JP2006127685A - Transfer method, apparatus, and cleaning method of master disk - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transfer method, apparatus, and a cleaning method of master disks capable of considerably enhancing the lifetime of the master disks by easily removing a foreign material such as dust and fiber waste from the master disks and capable of enhancing the productivity of a close adhesion transfer work. <P>SOLUTION: A cleaning method of the master disks are used for magnetic transfer wherein a magnetic disk 46 to be transferred is supplied between a pair of the master disks held by a pair of holders 22, the master disks are respectively pressed into contact with both sides of the magnetic disk to be transferred, a magnetic field is applied to the pressed magnetic disk to be transferred to respectively transfer the magnetic patterns on a pair of the master disks to both sides of the magnetic disk to be transferred. The cleaning method includes: an inspection step for inspecting a contaminated state of the surface of the master disks; and a cleaning step for selectively cleaning the contaminated part of the surface of master disks detected in the inspection step. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer method, an apparatus, and a master disk cleaning method, and in particular, prevents generation of defective products when a magnetic information pattern such as format information is transferred from a master disk to a magnetic disk used in a hard disk device or the like. The present invention relates to a transfer method, an apparatus, and a master disk cleaning method that are effective for this purpose.

  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 technology (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.

  However, in such conventional techniques (Patent Documents 1 to 3), it has been pointed out that there are many transfer failures and transfer yields are poor, and that the master disk must be frequently replaced.

  In other words, when performing magnetic transfer, it is necessary to bring the master disk and the hard disk (slave disk) to be transferred into close contact, but if the cleanness in this environment is poor, transfer may be caused by fine particles or dust, The surface of the master disk is often damaged.

  In particular, the repeated use of such a master disk makes it easy for dust, fiber waste, etc. generated in the surrounding environment to adhere to the surface of the master disk. If foreign matter such as dust or fiber scraps adheres to the surface of the master disk and is brought into close contact with the slave disk, the master disk and slave disk are not sufficiently in contact with each other within a predetermined range centered on the foreign matter, It tends to be defective.

  In addition, by repeating the close contact between the master disk and the slave disk, the adhesion force of the foreign matter to the surface of the master disk is increased, and in the subsequent close transfer, it is likely to reproduce the same transfer defect. .

  Furthermore, the adhesion of the foreign matter to the surface of the master disk may cause a problem that the surface of the master disk is deformed or a surface of the master disk is damaged, and the normal function of the master disk is impaired.

  On the other hand, as disclosed in Patent Document 4, there is a proposal for removing a foreign substance by contacting a surface of a rotating master disk while rotating a cleaner disk to which a cleaner pad is attached.

  However, if the entire surface of the master disk is cleaned every time close transfer is performed, productivity is significantly reduced. On the other hand, if the entire surface of the master disk is cleaned after a predetermined number of close contact transfers, it is difficult to avoid adhesion of foreign matter.

  Further, as in Patent Document 5, a proposal has been made to clean a master disk (stamper) of an optical disk, which is a similar recording medium, at a predetermined frequency (electrolytic degreasing cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, ozone cleaning, etc.).

  However, the foreign matter that has been repeatedly pressed and firmly attached is difficult to remove by such a predetermined frequency of washing, and it is difficult to avoid the attachment of the foreign matter.

  Further, as in Patent Document 6, a slave disk after magnetic transfer is subjected to a verify inspection of the magnetization pattern by a verify inspection apparatus, and a surface of the master disk corresponding to an error occurrence position is checked by a cleaning apparatus based on this inspection. Proposals have been made to selectively remove deposits by selective cleaning.

However, since the verify inspection time is much longer than the magnetic transfer time, there is a concern that many new defects may occur during the inspection.
JP-A 63-183623 JP 10-40544 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-269566 JP 2000-285637 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-144097 JP 2003-173657 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can easily remove foreign matters such as dust and fiber scraps from the master disk, can greatly improve the life of the master disk, and can perform close contact transfer work. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer method, an apparatus, and a master disk cleaning method capable of improving the productivity.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transfer process for transferring a pattern of a master disk to a transfer target disk, an inspection process for inspecting a contamination state of the master disk surface, and the detection detected in the inspection process. And a cleaning process for cleaning a contaminated portion on the surface of the master disk.

  To this end, the present invention provides a transfer means for transferring the pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk, an inspection means for inspecting the contamination state of the surface of the master disk, and the master detected by the inspection means. There is provided a transfer device comprising a cleaning means for cleaning a contaminated portion on the surface of a disk.

  According to the present invention, the contamination state of the master disk surface is inspected, and the detected contaminated portion of the master disk surface is cleaned. Accordingly, foreign matters such as dust and fiber waste can be easily removed from the master disk, the life of the master disk can be dramatically improved, and the productivity of the close contact transfer operation can be improved.

  The transfer disk refers to not only a magnetic disk but also various media such as an optical disk (including a magneto-optical disk).

  The present invention also provides a supplying step of supplying a magnetic disk for transfer so as to face a master disk having a magnetic pattern held by a holder portion, and press-contacting the master disk to the supplied magnetic disk for transfer A pressure-contacting step for clamping, a transfer step for applying a magnetic field to the holder portion to transfer the magnetic pattern of the master disk to the magnetic disk for transfer, and an inspection step for inspecting the contamination state of the master disk surface, And a cleaning step of selectively cleaning a contaminated portion on the surface of the master disk detected in the inspection step.

  To this end, the present invention provides a disk holding means for holding a master disk having a magnetic pattern by a holder portion, and a magnetic field is applied to the holder portion to transfer the magnetic pattern of the master disk to a magnetic disk for transfer. A magnetic field application unit; an inspection unit that inspects a contamination state of the surface of the master disk; and a cleaning unit that selectively cleans a contaminated portion of the surface of the master disk detected by the inspection unit. A transfer device is provided.

  According to the present invention, the contamination state of the master disk surface is inspected, and the detected contaminated portion of the master disk surface is selectively cleaned. Accordingly, foreign matters such as dust and fiber waste can be easily removed from the master disk, the life of the master disk can be dramatically improved, and the productivity of the close contact transfer operation can be improved.

  That is, before or after the magnetic transfer, the master disk is inspected online, and before the repetitive transfer, the surface of the master disk corresponding to the position where the error occurs is selectively cleaned before the adhesion of foreign matter increases. Remove foreign material. As a result, foreign substances (adhered matter) can be efficiently removed, the error-occurring portion can be repaired without performing cleaning for each magnetic transfer, and a large amount of defective products can be prevented. Therefore, good magnetic transfer can be continued, and productivity of the close contact transfer operation can be improved.

  In addition, if the entire cleaning is performed after intensively cleaning the defective portion by the local cleaning as described above, the foreign matter can be completely removed, and the subsequent generation of the defect can be effectively prevented. .

  In this invention, it is preferable that the said inspection means is equipped with the image pick-up element which images the contamination state of the surface of the said master disk. If such an image sensor (CCD camera or the like) is provided, the contamination state of the surface of the master disk can be easily detected.

  In the present invention, the cleaning means includes a nozzle that ejects liquid, gas, or solid to blow off contamination on the surface of the master disk, and a suction nozzle that is provided to face the nozzle and sucks the blown-off contamination. It is preferable. Such cleaning means can easily remove contamination on the surface of the master disk.

  As described above, according to the present invention, foreign matters such as dust and fiber waste can be easily removed from the master disk, the life of the master disk can be dramatically improved, and the productivity of the close-up transfer work can be improved. Can be improved.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a transfer method, apparatus, and master disk cleaning method 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 which is a transfer apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of a disk cassette. The magnetic transfer apparatus 10 includes an apparatus main body 12 and a clean unit 14.

  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.

  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. The fixed side holder 23 is fixed to the apparatus main body 12. On the other hand, the moving side holder 24 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.

  With the configuration of the holder unit 22 described above, 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 separated by a predetermined distance. Thus, the slave disk 40 can be easily handled by the disk supply unit 26 and the disk discharge unit 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 driven 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 unit 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 unit 34.

  The disk supply unit 26 can directly transport the slave disk 40 from the supply cassette 38 to the holder unit 22 to which the master disks 46 and 46 are attached without transferring the slave disk 40 to another chuck mechanism. Means.

  On the contrary, the disk discharge unit 34 is a disk discharge unit that can directly transport the slave disk 40 that has completed the magnetic transfer operation to the disk discharge cassette 56 without transferring it to another chuck mechanism.

  The slave disk 40 taken out from the supply cassette 38 by the disk supply unit 26 is positioned relative to the master disk 46 mounted in advance on the fixed side holder 23 of the holder unit 22. 46, the magnetic information recording surface of the master disk 46 and the magnetic information transfer surface of the slave disk 40 are held in close contact with each other. 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 unit 26 includes a chuck mechanism 42 including chucks 42a and 42b, which are two pieces of holders for gripping the inner diameter of the slave disk 40, and a chuck mechanism 42 as shown in FIG. The chucks 42a, 42b are rotated so that the robots 27, 28, 29 on the XYZ axes and the slave disk 40 are rotated 180 degrees in the XZ plane. It is comprised from the rotary cylinder 44 which has.

  That is, the disk supply unit 26 rotates the chucks 42 a and 42 b holding the inner diameter of the slave disk 40 by 180 degrees by the rotary cylinder 44 to reverse the directions of the slave disk 40 and the chuck 42.

  The disk ejection unit 34 is a disk ejecting unit that receives the slave disk 40 after magnetic transfer after the holder unit 22 is opened, and directly transports and stores the slave disk 40 to the disk ejection cassette 56.

  The disk ejection unit 34 includes a chuck mechanism 52 including chucks 52 a and 52 b that are two holders that hold the inner diameter of the slave disk 40, robots 35, 36, and 37 on the XYZ axes, and the slave disk 40. Is formed of a rotary cylinder 54 having a rotation axis in the X-axis direction for rotating the chucks 52a and 52b so as to rotate 180 degrees in the YZ plane.

  That is, the disc ejection unit 34 rotates the chucks 52a and 52b holding the inner diameter of the slave disc 40 by 180 degrees by the rotary cylinder 54, thereby reversing the directions of the slave disc 40 and the chuck 52.

  As shown in FIG. 4, 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 unit 26. It is attached. The reference mark 21A 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 disk supply cassette 38 is provided. When the recognition unit 30 positions the slave disk 40 conveyed by the disk supply unit 26 on the master disk 46, the reference mark 21A and the recognition marks 21B and 21B attached in advance to the holder unit 22 and the disk supply unit 26, respectively. Is visually recognized by a CCD camera or the like.

  The recognition unit 30 is connected to control means 30A as positioning means. The control means 30A calculates the center of the master disk 46 from the recognized reference mark 21A, and from the recognized recognition marks 21B and 21B to the slave disk 40. The center of is calculated. The Y-axis robots 28 and 29 of the disk supply unit 26 are driven and controlled 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 unit 26 to a position 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 21A provided on the fixed-side holder 23 and the center position of the master disk 46 held on the fixed-side holder 23 is previously taught by the control means 30A.

  On the other hand, the relationship between the recognition marks 21B, 21B provided on the disk supply unit 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 positions and the recognition marks 21B and 21B is taught in advance to the control means 30A.

  Based on these taught positional relationships, the positional relationship between the slave disk 40 and the master disk 46 is calculated indirectly.

  The coil units 32 and 32 are in a state in which the holder unit 22 is closed and the slave disk 40 is sandwiched between master disks 46 and 46 fixed to the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 of the holder unit 22, respectively. On the other hand, the coils are arranged on both sides of the master disks 46 and 46 and the slave disk 40 as viewed from the stacking direction. 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.

  Next, the inspection means for inspecting the contamination state of the surfaces of the master disks 46 and 46, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, and the contaminated portion of the surface of the master disks 46 and 46 detected by the inspection means are selectively cleaned. The cleaning means to perform will be described.

  In FIG. 1, an inspection unit and a cleaning unit are provided on the side surface of the holder unit 22 at the disc discharge process position 86. In FIG. 1, only the CCD camera 16 and the illuminating means 17 as the image pickup device are shown in the inspection means, and the cleaning means is not shown because it is retracted and is on the opposite side of the holder unit 22. .

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the inspection means and the holder unit 22. This inspection means includes a CCD camera 16, an illumination means 17, and a mirror 18. Among these, the CCD camera 16 includes a camera body 16A and a lens barrel 16B. The CCD camera 16 is connected to the control means 30A described above.

  The CCD camera 16 is supported by the support means 16C, and can be rotated by a small amount around the X axis and the Z axis according to the instruction of the control means 30A, and corresponds to the inspected parts of both the master disks 46 and 46. It can be done.

  Furthermore, the CCD camera 16 can be retracted so as not to interfere with the robots 35, 36, and 37 of the disk ejection unit 34 at the end of the inspection.

  The illuminating means 17 illuminates the master disk 46 to be inspected obliquely from among the master disks 46 and 46 held by suction by the holder unit 22. As this illumination means 17, a halogen light source or the like can be employed. The illumination means 17 is supported by a support means (not shown), and can be rotated by a small amount around the X axis and the Y axis according to instructions from the control means 30A. It can be supported.

  The mirror 18 is disposed between the two master disks 46 and 46 in the holder unit 22 by support means (not shown). The mirror 18 is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the surface of the master disk 46, and is disposed at a position where an image of the inspected portion of the master disk 46 can be imaged by the CCD camera 16 via the mirror 18.

  Both surfaces of this mirror 18 are formed into mirror surfaces, and can be rotated a little around the Z-axis by an instruction from the control means 30A, so that both of the master discs 46 and 46 can be inspected. It has become.

  Further, the mirror 18 can be retracted to the outside between the two master disks 46 and 46 inside the holder unit 22 at the end of the inspection.

  With the above-described configuration of the inspection means, the surface of the master disk 46 can be inspected, including the concavo-convex pattern produced corresponding to the magnetization pattern such as the servo signal of the master disk 46. Then, the information (defect (contamination) and position information thereof) of the inspected part of the master disk 46 imaged by the CCD camera 16 is stored in the control means 30A described above.

  As the inspection means, in addition to the above-described configuration, for example, a laser beam is scanned on the surface of the master disk 46, and the reflected light is captured by a photomultiplier or a photodiode. Various known inspection methods such as an inspection method and a method of irradiating the surface of the master disk 46 with light such as halogen light and capturing the reflected light with a CMOS line image sensor, an area image sensor or the like can be employed.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the cleaning means and the holder unit 22. The cleaning means includes an air nozzle 19 and a suction nozzle 20.

  The air nozzle 19 is a cylindrical member having a small diameter at the tip, and can blow a high-pressure jet flow from an air supply source (not shown) to a portion to be cleaned of the master disk 46. That is, the air nozzle 19 can be moved between the two master disks 46, 46 inside the holder unit 22 by support means (not shown), and around the X axis and Z axis according to instructions from the control means 30A. A small amount can be rotated around the master disk 46, so that both the master disks 46 and 46 can be cleaned.

  The air nozzle 19 incorporates a filter and an ultrasonic whistle (not shown) so that clean air to which vibration is applied can be ejected.

  The suction nozzle 20 is a thin cylindrical member having a rectangular cross section, and is connected to suction means (not shown). The suction nozzle 20 can be moved to a position opposite to the air nozzle 19 between the two master disks 46 and 46 inside the holder unit 22 by a support means (not shown). The air of the generated high-pressure jet flow and foreign matter on the master disk 46 can be sucked.

  With the above configuration of the cleaning unit, the defect (contamination) on the master disk 46 is selectively (locally) according to the information (defect (contamination) and its position information) of the inspected part stored in the control unit 30A. It can be removed.

  As the cleaning means, in addition to the above structure, for example, dry ice fine particle spraying means, excimer laser partial irradiation means, weakly sticky cleaning roller or cleaning sheet pressing structure, cleaning cloth, etc. Various known cleaning methods can be employed, such as a wiping structure that uses wiping, and burnishing means that brings the glide head closer to the surface of the rotating master disk 46.

  Next, an operation method of the magnetic transfer apparatus configured as described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation method of the magnetic transfer apparatus.

  When the operation is started, the chuck mechanism 42 (chucks 42a and 42b) of the disk supply unit 26 grips the slave disks 40 in the disk supply cassette 38 and sequentially removes them one by one (step S-10).

  The taken-out slave disk 40 is reversed in the YZ plane by the rotation of the rotary cylinder 44, and then is mastered by the X-axis robot 27 formed by the opened holder unit 22 arranged at the disk supply process position 82. The gap between the disks 46 and 46 is moved to a direction perpendicular to the opening / closing direction of the holder unit 22 and is inserted into the gap between the master disks 46 and 46 by the Y-axis robot 28 (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 to the inside of the fixed-side holder 23 by the XYZ axis robot of the disk supply unit 26. It is moved to a recognition position that substantially coincides with the center of the master disk 46 and that the gap with the master disk 46 is about 0.5 mm.

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

  Due to this recognition, the Y− of the disk supply unit 26 is adjusted so that 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. 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 disk supply unit 26 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. The

  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 (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.

  Next, the mirror 18 of the inspection means is moved between the two master disks 46 and 46 in the holder unit 22, and the CCD camera 16 and the illumination means 17 are adjusted to appropriate positions, and the attached matter on the master disk 46. An inspection is performed, and information on the region to be inspected (defect (contamination) and its position information) is stored in the control means 30A (step S-28).

  If the control means 30A determines good (OK) as a result of the deposit inspection, the process proceeds to the next step (step S-30) of the steady flow, and if the control means 30A determines that the control means 30A is defective (NG), The process proceeds to the cleaning process (master cleaning) by the cleaning means (step S-40).

  In the cleaning process (step S-40), the mirror 18 of the inspection means is retracted from between the two master disks 46, 46 inside the holder unit 22, and the air nozzle 19 and the suction nozzle 20 are two inside the holder unit 22. Are moved to a predetermined position between the master disks 46 and 46.

  Then, clean air to which vibration is applied is ejected from the air nozzle 19 to remove foreign matter on the master disk 46, and the high-pressure jet flow air blown by the suction nozzle 20 and foreign matter on the master disk 46 are removed. Suction. Thereby, the defect (contamination) on the master disk 46 is selectively (locally) removed.

  Next, the mirror 18 of the inspection unit is moved between the two master disks 46 and 46 in the holder unit 22, and the CCD camera 16 and the illumination unit 17 are adjusted to appropriate positions, so that the deposit on the master disk 46 is detected. Is re-inspected (step S-44).

  If the control means 30A determines that the control means 30A is good (OK) as a result of the re-examination, the process proceeds to the next step (step S-30) of the steady flow, and the control means 30A determines that the control means 30A is defective (NG) (for example, When an error in the same part is detected continuously, the automatic operation is stopped, the contaminated master disk 46 is replaced with a new master disk 46, and the contaminated master disk 46 is cleaned off-line. (Step S-46).

  When off-line cleaning of the contaminated master disk 46 is performed, defect (attachment) information may be output as position information from the inspection apparatus to the off-line cleaner via a LAN or the like. Also, positioning holes and marks may be provided in advance on the master disk 46, and the online position and offline position may be matched based on the holes.

  As the off-line cleaning of the master disk 46, liquid cleaning with megasonic vibration by an ultrasonic cleaning head, ultrasonic vibration cleaning in the liquid or air of a cleaning tank by an ultrasonic vibration head, electrolytic degreasing cleaning, It is possible to use gas blowing with sonic vibration, glide cleaning with a glide head having a width larger than the track width, ultrasonic cleaning after glide cleaning, incineration cleaning with excimer laser irradiation, plasma cleaning, and the like.

  Note that it is preferable to perform glide cleaning with the flying height of the glide head being 40 nm or less. Further, the entire cleaning of the master disk 46 as described above may be performed before a new master disk 46 is set in the magnetic transfer apparatus 10.

  In the steady flow, in the next step (step S-30), the chuck 52 of the disk ejection unit 34 enters between the fixed side holder 23 and the moving side holder 24 and grips the inner diameter of the slave disk 40. Then, the suction of the slave disk 40 of the fixed side holder 23 is released, and the chuck 52 of the disk discharge unit 34 is moved by the X-axis robot 35 of the disk discharge unit 34, whereby the slave disk 40 is moved to the master disk 46 of the fixed side holder 23. Peel from.

  Next, in a state where the slave disk 40 is gripped by the chuck 52 of the disk ejection unit 34, the Y-axis robot 36 is retracted from the opened gap of the holder unit 22 in the Y-axis direction. 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.

  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 disk ejection unit 34, and one slave disk 40 is sequentially placed in the disk ejection cassette 56. Store one by one.

  The series of operations described above can process each process in parallel by positioning the holder unit 22 at each process position while intermittently rotating the index table 50 sequentially.

  While the embodiments of the transfer method, apparatus, and master disk cleaning method according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various aspects can be adopted.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, after the new master disk 46 is set, dust having a weak adhesive force may adhere during storage or setting. Therefore, before the transfer, relatively weak entire surface cleaning such as high-pressure air is performed. And better to do.

  Thereafter, in step S-28, an initial inspection is performed, and initial defects that do not affect the quality, such as pattern reflections that are not defects and minute dents outside the pattern, are registered. Based on this data, only the increase from the initial stage of inspection after transfer is targeted, and excessive detection is suppressed. As a result, the pattern can also be used as a base for floating binarization, and the excessive inspection can be further suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the deposit inspection of the master disk 46 and the discharge of the slave disk 40 are performed at the same process position (disk discharge process position 86 in FIG. 1). You may go.

  Further, the configuration of the magnetic transfer apparatus 10 is not limited to the rotary index system of the above-described embodiment, and various forms such as an inline index system can be adopted.

  Further, in the above embodiment, transfer of a magnetic disk has been described. However, the present invention can be suitably applied not only to transfer of a magnetic disk but also to various media such as an optical disk (including a magneto-optical disk).

The perspective view which fractures | ruptures and shows a part of magnetic transfer apparatus 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 The perspective view which shows the alignment state of a master disk and a slave disk The perspective view which shows the positional relationship of an inspection means and a holder unit The perspective view which shows the positional relationship of a cleaning means and a holder unit Flowchart explaining operation method of magnetic transfer apparatus

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Magnetic transfer apparatus, 12 ... Apparatus main body, 14 ... Clean unit, 16 ... CCD camera (imaging element), 17 ... Illuminating means, 18 ... Mirror, 19 ... Air nozzle, 20 ... Suction nozzle, 22 ... Holder unit (holding means) ), 23... Fixed side holder, 24... Movement side holder, 26... Disc supply unit, 32... Coil unit, 34. ... Master disk, 56 ... Disc cassette, 70 ... Robot (drive means)

Claims (9)

Transfer means for transferring the pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk;
Inspection means for inspecting the contamination state of the surface of the master disk;
Cleaning means for cleaning a contaminated portion of the surface of the master disk detected by the inspection means;
A transfer apparatus comprising: Disk holding means for holding a master disk having a magnetic pattern by a holder part;
A magnetic field applying means for applying a magnetic field to the holder portion to transfer the magnetic pattern of the master disk to a magnetic disk for transfer;
Inspection means for inspecting the contamination state of the surface of the master disk;
Cleaning means for selectively cleaning a contaminated spot on the surface of the master disk detected by the inspection means;
A transfer apparatus comprising:   The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the inspection unit includes an image sensor that images a contamination state of the surface of the master disk.   The cleaning means comprises: a nozzle that ejects liquid, gas, or solid to blow off contamination on the surface of the master disk; and a suction nozzle that is provided opposite to the nozzle and sucks the blown contamination. 4. The transfer device according to 3. A transfer process for transferring the pattern of the master disk to the transfer disk;
An inspection process for inspecting the contamination state of the master disk surface;
A cleaning step of cleaning a contaminated portion of the master disk surface detected in the inspection step;
A transfer method comprising: A supplying step of supplying a magnetic disk for transfer so as to be opposed to a master disk having a magnetic pattern held by a holder part;
A press-contacting step of pressing and holding the master disk to the supplied magnetic disk for transfer; and
A transfer step of applying a magnetic field to the holder part to transfer the magnetic pattern of the master disk to the magnetic disk for transfer;
An inspection process for inspecting the contamination state of the master disk surface;
A cleaning step of selectively cleaning a contaminated portion of the master disk surface detected in the inspection step;
A transfer method comprising: A magnetic disk for transfer is supplied so as to face the master disk held by the holder unit, the master disk is pressed against the magnetic disk for transfer, and the magnetic disk for transfer and the master disk are in pressure contact with each other. A method of cleaning a master disk used for magnetic transfer in which a magnetic pattern is transferred to the magnetic disk for transfer by applying a magnetic field,
An inspection process for inspecting the contamination state of the master disk surface;
A cleaning step of selectively cleaning the contamination spot on the surface of the master disk detected in the inspection step;
A method for cleaning a master disk, comprising:   The master disk cleaning method according to claim 7, wherein the inspection step is performed using an imaging device that images a contamination state of a surface of the master disk. The cleaning step is performed by ejecting liquid, gas, or solid from a nozzle to blow off the contamination on the surface of the master disk, and sucking the contamination blown off by a suction nozzle provided opposite to the nozzle. Item 9. A method for cleaning a master disk according to Item 7 or 8.

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