Storage Technology Corporation

Sheldon H Helms

Lester M Yeakley

This apparatus comprises a mechanically simple and lightweight tractor mechanism for use with a robotic object handling system to retrieve objects from a plurality of object storage locations. A finger gripper mechanism is used to grasp an object with a predetermined amount of force. The finger gripper mechanism is enclosed by a substantially rectangular box-like enclosure. The finger gripper mechanism is attached to a carriage which is moveable along one axis of the rectangular enclosure on a pair of tracks, which tracks are located one on each of two opposite sides of the interior of the enclosure. The carriage rides on these tracks and is transported from a retracted position entirely within the enclosure to an activated position juxtaposed to an opening in the enclosure by a tractor mechanism that makes use of a pair of toothed belts, each belt being juxtaposed along the length of one of the tracks on which the carriage slides. The use of the two toothed belts enables the precise positioning of the carriage and prevents the finger gripper mechanism from binding as it slides along the pair of tracks.

Tractor mechanism for robotic magnetic tape cartridge handling system

The gripper mechanism includes two fingers hingeably attached to a support and operable by means of a spring to grasp an object with a predetermined amount of force and a solenoid to open the fingers and release the object The gripper mechanism is enclosed by a substantially rectangular box-like enclosure which includes a plurality of compliant guides to align and support an object retrieved from an object storage location by the finger gripper mechanism. Each of these four guides consist of an elongated L-shaped guide finger that is attached to the enclosure by a spring mechanism to enable the guide finger to translate in directions that are normal to the opening in the enclosure. The end of the guide fingers adjacent the opening in the enclosure support the object as it is being retrieved and are tapered in order to provide a funneling capability to account for misalignments between the object that is retrieved and the precise center lines of the enclosure. The spring mechanism also functions to automatically reposition the object once it clears the object storage location to a position that is substantially centered within the enclosure.

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Longmont, CO, United States of America

Sheldon H Helms