JP2001247186A - Disk case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the stacking of disk cases so that the inside and outside directions of the disks housed in an upper stage disk case are aligned with those of the disks housed in a lower stage disk case when the disk cases are stacked. SOLUTION: In a disk case wherein a large number of ribs are provided to the insides of both side walls of a housing lane opened upwardly and downwardly at a constant interval in order to form grooves for housing disks in parallel to the front and rear walls of the housing range and a frame capable of being fitted in the upper part of the housing lane is formed to the bottom part of the housing lane and the bottom surface of the frame is locked in the upper end parts of the ribs of the housing lane of other same disk case to make it possible to tack the housing lanes of the other same disk case on the housing lane, inclined surfaces are formed only to the upper end parts of the ribs formed to one of the side walls and notch parts capable of being locked only with the inclined surfaces are formed only to one side wall of the frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk case, and more particularly to a disk case capable of storing a plurality of disks at predetermined intervals when processing, transporting or storing the disks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, disks are widely used as recording media such as hard disks and optical disks and substrates for such recording media. As the recording density of such a disk increases, it is required to ensure its surface smoothness. The disc is generally manufactured through a shape processing step, a grinding step, a polishing step, and a final inspection step. Inspections are performed between each process, and when an abnormality is found by this inspection, the cause is examined and the problem is dealt with. For example, when foreign matter is mixed in the polishing pad of the upper surface plate of the polishing apparatus, and a scratch or foreign material is found on the surface of the disc after the polishing process, the polishing pad of the upper surface plate is replaced. In order to meet the demand for mass production and reduction of manufacturing cost, such manufacturing control is performed in units of one lot, for example, 125 disks to be processed at one time in each manufacturing process.

[0003] By the way, the disk is easily damaged and the thickness is usually as thin as about 0.6 to 1.5 mm. It must not be damaged by contact with each other or with others. Therefore, when processing, storing, and transporting a disk, a disk case that stores a plurality of disks at predetermined intervals is used. As such a disk case, for example,
No.-49450, JP-A-62-33436, Tokuheihei 3
No. 5,500,713 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-131938 are known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2563 discloses a disk case that can be stacked in a plurality of stages. In general, since the front and back of the disc cannot be distinguished from the external appearance, when storing the disc in the above-described disc case, the disc is stored in a state where the front and back of the disc are aligned so that the front and back of the disc can be checked during the above-described inspection or the like. Identification is possible.

[0004]

However, when one lot of disks is stored in a plurality of disk cases, the disk cases may be stored and transported in a stacked state. In this case, even if the front and back of the disc in each disc case are aligned, if the front and back of the disc stored in the upper disc case and the disc stored in the lower disc case are not aligned, the disc will end up being The front and back cannot be distinguished. In this state, if an abnormality occurs on any one surface of the disk, it is difficult to identify the cause of the abnormality, because it is not possible to identify which surface is abnormal. In addition, with the increase in recording density of hard disks, minute foreign matters adhering to disks have become a problem in the process of manufacturing hard disks. In general, in the production of a hard disk, the size of a foreign matter that becomes a problem decreases as the process proceeds, since the disk surface becomes smoother as the process proceeds. Therefore, the process up to the grinding process is performed in the air, and the process after the polishing process is performed in a clean atmosphere in a clean room.

Therefore, if a common disk case is used in all the steps of manufacturing a disk, foreign matter adhering to the disk case in the previous step is brought to the subsequent step, which causes a deterioration in the smoothness of the disk. In particular, if a common disk case is used to transport the hard disk substrate from the grinding process performed in the atmosphere to the polishing process performed in a clean room, even if the disk case is cleaned before the polishing process, foreign matter is removed. May be brought in.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. When a plurality of disk cases containing disks are stacked in a state in which the front and back sides are aligned, the disk cases are stored in an upper disk case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk case that enables stacking of disk cases so that the front and back sides of a disc stored and a disk stored in a lower disk case are aligned. In the above-described disk case, a disk case that can be identified for each use process or use atmosphere is used so that a disk case used in a certain process or atmosphere is not used in another process or atmosphere. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following contents. First, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a groove for accommodating a disc is formed on an inner wall of a storage lane whose upper side is open, and an engaging portion having a shape capable of engaging with each other is formed at an upper end and a bottom of the storage lane. The storage lane of another identical disk case can be stacked on the storage lane by engaging the engagement portion at the upper end of the storage lane with the engagement portion at the bottom of the storage lane of another identical disk case. The disk case described above, wherein both the engaging portion provided at the upper end portion and the engaging portion provided at the bottom portion are formed in asymmetric positions or shapes. In this case, as an example in which the engaging portion is formed in an asymmetric shape in the horizontal direction, for example, an uneven portion or a notch portion is formed on the upper end portion and the bottom end portion.

When a disk is stored in the disk case of the present invention, the disk case is stored such that the front and back sides of the disk are aligned. This disk case is provided on the storage lane by engaging the engagement portion at the upper end of the storage lane with the engagement portion at the bottom of the storage lane of another identical disk case. Are stacked. At this time, since the engaging portion is formed in an asymmetrical position or shape, the front and back sides of the disk stored in the upper disk case and the disk stored in the lower disk case must be aligned so that the engagement is not performed. Since the joints cannot be engaged, stacking is not possible or stacking becomes unstable. This makes it possible to determine whether the disk cases are stacked in the correct direction. Also, by stably stacking the disc cases, the front and back sides of the disc stored in the upper disc case and the disc stored in the lower disc case are aligned, so the disc case in the stacked disc case is It is possible to identify the front and back of all disks. Therefore, when an abnormality occurs on any one of the front and back surfaces, it is possible to determine which surface is abnormal, and it is possible to quickly perform feedback to the manufacturing process.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of ribs are provided at regular intervals to form a groove for accommodating a disk in parallel with the front and rear walls of the storage lane inside the side walls of the storage lane whose upper and lower sides are open. Is provided at the bottom of the storage lane to form a frame that can be fitted above the storage lane, and the frame is stored by engaging the bottom surface of the frame with the upper end of the storage lane rib of the same disk case. In a disk case in which a lane can be stacked on a storage lane of another identical disk case, an inclined surface is formed only at an upper end portion of a rib formed on one of the side walls, and an inclined surface is formed only on one side wall of the frame. And a notch portion capable of engaging with the disk case. According to the present invention, the slope formed at the upper end of the rib provided on one side wall of the storage lane and the notch formed on one of the side walls of the frame provided at the bottom of the storage lane are related. By combining, another identical case main body is stacked on the case main body. At this time, the inclined portion is formed at the upper end of the rib provided on one side wall of the storage lane, and the notch portion that engages with the inclined portion is formed on one of the side walls. If the front and rear directions of the disk case and the lower disk case are not aligned, the engaging portion cannot be engaged with the notch portion and the stacking cannot be performed.
Or the stacking becomes unstable. Therefore, if the directions of the disks to be stored in all the disk cases are aligned, when the disk cases are stacked, the front and back surfaces of all the disks can be aligned. This makes it possible to identify the front and back of the disc in the disc case.

The invention according to claim 3 is the disk case according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of storage lanes are provided. According to the present invention, a large number of disks can be stored in a small space. The invention according to claim 4 is the disk case according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is integrally formed of resin. According to the present invention, a highly accurate disk case can be obtained at low cost. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the disk case according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the disk case is colored with a color indicating an environment in which the disk is used. According to the present invention, the environment in which the disk is used can be easily identified, so that a disk case used in one environment is prevented from being brought into another environment.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show a disk case 10 according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the disk case 10 according to the present invention has a box-like shape whose upper and lower sides are open. And the disk 12
Is inserted and removed from above the disk case.

The disk case 10 includes a front wall 16 and a rear wall 18 facing each other, and a pair of side walls 20. A partition 21 is provided at the center of the disk case 10.
Is provided. The disk case 10 is formed by this partition.
The storage lanes 10a for storing the disks 12 are formed in two rows. A substantially U-shaped notch 22 is formed at a position of each of the front wall 16 and the rear wall 18 facing the storage lane 10a. The vicinity of the central portion of the disk 12 stored opposite to the front wall 16 or the rear wall 18 of each storage lane 10a is exposed from the notch.

A flange 20d is formed at the upper end of the side wall 20 so as to protrude outward so as to enable the disk case 10 to be held by a robot hand or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the side wall 20 has an upper thin plate portion 20a, a tapered portion 20b whose thickness increases inward downward from the thin plate portion 20a, and a tapered portion 2a.
A thick plate portion 20c having a maximum thickness of 0b is formed continuously. On both sides of the partition 21, corresponding to the side wall 20, an upper flat portion 21a, a tapered portion 21b projecting inward from the flat portion downward, and a tapered portion 21b
Has a protruding portion 21c formed continuously. By making such side wall 20 and partition wall 21 face each other,
Above the storage lane 10a, the distance between the side wall 20 and the partition 21 is widened, and in the portion where the tapered portion 20b is formed, the distance between the side wall 20 and the partition 21 is gradually reduced downward, and the distance between the side wall 20 and the thick plate 20c protrudes. In the portion where the portion 21c faces, the distance between the side wall 20 and the partition 21 is the smallest. This makes it possible to stably hold the disk 20. An opening 14 is formed between the lower end of the side wall 20 and the lower end of the partition 21.

Ribs 2 are formed on the inside of the side wall 20 and on both sides of the partition wall 21 to form grooves for holding the disk 12 upright.
4 are provided facing each other. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ribs 24 are formed from the thin plate portions 20a and the flat portions 21a of the side walls 20 and the partition walls 21 to the tapered portions 20b and 21b.
It is formed over the lower end, and its lower part has a curved shape protruding inside the storage lane 10a in accordance with the shape of the tapered portions 20b and 21b of the side wall 20 and the partition 21. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ribs 24 are arranged at intervals slightly larger than the thickness of the disk 12 to be housed, and the peripheral edges of the disk 12 are sandwiched between the ribs 24 by this interval. Grooves are formed. Further, the rib 24 has a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape whose width decreases inward to enable the disk 12 to be easily inserted from above the storage lane 10a.

At the upper end of each rib provided on one of the side walls, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, there is formed an inclined surface 24a whose thickness decreases upward. The inclined surface 24a is formed such that the inclined surfaces 24a of all the ribs 24 are located on the same plane. Also, the partition 21
The upper end of the rib provided on the other side surface 20 is formed flat. Thus, by forming the inclined surface only on the rib provided on one of the side walls, the disk case has a left-right asymmetric shape. Each storage lane 10a
Below the front wall 16, the rear wall 18, the side wall 20, and the partition 21, a frame 26 having a shape fitting above the storage lane 10 a of the same disk case 10 is formed. On one side surface of the frame 26, the inclined surface 2 of the rib 24 is provided.
A notch 26a that can engage with the frame 4a is formed, so that the frame 26 has an asymmetric shape on the left and right. The bottom surface of the frame 26 is formed flat so that the disk case 10 can be transported by a roller conveyor or the like.

When the disk 12 is immersed in a processing liquid to perform a chemical treatment on the disk 12 or when the disk 12 is washed while being stored in the disk case, the liquid is inserted into the groove between the ribs 24. A slit for discharge can be formed. As a result, the treatment liquid and the cleaning liquid do not stay in the groove after the completion of the chemical treatment and the cleaning.

Such a disk case 10 is formed of a material such as a metal, a resin, or the like that can withstand a use environment such as a processing solution used for processing the stored disk 12 and a processing temperature. In particular, from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost and finishing accuracy, it is preferable to integrally mold with resin. As such a resin, general resins such as various polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and Teflon (registered trademark) (PTFE) can be used. In particular, when the disk case is manufactured by a normal injection molding method, the resin may be, for example, polycarbonate, polyamide, thermotropic liquid crystal polymer (LC
P), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketone (PEK), PEEK-based alloy resin [for example, PEEK / thermotropic liquid crystal polymer, PE
EK / polybenzimidazole (PBI), etc.], fluorine resin such as polybenzimidazole (PBI), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyether sulfone (PES), polyetherimide (PEI), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), etc. It is preferable to use

The disk 12 housed in the disk case 10 of the present invention is not particularly limited.
Hard disk substrates, optical disk substrates, magneto-optical disk substrates formed of glass, crystallized glass, ceramics, silicon, carbon, aluminum, aluminum alloy, titanium, etc., and hard disks, optical disks, and optical disks manufactured with these substrates Examples include a magnetic disk and a silicon wafer. Also, disk case 1
The size of the disk 12 stored in the storage unit 0 is not particularly limited. For example, a substrate for a hard disk
(2.5 inches), 84 mmφ (3.0 inches), 95
There are various sizes such as mmφ (3.5 inches), and the size and thickness of the disc may be different before and after the processing in each step. In such a case, by appropriately setting the size and shape of the front wall 16, the rear wall 18, the side wall 20, the partition 21, the rib 24, the spacing between the ribs 24, and the like, the disk case 10 corresponding to each size is obtained. be able to. The disk case 10 may be colored differently depending on the type and size of the disk 12 to be stored or the processing performed on the disk 12.
Further, a different color may be colored for each process or atmosphere in which the disc case is used. Further, when the disk case is used in a clean room, different colors may be colored according to the cleanliness of the clean room.

Next, a method of using the above-described disk case 10 will be described. The disk 12 is housed in the disk case 10 by inserting the peripheral edge into the groove between the ribs 24 by means such as a robot hand. As a result, the disk 12 is stored upright with the ribs 24 disposed. This storage holds all disks 12
Is performed in a state where the front and back sides are aligned such that the front surface faces the front wall 16 direction and the back surface faces the rear wall 18 direction, for example. When the disks 12 are stored in the plurality of disk cases 10, the disk cases 10 are stored and transported in a stacked state. This stacking is performed so that the front and back sides of the disk 12 stored in the upper disk case 10 and the disk 12 stored in the lower disk case 10 are aligned, that is, the front wall of the upper and lower disk cases 10. 16 and the rear walls 18 are connected to each other. When the stacking is performed correctly in this manner, as shown in FIG. 6, the inclined surface 24a formed on the rib 24 of the lower disk case 10 and the cutout 26 formed on the frame 26 of the upper disk case 10
Since a is engaged, the upper disk cases 10 can be stably stacked. In this case, since all the disks 12 in the stacked disk cases 10 are aligned in the front and back, the front and back can be easily identified. Therefore, when an abnormality occurs on any one of the front and back surfaces, it is possible to determine which surface is abnormal, and it is possible to quickly provide feedback to the manufacturing process.

On the other hand, when the disks 12 stored in the upper disk case 10 and the disks 12 stored in the lower disk case 10 are to be stacked in a state in which the front and back sides are not aligned, ie, the lower disk case 1
0 on the rear wall 18 of the upper disk case 10
7 is to be stacked so that
As shown in FIG.
4 and the upper disk case 1
The notch 26a of the zero frame 26 cannot be engaged. In this case, the stack becomes unstable or cannot be stacked. Thus, it is possible to determine that the user is trying to stack in the wrong direction.

Next, an example in which the disk case 10 of the present invention is used for manufacturing a glass substrate for a hard disk will be specifically described. The disk that had undergone the final polishing step in the method for manufacturing a glass substrate for a hard disk was housed in a plurality of disk cases with the front and back sides aligned. The disk cases were stacked and stored until the inspection was performed. During the inspection, a scratch was found on one surface of the disk, which was thought to be due to contamination by foreign matter during the polishing process. Since the disk case of the present invention can be stacked only when the front and rear directions are aligned, it has been specified which side of the surface where the scratch has occurred is the front or back. Then, when the polishing pad stuck to the upper platen of the polishing device for polishing the surface where the abrasion was generated was inspected, a flaw caused by foreign matter was found. When this polishing pad was replaced and the polishing treatment was performed again, a glass substrate for a hard disk having good smoothness and flatness without defects such as adhesion of foreign substances and scratches on both surfaces was obtained.

Next, a method of using the disk case 10 in which a different color is colored for each process or atmosphere to be used will be described with reference to an example of manufacturing a hard disk substrate made of glass. The manufacture of glass substrates for hard disks
It can be roughly divided into a grinding process, a shape processing process, a polishing process, a chemical strengthening process, and an inspection process. Among these manufacturing steps, the grinding step and the shape processing step are performed in the air, and the steps from the polishing step to the inspection step are performed in a clean room.

Therefore, the disk case used in the atmosphere is colored black, and the disk case used in the clean room is colored green. A disk case colored black is used to transport the disk between the grinding step and the shape processing step, and a disk case colored green is used to transport the disk between the polishing step and the inspection step. I do. As a result, the disk case used in the atmosphere and the disk case used in the clean room are distinguished, and the disk case used in the grinding process and the shape processing process performed in the atmosphere undergoes a polishing process to an inspection process. Is prevented from being brought into a clean room. Therefore, since the inside of the clean room can be kept clean, it is possible to manufacture a disk having excellent smoothness.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the disk case 10 in which the storage lanes 10a for storing the disks 12 are formed in two rows is described. However, the storage lanes 10a may be formed in one row or three or more rows. When a disk case having a plurality of storage lanes is formed, the disk case may be integrally formed, or a plurality of disk cases having one storage lane may be connected. When connecting a plurality of disk cases, a structure may be employed in which the plurality of disk cases can be arbitrarily combined and divided. It is also possible to form a plurality of storage lanes for storing disks of different sizes in one disk case.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the disk case of the present invention, the front and back sides of the disk stored in the upper disk case and the disk stored in the lower disk case are aligned. Otherwise, the disks cannot be stacked or the stack will be unstable. Therefore, it is possible to always stack the disk cases in the correct direction, and it becomes possible to align the front and back of the disk stored in the upper disk case and the disk stored in the lower disk case. Also, by coloring the disk case with a color indicating its use environment, the environment in which the disk case was used can be easily identified, and the disk case used in one environment can be used in another environment. It is prevented from being brought in. Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the disk, it is possible to prevent the defect of the disk due to the adhesion of the foreign particles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a disk case according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the disk case according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the disk case according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing ribs of the disk case according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a rib of the disk case according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for explaining a state in which the disk cases are stacked in a correct direction.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state in which disk cases are stacked in an incorrect direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Disc case 10a Storage lane 12 Disk 16 Front wall 18 Rear wall 20 Side wall 22 Notch 24 Rib 24a Inclined surface 26 Frame 26a Notch

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A groove for accommodating a disk is formed on an inner wall of a storage lane whose upper part is open, and an engaging portion having a shape engageable with each other is formed at an upper end and a bottom of the storage lane. The storage lane of the other identical disk case can be stacked on the storage lane by engaging the engagement portion at the upper end of the storage lane with the engagement portion at the bottom of the storage lane of another identical disk case. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein both the engaging portion provided at the upper end portion and the engaging portion provided at the bottom portion are formed in asymmetric positions or shapes. 2. A plurality of ribs are provided at regular intervals on the inside of both side walls of the storage lane whose upper and lower sides are open to form grooves for storing disks in parallel with the front and rear walls of the storage lane. Forming a frame at the bottom of the storage lane that can be fitted above the storage lane, and engaging the bottom surface of the frame with the upper end of the rib of the storage lane of another identical disk case; In the disk case capable of being stacked on the storage lane of the other same disk case, an inclined surface is formed only at an upper end portion of a rib formed on one of the side walls, and only on one side wall of the frame. A disk case, wherein a notch portion engageable with the inclined surface is formed. 3. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein said disk case is provided with a plurality of said storage lanes. 4. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein said disk case is integrally formed of resin. 5. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein the disk case is colored with a color indicating an environment in which the disk case is used.