Abstract:
The disk feeder removes disks from the bottom of a stack of disks by pushing them one at a time with a ram traveling back and forth under a tower holding the stack of disks. The tower has a gap at the base for allowing one disk at a time to be pushed out by the ram. The tower may be tilted to provide for a stack of disks, which rest partly on a wall of the tower to reduce the weight of the stack on the bottom disk. The workstation fed by the disk feeder can be a disk destroyer, a printer, a writer or any other disk processing device. Combinations of disk feeders and workstations can produce batches of copies of disks with labels printed on them. The disk feeder provides a low cost reliable way to feed disks to work stations.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to removing disks one at a time from a stack of disks, and more particularly to removing the bottom disk from a stack of disks and delivering the disks to a workstation for processing. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   In most disk handling machines such as for copying machines and disk printing machines, stacks of disks are processed by removing the top most disk from a stack of disks by a CD picker and then moving the disk to a workstation to be processed and dropping the disk into the workstation. For disk copying devices the CD picker picks the disk out of a stack of blank disks, moves the CD to a tray and drops the disk in the tray. The tray retracts into a disk copy machine and the disk is written on to make a copy. The tray ejects from the copier and the disk is exposed for the CD picker to lift the disk from the tray and place it at another workstation, such as for printing on the disk, or in a stack of copied disks. 
   CD pickers for lifting a disk off a stack are relatively complex and expensive devices which usually have an arm with rotates on a tower and can be raised and lowered so a disk engaging device may be employed to lift a disk from a stack move it to another position and let go of the disk. Complex controllers and disk engaging equipment must be used to pick the disk from the stack and move it to a desired location. 
   It is desired to have a low cost, easy to make, easy to use, robust system for removing disks from a stack of disks and delivering the disks to a workstation for processing. It is also desired to have a low cost device for removing disks from workstations and placing them in another workstation, in a stack of completed disks or in a discard bin. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The disk feeder has a housing with a top surface. A tower for holding a stack of disks is attached to the top of the housing. The top surface has a trough in which ram slides. The trough fits between two wall sections forming the tower. The ram has a cover plate over the trough, which keeps the ram inside of the trough. The ram sticks out of the trough and engages only the bottom most disk in the stack of disks in the tower. The tower has a slot at one side for allowing the ram to slide a disk out from under the stack without letting the remaining disks out. Thus one disk at a time is removed with each stroke of the ram under the stack of disks. A motor inside the housing drives the ram back and forth in the trough. Sensors under the stack of disks in the tower can be used to tell a controller in the housing if there are disks present in the tower. If the last disk has been removed from the tower the controller will shut off the motor in the disk feeder after a specified time. Other sensors can be used for measuring disk speed or jams outside of the tower. The tower can be made from two walls attached to the top of the housing, one piece on either side of the trough. The walls of the tower may be curved or bent to partially surround the disks in the stack. 
   The disk feeder can be used for removing disks from the bottom of a stack of disks and delivering the disks to a workstation for processing. The disk feeder has a tower comprising two walls for enclosing a stack of disks. Each wall partially encloses one side of the disks. The walls face each other and are on opposite sides of a ram, which travels between the walls to push the bottom disk out from under the stack. A workstation for receiving the disks is attached to the disk feeder adjacent the gap at the base of the tower and accepts the disk for processing. The tower may be tilted backward over the ram to reduce the weight of the stack of disks on the bottom most disk thus reducing the force needed to remove the disk from the bottom of the stack and reducing the possibility of damaging the disks by disks rubbing on each other as the bottom disk is pushed from the bottom of the stack. The walls of the tower have a space between them for allowing access to the stack of disks so that a user can easily add or remove disks from the stack by hand. 
   The workstation adjacent the tower may be a disk destroyer such as a pair of rollers with disk dimpling spikes on at lest one roller. The user places disks to be destroyed in the tower and the ram feeds the disks into the disk destroyer one at a time until all of the disks are destroyed. The disks emerging from the disk destroyer are discarded by falling into a discard bin. 
   The workstation may be a writer for writing on the disk. The writer receives disks from the disk feeder and retracts the disk into the writer to write on the disk. When the writing is completed the writer ejects and the disk which can be dropped into a disk completion bin or a disk rejection bin if there is a defective disk. The writer can be tilted or rotated or both to feed the disk to a chute leading to a tower to stack the written on disks for further processing such as printing, or to a completion bin or tower, or to a rejection bin. 
   The workstation may be a printer for printing on the disk. The printer receives disks from the disk feeder and retracts the disk into the printer to print on the disk. When the printing is completed the printer ejects and the disk which can be dropped into a disk completion bin by tilting the printer to the eject disk position. 
   A combination of two or more disk feeders and writers, with a reader can be used for making multiple copies of disks quickly. Each writer can discharge disks into the tower of a disk feeder having a printer to process batches of copies of disks by writing to the disk and then printing labels on the disks. 
   With the addition of a means for selecting and or downloading the materials to be written on the disks, and printed on the disks, copies of CDs and DVD&#39;s can be made at a kiosk or in a store, which sells or rents CD&#39;s or DVDs. In this manner the store need not stock any inventory, it simply makes copies on demand and delivers the disks to the customers. A kiosk can be used to sell copies of disks as selected by customers and paid for at the kiosk. 
   OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the invention to remove a disk from the bottom of a stack of disks and present it for use at a workstation. 
   It is an object of the invention to remove a disk from the bottom of a stack of disks and present it for use at a workstation without damaging the disks. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a device, which removes disks from a stack reliably. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a low cost device, which removes disks from a stack. 
   It is an object of the invention to deliver processed disks to selected locations. 
   Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the disk feeder feeding disks from the bottom of a stack to a disk destroyer. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the disk feeder feeding disks from the bottom of a stack to a disk writer or a printer. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a two-step process for writing and printing on disks. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of multiple towers and workstations with one ram motor to write on several disks for faster copying production rates. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   There is a need for a low cost reliable way to remove disks from a stack of disks and deliver the disks to a workstation for processing. The workstation may be a disk destroyer, a disk printer, a disk writer or some other workstation for processing a disk. The workstation then must deliver the disk to a desired location. 
   A disk feeder  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  having a tower  20  formed by two opposing walls  22  each having 3 sections  23 ,  24  and  25 . The two opposing walls  22  form a tower  20  for enclosing a stack of disks  50 . The walls  22  have foot portions  26 ,  27  at the base of wall sections  23 ,  24  respectively. Each foot portion has an aperture  28  for securing the walls  22  to the top  11  of the disk feeder  10  by a fastener such as a screw, bolt or rivet. Wall sections  25  have a gap  29  at the base for allowing the bottom most disk in the stack of disks  50  to be pushed out from under the stack. 
   The disks  50  are pushed out from the bottom of the stack  50  by a ram  16 , which slides back and forth in trough  12  in the top  11  of the disk feeder  10 . The ram  16  has a cover plate  18  attached to the top  11  of the disk feeder  10  to cover it and help keep the ram  16  aligned in trough  12 . The center of trough  12  has a slot  14  for guiding the ram  16 . A motor  30  turns a crank arm  32  having a pivot connection  34  to driving arm  36 , which has a translation nut  38  passing through the slot  14  in trough  12  connecting to ram  16  which moves the ram  16  back and forth in the trough  12 . 
   Wall sections  23  are on either side of trough  12  allowing ram  16  to pass freely between walls  22 . Ram  16  when initially totally withdrawn from underneath stack  50  will, on its forward stroke, engage the bottom disk and push it out from under the stack  50  though gap  29  in wall section  25  and out to a workstation, which in  FIG. 1  is a disk destroyer  60 . 
   Data destroyer  60  has a motor  65  for turning disk dimpling rollers  64 ,  66 , one or both of which may be spiked, for effectively making the data on the disks unreadable by dimpling the disks  50 . The disk dimpling rollers  64 ,  66  are placed close enough to the tower  20  such that the disks being pushed out gap  29  by ram  16  are captured between the rollers  64 ,  66  and moved through the disk destroyer  60  as the disks are dimpled. The rollers push the disks through the disk destroyer  60  and out a rear slot  94 . The disks  50  then slide down chute  90  into discard box  92  where they are collected and disposed of. 
   A sensor  100  inside tower  20  detects the presence of disks to be destroyed and reports to controller  55  which will shut the motors  30  and  65  off after a specified time when no disks are detected in tower  20 . Alternatively switch  62  can be used to turn the motors  30  and  65  on and off for operating the disk feeder  30  and the disk destroyer  60 . Other sensors  101  and  102  can be used to tell if there is a jam in the data destroyer or the speed the disks are moving. A controller  55  monitors motors  30 ,  65  and sensors  100 ,  101 ,  102  for coordinating and or controlling the speed of the motors and for shutting down the system if a jam occurs. 
   The tower  20  may be tilted backward over the ram  16  to form tilted tower  220  in order to transfer some of the weight from the stack of disks  50  to the walls  222  of the tower. In this embodiment the first disk in the stack is flat on the top  11  of the disk feeder  10 . The first few disks in the stack may have a gap  140  between the wall sections  223  of tilted tower  220  and the disks  50 . After a few disks  50  are stacked in the tilted tower  220  the disks  50  want to fall over so they partially rest on the tower wall sections  223 , as at  142 , taking pressure off of the bottom disk  50  in the stack and allowing the bottom disk to be pushed from the bottom of the stack without scratching and damaging the bottom disk or the disk resting on top of the bottom disk. The tilted tower  220  also allows the ram  16  to operate with less force on the bottom disk  50  particularly as it approaches gap  29  in the base of tower  220  since most of the column of disks  50  are not directly over the front portion of the bottom disk as the ram  16  pushes on the rear portion of the bottom disk. 
   The workstation can be a disk writer  80 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , with a disk insertion aperture, which accepts a disk  50  to be copied to and places it on turntable  83  for rotating. A motorized disk injector-ejector mechanism  40  may be used to move disk  50  into and out of the writer  80  as is well known in the industry. When the disk is moved into the insertion aperture the motorized injector-ejector mechanism  40  places the disk  50  on the turntable  83 . With the disk  50  in place on the turntable  83  the controller  55  then writes data on the disk  50  and determines if the disk  50  is defective. When writing is completed or the disk  50  is determined to be defective, the writer  80  is tilted or rotated to a disk discharge position. In  FIG. 2  the writer  80  is tilted downward by cam  86  driven by motor  84  to pivot writer  80  on hinge  88  to position the writer  80  such that when the disk  50  is ejected by disk injector ejector mechanism  40  it will slide down ramp  90  to tower  85 . If the disk is defective the writer  80  is tilted downward by cam  86  and the disk  50  is ejected into discard bin  92 . The workstation in  FIG. 2  can be a printer  70  or any other disk-processing device as seen in  FIG. 3 . The cam motor  84  can be controlled by controller  55 , controller  555  or personal computer  500  to coordinate the tilting of the workstations, such as printers  70  and writers  80  with disk feeders  10  or  210 . 
   Batch recording and labeling for small runs of disks  50  can be made by use of two disk feeders  10  combined with two workstations where one workstation is a writer  80  and one is a printer  70 . As shown in  FIG. 3  putting the number of disks  50  to be copied to and printed on in a first tower  220  on a first disk feeder  10  which feeds disks to a writer  80 , which then drops the disks  50  into a tower  85  in a second disk feeder  210  for feeding disks into a printer  70 . The discharged disks from the printer  70  are collected in bin  75  to complete the process. If the writer  80  is faster than the printer  70  the writer can be the first step in the process, as the written on disks will accumulate in tower  85  waiting to be printed on. 
   For producing a disk with writing and printing on one disk at a time such as the purchase of a copy of music on a CD or a movie on a DVD two disk feeders  10 ,  210  combined with two workstations such as writer  80  and printer  70  respectively can be used in a kiosk  110 . The first disk feeder  10  has a tower  220  for storing multiple disks  50  and a first workstation, which as shown in  FIG. 3  is writer  80 , that then sends the written disk to tower  85  on second disk feeder  210  for sending the disk to printer  70 . The competed disk is dropped into tower  75  and can be retrieved by a customer. When more than one copy is being purchased or copies of different CDs or DVDs are being made the same batching system as above is used. The kiosk  110  has a controller  120  having a payment-accepting portion  130  which can accept cash in slot  132  or credit card payments in slot  134 . A keypad  114  in conjunction with a display  112  allows the user to order selected CDs and DVDs. 
   As shown in  FIG. 4  one motor  30  with a gearbox  301 , a drive shaft  305  and gears  302  can provide power to turn crank arms  32 , which operate through pivot  34  and piston arm  36  to drive translation nut  38  back and forth in slot  14  to drive ram  16  back and forth under the stack of disks  50  in tower  20  to push the disks one at a time into a workstation such as writer  80 . Thus two or more rams  16  in disk feeders  10  may be powered by one motor  30 . 
   The writer  80  and or the controller  55  of the disk feeder  10  may be connected to a personal computer  500  with a reader or a hard drive to provide the data to be copied and printed and for running the disk feeder, the writer and the printer. Alternatively, a reader  550  and a controller  555  may be used with the feeder  10  and workstation to make copies of a disk by using a writer  80  and a printer. 
   In an alternative embodiment ram  16  can be moved by a motor having a screw and a translating nut thereon for linear movement of the ram  16 . 
   A sensor such as sensor  101  can be used to count the number of disks fed to the workstation and controller  55  can receive the sensor information to control the number of disks delivered to the workstation. Thus the disk feeder can be programmed to feed the desired number of disks to a workstation. The workstation can also communicate with the controller to ask for the next disk to be sent after the previous disk is processed. 
   Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.