DK176358B1 - Holder for storage media - Google Patents

Description

DK 176358 B1

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a product unit comprising a sheath for storing two or more substantially flat storage media such as CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy disks and the like, comprising at least two flaps connected to one another fold line so that they can be folded into abutment against each other, and wherein at least two flaps each have at least one holding means for holding a storage medium.

It is known to provide items to be monitored with a transmitter which transmits electronically stored identification code which can be read wirelessly by means of electronic reading equipment. The identification code may be stored in a chip connected to a coil acting as antenna. A special type of this type of transmitter is so-called RF labels or radio frequency labels ("RF tags" or "RFID tags"), which are designed as flat labels or labels. These are used e.g. in libraries where each book, CD, DVD or the like is provided with an RFID tag which is read and recorded electronically on loan. It is also known to provide luggage at airports with these RFID tags 15 to facilitate handling. RFDI tags are usually designed as passive transponders which, in response to a received electromagnetic radio signal, emit a response signal. A passive transponder can draw energy from the electromagnetic field and be activated to send out an identification code which can be read by the electronic reading equipment.

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From WO 01/57794 A1 and US 6,044,046, it is known to provide a CD with a transponder in the form of a chip with identification code and a coil that acts as a resonant circuit / antenna and is located around the central hole of the CD, so that the CD's balance is not destroyed. This allows the individual CD to be read and recorded when purchased in a store 25 or loaned from a library. The transponder also serves as a means of theft, with a transciever at the exit of the store or library activating the transponder and emitting an alarm if that transponder has not been deactivated at the cash register or lending desk.

30 CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs and the like are most often stored in a holster, and if the transponder was placed on the holster instead of the CD itself, a borrower or buyer wishing to steal the CD, just be able to take it out of the case and pass the exit without activating the alarm system. Thus, in order to obtain maximum security as well as the possibility of replacing a worn or broken casing, it is most appropriate to provide the storage medium itself instead of the casing with a transponder.

5

As mentioned, the transmitter's antenna is often designed as a coil located around the central hole of the CD so as not to damage the CD's balance. Namely, a CD or DVD having an asymmetric mass distribution will, during rotation in the read / play machine's drive, subject it to dynamic loads and result in an excessive wear of the drive or possible damage to it. The coil itself can be round or square.

If two CDs or DVDs with identical transmitters are placed on top of each other, the reading equipment may have trouble reading them both, with one transmitter 15 "shading" for the other. This is especially a problem when using rounds In the case of a two-flap sleeve each holding a CD such that the two CDs lie at a small distance and common center in the collapsed state of the case, the two antenna coils will be located side by side and thus shadow to each other. If square-shaped CDs, be it 20 rectangular or square, antenna coils, they can rotate relative to each other so that they do not shade 100% for each other. To ensure this, care is required during the insertion of the individual CDs into the case. Even if they do not shade 100% for each other, the coils will partially overlap, preventing a strong signal that d great security can be read by the transcriber.

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Numerous casings are known for storing one or more storage media, especially CDs.

From ES 21433S7, a housing for storing DVDs is known, wherein a first flap is provided with holding means for holding three DVDs so that they partially overlap each other. A second flap hinged to the first flap along a back portion may be folded into abutment against the first flap for closing the sheath. The DVDs stored in this case 3 do not have a common center, and antenna coils on the DVDs will thus be offset relative to each other and likely to each be read in the collapsed state of the case. If, for a variety of reasons, the reading equipment has difficulty reading the individual DVDs due to their close interconnection, a person must take one or more of them out of the holster completely or partially to obtain an electronic reading, which is cumbersome and time consuming.

From GB 2,187,442 A there is known a CD casing, wherein a first flap comprises holding means for holding two CDs side by side, and wherein a second flap, which is hinged to the first flap along a back portion, can be folded with this to close the case. With this case, the two CDs, if equipped with transmitters, can be read easily without problems. On the other hand, the case is not very compact and in practice fills the same as two cases for a single CD placed side by side.

15 WO 95/26917 discloses a CD case with two mutually hinged flaps for storing four CDs, each flap being provided with pockets for holding two CDs in an overlapping position. When storing CDs in all four pockets, CDs two and two will have the same center, thus causing problems with electronic readout of transmit CDs.

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From JP 2002 211670, a CD casing of the kind mentioned above is known, and in which the holding means are displaced relative to each other in the collapsed state of the casing.

The object of the invention is to provide a product unit comprising a casing for storing two or more storage media, which is compact while allowing the individual storage media which can be provided with electronic transmitters to be individually detected in the compact state of the casing.

The object of the invention is achieved in that the holding means are positioned on the flaps so that retained storage media with electronic transmitters do not lie directly next to each other in the collapsed state of the casing. This enables a secure contact-free reading of the individual CD's identification code in the collapsed state of a single CD with a DK 176358 B1 4 compact case.

According to a convenient embodiment, each flap comprises holding means for only one storage medium. If the contactless electronic reading should fail, e.g. due to electromagnetic noise, damage to the antenna coil or the like, the flaps can simply be folded away from the collapsed state, whereby a safe reading can be made. Thus, it is not necessary to remove the storage media from the holding means.

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According to one embodiment, the flaps may be made of transparent material, whereby the presence of a storage medium becomes visible, and information printed on the storage medium can be read easily.

According to a suitable embodiment, the holding means are made of pockets. This enables a simple and secure retention to be achieved in a cheap and simple way.

The pockets are preferably made of transparent material, especially flexible plastic, e.g. polypropylene.

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According to one embodiment, the sheath may comprise a center flap which is connected to a further flap along two, three or four side edges via fold lines. With such a casing, a single flap can be unfolded for removal or insertion of the storage medium without having to fold out all the other flaps. In addition, the casing can be completely unfolded without the need for a large-size substrate in a single direction.

According to an alternate embodiment, the sheath may comprise three or more consecutive flaps arranged mutually along parallel fold lines. Such a construction is inexpensive and simple to manufacture.

30 DK 176358 B1 5

According to a preferred embodiment, one or more of the individual flaps adjacent to the retaining means of the storage medium may comprise a retaining means, e.g. a pocket, for a printed insert or booklet. Hereby, the area of the flap not covered by the storage medium and, as a result of the different locations of the CDs on each flap, could be utilized efficiently. Thus, the insert sheet or booklet may be provided with information about the storage medium that belongs to that flap.

According to a preferred embodiment, the retaining means are positioned on the flaps such that the stored storage media in the collapsed state of the sheath is displaced 13 10 mm, preferably 18 mm, most conveniently 23 mm relative to each other in the flap propagation plane. Experiments have shown that this ensures a safe reading of the individual storage media.

The invention will now be explained in more detail by means of various embodiments shown in the drawing, in which fig. 1 shows a CD provided with a transmitter with a round antenna coil; FIG. 2 shows a CD with a transmitter with a rectangular antenna coil; FIG. Fig. 3 shows a first embodiment of the envelope according to the invention with two flaps in the unfolded state; 4 the same in the folded state, FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a three-flaped fold-out CD cover according to the invention; FIG. 6 the same in the folded state, FIG. Fig. 7 is a third embodiment of a five-flap unfolded sleeve according to the invention; 8 the same in the folded state; FIG. Fig. 9 is a fourth embodiment of a four-flap unfolded sleeve according to the invention; 10 the same in the folded state.

10

All the figures are schematic illustrations where details are left out.

Figure 1 shows schematically a CD 1 with a center hole 4 and a transmitter consisting of a chip 5 and an antenna coil 3. The antenna coil 3 is shown here only schematically with shading, but consists of a number of windings of electrically conductive material which is connected to the chip 5. This type of transmitter is often called the "RF frequency" (radio frequency identification tag) or RFID tag (radio frequency identification tag) and is often built into a self-adhesive label so that it can easily be mounted on an object. However, the "tag" or label is a bit misleading in this regard, since the CD or other storage medium can be provided with the transmitter during manufacture by, for example, embedding in the plastic material from which the CD or DVD is made. moreover, is not limited to the use of storage media equipped solely with radio frequency transmitters, but also, for example, electromagnetic transmitters (EM tags / strips) which in recent embodiments may be provided with ident ifikationskode.

25 RF transmitters can be passive, semipassive or active. Passive RF transmitters do not have a built-in battery and receive energy from electromagnetic radio waves emitted by the electronic reading device called a transciever or interrogator. Passive RF transmitters can be made very small, are cheap to manufacture and have a very long life span. The disadvantage of passive RF transmitters is that they are relatively sensitive to electromagnetic noise and have a relatively limited read range.

7 DK 176358 B1

Semipassive RF transmitters are equipped with a built-in battery, but communicate only by reflecting radio frequency energy. Semipassive RF transmitters have a greater read range than passive RF transmitters, and with the help of a small battery, they can be active for up to 5 to 10 years. Active RF transmitters have a built-in battery 5 and can themselves initiate a communication sequence as opposed to passive and semi-passive RF transmitters, which must first receive a signal ffa an interrogator before returning a signal. Active RF transmitters have a relatively short life if activated frequently and are more expensive to manufacture than the other two types.

The RF transmitter shown in Figure 1 is a passive RF transmitter in that it is particularly suitable for CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs and the like due to its compact size.

The RF transmitter's chip and antenna coil may be pasted onto the CD's surface or embedded in the material. The transmitter shown in Fig. 1 is particularly advantageous in that the antenna coil is outside the area provided with a metal layer in which the data of the CD is stored. This metal layer starts at circle 2 and extends to an area near the periphery of the CD. Due to the coaxial location of the antenna coil 3 around the center hole 4 of the CD, the CD has a fully symmetrical mass distribution, thus reducing the drive of the CD player unnecessarily.

Figure 2 shows a CD 1 with another embodiment of an RF transmitter, the antenna coil 3 being rectangular here. Since the antenna coil 3 is located symmetrically around the center hole 4, the transmitter CD will have a symmetrical mass distribution around the center of the center hole 4. The antenna coil 3 is positioned opposite the side of the CD read by the CD player's read head so that it does not screens for the data stored on the CD. The embodiment shown in Figure 2 has the disadvantage over the embodiment shown in Figure 1 that the antenna coil overlaps the metal layer of the CD, but this can be compensated for by using a sufficiently strong signal.

Figure 3 shows a first embodiment of a sleeve according to the invention. The sheath comprises two flaps 6, 7 which can be folded to abut against one another around a back portion or fold line 23. The CD sheath may conveniently be made of cardboard or plastic, in particular genetically modified plastic, whereby the contents becomes visible. Each flap 6, 7 is provided with a pocket bounded by the fold line 23, two of the outer edges of the sheath and one extending over the flap 24. The pocket 8 can thus be firmly connected to the flap along three edges and open at the fourth edge. , eg. the edge extending across the flap 24. As can be clearly seen in Figure 3, the pockets are positioned on each flap 6, 7 so that when the sheath is folded around the fold line 23, they will be offset relative to one another. which is schematically shown in Figure 4. Thus, the two antenna coils 3 will not overlap, whereby both CDs can be read safely by means of an external transciever. The pockets are most conveniently made of transparent plastic, which makes the CDs visible in the open state of the case. The opposite side of the flaps may also be provided with transparent plastic pockets in which a text sheet or booklet may be placed containing information about the contents stored on the CDs. The areas 9 of the flaps 6, 7, which are not covered by the pockets 8, may also be provided with pockets for inserting text sheets or the like. The 15 pocket 9 on the individual flap 6, 7 may thus contain an information sheet on the CD stored on that flap.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment of a case according to the invention. This sleeve comprises three flaps 10, 11, 13 which can be folded into abutment about two fold lines 23. The sleeve is seen in the folded state of Figure 6, which shows that the CDs are displaced relative to each other. , so that the transmitter of each CD can be read safely.

Figure 7 shows a third embodiment of the invention arranged for storing 25 four CDs. Thus, the sheath of Figure 7 comprises a middle flap 14 which is connected at all four sides to flaps 15, 16, 17, 18. The middle flap 14 and flaps 15, 16, 17 are provided with pockets for storing CDs and the flap. 18 is provided with a large pocket for storing e.g. a text booklet. Figure 8 shows the casing shown in Figure 7 in the folded state, and it is clearly seen that the four CDs are offset relative to 30 each other.

9 DK 176358 B1 Figure 9 schematically shows a fourth embodiment of the invention for storing four CDs. The sheath comprises four flaps 19, 20, 21, 22 which can be folded together along parallel fold lines 23. The flaps 19, 20, 21, 22 are the same size, but the individual pockets are placed differently on the individual flaps so that they the pockets stored 5 CDs are offset relative to each other in the collapsed state of the case, which can be seen schematically in Figure 10. The pockets are confined to the side of the long sides of the flaps. The upper and lower flaps of the flaps shown in Figure 9 are limited by a fold line 23 and a transverse line 24, while the pockets of the two middle flaps are limited by two transverse lines 24. The opening of the pockets may be provided along any side and may e.g. extending along the transverse lines 24. The embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 has four flaps, but can in principle be provided with an even larger number of flaps. One or more of the flaps may be provided with a pocket for text sheets, booklets or the like.

The casing shown in Figure 9 is provided with cage closure means 26, 27 on the two lower flaps for holding the casing in the closed state. Other closure means, e.g. Push-button locks can of course also be thought of.

The embodiments disclosed herein are for CD casings, but the invention is not limited to CD storage. Thus, the sheath of the invention can be used for storing CDs, DVDs, mini-discs, floppy disks, videotapes, laser disks, CD-ROMs and the like. Essentially, the storage media is provided with transmitters in the same location, which is why a staggered placement of the storage media is desired in the closed state of the case.

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The casing can typically be made by punching, folding, welding and embossing plastic web material, e.g. polypropylene or the like. All of the embodiments shown may be made of a starting blank punched out of a material web. The pockets can thus be provided by folding "pocket flaps" which are welded firmly along 3 edges. The folding lines can simply be provided by e.g. a suitable heat treatment in the collapsed state of the sheath.

10 DK 176358 B1

The invention relates to a storage medium for storage media provided with identification transmitters in any form. Thus, these may be other types of transmitters than the RF transmitters mentioned herein, e.g. "AM tags" (acousto-magnetic tags) or other detectable components of electronic article monitoring systems.

The CD case can be used in conjunction with systems where the transceiver is fixed and located at a counter in a library, a cash register in a store or at the exit.

A handheld reading device can also be used. Typically, radio frequencies of 13.56 MHz are used, and the power of the reading equipment must not exceed a certain value, typically 8-12 watts.

A standard CD has an outside diameter of 120 mm and a center hole with a diameter of 15 mm. The data-carrying area, ie. the area comprising a metal layer, typically aluminum, lies between a circle about the center of 46 mm diameter and a circle of 117 mm diameter. By providing the flap retaining means such that the CDs are displaced 46 mm in the closed state of the housing, it is ensured that there is no overlap between the RF transmitters according to the embodiment shown in Figure 1. However, tests have shown that a reasonably safe reading can be obtained at a displacement of approx. 23 20 mm.

Claims (9)

A product unit comprising a sheath (25) for storing two or more substantially flat storage media (1), such as CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy disks and the like, comprising at least two flaps. (6, 7) interconnected along a fold line (23) so that they can be folded against each other and wherein at least two flaps each have at least one holding means (8) for holding a storage medium, and wherein the retaining means (8) are positioned on the flaps (6, 7) so that retained storage media 10 (1) do not lie directly next to each other in the collapsed state of the sheath, with at least two flaps (6,7) each holding a substantially flat storage medium (1) with an electronic transmitter (3,5) so that the electronic transmitters (3, 5) of the individual storage media (1) can be individually detected in the collapsed state of the housing (25). Product unit according to claim 1, characterized in that each flap (6, 7) comprises hollow de-means (8) for only one storage medium (1). Product unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the flaps (6, 7) are made of transparent material, especially plastic. 20 Product unit according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the holding means are pockets (8). Product unit according to claim 4, characterized in that the pockets (8) are made of 25 transparent material, in particular flexible plastic, e.g. polypropylene. Product unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a middle flap (11; 14) connected along two, three or four side edges via fold lines (23) to a further flap (10, 13; 15). 16, 17, 18). 30 DK 176358 B1 Product unit according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises three or more consecutive flaps (10, 11, 13; 19, 20, 21, 22) which can be folded one another along parallel lines. fold lines (23). Product unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one or more of the individual flaps (6, 7) next to the holding means (8) for the storage medium (1) comprises a holding means (6, 9), e.g. . a pocket, for a printed insert or booklet. Product unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holding means (8) are arranged on the flaps (6, 7) such that the stored storage media (1) in the folded state of the casing is displaced at least 13 mm, preferably at least 18 mm, most conveniently at least 23 mm relative to each other in the propagation plane of the flaps (6, 7). 15