Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B33/00—Constructional parts, details or accessories not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • G11B33/02—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon
  • G11B33/04—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon modified to store record carriers
  • G11B33/0405—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon modified to store record carriers for storing discs
  • G11B33/0433—Multiple disc containers
  • G11B33/0444—Multiple disc containers for discs without cartridge
  • G11B33/045—Multiple disc containers for discs without cartridge comprising centre hole locking means

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a media disc storage container comprising a cover member, said cover member including a front part interconnected with a back part via a hinge part, which hinge part is integral with the front part and the back part along their joining edge portions formed of flexible material, the front part and the back part having side walls at a first and second edge portion of the cover member, the container further comprising a non-metallic sheet containing graphics, which sheet is mounted on at least one of the parts of the cover member.
• a prior art container is the subject of EP-Bl-I 258 002.
• This container comprises a body portion having two sections connected to each other by a hinge, and printed matter secured to the body portion along an edge remote from and parallel to the hinge, the printed matter extending unsecured across the hinge to the other section where it is se- cured along an edge remote from and parallel to the hinge.
• the printed matter may be arranged to be visible at both sides, i.e. its external side visible from the exterior of the container and its internal side visible from the interior of the container through part of the body portion.
• An object of the invention is to provide a media disc storage container, which provides a distinct presentation of printed graphics relevant to the content on the media disc, and which is difficult to copy.
• the media disc storage container is characterized in that the sheet is bonded or adhered to the cover member to distinctly present graphics on said sheet for viewing through an at least partially transparent portion of said cover member, and that the sheet comprises side parts which are secured to the sidewalls by bonding or adhesion.
• the bonding or adherent provides a transition between the sheet and the cover member that light can pass without being significantly scattered, presumably because the transition area is largely free of air.
• the sheet side parts extending across the sidewalls make it possible to decorate also the sidewalls with graphics.
• the media disc storage container achieved has a distinct pres- entation of printed graphics, and it is a relatively complicated task to copy the container first of all because the sheet cannot easily be removed from the cover member, and if attempts to remove the sheet are made then the graphics on the sheet are likely destroyed or deteriorated.
• graphics are visible all over the container and also visible from inside the container.
• the feature of mounting side part of the sheet on the side wall of the container brings a further advantage in that the front part and the back part has no exposed free edge of the sheet, which edge could otherwise be ripped or torn during use of the container.
• the securing of the sheet to the cover member by bonding such as by lamination by heat bonding, or by adhering the sheet to the cover member provides as mentioned a high quality of the graphics when viewed through the at least partially transparent portion. Both bonding and adhering of the sheet to the cover member make copying more difficult, as the sheet is more or less integral with and an inseparable part of the container.
• the sheet is adhered to the inside of the cover member, preferably by a pressure-activated adhesive.
• This embodiment provides a very high degree of protection against damage of the graphics on the outside, as the cover member is positioned outside these graphics.
• the sheet may be adhered or heat bonded to the outside of the cover member.
• This embodiment facilitates manufacture of the container, and the graphics are presented optimally on the outside of the container.
• the contrast ratio of the graphics on the cover member is in excess of 50%.
• contrast is meant the difference between the maximum and minimum brightness of the graphics.
• the value of the contrast ratio between the contrast when viewed through the material of the cover member and the contrast when viewed directly and not through a cover member should generally be as high as possible to achieve a sharp image on both sides of the cover member, such as a contrast ratio in excess of 75%, or even in excess of 90%.
• the sheet is preferentially of a nature which after joining of the sheet and cover member results in a transparency ratio of at least 50% as seen through the joint.
• transparency ratio is meant the ratio of visible light transmitted through the cover member and joint divided by the incident light.
• the ratio could be even higher, such as 75%, 85% or even 90%.
• At least one hub for holding a disc is provided on the inside of the sheet.
• the hub may be mounted permanently on the inside of the sheet, such as by gluing, plastic welding etc., or be mounted releasably e.g. by a snap-fit.
• the sheet has on its outer side a first printed design printed onto said outer side and oriented to be viewed through the media disc information sheet, at least one barrier layer provided on top of said first printed design, and a second printed design provided on top of the at least one barrier layer and oriented to be viewed from outside the media disc storage container.
• the first printed design is printed onto the transparent polymeric material, possibly after the polymeric material has been treated to accept printing, and the printing causes an excellent contact between the colours and the surface receiving the colours. During printing the colours wet the surface so that they afterwards can be viewed at high quality through the transparent polymeric material.
• a barrier layer is provided to the sheet on top of the first printed design.
• a second printed design is printed onto the sheet on the outside of the barrier layer that separates the two printed designs. This separation allows the two designs to be significantly different in colours and shapes, and the first printed design may also be oriented to be viewed through the media disc information sheet and the second design be oriented to be viewed from outside the media disc storage container. They are consequently viewed in opposite horizontal directions (like mirror images).
• the barrier layer comprises a printed layer with white pigment.
• the white pigment serves to present the colours in the printed designs without distorting their colour value. It is possible to use other colours than white in the barrier layer.
• the barrier layer can alternatively be provided with e.g. black pigment or with a colour contrasting or supplementing the colours in the first printed design or the second printed design.
• the white pigment in the barrier layer do, however provide great freedom in the choice of colours in the printed designs.
• the barrier layer comprises at least two printed layers with white pigment, and preferably at least two seri- graphic printed layers. By printing two layers of white the first printed design and the second printed design are effectively prevented from influencing each other and they each appear with only very few or practically none distortion or shadows from the other design.
• the barrier layer comprises at least two serigraphic printed layers. The serigraphic printed layers provides a very dense separation and an image backing that presents design colours in depth, contrast and intensity.
• the media disc information sheet has at least one see-through area bordered by printed graphics, preferably colour of the first printed design.
• the see-through areas can be used to provide very distinct presentations of media disc information, and especially in conjunction with the high graphic quality obtainable by the present invention it is possible to present text and picture compositions that stand out from others in the market and signal a quality product, and possibly a product with a high degree of adventure.
• said at least one see-through area is furthermore bordered by said at least one barrier layer and bordered by printed colour of the second printed design.
• the see-through area is only bordered by the first printed design there can, when the container is opened and the first printed image is visible, be areas where the reverse side of the first printed design is visible.
• both the barrier layer and the second printed design are also bordering the see-through areas(s).
• both printed designs and the barrier layer border the see-through area(s) then there is optimum quality in the presentation of the printed designs both when the media disc container is viewed from the outside and from the inside.
• the printed designs can be printed using various techniques such as serigraphy, flexography, letterpress or offset printing.
• the second printed design is a CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black) colour print where at least four colour technique is utilized.
• CMYK cyan-magenta-yellow-black
• the technique is offset printing. This is in particular advantageous with respect to the second printed design as this is the design primarily viewed in the store.
• the first printed design is a CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black) colour print, preferably offset printed, so that the printing on the entire media disc container product is of high quality also when viewed after opening the container in order to remove or insert the media disc.
• CMYK cyan-magenta-yellow-black
• substantially the full area of the inner side of the media disc information sheet registering with the front part of the cover member is adhered to the front part.
• the first printed design is presented at high quality through the front part.
• the best presentation of the first printed design viewed from inside through the cover member is when there is only little or no distortion of the design due to boundary effects between the print and the information sheet on the first hand and between the information sheet and the front part on the second hand.
• the printing of the design onto the information sheet ensures low boundary effects on said first hand, and when the full area of the inner side is adhered to the front part the first printed design is not distorted or made significantly less visible by air or other bounding errors between the inner side of the information sheet and the outer surface of the cover member.
• the container When substantially the full area of the inner side of the media disc information sheet registering with the back part of the cover member is adhered to said back part then the container has a high quality appearance also when the container is turned over and viewed from the back side where one typically finds information on installation demands and production details for the media disc.
• the white pigment in the barrier layer may be a titanium dioxide as this is well suited for making a white background to the printed designs.
• Fig. 1 is a view of a media disc storage container according to the invention, in form of a DVD-box,
• Fig. 2a is a detail of a side part of a DVD-box according to an embodiment
• Fig. 2b is a detail of a side part of a DVD-box according to another embodiment
• Fig. 3 is an exploded view of a DVD-box according to yet another embodiment
• Fig. 4 is an exploded view of a DVD-box according to a further embodiment
• Figs. 5 to 7 are illustrations of different embodiments of the media disc information sheet
• Fig. 8 is a detail showing the media disc information sheet on the container.
• Figs. 9 and 10 are illustrations of a first printed design and a second printed design, respectively.
• a media disc storage container 1 namely a DVD-box, comprising a cover member including a front part 2 connected to a back part 3 by an integrally formed hinge part 4.
• the entire cover member is typically made of a plastic material, which may be injection moulded.
• the DVD-box is depicted in a step of manufacture, in which the DVD-box is placed on a sheet 6 containing graphics prior to mounting of the sheet 6 on the cover member.
• the sheet 6 is typically made of a plastic material, it can alternatively be of paper, a fibrous material or a natural material well suited for receiving printed graphics.
• the sheet with printing is typically coated or covered by a plastic material prior to being mounting on the container.
• the non- metallic sheet for mounting on the cover member of a media disc storage container comprises graphics and plastic coating on both sides, and the coating on at least one side of the sheet is capable of being joined with surfaces of the cover member by bonding or by being adhered. Separate side parts may be provided for mounting on sidewalls of the cover member.
• the plastic coating may have a different temperature of fusion on the two sides of the sheet, whereby the sheet on one side easily will fuse to the cover mem- ber while on the other side will have less tendency to stick to a heating tool during the bonding operation.
• the sheet may have a plastic coating on one side only.
• the sheet is provided with corner cuts in order to facilitate folding and joining of the sheet to the cover member.
• the individual sheet may be sized to extend across the front part, back part, hinge part and sidewalls of the cover member as a single piece.
• the sheet can be bonded or adhered on the outside of the cover member or to the inside of the cover member.
• the front part 2 of the cover member is transparent, so the graphics on the sheet 6 can be seen from inside the DVD-box through the front part 2.
• the graphics of the sheet 6 is hence visible from both sides, as the sheet 6 is provided with graphics on both sides, either because the sheet 6 is coloured with the graphics throughout, or because the sheet 6 is provided with separate graphics on both sides of the sheet. The latter is preferred when the graphics are figurative and/or contain text matter.
• the front part 2 is provided with side walls 9, 10.
• the sheet 6 is mounted on the entire cover member, to cover substantially the whole outer surface or inner surface of the cover member, including side walls.
• the side walls 9, 10 of the front part 2 are hence to be mounted with side parts 14, 15 of the sheet 6, as will be realized from Fig. 1.
• the sheet 6 further comprises side parts 18, 19 to be mounted on side walls 22, 21, respectively.
• the sheet may be provided with cut-outs 17 at corners thereof as shown.
• the depicted DVD-box is provided with two hubs 20 for holding two DVD's.
• the side parts of the sheet 6 may be mounted directly on the side walls e.g. by gluing or lamination with application of heat.
• the edge of the side parts of the sheet 6 may advantageously be mounted in a groove 23 at the side wall 9, as schematically illustrated in Fig. 2a.
• the front part 2 is provided with additional flaps 16.
• the side part of sheet 6 may hence be folded over the flap 16, which in turn can be folded up and secured to the side wall 9, as illustrated by the arrow, such as by gluing or heat bonding.
• the resulting sandwiched side wall will have a particularly ele- gant feel and a pleasant appearance, and the risk of free edges subject to de-lamination is eliminated.
• the side parts of the sheet 6 may be folded over the side walls and down on the inner side of the side walls to the bottom thereof (not shown).
• the DVD-box can be manufactured by placing the sheet 6 and the cover member in a tool provided with a recess sized to correspond to the cover member, and preferably the tool is then provided with a back stop to hold the cover member in the recess.
• the tool may be provided with heating means, such as a resistance heating means, to heat the sheet 6 and if necessary also the cover member, to a bonding temperature at which the sheet 6 will bond to the cover member, e.g. by melting a plastic coating of the sheet to join the surface of the cover member. Subsequently the cover member is ejected from the tool to cool.
• the period of heating is adapted so that the cover member is not heated through, so only the sheet and the surface of the cover member is heated to a bonding temperature. This further implies that the time cycle of manufacture can be very short, such as for example 2 seconds or even less.
• the sheet 6 may have or may be provided with glue or an adhesive, such as a pressure activated adhesive, and the cover member is simply pressed against the sheet in order to join the two.
• the time cycle of manufacture with this alternative can also be very short, such as 2 seconds or even less.
• the side parts 14, 15, 18, 19 will fold to abut against respective side parts of the cover member.
• the sheet 6 is folded over the side walls, down on the inner side of the side walls and under a panel sheet or an end paper mounted in the cover member (not shown).
• Fig. 3 is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment, in which the sheet 6 is sandwiched between a cover member and lining parts 13 as indicated by the arrows.
• the lining parts are typically made of a plastic material, such as by injection moulding.
• the cover member is generally similar to the cover member according to Fig. 1, i.e. the cover member comprises a front part 2, a back part 3 and a hinge part 4 connecting the front and back parts.
• the cover member may be provided with a transparent portion, or the cover member may be transparent in its entirety. Further the lining parts 13 may be transparent, as can be seen in Fig. 3.
• FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment, comprising a cover member with a front part 2, a back part 3 and a hinge part 4.
• the sheet 6 will be mounted directly on the inner surface of the cover member, such as by lamination.
• the DVD-box can be manufactured by placing the cover member in a tool provided with a recess sized to correspond to cover member, and placing a sheet 6 on the inside of the cover member.
• a punching die or plunger preferably provided with heating means, such as a resistance heating means, and having a head corresponding to the size of the inner side of the cover member can be provided to be advanced onto the cover member. Any heating means may be turned on to heat the sheet 6 and if necessary also the cover member, to a bonding temperature at which the sheet 6 will bond to the cover member, e.g. by melting a plastic coating of the sheet to join the surface of the cover member.
• the cover member can be ejected from the tool to cool.
• the period of heating is adapted so that the cover member is not heated through, so only the sheet and the surface of the cover member is heated to a bonding temperature.
• the time cycle of manu- facture can be very short, such as for example 2 seconds or even less.
• the sheet 6 may be provided with glue or an adhesive, such as a pressure activated adhesive, and the cover member simply be pressed against the sheet.
• the tool may be provided with a heating means, so the cover member can be heated also.
• a set of hubs 20 may be mounted directly on the sheet 6 as indicated by the arrows, such as by heat bonding, gluing or the like.
• the sheet 6 is provided with corner cuts 17 to have a side part 14.
• the side part 14 is adapted for mounting on the side wall 9.
• the sheet 6 is a plastic film, so the resulting storage container is an all plastic product, as the cover member 1 and the lining part 13, if present, are also made of plastics material.
• the plastic film may be provided with graphics by printing directly on the plastic surface.
• the plastic film may further be provided with a plastic coating on top of the graphics to protect the graphics, and/or a plastic coating on a surface opposite to the graphics. Further the plastic coating may have a melting point lower than the melting point of the plastic film, to facilitate bonding of the film the cover member and reduce the risk of damage to the film during application of the film on the cover member.
• the media disc type can be a compact audio disc (CD), a CD- ROM, a CD-RW, a DVD, a HD-DVD, a BD-ROM, a BD-RE, etc, and the media disc storage container is sized to the relevant type of disc, and naturally also to the number of discs in the container.
• CD compact audio disc
• CD-ROM compact ROM
• CD-RW compact ROM
• DVD digital versatile disc
• HD-DVD a DVD-DVD
• BD-ROM a Blu-ROM
• BD-RE a compact audio disc
• the media disc storage container is sized to the relevant type of disc, and naturally also to the number of discs in the container.
• the storage container could have any suitable shape, such as a cylindrical shape, or a semi-cylindrical shape.
• the sheet 6 can in an embodiment be a media disc information sheet 6 as illustrated in Fig. 5.
• Media disc information sheet 6 has a body layer 121 of a transparent polymeric material.
• the body layer has an inner side 122 and an outer side 123.
• Outer side 123 may be treated in order to readily receive printing colours.
• the treatment can e.g. be a corona discharge treatment, an irradiation treatment, a heat treatment, a chemical etching or the application of a lacquer on outer side 123.
• the polymeric material of layer 121 may e.g.
• transparent polymers and transparent copolymers such as polypropylene, polyure- thane, polyolefins, polycarbonate, polyester, cellophane, polyacrylate, polystyrene, polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl pentene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, polyimide, propylene homopolymers, triace- tylcellulose, polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinyl acetate, or mixtures of two or more of these.
• a first printed design 24 is applied to outer side 123 with such an orientation of the design that it presents itself correctly when viewed from inside the media disc information sheet through the body layer 121.
• the designation R 24 indicates that the right hand side of the first printed design is to the right in Fig. 5, and L 24 indicates that the left hand side of the first printed design is to the left in Fig. 5.
• the white pigment is dense and can e.g. be of titanium dioxide or another white pigment like zinc white, and the two layers prevent colour or shades from the first printed design to be seen from outside the media disc information sheet.
• a second printed design 28 is applied on the barrier layer 27 with such an orientation of the design that it presents itself correctly when viewed from outside the media disc information sheet.
• the designation R 2S indicates that the right hand side of the first printed design is to the left in Fig. 5, and L 28 indicates that the left hand side of the first printed design is to the right in Fig. 5.
• a transparent cover layer 29 is provided on top of the second printed design for wear protection of the printed layer.
• the cover layer may be a lacquer or a thermally applied film of a thermoplastic polymer, such as polyolefins, ethylene, propylene, polyacryls, polyesters, polyure- thanes, vinyl acetate polymers, or mixtures of two or more of these.
• a layer of adhesive 30 is provided on the inner side 122 of body layer 121.
• the adhesive may be of e.g. pressure-sensitive type, such as a material having a polymer as a principal constituent, like acrylic type polymers, block copolymers, styrene butadiene rubbers, natural or recovered rubbers, random ethylene and vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene vinyl acrylic terpolymers, polyisobutylene polyvinylethers etc.
• Other types of adhesive may be used, like adhesives based on dispersions in organic solvents or in water. (Meth)acrylate esters can be part of such pressure-sensitive adhesive.
• the layer of adhesive 30 is covered with a polymeric-based or paper-based peel-off layer 31 that may have a silicone release layer on the surface facing the adhesive.
• FIG. 6 A second embodiment of the media disc information sheet 6 is illustrated in Fig. 6.
• the inner side 122 is not pro- vided with an adhesive layer.
• This embodiment is suitable when the cover member of the container is provided with adhesive on the outer surfaces, or when the media disc information sheet 6 is joined with the outer surface of the cover member via heat bonding.
• this embodiment of sheet 6 is also suitable when the adhesive is applied to the inner side 122 in connection with mounting sheet 6 on the cover member.
• the barrier layer is a single layer 32 of opaque or coloured polymer.
• the barrier layer may be surface treated for readily acceptance of print colours, such as corona treated or lacquer treated.
• the second printed design 28 forms the outer surface of sheet 6.
• the barrier layer is composed of layer 32 positioned in between the two printed layers 25 and 26.
• the first printed design can be viewed through the transparent material of the cover member 1 and the transparent body layer 121, as illustrated with arrow A in Fig. 8, and the second printed design can be viewed from the outside of the container as illustrated by arrow B.
• FIG. 9 One example of a second printed design 28 is illustrated in Fig. 9, and the corresponding first printed design 24 is illustrated in Fig. 10.
• the two printed designs are made with see-through areas 33-37 where the transparent body layer is free from print.
• One see-through area in the first printed design corresponds to a mirrored see-through area in the second printed design, and the printing is performed in such a man- ner that the corresponding mutually mirrored see-through areas register with one another.
• the see-through areas may provide the finished media disc storage container with an eye-catching appearance where the see- through areas follow the contours of the objects depicted in at least one of the printed designs, typically the second printed design 28.
• the see- through areas can also follow the contour of letters in printed text forming part of the first and/or second printed design.
• the first printed design 24 and the second printed design 28 are preferably printed using CMYK colour printing technology.
• CMYK colour printing technology This is well- known print technology providing full-colour prints based on four subsequent printings in the colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black, respectively.
• RGB technology RGB technology
• the CMYK printing is preferred because it provides the best quality in the printed designs.
• CMYK printing can be performed as letter print, serigraphic print, flexographic print or offset print, and offset printing is preferred due to the high quality in the printed graphics.
• the barrier layer is a printed layer it is preferably a serigraphic printed layer. It is of course possible to perform the first printed design by e.g. letter print, the barrier layer as serigraphic print and the second printed design as offset print and this could in some instances be economically favourable, but preferably both printed designs are offset printed. It is also possible to print the barrier layer by offset printing and to obtain the desired separation of the images by printing e.g. four or five layers of white in the barrier layer.
• the barrier layer can include a layer of opaque polymer material. The polymer or plastic layer can be made opaque by tinting with black or colouring in other colours than black. Details of the various abovementioned embodiments can, within the scope of the claims, be combined as will be realized by the skilled person.
• the cover member may be provided with a sheet on both sides.
• the groove 23 at the side wall may for example be provided in relation to the embodiment provided with a sheet on the inside of the cover member, for taking up the edge of the sheet in the groove.

Landscapes

• Packaging For Recording Disks (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=37889160

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2006
  • 2006-09-22 US US12/067,101 patent/US20100230305A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-09-22 WO PCT/DK2006/050046 patent/WO2007033682A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2006-09-22 CA CA002622791A patent/CA2622791A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-09-22 CN CN2006800389761A patent/CN101292298B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-09-22 EP EP06791483A patent/EP1929478A2/de not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events