1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an information recording medium and an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus that manufacture an information recording medium (such as an optical disc) that has a resin layer formed on one surface of an information recording medium substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of method of manufacturing an information recording medium (optical disc) is disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-208314. In this method of manufacturing, first, a tape, formed so that a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet to be attached to a first disc substrate is stuck onto a lower surface of a backing tape (support member), is set between a supply roll and a winding roll. Next, a transfer robot conveys a first disc substrate from a disc store onto a stage of an index table. After this, an elastic body in an attaching apparatus applies pressure onto an upper surface of the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet to press the sheet onto the first disc substrate on the stage. By doing so, the tape is stuck onto the upper surface of the first disc substrate. After this, the stage is lowered toward the index table and the index table is rotated so that the backing tape is peeled off the tape stuck on the first disc substrate. Next, after a second disc substrate has been placed on the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet exposed by the removal of the backing tape, the second disc substrate is pressed onto the first disc substrate by an elastic body so that the two disc substrates are stuck together via the adhesive sheet. Next, both disc substrates are heated to around 60° C. and pressure is applied for around one minute to remove air (air bubbles) between the two disc substrates and the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet. By doing so, an optical disc in which two disc substrates are stuck together via an adhesive layer formed between the disc substrates is manufactured.
By investigating the conventional method of manufacturing described above, the present inventors discovered the following problems. In the conventional method of manufacturing, air present between the disc substrates and the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is removed by heating and applying pressure after the two disc substrates are stuck together via the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet. When the disc substrates are stuck together by the conventional method of manufacturing, there are cases where a large amount of air is trapped between the first disc substrate and the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet when the tape (adhesive sheet) is stuck onto the first disc substrate and a large amount of air is trapped between the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet and the second disc substrate when the second disc substrate is stuck onto the adhesive sheet on the first disc substrate. In such cases, since it is difficult to completely remove the air (air bubbles) trapped between the two disc substrates and the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet by heating and applying pressure, there is the problem that air bubbles remain trapped inside the manufactured optical discs.
Also, in the conventional method of manufacturing, a tape (pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet) that has been wound around a supply roll is stuck onto the first disc substrate. Accordingly, in this conventional method of manufacturing where the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is left in a wound state until the sheet is stuck onto a disc substrate, tape with a curling tendency is stuck onto the disc substrate. In the conventional method of manufacturing, the tape is at normal temperature when the tape is stuck onto the disc substrate, and since the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is quite hard, when pressure is applied by the elastic body, it is difficult to correct the curling tendency mentioned above to make the tape flat. For this reason, in the conventional method of manufacturing, since the second disc substrate is stuck on in a state where a curling tendency (warping) is present in the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet stuck on the first disc substrate, there is the problem that a slight warping can occur in the manufactured optical disc.
On the other hand, among current optical recording media, there are optical recording media where a light transmitting layer (resin layer) that can transmit a laser beam for recording and reproduction is formed so as to cover an information layer formed on a disc substrate. As a method of forming the light transmitting layer, a method has been proposed that sticks on a resin sheet (pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet) for forming the light transmitting layer onto a disc substrate that has an information layer formed on one surface. In this case, when the light transmitting layer has been formed by sticking a resin sheet for forming the light transmitting layer onto the disc substrate in accordance with the conventional method of manufacturing, as described above there are cases where air bubbles are produced between the disc substrate (information layer) and the light transmitting layer (resin sheet). For this reason, when a light transmitting layer has been formed on a disc substrate in accordance with the conventional method of manufacturing, the air bubbles trapped between the disc substrate and the light transmitting layer impede the transmission of a laser beam, so that there is the risk that it will be difficult to record and reproduce recording data properly.
The present invention was conceived in view of the problems described above and it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an information recording medium and an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus that can form a resin layer without trapping air bubbles between an information recording medium substrate and the resin layer. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an information recording medium and an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus that can form a resin layer without causing a slight warping of the information recording medium.
A method of manufacturing an information recording medium according to the present invention manufactures an information recording medium constructed so that a resin layer is formed so as to cover an information layer formed on one surface of an information recording medium substrate and recording data recorded on at least the information layer can be reproduced, wherein the resin layer is formed, while a resin layer forming sheet that has an adhesive layer formed on one surface thereof is heated, by moving at least one out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate toward another out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate so that the one surface of the information recording medium substrate is pressed onto the adhesive layer to stick the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet together.
An information recording medium manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is capable of manufacturing an information recording medium in accordance with the method of manufacturing an information recording medium described above, the information recording medium manufacturing apparatus including: a heating device that heats the resin layer forming sheet; a moving mechanism that moves at least one out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate toward the another out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate; and a control unit that controls the heating device and the moving mechanism, wherein the control unit controls the heating device to heat the resin layer forming sheet and controls the moving mechanism to move at least one out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate toward the another out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate and to press the one surface of the information recording medium substrate onto the adhesive layer so as to stick the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet together and form the resin layer.
According to the above method of manufacturing an information recording medium and information recording medium manufacturing apparatus, the resin layer is formed, while the resin layer forming sheet is heated, by moving at least one out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate toward another out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate to press one surface of the information recording medium substrate onto the adhesive layer and stick the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet together. By doing so, the information recording medium substrate can be stuck on in a state where the adhesive layer has been softened by heating. Accordingly, since air (air bubbles) that could be trapped between the information recording medium substrate and the adhesive layer can be easily and reliably removed, the resin layer can be formed without trapping air bubbles between the information recording medium substrate and the adhesive layer. As a result, an information recording medium that is not susceptible to recording and reproduction errors can be manufactured. Also, since the resin layer forming sheet is heated and softens during the process that sticks the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet together, even if the resin layer forming sheet is slightly bent, such bending can be easily and reliably corrected. Accordingly, it is possible to manufacture a flat information recording medium with no warping.
In this case, in a state where the resin layer forming sheet is heated having been mounted on a mounting table formed with a flat upper surface and the information recording medium substrate is bent so that a center part thereof projects toward the resin layer forming sheet, it is possible to move at least one out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate toward the another out of the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate to stick the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet together by gradually placing the information recording medium substrate and the resin layer forming sheet in tight contact from central parts to outer edge parts thereof. By doing so, it is possible to efficiently remove air bubbles that could be trapped between the information recording medium substrate and the adhesive layer, so that it is possible to reliably avoid the situation where air bubbles are trapped between the information recording medium substrate and the adhesive layer (resin layer).
It is also possible to use a resin layer forming sheet where the adhesive layer is tightly attached to a support formed so as to be capable of being folded back in a zigzag state, and to detach the support from the adhesive layer when the resin layer forming sheet and the information recording medium substrate are stuck together. By doing so, unlike a method of manufacturing where a resin layer forming sheet that has been wound in a roll is stuck on, a curling tendency is not created in the resin layer forming sheet, so that a flat information recording medium with no warping can be manufactured.
It should be noted that the disclosure of the present invention relates to a content of Japanese Patent Application 2004-039353 that was filed on 17 Feb. 2004 and the entire content of which is herein incorporated by reference.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
Preferred embodiments of a method of manufacturing an information recording medium and an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.
First, the construction of an optical recording medium manufacturing apparatus (one example of an information recording medium manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, hereinafter simply “manufacturing apparatus”) 1 that manufactures an information recording medium in accordance with the method of manufacturing an information recording medium according to the present invention and the construction of an optical recording medium 100 manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
The manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in
In this case, the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is one example of a “resin layer forming sheet” for the present invention, and as shown in
On the other hand, the information layer forming device 2 forms the information layer 102 by forming functional layers, such as a reflective layer and a recording layer, by sputtering, for example, various optical materials onto the surface of the disc substrate 101. For ease of explanation of the present invention, the construction and method of forming the respective thin films composing the information layer 102 will not be described. As shown in
As shown in
In accordance with control by the control device 6, the raising/lowering mechanism 13 moves (lowers) the substrate holding unit 12 toward the light transmitting resin sheet 200 on the mounting table 11 so that the surface (the lower surface in
Under the control of the control device 6, the substrate conveying device 4 conveys a disc substrate 101 between the respective devices. The sheet conveying device 5 conveys the light transmitting resin sheet 200 that has been folded in a zigzag state onto the mounting table 11 of the sheet attaching device 3a. Also, as shown in
Next, the method of manufacturing the optical recording medium 100 using the manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the control device 6 controls the information layer forming device 2 to have the information layer 102 formed on the disc substrate 101. After this, the control device 6 controls the sheet conveying device 5 to have the light transmitting resin sheet 200 conveyed to the position of the substrate holding unit 12. At this time, as shown in
Next, the control device 6 controls the substrate conveying device 4 to have the disc substrate 101, for which the formation of the information layer 102 has been completed, conveyed to the substrate holding unit 12 in the sheet attaching device 3a. It should be noted that the disc substrate 101 conveyed by the substrate conveying device 4 is held by the substrate holding unit 12 with the surface on which the information layer 102 is formed facing downward. Here, as shown in
Next, when the substrate holding unit 12 is lowered further by the raising/lowering mechanism 13, the center pin 12c slides toward the base part 12a and the pad 12b elastically deforms so that the disc substrate 101 is gradually pressed onto the light transmitting resin sheet 200 from the central part to an outer edge part. At this time, since the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is heated by the heater 14 via the mounting table 11, air is smoothly expelled without being trapped between the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202. As a result, as shown in
Next, the control device 6 stops the air pump (not shown) and releases the holding of the disc substrate 101 by the substrate holding unit 12, then, the control device 6 controls the raising/lowering mechanism 13 to withdraw (raise) the substrate holding unit 12 from above the disc substrate 101. Next, as shown in
According to the method of manufacturing the optical recording medium 100 and the manufacturing apparatus 1, while the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is heated, the disc substrate 101 is moved toward the light transmitting resin sheet 200 and one surface of the disc substrate 101 is pressed onto the adhesive layer 202 to stick the disc substrate 101 and the light transmitting resin sheet 200 together and thereby form the light transmitting layer 103, so that the disc substrate 101 is stuck on in a state where the adhesive layer 202 has been softened by heating. Accordingly, it is possible to easily and reliably remove the air (air bubbles) that could be trapped between the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202, so that the light transmitting layer 103 can be formed without air bubbles being trapped between the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202. As a result, it is possible to manufacture an optical recording medium 100 that is not susceptible to recording and reproduction errors. Also, during the process that sticks together the disc substrate 101 and the light transmitting resin sheet 200, the sheet member 201 is heated and softens, so that even if the sheet member 201 was slightly bent, such bending can be reliably and easily corrected. Accordingly, a flat optical recording medium 100 with no warping can be manufactured.
According to the method of manufacturing the optical recording medium 100 and the manufacturing apparatus 1, in a state where the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is being heated after being mounted on the mounting table 11 that is formed with a flat upper surface and the disc substrate 101 is bent so that the central part thereof projects toward the light transmitting resin sheet 200, the disc substrate 101 and the light transmitting resin sheet 200 are gradually placed in tight contact and stuck together from the central parts thereof toward the outer edge parts, so that air bubbles that could be trapped between the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202 are efficiently removed. This means that the trapping of air bubbles between the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202 (the light transmitting layer 103) can be reliably avoided.
In addition, according to the method of manufacturing the optical recording medium 100 and the manufacturing apparatus 1, the light transmitting layer 103 is formed using the light transmitting resin sheet 200 where the adhesive layer 202 is tightly attached to the mount 203 that is formed so as to be capable of being folded back in a zigzag state, so that unlike a method of manufacturing that sticks on a light transmitting resin sheet 200 wound in a roll, the creation of a curling tendency in the sheet member 201 is avoided and flat optical recording media 100 with no warping can be manufactured.
It should be noted that the method of manufacturing an information recording medium and the manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present invention are not limited to the method and constructions described above. For example, although an example has been described where the substrate holding unit 12 (the disc substrate 101) is moved toward the mounting table 11 (the light transmitting resin sheet 200) by the raising/lowering mechanism 13 when the disc substrate 101 and the light transmitting resin sheet 200 are stuck together by the sheet attaching device 3a, it is also possible to use a method where the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is moved toward and stuck onto the disc substrate 101 that is fixed at a predetermined position or a method where the disc substrate 101 and the adhesive layer 202 are both moved so as to approach one another and become stuck together. Also, although an example has been described where the light transmitting resin sheet 200 is stuck onto the disc substrate 101 in which the attachment center hole 100a has been formed, it is also possible to stick a light transmitting resin sheet 200 with no hole onto a disc substrate 101 in which the attachment center hole 100a has not been formed and to then form the attachment center hole 100a so as to pass through both the disc substrate 101 and the light transmitting resin sheet 200.
In addition, although an example has been described where a disc substrate 101 and a light transmitting resin sheet 200 with an adhesive layer 202 composed of a UV-curing resin are stuck together, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to use a light transmitting resin sheet with an adhesive layer of electron-beam hardening resin that hardens when irradiated with various types of electron beam aside from UV rays or a light transmitting resin sheet with an adhesive layer composed of a pressure-sensitive adhesive.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2004-039353 | Feb 2004 | JP | national |