1. A storage cabinet comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of storage devices included in the housing, each storage device being moveable between a closed position and an opened position;
a locking mechanism associated with each storage device, each locking mechanism operable to place the associated storage device in one of a locked condition and an unlocked condition, each locking mechanism comprising:
an actuator;
a first cam operably driven by the actuator, the first cam including a first cam surface and a second cam surface;
a latch comprising a first cam follower surface operably driven by the first cam surface to an unlatched position; and
a biasing member biasing the latch toward a latched position;
a sensor module detecting the condition of one of the storage device and latch;
each storage device comprising an end wall separating a storage compartment of the storage device and a locking mechanism engagement portion of the storage device, the locking mechanism engagement portion comprising:
an end face;
a retention member; and
a cavity formed intermediate the end wall and the end face;
wherein a first end of the latch extends into the cavity and the latch engages the retention member when in the locked condition; and
the end face of the storage device comprising a second cam follower surface operably driven by the second cam surface to place the storage device in the opened position.
2. The storage cabinet of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises an interface module, the interface module being in communication with the actuator and the sensor module.
3. The storage cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a control module in communication with the interface module, the control module managing the operation of the locking mechanism.
4. The storage cabinet of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises at least one frame mounting at least one locking mechanism to the housing.
5. The storage cabinet of claim 1, wherein the retention member comprises a second cam and the first end of the latch comprises a third cam follower surface operably driven by the second cam to move the latch in a direction toward the unlatched position when returning the storage device to a closed position.
6. The storage cabinet of claim 1, wherein at least one of the locking mechanisms further comprises a manual override lock set.
7. The storage cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of frames mounting the plurality of locking mechanisms to the housing.
8. The storage cabinet of claim 7, further comprising an unlocking mechanism associated with all of the storage devices and operable to simultaneously place all of the plurality of storage devices in an unlocked condition.
9. The storage cabinet of claim 8, wherein the unlocking mechanism comprises:
an actuator;
a first link operably connected to the actuator;
a plurality of unlocking cams pivotably attached to the first link and pivotally attached to the plurality of frames; and
a plurality of second links attached to the plurality of frames, each second link operably connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of unlocking cams, the second links comprising at least one extension portion engaging a corresponding latch of the locking mechanisms.
10. The storage cabinet of claim 8, wherein the unlocking mechanism further comprises a manually operated lock set.
11. The storage cabinet of claim 1, wherein the sensor module detects whether the latch is in one of the latched and unlatched positions.
12. A storage device having a locking mechanism, comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of storage devices received in the housing, each storage device moveable between a closed position and an opened position;
a plurality of locking mechanisms, each locking mechanism associated with one storage device of the plurality of storage devices and comprising:
a frame attached to the housing;
a first actuator connected to the frame and operable to move a first cam member;
a latch connected to the frame and moveable by contact with a respective first cam member from a latched position preventing access to the storage device in the housing to an unlatched position permitting access to the storage device in the housing; and
an unlock-all mechanism associated with all of the plurality of storage devices and operable to move each of the latches to the unlatched position without operation of any of the first actuators, the unlock-all mechanism comprising:
a first link;
a plurality of unlocking cams pivotably attached to the first link and pivotally attached to the frame; and
a plurality of second links attached to the frame, each second link operably connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of unlocking cams, the second links comprising at least one extension portion engaging a corresponding latch of the locking mechanisms, wherein the extension portion is spaced apart from a first rotational member about which the unlocking cam is pivotably attached to the frame and spaced apart from a second rotational member about which the unlocking cam is pivotably attached to the first link.
13. The storage device of claim 12, further comprising a control module in communication with the actuator, the control module operating responsive to commands input by an operator to operate the actuator or to operate the unlock-all mechanism.
14. The storage device of claim 12 wherein the storage devices each comprise an end wall separating a storage compartment of the storage device and a locking mechanism engagement portion of the storage device, the locking mechanism engagement portion of the storage device comprising:
a end face;
a retention member; and
a cavity formed intermediate the end wall and the end face; and
wherein a first end of the latch extends into the cavity and the latch engages the retention member when in the latched position.
15. The storage device of claim 14 wherein:
the first cam member comprises a first cam surface and a second cam surface;
the latch comprises a first cam follower surface operably driven by the first cam surface to the unlatched position; and
the end face of the storage device comprises a second cam follower surface operably driven by the second cam surface to place the storage device in an opened position.
16. The storage device of claim 12 wherein:
the first cam member comprises a first cam surface;
the latch comprises a first cam follower surface operably driven by the first cam surface to the unlatched position; and
the locking mechanism further comprises a biasing member biasing the latch toward the latched position.
17. The storage device of claim 16 wherein:
the first cam member comprises a second cam surface; and
the storage device comprises a second cam follower surface operably driven by the second cam surface to place the storage device in an opened position.
18. The storage device of claim 12 further comprising a sensor module detecting the position of one of the storage device and latch.
19. The storage device of claim 12, wherein the unlock-all mechanism comprises:
a second actuator operably connected to the first link;
wherein each unlocking cam includes an extension arm contacting the respective second link, the extension arm being spaced apart from the first rotational member about which the unlocking cam is pivotably attached to the frame and spaced apart from the second rotational member about which the unlocking cam is pivotably attached to the first link.
20. The storage device of claim 19, wherein the unlock-all mechanism further comprises a manually operated lock set.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A video jukebox, comprising:
a plurality of computerized file server stations interconnected in a network by first data links, with individual ones of the file server stations also connected to a video input apparatus; and
a plurality of client stations connected by second data links to individual ones of the file server stations;
wherein each file server station with a video input apparatus accepts video clippings from the video input apparatus, stores the clippings in a database, and shares the video clippings with other file servers in the network over the first data links, and wherein each file server notifies connected clients of new video clippings available, and downloads video clippings to clients on demand.
2. The video jukebox system of claim 1, further comprising an accounting subsystem for tracking client accesses to available video clippings and accumulating transactional information and client charges.
3. The video jukebox system of claim 1 wherein the second data links are analog telephone modem links.
4. The video jukebox system of claim 1 wherein the second data links connecting clients to servers are Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) data links.
5. The video jukebox system of claim 1 wherein some of the second data links are analog telephone modem links and others are Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) links.
6. The video jukebox system of claim 1 wherein the first data links are Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) links.
7. The video jukebox system of claim 1 wherein the first data links are microwave links.
8. A video jukebox system as in claim 1 wherein individual file servers are located in or near population centers in a global network.
9. A video jukebox system as in claim 1 wherein each file server is coupled to a client communication node, each client communication node is in turn connected to a plurality of individual client stations, and the client nodes are interconnected in a client node network by third data links.
10. A video jukebox system as in claim 9 wherein each file server station is connected to four other file server stations and each client communication node is connected to four other client communication nodes, the client communication node network and the file server network forming thereby a nested tori network.
11. A video jukebox as in claim 10 wherein each communication node comprises microprocessor-based data routing circuitry connected to the data links terminating at the node.
11. A method for providing video clippings to clients, comprising steps of:
(a) monitoring traditional sources for suitable video clippings of interest to clients;
(b) providing selected video clippings to one of a plurality of file servers interconnected in a network by first data links;
(c) sharing the video clippings between file servers by transferring the clippings over the first data links, the clippings being stored in a database at each file server to which they are transferred;
(d) notifying clients connected by second data links to individual file servers of available video clippings; and
(e) downloading selected video clippings to individual connected clients on demand.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising a step of accumulating information on client accesses and providing accounting for individual clients, the accounting including billing for use.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the first data links are Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) links.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the first and the second data links are Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) links.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein some links are Integrated Services Digital Network links, and others are analog telephone modem links.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein massively parallel communication is provided by interconnecting the file servers in a first toroidal array, interconnecting a plurality of client communication nodes equal in number to the number of file servers in a second toriodal array, connecting clients to the client communication nodes, and interconnecting each file server with a corresponding communication node, such that exactly one file server is connected to each communication node.