Coating apparatus – With heat exchange – drying – or non-coating gas or vapor... – Plural treatments
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-17
2001-11-06
Edwards, Laura (Department: 1734)
Coating apparatus
With heat exchange, drying, or non-coating gas or vapor...
Plural treatments
C118S500000, C414S222070, C414S222120, C414S222130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312519
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly, and more particularly, to a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly which includes at least one support arm, pick-up means operatively carried by the support arm and adapted to be actuated for selectively picking up and releasing at least one optical disc being processed, and a drive member acting on the support arm to reciprocate the arm between a first end-of-stroke or limit position and a second end-of-stroke or limit position.
The present invention further relates to an assembly for manufacturing optical discs incorporating this transferring device, as well as the associated optical-disc transferring method put into practice by this transferring device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known that production of data-storage optical discs, of the type commercially identified by abbreviations “CD” or “DVD”, involves manufacture by a precise injection-molding step, which disc must be subsequently submitted to several different processing work stations to enable reading and/or providing the disc with appropriate protection for the data contained therein.
As a result, the semi-finished disc obtained from a molding process is loaded onto an assembly provided with different work stations each of which carries out a predetermined operation contemplated in the disc processing cycle. For instance, discs of the type commonly referred to as “CD” are first submitted to a metallizing treatment, i.e. vacuum plating is performed on their surface bearing the recorded data. In a subsequent step, the metallized surface is submitted to a lacquering treatment involving deposition of a protective layer of transparent plastic material thereon. The lacquered disc is then submitted to a lacquer-drying step to be afterwards transferred to an outlet station provided with a collecting magazine or other means adapted to move the finished disc away from the manufacturing assembly.
A control station is often provided upstream of the outlet station which performs a qualitative inspection of the finished discs and an additional selecting station transfers faulty discs, if any, to an auxiliary collection magazine.
Presently, transfer of the individual discs being processed from each work station to a subsequent work station is performed by mechanical handling devices which include a support arm provided which is reciprocally movable about a vertical axis and has a pick-up head at its end. This pick-up head by means of suction-cups or other appropriate means to be actuated pneumatically, picks the disc up from a work station and deposits it in the immediately following work station.
In other prior assemblies manufacturing optical discs, a turntable is also utilized in combination with the above-described handling devices. Such turntables have circumferentially distributed seatings each adapted to engage a respective optical disc in order to submit it, as a result of successive angular rotations imparted to the turntable, to the action of different work stations disposed about the turntable itself.
From the foregoing, it has been found that the use of many mechanical handling devices operating independently of each other to perform transfer of the discs between two specific locations within the assembly complicates the structure as (1) more expensive space is required for housing the handling devices and enabling movement of the same, and (2) a specific drive unit is required for each handling device, the operation of which must occur in synchronism with all of the machine components of the manufacturing assembly. Moreover, in this prior handling devices, each handling device is only utilized for half of its operating cycle, since its return stroke after transfer of the disc is an idle stroke.
On the other hand, while the turntable presents the possibility of interlocking different work stations to a single turntable without requiring the latter to execute idle strokes, such a turntable is extremely bulky, especially if the number of work stations to be associated with the turntable is relatively high. In addition, the internal areas of a turntable are practically unused, therefore leading to costly space requirements with no benefit received.
It has further been found that the overall dimensions and/or the operating requirements of known transferring devices present a hindrance in planning, in connection with the different operating stations.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly and related method which avoids the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly and related method which achieves increased efficiency in production of the optical disc and at the same time enables a greatly simplified structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly and related method which is of a reduced bulkiness and capable of offering large freedom in selecting the type and positioning of the individual operating units intended for optical disc processing.
A further object of this invention is to provide a transferring device being processed in a disc manufacturing assembly and related method which does not require a separate and specific drive member for the retention of the optical disc at each work station.
Various other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the ensuing detailed description and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a transferring device for optical discs being processed in a disc manufacturing apparatus, wherein a support arm is movable, upon the activation of a drive member, along its own longitudinal extension axis. A pick-up or handling assembly is arranged in this transferring device to operate on a forward advance line (n) and a backward advance or return line (n′) respectively, which are defined parallel to each other and on opposite sides relative to the longitudinal extension axis of the support arm. The pick-up or handling assembly is thus capable of transferring at least one optical disc along the forward line (n) during the forward strokes of the support arm from the first to the second limit positions, and to transfer at least one optical disc along the backward line (n′) during the return strokes of the support arm from the second to the first limit positions.
In accordance with an additional object of the present invention, a transferring process for optical discs being processed in a disc-making machine is also provided wherein an optical disc is deposited at a predetermined loading location coincident with a stop position defined along a forward advance line of the optical discs. The optical disc are then engaged by the pick-up or handling assembly carried by a support arm to be operated with a reciprocating motion between a first limit position and a second limit position, in the direction of its longitudinal extension axis parallel to the forward line. The support arm is subsequently moved from the first limit position to the second limit position to transfer the optical disc from the loading location to at least one stop position in alignment with the loading station, along the forward line. The optical disc is then engaged by the pick-up or handling assembly and arranged at an outlet end location coincident with a stop position on a backward advance or return line of the discs extending parallel to the longitudinal extension axis of the support arm on the opposite side relative to the forward line. The support arm is thereafter moved from th
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