JP3797318B2 - Optical disk processing system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical disc processing system that automatically and continuously performs processing operations such as information recording and / or label surface printing on an optical disc such as a plurality of CDs (Compact Discs) or DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs). .
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, CDs or DVDs, which are recording media products containing music, movies, etc., are usually produced in large quantities, so large-scale devices with large disk changers are used to reduce production costs. . On the other hand, so-called custom-made optical discs that do not require mass production, such as those used for school teaching materials, souvenirs, gifts, etc., are small in quantity, but they can respond quickly and flexibly to customer orders. It is what is required.
[0003]
In order to meet such demands, a recording unit that writes information to an optical disc, a printing unit that prints the label surface of the optical disc, and a disc changer are integrated to supply unprocessed optical discs as a recording media product. There has been proposed an optical disk processing system that automatically performs a series of processing operations of collecting a completed optical disk (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
FIG. 3 shows an example of an optical disk processing system for achieving such an object. The mechanical features of the optical disk processing system will be described below with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a disk clamp unit that clamps the center hole of the optical disk D, and is configured in the transport arm 2. One end of the transport arm 2 is fixed to the elevation mechanism 3. The elevation mechanism 3 is supported by the support posts 4 and 5, and the driving force of the output shaft of the motor 6 is transmitted to the gear 7 through the pulley, and the gear 7 is engaged with the rack gear 4 a of the support post 4 so that it is vertical. The transfer arm 2 is moved up and down in the direction.
[0005]
The base ends of the columns 4 and 5 are fixed to a slider block 8, and the slider block 8 is slidably supported on a guide shaft 9. The slider block 8 is connected and fixed to a belt 10 stretched around the wheels 11 and 12. By driving the belt 10 by a motor 13, the support blocks 4 and 5 and the transport arm 2 are moved together with the slider block 8. Reciprocates horizontally.
[0006]
Next, reference numeral 14 denotes a printing unit, which has a built-in function for printing on the label surface of the optical disk D loaded by the disk tray 14a. Reference numeral 15 denotes a recording unit, which has a built-in function for recording information on the optical disk D loaded by the disk tray 15a. A stock case 16 for storing a plurality of recording optical disks D and a collection case 17 for storing recorded optical disks D are arranged on the top of the housing of the recording unit 15.
[0007]
In the case of the optical disk processing system configured as described above, in the conveyance of the optical disk between the stock case 16, the collection case 17, the printing unit 14, and the recording unit 15, the vertical movement of the optical disk D is performed by the elevation mechanism 3. The horizontal conveyance is performed by driving the belt 10.
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-255010
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in order to increase productivity in the conventional optical disk processing system, the stock unit 16, in order to increase the number of operating units of the system, that is, the number of optical disks D that can be automatically processed continuously. The capacity of the collection case 17 must be increased. In the case of the configuration in the system described above, both the stock case 16 and the collection case 17 must be extended in the height direction as shown in FIG. For example, when the thickness of a standard optical disk is 1.2 mm, the laminated thickness of 100 optical disks is 120 mm. However, the laminated thickness of 300 optical disks was 360 mm, and the difference in height became extremely large, resulting in a number of problems.
[0010]
In other words, in the system configuration shown in FIG. 3, when the stock case 16 and the collection case 17 can accommodate 300 optical discs D, both cases are three times as high. The dimension in the height direction becomes large, which hinders space saving. Further, when the stock case 16 and the collection case 17 are extended in the height direction, the columns 4 and 5 must be extended to be long. When the columns 4 and 5 have such a configuration, it is clear that the rigidity is structurally lowered and the vertical accuracy is lowered. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance that the transport arm 2 reciprocates vertically inside the stock case 16 and the collection case 17 and the distance that the optical disk D is transported to the printing unit 14 and the recording unit 15 are increased. Since the transport path R of the optical disk D becomes longer, the processing time becomes longer, so that the operation unit time cannot be shortened.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems. While increasing the number of optical discs that can be continuously processed automatically, the volume of the stock case and the recovery case is reduced, and the stock case and the recovery case of the transport arm are reduced. This prevents the vertical reciprocation in the interior from becoming large. As a result, the overall system can be made compact, the rigidity and vertical accuracy of the optical disk transport mechanism are not lowered, and the operation rate is improved so that the optical disk transport path is not lengthened. To do.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a plurality of cases for housing an optical disc in an optical disc processing system that automatically and continuously processes information recording and / or label surface printing on the optical disc. One of the cases is arbitrarily set as a collection case for processed optical discs, and the remaining case is set as a stock case for unprocessed optical discs. When the finished optical disk is exhausted, the stock case is used as a collection case, and the unprocessed optical disks accommodated in the stock cases are sequentially processed to solve the above-described problem.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, the processing function will be described on the premise of a system capable of simultaneously performing information recording on the optical disc and label surface printing processing as in the conventional case. However, the processing function of the system is limited to information recording only. Alternatively, the present invention can be carried out only by printing on the label surface, and even in this case, it does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Moreover, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part which is common in the former except the structure used as the summary of this invention, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of an optical disk processing system embodying the present invention. A plurality of cases C1, C2, C3, and C4 of the same capacity for accommodating an optical disk D are placed on the top surface of the top plate of the recording unit 15. Is arranged. The cases C1, C2, C3, and C4 are supported by a support structure 18 disposed on the back surface thereof, and can be detached from the support structure 18. In the arrangement state of the cases C1, C2, C3, and C4 shown in the figure, the case C1 is used as a collection case, and the cases C2, C3, and C4 are used as stock cases.
[0015]
Next, an example of processing steps of the optical disc D by the optical disc processing system of the present invention prepared for operation as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The control program is configured so that the processing of the optical disc D is performed for each case C2, C3, and C4 that is a stock case. First, the optical disc D in the uppermost layer of the case C2 is the disc clamp unit 1. When the predetermined processing is completed by sequentially being transported to the printing unit 14 and the recording unit 15, the processed optical disc D follows the transport path R 1 shown in FIG. Housed in C1.
[0016]
In this way, when the optical disk D in the case C2 is sequentially processed and the optical disk D accommodated in the case C2 is exhausted, the case C2 is made a collection case at this time according to the judgment of the control program. When the processing is continued, the unprocessed optical disc D accommodated in the case C3 follows the transport path R2 shown in FIG. 2B, and after the predetermined processing is performed, the optical disc D is a collection case. The case C2 is accommodated. When the optical disk D accommodated in the case C3 runs out, the case C3 is again determined as a collection case by the judgment of the control program, and when the process is continued, the unprocessed optical disk D accommodated in the case C4 is shown in FIG. C), the optical path D is accommodated in a case C3 serving as a collection case.
[0017]
As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, the distance of the reciprocating motion of the transport arm in each case in the vertical direction is not increased, and the transport path to the printing unit and the recording unit is also shortened. it can. With this configuration, it is possible to easily add cases with the same capacity, and the processing amount in the operation unit can be increased. It should be noted that the processing order of each case containing the optical disc can be arbitrarily determined by the control program, and is not limited to the embodiment.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, the present invention divides and accommodates an unprocessed optical disc into a plurality of cases, and when the optical disc accommodated in the case is exhausted, the case becomes a collection case. Regardless of the increase in the total amount of optical disks, the size of the height direction by the case does not increase, and the space of the entire system can be saved. Thereby, since the distance of the reciprocating motion of the transport arm in the vertical direction can be shortened, the rigidity and vertical accuracy of the transport mechanism of the optical disk can be prevented from being lowered. In addition, the optical disk transport path can be shortened, and the operation rate can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical disk processing system embodying the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an operation mode of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional optical disc processing system.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of improvement of a conventional optical disc processing system.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an operation mode of the system shown in FIG. 4;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ..... Disk clamp unit 2 ..... Transfer arm 3 ..... Elevation mechanism 4..5 ... Post 6 .... Motor 7 .... Gear 8 ... Slider block 9 ... Guide shaft 10 ... Belt 11 ... 12 Wheel 13 ... · Motor 14 ··· Printing unit 15 · · · Recording units D1 to D4 · · · Case

Claims (1)

In an optical disc processing system which automatically and continuously processes information recording and / or label surface printing on an optical disc,
A plurality of cases are arranged to accommodate the optical disc, and one arbitrarily defined case among these cases is used as a collection case for processed optical discs, and the remaining cases are used as stock cases for unprocessed optical discs. None, when the optical disk accommodated by proceeding with the processing of the optical disk for each stock case is exhausted, the unprocessed optical disks accommodated in each stock case are sequentially processed so that the stock case becomes a collection case An optical disk processing system characterized by that.

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