Method and device for removing a flexible product from a carrier plate
AssigneePhilips and Du Pont Optical Company
InventorsPetrus A. A. Huberts, Henricus H. B. Wouters
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Abstract
A flexible product, more particularly an information-carrying disc, is removed from a carrier plate, more particularly a mold, by creating a partial vacuum at the side of the product facing away from the carrier plate. While the product is being displaced in a direction facing away from the carrier plate under the influence of the partial vacuum, the product is guided in such a way that it is displaced over the greatest distance at two opposite ends and the displacement of the parts of the product situated between these ends decreases gradually towards the center of the product.
Claims17
A method of removing a flexible article from a carrier plate having an article-contacting surface having a given surface shape, said article having a center and being in intimate contact with said article-contacting surface, comprising the steps of:
- providing a removal plate having a boundary surface having a central zone, said boundary surface having a surface shape relative to said given surface shape such that, when the central zone is contacted against said article, said boundary surface curves relatively away from said article in each of two opposite directions from said central zone towards opposite ends of said article,
- holding said removal plate against said article with said central zone contacting said article,
- creating a partial vacuum between said boundary surface and said article, thereby causing said article to be displaced from said article-contacting surface towards said boundary surface, displacement of parts of the article situated between said ends progressing sequentially from said ends towards the center of the article and decreasing gradually from said ends towards the center of the article, and
- moving said removal plate and said carrier plate relatively away from each other in a direction generally perpendicular to said central zone.
A method of removing a flexible article from a carrier plate having an article-contacting surface, said article being in intimate contact with said article-contacting surface, and said article having a center and a generally planar surface at a side remote from said article-contacting surface, comprising the steps of:
- providing a removal plate having a convex cylindrical boundary surface having a central zone,
- holding said removal plate against said article with said central zone contacting said center of said article, whereby said boundary surface curves relatively away from said article in each of two opposite directions from said central zone towards opposite ends of said article,
- creating a partial vacuum between said boundary surface and said article, thereby causing said article to be displaced from said article-contacting surface towards said boundary surface, displacement of parts of the article situated between said ends progressing sequentially from said ends towards the center of the article and decreasing gradually from said ends towards the center of the article, and
- moving said removal plate and said carrier plate relatively away from each other in a direction generally perpendicular to said central zone.
A device for removing a flexible article from a carrier plate, said article having a center and a generally planar surface remote from said carrier plate, comprising means for holding said carrier plate, and means including a vacuum source for moving said article out of contact with said plate, characterized in that said means for moving comprises:
- a removal plate having a convex cylindrical boundary surface having a central zone,
- means for holding said removal plate against said article with said central zone contacting said center of said article surface, whereby said boundary surface curves relatively away from said article in each of two opposite directions from said central zone towards opposite ends of said article,
- means including said vacuum source for creating a partial vacuum between said boundary surface and said article, thereby causing said article to be displaced from said carrier plate towards said boundary surface sequentially from said ends towards the center of the article and, with displacement of parts of the article situated between said ends decreasing gradually from said ends towards the center of the article, and
- means for moving said removal plate and said carrier plate relatively away from each other in a direction generally perpendicular to said central zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.