Title of Invention

"COOLING STATION FOR DISK-SHAPED SUBSTRATES"

Abstract Cooling station (1) for disc-shaped substrates, in particular for substrates of optically readable data carriers such as CDs, CD-RS, DVDs, CD singles and the like, comprising at least three cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) which are set apart from one another and arranged parallel to one another in such a way that one substrate is in contact with air of the cooling spindles simultaneously, and comprising an electric motor (6) for rotating the cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5), characterised in that each cooling spindle (2, 3, 4, 5) has at least two threads (9, 10) comprising thread undercuts (11, 12) of different widths.
Full Text FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10; rule 13]
'COOLING STATION FOR DISK-SHAPED SUBSTRATES"
KRAUSS-MAFFEI KUNSTSTOFFTECHNIK GMBH, of Krauss-Maffei-Str. 2, 80997 Munchen, Germany,
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:


The present invention relates to cooling station for disc-shaped substrates.
The invention relates to a cooling station for disc-shaped substrates, in particular for substrates of optically readable data carriers such as CDs,. CD-Rs, DVDs, CD singles, DVD singles and the like.
When producing optically readable data carriers of the type mentioned at the outset blanks are produced from a plastics granular material on an injection moulding machine, usually polycarbonate, which blanks are machined in further steps until there is a finished CD, CD-R, DVD, etc, at the end of the production line. The blanks are still hot after leaving the injection moulding machine and have to be cooled to ambient temperature prior to further processing. The temperature of the blanks when transferred from the injection moulding machine and placed in the cooling station is typically approximately 100°C. On removal from the cooling station the blank should have a processing temperature of approximately 22°C.
Known cooling stations in which the blanks are conveyed over a cooling section by means of cooling spindles have three cooling spindles arranged symmetrically to one another with a respective thread and a certain respective width of thread undercut.
The drawback of these known cooling stations is that in the event of a change in production, for example from CDs to DVDs or from CDs to CD singles, the existing cooling station has to be modified or replaced with a cooling station suitable for the new article. This leads to undesirable downtimes of the production line.

The object of the invention is therefore to indicate a cooling station which can be used similarly, i.e. without conversion measures, for substrates of optically readable data carriers with different substrate dimensions.
This object is achieved by a cooling station comprising at. least three cooling spindles wherein each cooling spindle has at least two threads comprising thread undercuts of different widths and by a cooling station comprising a plurality of cooling spindles wherein four or more cooling spindles are arranged with respect to one another in such a way that three respective cooling spindles are provided for conveying substrates with a certain diameter. Advantageous configurations and developments are given in the sub-claims.
The main advantage of the present invention is that the production of optically readable data carriers is more flexible. A first stage of flexibility is achieved, in that, in contrast to the prior art, the cooling spindles have two (or more) threads with undercuts of different widths. The standard widths are designed according to the standard thicknesses for CDs: 1.2 mm and for DVDs: 0.6 mm. A second stage of flexibility is achieved in that, in contrast to the prior art, at least four cooling spindles are provided, three respective cooling spindles forming a group of cooling spindles adapted to a certain substrate diameter. Therefore, a first group of cooling spindles is provided for CDs and DVDs with the standard diameter of 80 mm (so-called CD singles, DVD singles), and a second group of cooling spindles is provided for CDs and DVDs with the standard diameter of 120 mm. In a particularly advantageous configuration the two stages of flexibility are combined with one another with the result that all standard sizes of blanks currently to be processed can be conveyed by optically readable data carriers from transfer on the injection moulding machine through to removal for the purpose of further processing and can be cooled to

processing temperature by a single cooling station: CDs 120 mm in diameter, 1.2 mm thick; DVDs 120 mm in diameter, 0.6 mm thick; CDs 80 mm in diameter, 1.2 mm thick and DVDs 80 mm in diameter, 0.6 mm thick. In a further preferred embodiment the cooling spindles are arranged asymmetrically to one another and this has the advantage that the blanks do not always rest with the same point of their outer edge on the cooling spindles during rotation, i.e. the blank always rests in a different position in the spindles during a rotation. This advantageously leads to more uniform, cooling of the blanks.
The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to an embodiment and to Fig. 1 and 2, in which:
Fig.' 1 is a perspective view of a cooling station with four cooling spindles for two substrate diameters;
Fig. 2 shows a cross-section through one of the cooling spindles in Fig. 1.
The cooling station 1 shown in Fig, 1 consists of four identical cooling spindles 2, 3, 4 and 5 which can be driven at one side via an electric motor 6 with pinion 7 and toothed belt 8 (and gear wheels, not shown, on the cooling spindles). The cooling spindles are only mounted on the opposing side. The cooling spindles 3, 4 and 5 form a first group of cooling spindles for the blanks with a diameter of 80 mm. The cooling spindles 2, 3 and 5 form a second group of cooling spindles for the blanks with a diameter of 120 mm. The cooling spindles are arranged

asymmetrically to one another in each group. For example, the axes of the cooling spindles 3, 4 and 5 do not exactly form the corners of an inverted triangle, but deviate slightly therefrom. This means that the blanks, in this case those with a diameter of 80 mm, always rest in a different position in the spindles during rotation. The cooling spindles 2, 3 and 5 are similarly arranged asymmetrically to one another.
Fig. 2 shows one of the cooling spindles 2 to 5 in Fig. 1 in cross-section. According to the invention this cooling spindle with a trapezoidal thread has two threads 9 and 10 which do not extend symmetrically to one another, so two thread undercuts 11 and 12 of different widths are formed, of which the width is adjusted to the thickness of the blanks to be conveyed. The thread 9 with the narrow undercuts 11 is used for 0.6 mm thick blanks (CD blanks). The thread 10 with the wider undercuts 12 is used for the 1.2 mm thick blanks DVD blanks).
With the cooling station according to the invention, blanks of different diameter and different thickness can pass through without modification. The present invention is described with reference to substrates for optically readable data carriers. It goes without saying that the invention is also suitable for conveying and/or cooling other substrates with different diameters and different thickness.

List of reference numerals

1 cooling Station
2 cooling Spindle
3 cooling Spindle
4 cooling Spindle
5 cooling Spindle
6 electric motor
7 pinion
8 toothed Belt
9 first thread
10 second Thread
11 first thread undercut
12 second thread undercut

WE CLAIM:
1. Cooling station (1) for disc-shaped substrates, in particular for substrates of optically readable data carriers such as CDs, CD-RS, DVDs, CD singles and the like, comprising at least three cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) which are set apart from one another and arranged parallel to one another in such a way that one substrate is in contact with air of the cooling spindles simultaneously, and comprising an electric motor (6) for rotating the cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5), characterised in that each cooling spindle (2, 3, 4, 5) has at least two threads (9, 10) comprising thread undercuts (11, 12) of different widths.
2. Cooling station (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first thread (9) with a 0.6 mm wide undercut (11) and a second thread (10) with a 1.2 ram wide undercut (12) are provided.
3. Cooling station (1) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) are arranged asymmetrically to one another.
4. Cooling station (1) for disc-shaped substrates, in particular for substrates of optically readable data carriers such as CDs, CD-RS, DVDs, CD singles and the like, comprising a plurality of cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) which are set apart from one another and arranged parallel to one another in such a way that one substrate is in contact with three cooling spindles simultaneously, and comprising an electric motor (6) for rotating the cooling spindles (2, 3 4 5), wherein four or more cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) are arranged with respect to one another in such a way that three respective cooling spindles are provided for conveying substrates with a certain diameter.
5. Cooling station (1) as claimed in claim 4, wherein a first group of three cooling spindles (3, 4, 5) is provided which are intended for substrates with a first diameter (Dl), and in that a second group of three cooling spindles (2, 3, 5) is provided which are intended for substrates with a

second diameter (D2), (Dl) being smaller than (D2) the two outer cooling spindles (3, 5) of the first group, viewed in the circumferential direction forming the second group of cooling spindles (2, 3, 5) with a further cooling spindle (2).
6. Cooling station (1) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first group of cooling spindles (3, 4, 5) for substrates with the diameter (Dl) is arranged in such a way that the axes of the cooling spindles (3, 4, 5) substantially form the corner points of an inverted triangle, in that a further cooling spindle (2) is provided above one of the corner points, and in that this further cooling spindle (2), together with the two cooling spindles (3, 5) of the first group located above, forms a second group of cooling spindles (2, 3, 5) for substrates with the diameter (D2).
7. Cooling station (1) as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6, wherein a first group of three cooling spindles (3, 4, 5) for substrates with a diameter of 80 mm and a second group of three cooling spindles (2, 3, 5) for substrates with a diameter of 120 mm are provided.
8. Cooling station (1) as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7, wherein each cooling spindle (2, 3, 4, 5) comprises at least two threads (9, 10) with undercuts (11, 12) of different widths.
9. Cooling station (1) as claimed in claim 8, wherein a first thread (9) with a 0.6 mm wide undercut (11) and a second thread (10) with a 1.2 mm wide undercut (12) are provided.
10. Cooling station (1) as claimed in any of claims 4 to 9, wherein the cooling spindles (2, 3, 4, 5) of a group are arranged asymmetrically to one another.
Dated this 07th day of November, 2002.
[RANJNA MEHTA-DUTT]
OF REMFRY & SAGAR
ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANTS

Documents:

abstract1.jpg

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-cancelled pages(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-claims(granted)-(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-claims(granted)-(17-2-2006).doc

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-correspondence(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-correspondence(ipo)-(17-04-2007).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-drawing(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 13(25-01-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 18(10-06-2005).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 1a(07-11-2002).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 2(granted)-(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 2(granted)-(17-2-2006).doc

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 3(06-11-2002).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 3(25-01-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 4(10-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form 5(06-11-2002).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form-pct-ipea-409(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-form-pct-isa-210(17-02-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-petition under rule 137(25-01-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-petition under rule 138(25-01-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-power of authority(25-01-2006).pdf

in-pct-2002-01566-mum-power of authority(25-11-2002).pdf


Patent Number 206060
Indian Patent Application Number IN/PCT/2002/01566/MUM
PG Journal Number 28/2007
Publication Date 13-Jul-2007
Grant Date 17-Apr-2007
Date of Filing 07-Nov-2002
Name of Patentee KRAUSS-MAFFEI KUNSTSTOFFTECHNIK GMBH
Applicant Address KRAUSS-MAFFEI-STR.2, 80997 MUNCHEN, GERMANY.
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 REINHARD BAUMEL AM UNTERFELD 8, 85777 WENG, GERMANY.
PCT International Classification Number B29C 35/16
PCT International Application Number PCT/EP01/06323
PCT International Filing date 2001-06-02
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 100 28 399.3 2000-06-13 Germany