Gripper assembly designs for automated tape libraries have traditionally been lacking in one or more of the following areas: reliability, cost size, speed, simplicity, and flexibility. U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,911, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, provided an improvement over prior art gripper assemblies by providing a servomotor-driven belt which actuates a rotary can mechanism, which drives a pair of cam followers for pivoting a scissors-type mechanism for opening and closing the gripper jaws. The servomotor design is subject to improvement because it requires control logic and continuous power. If power is lost, the system does not know the position of the jaws when power is returned, which may cause further delay.
It is desirable to provide an improved gripper assembly in which operating speed is improved, size is reduced, the number of components is reduced, and the servomotor is eliminated.