The proliferation of compact disks (discs), also known as laser disks, in the form of music as well as CD-ROM products has become extensive. In recent years, recordable compact disks such as those produced by SONY, 3M, and KODAK have grown in popularity. Further, these disks are being used for archival data storage, immediate distribution of data, and for demonstration purposes. With this recent use has grown a need to label these disks once they have been produced. This is because once produced, there is no apparent visual method for determining the contents of a disk, which may contain 680 MB of data or more. While manufacturers of large numbers of identical disks have their labels or identifying information painted or printed onto the disks, e.g., a layer of ink or pigment which adheres to the surface of the disk is applied, this method is entirely impractical for recordable compact disk producers. For small runs or those requiring immediate availability of the disk, printing or painting based methods of labelling take too much time, incur a significant setup charge, and require special equipment.
Another known method of labelling a compact disk employs a direct printing using an ink jet system onto the surface of a disk. These systems provide a special carrier for the disk, which is printed using a conventional ink jet printing apparatus. This method suffers the shortcomings of ink jet technology, including problems with the inks used, such as smudging, running, lack of scratch resistance on the disk surface, and the like.
Ink markers may also be used to label disks, but this is unattractive and can cause damage to the disk by breaking down the coating which protects the disk. Permanent ink markers often include solvents in the ink. As a result, manufacturers such as Avery Dennison, Avery Division, Diamond Bar, Cal., have begun producing self-adhesive labels shaped like and designed for compact disks. Unfortunately there is no available method or apparatus for the accurate placement of these labels on compact disks, despite the fact that an incorrect placement is unsightly and may result in damage to the motor of the compact disk player device by unbalancing the disk and causing uneven spinning.