PAPER CD/DVD CASE
The invention is a paper and paperboard CD/DVD case. It has a first CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface. A CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, and the CD/DVD holder frame portion is attached to the first CD/DVD base portion. The CD/DVD holder and the CD/DVD holder frame portion have paper on their upper surfaces and are printable with the same ink and process. A CD or DVD is receivable in the cutout of the CD/DVD holder above the CD/DVD holder frame portion. A number of sections of base portions and holder frame portions can be hingeably connected together by spines, with the base portions, holder frame portions, and spines being formed of paperboard that are overwrapped with flexible sheet material.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/864,488, filed on Nov. 6, 2006.
SUMMARYThe invention relates to CD and DVD cases, and more particularly to a CD/DVD case that is preferably formed from paper and paperboard materials.
The rising popularity of music downloads has posed a challenge to traditional music recording companies, who have experienced a steady deterioration of sales of CDs over the last several years. This trend is not slowing down, and is probably accelerating with the increased popularity of compressed music players such as the ubiquitous Apple® iPod® line of MP3 players. With higher speed downloads and greater storage capacity of players, many believe that video downloads will soon lead to decreased sales of videos in the DVD format as well.
CD and DVD storage cases are made of plastic or plastics and paper, and for practical purposes are not biodegradable or easily recyclable. Consumers who may wish to reduce the amount of waste and choose to have less environmental impact may find it beneficial to download music instead of purchasing CDs and DVDs.
With conventional CD cases, e.g., those formed of plastics, such as polystyrene, manufactures print text and graphic indicia onto paper inserts that are retained underneath a tray portion of the CD case and will insert a printed booklet or insert sheet on a swinging front polystyrene cover of the conventional CD case. Polystyrene is commonly used because it is a cost-effective material and when newly manufactured, the surface of the CD case is transparent and scratch-free. However, polystyrene is not very durable, and cases made of polystyrene scratch and crack easily. In another style of CD cases, the so-called “Digitray” CD case, an inner plastic CD holder is glued to an outer paper sleeve which is folded around the plastic CD holder. In this style, the CD holder itself is commonly retained in a paper outer sleeve. In any event, while it is possible to print onto plastic, to the extent that different materials used to make up a CD/DVD case have different characteristics, different types of inks and processes may be needed to accomplish a desired printing effect. In general, due to the greater difficulty of printing onto plastic, either the areas covered by the plastic CD holder and case are unavailable for receiving printing, or the manufacturers and CD/DVD case designers will rely on images printed on paper showing through clear plastic material. In DVD cases, a softer and more flexible plastic is generally used and paper inserts are provided to bear text and graphical indicia. It would be desirable to have CD/DVD cases that are formed of biodegradable and recyclable material such as paper and paperboard that can be readily manufactured.
Music companies and producers of CDs and DVDs would like to address these challenges and thereby maintain sales of music and videos in a CD/DVD format. There accordingly remains a need for new cases for holding and displaying CDs and DVDs in an attractive manner that is more environmentally benign than present CD/DVD storage cases.
The invention also encompasses a CD/DVD case with more than two hinged together portions so that one or more pouch and/or more than one CD/DVD holder frames can be included, to enable two or more CDs or DVDs to be held. Such CD/DVD case can be in tri-fold or quad-fold format, for example, and can be in a booklet form, where more than two “pages” are held together in a single spine.
In the instant invention, the entire surface of the CD/DVD case (with the possible exception of the spindle holder) comprises paper and/or paperboard and is therefore readily printable using the same ink and colors and using the same printing processes without adjustment which permits better control over the printing process and a more uniform end result. The base portions and the attached CD/DVD holder frame portions are preferably formed of biodegradable materials such as paperboard, but could be formed of wood, plastics, or other materials. The base portions and the attached CD/DVD holder frame portions can either be directly printed with graphics indicia such as graphics, colors, and/or text, or can be covered with paper or other flexible material that carries graphics indicia such as graphics, colors, and/or text. This is in contrast with CD/DVD holders formed of combinations of plastic and paper materials. Moreover, by eliminating the plastics typically used for CDs and DVDs, a more environmentally benign CD/DVD case can be provided.
With respect to all embodiments of the CD/DVD cases, rather than forming the base portions and the CD/DVD holder portions as separate pieces, if desired, they can be formed from single pieces of material with the CD/DVD holder portions being folded over onto the base portions. While the invention has been described for holding CDs and DVDs, other recording media can be retained by the invention. Also, the case of the invention is adapted to retain any size of CD and DVD including standard sized CDs and smaller sized mini CDs and DVDs.
Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary is intended to cover various modifications and/or equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A CD/DVD case, comprising:
- a first CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface; and
- a first CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, wherein the first CD/DVD holder frame portion is placed on the first CD/DVD base portion and wherein the first CD/DVD base portion and the CD/DVD holder frame portion have printable upper surfaces.
2. The CD/DVD holder case of claim 1, wherein the first CD/DVD base portion and the first CD/DVD holder frame portion are made of paper and paperboard and are adapted to receive printing on their upper surfaces.
3. The CD/DVD case of claim 1, wherein the first CD/DVD base portion is hingeably attached to at least one additional CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface.
4. The CD/DVD case of claim 3, wherein the first CD/DVD base portion and the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion are hingeably attached to each other by a spine.
5. The CD/DVD case of claim 3 wherein the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion has a pouch for holding a booklet.
6. The CD/DVD case of claim 3 wherein the at least one additional base portion has at least one additional CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, the at least one additional CD/DVD holder frame portion being placed on the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion, wherein the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion and the at least one additional CD/DVD holder frame portion have printable upper surfaces.
7. The CD/DVD case of claim 1, further comprising a spindle holder attached to the CD/DVD base portion.
8. The CD/DVD case of claim 3, wherein the first CD/DVD frame portion and the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion are formed of paperboard, with the hinge joining the first and a second CD/DVD base portions formed by overwrapping paper or other flexible material on the walls of the first and a second CD/DVD holders.
9. The CD/DVD case of claim 4, wherein the first frame portion and the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion are formed of paperboard, wherein the first frame portion and the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion are hingedly attached to each other through the spine and hinges are formed by overwrapping paper or other flexible material on the walls of the first and the at least one additional CD/DVD holders together with the spine.
10. The CD/DVD case of claim 9, wherein overwrapping paper or other flexible material is preprinted with graphical indicia.
11. The CD/DVD case of claim 1, wherein the first CD/DVD holder frame portion is adhered to the first CD/DVD base portion.
12. The CD/DVD case of claim 6, wherein the CD/DVD holder frame portions are adhered to the CD/DVD base portions.
13. A CD/DVD case, comprising:
- a first CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface;
- a second CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface;
- a spine;
- a spindle holder attached to the CD/DVD base portion; and
- a CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, the CD/DVD holder frame portion and the spindle holder being attached to the first CD/DVD base portion, wherein the first CD/DVD base portion and the CD/DVD holder frame portion have printable upper surfaces and wherein the first and second CD/DVD base portions are hingeably attached to the spine.
14. The CD/DVD case of claim 13, wherein the walls of first and a second CD/DVD base portion and the CD/DVD holder frame portion are formed of paperboard, with living hinges joining the first and the second CD/DVD base portions to the spine formed by overwrapping paper or other flexible material on the walls of the first and a second CD/DVD base portions and the spine.
15. The CD/DVD case of claim 13, wherein a second CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, and a second spindle, are attached to the second CD/DVD base portion.
16. The CD/DVD case of claim 13, further comprising:
- at least one additional CD/DVD base portion comprising a wall with an upper surface;
- at least one additional spine;
- at least one additional spindle holder; and
- at least one additional CD/DVD holder frame portion with an upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD, the at least one additional CD/DVD holder frame portion and the at least one additional spindle holder being attached to the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion, wherein the at least one additional CD/DVD base portions and the CD/DVD holder frame portions have printable upper surfaces and wherein one of the first or second CD/DVD base portions and the at least one additional CD/DVD base portion are hingeably attached to the at least one additional spine.
17. The CD/DVD case of claim 16, wherein the CD/DVD holder frame portions are adhered to the CD/DVD base portions.
18. A CD/DVD case, comprising:
- a plurality of CD/DVD base portions, each comprising a wall with a printable upper surface;
- a plurality of CD/DVD holder frame portions, each with a printable upper surface and at least one cutout formed therein that is sized to receive a CD or DVD,
- spines that hingeably connect together pairs of the plurality of CD/DVD base portions and/or the plurality of CD/DVD holder frame portions; and
- a plurality of spindle holder, wherein the CD/DVD holder frame portions and the spindle holders are attached to the first CD/DVD base portions.
19. The CD/DVD holder case of claim 18, wherein the CD/DVD base portions, the CD/DVD holder frame portions, and the spines are made of paper and/or other flexible material and paperboard and/or other rigid material.
20. The CD/DVD case of claim 18, wherein the CD/DVD base portions, CD/DVD frame portions, and the spines are formed of paperboard that is overwrapped with paper or other flexible material to form hinges between the spines and the adjoining CD/DVD base portions.
21. The CD/DVD case of claim 18, wherein the CD/DVD holder frame portions are adhered to the CD/DVD base portions.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 27, 2007
Publication Date: May 8, 2008
Inventor: Gary Gonzales (Santa Monica, CA)
Application Number: 11/741,409
International Classification: B65D 85/57 (20060101);