Multicolor printing system for the silk-screen printing of compact discs

Apparatus means for the silk-screen printing of a plurality of compact discs one-at-a-time in predetermined timed sequence comprising in combination:

• (a) at least one predetermined work station;
• (b) a horizontally disposed annular-shaped member rotatable about a center point defined by predetermined inner and outer diameters and having top and bottom planar parallel surfaces for transport of a plurality of compact discs in predetermined spaced-apart locations on the top surface of the rotatable member in a circular-defined path to and through said at least one predetermined work station at least one of which stations is a silk-screen printer;
• (c) a compact disc fixture being provided on the top planar surface of said annular-shaped rotatable member at each of the predetermined spaced-apart locations for such compact discs, each disc fixture defined by top and bottom planar parallel spaced-apart surfaces, a horizontally disposed circular-shaped well defined by a vertically disposed circular-shaped peripheral surface having its top edge terminating in the top planar surface of the disc fixture and its bottom edge in a horizontally disposed bottom planar surface for receiving and supporting a compact disc in horizontal disposition the diameter of said well being only slightly larger than that of a compact disc;
• (d) means for providing vacuum being operatively associated with said transport member for providing vacuum independently to each said compact disc fixture for holding of each said compact disc on said rotatable annular-shaped member while the disc is being transported from a loading position to an off-loading position in the circular-defined path;
• (d) an annular-shaped horizontally disposed support member being defined by predetermined inner and outer diameters and having a center point coincident with that of the said annular-shaped rotatable member and defining a planar top surface, said support member being fixed relative to said rotatable member and having an outer diameter such that the fixed member overlaps a portion of the said rotatable annular member outwardly from its inner diameter, said fixed member being in and defining a horizontally disposed plane above and parallel to that defined by the said rotatable member;
• (f) at least one silk-screen printer unit being located on and supported by said fixed annular-shaped support member comprising a horizontally disposed screen frame extending outwardly from the centerpoint of the annular-shaped support member and said printer unit and overlying said annular-shaped rotatable member at its outer peripheral edge, said screen frame being defined by a middle line dividing said screen frame in half, said middle line lying on a radius defined by said annular-shaped fixed member and being in the same vertical plane and coincident with the middle line defined by a compact disc location when such a location is located directly below the said printer screen, and a squeegee being provided in operative association with said silk-screen frame which operates by stroking radially inwardly toward the center point of the fixed member and then outwardly away from the center point;

Process for the silk-screen printing of compact discs one-at-a-time in predetermined stepwise fashion comprising:

• (a) providing at least one vertically disposed stack of compact discs comprising a plurality of discs superposed one above the other in horizontally disposed fashion;
• (b) raising said at least one of said stacks of discs to a predetermined height vertically upwardly;
• (c) picking up the top most disc in the stack and rotably transferring such in a horizontal plane to a predetermined loading point to be loaded onto a transport member for the discs in predetermined spaced-apart location;
• (d) loading of the compact discs one-at-a-time onto the transport member in the predetermined location;
• (e) centering of each disc as such is loaded onto the transport member at the predetermined location prior to application of printing ink thereto;
• (f) applying vacuum to each compact disc loaded onto the transport member following its being centered so as to maintain that disc at the predetermined location while being transferred to a silk-screen printer and hence to an off-loading station.