Apparatus for molding a formatted substrate for an optical disk

A mold assembly used for molding a plastic substrate of a high-density information recording disk, said molded plastic substrate having a concave-convex pattern of format signals and/or trucking grooves on a side surface thereof, comprising:

• (a) a pair of mold halves each having air blow ejector holes and an inner surface, one of said inner surfaces being a mirror surface and one of said inner surfaces being a non-mirrored surface,
• (b) a stamper supported on said non-mirrored inner surface;
• (c) an outer ring supported on one of said mold halves at an outer periphery thereof, said outer ring having a radially tapered inner surface which is divergent from the direction said plastic substrate is ejected;
• and
• (d) a molding cavity being defined by said mirror surface, said stamper and said radially tapered surface of said outer ring, wherein the mold halves are opened, said outer ring is pushed out of said one of said mold halves on which said outer ring is supported;
• wherein when said plastic substrate is released from the mold halves, said side surface having said concave-convex pattern of format signals and/or trucking grooves formatted thereon is released prior to release form said mirrored surface of a nonformatted side of said plastic substrate and wherein when said plastic substrate is released from the mold halves said outer ring supports said plastic substrate after release.