Disk file apparatus

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a disk file apparatus wherein the cartridge loading or the cartridge extraction may be performed at any time.
To this end, the present invention provides a disk file apparatus which comprises the following constituent elements: (1) an accommodating shelf having a multiplicity of accommodating spaces provided thereon in a row in the vertical direction; (2) a multiplicity of cartridges disposed in the accommodating spaces, respectively, each having a disk received therein and further having a forward extending groove formed in the rear portion thereof; (3) a coder which writes or reads information in relation to either side A or B of the disk received in each of the cartridges; (4) a transfer member movable in the horizontal direction and normally disposed at the upper side of the accommodating shelf, the transfer member having lever means which is arranged such that, when a cartridge having the same rating as that of said cartridges is inserted into the transfer member, the lever means detects whether or not there is a groove formed in the rear portion of the cartridge; (5) a carrier arranged so as to move vertically along the respective front surfaces of the transfer member and the storage shelf, draw out a cartridge from the transfer member, insert the cartridge into an empty accommodating space on the storage shelf, draw out a designated one from the multiplicity of cartridges accommodated on the storage shelf, and load the cartridge into the coder; (6) a controller arranged such that, when the lever means detects the groove formed in the rear portion of the cartridge inserted in the transfer member, the controller activates the carrier to turn the cartridge through 180 degrees while the cartridge is being moved from the transfer member to an empty accommodating space on the storage shelf, and when the downward side of the disk received in the selected cartridge is not coincident with the side which is to be subjected to writing or reading of information in the coder, the controller activates the carrier to turn the selected cartridge through 180 degrees before it is loaded into the coder; (7) a casing enclosing said all members; (8) an opening formed at a position of said casing so as to be opposed to said transfer member; and (9) shutter means provided at said opening for the closure thereof and openable by said transfer member