EP1092219A1

EP1092219A1 - Noncircular-shaped compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance

Info

Publication number: EP1092219A1
Application number: EP99973612A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Won Rae Lee
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-01-11
Filing date: 1999-10-08
Publication date: 2001-04-18
Also published as: JP2002535796A; WO2000042605A1; AU6009499A

Abstract

A noncircular-shaped compact disc mountable in any computer compact disc drive is disclosed. The disc has two or more positioning marks and sliding-resistance means. The marks are formed on the positions, at which the exterior contour of the inside positioning depression of a disc conveying deck meets the long sides of the disc while the center of the disc is positioned at the center of the positioning depression. The sliding-resistance means is provided within the data-free area of the bottom surface of the disc, and is made of a sliding-resistance material having a large coefficient of friction. The means is adapted for preventing the disc from unexpectedly moving on the deck. The sliding-resistance means may have a longitudinal rectangular shape. The sliding-resistance means may have a circular shape. The noncircular-shaped compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance may have a rectangular credit card shape. The noncircular-shaped compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance may be any one of a CD-ROM capable of storing read-only data, a CD-R capable of recording data only once, and a CD-RW capable of reading, writing and erasing data many times.

Description

NONCIRCULAR-SHAPED COMPACT DISC

HAVING POSITIONING MARKERS AND SLIDING-RESISTANCE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to

compact discs and, more particularly, to a

noncircular-shaped compact disc mountable on a compact

disc drive in computers, allowing precise and easy

positioning of the disc on a disc conveying deck and

preventing unexpected movement of the disc on the deck

due to retraction of the deck into a compact disc

drive and any reasonable degree of external impact.

Description of the Prior Art

As well known to those skilled in the art, a

conventional compact disc used in computers is

circular and has a diameter of either 80mm or 120mm.

The conventional compact disc is played in a compact

disc drive after the disc drive has been loaded with

the compact disc. The loading methods are typically classified into two types; a manual loading method

wherein the compact disc is inserted onto the center

of the disc drive while the cover of the disc drive is

opened by hand, and an automatic loading method

wherein the disc drive is automatically loaded by

retracting the conveying deck into the disc drive

while the compact disc has been deposited on the

protruded conveyor deck.

Recently, a noncircular-shaped compact disc is

developed. An example of the noncircular-shaped

compact disc is a rectangular-shaped CD-ROM that has a

shape similar to the shape of a credit card.

However, such a newly developed noncircular-

shaped compact disc is problematic when loaded into

the disc drive mainly due to the lack of a size-

appropriate recess in the conveyor deck.

When automatically or manually loading the disc

drive with the noncircular-shaped compact disc when

the compact disc is symmetric and is properly placed

in the disc drive, vibration of the compact disc is minimized in operational rotation due to the symmetric

shape.

On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5, a

conventional conveying deck 10, conveying a circular-

shaped compact disc into the disc drive, is provided

with two-stepped tracks 11 and 12, the tracks 11 and

12 having two outside diameters respectively identical

to the diameters of the two standard circular compact

discs (80 mm and 120 mm) . The two tracks 11 and 12 of

the conveying deck 10 function to accord the center of

the placed compact disc with the center of rotation

and prevent unexpected movement of the disc on the

disc conveying deck despite retraction of the deck and

any reasonable degree of external impact. That is,

this conveying deck 10 has two positioning recesses,

the positioning recesses having the exterior

diameters, of 80mm and 120mm, pursuant to the exterior

diameters of standard circular compact discs.

Since the noncircular compact disc, which is not

circular and does not have the same exterior diameter as a positioning recess, does not fit tightly within

the positioning recesses of the conveying deck 10, the

noncircular compact disc often moves unexpectedly on

the deck 10 during retraction of the deck 10.

Consequently, it is difficult to load the disc drive

with the noncircular compact disc using the deck.

Disclosure of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made

keeping in mind the aforementioned problems occurring

in the prior art, and an objective of the present

invention is to provide a noncircular-shaped compact

disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance

on a disc conveying deck and preventing unexpected

movement of the disc onto the deck despite retraction

of the deck into a compact disc drive and any

reasonable degree of external impact.

In order to accomplish the above objective, the

present invention provides a noncircular-shaped

compact disc having positioning markers and sliding- resistance, comprised of: two or more positioning

marks formed on the upper side of the compact disc, at

which the exterior contour of the inside positioning

depression of a disc conveying deck meets the long

sides of the disc while the center of the disc is

positioned at the center of the positioning

depression; and sliding-resistance means provided

within the data-free area of the bottom surface of the

disc, and made of a sliding-resistant material having

a large coefficient of friction, the means being

adapted to prevent the disc from unexpectedly moving

on the deck.

The sliding-resistance means may be comprised of

a thin film made of rubber, urethane or silicon.

The sliding-resistance means may be comprised of

a plurality of prominences and depressions integrally

formed on the disc.

The sliding-resistance means may have a

longitudinal rectangular shape.

The sliding-resistance means may have a circular shape.

The markers may be printed shapes on the upper

side of the disc.

The markers may be carved notches on the upper

side of the disc.

The noncircular-shaped compact disc may have a

rectangular credit card shape.

The noncircular-shaped compact disc may be any

one of a CD-ROM capable of storing read-only data, a

CD-R capable of writing data one time, and a CD-RW

capable of reading and writing data many times.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objectives, features and

other advantages of the present invention will be more

clearly understood from the following detailed

description taken in conjunction with the accompanying

drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing that a

noncircular compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance according to an embodiment of

this invention is positioned on the disc conveying

deck;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the

noncircular compact disc having positioning markers

and sliding-resistance and printed markers according

to an embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the process wherein

the compact disc having positioning markers and

sliding-resistance is positioned on the conveyor deck;

Fig. 4a shows the bottom surface of the

noncircular compact disc having positioning markers

and sliding-resistance and its longitudinal

rectangular-shaped sliding resistance means according

to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4b is the bottom surface of the noncircular

compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-

resistance with its circular sliding resistance means

according to another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional disc conveying deck.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

In order to minimize vibration, a noncircular

compact disc having positioning markers and sliding-

resistance according to the preferred embodiment of

this invention should have a symmetric shape.

A credit card is 54 mm in height and 85 mm in

width, this size being prescribed by an international

standard of ISO 7816-1 and 10536. Since devices using

credit cards are well known and used worldwide, the

credit card-sized compact disc can be employed as a

typical noncircular-shaped compact disc having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance, and both

credit cards and such discs may enjoy a variety of

interchangeable uses.

In the credit card-sized compact disc, the

capacity of writing data depends upon the disc's

height. The width of the disc, which is not directly

related to the capacity, is 85 mm according to the above-noted international standard, while the height

of the disc is 56 mm because correction allowance must

be provided to prevent manufacturing error. The

capacity of the disc 85 mm in width and 56 mm in

height is approximately 16 MB.

However, when the height of the disc is

increased, the capacity becomes greater. For instance,

when the height of the disc is 58 mm, the capacity

increases to approximately 30 MB.

Fig. 1 illustrates a noncircular compact disc 1

having positioning markers and sliding-resistance

according to an embodiment of this invention,

positioned on the conventional disc conveying deck 10

of Fig. 5. In Fig. 2, the credit card-sized

noncircular compact disc 1 having positioning markers

and sliding-resistance according to the embodiment is

illustrated. Fig. 3 illustrates the process wherein

the compact disc 1 having positioning markers and

sliding-resistance is positioned on the deck 10. The

dotted line shown in Fig. 3 and designated by reference numeral 13, is the exterior contour 13 of a

first or outside positioning depression 11, while the

dotted line shown in Fig. 3 and designated by

reference numeral 14, is the exterior contour 14 of a

second or inside positioning depression 12.

When the disc is 85 mm in width and 56 mm in

height, its maximum radius is 49.5mm. Therefore, when

the noncircular compact disc 1 having positioning

markers and sliding-resistance is positioned on the

conveying deck 10, the disc 1 may be positioned on the

first positioning depression 11 having 120 mm in

diameter, while the disc 1 is positioned on top of the

second positioning depression 12 having 80 mm in

diameter.

According to the embodiment of this invention,

four positioning marks are indicated on the upper

surface of the disc 1 so as to position the center of

the disc 1 at the center of the positioning

depressions of the deck 10 when the disc 1 is placed

on the deck 10. In more detail, the four positioning marks are

marked on the four positions at which the exterior

contour 14 of the positioning depression 12 meets the

long sides of the disc 1 while the center of the disc

1 is positioned at the center of the positioning

depression of the deck 10. Although the positioning

marks are shown as small triangles, the shape of the

four marks is not limited to the triangle. The four

marks may be changed according to the technique of

printing or other application. The four marks may be

carved notches. Additionally, the number of marks is

not fixed at four, but may be no less than two.

When a user positions the disc 1 on the deck 10

in such a manner that the ends of the four marks of

the disc 1 are on the exterior contour 14 of the

second depression, the center of the disc 1 is

automatically set at the center of the positioning

depressions of the deck 10.

When the disc 1 is positioned on the deck 10, the

center of the disc 1 may deviate from the center of the positioning depressions of the deck 10, since the

conventional disc conveying deck 10 is designed to

allow for deviation to some degree, it does not matter

that the center of the disc 1 deviates from the center

of the positioning depressions of the deck 10 within

an allowed degree during the positioning of the disc

1.

In Fig. 4a, the noncircular compact disc with

positioning markers and sliding-resistance, provided

with a longitudinal rectangular-shaped sliding-

resistance means, according to an embodiment of the

invention, is illustrated. In Fig. 4b, the noncircular

compact disc with positioning markers and sliding-

resistance, provided with a circular sliding-

resistance means, according to another embodiment of

the invention, is illustrated.

A sliding-resistance means is provided on the

bottom surface of the disc 1, the sliding-resistance

means being made of a sliding-resistant material, thus

having a large coefficient of friction and preventing the disc from sliding.

As shown in Figs. 4a and 4b, the sliding-

resistance means 5 can be formed within the area free

from data 15. The data-free area effective for placing

sliding-resistance material is the area outside the

exterior contours 14 of the second positioning

depressions 12. In Figs. 4a and 4b, the areas 15, on

which slant lines are drawn, are the areas inside the

exterior contours 14 of the second positioning

depressions 12 or the areas on which data are allowed

to be recorded.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4a, the sliding-

resistance means 5 is in the form of two spaced

longitudinal rectangles individually formed along the

short ends of the disc 1, while in the embodiment

shown in Fig. 4b, the sliding-resistance means 5 is in

the form of four circles individually formed at a

corner portion.

The sliding-resistance means 5 is made of a

sliding-resistant material, with the sliding-resistant material having the coefficient of friction sufficient

to prevent the disc from sliding on the deck 10.

Examples of the sliding-resistant materials are

materials which solidify in the form of thin films

after being coated in a liquid phase and have large

coefficients of friction. Such materials are rubber,

urethane, silicon, etc. When such materials are

employed as the sliding-resistant materials, the

sliding-resistance means is allowed to be formed in an

arbitrary shape because the materials may be coated in

liquid phase, and the disc is allowed to be easily

dealt with because the materials solidify in the form

of thin films.

On the other hand, rubber film, urethane film,

silicon film, sand paper, etc. already solidified may

be employed as sliding-resistant materials.

Further, as the sliding-resistance means, a

plurality of prominences and depressions may be

integrally formed on the bottom surface of the disc 1

using a metal mould. When the compact disc 1 having positioning

markers and sliding-resistance, provided with such a

sliding-resistance means, is positioned on the first

positioning depression 11 of the conveying deck 10,

the position of the disc 1 is not changed despite

retraction of the deck into a compact disc drive and

any reasonable degree of external impact. No

occurrence of change is due to the friction between

the sliding-resistance means 5 and the deck 10.

As described above, a noncircular-shaped compact

disc having positioning markers and sliding-resistance

of the present invention allows precise and easy

positioning of the disc on the disc conveying deck

because positioning marks are indicated on the upper

surface of the disc.

The noncircular-shaped compact disc 1 having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance of the

present invention prevents unexpected movement of the

disc on the deck despite retraction of the deck into a

compact disc drive and any reasonable degree of external impact because the sliding-resistance means

is provided on the bottom surface of the disc.

By these means, the noncircular-shaped compact

disc can be mounted in any computer disc drive.

Industrial Applicability

According to noncircular-shaped compact disc

having positioning markers and sliding-resistance of

this invention, in case that the structure of a disc

conveying deck is not changed or an auxiliary device

is not provided to the deck, the deck may be loaded

with noncircular-shaped compact disc having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance by means of

an automatic loading method or a manual loading

method.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present

invention have been disclosed for illustrative

purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate

that various modifications, additions and

substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the

accompanying claims.

Claims

CLATMS

1. A noncircular-shaped compact disc having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance, comprised

of:

two or more positioning marks formed on

positions, at which an exterior contour of an inside

positioning depression of a disc conveying deck meets

the long sides of the disc while the center of the

disc is positioned at the center of said positioning

depression; and

sliding-resistance means provided within a data-

free area of a bottom surface of the disc, and made of

a sliding-resistance material having a large

coefficient of friction, said means being adapted for

preventing the disc from unexpectedly moving on the

deck.

2. The disc according to Claim 1, wherein said

sliding-resistance means is comprised of a thin film made of rubber, urethane or silicon.

3. The disc according to Claim 1, wherein said

sliding-resistance means are comprised of a plurality

of prominences and depressions integrally formed on

the disc.

4. The disc according to any one of Claims 1 to

3, wherein said sliding-resistance means has a

longitudinal rectangular shape.

5. The disc according to any one of Claims 1 to

3, wherein said sliding-resistance means has a

circular shape.

6. The disc according to any one of Claims 1 to

3, wherein said noncircular-shaped compact disc having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance has a

rectangular credit card shape.

7. The disc according to any one of Claims 1 to

3, wherein said noncircular-shaped compact disc having

positioning markers and sliding-resistance is any one

of a CD-ROM capable of storing read-only data, a CD-R

capable of writing data once, and a CD-RW capable of

reading, writing and erasing data many times.