Storage media for an optical information system having an identification code embedded therein

• US 5,706,047 A
• Filed: 04/24/1995
• Issued: 01/06/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Lentz, Joseph, Kline, Patrick Joseph, Cushman, Thomas Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Fuller, Benjamin R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gordon, Raquel Yvette
• Application Number:
  US08/427,520
• Time in Patent Office: 988 Days
• Field of Search: 235/454, 235/487, 235/375, 235/380, 235/462, 235/463, 235/464, 235/436, 235/494, 364/952.1, 347/262, 347/264, 346/135.1
• US Class Current: 347/262
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/04 Arrangements for preventing, inhibiting, or warning against double recording on the same blank or against other recording or reproducing malfunctions
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00268 said barcode being recorded in a burst cutting area [BCA]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00876 wherein physical copy protection means are attached to the medium, e.g. holograms, sensors, or additional semiconductor circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00927 wherein said defects or errors are generated on purpose, e.g. intended scratches
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 23/284 on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 23/38 Visual features other than those contained in record tracks or represented by sprocket holes the visual signals being auxiliary signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/00736 Auxiliary data, e.g. lead-in, lead-out, Power Calibration Area [PCA], Burst Cutting Area [BCA], control information sector headers or adresses in prepits G11B7/00745; address data in track wobble G11B7/24082
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/24 Record carriers characterised by shape, structure or physical properties, or by the selection of the material characterised by the arrangement of information on the carrier G11B7/007
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/26 Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of record carriers

Abstract

A optical storage disc for use in an optical storage system includes a storage layer which is capable of being disrupted when a laser beam of sufficient intensity is focused thereon. The optical storage disc has a transparent substrate layer on one side of the storage layer and a lacquer layer on the other side of the storage layer. The disruptions provided by the laser beam are selected to provide human readable and/or machine readable patterns. To reduce the damage to portions of the optical disc other than the storage layer, the storage layer is exposed to the laser beam prior to curing, or prior to applying and curing the lacquer layer. The optical disc can be of the type with data written thereon during fabrication, or the disc can be of the type in which data can be impressed thereon after fabrication of the optical disc. The patterns on the optical disc can be in the form of optical bar codes formed in a mirror region of the disc. In one application of the present invention involving the type of disc on which data can be written after fabrication, the pattern resulting from application of the laser beam to the disc is read by an optical reading device and transferred to the disc in the data format.

Claims

1. An optical storage disc including a clamp area, a data area and a mirror area, said optical storage disc comprising:

a support substrate layer;

a storage layer proximate said support substrate layer, wherein said storage layer includes a preselected pattern of disruptions formed by a laser beam in the mirror area of the optical storage disc, wherein the preselected pattern of disruptions comprise a bar code including a plurality of bar code characters, and wherein a thickness of each bar code character is a linear function of distance from a center of said optical disc; and

a protective layer covering said storage layer.

2. The optical storage disc of claim 1 wherein said pattern of disruptions is structured such that the bar code pattern can be read by an optical bar code reader independent of radial position.

3. The optical storage disc of claim 1 wherein said storage layer includes a dye polymer layer.

4. The optical storage disc of claim 1 wherein said pattern of disruptions comprising the bar code pattern includes information related to the fabrication of said disc.

5. A method of permanently marking an optical storage disc including a clamp area, a data area and a mirror area, said method comprising the steps of:

assembling an optical disc having a storage layer and a polycarbonate layer;

applying a pattern of disruptions on a selected region of said storage layer comprising the mirror area of the optical disc with a laser beam, said pattern of disruptions comprises an optical bar code including a plurality of bar code characters, wherein a thickness of each bar code character is a linear function of distance from a center of said optical disc; and

protecting said selected region of said storage layer with a lacquer layer; and

selecting said pattern of disruptions to provide an optical bar code.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said protecting step includes a step of covering said selected region with a protective overcoat following said applying step.