Compact Disc Holder
Apparatus for packaging a Compact Disc (21), formed from a plurality of panels (5, 6, 7) of paper, card, plastic or the like, comprising a tray formed from a section (9, 16) cut out from one or more of said panels (5, 6), rotatable about an axle (14) located near an outer edge of the tray, from a closed position in which a recess (8) for holding a disc is closed by said one or more panels or by another of the panels (7), to an open position allowing access to the disc. Alternative embodiments include further recesses and are arranged to hold more than one disc.
The present invention relates to packaging for a range of goods, including Compact Discs, confectionery, cosmetics and a range of items and products from a wide spectrum of commerce. However, for the purposes of precision, coherence and brevity this description centres on the invention's application to the Compact Disc.
Companies are constantly seeking to encourage people to purchase their goods, and to encourage existing customers to purchase more. They are also constantly looking for interesting ways of presenting both their products and the imagery related to them. Furthermore, companies are constantly looking for new ways to promote these products, and therefore there is a constant demand for the kind of packaging which will not only protect, but enhance and promote the products by providing an impression of quality and value. The packaging is the first thing a customer sees, so it needs to be both attractive and functional. The combination of quality with low-cost is almost always part of the requirement for the packaging of most goods. In the case of a Compact Disc, the packaging would have to offer protection for the product, simplicity of operation, and provide a means of storing or filing the product in an attractive and convenient way in the office or home, and be robust enough to withstand constant handling over a period of time.
The present invention provides apparatus for packaging a Compact Disc according to claim 1. Optional features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.
In the present embodiments, the apparatus comes in a number of different configurations, three of which are based on one basic mechanism and a fourth which takes a different format. As many Compact Disc-holders are made of plastic which requires moulding and other complex industrial processes, the requirement for something simpler called for a design which could be applied to paper or card, which would require only to be printed, die-cut and glued, while offering a similar protection and impression of quality as a plastic holder.
In the FIRST configuration, using three of more layers of card, a pack may be made whereby the user partially pulls out a cut-out section from one of the panels, in which is located a recess in which a DVD or CD is held. This ‘carrier’ section may be cut from an interior panel, which is ‘sandwiched’ between two or more outer panels of a similar size. By cutting out a circular section from near the base of the carrier section, and by gluing it flat to the adjacent panels on either side, an ‘axle’ is formed around which the moving or carrier section, may rotate. The whole panel is glued on three sides, while the un-glued carrier section is cut out from the rest of the panel. From out of the carrier section may be cut out a circular aperture corresponding in size to a CD.
In all configurations, this aperture forms the surround of a recess which can hold a CD. The carrier section may have its leading edge parallel to, and corresponding to the edge of the other panels, and it's trailing edge, which separates it from the panel from which it is cut, defined by a series of semi-circular cuts radiating from a common centre which allow the moving carrier section to rotate easily and smoothly outwards along those cuts. The first may be a cut which follows the circumference of the disc aperture at such a distance as to create an outer ‘ring’ which forms the outer edge of the strip which forms the recess which holds the CD, and which also forms the trailing edge of the movable carrier section. At the base, this circular cut joins another smaller circular cut, extending down to the base of the panel, which takes its radius from the centre of the axle-disc, which it surrounds, and around which the carrier section rotates. The upper edge of the carrier section is formed by a transversal cut extending as an arc, again taking its radius from the centre-point of the ‘axle’ disc, extending tangentially from the top of the outer, circular cut on the trailing edge of the carrier section all the way across to the leading edge. The carrier section is then totally separated from the rest of the panel from which it has been cut, and is held only by the ‘axle’ disc which is glued on both surfaces to its adjacent panels. In two of the configurations, a base for the recess holding the CD is formed when the carrier section is glued flat against a section cut out from the back outer panel. This outer section mainly follows the same cuts as the carrier panel to which it is glued, except at the bottom a smaller arc has been cut, again radiating from the centre of the ‘axle-disc’, and which the circular cut on the trailing edge meets at almost 90 degrees. The outer section, therefore, forms the same section of a circle moving along the same ‘arc’ or circumference as the carrier section to which it is glued, the arcs taking their differing radii from the same point, i.e., the centre of the ‘axle-disc’. This outer section which forms, on the inside, the interior base of the CD recess within the carrier section is completely separated from the rest of the outer panel from which it is cut, by having both top and bottom arcs joined by another cut, this time following a line determining the trailing edge of the carrier section, i.e., just outside of the circumference of the CD recess.
In order to prevent the movable sections from coming out too far, there has been incorporated a number of small features, which both anchor the mechanism, and streamline the movement. The first is the creation of two small ‘spurs’ located at either end of the top transversal arc on the carrier section, achieved by clearing a strip from the carrier section, following and immediately above the line of the arc on the panel from which the carrier section is cut, but leaving a small spur at either end, the one at the leading edge remaining attached to the upper edge of the fixed remainder of the panel from which the carrier section has been cut out, which points downwards and remains fixed, while the other is located at the top of the far, or trailing edge of the carrier section, so that when the carrier section has reached the end of the arc when pulled outwards, the spur on the far end meets the spur at the front, or open edge of the apparatus, stopping the carrier section from moving outwards any further, exposing enough of the CD recess in the carrier section to remove or replace the CD. Additionally, the top-arc of the carrier section may also extend partially upwards, beyond the top edge of the outer movable section, creating a ‘vane’ which extends below the surface of the top part of the outer main panel, operating like a rail, keeping the carrier section and it's outer section to which it is glued from opening out and damaging the mechanism.
As the user therefore grips and pulls outwards the carrier section through an access aperture on the front surface, and grips the movable back surface, the carrier section and the cut out back section, move easily outwards, as one unit, rotating around the axle-disc, by about 50 degrees, and is stopped by the ‘spurs’ as described earlier, exposing the CD recess on the top surface of the carrier section. The outer edge of the CD recess has a cut-out ‘finger-access’ of a size enough for a finger to grip and remove or insert a CD.
The SECOND embodiment on this theme has an extra panel between the front panel and the carrier section, where a second recess, which can contain another CD is located. This recess may take a slightly different position within the apparatus, e.g., being ‘offset’ by being placed a short distance from the existing recess in the carrier section, so as to avoid either disc falling into the neighbouring recess and ‘locking’ the apparatus. The apparatus may be constructed from material thick enough such that a CD will sit within the recess, with it's surface level with the plane of the section within which it is seated. Additionally, using a thicker material would allow more CD's to be seated within the recesses.
The THIRD embodiment also has an additional panel with another carrier section, this time almost a mirror image of the previously described carrier section, which is glued face-to-face with it's opposite, and which does not attach to an outer section, but which functions as a single moving unit between two flat outer panels. The CD recesses are offset against each other by a short distance, providing a lip' at either edge against which the CD sits, and is thus prevented from slipping into the neighbouring recess. This embodiment operates in the same way as the previous two, except that there are two ‘axle’ discs at the base, which are glued together and glued to the outer panels, and remain fixed within the apparatus. The combined carrier sections pull out by means of being gripped by the user through two finger-sized accesses cut out from both outside edges of the outer panels, and is stopped in the same way as the previous two embodiments, i.e., when a ‘spur’ on the trailing edge of the carrier panel meets a spur projecting down from the remaining part of the panel from which it is cut, at the leading edge.
The FOURTH embodiment is different insofar as it retains the disc within the body of the apparatus, and uses a ‘slide-open’ mechanism as opposed to the ‘rotating’ feature previously described. In this version which may again be formed from a single piece of material, the panel sandwiched between two or more outer panels may contain the recess in which the CD is held, and may be divided horizontally, such that an upper and lower section is formed, the upper section having half of the recess divided horizontally through the mid-point by two cuts on either side of the CD recess, extending about halfway to the edge of the panel before each meets a vertical cut running down all the way to the bottom of the panel, creating a separate section which is free to move up and down within that part of the panel which is glued to the base and top panels at the top and down the sides. In order that the lower panel may stop and some point, the vertical cuts separating the moving from the fixed parts, the vertical lines may at a point just lower than halfway down may be positioned a short distance inwards, and a small section cleared just above where the cuts indent, to set a lower limit on the downward movement of the lower section of the panel, when the projections on both sides of the ‘T’ section—which has been formed by moving the lower cuts inwards and clearing the material above—meets the ‘shoulders’ formed by the same. Also, at the point where the lower moving section stops on it's downward track, a horizontal transversal fold is made near the bottom and at the point where the inner sliding section stops at the bottom edge of the back panel. The front panel is glued at the top and sides to the stationery parts of the middle panel, and from it is cut out the cover, or access section which may follow at the top end, the line of the CD recess, either directly on top or slightly out from it, while extending down the sides from the ends of the downward-pointing crescent, are two vertical cuts going all the way don to the bottom and set slightly further in from, and therefore concealing the cuts below, on the middle panel so that the sliding section within is now confined within the body of the apparatus. This central section on the top surface, then, is glued to the moving section immediately below it, along the horizontal surface below the horizontal fold-line on the moving section, so that when the assembly is pulled downwards from the bottom, the fold line reaches the edge of the base panel and may then be pushed downwards at its bottom edge, raising the cut-out cover panel and allowing access to the recess in which a CD may be accessed or placed.
A variant of this may be formed by having the entire CD recess set within the sliding section, as opposed to the division of the sliding section as described previously. In such a case, a finger-access allowing the disc to be lifted out would be incorporated into the circumference of the CD recess. In all configurations, the layouts have been configured so that glue may be applied to one side only
A variant on the first three embodiments, concerns the axle or ‘fulcrum’ around which the carrier panel rotates on it's outward/inward movement, whereby the axle may be created as an extension of the carrier panel, and which rotates within the slot from which it is cut out from the surrounding panel. In a further variant, the axle may be dispensed with altogether, the carrier panel rotating on a pivot point which acts as a fulcrum positioned into a ‘V’-cut, cut out from the same panel, but from which material has been cleared to allow the carrier panel to rotate around the pivot point. In both these cases the outward course of the carrier panel is stopped, as in embodiments one, two and three, by the collision of the spur located at the top of the trailing edge of carrier panel with the downward-pointing spur located at the outside upper edge of the panel from which the carrier panel is cut.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
N.B. It should be noted that whilst the drawings show packages formed from a single piece and folded together, in practice the apparatus is formed from separate panels.
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The apparatus 1 is glued at a number of points on the obverse side (
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At the point where the sliding section 41 is as far down as it can go, with the bottom end projecting out over the bottom of the apparatus 4, a fold line 43 is created running across the width of the sliding section 41 at the point where the bottom of the back panel 37 crosses the width of the fully extended sliding section 41. When therefore, the top panel 36 is folded over the centre panel 37, and glued around the top and sides, the cover panel 39, cut out from the top panel 36, is glued to the sliding section 41 below the fold line 43. The apparatus is now finished and may be trimmed at this stage.
Variants to this format with the apparatus 4 will be apparent. One such variant may be to allow the CD-recess 40 to be kept entirely as part of the sliding section 41, and not separate it across the CD recess 40.
It will be appreciated, as stated in the preamble, that although the embodiments described herein are described in relation to the Compact Disc, there are other products and goods to which such a packaging configuration might be suited.
Claims
1. Apparatus for packaging a Compact Disc, formed from a plurality of panels of paper, card, plastic or the like, one or more of said panels being cut into a section forming a tray and a remaining section, the tray being rotatable about an axis located near an outer edge of the tray, from a closed position in which a recess for holding a disc is closed by said one or more panels or by another of the panels, to an open position allowing access to the disc.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recess is in the tray.
3. Apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a further recess for holding a further disc, formed in a panel adjacent the tray and arranged to be opened by rotating the tray.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray comprises a first section cut out from a first panel and having a circular aperture forming a periphery of the recess, and a second section, cut out from a second panel, attached to the first section and forming a base of the recess.
5. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the tray includes first and second recesses, each for holding a disc, on opposed sides thereof.
6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the tray comprises a first section cut out from a first panel and having a circular aperture forming a periphery of the first recess, a second section, cut out from a second panel, attached to the first section and forming a common base of the first and second recesses, and a third section, cut out from a third panel attached to the second panel and forming a periphery of the second recess.
7. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least part of respective edges of the first and second sections are parallel and spaced apart.
8. Apparatus according to claim 1, including a stop for arresting rotation of the tray.
9. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least three panels, the tray being sandwiched between two of said panels in the closed position.
10. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the or each cut out section is arranged to rotate around an axle formed from a cut-out portion of the cut out section(s), and attached to at least one other panel.
11. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the or each cut out section is arranged to rotate with an axle formed as an extension of the cut out section(s) and journalled within a remainder of the one or more panels from which said section is cut out.
12. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the or each cut out section is arranged to pivot with respect to a remainder of the one or more panels from which said section is cut out.
13. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least part of an edge of the cut out section(s) forms an arc of a circle centred on the axis.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 26, 2009
Publication Date: May 12, 2011
Inventor: Norman Fraser MacKenzie (London)
Application Number: 13/001,829
International Classification: B65D 85/57 (20060101);