Cluster magnetic tape device

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a collective magnetic tape device, and in particular, by storing device management information in an external storage device, the non-volatile memory provided in the device control unit and the accessor control unit is replaced due to a failure or endurance life. Occasionally, the device management information saved in the external storage device can be recorded in the new non-volatile memory after replacement, and the number of steps to reset the device management information in the non-volatile memory can be significantly reduced. Regarding magnetic tape devices.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

A conventional collective magnetic tape device of this type will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0003】

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration plan view showing a conventional collective magnetic tape device 200.

【0004】

Referring to FIG. 5, the collective magnetic tape device 200 has a housing (1) 101a, a housing (2) 101b, a housing (3) 101c, a housing (4) 101d, and a housing (5) 101e. The combined housing 101, the magnetic tape drive 108 that is placed outside the housing (3) 101c and records and reproduces information on a magnetic tape medium (not shown), and the housing (1) 101a ~ housing. Body (5) A storage 102 placed on the inner wall of the 101e to store the magnetic tape medium, a rail 111 fixed in the connecting housing 101, and an accessor (L) supported on the rail 111 and moving on the rail 111. Picker hand unit provided on 140, accessor (R) 141, accessor (L) 140, accessor (R) 141, respectively, which grips the magnetic tape medium and inserts and removes the magnetic tape medium into and from the magnetic tape drive 108 and the storage 102. (L) 130, picker hand part (R) 131, picker hand part (L) 130, picker hand part (R) 131, respectively, the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 108 on the housing (3) 101c and the storage 102 Position detectors 113 and 114 that detect the mounting position on the housing (1) 101a to (5) 101e, and accessors (L) 140 and accessors (R) 141 that are located outside the housing (2) 101b. The accessor control unit 105 that controls the picker hand unit (L) 130 and the picker hand unit (R) 131, the device control unit 106 that controls the accessor control unit 105, the maintenance panel 109 that is operated during maintenance work, and the maintenance panel 109. It is composed of a floppy disk device (FDD) 110 provided in the vicinity, the device control unit 106 includes a non-volatile memory 161, the accessor control unit 105 has a non-volatile memory 151, and the non-volatile memory 161 has a device. As management information, the connection housing 101 by the combination pattern in which the housing (1) 101a, the housing (2) 101b, the housing (3) 101c, the housing (4) 101d, and the housing (5) 101e are connected. Types, types and numbers of tape drives 108, enable / disable information for features provided to usersIs recorded, and the non-volatile memory 151 is configured to record misalignment error information with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 108 and the storage 102 in the connecting housing 101 as device management information. ..

【0005】

Next, the operation when the non-volatile memories 151 and 161 in which the device management information of the collective magnetic tape device 200 configured as described above is recorded is replaced after a failure or endurance life will be described.

【0006】

First, when the non-volatile memory 161 of the device control unit 106 is replaced with a new one and mounted, the lost device management information is a connected housing based on the combination pattern of the housing (1) 101a to the housing (5) 101e. Maintenance personnel manually enter all device management information lost from maintenance panel 9 to set 101 types, 108 types and numbers of magnetic tape drives, and enable / disable information for features provided to users. ..

【0007】

When the non-volatile memory 151 of the accessor control unit 105 is replaced with a new one and mounted, the lost device management information is the position of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 108 and the storage 102 on the connecting housing 101 with respect to the theoretical value. In order to measure the deviation error, the device control unit 106 orders the accessor control unit 105 to read the position deviation error with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 108 and the storage 102 on the connecting housing 101.

【0008】

The accessor control unit 105 executes mounting misalignment measurement of the storage 102 and the magnetic tape drive 108 by the accessor (L) 140 and the picker hand unit (L) 130, or the accessor (R) 141 and the picker hand unit (R) 131. Control is performed (hereinafter, for convenience, a case where the mounting position deviation measurement of the storage 102 and the magnetic tape drive 108 is executed by the accessor (L) 140 and the picker hand unit (L) 130 will be described).

【0009】

The accessor control unit 105 moves the accessor (L) 140 and the picker hand unit (L) 130 to move to the reference position of the first storage 102 of the connecting housing 101 (note that the reference position is the storage 102). Alternatively, it is a theoretical position to stop the accessor (L) 140 and the picker hand (L) 130 with respect to the respective storage 102 or the magnetic tape drive 108 in order to insert and remove the magnetic tape medium from the magnetic tape drive 108. , The accessor control unit 105 holds it as the default value).

【0010】

After moving to the reference position, the position detector 113 measures the mounting position deviation error from each reference position for all the storages 102 and the magnetic tape drive 108, and the accessor control unit 105 measures the measured position. The deviation error information is recorded in the non-volatile memory 151 (Note that the position detector 113 measures the mounting position deviation error from each reference position for all the storages 102 and the magnetic tape drive 108. Details are omitted here).

【0011】

That is, when the non-volatile memories 161, 151 mounted on the device control unit 106 and the accessor control unit 105 are replaced after a failure or endurance life, the device management recorded in the non-volatile memories 161, 151 is recorded. Since the information is not taken over by the new non-volatile memories 161, 151, when replacing the non-volatile memories 161, 151, the device management information is taken over by the new non-volatile memories 161, 151 as described above. However, there is a drawback that a large amount of man-hours are required.

【0012】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

As described above, in the conventional collective magnetic tape device, when the non-volatile memory in which the device management information is recorded is replaced due to a failure or a durable life, the device management information recorded in the non-volatile memory is replaced with a new one. In order to take over to the non-volatile memory, the maintenance staff manually inputs all the information from the maintenance panel, and measures the misalignment error with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of all magnetic tape drives and storage in the connected housing. However, since the measured misalignment error information is recorded in the non-volatile memory, there is a problem that a large amount of manpower is required.

【0013】

An object of the present invention is to store the device management information of the non-volatile memory on a floppy disk medium and take over the device management information. Therefore, when the non-volatile memory is replaced, the device management information is stored in the replaced new non-volatile memory. By developing the device from a floppy disk medium, it is not necessary to reset the device management information and measure the misalignment error information, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a collective magnetic tape device capable of significantly reducing the number of steps.

【0014】

[Means for solving problems]

The collective magnetic tape device of the present invention includes a connected housing in which a plurality of types of housings are combined, a magnetic tape drive that is arranged outside the housing and records / reproduces information on a magnetic tape medium, and a housing. A storage that is placed on the inner wall and stores the magnetic tape medium, a rail that is fixed in the connecting housing, an accessor that is supported on the rail and moves on the rail, and a magnetic tape drive and storage that holds the magnetic tape medium. On the other hand, a picker hand part provided in the accessor for inserting and removing the magnetic tape medium, a position detector provided in the picker hand part for detecting the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive and the storage in the housing, and an arrangement outside the housing. It has an accessor control unit that controls the accessor and the hand unit, a device control unit that controls the accessor control unit, a maintenance panel that is operated during maintenance work, and an external storage device that is provided near the maintenance panel. The unit and the accessor control unit each have a non-volatile memory for recording device management information, and the external storage device stores the device management information recorded in the non-volatile memory.

【0015】

The device management information includes the type of connected housing according to the combination pattern in which multiple types of housing are combined, the type and number of magnetic tape drives, the enable / disable information of the functions provided for the user, and the magnetism to the connected housing. It is characterized by having misalignment error information with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the tape drive and the storage.

【0016】

The non-volatile memory of the device control unit records the type of connected housing according to the combination pattern in which multiple types of housing are connected, the type and number of magnetic tape drives, and the enable / disable information of the functions provided for the user. It is characterized by being done.

【0017】

The non-volatile memory of the accessor control unit is characterized in that the misalignment error information with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive and the storage in the connected housing is recorded.

【0018】

The position detector is characterized by having a light emitter and a light receiver.

【0019】

The light emitter is composed of a light emitting diode or a laser diode, and the light receiver is composed of a phototransistor.

【0020】

The picker hand portion is characterized by having a vertical movement mechanism and a rotation mechanism.

【0021】

The feature is that two accessors are arranged on the rail.

【0022】

A plurality of magnetic tape drives are installed.

【0023】

The maintenance panel has a service menu display unit for maintenance personnel, and is characterized by having a device management information setting means and a display means.

【0024】

The connecting housing consists of a housing in which an accessor control unit, a device control unit, a maintenance panel, and an external storage device are mounted, a housing in which a magnetic tape drive is mounted, and a housing in which only a storage is mounted. It is characterized by becoming.

【0025】

The device control unit is characterized in that when the non-volatile memory is replaced, the device management information is reproduced from the external storage device, and the device management information is recorded in the non-volatile memory after the replacement.

【0026】

The external storage device is a floppy disk device or an optical disk device.

【0027】

The position detector is characterized in that it detects the position of the outer frame provided in each of the storage and the magnetic tape drive.

【0028】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the collective magnetic tape device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0029】

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the collective magnetic tape device of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is an enlarged detailed view of part A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b) is FIG. 2 (a). The figure showing the arrow B and FIG. 3 are block diagrams showing the relationships of the components.

【0030】

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the collective magnetic tape device 100 includes a housing (1) 1a, a housing (2) 1b, a housing (3) 1c, a housing (4) 1d, and a housing. (5) A connected housing 1 to which 1e is connected, a magnetic tape drive 8 that is arranged outside the housing (3) 1c and records / reproduces information on a magnetic tape medium 12, and a housing (1) 1a. ~ Housing (5) Storage 2 placed on the inner wall of 1e to store the magnetic tape medium 12, rail 11 fixed in the connecting housing 1, and accessor supported on the rail 11 and moving on the rail 11. (L) 40, accessor (R) 41, and accessor (L) 40, accessor (R) 41, respectively, are provided to hold the magnetic tape medium 12 and hold the magnetic tape medium 12 with respect to the magnetic tape drive 8 and the storage 2. The mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 8 on the housing (3) 1c provided in the picker hand part (L) 30 and the picker hand part (R) 31 and the picker hand part (L) 30 and the picker hand part (R) 31 for insertion and removal respectively Position detectors 13 and 14 that detect the mounting position of the storage 2 in the housing (1) 1a to housing (5) 1e, and the accessor (L) 40, which is located outside the housing (2) 1b. The accessor control unit 5 that controls the accessor (R) 41, the picker hand unit (L) 30, and the picker hand unit (R) 31, the device control unit 6 that controls the accessor control unit 5, and the maintenance panel 9 that is operated during maintenance work. And a floppy disk device (FDD) 10 provided in the vicinity of the maintenance panel 9, the device control unit 6 includes a non-volatile memory 61, and the accessor control unit 5 has a non-volatile memory 51 and is a non-volatile memory. In 61, as device management information, a combination pattern in which the housing (1) 1a, the housing (2) 1b, the housing (3) 1c, the housing (4) 1d, and the housing (5) 1e are connected is connected. The type of the connected housing 1 and the type and number of the magnetic tape drives 8 are recorded, and the valid / invalid information of the function provided for the user is recorded, and the non-volatile memory 51 records the connected housing 1 as device management information. The misalignment error information with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 8 and the storage 2 is recorded.The floppy disk device 10 is configured to store device management information recorded in the non-volatile memories 51 and 61.

【0031】

The connecting housing 1 is a housing (2) 1b in which the accessor control unit 5, the device control unit 6, the maintenance panel 9, and the floppy disk device 10 are mounted, and a housing in which a plurality of magnetic tape drives 8 are mounted ( 3) It is composed of 1c, a housing (1) 1a in which only the storage 2 is mounted, a housing (4) 1d, and a housing (5) 1e.

【0032】

The position detectors 13 and 14 are composed of a light emitter 13a made of a light emitting diode and a light receiver 13b made of a phototransistor, and detect the position of the outer frame 2a provided in the storage 2 to mount the storage 2. The misalignment error with respect to the theoretical value of the position is measured, and the position of the outer frame (not shown) provided on the magnetic tape drive 8 is detected to determine the misalignment error with respect to the theoretical value of the mounting position of the magnetic tape drive 8. It is configured to measure.

【0033】

The maintenance panel has a service menu display unit (not shown) for maintenance personnel, and is configured to be able to set and display device management information by selecting and inputting the display unit during maintenance work.

【0034】

Next, the operation of the collective magnetic tape device 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

【0035】

After installing the collective magnetic tape device 100 in the user's machine room, the power is turned on, and the maintenance staff uses the maintenance panel 9 to provide the type of connected housing 1, the type and number of magnetic tape drives 8, and the user. Set the enable / disable information of the function to be performed.

【0036】

The maintenance panel 9 sends the set information to the device control unit 6, and the device control unit 6 records the set information in the non-volatile memory 61.

【0037】

Next, the maintenance staff selects to perform the mounting misalignment measurement of the storage 2 and the magnetic tape drive 8 from the service menu display of the maintenance panel 9.

【0038】

The maintenance panel 9 transmits a command to the device control unit 6, and the device control unit 6 that receives the command orders the accessor control unit 5 to perform the mounting position deviation measurement.

【0039】

The accessor control unit 5 determines the type of device from the set device management information, and stores the device by the accessor (L) 40 and picker hand section (L) 30, or the accessor (R) 41 and picker hand section (R) 31. Control is performed to measure the mounting position deviation of 2 and the magnetic tape drive 8, but thereafter, for convenience, the mounting position deviation measurement of the storage 2 and the magnetic tape drive 8 is performed by the accessor (L) 40 and the picker hand part (L) 30. The case of execution will be described.

【0040】

The accessor control unit 5 moves the accessor (L) 40 and the picker hand unit (L) 30 to move to the reference position of the first storage 2 of the connecting housing 1 (the reference position is the storage 2). Alternatively, at a theoretical position where the accessor (L) 40 and the picker hand (L) 30 are stopped relative to their respective storages 2 or magnetic tape drive 8 in order to insert and remove the magnetic tape medium 12 from the magnetic tape drive 8. Yes, the accessor control unit 5 holds it as the default value).

【0041】

In the movement operation, the accessor (L) 40 is moved in the X direction, and the picker hand portion (L) 30 is moved in the Z direction on the accessor (L) 40 to be positioned. The picker hand part (L) 30 is on the accessor (L) 40 so that the magnetic tape medium 12 can be inserted and removed from all of the plurality of storages 2 and the plurality of magnetic tape drives 8 arranged on the front side. A rotation mechanism (not shown) that rotates 180 degrees is provided.

【0042】

After moving to the reference position, the position detector 13 uses the accessor (L) 40 and the picker hand (L) to detect the projected light from the light emitter 13a and the reflected light from the outer frame 2a of the storage 2 with the receiver 13b. ) Move 30 and measure the mounting misalignment error of storage 2.

【0043】

Therefore, the amount of movement between the accessor (L) 40 and the picker hand portion (L) 30 from the reference position to the detection of the outer frame 2a of the storage 2 by the position detector 13 becomes the mounting position deviation error of the storage 2. ..

【0044】

In the same manner as described above, the mounting position deviation error from each reference position is measured for all the storages 2 and the magnetic tape drive 8, and the accessor control unit 5 stores the measured position deviation error information in the non-volatile memory. Record at 51.

【0045】

After confirming that the above processing has been completed normally, the maintenance personnel inserts the floppy disk medium (not shown) into the floppy disk device 10 and orders the maintenance panel 9 to extract the device management information of the non-volatile memory 61. ..

【0046】

Upon receiving the instruction from the maintenance panel 9, the device control unit 6 reads the device management information from the non-volatile memory 61, starts the floppy disk device 10, and saves it in the floppy disk medium.

【0047】

The process of saving the device management information to the floppy disk medium is executed every time the device management information input from the maintenance panel 9 is updated.

【0048】

Next, the maintenance staff orders the misalignment error information to be extracted from the maintenance panel 9.

【0049】

Upon receiving the instruction from the maintenance panel 9, the device control unit 6 orders the accessor control unit 5 to read the misalignment error information, and the accessor control unit 5 reads the misalignment error information from the non-volatile memory 51 to control the device. Send to part 6.

【0050】

The device control unit 6 starts the floppy disk device 10 and saves the received misalignment error information in the floppy disk medium. The misalignment error information is saved in the storage 2 or the magnetic tape drive 8. It is executed each time after mounting / removal is performed and the mounting misalignment error is measured.

【0051】

Next, the processing operation when the collective magnetic tape device 100 is continuously operated and the non-volatile memories 51 and 61 fail or the endurance life has expired will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0052】

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation when the non-volatile memories 51 and 61 are replaced.

【0053】

Referring to FIG. 4, the maintenance personnel first turn off the power of the collective magnetic tape device 100, remove the old non-volatile memories 61 and 51 from the device control unit 6 or the accessor control unit 5, and remove the new non-volatile memory 61, 51. After installing 51 and turning on the power again, insert the floppy disk medium that previously stored the device management information into the floppy disk device 10, and order the device management information to be downloaded from the maintenance panel 9 (S41).

【0054】

Upon receiving the instruction from the maintenance panel 9, the device control unit 6 starts the floppy disk device 10 and reads the device management information from the floppy disk medium (S42).

【0055】

The device control unit 6 determines whether or not the read data is the misalignment error information of the device management information (S43).

【0056】

If it is misalignment error information, the misalignment error information is transmitted to the accessor control unit 5 (S44), and the accessor control unit 5 expands the received misalignment error information to the non-volatile memory 51 (S45). ..

【0057】

If the read data is not the misalignment error information, the device control unit 6 expands the device management information to the non-volatile memory 61 (S46).

【0058】

The device control unit 6 operates the collective magnetic tape device 100 by using the deployed device management information and the accessor control unit 5 using the deployed position shift error information (S47).

【0059】

As described above, by storing the device management information of the non-volatile memories 51 and 61 in the floppy disk medium used in the floppy disk device 10, the device management information was taken over and the non-volatile memories 51 and 61 were replaced. At that time, the device management information is only expanded to the replaced new non-volatile memories 51 and 61, and there is no need to reset the device management information and measure the misalignment error information, which greatly reduces the number of steps. effective.

【0060】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, in the collective magnetic tape device of the present invention, when the device management information of the non-volatile memory is stored in the floppy disk medium and the device management information is taken over, the non-volatile memory is replaced. All that is required is to expand the device management information from the floppy disk medium to the new non-volatile memory that has been replaced, and there is no need to reset the device management information or measure the misalignment error information, which has the effect of significantly reducing the number of steps. is there.

【0061】

In addition, when the number of storages for magnetic tape media and the number of magnetic tape drives increase due to the increase in capacity and performance of collective magnetic tape devices, device management is performed when the non-volatile memory is replaced. All that is required is to extract the information from the floppy disk medium, which has the effect of further significantly reducing the number of steps.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a top view which shows the schematic structure of the collective magnetic tape device of this invention.

[Figure 2]

FIG. 2 (a) is an enlarged detailed view of part A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b) is a diagram showing arrow B in FIG. 2 (a).

[Fig. 3]

It is a block diagram which shows the relation of the component.

[Fig. 4]

It is a flowchart which shows the operation when the non-volatile memory is exchanged.

[Fig. 5]

It is a top view which shows the schematic structure of the conventional collective type magnetic tape apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,101 connected housing 1a, 101a housing (1) 1b, 101b housing (2) 1c, 101c housing (3) 1d, 101d housing (4) 1e, 101e housing (5) 2,102 storage 2a outer frame 5, 105 Accessor control unit 6,106 Device control unit 8,108 magnetic tape drive 9,109 maintenance panel 10, 110 Floppy Disk Device (FDD) 11, 111 rails 12 Magnetic tape medium 13,113 Position detector 13a light emitter 13b Receiver 14,114 position detector 30, 130 Picker hand part (L) 31, 131 Picker hand part (R) 40, 140 Accessor (L) 41, 141 Accessor (R) 51, 151 Non-volatile memory 61, 161 Non-volatile memory 100, 200 collective magnetic tape device