AU751153B2 - Foil applicator - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 WEA Manufacturing, Inc.

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Foil applicator The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- 3 Tbinvnto relates to Processes for th"e mass 4 production. of' data recrdin-g c::=-act discs Mocre cat4cuI a2.y it relates to screen pr--t-ig or. a surface of such: discs.

6 QFk~"dO The Trhvcntgnn 7 Comract discs aze record carirsor digi44tal -or analog 8 information, for emxaocle audio and/or viLdec inFormatL-on, wl-4.c:_ have the form of2 a f Iat di-sc-sh-ared moastic sur-face or- waiam a 10 data mdulated coia tcueis pr Dided inacracewh 11 the informationm. The data is formed as pits o-f vrnglength 12 presen~t in the surface and arran-ged in. a smiz~a2. path. The pits 13 have manocmeter dimensions and area formed by injecticn moldin-g 14 against a mold hav-n creonig raised regions. The data is 15 read th-ough one side ofthe disc-wh;.ih is tzrnsmarent to laser 16 light. The other side of the disc is coatedl with a sc~ee 17 prinZted lahel identiffying the disc And containinag design and logo0 1s inforamation. These screen printed labels may be quite elaborate 19 and emnlov several difLfernt colors formed by several printing stages.

21 The process of screen printingep samehWihi 22 pressed against the surace of the disc. Ink is applied to the 23 sur-face of2 the disc throT-,g!h the mesh by a squeegee. The mesh 24 used for screen printing connect discs is subjected to extreme wear along the perimeter of the disc. The wear is a result of the squeegee climbing from the disc holding fixture onto the printable surface. To lengthen the life cycle of the mesh, an aluminum foil tape is applied along the perimeter of the disc. The foil tape is manufactured in ten inch squares with a center hole cut out. The center hole diameter equals one hundred and eighteen millimeters for some and one hundred and twelve millimeters for others depending upon graphics.

The foil is manually applied to the screen frame by positioning the "foil hole" around the image area. Just as with any process involving manual application, the foil location can never be consistent. More specifically, if the foil is off center in any direction, to any degree, the result will be premature screen wear caused by the edge of the disc.

Brief Description of the Invention 15 Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided an alignment applicator for adhering a foil tape having a center opening to a S. screen for a screen printing of compact discs, comprising: a centering disc; an applicator lid attached by a hinge to a base, said base having 20 alignment pins thereon for engaging corresponding holes in a screen frame; said lid having perforations that provide opening to a vacuum distribution plate, and a center disc alignment means for engaging corresponding means in a center disc.

foil applicator of the present invention is a device for centering the foil in the screen frame. This device and its method of use ensures that the foil will be located precisely in the center of the screen frame each time.

This prolongs screen life and establishes a quality checkpoint for image location. Previous to the foil applicator, all foil was applied manually. The advantages of locating the foil in the exact position with each application are the elimination of variation, having a quality check point of image location, fewer 1 instances of th~e compact disc being pulled from its holding 2 fixture by a folded foil edge, extended screen, life, the 3 elimination of foil wrinkles that can cause smears, fewer 4 instances of edge leak and faster printer setup time. In a mass production system for the manufacture of ccmpact discs these 6 advanztages are significant in th--e reductioni of the cost of the 7 disc. In general, the productiv7ity of compact disc printing 8 becomes more efficient and cost effective.

0 V 9 Sri-f D-sc :2'i =,Or The~ Draw-: n(7S 10 Figure I is a sche-1,tiJc representation- of a carousel 11 for screen printin-g of comnnact di4scs.

12 Figue 2 is a top v-iew of a printing station for screen O. 13 printing of compact discs.

14 Figure 3 is a top vie4-w o-f tli-e printable surface of a co=- act disc.

16 Figure 4 is a perspective drawing of a foil applicator.

17 Figure 5 is an exploded drawing of the components of a 18 foil applicator..

19 npl-il- Descrinoion C-F A Rrefr-d Embodiment Fig-ure 1 is a schematic diagram of a carousel jOnto 21 which compact discs are placed by a robot ar-m (not shown) .The 22 discs are held in place by a holding f ixture 2, which may be a 23 chuck of some tyce, anrd carried by the rotation of the carousel 1 to a printing station 5. The carousel pauses for a time long 2 enough to complete a screen printing of the disc. The carousel 3 then continues to rotate bringing another disc to the printing 4 station i, and rotating the disc just printed to another printing station where a second printing, typically of another color in a 6 multicolor printing process may occur. The movement of the discs 7 is controlled so that sufficient time is allowed for drying 8 between printing stages, which may entail a disc being carried by 9 the carousel for more than a complete rotation before being 10 removed by a robotic a-.t 11 As shown in Fig. 2, at the printing station the disc is 12 overlayed by a screen frane 2 that supports the mesh or screen 11 13 that rests on the printable surface of the disc. The mesh is 14 supported by a foil tape 13 that has a circular opening 15 which 15 has a smaller radius than that ofthe-edge 17 of the disc. The 16 edge of the disc is labeled more clearly in vFig. 3. The ink is 17 then applied by the ink applicator means 19, which may be a 18 squeegee and is depicted a roller in the schematic 19 representation. The applicator means is passed radially with respect to the carousel and rises from the level of the holding 21 fixture to that of the printable surface, passing over an edge of 22 the disc when doing so and subjecting the foil surface to wear.

23 An aspect of the present invention is the application 24 of the foil tape 13 to the screen by means of an applicator 21.

Preparing the foil covered screen is begun by raising 6 1 the applicator lid 23 to its upright position and installing the 2 screen frame. The screen frame sets on the alignment pins 25 of 3 the base 24. ith the emulsion side up. The lid, as shown in Fig.

4 5 has perforations that provide opening to a vacuum distribution plate 21 which allows planar surfaces to be temporarily held to 6 the lid. The applicator vacuum is then switched on via a foot 7 switch.

8 The proper hole diameter of the foil is chosen, 9 typically one hundred and eighteen millimeters or one hundred and 10 twelve millimeters. A centerig disc 29 is placed in position on 11 a center disc alignment pi 31 and the foil with the adhesive 12 side facing out is rotated until it is squared up along the 13 applicators edge. At this point, the applicator vacuum holds the 14 foil in position. Once the vacuum has been established, it is S 15 possible to remove the centering disc without concern of foil 16 movement.

S 17 The applicator lid is then lowered onto the screen.

18 This will exert an equal amount of pressure across the surface 19 area of the mesh to achieve foil to mesh adhesion. Next, the vacuum is shut off by releasing the foot switch.. The applicator 21 lid can now be raised back to its upright position. Lastly, the 22 foil should be rolled, i.e. compressed by passing a roller over 23 it, to insure a permanent bond.

24 The foil applicator provides a vehicle in which foil tape is positioned precisely in the center of a screen frame with 1 repeatability. Such a task is achieved with an applicator lid 2 that has vacuum porting for the foil and a precision alignment 3 hole for the centering disc. The applicator hinges 33 connect 4 the lid 23 to the base 24 and provide a positive screen frame location. The foil is aligned on the applicator, by using the 6 centering disc then lowered onto the base. The center points 7 of the applicator and the base meet with an accuracy of plus 8 or minus two thousandths of an inch.

9 While there have been shown and described and 10 pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as 11 applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be under- 12 stood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in 13 the form and details of the device illustrated and in its 14 operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is specified 16 in the following claims: 0*

Claims (3)

1. An alignment applicator for adhering a foil tape having a center opening to a screen for a screen printing of compact discs, comprising: a centering disc; an applicator lid attached by a hinge to a base, said base having alignment pins thereon for engaging corresponding holes in a screen frame; said lid having perforations that provide opening to a vacuum distribution plate, and a center disc alignment means for engaging corresponding means in a center disc.

2. An alignment applicator for adhering a foil tape having a center opening to a screen for a screen printing of compact discs substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this nineteenth day of September 2000 WEA Manufacturing, Inc. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO a

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