Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
DISC RESTORATION SERVICE VENDING MACHINE
FIELD OF TH E INVENTION
The invention relates to an automatic service vending machine that accepts
currency and/or credit or debit cards or any other form of renumeration and
restores
scuffed or scratched compact discs (optical discs), such as music or software
CD's,
DVD's, game discs and CD-ROMs (hereinafter referred to as discs).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There have been numerous prior attempts at disc restoration by polishing or
resurfacing of the polycarbonate layer as exemplified by the teachings of U.S.
patent
6,322,430 issued November 27, 2001 to Kennedy et al, and U.S. 5,945,566 issued
September 21, 1999 to Bauer, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein
by
reference, but none teach or suggest entirely automatic handling of the disc,
nor a
vending machine approach.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect, the invention provides disc restoration service
vending apparatus comprising means for inspecting a disc to determine whether
it is
correctly positioned and for detecting scratches/puncture (in the reflective
layer) and
assessing repairability and means for polishing the exposed light receiving
protective
(polycarbonate) layer of the disc to reduce, ameliorate or eliminate scratches
in
response to payment by a user.
In one embodiment, a disc transferring means may be provided to transfer the
disc between the inspection means and the polishing means.
In another embodiment, the inspection means and the polishing means may
be provided at same operating station avoiding disc transfer.
The invention also provides vending apparatus for optical disc restoration
comprising: a housing; means for receiving and guiding an optical disc to be
restored
from a customer into the housing; means for inspecting the disc in the housing
to
determine whether the disc is correctly positioned for polishing and for
providing a
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signal indicative of a position of the disc; means for detecting any
perforation in a
reflective layer of a correctly positioned disc and providing a signal
indicative thereof;
means for ejecting the disc from the housing in response to a signal by the
detecting
means that the reflective layer has been perforated; a user interface for
requesting
and receiving payment from a customer in response to a signal by the detecting
means that the reflective layer is imperforate and for providing a signal
indicating
receipt of correct payment; means for polishing an exposed light receiving
surface of
a data carrying protective layer of the disc to ameliorate any scratches
therein in
response to receipt of a signal from the user interface means indicating
correct
payment by the payment requesting and receiving means; and, means for ejecting
a
polished disc from the housing to the customer.
More specifically, the detecting means and the polishing means are provided
at a detecting station and a polishing station, respectively, and means are
provided
for transferring the disc from the detecting station to the polishing station
in response
to a signal from the detecting means that the reflective layer is imperforate.
Preferably, the guiding means comprises a disc receiving slot formed in an
outer wall of the housing and means are provided for feeding a disc received
in the
slot to the inspecting station.
In a preferred construction, the detecting station is located vertically above
the
polishing station and the transferring means comprises a vertical spindle
having an
upper end provided with disc supporting means and being movable between an
upper disc receiving position at the detecting station and a lower disc
polishing
position at the polishing station.
Conveniently, the spindle forms a hub driving a disc supporting turntable at
the polishing station.
It is further preferred that the polishing means comprises: a polishing wheel
having a smooth, hard polishing surface; means for supplying, sequentially, a
first
grade and a second grade of abrasive slurry at a controlled rate to the
surface of the
polishing wheel, the first grade being coarser than the second grade; and,
means
maintaining the polishing surface parallel to and spaced apart from the disc
surface
by an amount sufficient to permit distribution of the abrasive slurry
therebetween
thereby to polish the disc surface.
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This contactless approach significantly reduces wear on the polishing wheel
obviating frequent replacement and consequential downtime.
Conveniently, the disc is ejected from the housing through the disc receiving
slot.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a method for polishing the
surface of an optical disc comprising the steps of: providing a rotating
polishing
wheel having a smooth, hard polishing surface; supplying, sequentially, a
plurality of
grades of abrasive slurry of successively increasing fineness at a controlled
rate to
the polishing surface of the rotating polishing wheel, successive grades being
finer
than prior grades, while maintaining the polishing surface parallel to and
spaced
apart from the disc surface during the supply of the slurry by an amount
sufficient to
permit distribution of the abrasive slurry therebetween, thereby to polish the
disc
surface.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides apparatus for polishing
the surface of an optical disc comprising: a rotating polishing wheel having a
smooth,
hard polishing surface; means for supplying, sequentially, a plurality of
grades of
abrasive slurry of successively increasing fineness at a controlled rate to
the
polishing surface of the rotating polishing wheel, means for maintaining the
polishing
surface and a surface of a disc to be polished parallel to and relatively
spaced apart;
during the supply of the slurry by an amount sufficient to permit distribution
of the
abrasive slurry therebetween, thereby to polish the disc surface.
The invention also provides an automated method for restoring optical discs in
return for payment by a customer comprising the steps of: providing a housing;
receiving in the housing a disc to be restored from a customer; checking that
the disc
is correctly positioned in the housing for polishing; one of ejecting the disc
from the
housing if the disc is incorrectly positioned for polishing and, if correctly
positioned,
inspecting the disc for any perforation in a reflective layer of the disc; one
of ejecting
the disc from the housing if the reflective layer is perforated and, if
imperforate,
requesting payment from the customer;
one of ejecting the disc from the housing if correct payment is not received
and, if
correct payment received, restoring the disc by polishing; and ejecting the
restored
disc from the housing.
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In one version, means are provided for one of rejecting, for example, ejecting
an incorrectly positioned disc and repositioning an incorrectly positioned
disc to
enable polishing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the invention may be readily understood, embodiments of disc
restoration service vending machines according to the invention will now be
described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings
in
which:
Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the disc restoration service
vending machine;
Figure 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a disc inspection station
of the vending machine;
Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the inspection station during a
detection step of a disc;
Figure 4 is a schematic fragmentary perspective view of a disc restoring
station according to a first embodiment, during a disc polishing step;
Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the main operational steps of the
first
embodiment.
Figure 6 is a schematic fragmentary perspective view of a disc restoring
station according to a second, preferred embodiment, during a disc polishing
step;
Figure 7 is a schematic fragmentary cross-sectional view of the restoring
station of the second embodiment during a disc polishing step
Figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the main operational steps of the
second
embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENT
As shown in fig 1,The disc restoration service vending machine comprises a
console type cabinet I housing a disc inspection station 2 (fig 2) with a disc
insertion
slot 3, aligned above a disc restoring station 4 (fig 3) exposed behind a
waist high
glass window 5 for viewing a disc polishing operation and, a user interface
comprising a card/cash input area with a display/instruction panel 6
immediately
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below the window 5 and adjacent a disc jewel case/disc protector vending area
7.
As shown in fig 2 and 3, the disc inspection station comprises a roller nip 9
aligned with the disc insertion slot 3, for transferring a disc 10 to a
shouldered disc
rotating spindle 11, a photo reflective sensor device 12 with an emitter 13
and
receiver 13' arranged to receive emitted light reflected by the reflective
surface 14 of
the disc polycarbonate layer; and, a disc scanning device 15 comprising a
lower LED
array 16 aligned with an upper sensor array 17 of a CCD-type.
The disc rotating spindle11 is mounted for vertical movement, by a suitable
mechanism such as a simple piston/cylinder lift, toothed belt, jackscrew or
other gear
mechanism, to convey the disc between the disc inspection station 2 and the
disc
restoring station 4. The lower LED array is mounted on an arm (not shown) for
lateral
pivotal movement away from the underside of the disc to provide clearance for
the
vertical downward movement of the disc to the disc restoring station.
The disc restoring station 4 comprises a high speed polishing turntable 21
receiving the spindle 11 coaxially as a hub and three polishing wheels 22
having
rotary polishing heads 23 of successively finer grade abrasive carried by
transverse
arms 24 successively pivotable over the turntable into polishing engagement
with a
disc, when lowered by the spindle onto the turntable.
In a simpler version, only one polishing wheel is provided for use with
separate wet or dry polishing compounds (grit) of different grades
The polishing wheels are rotated about parallel axis by individual electric
motors in respective polishing heads or, alternatively, linked to a common
drive.
The spindle is linked to the turntable for driving/driven engagement therewith
(e.g. by splines provided at a suitable location on the spindle shaft or a
ratchet
mechanism) at the polishing station. Alternatively, a separate individual
drive
mechanism is provided for each.
A vacuum nozzle 25 for dust removal is mounted to extend over the disc
surface, at least during the polishing process.
A conventional dust guard covers the insertion slot and excludes light to
facilitate detection of a perforation in the reflective layer of the disc
caused , for
example, by a severe scratch. A floor of the inspection compartment includes a
trap
door type light shutter in light sealing engagement with the shaft of the
spindle
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(effectively forming a bottom wall of the inspection compartment to provide a
light
proof chamber) and openable to permit lowering of the disc into the polishing
chamber.
The entire disc handling and polishing process is controlled by operating
circuitry controlled by a microprocessor responding to ta operating status
signals
received from the devices at each station.
To operate the apparatus, a user inserts a disc, label side down through the
insertion slot where it is conveyed by the roller nips to the inspection
compartment.
The machine checks for proper orientation and ejects the disc if label side is
uppermost displaying a status message on the panel 6. Alternatively, a well
known
disc turning mechanism similar to those found in many jukeboxes can be
employed.
The machine scans the disc to determine reparability. The imaging array is a
CMOS or CCD-type machine vision system that differentiates between the clear
inner ring(s) in some manufactured discs and actual scratches in the recorded
area
of the disc. Alternatively, an array of photo detectors is used. In this
compartment,
the lower lamp or LED array illuminates the label side of the disc while the
upper
sensor(s) scans the disc for scratches in the reflective layer under the
label.
If light is detected, the scratch has completely punctured the reflective
layer,
making the disc irreparable. In this case, the machine will eject the disc and
display
a message informing the customer that the disc is not repairable.
If light is not detected, the disc is repairable and the machine will display
a
request for payment.
If payment is not received, the disc is ejected. If payment is received, the
LED
array is moved away from the detection position under the disc and the spindle
operated to lower the disc to the polishing turntable. The polishing spindle
is raised
to engage the disc and then lower the disc into a dust-evacuated polishing
chamber.
Alternatively, the CD is loaded directly onto the polishing spindle which is
at the
same level as the CD, and then both are lowered into the polishing chamber.
In another version, robotic arms utilizing suction pick-up devices, linear
transfer platforms or similar devices are provided to move the disc
mechanically.
The polishing table rotates the CD at high speed (for example, 1800 rpm) and
resurfacing process started. First polished with a coarse polishing wheel, the
CD is
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then polished with successively finer wheels which are sequentially swung over
and
then back, away from the disc.
The panel 6 displays a status message during each phase that explains the
operation in process. This adds an entertainment aspect to the machine. At the
end
of the polishing process, the transverse arms withdraw all polishing wheels
clear of
the turntable and the spindle is raised carrying the disc back into the
inspection
chamber into engagement with the nips of the transfer mechanism which are then
closed to grip the edge of the disc, the spindle is lowered releasing the disc
and the
roller nip operated to eject the repaired disc through the insertion slot to
the
customer.
Main steps of the process are indicated in the flow diagram of figure 5.
Alternatively, a conventional disc handling mechanism similar to that used in
jukeboxes or CD players may be employed to transfer the disc from the
turntable to
an outlet and to transfer the disc to the spindle in the inspection
compartment.
The total restoration time per disc is estimated at 3 minutes.
The machine is built in modular fashion so that components are easily
repaired and expendables are quickly replaced in the field.
The machine may be equipped to issue a club card (a debit card) that will
allow the customer to prepay for multiple disc restorations as well as
providing
membership benefits such as discounts and special offers.
The viewing area provided by the window adds an entertainment aspect to the
machine.
The service vending machine may be placed in retail service locations such
as car washes and laundromats, retail stores including music, game and
software
stores as well as business to business (at a reduced fee) rental stores such
as
video, games and music.
In the embodiment described above, the rotary abrasive polishing wheels are
in direct contact with the disc surface so that the abrasive grit on the face
of the
polishing wheels slowly wears away, causing them to wear down. This may not be
optimal for a self-service vending machine as polishing wheel faces must be
replaced often, increasing maintenance cost and down time.
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The second embodiment avoids the above disadvantage as the polishing
heads/wheel do not come into direct contact with the disc but are used as a
slurry
delivery system.
As shown in fig 6 and fig 7, an abrasive slurry is sandwiched between the
rotating polishing head 31 and the disc surface 32 which are spaced apart from
each
other by typically 0.05 inches.
The polishing wheel has a resilient mount which permits a degree of vertical
float to accommodate flow of the slurry between the polishing head and disc
surface.
This non-contact polishing system utilizes slurries of different grades of
coarseness,
starting with a most coarse grade of 220 grit and progressing to grits of
finer grades
440, and 880 in subsequent stages. The slurries are delivered from multiple
nozzles
34, 35, and 36 positioned to apply the slurry of the desired coarseness onto
the disc
surface, from respective slurry containers by an electrically operated
sequential
valve 37. The microprocessor is programmed to operate a pump or pumps
sequentially to pump each slurry from its individual container onto the
polishing
surface of the wheel during rotation which carries the slurry between the
opposed
surfaces of the disc and polishing wheel. Between each application of slurry,
a rinse
agent is automatically applied by nozzle 38 to rinse residue of the previous
grade of
slurry. Alternatively, the system may utilize a single nozzle system with a
valve and
pump system that directs the correct grade of slurry through the single nozzle
during
each phase of the process. When polishing is complete, the disc is spun dry by
continued rotation at high speed.
This approach can also reduce the required number of polishing heads to 1 or
2 . The preferred material for the polishing heads is a hard material such as
stainless
steel. A special finishing head may be utilized for the final optical
polishing process.
This finishing head may be made of a dense plastic foam material.
The flow chart of fig. 8 shows main system steps of the second embodiment.
Alternatively, polishing is performed using a series of polishing discs of
hard
abrasives of progressively decreasing particle size, (e.g. 400-10000 grit
epoxy
embedded diamond), with a liquid slurry cooling system, for example, GERBER
COBURN Plasti-sheen polish, (1.3 micron). A final optical polishing step
utilizes a
felt polishing disc which removes any fogging on the optical disc. The
polishing discs
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have a resilient mount which permits a degree of vertical float to facilitate
a parallel
polisishing surface to the disc being polished.
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