Special receptacle or package – For holding a machine readable recording medium – For holding an optical disc
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-16
2003-03-11
Yu, Mickey (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For holding a machine readable recording medium
For holding an optical disc
C206S310000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06530474
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compact disc storage containers and more particularly, to transparent storage containers capable of holding more than one compact disc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of planar discs are in use at the present time to record and store information which is to be retrieved by various means, such as by optical or magnetic means. Typical of such discs are compact discs in which information is digitally recorded by use of a laser beam and then read optically by a laser beam. Such discs are used to record audio information, such as musical renditions, video information such as visual images and digital information for use as read only and other memories for use in various applications, such as computer applications. In most instances, at the present time, such discs are sold with information already recorded thereon. In other applications, such discs are sold in blank form and are used by the customer to record information thereon. In the latter case, for example, optical discs are sold for use as computer storage media and are used in hard disc storage systems. As used herein, the term compact disc or CD is intended to encompass all such discs, whatever their size, for all known or proposed uses.
Compact discs containing laser recorded information are typically packaged in injection molded plastic enclosures designed to hold one or more CDs for protecting the discs during storage and shipment. Enclosures commonly used at the present time, such as the well known “jewel box,” comprise a three piece assembly consisting of a base or bottom element, an insert or tray in the base/bottom element for positioning and supporting the disc in the base/bottom element, e.g., by a center projection (commonly referred to as a “rosette”) which engages the periphery of the aperture in the center of the disc, and a lid or cover which is hinged to the base/bottom element and is closed thereon after the disc is mounted therein on the tray. The enclosure is, typically, at least partially transparent and graphics relating to the disc and containing trademark and sales promotional information are usually inserted in such a manner as to be visible through the enclosure.
In recent years a need has arisen to package more than one, usually two, compact discs in each storage container. The most apparent packaging solution, increasing the length or thickness of the conventional jewel box to accommodate the additional disc or discs, has proven unacceptable to both industry and the consumer. Industry already has a very substantial investment in automated packaging equipment designed specifically for the conventional sized jewel box. Any change in the storage container size would require the construction and installation, at very considerable expense, of a separate automated packaging line designed for the new storage container. It would also require that manufacturers warehouse multiple storage container sizes. Moreover, larger storage containers take up considerably more retail shelf space and, accordingly, reduce the available shelf inventory in retail stores. Consumers, like retailers, find that the larger size storage containers take up more space and are more difficult to store. As a result, there has been a growing consensus that multiple disc storage containers be based upon the identical dimensions of the conventional jewel box.
One of the most commercially popular multiple disc storage containers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,243—Gelardi et al, which discloses a two CD tray for insertion into a conventional jewel box. Such jewel boxes comprise a base provided with raised peripheral edges and a lid, hinged to the base, provided with depending side walls which are complementary to the raised edges of the base. The cover is hinged to the base via lugs which extend inwardly from opposite side walls of the cover and are received in apertures formed in opposite raised edges of the base. Importantly, the lugs extend only part way through the apertures since these same apertures are used for mounting the two CD tray on the base. The tray comprises a generally flat leaf having first and second CD mounting rosettes on opposite faces of the leaf. A shelf is formed along one side of the leaf and includes a rising portion extending upward from the leaf and an elevated portion generally parallel to the leaf, with the two portions hingedly connected via a living hinge. A pair of side plates depend from opposite ends of the elevated portion of the shelf and include outwardly extending stubs for insertion into the aforementioned apertures such that, within the apertures, the stubs extend toward the lugs. With the stubs engaged within the apertures and the bottom surface of the elevated shelf portion in contact with the upper ends of the raised edges, the shelf is rigidly held in place on the base with the tray capable of pivoting 180° about the living hinge.
The Gelardi et al two CD tray utilizes a living hinge to provide access to both CDs by pivoting of the tray. In order for a living hinge to function it must be formed of a material, such as non-crystalline styrene, styrene-polypropylene and styrene-polyethylene copolymers, which is flexible and can be repeatedly pivoted without breaking. However, such materials are not transparent and the marketplace is presently demanding transparent storage containers molded from transparent materials, such as crystalline polystyrene, to provide additional viewing surfaces for advertising and graphics. The problem with the use of highly transparent materials such as crystalline polystyrene is that the material is extremely brittle and fractures quite easily. Therefore, such a brittle material cannot be used as the living hinge in the Gelardi et al two CD trays.
One approach to providing a highly transparent two CD storage container formed of crystalline styrene is disclosed in PCT International Publication No. WO 96/23304 which discloses the use of a crystalline styrene tray very similar to the tray of Gelardi et al. A line of weakness or fold line, as in Gelardi et al, is defined between the elevated and rising portions of the shelf. However, by the process of overmolding, a flexible sheet of synthetic material is adhered over the line of weakness and to the surfaces of the elevated and rising portions. Since the tray is molded of brittle crystalline styrene, the first time that the tray is pivoted, the line of weakness fractures, leaving only the overmolded flexible sheet to serve as the hinge, permitting the tray to pivot 180°. An important difficulty with this approach is that it makes the molding process difficult and slow and, therefore, is prohibitively expensive.
Another approach is to configure the two CD tray as in Gelardi et al except, in lieu of a living hinge, utilize a pair of spaced apart molded mechanical hinges to pivotally join the tray to the shelf. One embodiment of this approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,550—Gartz which shows a two CD tray insert for mounting and nesting within the base of a conventional jewel box. The insert comprises a tray having disc receiving planar surfaces on opposite sides thereof and a rosette centrally disposed on each of the planar surfaces to receive and hold CDs on both sides of the tray. A shelf is non-pivotably, substantially rigidly mounted to the base of the jewel box and the tray is pivotably mounted, via a pair of mechanical hinges, to the tray. Specifically, a pair of flanges formed integrally with the tray extend rearwardly from opposite sides thereof, through cutouts in the shelf into pivotable engagement with plates which depend from the shelf. Apertures/pins on the ends of the rearwardly extending flanges engage pins/apertures on the plates for permitting the tray to pivot 180° for accessing CDs on both sides of the tray. The problem with this approach is that the extreme brittleness of crystalline polystyrene has caused mechanical hinge designs proposed to date to fail as a result of processing
Bolognia David L.
Rufo, Jr. George F.
Friedman Stuart J.
Mohandesi Jila M
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Westvaco Corporation
Yu Mickey
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