JPH05282710A - Optical disk inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly convey a disk without any damaging, to correspond with simple constitution a disk which differs in external diameter, and to accelerate the disk with the simple constitution without varying the quantity of flotation of the disk even when the moving speed of the disk is varied nor damaging the disk. CONSTITUTION:Jet holes for oblique jet flows are formed in the side wall parts 37L and 37R of a groove part 35, whose bottom part is formed in stage shape. This device is provided with a means 30 which controls only the flow rate of the oblique jet flows and also provided with jet holes 32 for the high-density oblique jet flows or large-diameter jet holes 33 nearby the inspection position of the disk.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for controlling the quality of a disc in a manufacturing process for producing an optical disc such as a CD (compact disc), and more particularly to a signal surface after a reflective film is attached to the disc by sputtering or the like. The present invention relates to an inspection device that optically detects scratches and the like to determine pass / fail of a final product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method of manufacturing an optical disk such as a CD is generally as follows. That is, an optical disk master recording device using a laser beam performs exposure recording on a glass master disk coated with a resist, and then, through a development and plating process, a metal master disk (stamper) for replica molding of a disk is completed. Using this stamper, a substrate is duplicated by a method such as injection molding, and then a metal reflective film is attached to the surface by sputtering, a reflective film protective coat is applied, and a label or the like is printed on the coated surface to complete the process.
In the above process, the degree of formation of the metal reflective film has a great influence on the disc performance of signal reading, and the pass / fail judgment at this point becomes very important.

For this reason, in the conventional manufacturing process, all the scratches on the disk are inspected and connected to the downstream process. In order to shorten the inspection time as the disk production increases, it is desired to increase the speed of the transfer device.Currently, the method of transferring the disk before and after the inspection machine is to use the buoyancy of the air flow blown out in the vertical direction. The so-called air guide method, in which the disk is levitated and the disk is horizontally moved at a high speed by using a means for generating a horizontal flow, is becoming mainstream. This air guide system is configured as follows.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional inspection apparatus. Reference numeral 1 denotes a disk under inspection, which is rotated by a motor 5 on a turntable 4 and is rotated by the inspection machine 6 and 7 while rotating together with the turntable 4. To be inspected. Reference numeral 6 is a light source section, and 7 is a light receiving section. Reference numeral 2 is a disk before inspection, 3 is a disk after inspection, 8 is an air hole for vertically floating the disks 2 and 3, and 9 is an air hole for generating an air flow for moving the disk in the horizontal direction. Reference numeral 10 is a fan for blowing air, and 11 is a static pressure chamber for creating a uniform pressure. Further, 12 is a duct connecting the fan 10 and the static pressure chamber 11, and 13 is an enclosure.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the above-mentioned conventional inspection apparatus, which also shows a mechanism for stopping a disk that has been levitated by an air flow.
Is a stopper, and 15 is a cylinder. In addition, FIG.
(B) is a view showing a conventional example in which a wall constituting a side surface of a groove, which is a passage of a disc, is made movable in order to accommodate discs having different outer diameters, and (a) shows a disc 16 having a larger outer diameter. In this example, 17 is a side wall for forming a movable groove, and 18 is a cylinder for moving the wall. Further, (b) is an example in which a disk 19 having a small outer diameter is guided. FIG. 9 is a view showing a nozzle 20 for ejecting accelerated air from the upper part of the disc in order to accelerate the disc when the disc is moved again from the disc stop position shown in FIG.

[0006]

The conventional device as described above has the following disadvantages. First, FIG.
In the above example, since the air jet flow is only from the bottom surface, imbalance occurs in the flow of the disc, and the disc moves while hitting the left and right walls. For this reason, there is an inconvenience that the side surface of the disk is scratched or damaged. In addition, when trying to increase the moving speed of the disc, the vertical jet flow for floating the disc becomes higher together with the oblique jet flow for transporting the disc, so the flying height increases and the disc may become unbalanced. It was Further, in the example of the conventional device as shown in FIG. 8 for disks having different outer diameters,
The guide mechanism has become complicated, which itself causes a failure and takes time for switching. Further, although the accelerating means as shown in FIG. 9 is a method which is provisionally easy to install, an extra pipe (not shown) for the nozzle 20 is required, or the ejection speed is too high, so that the disc However, there is a problem in that it is damaged by hitting against the guide and it is very difficult to adjust the ejection angle of the nozzle.

Therefore, the present invention has been conceived in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional optical disc inspection apparatus.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc inspection device having a smooth and reliable transport device without slowing down the transport speed of the disc or damaging the appearance of the disc.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide an optical disc inspection device capable of handling discs having different outer diameters with a simple structure. A third object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc inspection apparatus in which the flying height of the disc does not increase even if the moving speed of the disc is increased. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc inspection device capable of accelerating the disc with a simple structure and without damaging the disc.

[0008]

In order to achieve the first object of the present invention, air ejection holes for ejecting an oblique ejection flow for carrying a disc are provided on both side walls of the bottom of a groove for carrying the disc. I am trying. That is, according to the present invention, a groove portion for carrying the optical disc from one side to the other side, and a plurality of first air ejection holes provided in the bottom portion of the groove portion for floating the optical disc in the groove portion upwardly move air upward. And means for ejecting air obliquely along the longitudinal direction of the groove from a plurality of second air ejection holes provided in the groove so as to convey the optical disk along the groove. Means, an openable / closable stop wall for temporarily stopping the optical disc at a predetermined inspection position of the groove, and a means for rotating the optical disc stopped at the inspection position for inspection.
An optical disc inspection apparatus comprising: an optical inspection unit that irradiates a light beam on the optical disc temporarily stopped at the inspection position on the groove portion to inspect a scratch on a signal surface of the optical disc, and the plurality of second air ejection holes have the groove portions. An optical disk inspection device is provided, which is provided on both side walls of the bottom portion of the optical disc. In order to achieve the second object, the present invention is configured such that the groove portion has a pair of opposing side wall portions corresponding to an optical disc having a large diameter and a pair of opposing side wall portions corresponding to an optical disc having a small diameter. The two pairs of side wall portions are formed in a stepped shape in the groove portion. Further, in the present invention, in order to achieve the third object, the air flow rate adjusting means is provided in the passage of the air ejected from the air ejection hole ejecting the oblique ejection flow for carrying the disk. Further, in the present invention, the fourth
In order to achieve the above object, the density of the air ejection holes for ejecting the oblique air ejection flow for carrying the disc near the inspection position of the groove is increased or the diameter is increased.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the optical disc inspection apparatus of the present invention. The optical disc inspection apparatus of FIG.
Although the air ejection holes for ejecting the oblique ejection flow for carrying the disc are different from the above-described configuration of FIG. 6, the other configurations are basically the same as those of the conventional device of FIG. That is, the casing 13A has a groove portion 35 for carrying the disc 1, and the groove portion 35 has a bottom portion 3A.
6 and side wall portions 37L and 37R provided at both ends thereof. The bottom 36 of the groove has a plurality of holes 21 vertically provided in the bottom 36 for creating a vertical air jet. On the other hand, a plurality of air ejection holes 22 for ejecting an oblique air ejection flow for carrying the disc 1 along the groove portion 35 in the direction of the arrow in the figure are provided in the left and right side wall portions 37L, 37R, respectively. This situation is best shown in FIG. Jet holes 2 for jetting this oblique air jet
Each of the narrow channels 34 near 2 is provided at an angle of about 30 degrees when the longitudinal direction of the groove, that is, the traveling direction of the disk 1 shown by the arrow is zero degrees. The angle of the narrow channel 34 should be determined in consideration of factors such as the desired transport speed of the disc and the outer shape of the disc. Although not shown, all of the narrow channels 34 communicate with the static pressure chamber via a predetermined duct. In FIG. 1, the optical disc 1 is shown in the inspection position, and an openable / closable stop wall or stopper 14 for temporarily stopping the optical disc 1 at the inspection position, and a stopper 14 for driving the stopper 14. The cylinder 15 is provided as in the conventional device.
According to the present embodiment, air is ejected from both the side walls 37L and 37R toward the center of the groove portion 35 and in the traveling direction. It is transported in a stable state without colliding with 37R.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment for achieving the second object of the present invention. In this embodiment, the bottom of the groove 35 has a stepped shape. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, when carrying a disc 16 having a large outer diameter, the optical disc 16 is guided by the side wall portions 25L and 25R, and as shown in FIG. When the small optical disc 19 is carried, the optical disc is guided by the stepped portion, that is, the side wall portions 26L and 26R of the bottom portion 24. Therefore, when a disc having a large outer diameter and a disc having a small outer diameter are transported, it is not necessary to perform an operation such as switching the guide width of the disc as in the conventional device, and a special configuration for such an operation is also unnecessary. This embodiment is shown in FIG.
Also, the examples shown in FIG. 2 can be easily combined and used by appropriately modifying them.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an embodiment for achieving the third object of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the conventional example of FIG. 6 in the following points. That is, the duct is configured to divide the air flow sent from the fan 10 into two. That is, a flow rate control damper 30 is provided in the oblique jet flow duct 29. The damper 30 has its opening controlled by a damper opening adjusting motor 31.
In the drawing, 27 is a static pressure chamber for vertical jet flow, and 28 is a static pressure chamber for oblique jet flow. In this embodiment, the oblique air jet flow is managed separately from the vertical jet flow, so that the moving speed of the disk can be arbitrarily set without changing the flying height of the disk. In other words, even if the flow rate of the oblique jet flow is increased in order to increase the moving speed of the disk, the vertical jet flow does not increase, so that unnecessary lifting of the disk 1 can be prevented. This embodiment is shown in FIGS.
It goes without saying that it can be used in combination with the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment for achieving the fourth object of the present invention. This embodiment is shown in FIGS.
However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. That is, it is applicable even if the side wall portions 37L and 37R of the groove portion 35 are not provided with the air ejection holes. In FIG. 5, the disk 1 is shown in the inspection position. The air ejection holes 22 for the oblique ejection flow corresponding to this position can increase the flow velocity of the oblique ejection flow by increasing the number density or increasing the hole diameter. The increase of the flow velocity can accelerate the progress of the disc 1. In the figure, numeral 32 indicates a hole when the density of the holes is increased, and numeral 33 indicates a hole when the hole diameter is increased, and both are combined, but either or both of them can be used.

[0013]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, since the jet holes for the oblique jet flow are provided in the side wall portion of the groove, the disk does not collide with the side wall. Without causing damage to the periphery of the disc,
Stable transportation. Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2, since the groove portion has a stepped shape adapted to two kinds of disks having different outer diameters, it is easy to cope with a change in outer diameter,
This frees you from the complexity of the configuration and the hassle of switching operations. Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 3, since the flow rate adjusting means is provided only in the flow path of the oblique jet flow, the disc transport speed can be arbitrarily adjusted without affecting the flying height of the disc. .. Further, according to the invention of claim 4,
Since the density of the jet holes for the oblique jet flow near the inspection position is increased or the diameter is increased, the disk is favorably accelerated at this position.

It goes without saying that the four embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 can be combined as needed with appropriate modifications.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of an optical disk inspection device of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a short-side longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) and (b) show states applied to disks having different diameters.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical disc inspection apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical disc inspection apparatus.

FIG. 8 is two longitudinal cross-sectional views showing a state in which the conventional optical disc inspection apparatus is compatible with discs having different diameters.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical disc inspection apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 16 and 19 Optical disc 10 Fan 11 Static pressure chamber 13A Case 14 Stopper 15 Cylinder 21 Oblique ejection hole (second air ejection hole) 22 Vertical ejection hole (first air ejection hole) 24, 36 Bottom 25R, 25L , 26R, 26L, 37L, 37R Side wall 27 Vertical jet static pressure chamber 28 Oblique jet static pressure chamber 29 Oblique jet duct 30 Flow control damper 32 High density oblique jet hole 33 Large diameter oblique jet hole 34 Narrow channel 35 Groove

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A groove portion for transporting an optical disc from one side to the other, and air is ejected upward from a plurality of first air ejection holes provided in the bottom portion of the groove part for levitating the optical disc in the groove portion. And means for ejecting air obliquely along the longitudinal direction of the groove portion from a plurality of second air ejection holes provided in the groove portion in order to carry the optical disk along the groove portion. ,
An openable / closable stop wall for temporarily stopping the optical disc at a predetermined inspection position of the groove, a unit for rotating the optical disc stopped at the inspection position for inspection, and the inspection on the groove In the optical disc inspection device comprising an optical inspection means for irradiating a light beam to the optical disc temporarily stopped at a position to inspect for scratches on its signal surface, the plurality of second air ejection holes are provided on both sides of the bottom portion of the groove portion. An optical disk inspection device, which is provided on a side wall. 2. A groove portion for transporting the optical disk from one side to the other, and air is ejected upward from a plurality of first air ejection holes provided in the bottom portion of the groove portion to float the optical disk in the groove portion. And means for ejecting air obliquely along the longitudinal direction of the groove portion from a plurality of second air ejection holes provided in the groove portion in order to carry the optical disk along the groove portion. ,
An openable / closable stop wall for temporarily stopping the optical disc at a predetermined inspection position of the groove, a unit for rotating the optical disc stopped at the inspection position for inspection, and the inspection on the groove An optical disc inspecting apparatus comprising: an optical inspecting unit for irradiating a light beam on the optical disc temporarily stopped at a position to inspect for scratches on its signal surface, wherein a first pair of opposing side walls corresponding to an optical disc having a groove portion having a large diameter And a second pair of opposing side wall portions corresponding to an optical disc having a smaller diameter, and the first and second opposing side wall portions are formed as a stepped shape in the groove portion. An optical disk inspection device characterized by the above. 3. A groove portion for transporting the optical disc from one side to the other, and air is jetted upward from a plurality of first air jet holes provided in the bottom portion of the groove portion for floating the optical disc in the groove portion. Means for causing the optical disk to be conveyed along the groove portion, and means for ejecting air obliquely along a longitudinal direction of the groove portion from a plurality of second air ejection holes provided in the groove portion. ,
An openable / closable stop wall for temporarily stopping the optical disc at a predetermined inspection position of the groove, a unit for rotating the optical disc stopped at the inspection position for inspection, and the inspection on the groove An optical disc inspection apparatus comprising: an optical inspection unit for irradiating a light beam on the optical disc temporarily stopped at a position to inspect for scratches on a signal surface of the optical disc, wherein an air passage is ejected from the plurality of second air ejection holes. An optical disk inspecting device, which is provided with a flow rate adjusting means. 4. A groove portion for transporting the optical disc from one side to the other, and air is ejected upward from a plurality of first air ejection holes provided in the bottom portion of the groove portion for floating the optical disc in the groove portion. And means for ejecting air obliquely along the longitudinal direction of the groove portion from a plurality of second air ejection holes provided in the groove portion in order to carry the optical disk along the groove portion. ,
An openable / closable stop wall for temporarily stopping the optical disc at a predetermined inspection position of the groove, a unit for rotating the optical disc stopped at the inspection position for inspection, and the inspection on the groove In an optical disc inspection device comprising an optical inspection means for irradiating a light beam on the optical disc temporarily stopped at a position to inspect for scratches on its signal surface, the density of the plurality of second air ejection holes is measured near the inspection position. An optical disk inspection device characterized by being made higher or having a larger diameter.