JP2006127683A - Magnetic transfer device and its operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove a slave disk (disk to be transferred) remaining in a device to its outside while effectively suppressing the contamination of a master disk or a reduction in operation rate when an abnormality occurs in the device. <P>SOLUTION: When an abnormality occurs in a magnetic transfer device 10, a slave disk 40 present after a magnetic transfer line 16 is conveyed to a downstream side to be discharged out of the device through a disk discharge line 34, while a slave disk 40 present in a disk feeding line 26 is returned to an upstream side under the reverse conveying control of the disk feeding line 26 to be discharged out of the device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a magnetic transfer apparatus and an operation method thereof, and more particularly to an operation method in an abnormal operation of an apparatus that transfers a magnetic information pattern such as format information from a master disk to a magnetic disk used in a hard disk device or the like.

  In recent years, magnetic disks (hard disks) used in hard disk drives, which have been rapidly spreading, are written with format information and address information before being installed in the drive after being delivered to the drive manufacturer by the magnetic disk manufacturer. It is common. Although this writing can be performed by a magnetic head, a method of batch transfer from a master disk in which these format information and address information are written is efficient and preferable.

  Conventionally, various proposals have been made as this type of magnetic transfer apparatus (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). Among these, Patent Document 1 is a proposal for improving work efficiency when performing magnetic transfer of a flexible disk (so-called floppy disk). Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 proposes to improve the productivity and the like when magnetic transfer is performed by forming an uneven shape corresponding to an information signal on the surface of a master disk. Patent Document 3 proposes that a master disk is provided with a large number of through holes to improve adhesion with a magnetic disk (slave disk), thereby improving the reliability of magnetic transfer.

  This magnetic transfer device is housed in a cover and has a good cleanness because the surface of the master disk is damaged by fine particles or dust if the cleanness in the device is poor.

However, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, an abnormality that causes the operation of the magnetic transfer device to be stopped due to a failure on the downstream side, such as poor gripping of the slave disk or poor positioning of the slave disk, occurs. In this case, it is necessary to remove the slave disk remaining in the magnetic transfer apparatus from the apparatus. For this reason, conventionally, the transfer target disk remaining in the apparatus is manually removed by opening the cover, or all slave disks remaining in the apparatus are discharged to the discharge side to flow outside the apparatus. It was.
JP-A 63-183623 JP 10-40544 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-269566

  However, the method of manually removing the slave disk by opening the cover not only deteriorates the cleanliness in the device and may contaminate the master disk, but also restores the original content of the cover when the cover is closed and the operation is resumed. There is a disadvantage that the idle operation for returning to the cleanliness must be performed for one hour or more, and the operating rate is lowered.

  In addition, the method of flowing all the slave disks remaining in the apparatus to the discharge side requires that the slave disk existing in the disk supply line before magnetic transfer is in close contact with the master disk in the process of discharging. In other words, the risk of contaminating the master disk increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. When an abnormality occurs in the apparatus, the slave disk (transferred object) remaining in the apparatus is effectively suppressed while suppressing the contamination of the master disk and the decrease in the operation rate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic transfer apparatus capable of removing a disk for use outside the apparatus and an operation method thereof.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in a method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus that magnetically transfers a specific magnetic information pattern formed on a master disk to a transfer target disk, the abnormality of the magnetic transfer apparatus At the time of occurrence, the transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer apparatus is automatically discharged out of the apparatus without being brought into contact with the master disk.

  According to claim 1, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer device is automatically discharged out of the device without contacting the master disk. The risk of contaminating the master disk is reduced, and there is no need to open the cover of the device, so the cleanliness in the device does not deteriorate, and operation can be resumed as soon as the device malfunction is recovered. There is no decline.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a disk supply line for supplying a disk to be transferred to a holder part for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and a holder that is held by the holder part A magnetic transfer line for transferring a magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the holder after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk, and for transfer after magnetic transfer In a method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus in which a disk discharge line for discharging a disk is sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the apparatus, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus, the object for transfer existing after the magnetic transfer line The disc is conveyed downstream and discharged out of the apparatus via the disc discharge line, while the disc supply line is discharged. Is a transfer disk that exists, characterized in that it is discharged out of the apparatus back to the upstream side by the reverse conveyance control of the disk supply line.

  According to the second aspect, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the transfer target disk existing after the magnetic transfer line is conveyed downstream and discharged out of the device via the disk discharge line. On the other hand, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line is returned to the upstream side by the reverse conveyance control of the disk supply line and discharged outside the apparatus. As a result, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line is returned to the upstream side and can be discharged out of the apparatus without being brought into close contact with the master disk, thereby reducing the risk of contamination of the master disk. Further, since it is not necessary to open the cover of the apparatus, the cleanliness in the apparatus is not deteriorated, and the operation can be resumed immediately after the abnormality of the apparatus is recovered, and the operation rate is not lowered.

  A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the transferred disk returned to the upstream side via the disk supply line is discharged out of the apparatus from the discharge outlet dedicated to an abnormality.

  It is possible to clearly distinguish the disk to be transferred at the time of abnormality by discharging the disk to be transferred existing in the disk supply line at the time of abnormality to the outside of the device from the discharge outlet dedicated to the abnormality. it can.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a disk supply line for supplying a disk to be transferred to a holder section for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and a disk supply line held by the holder section A magnetic transfer line for transferring a magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the holder after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk, and for transfer after magnetic transfer In a method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus in which a disk discharge line for discharging a disk is sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the apparatus, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus, the object for transfer existing after the magnetic transfer line The disc is conveyed downstream and discharged out of the apparatus via the disc discharge line, while the disc supply line is discharged. It is a transfer disk that exists, characterized in that it is discharged to the disk outside of the apparatus through the abnormal conveyance means for conveying the exhaust line without passing through the holder portion.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus, the transfer target disk existing after the magnetic transfer line is sent to the downstream side via the disk discharge line and discharged outside the apparatus. On the other hand, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line is discharged out of the apparatus by using the abnormal time transport means for transporting to the disk discharge line without using the holder portion. As a result, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line can be discharged out of the apparatus without being brought into close contact with the master disk of the holder portion, thereby reducing the risk of contamination of the master disk. Further, since it is not necessary to open the cover of the apparatus, the cleanliness in the apparatus is not deteriorated, and the operation can be resumed immediately after the abnormality of the apparatus is recovered, and the operation rate is not lowered.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention according to the fourth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the abnormal-time conveying means is an abnormal-time dedicated holder portion provided separately from the holder portion in the magnetic transfer line.

  In addition to the holder that holds the master disk in the magnetic transfer line, a dedicated holder for abnormal conditions is provided, and if an error occurs, the transfer target disk in the disk supply line can be transported to the disk discharge line by the dedicated holder for abnormal conditions. The risk of contaminating the master disk is reduced. Further, since the moving mechanism of the holder part can be used as it is for the holder part dedicated to an abnormality, the apparatus does not increase in size.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a magnetic transfer apparatus for magnetically transferring a specific magnetic information pattern formed on a master disk to a transfer target disk, the target being present in the magnetic transfer apparatus. A mechanism for automatically ejecting the transfer disk out of the apparatus without contacting the master disk is provided.

  According to the magnetic transfer apparatus of the sixth aspect, since the transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer apparatus is automatically ejected outside the apparatus without contacting the master disk, the magnetic transfer apparatus includes: When an abnormality occurs, the transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer apparatus can be automatically discharged out of the apparatus without contacting the master disk. Therefore, the risk of contaminating the master disk is reduced and there is no need to open the cover of the device, so the cleanliness in the device does not deteriorate, and operation can be resumed as soon as the device has recovered from an abnormality. The rate does not decrease.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a disk supply line for supplying a disk to be transferred to a holder section for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and a disk supply line held by the holder section A magnetic transfer line for transferring a magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the holder after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk, and for transfer after magnetic transfer In the magnetic transfer apparatus in which the disk discharge line for discharging the disk is sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the apparatus, the transfer direction of the transfer target disk in the disk supply line is a mechanism capable of forward and reverse, and The control means for controlling the operation of the magnetic transfer device is characterized in that when the abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the magnetic transfer line While positive conveying a transfer disk present in descending downstream, characterized in that switching the transfer target disk present in the disk supply line abnormality control mode for backward transport the upstream side.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for carrying out the method of the second aspect, wherein the mechanism is capable of reversing the transport direction of the transfer target disk in the disk supply line. In the control program of the control means for controlling the operation of the magnetic transfer device, when the abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the transfer target disk existing after the magnetic transfer line is normally controlled downstream, while the disk An abnormal time control mode program that reversely controls the index table existing in the supply line upstream is incorporated. As a result, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line is returned to the upstream side and is not brought into close contact with the master disk, so that the risk of contaminating the master disk is reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to open the cover of the apparatus, the cleanliness in the apparatus is not deteriorated, and the operation can be resumed immediately after the abnormality of the apparatus is recovered, and the operation rate is not lowered.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a disk supply line for supplying a disk to be transferred to a holder section for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and a disk supply line held by the holder section A magnetic field transfer line for transferring a magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the holder after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk, and for transfer after magnetic transfer In a magnetic transfer apparatus in which disk discharge lines for discharging disks are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the apparatus, a plurality of the holder portions are arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction, and rotate intermittently. An index table that sequentially sends the holder part to each operation position corresponding to each indexing position, and is arranged between the plurality of holder parts An abnormal rotation dedicated holder portion that rotates intermittently by the rotation of the index table and receives the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line in place of the holder portion when the magnetic transfer device operates abnormally. It is characterized by having.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for carrying out the method of the fourth aspect. Between the plurality of holder portions provided on the index table, there is an object present in the disk supply line when the magnetic transfer apparatus is operating abnormally. Equipped with a special holder part for abnormal situations to receive the transfer disk instead of the holder part. As a result, the transfer target disk existing in the disk supply line can be discharged out of the apparatus without being brought into close contact with the master disk of the holder portion, thereby reducing the risk of contamination of the master disk. Further, since it is not necessary to open the cover of the apparatus, the cleanliness in the apparatus is not deteriorated, and the operation can be resumed immediately after the abnormality of the apparatus is recovered, and the operation rate is not lowered.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the drive unit of the magnetic transfer device is disposed below a conveyance height at which the transfer target disk is conveyed.

  Since the drive unit of the magnetic transfer device is arranged below the transfer height at which the transfer target disk is transported, dust generated from the drive unit falls down and the transfer target disk is contaminated. It becomes difficult.

  A magnetic recording medium according to a tenth aspect is manufactured by the method for operating a magnetic transfer apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects.

  By implementing the method for operating a magnetic transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the degree of contamination of the master disk is reduced even if there is an abnormality in the device. Magnetic transfer can be performed, and a high-quality magnetic recording medium can be manufactured.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the apparatus, the transfer target disk remaining in the apparatus is removed from the apparatus while effectively suppressing contamination of the master disk and a reduction in the operating rate. be able to.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a magnetic transfer apparatus and an operation method thereof according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a magnetic transfer apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of a disk cassette.

  The apparatus main body 12 includes a gantry 58, and a base 60 having a horizontal surface is provided on the gantry 58. Note that the side indicated by the thick arrow is the front surface of the apparatus main body 12. The apparatus main body 12 is surrounded by a clean unit 14 so that a clean level is ensured.

  A clean air blowing unit (not shown) for supplying clean air to the inside of the apparatus is provided on the ceiling of the clean unit 14. This clean air blowing unit is composed of an air filter such as a HEPA filter or ULPA filter and a blower fan, and can supply clean air with a cleanness of less than 100 by downflow to the inside of the apparatus.

  The clean air blown out from the clean air blowing unit is discharged to the outside. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of exhaust fans 64 serving as exhaust means are disposed on the base 60 in empty areas where the mechanisms of the apparatus main body 12 are not disposed.

  At the front end of the base 60, a supply cassette 38 for accommodating the slave disk 40, which is a transfer target disk, and a discharge cassette 56 for collecting the slave disk 40 to which magnetic information has been transferred and discharged are provided. ing. The supply cassette 38 and the discharge cassette 56 have the same shape.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of supply cassettes 38 and discharge cassettes 56 can be accommodated with the surfaces of the slave disks 40 facing each other. That is, the slave disk 40 is inserted into each of the plurality of grooves 92, 92... Formed in parallel with the inner surface of the cassette, and the outer periphery of the slave disk 40 is defined by the surface formed by the grooves 92. The plurality of slave disks 40 are arranged so as to be spaced apart from each other.

  Next, the magnetic transfer line 16 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, an index table 50 is attached to a substantially central portion of the upper surface of the base 60 so as to be rotatable with respect to the base 60 by a vertical axis. . On the index table 50, four holder units 22 as holding means for holding a pair of master disks 46 and one slave disk 40 are arranged at regular intervals (every 90 degrees) in the rotation direction of the index table 50. Has been.

  As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 3, the holder unit 22 includes a fixed side holder 23 and a moving side holder 24 which are a pair of holder portions. The fixed-side holder 23 and the moving-side holder 24 each hold and fix the master disk 46 by adsorbing or adhering by external setup or the like, and adsorbing and holding the slave disk 40, and the slave disks 40 are in close contact with the master disks 46 and 46. It can be held in a state.

  The fixed-side holder 23 and the moving-side holder 24 have different information recorded on the fixed-side holder 23 and the moving-side holder 24 so as to correspond to the magnetic information recorded on the respective main surfaces of the slave disk 40. The master disks 46 are fixed. The set of these two master disks 46, 46 can be brought into close contact with each main surface of the slave disk 40 and sandwiched.

  The fixed side holder 23 is a circular cup-shaped member, and can fix the master disk 46 in the cup. The moving side holder 24 is a disk-shaped member and can fix the master disk 46 on the surface. Further, shaft members 23B and 24B are erected at the centers of the back surfaces of the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 (opposite the surface on which the master disk 46 is fixed), respectively. The shaft member 23B is fixed to the apparatus main body 12. On the other hand, the shaft member 24 </ b> B is fixed to the apparatus main body 12 via a driving means (not shown), and can move so as to be able to contact and separate from the fixed side holder 23. Further, an O-ring 25 is fixed near the outer peripheral edge of the fixed side holder 23. With this configuration of the holder unit 22, when the slave disk 40 is supplied or removed, as shown in FIG. 3, the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 are set at a position separated by a predetermined distance. Thus, the slave disk 40 can be easily handled by the disk supply line 26 and the disk discharge line 34 described later.

  In the apparatus main body 12 of FIG. 1, the index table 50 is intermittently rotated by a drive motor (not shown), and is sequentially sent to each process position and stopped so that each holder unit 22 corresponds to each index position. Multiple work can be done in parallel. The index table 50 is intermittently operated so that the four holder units 22 are always arranged at predetermined four positions. That is, each holder unit 22 stops every movement of 90 degrees.

  Further, the apparatus main body 12 of FIG. 1 has the disk supply line 26 on one side of the upper surface of the base 60 (left side of the front in FIG. 1), and the other side of the upper surface of the base 60 (right side of the front in FIG. 1). ) Are each provided with a disc discharge line 34.

  The slave disk 40 taken out from the supply cassette 38 by chucks 42a and 42b (see FIG. 2) which will be described later on the disk supply line 26 is attached to the master disk 46 mounted in advance on the fixed side holder 23 of the holder unit 22. Thus, the relative positioning is performed, and the magnetic disk is attracted and transferred by the holder unit 22 through the gap provided in the master disk 46, and the magnetic information recording surface of the master disk 46 and the magnetic information transfer surface of the slave disk 40 are transferred. It is held in close contact. A suction groove (not shown) for sucking the vicinity of the inner diameter of the slave disk 40 is provided inside the fixed side holder 23, and the slave disk 40 is sucked and held by this suction groove.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the disk supply line 26 includes a chuck mechanism 42 including chucks 42 a and 42 b that are two-piece holders for gripping the inner diameter of the slave disk 40 accommodated in the disk supply cassette 38. As shown in FIG. 1, the chucks 42a and 42b are rotated so that the robots 27, 28 and 29 of the XYZ axes and the slave disk 40 are rotated 180 degrees in the XZ plane. The rotary cylinder 44 has a rotation axis in the Y-axis direction. That is, the disk supply line 26 rotates the chucks 42 a and 42 b gripping the inner diameter of the slave disk 40 by 180 degrees by the rotary cylinder 44, and reverses the directions of the slave disk 40 and the chuck 42. Transport and deliver. When the delivery is completed, the disk returns to the position of the disk supply cassette 38 again, and the next slave disk 40 is transported to the holder unit 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the disk supply line 26 may be composed of a single X-Y-Z-axis robot 27, 28, 29. However, as shown in FIG. The two supply robots 18 and 20, the first supply robot 18 composed of the robots 27, 28, and 29 of the axes and the second supply robot 20 composed of the robots 27, 28, and 29 of the XYZ axes, A relay cassette 17 for relaying the slave disk 40 may be provided between the two supply robots 18 and 20 in series. As a result, the first supply robot 18 can transfer the next slave disk 40 from the disk supply cassette 38 to the relay cassette 17 while the second supply robot 20 is transferring the slave disk 40 to the holder unit 22. Transport efficiency can be improved compared to a single supply robot.

  In FIG. 4, the disk supply line 26 and the disk discharge line 34 are shown to be located on opposite sides of the magnetic transfer line. However, as shown in FIG. 1, they are arranged on the same side (front of the apparatus). It may be. The same applies to FIGS. 6, 7, and 9 described below.

  In addition, the disk supply line 26 is configured to convey the slave disk 40 from the upstream side to the downstream side (in the direction of the holder unit 22) of the disk supply line 26 by a control unit 31 (see FIG. 1) that controls the operation of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10. The mechanism can switch between transport and reverse transport for transporting the slave disk 40 from the downstream side to the upstream side.

  The disk discharge line 34 is a disk take-out means for receiving the slave disk 40 after the magnetic transfer after the holder unit 22 is opened, and transporting and storing the slave disk 40 directly to the disk discharge cassette 56. The disk discharge line 34 includes a chuck mechanism 52 (see FIG. 2) including chucks 52a and 52b, which are two holders that hold the inner diameter of the slave disk 40, and an XYZ axis as shown in FIG. The chucks 52a and 52b are rotated so that the one ejection robot 19 including the robots 35, 36, and 37 and the slave disk 40 are rotated 180 degrees in the YZ plane. It is comprised from the rotary cylinder 54 which has. In other words, the disk discharge line 34 rotates the chucks 52a and 52b holding the inner diameter of the slave disk 40 by 180 degrees by the rotary cylinder 54, thereby reversing the directions of the slave disk 40 and the chuck 52.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a reference mark 21 </ b> A is attached in advance to the lower surface portion of the fixed side holder 23 of the holder unit 22, and recognition marks 21 </ b> B and 21 </ b> B are preliminarily attached to the chucks 42 a and 42 b of the disk supply line 26. It is attached. The reference mark 21 and the recognition marks 21B and 21B are visually recognized by the recognition unit 30.

  The recognition unit 30 is disposed on the upper surface of the base 60 at a position close to the side surface opposite to the side surface on which the supply cassette 38 is provided. When the recognition unit 30 positions the slave disk 40 conveyed by the disk supply line 26 on the master disk 46, the reference mark 21 and the recognition marks 21B and 21B attached in advance to the holder unit 22 and the disk supply line 26, respectively. Is visually recognized by a CCD camera or the like.

  The control unit 31 is connected to the recognition unit 30. The control unit 31 calculates the center of the master disk 46 from the recognized reference mark 21A, and the center of the slave disk 40 from the recognized recognition marks 21B and 21B. Is calculated. The control means 31 drives and controls the YZ axis robots 28 and 29 of the disk supply line 26 so that the centers of the master disk 46 and the slave disk 40 coincide.

  The positioned slave disk 40 is moved by the X-axis robot 27 of the disk supply line 26 to a position where it is in close contact with the master disk 46 held inside the fixed-side holder 23, and is sucked and held inside the fixed-side holder 23. Is done. At this time, the positional relationship between the reference mark 21 </ b> A provided on the fixed side holder 23 and the center position of the master disk 46 held on the fixed side holder 23 is taught to the control means 31 in advance.

  On the other hand, the relationship between the recognition marks 21B, 21B provided on the disk supply line 26 and the center position of the slave disk 40 is such that the slave disk is on a straight line connecting the portions where the chucks 42a, 42b abut by the chucking operation of the chuck mechanism 42. When it is assumed that there are 40 centers, the relationship between the center position and the recognition marks 21B and 21B is taught to the control means 31 in advance. Based on the taught positional relationship, the positional relationship between the slave disk 40 and the master disk 46 is calculated indirectly.

  Coil units 32, 32 provided in the magnetic transfer line 16 shown in FIG. 1 close the holder unit 22, and master disks 46, 46 fixed to the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 of the holder unit 22, respectively. Thus, with respect to the state in which the slave disk 40 is sandwiched, the coils are spaced apart on both sides as seen from the stacking direction of the master disks 46, 46 and the slave disk 40. The coil units 32 and 32 apply a magnetic field having a predetermined strength for promoting the magnetic transfer action to the master disks 46 and 46 and the slave disk 40.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drive unit of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 configured as described above is preferably disposed below the conveying height at which the slave disk 40 is conveyed. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 38 </ b> A is a frame for the supply cassette 38, 17 </ b> A is a frame for the relay cassette 17, 56 </ b> A is a frame for the discharge cassette 56, 18 </ b> A is a drive unit for the first supply robot 18, and 20 </ b> A is a drive for the second supply robot 20. 19A is a drive unit for the discharge robot 19, and 50A is a drive unit for the index table 50. As described above, the drive unit of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 is disposed below the transport height at which the slave disk 40 is transported, so that the downflow of the clean air blown from the clean unit 14 causes the drive unit to Dust generated dust falls downward and is discharged out of the apparatus. Therefore, the slave disk 40 is hardly contaminated.

  Next, an operation method of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the flow of transporting the slave disk 40 in the operation method of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a control program illustrating the operation method of the present invention. The disk supply line 26 will be described with an example in which the relay cassette 17 is provided between the two robots 18 and 20 so that the present invention can be easily understood. The flow of transporting the slave disk 40 in the conventional operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the magnetic transfer device 10 is turned on, the control means 31 automatically selects the normal mode in the mode switching and executes the program on the left side of FIG. That is, when the operation is started, the chuck mechanism 42 (chuck 42a, 42b) of the disk supply line 26 grips the slave disks 40 in the supply cassette 38 and sequentially takes out one by one (step S-10).

  The removed slave disk 40 is transported to the relay cassette 17 by the first supply robot 18 and temporarily placed in the relay cassette 17. The slave disk 40 placed in the relay cassette 17 is then removed by the second supply robot 20 and the gap between the master disks 46, 46 formed by the opened holder unit 22 placed at the disk supply process position 82. The holder unit 22 is moved up to a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing direction of the holder unit 22 and inserted into the gap between the master disks 46 and 46 (step S-12).

  At this time, the master discs 46 and 46 are respectively arranged in advance inside the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 of the holder unit 22 by external setup or the like so that the center of the holder unit 22 and the center of the master disc 46 coincide. It is fixed to the position with high accuracy by suction or adhesion.

  The center of the slave disk 40 supplied between the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 of the holder unit 22 is fixed inside the fixed side holder 23 by the second supply robot 20 of the disk supply line 26. It is moved to a recognition position where it substantially coincides with the center of the master disk 46 and the gap with the master disk 46 is about 0.5 mm.

  Next, the reference mark 21 </ b> A previously attached to the lower surface of the fixed side holder 23 and the recognition marks 21 </ b> B and 21 </ b> B attached in advance to the chuck mechanism 42 (chuck 42 a and 42 b) of the disk supply line 26 are recognized by the recognition unit 30. .

  Due to this recognition, the center of the master disk 46 calculated from the reference mark 21A and the center of the slave disk 40 calculated from the recognition marks 21B and 21B of the chuck mechanism 42 coincide with each other. The slave disk 40 is positioned by the Z-axis robots 28 and 29.

  Next, the slave disk 40 is moved by the X-axis robot 27 of the second supply robot 20 to a position in close contact with the master disk 46 fixed inside the fixed side holder 23, and is sucked and fixed inside the fixed side holder 23. Is done.

  Next, the moving side holder 24 is moved toward the fixed side holder 23 by the robot 70, and both sides of the slave disk 40 are sandwiched between the two master disks 46 and 46. In this way, the both sides of the slave disk 40 are sandwiched with the two master disks 46, 46 in contact (step S-14).

  Next, the index table 50 is rotated by 90 degrees (step S-16), and the holder unit 22 is positioned at the magnetic transfer process position 84 of the next process. The coil units 32 and 32 are moved to both sides of the holder unit 22 (step S-18), and a magnetic field is applied from both sides while rotating the holder unit 22 (step S-20). As a result, the magnetic information patterns of the master disks 46 and 46 are magnetically transferred onto both sides of the slave disk 40.

  After the magnetic transfer, the coil units 32 and 32 are retracted to the initial position (step S-22), the index table 50 is rotated by 90 degrees, and the holder unit 22 is positioned at the next disk ejection process position 86 (step). S-24).

  Next, the moving side holder 24 is moved away from the fixed side holder 23 to open the holder unit 22 (step S-26). At this time, the magnetically transferred slave disk 40 is attracted to the inside of the fixed side holder 23 as in the supply.

  In the next step (step S-28), the chuck 52 of the disc discharge line 34 enters between the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24, grips the inner diameter of the slave disc 40, and The adsorption of the slave disk 40 is released.

  In the next step (step S-30), the slave disk 40 is separated from the master disk 46 of the fixed side holder 23 by moving the chuck 52 of the disk discharge line 34 by the X-axis robot 35 of the discharge robot 19.

  Next, in a state where the slave disk 40 is gripped by the chuck 52 of the disk discharge line 34, the Y-axis robot 36 of the discharge robot 19 is retreated in the Y-axis direction from the gap of the opened holder unit 22. Then, the rotary cylinder 54 is rotated 180 degrees in a circular path passing through the outside of the apparatus in the YZ plane, and the vertical direction including the chuck 52 is reversed (step 32).

  Next, the slave disk 40 and the chuck 52 are moved onto the disk ejection cassette 56 by the XYZ robots 35, 36, and 37 of the ejection robot 19, and the slave disks 40 are sequentially placed in the disk ejection cassette 56 one by one. Store (step 34).

  If an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 during the series of normal mode operations described above, the control unit 31 switches the program from the normal mode to the abnormal mode. The occurrence of an abnormality in the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 includes, for example, a decrease in the degree of cleanliness in the apparatus, a magnetic transfer defect due to an abnormality in the coil unit 32, a positioning error between the slave disk 40 and the master disk 46, and the like, but is not limited thereto. It is not a thing but any abnormality that prevents normal magnetic transcription.

  By switching the program from the normal mode to the abnormal mode, the drive of the coil units 32, 32 is stopped in the magnetic transfer line 16, but all other drives are driven in the same manner as in the normal mode. That is, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 for the flow until the slave disk 40 is ejected, the index table 50 is rotated 90 degrees to position the holder unit 22 at the next disk ejecting process position 86 (step S-40). ). Next, the moving side holder 24 is moved away from the fixed side holder 23 to open the holder unit 22 (step S-42). At this time, the magnetically transferred slave disk 40 is attracted to the inside of the fixed-side holder 23 as in the supply.

  In the next step (step S-44), the chuck 52 of the disc discharge line 34 enters between the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24, grips the inner diameter of the slave disc 40, and The adsorption of the slave disk 40 is released.

  In the next step (step S-46), the slave disk 40 is separated from the master disk 46 of the fixed side holder 23 by moving the chuck 52 of the disk discharge line 34 by the X-axis robot 35 of the discharge robot 19. Next, in a state where the slave disk 40 is gripped by the chuck 52 of the disk discharge line 34, the Y-axis robot 36 of the discharge robot 19 is retreated in the Y-axis direction from the gap of the opened holder unit 22. Then, the rotary cylinder 54 is rotated 180 degrees along a circular path passing through the outside of the apparatus in the YZ plane, and the vertical direction including the chuck 52 is reversed (step 48). Next, the slave disk 40 and the chuck 52 are moved onto the disk ejection cassette 56 by the XYZ robots 35, 36, and 37 of the ejection robot 19, and the slave disks 40 are sequentially placed in the disk ejection cassette 56 one by one. Store (step 50).

  As a result, the slave disk 40 existing after the magnetic transfer line 16 is conveyed to the downstream side and is discharged out of the apparatus 10 through the disk discharge line 34.

  In the next step (step 52), the drive of the disk supply line 26 is switched from normal conveyance to reverse conveyance. As a result, the slave disk 40 existing in the disk supply line 26 is returned to the upstream side by the reverse conveyance control of the disk supply line 26 and is discharged out of the apparatus 10. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, it is preferable that the slave disk 40 returned to the upstream side is not returned to the disk supply cassette 38 but is discharged out of the apparatus 10 from the exclusive discharge port 72 at the time of abnormality. As a result, the slave disk 40 existing in the disk supply line 26 when an abnormality occurs is discharged from the apparatus 10 through the abnormal discharge outlet 72, thereby clearly indicating that the slave disk 40 is in an abnormal state. Can be distinguished. In addition, step 52 is executed after step 50, but step 40 to step 50 and step 52 can be executed in parallel.

  On the other hand, the conventional flow until the slave disk 40 is carried out when an abnormality occurs as shown in FIG. 4 is discharged outside the apparatus 10 by flowing all the slave disks 40 remaining in the apparatus 10 to the discharge side. Even the slave disk 40 existing in the disk supply line 26 before being magnetically transferred in the discharge process must be brought into close contact with the master disk 46, and the risk of contaminating the master disk 46 increases.

  Next, a magnetic transfer apparatus 10 'according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the conceptual diagram of FIG.

  The basic configuration of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 'in the second embodiment is the same as that of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, but as can be seen from FIG. A total of four holder units 74 at the time of abnormality are provided to receive the slave disk 40 in place of the holder unit 22 when the index table 50 rotates and the magnetic transfer device 10 'operates abnormally. . That is, the holder unit 22 and the abnormal-time holder unit 74 are alternately provided every 45 degrees in the circumferential direction of the index table 50. The structure of the abnormal holder unit 74 is basically the same as the structure of the holder unit 22 shown in FIG. 3, but the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 which are a pair of holder parts of the abnormal holder unit 74 are provided. The master disk 46 does not need to be fixed, and a disk for holding the slave disk 40 may be fixed. Further, the holder unit 74 at the time of abnormality is not limited to the structure of the holder unit 22 as long as it can be transferred to the disk discharge line 34 without damaging the slave disk 40 of the disk supply line 26.

  When an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 ′ in the second embodiment, the control means 31 rotates the index table 50 by 45 degrees only for the first rotation, and the holder at the time of abnormality in the disk supply process position 82. The unit 74 is stopped and rotated every 90 degrees from the next rotation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the slave disks 40 existing in the disk supply line 26 are successively transferred to the holder unit 74 at the time of abnormality in place of the holder unit 22, and the disk ejection process position is rotated by the rotation of the index table 50. 86, and is stored in the disc discharge cassette 56 via the disc discharge line 34. In this case as well, it is preferable to provide a discharge port 72 dedicated to an abnormality and discharge the apparatus 10 ′ therefrom.

The perspective view which fractures | ruptures and shows a part of magnetic transfer device in 1st Embodiment based on this invention A perspective view showing a state in which a slave disk is put in and out of a disk cassette. Sectional view showing the configuration of the holder unit FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the disk supply line of FIG. 1 in which two supply robots and a relay cassette are arranged, and a conventional flow until a slave disk is ejected outside the apparatus when an abnormality occurs in the apparatus will be described. Illustration The perspective view which shows the alignment state of a master disk and a slave disk Conceptual diagram in which the drive unit of the device is located below the slave disk transport line Explanatory drawing explaining the flow until the slave disk is ejected outside the apparatus in the operation method of the present invention when an apparatus abnormality occurs Step diagram of normal mode and abnormal mode program in the operation method of the present invention Schematic diagram illustrating a magnetic transfer apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Magnetic transfer apparatus, 12 ... Apparatus main body, 14 ... Clean unit, 16 ... Magnetic transfer line, 17 ... Relay cassette, 18 ... 1st supply robot, 19 ... Discharge robot, 20 ... 2nd supply robot, 22 ... Holder unit (Holding means), 23 ... stationary holder, 24 ... moving side holder, 26 ... disk supply line, 32 ... coil unit, 34 ... disk discharge line, 38 ... supply cassette, 40 ... slave disk (disk for transfer) , 46 ... Master disk, 56 ... Ejection cassette, 70 ... Robot (drive means), 72 ... Dedicated outlet for abnormal conditions, 74 ... Holder unit for abnormal conditions

Claims (10)

In a method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus that magnetically transfers a specific magnetic information pattern formed on a master disk to a transfer target disk,
A method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus, wherein when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus, a transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer apparatus is automatically discharged out of the apparatus without contacting the master disk. . A disk supply line for supplying a transfer target disk to a holder part for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and the holder part after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk held in the holder part A magnetic transfer line for transferring the magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer target disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the disk and a disk discharge line for discharging the transfer target disk after the magnetic transfer from the upstream side of the apparatus In the operation method of the magnetic transfer apparatus which is sequentially arranged on the side,
When an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the transfer target disk existing after the magnetic transfer line is transported downstream and discharged out of the device through the disk discharge line, while existing in the disk supply line. A method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus, wherein the transfer target disk is returned to the upstream side by reverse transport control of the disk supply line and discharged outside the apparatus.   3. The method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transfer target disk returned to the upstream side via the disk supply line is discharged out of the apparatus through a discharge outlet dedicated to an abnormality. A disk supply line for supplying a transfer target disk to a holder part for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and the holder part after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk held in the holder part A magnetic transfer line for transferring the magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer target disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the disk and a disk discharge line for discharging the transfer target disk after the magnetic transfer from the upstream side of the apparatus In the operation method of the magnetic transfer apparatus which is sequentially arranged on the side,
When an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer device, the transfer target disk existing after the magnetic transfer line is transported downstream and discharged out of the device through the disk discharge line, while existing in the disk supply line. A method for operating a magnetic transfer apparatus, wherein the transfer target disk is discharged out of the apparatus via an abnormal-time transport means for transporting the disk to the disk discharge line without going through the holder portion.   5. The method of operating a magnetic transfer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the abnormal time conveying means is a dedicated holder portion for abnormal time provided in the magnetic transfer line separately from the holder portion. In a magnetic transfer device that magnetically transfers a specific magnetic information pattern formed on a master disk to a transfer target disk,
A magnetic transfer apparatus comprising a mechanism for automatically ejecting a transfer target disk existing in the magnetic transfer apparatus to the outside of the apparatus without contacting the master disk. A disk supply line for supplying a transfer target disk to a holder part for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and the holder part after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk held in the holder part A magnetic transfer line for transferring the magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer target disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the disk and a disk discharge line for discharging the transfer target disk after the magnetic transfer from the upstream side of the apparatus In the magnetic transfer device that is sequentially arranged on the side,
A mechanism capable of reversing the transfer direction of the transfer target disk in the disk supply line, and a control means for controlling the operation of the magnetic transfer apparatus are provided after the magnetic transfer line when an abnormality occurs in the magnetic transfer apparatus. The magnetic transfer apparatus is switched to an abnormal time control mode in which the transfer target disk existing in the disk is normally conveyed downstream and the transfer disk existing in the disk supply line is reversely conveyed upstream. A disk supply line for supplying a transfer target disk to a holder part for holding a master disk having a specific magnetic information pattern, and the holder part after the transfer disk is brought into close contact with the master disk held in the holder part A magnetic field transfer line for transferring a magnetic information pattern of the master disk to the transfer target disk by applying a transfer magnetic field to the transfer target disk, and a disk discharge line for discharging the transfer target disk after magnetic transfer from the upstream side of the apparatus to the downstream side. In the magnetic transfer device that is sequentially arranged on the side,
An index table in which a plurality of the holder parts are arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction, and the holder parts rotate intermittently to sequentially send the holder parts to each operation position corresponding to each indexing position;
It is arranged between the plurality of holder parts and rotates intermittently by the rotation of the index table, and a transfer disk existing in the disk supply line is replaced with the holder part when the magnetic transfer device is abnormally operated. And a holder for exclusive use in case of abnormality.   9. The magnetic transfer device according to claim 6, wherein the drive unit of the magnetic transfer device is disposed below a conveyance height at which the transfer target disk is conveyed.   A magnetic recording medium manufactured by the method for operating a magnetic transfer device according to claim 1.

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