Abstract:
An optical disk cleaning machine with adaptors for holding any size disk and cassette for optical disks wherein the disks are rotated while cleaning cloths are radially reciprocated on the top and bottom of the disk simultaneously to remove dirt and other contaminants form the surface of the optical disk. The radial strokes are adjustable to cover the surface of different size disks. The pressure of the cleaning cloths on the surface of the disks is adjustable as is the rate of rotation of the disks during cleaning and the number of revolutions of the disk. The cleaning cloth is spooled on spools held on the cleaning arms and can be advanced as required to maintain a clean portion of the cloth in contact with the disk to be cleaned. An inspection station is included for securing the disk and rotating it while it is examined under a high intensity light by-use of a magnifying glass for cleanliness and for flaws in the disks or damaged disks before returning the optical disks to use. It is important to have clean damage free optical disks for transmitting information. Dirty or damaged disks will not transmit information and will bring down computer systems which are performing valuable work. Preventing down time and providing reliable access to data are ensured by using clean flaw free optical disks.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to cleaning the surfaces of information storage disks and more particularly to cleaning disks in protective disk holding cassettes with a reciprocating motion of the cleaning head moving radially across the disk surface on both sides of the disk simultaneously while the disk rotates about its axis. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In the past when disks became dirty they had to be manually cleaned. The protective door of the cassette would be held open and the disk placed on a spindle for rotating the disk to expose the area to be cleaned while a person holding a cleaning cloth rubbed the cloth on the exposed disk surface. This is a tedious job requiring hours of repetitive motion and has many drawbacks. It is slow, it only cleans one side of a disk at a time, there is no uniformity of the pressure on the disk with a hand held cloth, the spaces exposed are not uniformly cleaned, and potential for missing portions of the disk is high since the advancement of the disk to expose the surface to be cleaned is not coordinated with the cleaning strokes applied, the cleaning cloth is easily contaminated by handling the cloth, the cloth is not efficiently used with new portions of clean cloth on the surface of the disk. It takes a long time to clean the disk and the area exposed to cleaning is not uniformly controlled. The wiping motion of the cloth should be uniform and humans tend to get tired and sloppy. Humans need to take breaks and are slow compared to machines. Further humans suffer health risks from repetitive motions. 
     There are disk cleaning machines for specified sizes and shapes of cassettes and disks but no machines that will universally clean any disk in any cassette. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,332 shows a Disc Cleaning device for one size, shape and style of cassette and disk contained therein which cleans one side of the disk at a time by a rotating cylinder of cleaning cloth engaging a rotating disk. The rotating disk is tangential to the grooves or tracks in the disk which is not a preferred method of cleaning. Further the cylinder of cloth is constantly reused tending to get dirtier over time. The pressure of the cloth on the disk is not adjustable. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,526 shows a radially reciprocating cleaning device for compact disks which do not have cassette covers. The wiping member is not a cloth that is replaceable and it only cleans one side of the disk at a time. The pressure of the cloth on the disk is not adjustable. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,146 shows a disc Cleaning device having a spool of cleaning cloth with a variable tension for contacting the surface of a disk. The cloth can be advanced to expose a clean portion of cloth when needed however the cleaning arm only extends on one side of the disc. 
     It is desirable to have a universal disk cleaning machine for cleaning any size disk, no matter what cassette it is placed in. The cleaning should be with a radially reciprocating arm to clean radially across the tracks or grooves in the disk. The cleaning should have uniform pressure on the disk and should clean on both sides of the disk at the same time. The cleaning cloth should be advanceable so that clean cloth can be applied to the disks as required. The disk cleaning machine should be easily transportable light weight easy to set up,easy to use, and provide uniform cleaning of surfaces quickly and efficiently. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a portable disk cleaning machine which can be quickly set up to clean and inspect any size disks in any type of cassette. The device has a plurality of attachments for holding any size disk at the proper height for engaging the cleaning heads of the device on both sides of the disk, for cleaning both sides simultaneously with even pressure on the cleaning cloth to the disk surface. The disk is rotated in combination with reciprocating motion of the cleaning arm to move the cleaning cloth to ensure that every portion of the disk is cleaned uniformly. The cleaning cloth is kept pristine by advancing clean cloth on spools located on the cleaning arm. 
     The rotation rate of the disk, the reciprocation rate of the cleaning arm, and the pressure of the cleaning cloth on the disk are all adjustable to ensure cleaning of all portions of both sides of the disk with the desired pressure simultaneously. 
     An inspection station is provided adjacent the cleaning device for inspecting the disks for cleanliness and for flaws such as scratches. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a disk cleaning machine for all sizes of disks contained in any style of disk holding cassette. 
     It is an object of the invention to increase disk cleaning production rates. 
     It is an object of the invention to efficiently clean disks. 
     It is an object of the invention to clean the entire surface of the all disks with uniform quality. 
     It is an object of the invention to clean the entire surface of the all disks with a uniform pressure of cleaning cloths on the disks. 
     It is an object of the invention to clean the entire surface of the all disks with a uniform disk turning speed. 
     It is an object of the invention to clean the disk radially, not circumferentially. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide cleaning cloth on spools to keep the cloth clean and provide new cloth by advancing the spools when needed to clean a disk. 
     It is an object of the invention to make efficient use of the cleaning cloth which is very expensive. 
     It is an object of the invention to eliminate hand contact with the cleaning cloth to prevent contamination. 
     It is an object of the invention to increase performance of computer systems by having cleaned disks. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a top cleaning arm and a bottom cleaning arm with independently adjustable pressures of cloth contact on a disk. 
     It is an object of the invention to clean both sides of disk at once. 
     It is an object of the invention to be able to adjust the height of each style of disk to a uniform height to function in conjunction with the cleaning arms. 
     It is an object of the invention to allow the cleaning arms to float up and down on the surface of the disk to follow disk warps and wobbles with even pressure on the cleaning cloth. 
     It is an object of the invention to be compact and lightweight such that it is easy to transport the cleaning device as carry-on luggage in airplanes. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a durable, easy to set-up, and quickly usable cleaning device that is not sensitive to temperature variations. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a disk cleaning device with variable settings for parameters, including disk rotation speed, radial stroke length, radial stroke frequency, length of cleaning time, number of cleaning rotations of the disk, disk height, independent cleaning arm tension and torque tension. 
    
    
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the cleaning station. 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the cleaning station. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the inspection station. 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the inspection station. 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the cleaning arm assembly in the closed position. 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the cleaning head and spools 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the spools on the top cleaning arm 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the cleaning arm assembly in the open position. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1-4 show views of a disk cleaning device used for cleaning optical disks held in cassettes. The embodiment shown is for a portable unit which comes in a case having a bottom half  10  and a top half  11 . The top half  11  has latches  13  for connecting to latches  12  on the bottom half  10  used for connecting the two halves together. The case also has a handle  15  for carrying the case. The case size is preferably small enough to be carried as carry-on luggage on commercial airline flights so that the disk cleaning equipment is easily transportable between job sites. In conjunction with size restrictions the disk cleaning device is preferably light weight so that it is easily carried, and is well within the airline weight limits for luggage without incurring extra fees. 
     When arriving at a job, site the case is opened and the bottom portion of the case  10  is placed as shown in FIG. 2 on a flat surface for use. The bottom portion of the case  10  contains the disk cleaning portion of the invention. As seen in FIG. 1 the bottom portion of the case  10  has a surface plate  16  with a plurality of threaded holes  24  for cassettes  60  containing 12 inch disks  50 . The holes  24  are used to screw in disk support posts  34  which support the cassettes  60 , having disks  50  to be cleaned. A similar set of threaded holes  26  (see FIG. 2) are used in conjunction with disk support posts  34  for supporting cassettes  260  containing 5¼ inch disks  250 . 
     The number of posts  34  and the position of the posts may be varied depending on the configuration of the cassettes and their sizes. Eight posts  34  are used, two in each corner of the cassettes  60 ,  260  which are usually rectangular. 
     Posts  34  may have caps  36  having different heights to adjust the posts  34  to different heights to account for different cassette thicknesses, in order to arrange for a universal height for the disks to be at for being cleaned by the top and bottom cleaning arms  74  and  76 , respectively. The caps  36  may have slots or notches therein to conform to different cassette shapes, such as indentations in the cassettes, which will aid in holding the cassettes securely in place. The posts  34  and caps  36  may be color coded or labeled for the type of cassettes to be cleaned to aid in the proper set-up configuration. 
     Alternatively, the posts  34  can have different caps  36  integral with the posts but for economy of weight and numbers of parts, separate caps  36  are preferred. 
     Different sizes of spindle center hubs  45  are inserted over the spindle  47  to support different disk cassette sizes with different disk hubs. 
     The posts  34  provide support for the cassettes  60 ,  260  at the proper height for the center hub  45  and the cleaning arms  74 ,  76 . The posts  34  also function to prevent the cassettes  60 ,  260  from spinning on the center hub  45  when the cassettes  60 ,  260  are placed on the spindle  47 . 
     After putting the posts  34  and caps  36  in place for the type of cassettes to be cleaned the cleaning arm assembly  70  is attached to the plate of reciprocating base  72  with screws  65  which are screwed into threaded holes  73  in base  72 , as best seen in FIG.  5 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 5-8 the cleaning arm assembly  70  has a base stand  71  with screw holes  73 . The base stand  71  has a column  75  attached at one end for supporting the top cleaning arm  74  and the bottom cleaning arm  76 . The top cleaning arm  74  is attached to the column  75  at top cleaning arm pivot point  77 . The bottom cleaning arm  76  is attached to the column  75  at bottom cleaning arm pivot point  78 . The top cleaning arm pivot point  76  and bottom cleaning arm pivot point  78  are colinear on a line  79  passing through the center of the disk  50  or  250  to be cleaned. Thus both the top and bottom cleaning arms  74  and  76  are equally spaced above and below the disk to be cleaned. The latch rod  80  rotates on pivot  81  to latch or unlatch the top cleaning arm  74 . Latch  82  on the inner portion of the top cleaning arm  74  secures latch wheel  83  on latch rod  80  such that the spring  84  on the latch rod  80  urges the latch wheel  83  into the semicircular groove  86  in the latch  82 . The spring tension adjusting nut  85  on the latch rod  80  sets the tension on the spring  84  to urge the top cleaning arm  74  and the bottom cleaning arm  76  towards each other such that the cleaning cloth  115  on the top and bottom cleaning arms  74  and  76  are both in contact with the disk  50  or  250  being cleaned. 
     When the top cleaning arm  74  and the bottom cleaning arm  76  have colinear pivot points  77  and  78  respectively, the top and bottom cleaning arms can move in unison up or down as the disk wobbles due to waviness of the disk surface. The top and bottom cleaning arms  74 ,  76  may also act independently due to variations in the thickness of the disk  50  as the disk rotates. 
     When the latch rod  80  is moved to the right, in the figures, the latch  82  is released and the top cleaning arm  74  can be rotated to the right on pivot  77  to release the cassette  60  or  260  from between the cleaning heads  94  and  96 . As shown in FIG. 8, the top cleaning arm  74  opens up all the way so that the cleaning heads  94  and  96  are resting in the same plane. The spools  112  and  116  can then be replaced, inspected or advanced with the cleaning surface portion visible. Cleaning fluid can be applied to the cloth on the cleaning heads when the cleaning arms are in this position. The cleaning fluid can be sprayed on or dabbed on to the cleaning cloth  115  before the top cleaning arm  74  is rotated back to its latched position for cleaning disks  50 ,  250 . 
     The bottom cleaning arm  76  has a button  106  having a spring  109  urging it into spring loaded contact with lower cleaning arm  76 . The lower cleaning arm has a tension adjustment  103  comprising a wheel with an offset axis  105  and a lever  102  for adjusting the position of the wheel on the offset axis  105  to increase or decrease tension on the spring  109 . Lever  102  thereby adjusts the pressure of the bottom cleaning arm  76  and the cleaning head  96  on the bottom of disk  50  or  250 . 
     Similarly, spring loaded button  104  and spring  108  adjust the pressure of cleaning head  94  on the top of disk  50 ,  250 . In the embodiment shown no adjustment is used on the spring loaded button  104  to adjust the load on the upper cleaning arm  74  and the upper cleaning head  94 . The latch rod  80  and its spring  84  and tension adjustment nut  85  effectively adjust the tension of the cleaning head  94  on the top of disk  50 ,  250 . 
     Before the disk  50 ,  250  are placed on the spindle for cleaning, the protective doors of the disk cassette  60 ,  260  are moved to the open position and are held open by blocks placed at the end of the cassette, or in some cassettes by the spindle retention knob  24 , thereby preventing the protective doors from closing. 
     The disks have spindle holes in the center of their hubs. The disk is placed on the spindle  47  and is slid down the spindle until stopped by the center hub  45 , which matches the radius of the center hub on the disk  50 ,  250 . The top of the center hub  45  is flat and forms a spindle platform  43 , which engages and spins the disks  50 ,  250 . 
     A spindle retention knob  49 , having a portion which engages the center hub  45  on disks  50 ,  250  is placed on the spindle  47  to hold cassettes  60 ,  250  between the spindle retention knob  49  and the spindle platform  43 . The cassettes  60 ,  260  are then held steady at their center on the spindle  47  and held steady on the support posts  34  by its edges so that the disks  50 ,  250  will not move out of a plane its surface is in during cleaning. 
     There are different sized spindle retention knobs  49  for 5¼ inch disks  250  and 12 inch disks  50  which may vary in characteristics by brand of cassette used. 
     The disk spindle platform  43  is rotated by spindle motor  40 , which is a variable speed DC motor. In one embodiment the motor  40  has a timer for turning it on and off so that it will make a small portion of a turn, for example 1 or 2 degrees and then stop. The DC motor is therefore only runs a small portion of the time, reducing the heat output and allowing the disk to remain stationary during a reciprocating cleaning head stroke radially across the disk surface. It is preferred to clean the disks  50 ,  250  by a radial cleaning stroke because there will be less residue left in the tracks on the disks which will improve the ability of the disks to be read. The spindle motor on times and rest times are controlled by timers having knob  37  for controlling the on time and knob  39  for controlling the off time. 
     The cleaning arm assembly  70  is attached to reciprocating base  72 , which is connected to an AC motor  120  having a mechanism  123  which reciprocates the reciprocating base  72 . The cleaning arm assembly  70  is thereby driven radially across the face of the disk  50 ,  250 . 
     Stroke length adjustment knobs  121 ,  122  adjust the length of the stroke of the cleaning heads  94 ,  96  on the cleaning arm assembly  70 . The front adjustment knob  121  adjusts the length of the stroke near the center of the disk  50 ,  250 , and the rear adjustment knob  122  adjusts the stroke near the circumference of the disk  50 ,  250 . Since disk sizes and radius of surfaces needing to be cleaned vary, the stroke of the reciprocal motion of the cleaning heads  94  and  96  vary. Stroke length adjustment knobs  121  and  122  may have limit switches attached to limit the stroke of the reciprocating base  72 . A scale  125 , adjacent the length adjustment knobs  121  and  122 , has marks for adjusting the location of the cleaning head strokes relative to the area of the media contained on the disks  50 ,  250 . 
     The speed of the motor AC  120  for controlling the reciprocating motion speed is fixed. 
     The length of the stroke may be controlled by an AC servo motor. 
     The time that the disk cleaning device is on is controlled by cycle length control knob  130 , which controls the amount of time the DC motor  140  is on, and allows  1  or more complete revolutions of the disk  50 ,  250 , such that the entire surface of disk  50 ,  250  is cleaned at least once. Counter  140  displays the number of starts, via a manual switch, of the spindle motor  40  in the disk turning mode alone. Counter  145  counts the number of automatic cycles of the spindle motor  40  while the cleaning arm assembly  70  is reciprocating. This feature is a means of counting the number of disks  50 ,  250  cleaned. 
     When the spindle turning switch  150  is turned on the spindle motor rotates  40  but the cleaning arm assembly  70  remains stationary. 
     When the automatic cycle button  160  is depressed, the spindle motor  40  turns the disk  50 ,  250  while cleaning arm assembly  70  moves back and forth, and the timer  130  runs for the time specified for the cleaning of disk  50 ,  250 . 
     As a safety feature the percent of torque setting on knob  37 , is connected to a potentiometer which limits the power delivered to DC motor  40  driving the disk  50 ,  250  such that in the event of a bind or failure of some kind in the cassette  60 ,  260  the DC motor  40  will stop turning the disk  50 ,  250 . 
     FIG. 6 shows a front view of the spools  112  and  114  which are the storage and take-up spools respectively on the top cleaning arm  74 , and spools  116  and  118 , which are the storage and take-up spools respectively, on the bottom cleaning arm  76 . The cleaning cloth  115  runs from storage spools  112  and  116  to a take-up spools  114  and  118  on the top and bottom cleaning arms  74  and  76 , respectively. 
     As an example, the cloth  115  extends between the storage spool  112  and the takeup spool  114  by passing over rollers  110  and over pads  111 , which may be foam rubber or other soft material, to press the cloth  115  against the disk  50 . The pads  111  are attached to pad frames  117  on the ends of the cleaning arms  74  and  76  to hold an area of cleaning cloth  115  under the tips of the cleaning arms flat so as to be parallel to the surface of the disks  50 ,  250 . 
     The take-up spool  114  is on the top cleaning arm  76  and is accessible to turn the spool manually by directly engaging the spool and turning it to pull a clean portion of cloth  115  from the storage spool to a position under the pad  111 . 
     The take up spool  118  has axel  119  extending from the spool, which extends out from under the cassette  60 ,  260  to be cleaned allowing access to turn the spool  118  by rotating knob  126  on axel  119  to obtain a clean portion of cloth  115  under pad  111  on the bottom cleaning arm  76 . 
     After each disk  50 ,  250  is cleaned the cloth  115  proximate the pads  111  may be viewed and a clean portion of cloth  115  may be positioned on the pads  111 . Since the cloth  115  is expensive a controlled use of the cloth saves money. The cloth  115  need not be advanced until inspection reveals it is getting soiled. 
     The top half of the case  11  is an inspection station having a spindle  47 , a spindle platform  43 , spindle caps  49 , posts  34  and post caps  36  for securing the cassettes  60 ,  260  for inspection of disks  50 ,  250  just as on the cleaning half  10  of the case. The inspection spindle platform  43  is rotated by a hand-operated crank  170  connected by a belt or chain  171  to the base of the spindle  41  such that the disk  50 ,  250  is easily positioned in a place to be inspected and rotated. The case top half  11 , preferably has a high intensity light  175  on a flexible cable  176  for shining on the disk  50  to be inspected. The case preferably has a magnifying glass  177  on a flexible cable  178  for observing the condition of the disk  50 ,  250 . The operator will observe the cleanliness of the disks  50 ,  250  to see if it requires further cleaning and also inspect the surface of the disks for damage such as cracks, scratches, dents or other blemishes which will effect disk performance. 
     An operator may use time efficiently by inspecting one disk  50 ,  250  while at the same time cleaning another disk using this apparatus. 
     All of the parts needed for the various size cassettes  60 ,  260  can be stored in the apertures in the surface plate  180 . For example the caps  36  fit in apertures  186 , support posts  34  fit in apertures  184 , spindle platforms  43  fit in spindle platform slots  183 , and spindle retention knobs  49  fit in apertures  189  and  190 . 
     A brake release may be used for squeezing the cassettes  60 ,  260  to disengage the brake of the cassette and allowing disks  50 ,  250  to rotate freely in the cleaning apparatus. 
     The pivot points  77 ,  78  on arms  74 ,  76  respectively allow the arms to move up and down on the disk surface as the disk  50  wobbles due to not being completely flat. 
     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.