WO2006010901A1

WO2006010901A1 - Disc cartridge

Info

Publication number: WO2006010901A1
Application number: PCT/GB2005/002879
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ian Cleathero; Jan Andrzejewski; Andrew Miles
Original assignee: Clearwater Innovations Ltd
Current assignee: Clearwater Innovations Ltd
Priority date: 2004-07-27
Filing date: 2005-07-22
Publication date: 2006-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 2007-01-27
Also published as: GB0416744D0; US20060021896A1

Abstract

A cartridge assembly (10) for holding discs or similar substrates includes a cassette (12) provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels (20) of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature (34, 36, 40) into each channel (20) for reducing the channel width, the protruding features (34, 36, 40) being provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness. The protrusions allow more compact storage of discs within the cartridge (10) while still ensuring that the discs do not touch one another during transportation and handling. One or more burrs (44) are also provided in each channel (20) to prevent or reduce disc spin during transportation of the cartridge (10). The assembly (10) is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to the contents of the cartridge and/or transport and storage conditions, the tag being operable to store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, cartridge contents and to store transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration.

Description

DISC CARTRIDGE

The present invention relates to a disc cartridge or caddy of the type able to carry memory discs for computer hard disc drives and similar discs or substrates.

Hard disc drive caddies are known in the art. They are generally used to transport hard drive discs from the point of manufacture to the point of installation into a disc drive. An example is disclosed in US-A-4,557,382, which provides a disc cassette into which a plurality of discs or other substrates can be placed in a secure manner and top and bottom covers for covering the disc cassette. The disc cassette is provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels within each of which a disc can be held. The grooves ensure that the discs do not touch one another during transportation. The cassette has a standard size for automated assembly purposes. In practice, the discs are not held tightly within the channels, to allow their easy removal by machine. The cartridges which have been manufactured hold at most 25 discs and this has become the industry standard.

However, the prior art packages for shipment and storage of memory discs have exhibited certain deficiencies, one of which being the limitation of the storage capacity to 25 discs. This limitation in capacity cannot be simply addressed with existing designs of caddy. The limitation in the capacity of the caddy has been as a result of needing to accommodate manufacturing tolerances while ensuring that the discs do not touch one another when held in the caddy. Moreover, packages of this type have become standard in the art, leading to the development of automated filling and emptying systems specifically for these packages. As a result, the equipment often is not suitable for other package types, particularly packages which hold the discs in a closer packed relationship.

Moreover, the prior art packages cannot provide for tracking of the caddies during manufacture, filling, transportation and unloading and cannot provide for the monitoring of the environmental conditions through production and transportation. At best, a self adhesive label is provided on the caddy, which is printed and attached manually by personnel.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved cartridge assembly for holding discs such as hard drive discs.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly for holding discs or similar substrates including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature into each channel for reducing the channel width.

Advantageously, there are provided a plurality of protruding features in each channel. Preferably, the protruding features are provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness.

The protruding features provide tighter holding of discs within the channels and thereby can reduce disc movement within the channels. This allows the discs to be stored with smaller disc angle relative to the orthogonal to an axis along which the discs are aligned. In prior art systems, discs are held at a significant angle, which results in a lower disc holding capacity for the caddy. Thus, with the arrangement disclosed herein, discs can be stored closer to one another within the cassette and thus there can be stored a greater number of discs within a cassette of given dimensions. This is particularly useful for automation purposes, since the known caddy has become an industry standard.

Another advantage of the protruding features is that they can be placed at locations within the curved channels such as to become effective substantially only when a disc is almost fully inserted into the cassette. Thus, the protruding features do not affect the ease of insertion and removal of discs into and out of the cassette.

The provision of protrusions also has manufacturing benefits. Generally, the cassette would be formed from a plastics material, which cannot readily be manufactured with very accurate tolerances at reasonable cost in terms of time and expense. The protrusions, on the other hand, are small in size, which can ensure that less of the steel tooling will require modification to alter or tune the tightness of hold on the discs and related tolerance. This can be important in maximizing the disc carrying capacity of the cassette. In the preferred embodiment, there are provided protrusions symmetrically arranged to hold a disc at opposing ends thereof.

In an embodiment, there is provided one or more burrs in each channel, preferably a plurality of burrs. The burrs are preferably located in or on a base of the channels. In some embodiments it is envisaged that burrs could be provided on one or both of the side walls of each channel. The burrs serve to reduce or eliminate rotation of the discs within their channel during movement of the cassette. Advantageously, there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel, it not being necessary to have burrs along the whole length of each channel but could be so formed if preferred.

Preferably, the assembly is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to the contents of the cartridge and/or transport and storage conditions. Advantageously, the tag can store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details. Preferably, the tag can store transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration and so on, by means of suitable sensors on or in the assembly. The tag may be provided with communication means such as radio frequency communication means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly for holding discs including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one friction element in a base wall of each channel.

The preferred embodiment can provide a disc package which affords equal level of protection for discs carried therein but in a reduced volume per disc. Preferably, it can provide a cartridge or caddy of external dimensions similar to existing caddies so as to be compatible with existing manufacturing facilities but which holds more discs than prior art caddies. Thus, all that may be required is a reprogramming of automated removal software for removing the discs from the caddy to take into account the greater number of discs.

The preferred embodiment can also overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an integrated solution for tracking and condition monitoring of the cartridge or caddy during disc manufacture and transport. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge assembly designed to hold memory discs or similar substrates which is capable of holding fifty discs. . ^'

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for removing discs from a cartridge including a lifter operable to lift alternate ones of a series of discs in the cartridge and a remover operable to remove the lifted discs. ^• Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of cassette for a cartridge or caddy; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cassette of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is another perspective view of the cassette of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a part of a cassette of the cartridge of Figure 1 showing a portion of some of the curved channels of the cassette;

Figure 5 is a view in plan of a portion of the channels of Figure 2 showing protruding features thereof;

Figure 6 is a view in front elevation of the channels of Figure 3; Figure 7 is a view of a part of the channels of Figure 2 showing in greater details the burrs provided in the base walls thereof;

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the usage of the preferred electronic tag; and

Figures 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams of an embodiment of disc lifting assembly. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the cartridge or caddy (not shown in full) of the preferred embodiment shown is provided with external features equivalent to the caddy of US-A-4,557,382 and to the industry standards so as to be compatible with existing automated packing and handling systems. The cartridge is provided with a cassette 12 which holds a plurality of discs 18 , in the preferred embodiment 50 discs, and upper and lower covers (not shown). The covers provide a double opening to the cassette 12 (top and bottom) for packing and unpacking purposes and allow the cartridges or caddies to be stacked on one another. The covers typically seal the cartridge from the environment to prevent contamination of discs held in the cartridge during handling in the factory and during transportation. The covers are of conventional form and thus will not be described in detail herein.

The cassette 12 has features similar to those of conventional cassettes but is modified with respect thereto to be able to hold 50 discs or more, as shown by the number line in Figure 1 and in Figure 3. It achieves this while retaining the same external footprint and sizing and to have the other advantages taught herein. Described below are the principal modifications relative to known cassettes. Other features common with known cassettes are not described herein, and if necessary the reader is referred to the disclosure in US-A-4,557,382.

The embodiment of caddy disclosed herein is intended to be used to carry hard drive storage discs 18 and as such to be used repeatedly and to be compatible with robotized assembly systems.

Referring now also to Figure 4, in which there is shown a portion of the interior of the preferred embodiment of cassette 12. The cassette 12 is formed of two opposing sets of curved channels 20 which are separated by a gap 22 and held together by integral end walls 24. The side walls 24 have a curved opening 26, of U-shape, which is used for the insertion and removal of discs or similar media, as described in US-A-4,557,382. The top ends 14 of the channels 20 (not shown) are straight and substantially parallel to the opposing channels of the other side of the cassette 12, such that in practice the edge of a disc 18 in a channel 20 is only held up to substantially the centreline of the disc. This allows the disc 18 to be slit out of the cassette 12 from above.

As is shown in Figure 4, the channels 20, which have a radius of curvature substantially equivalent to that of the discs or other media 18 which they are to hold, are formed by tapering upstanding walls 28 and by curved base walls 30. The tapering walls 28 are substantially thinner than the walls of existing cassettes and thereby enable more channels 30 to be provided in the same linear dimension than prior art cassettes.

Figure 4 shows a plurality of burrs or serrations 32 at the lower end of each channel 20, which are described in further detail below.

Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown a view of a portion of the channels 20, in this view being the upper portions of the channels 20 on one side of the cartridge 12. Within each channel 20, formed on the internal surfaces of the upstanding walls 28, there are provided first and second opposing protruding features 34, 36. In this embodiment, the protrusions 34, 36 extend in increasing manner to a peak into the space within each channel 20 to provide a constriction within the channel 20.

In addition, there are provided radial protrusions 40 (preferably four per channel 20) extending from the channel base walls 30. This allows the channel base walls to be made larger than the diameter of the disc 18 and then to provide for the radial protrusions to reduce this effective diameter down to that of the disc. As with the protrusions 34, 36, this ensures that manufacturing tolerances can be reduced with only a small area of steel tooling being modified or adjusted to achieve such tolerances.

In the preferred embodiment, there are provide two sets of protruding features 34, 36, 40, one set on each set of channels on each side of the cassette 12. The protruding features 34, 36, 40 are designed such that they hold firmly the edge of a disc located in the channel 20. The protruding features 34, 36, 40 are preferably located at a sufficient height along the channels relative to the top of the cassette 12 that they provide a sufficient hold of a disc that its orientation within the channel 20 does no substantially move. The protrusions are preferably located at the centre datum of line of the discs.

There may also be provided sets of protrusions close to the bottom end of the channels 20 and the bottom of the cassette 12. The advantage of these protrusions 34, 36, 40 is that they allow the discs to maintain a substantially upright orientation when held in the cassette, that is an orientation orthogonal or nearly orthogonal to an axis along which the discs are aligned in the cassette 12. This represents a substantial improvement with respect to the actual orientation of discs in existing cassettes and thus enables discs to be placed significantly closer to one another.

Referring to Figure 6, the protruding features 34, 36, 40 of Figure 5 are better visible. As can be seen, these features 34, 36, 40 do not present any sharp edge to a disc 18, which could otherwise cause disc damage.

It is envisaged in some embodiments that the protruding features could extend a substantial way along the channels 30, for example to a point just above the centreline of the disc, to help prevent the discs from touching during automated loading but keeping the top of the disc slots more open to enable easier initial approach to the disc slots. In the preferred embodiment, the protruding features 34, 36, 40 are formed during manufacture of the cassette 12. Typically, the cassette 12 is formed from a plastics material and produced by a conventional moulding process. The advantage of producing the features 34, 36, 40, on the other hand, is that they are small in size, which can ensure that less of the steel tooling will require modification to alter or tune the tightness of hold on the discs and related tolerance. Thus, manufacturing tolerances can be taken into account during the formation of the features 34, 36, 40. Typically, the features 34, 36, 40 are of the same plasties material as the cassette 12 and are produced by an accurate production process, of a type which will be fully familiar to the skilled person.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 7, at or proximate the lower extremities of the channels 20 there is provided a series of burrs or serrations 32 in the base wall 30. These burrs 32 protrude slightly above the base wall 30. They have the purpose of providing a friction surface against which the edge of a disc rests and as a result of which prevents or reduces the rotation of a disc within a channel 20.

In the preferred embodiment, there are provided burrs 32 on both sets of channels 20 (that is on both sides of the cassette 12). However, only a single set of burrs 32 may be provided in some embodiments. Similarly, the burrs 32 may also be formed on the upstanding walls 28 of the channels 20, although this is not preferred, and could also be formed as part of the protruding features 34, 36, 40.

The pitch of the channels 30 does not necessarily need to be twice the pitch of the channels of the prior art 25 disc caddy. The preferred embodiment is provided with a different pitch most convenient to fit with the 50 disc while using all of the available room within the cassette internals and also making minimal impact on disc unloading automation by keeping the maximum space between discs. However, the pitch could be condensed to be exactly half that of existing 25 disc caddies, which would potentially make it more convenient to modify the automated systems that currently load/unload discs to/from 25 disc caddies over to the new caddies taught herein. Ih this example, it is envisaged that the system would load the 25 "even numbered" discs first, followed by the 25 "odd numbered" discs, or vice versa.

As can be seen in Figure 3, the cassette 12 is also provided with an electronic tag 50 having a plurality of sensors, a memory and communication means operable to sense and record environmental conditions to which the cartridge 10 is put through (and thus also any discs held therein) and also to store information about the discs themselves. In the preferred embodiment, the tag can store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, type of discs held in the cartridge. Preferably, the tag also stores transport and/or or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration and so on, by means of suitable sensors on or in the assembly. The communication means are preferably radio frequency communication means.

The specific details for the tag will be readily apparent to the skilled person. With reference to Figure 8, the provision of the tag 50 enables accurate tracking of the cartridge and accurate maintenance of information relating to the contents and contents state, which has not been provided for in prior art devices. In particular, it can monitor and provide information during the packing, shipping and unpacking cycles of the cartridge, including details of the cassette 12 itself. In the preferred embodiment, the tag 50 is provided with radio frequency communication means operable to provide communication to a remote monitoring station, such as data relating to the attributes of the discs, and data stored therein, and to provide feedback on the shipping progress.

Referring now to Figures 9 to 11, there is shown in schematic form an embodiment of disc retrieving assembly. Compared to conventional caddies, the embodiments of caddy disclosed herein space the discs much closer together to achieve the greater holding capacity within the same caddy footprint. However, existing disc removal systems are specifically designed for the existing caddy designs and are not necessarily able to be modified to lift discs which are more tightly packed. For example, one known lifting mechanism uses a gripper for gripping a disc edge either side thereof. The gripper needs a certain lateral space either side of the disc edge, which is not available when discs are too closely packed. This is one reason why caddies have retained a 25 disc capacity, in order to provide greater disc spacing and of course to prevent discs touching.

In Figures 9 to 11 there is shown one embodiment of system for retrieving discs using a conventional retrieval gripper. Figures 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams as the person skilled in the art will readily appreciate the components of the apparatus which would be used to implement the taught features.

In Figure 9 a plurality of discs 50 are shown in the arrangement in which they would be when located in the cassette 12 of the preceding Figures. As can be seen, the discs 50 are aligned along a common axis 52. In this example, the caddy and discs 50 are to be handled by a conventional disc gripper mechanism in which a gripper hand grips the opposing sides of one edge of a disc 50 to be removed. The gripper hand requires a significant lateral clearance either side of a disc 50 but the spacing of the discs 50 in this caddy is insufficient to accommodate this requirement.

In order to solve this problem, there is provide a castellated lifting element 56 located below the discs 50 and in practice through the lower aperture in the caddy. The lifting element 56 includes a plurality of raised castellations 58 which are spaced from one another by just over a disc 50 thickness.

The lifting element 56 is movable upwardly (in Figure 9 it is in what could be called a lower position). When moved to an upper engaging position, the castellations 58 urge alternate ones of the discs 50 upwardly, as can be seen in Figure 10, leaving the other discs 50 in their lower rest positions. Thus, the discs 50 which have been raised can be removed from the caddy by the conventional gripper despite the close spacing of the discs 50 in the caddy.

Once those discs 50 have been removed, either the remaining discs can be removed from their lower rest positions , as shown in Figure 11, by means of the gripper or these can also be raised by the lifting element 56, which would then be offset relative to the position shown in Figures 10 and 11 by one disc spacing.

The preferred embodiments described above have the following features. They provide a transit caddy for hard disc platters and the like, including a top lid, a disc cassette, and a bottom cover. They have a double opening (top and bottom) and are stackable. When fitted with both lids, they maintain a seal to protect their contents against environmental contamination in transit inside and outside factory. The disc cassette supports 50 discs (although can support other numbers of discs) through perimeter contact of a rounded side and separated by teeth or channel walls to ensure that the discs do not contact each other at any time. The discs are separated by teeth or channel walls having an angular profile and a flat portion there between for perimeter contact with the discs. The clearance between the walls is reduced at a point on each side that is level with the disc centre datum and at the lower contact points, maintaining higher tolerances, and allowing the discs to be packed in closer proximity to state of the art packages without touching each other. Additionally, the lower contact points have burrs or serrated features to promote multiple contact points, increasing the friction of a disc in the box and avoiding unintentional spinning of the disc during processing or transport. A high packing density is further achieved by reducing the radius of outer corners of the box.

In the preferred embodiment, the fullest extent possible of the internal volume of the caddy is used to accommodate the discs. To this end, no significant empty space is left at the ends of the caddy, in contrast to prior art caddies. This allows the discs to be spaced from one another by more than half the conventional spacing while still providing a capacity for 50 discs. In other embodiments, the spaces at either end of the caddy found in prior art designs is retained and the spacing between the discs made half that of the conventional caddies to accommodate up to 50 discs. Alternatively, the spacing can be half that of conventional caddies with the ends also being used for accommodate discs; this arrangement having achieved capacities of 58 discs in the same footprint as prior art caddies. Of course, it is envisaged in some embodiments that there could be a packing density less than ¹A the spacing of existing caddies.

As the reader will have gathered, the caddies are typically used to transport hard discs from the manufacturing sites to the disc drive assembly sites. They are reusable many times following sufficient cleaning, and are recyclable. They fit into the complex robotic manufacturing process. The caddies preferably conform to world class standards for cleanliness and are manufactured from materials that will not affect the discs with residues, dusts or particles. The caddies incorporate an integral tag or smart card to enable the transit caddies to monitor their conditions and store the data for later retrieval by a separate reader unit. Sensors monitor temperature, humidity, dust, impact and contamination. Preferably, the tags or 'smart labels' contain an integrated circuit which can be programmed with detailed product information, such as the date and place of manufacture, distribution history and warranty details. Using radio frequencies, the smart labels do not require a direct 'line of sight' to be scanned. The information on smart labels can be re-programmed or added to without the need to print and attach a new label.

The disclosures in British patent application no. &&&&DFGDFG, from which this application claims priority, and in the abstract accompanying this application are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A disc cartridge assembly for holding discs or similar substrates including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one protruding feature into each channel for reducing the channel width.

2. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 1, wherein there are provided a plurality of protruding features in each channel.

3. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protruding feature is provided as areas of greater channel wall thickness.

4. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein there are provided protrusions symmetrically arranged to hold a disc at opposing ends thereof.

5. A disc cartridge assembly according to any preceding claim, wherein there is provided at least one burr in each channel.

6. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 5, wherein the burrs are located in a base of the channels.

7. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 5, wherein the burrs are located on a base of the channels.

8. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel.

9. A disc cartridge assembly according to any preceding claim, wherein the assembly is provided with an electronic tag operable to store and record data relating to at least one of: the contents of the cartridge, transport and storage conditions.

10. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 9 , wherein the tag is operable to store data relating to one or more of the date of manufacture, the place of manufacture, identification of the manufacturer, distribution history, warranty details, cartridge contents.

11. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the tag is operable to store at least one of transport and or storage conditions including temperature, humidity, vibration.

12. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the tag is provided with communication means.

13. A disc cartridge assembly for holding discs including a cassette provided with a plurality of curved grooved channels of substantially even channel width and at least one friction element in a base wall of each channel.

14. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 13, wherein the at least one friction element is a burr.

15. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the at least one burr is located in a base of the channels.

16. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 13, 14 or 15, wherein the at least one burr is located on a base of the channels.

17. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 13, 14, 15 or 16, wherein there are provided burrs in only a portion of the length of each channel.

18. A disc cartridge assembly able to hold at least fifty discs.

19. A disc cartridge assembly according to claim 18, wherein the discs are memory discs.

20. Apparatus for removing discs from a cartridge including a lifter operable to lift alternate ones of a series of discs in the cartridge and a remover operable to remove the lifted discs.