JPH0457573B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to annularly formed recording media such as magnetic disks and optical disks, and spacers that form mutual intervals when they are assembled in a stacked state. The present invention relates to a method for transporting an annular member for taking out and positioning a large number of annular members from a magazine when assembling the annular member.

[Prior Art] For example, a magnetic disk device has come to be assembled with one or more magnetic disks (so-called hard disks in which a magnetic coating is formed on a substrate such as aluminum) inserted into a spindle. Furthermore, when a plurality of magnetic disks are assembled, a spacer is interposed between them. A large number of these annular members made up of magnetic disks and spacers are stored in a magazine and loaded onto an assembly device from the previous process.
The sheets are taken out one by one from this magazine, transferred to a loader section of a handler for assembly, and assembled by the handler so that they are sequentially inserted into a spindle.

Here, as a transfer method for taking out the annular member from the magazine and sending it to the loader section of the handler, the magazine is installed so that the annular member stored therein faces vertically, and the annular member is taken out from the magazine. The annular member stored in the member is taken out upwards, its posture is controlled so that it faces in a horizontal direction, and the annular member is mounted on the positioning member.Then, the positioning member is then placed in the handler for assembly. Conventionally, a device designed to be sent toward the destination has been used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, as mentioned above, if the annular member stored in the magazine is taken out in the vertical direction,
A means for taking out this annular member from the magazine and a means for positioning it must be provided separately. Therefore, not only does the mechanism of the transfer device become complicated, but also the means for taking out the annular member from the magazine and the means for positioning it must be provided separately. It requires a work process consisting of direction change, attitude control, transfer to a positioning member, and positioning, and has the drawback that the number of man-hours required for the transfer work is large, making it impossible to speed up the work. In addition, since the magazine is taken out with the annular member being chucked by the chuck member, if there is even a slight deviation in the dimensions or direction of the engagement groove of the magazine, it will be difficult to take out the magazine. There also arises the disadvantage that the resistance at is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and its object is to provide a circular ring that allows an annular member to be taken out smoothly from a magazine, and furthermore allows the annular member to be positioned in the taken out state. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for transporting an annular member.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an elevating member disposed above a chuck member that chucks the inner circumferential edge of an annular member and transports the annular member in the horizontal direction. a step of forming a large number of engagement grooves on both sides, and mounting a magazine storing an annular member between each of these engagement grooves with the annular member facing in a horizontal direction; With the chuck released, the magazine is lowered by the elevating member, thereby inserting the annular member located at the lowest stage stored in the magazine into the inside of the chuck member, and moving the chuck member horizontally. the step of taking out the lowest annular member from the magazine by moving the annular member to the position; and after the completion of taking out the annular member, actuating the chuck member;
The method is characterized by a positioning step of positioning the annular member by checking its inner peripheral edge.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, FIGS. 1 to 4 show the configuration of an apparatus for carrying out the method for transferring an annular member of the present invention. In the figure, an annular member configured as a device for transporting a magnetic disk in a device for assembling a magnetic disk into a spindle of a magnetic disk device is shown.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a magazine, and the magazine 1 has a large number of V-shaped engagement grooves 1a and 1b carved in opposite sides on its left and right side plates. Magnetic disks 2, 2, . . . are housed so as to be sandwiched between each engagement groove 1a, 1b.
Then, both end plates of the magazine 1 have notches 1c,
1d are formed respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, this magazine 1 is mounted on an elevating member 3 so as to be movable up and down so that the magnetic disk 2 stored therein is oriented horizontally. 3 can be raised and lowered at predetermined pitch intervals by, for example, a ball screw feeder 4.

Next, 5 indicates a chuck member, the chuck member 5 is mounted on a support block 6, and the chuck member 5 and the support block 6 have a shape that can be inserted into the notches 1c and 1d of the magazine 1. ing. A cylinder 7 is connected to the support block 6, and is reciprocally driven by the cylinder 7 to cause the chuck member 5 to take out the magnetic disk 2 from the magazine 1 and transfer it to the spindle of the magnetic disk device. The structure is such that it can be transferred to the loader section of the suction member 8 that constitutes the handler for assembly.

As shown in FIG. 3, the chuck member 5 has a shaft 10 erected on a support base 9 attached to a support block 6, and a peripheral wall portion fixed to the upper end of the shaft 10 with an engaging portion 11.
It is constructed by providing a mount 11 (a) and a movable engagement part 12, and a support surface part 13 is formed around the mount 11, on which the vicinity of the inner peripheral edge of the magnetic disk 2 is placed. ing. Here, a fixed engagement portion 11a formed on the mount 11
is formed into an arcuate shape slightly smaller than the minimum inner diameter in order to be able to engage with the magnetic disk 2 even if there are variations in shape due to manufacturing errors. moreover,
In order to displace the movable engagement part 12 between the chuck position and the chuck release position, the movable engagement part 12 is erected on a slider 14, and the slider 14 is mounted on a guide rail 15 mounted on the support base 9. A mounting member 16 is provided upright on the support base 9, and a movable engaging portion 12 is biased to the chuck position between the mounting member 16 and the slider 14. A spring 17 is tensioned. An operating cylinder 1 is mounted on the support base 9.
8 is attached, and when the rod 18a of the actuating cylinder 18 is extended, it comes into contact with the slider 14 and moves the movable engagement part 12 provided on the slider 14 against the spring 17 to the chuck release position. It is configured so that it can be moreover,
As shown in FIG. 4, the mount 11 of the chuck member 5 is formed with a recess 19 for centering, and the recess 19 is connected to the fixing block 11.
The magnetic disk 2 is disposed at a position where the distance from the fixed engagement portion 11a is equal to the radius of the inner circumferential circle of the magnetic disk 2. When the magnetic disk 2 is attracted by the attraction member 8, the centering portion 8a of the attraction member 8 is fitted into this recess 19, whereby the attraction position by the attraction member 8 can be determined. It's becoming like that.

The transfer device in this embodiment is constructed as described above. Next, a method for transferring the magnetic disk 2 using this device will be explained.

First, the magnetic disk 2 is in a state in which a magnetic coating is formed on a substrate made of aluminum or the like in a previous process, and is sandwiched between the engagement grooves 1a and 1b of the magazine 1 after undergoing processes such as drying and surface treatment. will be stored in. Then, insert this magazine 1 into its notch 1.
It is attached to the elevating member 3 so that c or 1d faces downward and the magnetic disk 2 housed therein faces horizontally.

Therefore, the elevating member 3 is lowered by the ball screw feeding device 4, which is the driving member. At this time, the chuck member 5 is held at the chuck release position where its movable engaging portion 12 is close to the recess 19. As a result, the chuck member 5 is connected to the magazine 1.
The mount 11 and the movable engagement part 12 are inserted into the inside through the notch 1c or 1d, and are fitted into the inner peripheral part of the lowermost magnetic disk 2 stored in the magazine 1, and the inner peripheral edge of the magnetic disk 2 is inserted into the inside. The vicinity thereof is brought into contact with the support surface portion 13. Here, since the chuck member 5 is in the chuck release position, the magnetic disk 2 is smoothly fitted into the fixed block 11 and the movable engaging portion 12.

In this way, when the chuck member 5 is inserted into the lowermost magnetic disk 2, this is detected by a sensor (not shown), and the operation of the elevating member 3 is stopped based on a signal from this sensor. 7 starts to operate, the chuck member 5 connected to the cylinder 7 moves with the chuck released, and as the chuck member 5 moves, the magnetic disk 2 is pulled out from the magazine 1 and the magnetic disk 2 is transferred to the loader section. By holding the chuck member 5 in the chuck-released state when the magnetic disk 2 is taken out in this way, for example, the engagement grooves 1a and 1b of the magazine 1 are not formed so as to strictly maintain parallelism. Even under such conditions, the magnetic disk 2 can be taken out from the magazine 1 smoothly and without resistance.

When the magnetic disk 2 reaches the loader section, the actuating cylinder 18 is actuated to separate the rod 18a from the slider 14. As a result, the biasing force of the spring 17 acts on the slider 14, displacing the movable engagement portion 12 provided upright on the slider 14 in a direction away from the recess 19, and moving the movable engagement portion 12 to the chuck position. The inner circumferential edge of the magnetic disk 2 is fixed on the support surface 13 in a state where it is supported at two points: it and the fixed engagement part 11a, and the distance between the fixed engagement part 11a and the recess 19 is is a distance slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the smallest substrate of the magnetic disk 2, but since the difference is extremely small, the distance between the movable engaging portion 12 and the concave portion 19 is within this radius. It comes into contact with the inner peripheral edge of the magnetic disk 2 at a position equal to . Therefore, the recess 19 formed in the mount 11 is located at the center of the magnetic disk 2, and the magnetic disk 2 is precisely positioned by the chuck member 5. Therefore, by activating the suction member 8 to attract the magnetic disk 2 taken out in this way, the magnetic disk 2 can be inserted into the spindle by the suction member 8. .

After the lowermost magnetic disk 2 is transferred as described above, the operating cylinder 18 is operated to displace the movable engaging portion 12 to the chuck release position, and the cylinder 7 is operated to displace the chuck member 5. is returned to the internal position of the magazine 1 and the elevating member 3 is lowered downward by the ball screw feeder 4, the next stage magnetic disk 2 engages with the chuck member 5, and the chuck member 5, the next stage magnetic disk 2 can be taken out from the magazine 1 and transferred to the loader section, where it can be positioned. Then,
By repeating this operation, the magnetic disks 2 in the magazine 1 can be sequentially transferred to the loader section.

In the above embodiment, the magnetic disks 2 are transferred using an annular member, but when a plurality of magnetic disks 2 are assembled into a magnetic disk device, adjacent magnetic disks may be spaced apart. Needless to say, the present invention can also be used as a method for transporting a spacer to maintain a fixed state, or a method for transporting an annular member such as an annular recording medium other than a magnetic disk, such as an optical disk. Moreover, the magazine 1 is supported by the elevating member 3, and the elevating member 3
Although the magnetic disk 2 is brought into engagement with the chuck member 5 by lowering the magazine 1, it is also possible to fix the magazine 1, reciprocate the chuck member 5 in the horizontal direction, and support it so that it can be raised and lowered. You can also do this. Furthermore, although the chuck member 5 is formed by the fixed engaging part 11a and the movable engaging part 12 provided on the circumferential surface of the mount 11, the point is that the magnetic disk 2 can be taken out from the magazine 1 in a horizontal state and chucked. For example, 2
fixed engagement parts and one movable engagement part, two or three
The chuck member 5 may be formed only by a plurality of movable engaging portions, such as one or four movable engaging portions.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, in the present invention, a magazine is arranged so that the magnetic disk stored therein is oriented horizontally, and the magnetic disk is pulled out in the horizontal direction by a chuck member that transports and positions the magnetic disk. After the magnetic disk is taken out from the magazine, the magnetic disk is checked and the position is determined, so that the magnetic disk can be easily taken out from the magazine. Since there is no need to provide a separate positioning member, the mechanism of the transfer device can be simplified, and there are various effects such as speedy transfer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a device that transfers a magnetic disk as an annular member, Fig. 2 is an external view of a magazine, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a chuck member, and Fig. 4 is an X in Fig. 3. -X sectional view. 1: Magazine, 1a, 1b: Engagement groove, 2: Magnetic disk, 3: Lifting member, 4: Ball screw feeder, 7: Cylinder, 11: Mount, 11a: Fixed engagement part, 12: Movable engagement part , 13: Support surface part,
18: Working cylinder, 19: Recess.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A large number of engagement grooves are formed on both sides of an elevating member disposed above a chuck member that chucks the inner circumferential edge of an annular member and conveys it in the horizontal direction, and a number of engagement grooves are formed between each of these engagement grooves. A process of mounting a magazine containing a circular member with the circular member facing horizontally, and lowering the magazine using an elevating member with the chuck member released; a step of inserting the stored annular member located at the lowest stage into the inside of the chuck member; a step of taking out the lowermost annular member from the magazine by moving the chuck member in a horizontal direction; A method for transferring an annular member, comprising a positioning step of activating a chuck member to check the inner peripheral edge of the annular member after the removal of the annular member is completed, thereby positioning the annular member.