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| United States Patent | 6,929,535 |
| Smith , et al. | August 16, 2005 |
Apparatus and method for degrading the information bearing capabilities of a disk
Embodiments of the invention abrade the information bearing surface of a compact disc (CD), DVD or other digital information bearing disk, in order to render it unreadable by standard consumer grade disk readers. This is accomplished via embodiments of the invention that are extremely lightweight, highly portable and inexpensive. Embodiments may or may not employ an outer case in order to retain the remnants of the abraded information layer of the disk. In order to operate one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus is opened and a compact disc is inserted with the face of the disk against the abrasive mechanism. After closing the apparatus, the outer housing of the apparatus is rotated with sufficient pressure against the abrasive mechanism in order to cause the substrate to be damaged sufficiently to render it unreadable by consumer based disk readers. The apparatus can be opened over a trash bin in order to empty both the disk and the particulate matter generated by the abrasive process. The apparatus may be rotated by hand or by motor in various embodiments. A case-less embodiment of the invention exists that comprises the abrasive mechanism and a post that fits into the center hole of the disk. Since there is no outer case coupled to the apparatus in this embodiment, the embodiment may be held over a trash bin while abrading the disk in order to dispose of the particulate matter resulting from the abrading process. In order to operate this embodiment, a disk is inserted into the opening between the abrader and post supporter and the post engages the hole in the center of the disk. The disk is then rotated in order to abrade the information bearing portion of the disk. When the disk has been abraded to the satisfaction of the user, the disk is disengaged from the post and the disk is removed and disposed of.