Media carrier container
A front panel having a front to back open section therein is coupled to a rear panel by a hinge. The rear panel has an area on its inside surface. Text and/or a design that characterizes the media carrier appears on the area. The raised area and the open section are sized and positioned relative to each other, such that the text and/or design is visible from the front, when the panels are parallel to each other with the container closed, and when the panels are perpendicular to each other when the container is open. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
This application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/675,535, filed Apr. 27, 2005.
An embodiment of the invention is a container, suitable for storing one or more machine-readable media carriers (e.g., media compact discs, such as a digital video disc, DVD) to be used in a retail, point-of-sale environment. Other embodiments are also described for the sale of discs with stored, digital movies, or other valuable media.
BACKGROUNDThe world has seen several different types of packaging for machine-readable media carriers that are commonly known as compact discs. For example, the jewel box design is popular for the sale of music CDs. More recently, cases made out of softer plastic with living hinges, sometimes referred to as Amaray® type cases, have become popular for DVDs. In both cases, the case is a type of box that typically has a front panel and a rear panel that are hinged and that are essentially the same size and shape, and once closed the case resembles a flat box. Advertising or other promotional material may be printed on a sheet of paper or paper board that is held against the inside front panel, or sometimes inserted into a pocket that is formed between the outside surface of the front panel and a transparent plastic sheet. In the latter case, the advertising material is not visible from the front if the box is fully open. With the former, the advertising material is not visible if the box is closed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” embodiment of the invention in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one.
In this section we shall explain several preferred embodiments of this invention with reference to the appended drawings. Whenever the shapes, relative positions and other aspects of the parts described in the embodiments are not clearly defined, the scope of the invention is not limited only to the parts shown, which are meant merely for the purpose of illustration.
Referring now to
The container 104 preferably has a retaining mechanism on the front and/or rear panels, to retain the panels abutted to each other in their closed position. For example, a pair of conventional, tongue and groove locks (e.g., the tongue on the front panel near its unhinged vertical edge, the groove on the rear panel near its unhinged vertical edge, or vice versa) may be molded into the plastic panels. Other mechanisms that can be integrated with the front and/or rear panels, during a molding process in which the panels are formed, can alternatively be used.
Returning to
The open section 113 is preferably located at the top of the front panel 108, rather than the bottom or its side. The open section 113 exposes the raised piece 120 that is located in this example at a top corner of the rear panel 112, opposite the hinged side. As an alternative, the open section 113 and the piece 120 may be located not at a corner or edge of the panels, but rather at a location that is spaced inward from the boundary of the panels. For example, an area or location 155 may be an alternative location for the piece 120 (as well as showing an alternative, diamond shape for the piece 120, as opposed to the triangular shape shown in all of the figures here). Yet another alternative is given by the location 157, where this triangular region is located about half way down from the top edge 140, at the side or edge opposite the hinged side. Other locations for the piece 120 are also possible so long as the piece 120 will not interfere with placement and storage of the media carrier inside the container.
The corresponding open section 113 in the front panel 108 allows at least the top surface of the piece 120 to remain in view from the front of the container 104, regardless of whether the container is open as shown in
An additional benefit of the open section 113 may be that it renders the box easier to open. For instance, a user may place her thumb of a particular hand on the top surface of the piece 120, while at the same time using one or more other fingers of the same hand to pry open the closed container, by pulling back on the inside of the front panel 108 at either the top horizontal edge 116 or the vertical edge 118.
In another embodiment of the invention, the area or location 155, 157 (or the area at the top corner, over which the raised piece 120 is formed in the figures) could be at essentially the same level, i.e. not raised, relative to the majority of the inside surface 150 of the rear panel 112. Such an area could still bear the text and/or design that characterizes the media carrier being held in the container 104. Such text and/or design would still be visible, for example, from five to ten feet in front of the container, in both open and closed conditions of the container.
Still referring to
The raised area 120 may be molded in the same process of molding the rear panel 112 itself so that it is integral with the rear panel. This may be a more cost effective approach. Turning now to
The piece 120 could be made in a different color than the rest of the container and could be in different colors and textures. It could also have a pocket, e.g. on its top surface, to receive therein an insert of images or text. The raised piece 120 could also be molded with dynamic graphics, such as lenticular or in-mold holograms.
Turning now to
A panel 160 is flat on the inside of the front panel near its top. The panel 160 starts, in this example, from a top edge 116 of the container and extends down towards a position that is slightly above the top edge of the insert 168. The panel 160 may be a separate piece (e.g., a plate) that can be glued onto or otherwise affixed to the inside of the front panel 108. As an alternative, the panel 160 may be molded plastic (during the same process as the one used for making the front panel). The panel 160 may be further enhanced with text or a logo on its top surface that refers to the source of the digital content in the disc 128 (e.g., the name of the movie production studio which released the movie that is digitally stored in the disc 128). The panel 160 may extend horizontally essentially the full width of the front panel as shown in
Referring back to
Note that the embodiment of
The invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. For example, the illustrated container has peripheral walls, on both of its front and rear panels, that abut each other in the container closed position. An alternative there is to not have any peripheral walls on the front panel, such that the box is formed with peripheral walls only on the rear panel. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A container for a media carrier, comprising:
- a front panel having a front-to-back open section therein; and
- a rear panel coupled to the front panel by a hinge, an inside surface of the rear panel facing an inside surface of the front panel when the panels are positioned parallel to each other when the container is closed, an area on the inside surface of the rear panel having one of text and a design that characterizes the media carrier, the area and the open section being sized and positioned relative to each other such that the text or design is visible from the front, when the panels are parallel to each other with the container closed, and when the panels are perpendicular to each other with the container open.
2. The container of claim 1 further comprising a holder on the inside surface of the rear panel to receive and removably hold a disk-like media carrier flat in relation to the inside surface of the rear panel.
3. The container of claim 2 wherein the holder is designed to removably grip a central, circular opening of a disk-like media carrier.
4. The container of claim 2 wherein the front and rear panels are rectangular, and the open section is located at a top corner of the front panel so that an outside horizontal edge of the front panel at its top is connected to an outside vertical edge of the front panel at its side by a diagonal outside edge of the front panel.
5. The container of claim 2 further comprising a clip on the inside surface of the front panel, the clip having one end affixed to the inside surface and another end in contact with, but not affixed to, the surface and being resiliently liftable off the surface.
6. The container of claim 2 further comprising a spine coupled between the panels by said hinge on one side and by another hinge on another side.
7. The container of claim 5 further comprising a panel, flat on the inside surface of the front panel, above the clip, and bearing one of text and a design that characterizes the media container.
8. A container comprising:
- a front panel;
- a rear panel;
- a hinge that couples the front and rear panels to each other;
- the front and rear panels being shaped to form a box when the panels are positioned to abut one another at their peripheries, an inside flat surface of the rear panel lying inside the formed box;
- a raised piece on the inside flat surface of the rear panel; and
- a front to back opening formed in the front panel to expose the raised piece when the panels are positioned to abut one another at their peripheries.
9. The container of claim 8 wherein the raised piece is located at a top corner of the rear panel.
10. The container of claim 8 further comprising a holder on the inside flat surface of the rear panel to receive and removably hold a disk-like media carrier flat in relation to the inside surface of the rear panel.
11. A container comprising:
- a front panel;
- a rear panel coupled to the front panel by a living hinge and shaped together with the front panel to form a box when closed;
- the front panel having a front to back open section such that a top horizontal edge of the front panel is connected to a vertical edge of the front panel by a diagonal edge of the front panel; and
- a raised piece on an inside surface of the rear panel, the raised piece being shaped and positioned so that when the front panel has been rotated about the hinge to lie flat in relation to the inside surface in a closed condition of the container, the diagonal edge stops short of contacting the raised piece.
12. The container of claim 11 further comprising a holder on the inside surface of the rear panel to receive and removably hold a disk-like media carrier flat in relation to the inside surface of the rear panel.
13. The container of claim 12 further comprising a logo on a top surface of the raised piece and that describes a type of said media carrier.
14. The container of claim 13 wherein the logo and the top surface of the raised piece are large enough to allow a person to recognize the logo from a distance of up to five feet.
15. The container of claim 11 wherein the raised piece is coextensive with the rear panel along a vertical edge and a top horizontal edge of the rear panel.
16. The container of claim 11 further comprising:
- a peripheral wall running along a top horizontal edge, a vertical edge, and a bottom horizontal edge of the rear panel and being perpendicular to the inside surface of the rear panel; and
- a spine coupled between the front and rear panels along another vertical edge of the rear panel.
17. An apparatus comprising:
- a container having a rectangular front panel hinged to a rectangular rear panel, a holder on an inside surface of the rear panel to removably hold a media carrier, the front panel having a missing section, a raised area on the inside surface of the rear panel that is in part coextensive with the missing section when the panels are parallel to each other in a container closed condition.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein a top surface of the raised area is coplanar with an outside surface of the front panel, when the container is closed.
19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the missing section is at an edge of the rear panel.
20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the missing section is entirely spaced inward of the edges of the rear panel, and the raised area is entirely coextensive with the missing section.
21. A method comprising:
- obtaining a container having a front panel, a rear panel, and a hinge that couples the front and rear panels to each other, the front panel having a front to back open section, a holder on the inside surface of the rear panel to removably grip a compact disc at its central opening; and
- attaching a piece to an area on an inside surface of the rear panel that is aligned with the open section.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 15, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 20, 2005
Inventors: Mark Preece (Valencia, CA), Scott Picard (Malibu, CA)
Application Number: 11/182,273