JP2002092967A - Manufacture of disk and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk producing method by which a large number of CDs are efficiently produced. SOLUTION: A prescribed front surface processing is performed to a molded disk substrate W along a series of process line. A sputtering process for forming a thin film on the disk substrate W and first and second cleaning processes before and after the sputtering process are provided. When one of the sputtering process and the processes before/after it stops, a working state is kept running as a whole process while compensating the process which has stopped. CD production can be normally and continuously continued even when some part in the process line stops by providing a buffer unit in a proper place of the process line of this kind of disk producing facilities.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a disc manufacturing method and apparatus for manufacturing a compact disc (particularly, CD-RW).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are an extremely large number of steps in the manufacture of a CD, and a manufacturing facility corresponding to each step is required. Also, a part of the CD manufacturing line is automated to improve manufacturing efficiency.

[0003]

In a conventional CD manufacturing method or apparatus, a plurality of facilities operate according to a fixed sequence. When a failure or the like occurs in a part of the production line, the failed equipment is restored to a normal operation state. However, since a precise and complicated device is used, the restoration takes a lot of trouble and time. In particular, when automation is performed, not only the failed equipment but also the entire production line may stop. Therefore, continuous production cannot be performed as a production line. In the past, it was difficult to quickly deal with equipment failures etc. because it was left to the computer,
It has not been easy to construct a manufacturing line that can always be manufactured continuously.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an efficient disk manufacturing method and apparatus capable of always manufacturing a CD continuously.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems Thus, the present inventor has:
As a result of intensive studies on the background of such problems, it was found that the above problems could be solved by providing a buffer at a certain position in the process line, and the present invention was completed based on this finding. It was made.

That is, the present invention provides (1) a disk manufacturing method for subjecting a formed disk substrate to a predetermined surface treatment along a series of process lines, wherein a thin film is formed on the disk substrate. Including a sputtering step and first and second cleaning steps before and after the sputtering step, when the sputtering step or any of the steps before or after the step is stopped, the entire step is compensated for while the step stopped is compensated. And a continuous operating state is maintained.

(2) There are first and second buffering steps for stacking the disk substrates on the stacker corresponding to the first and second cleaning steps, respectively, and the process line is provided in response to the stopping step. On the other hand, the present invention resides in a disk manufacturing method for stacking or supplying disk substrates.

Further, (3) when the steps after the first cleaning step are stopped, the steps are stacked on the stacker of the first buffer device, and the steps before the inspection step before the first cleaning step are performed. When stopped, the present invention resides in a disk manufacturing method for supplying a disk substrate stacked on a stacker of a first buffer device to a first cleaning step.

(4) When the steps after the second cleaning step are stopped, the steps are stacked on the stacker of the second buffer device, and the steps before the sputtering step before the second cleaning step are performed. When stopped, the present invention resides in a disk manufacturing method for supplying a disk substrate stacked on a stacker of a second buffer device to a second cleaning step.

(5) A disk manufacturing method in which a spacer is interposed between disk substrates when stacking disk substrates on a stacker in a buffer step.

(6) A disk including a resin overcoating step of applying a predetermined resin to the disk substrate surface after the second cleaning step, and a resin curing step of curing the coated resin. Lies in the manufacturing method.

(7) A disk manufacturing apparatus for subjecting a formed disk substrate to a predetermined surface treatment along a series of process lines, comprising: a disk substrate forming apparatus; A cooling device for cooling the substrate, a cleaning device for cleaning the disk substrate, a sputtering device for forming a thin film on the disk substrate, and a buffer for stacking the disk substrate on the stacker or supplying the disk substrate corresponding to the cleaning device. An apparatus and a resin coating apparatus for overcoating the surface of a disk substrate with a predetermined resin.

(8) The cooling device includes an air ejecting device for blowing the static elimination air onto the disk substrate, and a transport device for transporting the disk substrate at a predetermined pitch when blowing the static elimination air onto the disk substrate. Existing disk manufacturing equipment.

Further, (9) the buffer device exists in a disk manufacturing apparatus provided with a spacer insertion device for inserting a spacer between the disk substrates when stacking the disk substrates on the stacker.

According to the present invention, the method includes a sputtering step of forming a thin film on a disk substrate, and first and second cleaning steps before and after the sputtering step.
Also, the method includes first and second buffering steps for stacking the disk substrates on the stacker, respectively, corresponding to the first and second cleaning steps. When the sputtering process or any of the processes before or after the sputtering process is stopped, the disk device is stacked or supplied to the process line by the buffer device according to the stopping process. Since the operating state of the entire process can be maintained while compensating for the stopped process, a disk can be manufactured without substantially stopping the manufacturing line.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a disk manufacturing method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an example of the overall schematic configuration of a disk manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment. This apparatus is configured to perform a predetermined surface treatment on a formed disk substrate along a series of process lines.

This disk manufacturing apparatus includes a molding machine 10 for molding a disk substrate, a cooling device 11 for cooling the molded disk substrate, and a cleaning device 12 for cleaning the disk substrate (a first cleaning device 12A and a second cleaning device 12A). Cleaning device 12B), a sputtering device 13 for forming a thin film on the disk substrate, a first buffer device 14 for stacking the disk substrate on the stacker or supplying the disk substrate corresponding to the first cleaning device 12A, A second buffer device 15 for stacking the disk substrate on the stacker or supplying the disk substrate corresponding to the second cleaning device 12B, and a resin coating device 16 for overcoating the surface of the disk substrate with a predetermined resin are provided.

The take-out mechanism 17 is a device for taking out a disk substrate from the molding machine 10, and a first reversing mechanism 18 is provided.
Is a device for inverting the disc substrate by 90 °, a second reversing mechanism 19 is a device for inverting the disc substrate similarly by 90 °,
The disk transfer / transfer mechanism 20 is a device for receiving a disk substrate and moving it to the next location, an inspection device 21 (21
A, 21B) is an apparatus for inspecting the quality of a disk.

Here, the first cleaning device 12
A supply pitch feed mechanism 22 is provided. In addition, the first buffer device 14 includes a non-defective stacker 23 for stacking non-defective products.
, A spacer lifter 24, a supply / transfer mechanism 25, and a defective stacker 26 for stacking defective products. The sputter supply / transfer mechanism 27 is a device for transferring the disk substrate to the sputtering device 13. Second buffer device 15
Has a stacker 28 for stacking non-defective products, a spacer lifter 29, and a buffer transfer mechanism 30.

The resin coating device 16 includes an overcoat device 31 for applying an ultraviolet-curable resin to the disk substrate, an ultraviolet irradiation table mechanism 32, and an ultraviolet irradiation device 33.

Further, a printing device 34 is a device for printing predetermined information such as a lot number on a disk substrate by a method such as ink-jet printing, and a disk transfer mechanism 35 is a device for moving the disk substrate from one position to another position. Stacker 36 is a device for stacking defective products, spacer lifter 3
7 is a device for mounting spacers on a stack pole to prevent contact between disk substrates, a finished product stacker 38 is a device for stacking finished disk substrates, and a spacer storage stacker 39 is a device for stacking spacers. It is a device to be stacked.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the disc substrate W formed by the molding machine 10 is cooled by the disc removing mechanism 17 from the molding machine 10 via the reversing mechanism 18 by the cooling device 1.
It is transferred to one side (two-dot chain line).

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the cooling device 11 includes an air injection device 40 for blowing static elimination air onto the disk substrate W.
And a transfer device 41 for transferring the disk substrate W at a predetermined pitch when blowing the static elimination air onto the disk substrate W. The transfer device 41 has a forward path and a return path, and includes an intermediate transfer mechanism 42 for transferring the disk substrate W from the forward path to the return path. The substrate W is transported by the transport device 41 as a whole in a U-shape. The transfer mechanism of the transfer device 41 may be, for example, a type in which the disk substrate W is mounted on a screw portion of a ball screw, and the disk substrate W is transferred by rotating the screw.

The air injection devices 40 are provided in a pair corresponding to the forward and backward transport devices 41, and the nozzles 4 arranged in a plurality of rows are provided.
From 3, static elimination air is blown to the disk substrate W. The cooling device 11 can efficiently cool and clean many disk substrates W.

Next, the disk substrate W is transferred to the inspection device 21A by the second reversing mechanism 19 and the disk transfer / transfer mechanism 20. The inspection device 21A is as shown in FIG.
For example, an image is recognized by the camera 44 from above and below the disk substrate W, and the quality is inspected. Non-defective products are sent to the next first cleaning device 12A based on the inspection result.

Here, when the processes after the first cleaning process by the first cleaning device 12A are stopped, the non-defective products are stacked on the stacker 23 of the first buffer device 14 and inspected before the first cleaning process. When the process before the process is stopped, this time, the disk substrate W stacked on the stacker 23 is supplied to the supply transfer mechanism 25.
To the cleaning device 12A (first cleaning step). When stacking good products on the stacker 23, the spacer 45 (see FIG. 7) is mounted on the stack pole by the spacer lifter (spacer insertion device) 24 and inserted between the disc substrates. By thus interposing the spacer, it is possible to prevent the disk substrates W from directly contacting each other. When a defective product is stacked on the defective product stacker 26, the spacer is not inserted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning device 12 includes a mechanism 46 for rotating and supporting the disk substrate W, a mechanism 47 for blowing clean air, and a hood 48 for covering these.
The cleaning for the next sputtering process is performed by blowing clean air from the clean air ejection mechanism 47 onto the disk substrate W rotated by the rotation / support mechanism 46.

Next, the disk substrate W cleaned by the cleaning device 12A is transferred to the sputtering device 13 by the sputter supply / transfer mechanism 27. In this sputtering apparatus 13, four thin films are formed on the disk substrate W. As the sputtering device 13 used here, a known device can be used. After the sputtering process, the disk substrate W is again cleaned with the cleaning device 1
2B (second cleaning step).

Here, when the processes after the second cleaning process by the cleaning device 12B are stopped, the non-defective products are stacked on the stacker 28 of the buffer device 15, and
When the step before the sputtering step before the second cleaning step is stopped, the disk substrate W stacked on the stacker 28 of the second buffer device is supplied to the second cleaning step by the buffer transfer mechanism 30. When stacking non-defective products on the stacker 28, the spacer 45 is interposed between the disk substrates by the spacer lifter 29 as shown in the perspective view and the front view of FIG.

After the second cleaning step, in the resin coating device 16, first, the ultraviolet curing resin M is applied to the disk substrate W by the overcoat device 31 as shown in FIG. In this case, the ultraviolet curing resin M is applied while the disk substrate W rotates at a high speed. Next, as shown in FIG. 9, when irradiating the disk substrate W with the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 49 in the ultraviolet irradiation device 33, the disk substrate W is rotated by the ultraviolet irradiation table mechanism 32.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, predetermined information such as a lot number is printed at an appropriate position on the disk substrate W (preferably around the disk spindle hole) by the printing device 34. Next, the final inspection of the finished disk is performed by the inspection device 21B. In accordance with the quality of the finished product disk, the defective product is stored in the stack pole 50 of the defective product stacker 36 as shown in FIG. The non-defective product is stored in the stack pole 51 of the finished product stacker 38 as shown in FIG. In this case, the spacer lifter 37
The spacer 52 on the stacker 39 is mounted on the spacer storage stack pole 51 as shown in the figure, and the spacer is inserted between the disk substrates.

Through the above steps, a CD as a finished product is obtained. In this case, when the sputtering process or any of the processes before and after the sputtering process is stopped as described above, the disk devices W are stacked or supplied to the process line by the buffer devices 14 and 15 according to the stopping process. The operating state can be maintained without stopping the entire process.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, although an example in which two buffer devices 14 and 15 are provided has been described, the number of buffer devices may be appropriately increased or decreased according to the increase or decrease in the number of steps of the entire device. Obtainable. The number of inspection devices can be increased or decreased as appropriate.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a buffer device at an appropriate position on a process line in a disk manufacturing apparatus of this kind, a CD can be continuously reproduced even when a stop point occurs in the process line. And efficient production is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a periphery of a disk ejection mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a periphery of a cooling device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the periphery of an inspection device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a periphery of a cleaning device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing a periphery of a good disk stacker according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
(B) is a front view.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the periphery of an overcoating device of the resin coating device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the vicinity of an ultraviolet irradiation device of the resin coating device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a printed disk substrate according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a periphery of a defective disk stacker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing the periphery of a good disk stacker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Molding machine 11 ... Cooling device 12 (12A, 12B) ... Cleaning device 13 ... Sputtering device 14, 15 ... Buffer device 16 ... Resin coating device 17 ... Take-out mechanism 18 ... 1st inversion mechanism 19 ... 2nd inversion mechanism DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Disk delivery / transfer mechanism 21 (21A, 21B) ... Inspection apparatus 22 ... Supply pitch feed mechanism 23 ... Good stacker 24 ... Spacer lifter 25 ... Supply / transfer mechanism 26 ... Defective product stacker 27 ... Sputter supply / transfer mechanism 28 ... Stacker 29 ... Spacer lifter 30 ... Buffer transfer mechanism 31 ... Overcoating device 32 ... Ultraviolet irradiation table mechanism 33 ... Ultraviolet irradiation device 34 ... Printer 35 ... Disk transfer mechanism 36 ... Defective product stacker 37 ... Spacer lifter 38 ... Completion Product stacker 39… Spacer storage stacker 4 ... Air injection device 41 ... Conveying device 42 ... Intermediate transfer mechanism 43 ... Nozzle 44 ... Camera 45 ... Spacer 46 ... Rotation / support mechanism 47 ... Clean air ejection mechanism 48 ... Hood 49 ... Ultraviolet irradiation lamp 50 ... Stack pole 51 ... Stack pole 52 ... Spacer W ... Disk board

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masaru Miki 1 at 98, Tsunowa, Tanomachi, Tanomachi, Komatsushima, Tokushima F-term in Kitano Engineering Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5D121 AA03 AA04 AA05 EE03 EE19 EE21 EE24 FF01 GG18 GG28 JJ03 JJ05 JJ08

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A disk manufacturing method for subjecting a formed disk substrate to a predetermined surface treatment along a series of process lines, comprising: a sputtering step of forming a thin film on the disk substrate;
The first and second cleaning steps before and after the sputtering step, and when the sputtering step or any of the steps before or after the step is stopped, the continuous operation is performed as a whole while compensating for the stopped step. A method for manufacturing a disk, wherein a state is maintained. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: first and second buffer steps for stacking the disk substrates on a stacker corresponding to the first and second cleaning steps, respectively. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the disk is stacked or supplied. 3. When a step after the first cleaning step is stopped, the stack is stacked on the stacker of the first buffer device thereafter, and when a step before the inspection step before the first cleaning step is stopped, The disk manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the disk substrate stacked on the stacker of the one buffer device is supplied to the first cleaning step. 4. When a step after the second cleaning step is stopped, the stack is stacked on the stacker of the second buffer device thereafter, and when a step before the sputtering step before the second cleaning step is stopped, The disk manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the disk substrate stacked on the stacker of the second buffer device is supplied to the second cleaning step. 5. The disk manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein a spacer is interposed between the disk substrates when stacking the disk substrates on the stacker in the buffering step. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: after the second cleaning step, a resin overcoating step of applying a predetermined resin to the surface of the disk substrate, and a resin curing step of curing the coated resin. Item 6. The disk manufacturing method according to any one of Items 2 to 5. 7. A disk manufacturing apparatus for performing a predetermined surface treatment on a formed disk substrate along a series of process lines, comprising: a disk substrate forming apparatus; and a cooling device for cooling the formed disk substrate. Device, a cleaning device for cleaning the disk substrate, a sputtering device for forming a thin film on the disk substrate, a buffer device for stacking the disk substrate on the stacker or supplying the disk substrate corresponding to the cleaning device, and a disk substrate A disk manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a resin coating device for overcoating a predetermined resin on the surface. 8. A cooling device comprising: an air ejecting device that blows static elimination air onto a disk substrate; and a transport device that transports the disk substrate at a predetermined pitch when blowing the static elimination air onto the disk substrate. The disk manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The disk according to claim 7, wherein the buffer device includes a spacer insertion device that inserts a spacer between the disk substrates when stacking the disk substrates on the stacker. manufacturing device.