The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 22, 1997
Filed:
Apr. 28, 1995
Robert J Schaefer, Boulder, CO (US);
Thomas P Jackson, Broomfield, CO (US);
Stephen W Graeber, Louisville, CO (US);
Richard E Sills, Longmont, CO (US);
Breece Hill Technologies, Inc., Boulder, CO (US);
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.