The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 11, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 20, 1998
Joseph Dale Cresgy, Terre Haute, IN (US);
Edward Lee Proffitt, Brazil, IN (US);
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Digital Audio Disc Corporation, Terra Haute, IN (US);
Abstract
A test apparatus and method utilize a proximity sensor to detect the deflection of an optical disc spindle as the spindle is supported on a rotatable spindle support. The proximity sensor is disposed at a fixed location relative to the rotational axis of the rotatable spindle support, and is configured to output a variable proximity signal associated with the distance between the proximity sensor and the optical disc spindle. The output of the proximity sensor is fed to an electrical circuit to determine whether the deflection is outside of an acceptable range during rotation of the rotatable spindle support. If so, an indication is provided to an operator to permit the operator to repair or discard the spindle, as appropriate. In addition, a length detector is used to provide an indication of the length of the optical disc spindle so that the electrical circuit can adjust the acceptable deflection range for different lengths of optical disc spindles.