KR100292374B1 - Method and device for quality inspection of rewritable recording media - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a quality inspection method and apparatus for a rewritable recording medium, and more particularly, to inspect the quality of a rewritable recording medium from a region where defects are likely to occur, thereby improving inspection efficiency while minimizing quality inspection time. A quality inspection method and apparatus for a rewritable recording medium.

A quality inspection method of a rewritable recording medium of the present invention includes a detecting step of detecting a defective area in a recording area of a recording medium; A storing step of storing position data of the defective area; And a first inspection step of inspecting an area of the position data stored in the storing step in the new recording medium quality inspection.

Description

Quality inspection method and apparatus for rewritable recording media.

The present invention relates to a quality inspection method and apparatus for a rewritable recording medium, and more particularly, to inspect the quality of a rewritable recording medium from a region where defects are likely to occur, thereby improving inspection efficiency while minimizing quality inspection time. A quality inspection method and apparatus for a rewritable recording medium.

With the development of computers and electronic devices, various types of recording media have emerged, from recording media storing video signals or audio signals to recording media storing information processed by computers. Such recording media are easily accessible around us, such as compact disks, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, hard disks, and recently appeared digital video disks.

The recording media have been developed in a form of easy to move, easy to move, and large capacity with the passage of time and the development of technology. This type of development can be easily understood as an example of a digital video disc, which is one step further from the compact disc. The digital video disc is recorded as a digital signal that does not affect image quality even after repeated playback, and has a small size and weight, such as a music compact disc, and has a data recording capacity of about 6 to about one side of a music compact disc. It is a large-capacity recording medium that can store seven times as much information.

The recording medium may be classified into a read only memory, a write once read memory, and a rewritable type according to whether information is erased on the recording medium.

The reproduction-only type is a recording medium which is shipped with data already recorded in the shipped state, and the user can only reproduce data recorded on the recording medium. As an example, a compact disc for music sold by storing several pieces of music.

The write once type is a recording medium in which no data is recorded in the shipped state, and the user can write data once on the recording medium. However, once data has been recorded, erasure is impossible, and from now on, it is used in the same manner as the read-only type.

Next, the rewritable recording medium refers to a recording medium on which a user can record data on the recording medium, erase the recorded data, and record new data again, regardless of whether data is recorded. The rewritable recording medium may be a floppy disk easily accessible around us. The floppy disk is capable of overwriting new data while data is being recorded.

Such a rewritable recording medium basically requires the following parts. First, there should be no storage medium itself, durability to overcome deterioration due to repeated use, and a recording medium itself defect which may cause an error in recording and reproducing information.

Thus, the recording medium can be classified according to whether the information can be erased, and the recording medium can be classified into various types according to the principle of recording information.

For example, an optical recording medium such as an optical disc uses a digital recording method that is different from a conventional magnetic recording tape and has a very small volume and weight, which is very efficient for storage and movement. The response is very high to consumers.

However, regardless of what recording method is used and whether data can be erased, all recording media must be able to be used without defects in the manufactured product. In particular, an optical disc using an optical recording method having very fine signal characteristics has resulted in poor quality due to scratches, poor molding, fingerprints, and adhesion of foreign matter during the manufacturing process.

Therefore, if the recording medium is made impossible to record data or if there is a problem that may cause an error in data reproducing, the consumer is challenged about the quality of the product, which in turn lowers the trust of the producer who produced the product. Thrown away. Therefore, it is necessary to select a recording medium having a quality problem before shipping the manufactured recording medium.

In any case, the recording medium needs to sort out the recording medium having defects generated in the manufacturing process before shipment as a product, and only ship the recording medium to the market that does not impair the commerciality. Therefore, what is described in the present invention will be described with respect to a method for checking the quality of a rewritable recording medium (Certification process) and the apparatus on which the method is performed even in the recording medium.

1 is a flowchart of an operation in accordance with a process of inspecting a quality of a conventional rewritable recording medium.

In the conventional quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium, a recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a 'pre-verification recording medium') to be subjected to a quality inspection is inserted into a rewritable recording medium drive (hereinafter referred to as a drive). Step 10).

If the recording medium before verification is inserted into the drive in the tenth step, the drive performs an initialization step to check the quality of the recording medium before verification. In general, the initialization step is performed as follows. If the pre-verification recording medium is an optical disc, a motor for rotating the optical disc is driven under the control of the control means for controlling the drive as a whole, and the pickup device is moved to the lead-in area of the optical disc. All circuitry in the drive is then switched to a standby state where it can operate at any time.

In this way, after the drive performs the initialization step, the control means writes test data to the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification by using the pickup device (step 12). The test data recorded in the twelfth step is stored in a separate memory means for later use as a reference signal for determining the quality of the recording medium before verification.

When the test data is recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification in the twelfth step, the control means moves the pickup device back to the lead-in area to reproduce the data recorded in the recording area (step 14). ).

When data is reproduced from the recording medium before verification in step 14, the control means compares the reproduced data with the reference signal stored in the memory means (step 16). At this time, data reproduction from the recording medium before verification is performed sequentially from the beginning of the recording area and compared with the reference signal.

That is, if an error of quality is detected in the comparison of the reproduction signal and the reference signal for the initial portion of the recording area of the pre-verification recording medium, the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is judged to be defective, and the quality of one recording medium is checked. To complete. However, if a quality error is detected in the comparison of the reproduction signal and the reference signal for the later part of the recording area of the recording medium before verification, it is judged that the recording medium inserted in the drive is defective and the quality of one recording medium is checked. Will be completed.

In addition, when the signal reproduced from the entire recording area of the pre-verification recording medium has a value as a product in comparison with the reference signal, the pre-verification recording medium is judged to be good and the quality inspection of one recording medium is completed. That is, the quality inspection time for one pre-verification recording medium may be represented as a point in time when the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is judged to be good or bad.

At this time, the determination time for the quality of the recording medium before verification, after comparing all the signals reproduced from the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification, when one of the recording medium before verification is determined to be good, The time required for the quality inspection time of the system is maximum.

Therefore, if it is determined that the recording medium before verification is defective in the initial part of the recording area, it can be said that the quality inspection time is minimized. In addition, if it is determined that the middle part of the recording medium before the verification is bad, it can be said that the inspection time is moderate. In addition, it may be determined to be defective in the latter part of the recording area of the recording medium before verification. In this case, it is determined after the quality inspection time for one recording medium before verification is almost maximum.

In any case, a product whose signal reproduced in any part of the recording area of the recording medium before verification is judged to be defective by comparison with the reference signal is inserted into the drive, ending the quality inspection of the product at the point judged as defective. The removed product is moved to a place for disposal (step 20).

As a result, the quality inspection time for the recording medium which is determined to be defective in the twentieth step is that the data reproduced in the process of recording data in the entire recording area of the recording medium and reproducing the data from the beginning of the recording area again. The time taken to determine a failure by comparison with the reference signal.

Thus, if a defect is detected in the latter part of the recording area in the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive, it can be said that the time required for quality inspection of one pre-verification recording medium is almost maximum.

Next, the pre-verification recording medium which is determined to be good in step 16 goes through a process of erasing test data recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium (step 18). That is, the eighteenth step is to erase the test data recorded in order to determine the quality of the product because it must be shipped without data in order to have a value as a product.

After performing the eighteenth step, the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is determined to be good and separated from the drive and shipped to the market.

That is, the conventional pre-verification recording medium quality inspection records test data in all recording areas of the pre-verification recording medium, sequentially reproduces the test data recorded in the entire recording area, and in the reproducing step, the pre-verification recording medium. After the quality is determined, the process proceeds to erase the test data recorded for only good products.

Therefore, the time required for the quality inspection of all pre-verification recording media is the time before test data is recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification and before the verification in the process of sequentially reproducing the test data recorded in the entire recording area. It is determined by the time taken until the quality of the recording medium is determined.

Therefore, the conventional recording medium quality inspection has a problem in that it always takes time to record test data in the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification.

In addition, in the conventional recording medium quality inspection, the quality of the recording medium is determined while sequentially reproducing test data recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium before verification. Thus, when the failure detection of the recording medium before verification is detected later, the maximum time per unit should be taken, and when the failure detection is detected in the middle, it should take almost the time per unit. Therefore, there was a problem that the time required per unit for quality inspection from the recording medium before verification was to be maximized.

The problem is that the time required for the quality inspection of the recording medium per unit inevitably becomes a relatively long time in consideration of the time that the recording medium is manufactured by the mass production technology. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a plurality of drives for the quality inspection of the recording medium, which is one problem that increases the manufacturing cost of the recording medium.

Therefore, the present invention seeks to find a defective recording medium early from a large amount of recording medium before verification.

Therefore, the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the present invention is that most of the recording medium is produced in large quantities and high speed using a dedicated production facility, and the recording medium manufactured in a series of production facilities has the same processing experience in the short term. The inventors focused on having the same processing experience with respect to a product that passed through the same raw material, the same manufacturing date, the same manufacturing process, and the like.

This is because if the recording medium produced at a particular point of time has a defect caused by the cause of the machining experience, it is highly likely that the same defect exists at the same position even in the recording medium produced immediately thereafter.

In addition, in the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the present invention, there are processing processes in which defects occur frequently during a series of manufacturing processes depending on the type of recording medium. At this time, the defect of the rewritable recording medium is detected early on the basis of the specific area of the recording medium on which the processing is performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for inspecting a quality of a rewritable recording medium capable of early detection of a bad recording medium from a large amount of rewritable recording media manufactured.

1 is an operation flowchart according to a quality inspection method of a conventional rewritable recording medium;

2 is a perspective view of a quality inspection apparatus of a general rewritable recording medium;

3 is an internal configuration diagram of a drive for quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention;

4 is an operation process diagram for calculating a defect detection area as a reference for quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

5 is an operation process diagram of checking the quality of the rewritable recording medium by the reference defect detection area calculated by FIG. 4;

6 is a flowchart showing the quality of a rewritable recording medium according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

101: recording medium 103: optical pickup device

105: recording unit 107: playback unit

109: eraser 111: microprocessor

113: first memory 115: servo unit

117: second memory

A quality inspection method of a rewritable recording medium according to a first embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: a detecting step of detecting a defective area in a recording area of a recording medium; A storing step of storing position data of the defective area; And a first inspection step of first inspecting an area of the position data stored in the storing step in a new recording medium quality inspection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a quality inspection method for a rewritable recording medium, comprising: a setting step of setting a region where a defect is likely to occur in a manufacturing process of the recording medium; And a first inspection step of inspecting the quality of the recording medium from the area set in the setting step.

A quality inspection apparatus for a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: pickup means for recording / reproducing / erasing data on the recording medium; Memory means for storing position data of a region in which a defect of a recording medium is detected; And a control means for moving the pickup means to a position stored in the memory means and determining the quality of the recording medium by a signal reproduced through the pickup means.

The quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the first embodiment of the present invention is based on the defect occurrence position detected from any recording medium, and the defect is generated for the recording medium having the same processing history as the arbitrary recording medium. Characterized in that to first check the quality of the location. When it is determined that the quality of the defect occurrence position is good, the quality of the remaining area except for the defect occurrence position is examined.

In the quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to the second embodiment of the present invention, quality inspection is performed first of a recording area in which a defective process is performed in a series of manufacturing processes according to the type of recording medium. When it is determined that the quality of the area is good, the quality of the remaining areas except the area is examined.

Therefore, in the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the present invention, when performing the quality inspection of a large number of recording media, the inspection is first performed on a predetermined area so that a defective recording medium can be found early. This shortens the quality inspection time of a large number of recording media and increases the productivity.

Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for checking quality of a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is an exemplary view showing a quality inspection apparatus of a general rewritable recording medium. The illustrated embodiment is one embodiment of the mobile pick-up 46 which is movably installed between the plurality of drives 45 and the respective spindles 48, 50, 52 for quality inspection of the recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus for inspecting quality of a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention records data in a predetermined area of a mounted recording medium in order to inspect the quality of the recording medium manufactured by a conventional manufacturing process. And a plurality of drives 45 for reproducing the data from the recording medium on which the data is recorded and checking the quality of the recording medium.

In addition, the quality inspection apparatus of the rewritable recording medium includes a first spindle 48 having a plurality of recording media manufactured by a conventional manufacturing process, and a quality recording medium after quality inspection is performed by the drive 45. And a second spindle 50 for stacking the second spindle 50 and a third spindle 52 for stacking the defective recording medium after the quality inspection is performed by the drive 40.

That is, the quality inspection apparatus of the rewritable recording medium should have at least one input spindle and at least two output spindles. The input spindle is a spindle for stacking recording media on which quality inspection has not been performed after manufacture, and the output spindle is for stacking a defective or defective spindle after inspection from a quality inspection apparatus of the recording medium.

In addition, the quality inspection apparatus of the rewritable recording medium may hold the recording medium at the top of the recording medium stacked on the first spindle 48 and mount it on the drive 45 or at the drive 45. After the quality inspection, the good recording medium is moved to the second spindle 50, and the bad recording medium includes a moving pickup 46 for moving to the third spindle 52.

Accordingly, the movable pickup 46 is installed to be movable between the drive 45 and the spindle. As shown in FIG. 2, the movable pickup 46 is rotatable in the center between the drive 45 and the spindles 48, 50, and 52. It is mounted on the circular shaft 44, and the movable pickup 46 is mounted to be movable up and down on the circular shaft 44.

The moving pickup 46 itself is for moving the recording medium stacked on the spindle while moving between the plurality of spindles 48, 50, 52 and the plurality of drives 40. Therefore, the mobile pickup 46 is provided with a device that can hold the recording media one by one.

For example, the suction force is exerted from the mobile pickup 46 so that the recording medium is brought into close contact with the mobile pickup 46 one by one. In this way, the mobile pick-up 46, which holds a single recording medium, moves between the spindles 48, 50, 52 and the drive 45 through a shank movement and a rotation operation. Then, after the movement is completed, the suction force for sucking the recording medium is released, so that the recording medium is seated at a predetermined position of the spindle or drive 45.

Next, the operation related to the vertical motion and the rotational motion of the above-described mobile pickup 46 will be described briefly. First, by the driving of the driving source, the mobile pickup 46 is moved upward or downward. For example, when the recording medium is moved to the lower side and the recording medium is gripped, the touch pickup 46 moves downward to reach the recording medium stacked on the spindles 48, 50, and 52. It is recognized that the state of contact with the recording medium by the detection signal from the sensor, such as. Then, the vacuum pump in the mobile pickup is operated to generate a suction force for sucking the recording medium in the suction hole drilled in the mobile pickup, and the recording medium is in close contact with the mobile pickup 46 by the suction force. In this state, the movable pickup 46 moves upward or rotates through the rotational movement of the circular shaft 44, and then downward again toward the selected drive. When the recording medium is seated in the selected drive, the driving of the vacuum pump is stopped, and the recording medium is seated at the selected position, and a process for the test as described below will be performed. Then, the process of taking the test recording medium out of the drive 45 and stacking it on one spindle 50 or 52 will be performed in the reverse order as described above.

The apparatus for inspecting quality of a rewritable recording medium includes a controller 47 for controlling the operation of the mobile pickup 46 and the drive 45. That is, the controller 47 has a function of controlling the operations of the plurality of drives 45 and the mobile pickup 46 as a whole for the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium.

In the quality inspection apparatus of the rewritable recording medium according to the present invention having such a configuration, one recording medium is transferred to the mobile pickup 46 from a plurality of recording media stacked on the first spindle 48 under the control of the controller 47. Is moved to the drive 45.

The test data is recorded in the drive 45 and recorded using the pickup device in the drive. The data is reproduced again from the recording medium having the test data recorded therein, and the playback signal is compared with the reference data stored in the memory to determine whether the reproduction is normally performed.

The recording medium which is determined as a bad recording medium in the drive 45 is moved to the third spindle 52 which stacks the bad recording medium by the mobile pickup 46 under the control of the controller 47. Similarly, the recording medium determined by the drive 45 as a good recording medium is moved by the mobile pickup 46 under the control of the controller 47 and moved to the second spindle 50 for stacking the good recording medium.

After determining whether the recording medium manufactured by the drive 45 is good or bad, the bad recording medium will be discarded, and the good recording medium is shipped to the market after the test data is erased.

3 is an internal configuration diagram of a drive 45 for quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention.

The rewritable recording medium drive (hereinafter referred to as a drive) according to the present invention includes a recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a 'pre-verification recording medium') to be subjected to a quality inspection and a recording medium before verification. And a servo unit 115 for controlling the rotation of the 101 or controlling the pickup device 103 for recording / reproducing / erasing data on the recording medium before verification.

And a recording unit 105 operating when recording test data on the pre-verification recording medium 101, a reproducing unit 107 operating when reproducing test data recorded on the pre-verification recording medium 101, and And an eraser 109 which operates when erasing test data recorded on the recording medium 101 before verification.

In addition, a first memory 113 storing the test data, and a microprocessor 111 for determining the quality of the recording medium 101 before verification while controlling the drive as a whole.

On the other hand, in the first embodiment of the present invention, recording has the same processing history as the arbitrary recording mediums based on the defect occurrence position detected hereinafter from any recording medium (hereinafter referred to as 'first defect probable area'). The medium is first examined for the quality of the first defect probable area. Thus, the drive of the present invention further includes a second memory 117 which is another memory means for storing the first defect probable area detected from any of the above recording media.

Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when the quality inspection of the recording medium having the same processing history as the recording medium, the quality inspection from the first possible defect area stored in the second memory (117). That is, the data is recorded in the first defect probable area, the recorded data is reproduced, and the quality of the first defect probable area is inspected by comparing the reproduced data. If it is determined that the quality of the first defect probable area is poor, it is no longer necessary to determine the quality of the recording medium. When the quality of the first defect probable area is good, the quality of the other areas of the recording medium is determined.

On the other hand, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the quality of the area of the recording medium (second defect possibility area) where the defective manufacturing process is performed in a series of manufacturing processes according to the type of recording medium is performed first. Therefore, when the second embodiment of the present invention is performed, the second defect possibility area is stored in the second memory 117.

Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, quality inspection is first performed from the second defect probable area stored in the second memory 117. That is, data is recorded in the second defect probable area, the recorded data is reproduced, and the quality of the second defect probable area is inspected by comparing the reproduced data. If it is determined that the quality of the second defect probable area is poor, it is no longer necessary to determine the quality of the recording medium. When the quality of the second defect probable area is good, the quality of the other areas of the recording medium is determined.

Next, a detailed description will be given of a quality inspection process of the rewritable recording medium according to the first embodiment of the present invention in a drive having the above configuration.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for calculating a first defect probable area as a reference for quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

First, under the control of the controller 47, the mobile pickup 46 grasps the recording medium 101 from the spindle 48 and inserts it into the drive 45 before verification (step 230).

When the recording medium 101 before verification is inserted into the drive 45 in step 230, the drive performs an initialization step for checking the quality of the recording medium before verification. In general, the initialization step is performed as follows. If the pre-verification recording medium is an optical disc, a motor for rotating the optical disc is driven under the control of the microprocessor 111 which controls the drive as a whole, and the pickup device 103 is moved to the lead-in area of the optical disc. . All circuitry in the drive is then switched to a standby state where it can operate at any time.

In this manner, after the drive performs the initialization step, the microprocessor 111 writes test data to the entire recording area of the recording medium 101 before verification by using the pickup device 103 (step 232).

The recording of the test data by the step 232 is a predetermined signal for converting the test data stored in the first memory 113 under the control of the microprocessor 111 to be converted into a recordable state in the recording unit 105. After the processing is performed, the pickup device 103 sequentially records the entire recording area of the recording medium 101 before verification.

After the recording of the test data in the entire recording area of the recording medium 101 before verification is completed, the microprocessor 111 performs servo control for moving the pickup device 103 back to the beginning of the recording area.

In operation 234, the microprocessor 111 sequentially reproduces test data recorded on the recording medium 101 before verification. In the data reproducing in the step 234, predetermined signal processing is performed to read the data recorded on the recording medium 101 before verification through the pickup device 103, and restore the original signal in the reproducing unit 107. After that, it is played.

The reproduced test data is restored to the original signal by the reproducing unit 107 and then input to the microprocessor 111. The microprocessor 111 compares the data reproduced from the pre-verification recording medium 101 with the pre-recorded data stored in the first memory 113 to determine whether normal reproduction is performed (step 236).

That is, the quality judgment of the recording medium 101 before verification is performed by comparing the signal reproduced in step 236 with the pre-recording signal stored in the first memory 113. In the comparison process, the microprocessor 111 sets the first defect probable region to the position of the region where normal reproduction is not performed, and transmits the position data of the first defect probable region to the second memory 117. Save (step 242). That is, the normal reproduction is not performed in the comparison process in step 236, and thus, it is determined that there is any defect in the recording medium itself.

In this case, the position data of the first defect probable region stored in the second memory 117 not only stores the one detected from one recording medium, but also the normal data found from a plurality of recording media having the same work experience. It is preferable to calculate cumulatively for the region where regeneration is not performed.

The first defect probable region stored in the second memory 117 is preferably selected in consideration of the type of recording medium, the characteristics of the production equipment, the manufacturing technique, and the like.

In any case, in the step 236, if the product reproduced in any part of the recording area of the recording medium 101 before verification is defective by comparison with the reference signal, it is determined that the quality inspection of the product is defective. In operation 244, the recording medium 101 inserted into the drive 45 is gripped by the movable pickup 46 and moved to the third spindle 52.

In operation 236, the pre-verification recording medium 101 determined to be good is subjected to a process of erasing test data recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium (step 238). The erasing of the test data in step 238 is controlled such that a strong light beam capable of erasing the data recorded on the recording medium in the pickup apparatus 103 through the erasing unit 109 is generated.

In other words, in step 238, since the data must be shipped without data in order to have a value as a product, the test data recorded for determining the quality of the product is erased.

After performing step 238, the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is determined to be good and separated from the drive 45 by the mobile pickup 46 and stacked on the second spindle 50.

By the above process, the first defect probable area as a reference for the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium is calculated, and the calculated position data of the first defect probable area is stored in the second memory 117.

Of course, the quality inspection time of the recording medium by the process shown in Figure 4 can be seen that the same as the conventional. However, due to the development of mass production technology, since a large number of recording media having the same processing experience exist outside the inspected recording media, the time required for calculating the first defect probable region as a reference according to FIG. 4 is very high. It is incomplete.

Next, a description will be given of a process in which a quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium having the same processing history is performed using the first defect probable area stored in the second memory.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an operation for checking the quality of a rewritable recording medium having the same processing history based on the first defect probable area determined by FIG.

Prior to the description, the quality judgment of the recording medium shown in Fig. 5 is limited to a disc having the same working experience as the recording medium for which the first defect probable area is calculated in Fig. 4 above.

Under the control of the controller 47, the mobile pickup 46 grasps the recording medium 101 from the spindle 48 and inserts it into the drive 45 before verification (step 250).

When the pre-verification recording medium 101 is inserted into the drive 45 in step 250, the drive performs an initialization step for checking the quality of the pre-verification recording medium. In general, the initialization step is performed as follows. If the pre-verification recording medium is an optical disc, a motor for rotating the optical disc is driven under the control of the microprocessor 111 which controls the drive as a whole, and the pickup device 103 is moved to the lead-in area of the optical disc. . All circuitry in the drive is then switched to a standby state where it can operate at any time.

In addition, the microprocessor 111 may have the same processing history as that of the recording medium on which the first defect-prone region recorded in the second memory 117 in the pre-verification recording medium 101 currently inserted in the drive 45 is detected. (Step 252).

If it is determined in step 252 that the process is not the same, the quality inspection process of FIG. 5 is terminated and the quality of the inserted recording medium is achieved by the general inspection process of FIG. Step 266).

However, when it is determined in step 252 to have the same machining history, the microprocessor 111 reads the position data of the first defect probable area stored in the second memory 117. Then, a control signal for moving the pickup device 103 to the position is output to the servo unit 115.

The servo unit 115 receiving the control signal moves the pick-up apparatus 103 to the area indicated by the microprocessor 111, and becomes a standby state for the next operation.

Then, the microprocessor 111 reads out the test data stored in the first memory 113, and controls it to be recorded in the first defect probable area of the recording medium 101 before verification. Data recording of the first defect probable area is performed by the pickup device 103 through the recording unit 105 under the control of the microprocessor 111.

When the process of recording data in the first defect probable area of the pre-verification recording medium 101 ends, the microprocessor 111 performs control to reproduce the data recorded in the first defect probable area. Data reproduction of the first defect probable area is read by the pickup device 103 under the control of the microprocessor 111 and returned to the original signal in the reproduction unit 107.

In this way, the data reproduced in the first defect probable region of the pre-verification recording medium 101 is input to the microprocessor 111, and the microprocessor 111 is compared with the pre-record signal stored in the first memory 113. The quality of the first defect probable area is determined (steps 254 and 256).

When the signal reproduced from the first defect probable region is normally reproduced in step 256, the microprocessor 111 determines that the quality of the first defect probable region of the recording medium 101 before verification is satisfactory.

However, when the signal reproduced from the first defect probable region is abnormally reproduced in step 256, the microprocessor 111 determines that the quality of the first defect probable region of the recording medium 101 before verification is poor. .

When it is determined in step 256 that the quality of the first defect probable area of the recording medium 101 is poor, the drive 45 ends the quality inspection of the currently inserted recording medium. The controller 47 controls the moving pickup 46 to separate the recording medium inserted into the drive 45 and to move the third spindle 52 (step 270).

That is, the time required for the recording medium to be determined to be defective in step 270 is determined as the time for recording data in the first defect probable region and the time for reproducing the recorded data. That is, when the maximum time required for recording data in the entire recording area of the conventional recording medium is maximum, the present invention records data only in a partial area of the recording medium, so that the required time is minimized. In the process, only the area where data is recorded is reproduced, so the time required is minimal.

Since the data reproduced from the first defect probable area is normally reproduced in step 256, when the quality of the first defect probable area is determined to be good, the microprocessor 111 causes the first defect probable area. Quality inspection of the recording medium is performed on the remaining area except for step S258.

Of course, when a plurality of first defect probable regions stored in the second memory 117 are stored, the microprocessor 111 sequentially checks the quality of each region from the most recently found defect position. .

When a quality defect does not occur in the first defect probable area stored in the second memory 117, the quality of the remaining area by the step 258 is inspected.

The quality inspection of the remaining area in step 258 also includes recording data in the recording area excluding the first defect probable area, and determining whether or not normal reproduction is performed while reproducing the recorded data. (Step 260).

In operation 260, the pre-verification recording medium 101 determined to be good for the remaining area of the recording medium is subjected to a process of erasing test data recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium (step 262). The erasing of the test data in step 262 is controlled such that a strong light beam capable of erasing the data recorded on the recording medium in the pickup apparatus 103 through the erasing unit 109 is generated.

That is, in step 262, since the data must be shipped without data in order to have a value as a product, the test data recorded to determine the quality of the product is erased.

After performing step 262, the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is determined to be good and separated from the drive 45 by the mobile pickup 46 and stacked on the second spindle 50.

Therefore, if a defect does not occur in the first defect probable area of the recording medium, a quality inspection is performed on the remaining area, except that the already inspected first defect probable area is excluded. It becomes the same as before.

When a defect is detected during the quality inspection of the remaining area of the recording medium in step 260, the position data of the area where the defect is detected is stored in the second memory 117 and included in the first defect probable area ( Step 266). In this case, the included position data may also be first selected as the first defect probable area in the quality determination of the next recording medium to determine the quality.

As described above, the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the first embodiment of the present invention sets the defect detection area detected from several recording media as the first defect probable area for the recording medium having the same work experience. After that, subsequent quality inspections of the recording medium are performed from the first defect probable area.

Therefore, the time required for the detection of a recording medium that is poor in the quality of the first defect probable area is shortened, thereby reducing the time required for the entire quality inspection of the recording medium produced in a short time. .

Next, Fig. 6 shows an operational procedure for checking the quality of the rewritable recording medium according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the quality is first determined from the region in which the defect occurrence frequency is high (second defect possibility region) predicted in the manufacturing process of the recording medium.

In general, a series of manufacturing processes differ depending on the type of recording medium. However, there is an area where a defect is likely to occur in the process of performing a specific process of the recording medium having the same manufacturing process.

For example, in the case of a floppy disk, the frequency of defects is high in the outer part and the inner circumferential part where the blades used for cutting are located in the process of cutting circularly from a continuous flat plate. In the case of an optical disc, as the molten resin flows from the inside to the outer part in the molding process, defect occurrence frequency is high in the outer part and the inner peripheral part due to the resin temperature difference generated by cooling. In addition, the recording medium can be divided into areas where a defect is likely to occur due to characteristics of various processes and areas where a defect is not likely to occur.

Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the recording medium, a high defect occurrence area (second defect possibility area) is set, and the position data of the second defect possibility area is stored in the second memory 117. In this case, the second defect probable areas stored in the second memory 117 are set separately according to the type of the recording medium (limited to the product having undergone the same manufacturing process) (step 380). The number of the second defect probable regions stored in the second memory 117 is preferably selected and stored in consideration of the type of recording medium, the characteristics of the production equipment, the manufacturing technique, and the like.

Under the control of the controller 47, the mobile pickup 46 grasps the recording medium 101 from the spindle 48 and inserts it into the drive 45 (step 382).

If the pre-verification recording medium 101 is inserted into the drive 45 in step 382, the drive performs an initialization step for checking the quality of the pre-verification recording medium. In general, the initialization step is performed as follows. If the pre-verification recording medium is an optical disc, a motor for rotating the optical disc is driven under the control of the microprocessor 111 which controls the drive as a whole, and the pickup device 103 moves to the initial portion of the recording area of the optical disc. do. All circuitry in the drive is then switched to a standby state where it can operate at any time.

The microprocessor 111 reads the position data of the second defect probable area stored in the second memory 117. Then, a control signal for moving the pickup device 103 to the position is output to the servo unit 115.

The servo unit 115 receiving the control signal moves the pick-up apparatus 103 to the area indicated by the microprocessor 111, and becomes a standby state for the next operation.

Then, the microprocessor 111 reads out the test data stored in the first memory 113, and controls it to be recorded in the second defect probable area of the recording medium 101 before verification. Data recording of the second defect probable area is performed by the pickup device 103 through the recording unit 105 under the control of the microprocessor 111.

When the process of recording data in the second defect probable area of the pre-verification recording medium 101 ends, the microprocessor 111 performs control to reproduce the data recorded in the second defect probable area. The data reproduction of the second defect probable region is read by the pickup device 103 under the control of the microprocessor 111 and returned to the original signal in the reproduction unit 107.

In this way, the data reproduced in the second defect probable region of the pre-verification recording medium 101 is input to the microprocessor 111, and the microprocessor 111 is compared with the pre-record signal stored in the first memory 113. The quality of the second defect probable region is determined (steps 384 and 386).

When the signal reproduced from the second defect probable region is normally reproduced in step 386, the microprocessor 111 determines that the quality of the second defect probable region of the recording medium 101 before verification is good.

However, when the signal reproduced from the second defect probable region is abnormally reproduced in step 386, the microprocessor 111 determines that the quality of the second defect probable region of the recording medium 101 before verification is poor. .

When it is determined in step 386 that the quality of the second defect probable area of the recording medium 101 is poor, the drive 45 ends the quality inspection of the currently inserted recording medium. The controller 47 controls the mobile pickup 46 to separate the recording medium inserted into the drive 45 and to move the third spindle 52 (step 396).

That is, the time required for the recording medium to be determined to be defective in step 396 is determined as the time for recording data in the second defect probable area and the time for reproducing the recorded data. That is, when the maximum time required for recording data in the entire recording area of the conventional recording medium is maximum, the present invention records data only in a partial area of the recording medium, so that the required time is minimized. In the process, only the area where data is recorded is reproduced, so the time required is minimal.

When the data reproduced from the second defect probable region is normally reproduced in step 386, when the quality of the second defect probable region is judged to be good, the microprocessor 111 causes the second defect probable region. A quality inspection of the recording medium is performed on the remaining area except for (step 388).

Of course, when a plurality of second defect probable regions stored in the second memory 117 are stored, the microprocessor 111 sequentially checks the quality of each region.

When the quality defect does not occur in the second defect probable region stored in the second memory 117, the quality of the remaining region by the step 388 is inspected.

The quality inspection of the remaining area in step 388 also includes recording data in the recording area excluding the second defect probable area, and determining whether or not normal reproduction is performed while reproducing the recorded data. (Step 390).

In operation 390, the pre-verification recording medium 101 determined to be good for the remaining area of the recording medium is subjected to a process of erasing test data recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium (step 392). The erasing of the test data in step 392 is controlled such that a strong light beam capable of erasing the data recorded on the recording medium in the pickup apparatus 103 via the erasing unit 109 is generated.

That is, in step 392, since the data must be shipped without data in order to have a value as a product, the test data recorded to determine the quality of the product is erased.

After the execution of step 392, the pre-verification recording medium inserted into the drive is determined to be good and separated from the drive 45 by the mobile pickup 46 and stacked on the second spindle 50.

Therefore, if a defect does not occur in the second defect probable area of the recording medium, a quality inspection is performed on the remaining area, except that the already inspected second defect probable area is excluded. It becomes the same as before.

In addition, when defects of the recording medium are detected during normal quality inspection of the remaining area of the recording medium in step 390, when the defect of the recording medium is detected, the quality before the verification is determined as the recording medium 101 is defective. do.

That is, in the quality inspection of the rewritable recording medium according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the quality inspection is performed first from the region where the defect occurrence frequency expected in the manufacturing process of the information recording medium is high. At this time, when a defect occurs in a region where the defect occurrence frequency is high, the inspection of the remaining region of the recording medium is not necessary and the time required for quality inspection is saved. When no defect is generated in the region where the defect frequency is high, the quality inspection is performed on the remaining region except for the region where the defect frequency is high. It becomes the same as before.

As described above, the method and apparatus for quality inspection of a rewritable recording medium according to the present invention perform quality inspection from an area where a defect is already detected for a recording medium having the same work experience, and also generate a defect in a manufacturing process. The quality inspection is performed from an area with a high probability of becoming a product, so that a product with a poor quality in the area can be found in a short time. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the quality inspection time of the mass-produced recording medium, thereby reducing the quality inspection equipment, resulting in the effect of lowering the manufacturing cost according to the reduction of investment cost and operating cost.

Claims (7)

A detection step of detecting a defective area in the recording area of the recording medium; A storing step of storing position data of the defective area; And a first inspection step of inspecting an area of the position data stored in said storing step in a new recording medium quality inspection. The method of claim 1, And a second inspection step of inspecting the quality of the remaining area except the inspected area when the quality of the area of the position data stored in the storing step is good. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And determining whether the recording medium which performs the quality inspection from the area stored in the storing step has the same processing experience as the recording medium whose defect is detected in the detecting step. . The method of claim 3, wherein The first and second inspection steps, A recording step of recording data in a predetermined area; A reproduction step of reproducing the recorded data; A quality inspection method of a rewritable recording medium, characterized in that it comprises a comparison step of comparing whether or not normally reproduced. A setting step of setting an area where a defect is likely to occur in the manufacturing process of the recording medium; And a first inspection step of inspecting the quality of the recording medium from the area set in the setting step. The method of claim 6, And a second inspection step of inspecting the quality of the remaining area excluding the inspection area when the quality of the area inspected in the first inspection step is good. The method according to claim 5 or 6, The first and second inspection steps, A recording step of recording data in a predetermined area; A reproduction step of reproducing the recorded data; A quality inspection method of a rewritable recording medium, characterized in that it comprises a comparison step of comparing whether or not normally reproduced.