreover, since the supply and discharge of the recording medium are performed in parallel by the supply carrier 12 and the discharge carrier 14, which are provided exclusively for each, the handling time is shorter than when the same carrier is used for both supply and discharge. be shortened.

In this way, this recording medium inspection device has a significantly higher inspection processing speed than conventional devices.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to one embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, the vertical relationship between the supply carrier and the discharge carrier may be reversed from that in the above embodiment.

In the embodiment described above, the supply carriers and discharge carriers in all rows are raised and lowered at the same time, but they may be raised and lowered independently for each row.
However, the above embodiment has the advantage that the mechanism for lifting and lowering can be simplified.

The recording medium may be carried in and out by means other than the belt.

The present invention may be implemented with various modifications in other device configurations and operations without departing from the spirit thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention arranges a plurality of inspection units in a plurality of rows, provides a recording medium handling mechanism corresponding to each row of inspection units, and performs a certain inspection in each row. In parallel with the supply or ejection of the recording medium to or from the unit, at least one other inspection unit in each row performs recording and reproduction of information on the recording medium, which greatly improves the inspection processing speed compared to conventional equipment. It is possible to realize a recording medium inspection device that can perform the following steps.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a simplified structure of an embodiment of a recording medium inspection device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a simplified internal structure of a supply carrier of the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a time chart showing an example of the operation of the embodiment. 10...Inspection unit, 12...Supply carrier, 1
4...Discharge carrier, 16...Carry-in belt, 28...Carry-out belt, 34, 38...Transmission shaft, 36,4
0,54,56...Motor, 42-48...Guide shaft, 50,52...Three shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording medium inspection device having a plurality of columns in the vertical direction in which a plurality of inspection units are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction so that the recording medium delivery positions coincide; a recording medium supply means provided along the column direction at a predetermined distance from the apparatus and for supplying the recording medium before inspection to the inspection unit; a recording medium discharging means provided on the upper side or the lower side and receiving the inspected recording medium discharged from the inspection unit; and a recording medium discharging means disposed between the inspection device and the recording medium supplying means, and receiving the inspected recording medium discharged from the inspection unit. receiving the recording medium from a corresponding one of the inspection units in the row;
a plurality of supply carriers provided corresponding to each of the inspection units for supplying the same to each of the inspection units in the one row; a plurality of ejection carriers that receive the recording medium from the storage medium and eject it to the recording medium ejection means, and move both the plurality of supply carriers and the plurality of ejection carriers in the longitudinal direction of the inspection device; longitudinally moving means for selectively positioning one of the plurality of carriers in a certain row of the inspection units, the plurality of carriers being selectively positioned in one of the plurality of inspection units after receiving the recording medium from one of the one of the plurality of inspection units by the plurality of ejection carriers. delivering the recording medium before inspection from the supply carrier to the certain row of inspection units;
Thereafter, the ejection carrier discharges the received recording medium to the recording medium ejection means, or the supply carrier receives the uninspected recording medium from the recording medium supply means.