Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Stack forming apparatus
Patent
1995-04-28
1997-04-22
Bucci, David A.
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Stack forming apparatus
414275, 414280, 414331, B65G 112
Patent
active
056224702
ABSTRACT:
A method and associated apparatus within a storage library subsystem for simply adapting the motion of a robotic mechanism for moving media cartridges to allow for mechanical misalignments. When retracting a cartridge from a slot in the library subsystem, the present invention monitors a sensor in the gripper hand to verify that the cartridge is not being pulled from the gripper due to "snagging" caused by mechanical misalignment of the had with the slot. When a snag is sensed, the methods and apparatus of the present invention stop the motion, initiate robotic actions to regroup the cartridge securely, and retry the retraction with adjustments to the robotic movements and positions to avoid the snag. When inserting a cartridge into a slot in the library subsystem, the present invention monitors the progress of the servo motor controlling the robot to determine whether the motion is blocked due to mechanical misalignment of the robotic mechanism with the slot. If the robot is blocked from moving to a desired position, then the methods and apparatus of the present invention retries the insert operation with horizontal and/or vertical offsets of the robotic mechanisms to adjust for the mechanical misalignment. When retraction or insertion adjustments result in a successful operation, the adjustments are recorded in a memory for use in future insert or retraction operations.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3943343 (1976-03-01), Irie
patent: 4039785 (1977-08-01), Ziemann
patent: 4844679 (1989-07-01), Teranishi
patent: 4846619 (1989-07-01), Crabtree et al.
patent: 4908777 (1990-03-01), Wolfe
patent: 4981409 (1991-01-01), Hirose et al.
patent: 4984106 (1991-01-01), Herger et al.
patent: 5040159 (1991-08-01), Oliver et al.
patent: 5102280 (1992-04-01), Poduje et al.
patent: 5134600 (1992-07-01), Oliver et al.
patent: 5143193 (1992-09-01), Geraci
patent: 5164928 (1992-11-01), Oliver et al.
patent: 5231552 (1993-07-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 5235474 (1993-08-01), Searle
patent: 5303034 (1994-04-01), Carmichael et al.
patent: 5321353 (1994-06-01), Furness
patent: 5323327 (1994-06-01), Carmichael et al.
patent: 5429470 (1995-07-01), Nicol et al.
Graeber Stephen W.
Jackson Thomas P.
Schaefer Robert J.
Sills Richard E.
Breece Hill Technologies, Inc.
Bucci David A.
Fishman Daniel N.
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for adaptive cartridge retrieval and insert does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for adaptive cartridge retrieval and insert, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for adaptive cartridge retrieval and insert will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-338335