Container for CD and DVD storage boxes

Abstract

A container for storing both CD and DVD storage boxes wherein the internal length and width of a storage compartment within the container substantially correspond to one dimension of a CD storage box and one dimension of a DVD storage box, respectively, such that a plurality of either CD or DVD storage boxes may be stored within the compartment oriented in like direction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/554,809, filed on Mar. 19, 2004. Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) is hereby claimed based on the provisional application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to containers for holding and storing either or both CD and DVD storage boxes, and more particularly, containers having compartments which are sized to receive either CD or DVD storage boxes, depending upon the orientation of the storage boxes, thus allowing a user to employ a single container to store a collection of CD storage boxes, DVD storage boxes or both.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A rectangular container having a base and side walls defining one or more compartments in which either CD storage boxes or DVD storage boxes may be stored. The internal length and width dimensions of each compartment substantially corresponding to one dimension of a CD storage box and one dimension of a DVD storage box, respectively, such that each compartment may hold and store a plurality of either CD storage boxes or DVD storage boxes. In one embodiment, the internal length of each compartment is approximately 8 inches, which dimension is slightly larger than the standard 7.5 inch length of a DVD storage box, while the internal width of the compartment is approximately 5.5 inches, which dimension corresponds to the standard length of a CD storage box and is slightly larger than the 4.875 inch height thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a container for both CD storage boxes or DVD storage boxes, or both, constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the container of FIG. 1 showing the internal dividers of the container in dashed line;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1 showing DVD storage boxes positioned lengthwise in one compartment and CD storage boxes positioned widthwise in a second compartment;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the container of FIG. 1 showing the internal dividers in dashed line;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a container for both CD storage boxes and DVD storage boxes, or both, constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation view of the container of FIG. 5 showing the internal divider thereof in dashed line;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 5 showing DVD storage boxes positioned lengthwise in one compartment and CD storage boxes positioned widthwise in a second compartment;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the container of FIG. 5 showing the internal divider thereof in dashed line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings where like numerals correspond to like elements. The present invention is directed to containers having one or more internal compartments sized to receive both CD storage boxes and DVD storage boxes. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a container for storing either or both CD storage boxes and DVD storage boxes and including internal compartments all of which are sized to have a width equal to or slightly larger than the length or slightly larger than the height of a CD storage box and a length approximately equal to or slightly larger than the length of a DVD storage container. Alternatively, the length and width of the compartments may be sized to approximate the height of CD and DVD storage boxes respectively, thus allowing the storage boxes to be oriented in the compartments rotated 90° from the position shown in FIG. 3. In this application, the term “length” of a CD or DVD storage box is meant to mean the longest dimension of the storage box. The term “height” is meant to mean the second longest dimension. Thus, for a typical CD storage box, the length would be 5.5 inches and the height would be 4.875 inches, for example.

In general, the dimensions of the internal compartments should be slightly greater than the related dimensions of the CD and DVD storage boxes, thus allowing the CD and DVD storage boxes to slip easily into and out of the internal compartments. For example, the length of a compartment is preferably 8 inches while the width is 5.5 inches. In an alternate embodiment, the compartments may be dimensioned such that the CD and DVD storage boxes fit snuggly therein so that they will tend to stand vertically with some frictional assistance from the walls of the compartment with which they are in contact.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a storage container 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention is shown as including four compartments for storing either CD storage boxes or DVD storage boxes. The compartments are formed by a rectangular base member 11, a pair of side walls 12, a pair of end walls 13, a divider 14 extending longitudinally between the end walls 13 and a divider 15 extending between the side walls 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the four compartments within the container 10 is sized to have a lateral dimension of approximately 5.5 inches and a longitudinal dimension of approximately 8.0 inches. It will be understood that, in accordance with the present invention, the width and length of the compartments must be equal to or slightly larger than the length or height of both a CD storage box and a DVD storage box. At present, typical CD storage boxes have a length of approximately 5.5 inches and a height of 4.875 inches. DVD storage boxes have a length of approximately 7.5 inches and a height of 5.375 inches. It will be understood however that a container may be sized differently to accommodate CD and DVD storage boxes having different lengths or heights in accord with the teachings of this invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a first compartment 16 is shown as holding five CD storage boxes 18 oriented such that the 5.5 inch length of the CD storage box substantially fits the width of compartment 16. Alternatively, the CD storage boxes could be rotated 90° such that their height dimension of 4.875 inches would be oriented widthwise thus leaving space between the compartment walls and the CD storage box to facilitate storage or removal. A second compartment 20 is shown in FIG. 3 as storing four DVD storage boxes 22 oriented such that their length dimension is aligned with the length of the compartment 20. Again, a space is provided between the compartment walls and the DVD storage box.

It will be understood that the four compartments of the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1-4 are sized such that each may hold a plurality of either CD storage boxes or DVD storage boxes. Sizing the compartments in this manner allows the user to purchase multiple identical containers which can then be used to store either CD storage boxes, DVD storage boxes or both, depending upon the user's needs. The use of multiple containers having identical exterior sizes and shapes also facilitates stacking of the containers in a compact and stable manner. Although not illustrated, the containers may also be provided with covers.

As illustrated, end walls 13 are provided with handgrip openings 23 to facilitate carrying or otherwise moving the containers. It will be understood that other conventional types of hand grips may be substituted for the illustrated openings to accomplish the same or similar purposes. One end wall 13 is also shown to include a label holding structure 25. Other known types of identification devices may also be mounted on the container to facilitate storage and retrieval.

Turning now to the embodiment of the present invention disclosed in FIGS. 5-8, a container 24 is shown as having two compartments 26 and 28 separated by a divider 29.

As shown in FIG. 5, the length and width of compartments 26 and 28 are identical to those of the compartments of FIGS. 1-4 and the compartments are designed to function with respect to the storage of both CD storage boxes and DVD storage boxes in the same manner as discussed above with respect to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4.

The internal dimensions of container 24 formed by rectangular base member 11, side walls 12 and end walls 13 extending upwardly from the edges thereof are approximately 8 by 11 inches, while the internal dimensions of container 10 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 are approximately 111 by 16 inches. The actual outside and internal dimensions of the containers will vary depending upon the thickness of the wall materials used to construct the containers and the dividers. In the preferred embodiments disclosed, the height of both containers is shown to be approximately 5.75 inches, but any dimension approximately equal to or greater than the vertical dimension of the storage boxes to be held is considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Likewise, the height of the internal dividers in both embodiments may be of any dimension less than or equal to the height of the container itself. It has been found, however, that the use of dividers having a height less than the height of the stored CD or DVD storage boxes facilitates gripping and removal of the storage boxes from the container.

Referring to FIG. 7, four DVD storage boxes 22 are shown in compartment 26 while five CD storage boxes 18 are shown held transversely in like sized compartment 28. The CD storage boxes are oriented transversely to the DVD storage boxes in keeping the teachings of this invention whereby the compartments are sized such that both CD and DVD storage boxes may be stored in the same compartment alternatively and efficiently.

It will also be understood that this principal of the present invention may also be applied to a container having a single compartment with an internal length of approximately 8 inches and an internal width of approximately 5.5 inches. In this embodiment, CD storage boxes could be stored widthwise while, alternatively, DVD storage boxes could be stored lengthwise.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A container for holding CD and DVD storage boxes comprising:

a rectangular base member having opposite pairs of end wall and side wall members extending upwardly from the edges of said base member; and

a divider within said container defining compartments for receiving CD and DVD storage boxes, each compartment having a length substantially equal to the length of a DVD storage box and a width substantially equal to the length of a CD storage box.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein each compartment has an internal length of approximately 8 inches and an internal width of approximately 5.5 inches.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein each compartment has an internal width substantially equal to the length of a CD storage box such that CD storage boxes may be stored widthwise therein such that the ends of the storage box are in contact with opposite walls of the compartment.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein each compartment has an internal length equal to or greater than one dimension of a DVD storage box and an internal width equal to or greater than one dimension of a CD storage box, such that each compartment is adapted to receive a plurality of DVD storage boxes oriented lengthwise or a plurality of CD storage boxes oriented widthwise.

5. The container of claim 1 wherein the height of the walls of said container extends above the height of the storage boxes held therein.

6. The container of claim 1 wherein said end walls include handgrips to facilitate movement of said container.

7. The container of claim 1 wherein the height of said divider is less than the height of the storage boxes held within said container.

8. A container for holding CD and DVD storage boxes comprising a rectangular base member having side walls and end walls extending upwardly therefrom, said container having an internal length of approximately 8 inches and an internal width of approximately 5.5 inches such that CD storage boxes having a length of 5.5 inches may be stored widthwise therein such that the ends of the CD storage box contact opposite walls of the container and such that DVD storage boxes may be stored lengthwise therein.

9. The container of claim 1 wherein the height of the walls of said container extends above the height of the storage boxes held therein.