US 9,142,260 B2Granted

Universal disk shipper

AssigneeEntegris, Inc.

InventorsGarry Anderson, Saiful Hailri, Gian Ping (Vincent) Chua

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Abstract

Systems, methods, and components include an improved universal disk container for use in transporting, storing and processing data storage disks or other disk-shaped articles. A disk shipping system and method for shipping disks allows stocking a minimal number of components while still allowing packaging and shipment of different thickness of disks and different capacities of disks in a container. A universal disk cassette includes slots having a narrowed lower portion configured for handling different disks of the same diameter but different thicknesses while preventing disk to disk contact when the disks are tilted. A universal top cover is configured for cassettes loaded with different thicknesses of disks. The universal top cover can readily accommodate disks that are tilted in the cassette, and with vacuum bagging, more securely fix the disks in place in the container.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A universal disk shipper for shipping memory disks, the shipper comprising a cassette having opposing side walls and opposing end walls, an open top, and an open bottom,

a top cover to cover the open top,
a bottom cover to cover the bottom,
the opposing side walls of the cassette each having a vertical upper portion and an inwardly converging bottom portion, said sidewalls having a plurality of inwardly facing elongate vertical ribs with adjacent ribs defining slots to hold memory disks of a variety of thicknesses that are vertically positioned or near vertically positioned and in a spaced array, each rib being continuous from adjacent to the open top to adjacent the open bottom, each rib having a straight upper portion at the vertical upper portion of the side wall and a converging lower portion at the converging bottom portion of the side walls, in cross-section each rib having a thickened portion on the straight upper portion that is nearer the open bottom than the open top, the thickened portions narrowing the slots defined by adjacent ribs, the thickened portion not extending to the converging lower portion of each rib adjacent the open bottom.

A disk shipping system comprising:

a plurality of cassettes sized for a specific diameter of disks, the cassettes each having a plurality of ribs each with opposing end portions, the plurality of ribs defining a plurality of slots that will accommodate at least two of 0.025, 0.0315, 0.040, 0.050, 0.069 inch thick disks, and wherein each rib has a thickening at a mid portion and not at the opposing end portions thereby providing a disk tightener in each slot;
a plurality of universal top covers that each have a top edge disk engagement portion and do not have discrete locators for individual disks;
a plurality of bottom covers;
and
a plurality of vacuum bags for sealing assembled and loaded cassettes;
wherein each cassette has an open bottom, an open top, and a pair of opposing side walls, each side wall having a vertical upper portion and a converging bottom portion, each cassette further having a plurality of slots defined by a plurality of ribs on the pair of opposing side walls, and wherein each rib has a straight upper portion at the vertical upper portion of the side wall and a converging lower portion at the converging bottom portion of the side walls, each thickening at the mid portion being nearer the open bottom than the open top.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/510,569Filed 18 Nov 2010 · us provisional application
Priority: 18 Nov 2009
Published: US 2013/0001114 A13 Jan 2013
Granted: 22 Sep 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification2 codes

G11B 33/0472
Disc storage racks: for discs without cartridge
G11B
Information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer