GB2094761A - Cassette cases - Google Patents

Abstract

A case comprises a tray and a lid hinged thereto by an interconnecting web of material, the tray 3 having a bottom portion 5 surrounded by a raised ledge 6 on all sides so as to retain an object of a first size within the area defined by said ledge means and resting on said bottom portion, the ledge being surrounded by a frame 7, each corner of which has a multi-faced post 8 whereby an object of a second size may be held in position resting on said ledge 6 and abutting faces 9, and an object of a third size may be held in position resting on said ledge but abutting faces 10. In an alternative construction, the ledge comprises a number of pads distributed around and within said rectangular frame. A transparent sheet may be fastened to the layer 1 to provide a pocket for titles and advertising matter. Padding or cardboard reinforcements may be incorporated. Resilient pads may hold the objects in place. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to cases The present invention relates to cases which are adapted to accommodate objects of generally similar shape but of different dimensions in such a manner that a single object having dimensions representing one of a range may be firmly held against undesired movement once loaded into the case.

One particular example of use is a case which will be able to hold video cassettes of different sizes, but clearly the invention is not limited to such use.

At present there are three main types of video cassettes specifically of the configurations known as V.H.S., Betamax and Philips.

Blank, i.e. unrecorded vassettes are normally sold in a carton or cardboard box which soon suffers damage after repeated use. Consequently when it became conventional to sell pre-recorded video cassette tapes, the suppliers demanded a stronger casing and the so called "library case" was introduced which comprises a base or tray and a lid hinged thereto and also made of the same material, generally a plastics material, the hinge portion comprising a web of a width equal to the combined nested thickness of the base and the lid so that the whole case has the appearance of a book, the hinge constituting the "book" spine.

The cost of such library cases led to the requirement that they be enabled to take more than one size of cassette and it has become usual for them to be able to accommodate cassettes of two different sizes so that only one size of case need be held in stock by the suppliers of pre-recorded video cassette tapes, thus making the operation more commercially viable.

It is an object of the invention, iner alia, to provide such a library case capable of retaining cassettes of three different sizes and according thereto there is provided a case comprising a base or tray and a lid hinged thereto by an interconnecting web of material, wherein the base or tray includes a bottom portion surrounded by a raised ledge means on all sides so as to retain an object of a first size within the area defined by said ledge means and resting on said bottom portion, the ledge means in turn being surrounded by a frame, each corner of which has a multi4aced post inwardly thereof whereby an object of a second size may be held in position resting on said ledge means and abutting those faces of said posts which are opposed in one direction, and an object of a third size may be held in position resting on said ledge means but abutting other faces of said posts and which are opposed in another direction of the case.

Advantageously, the case is of rectangular shape, the ledge means being surrounded by a rectangular frame, said posts each having two free faces, whereby the said opposed faces of said posts are respectively in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the case.

The ledge means may be in the form of a continous single ledge or a number of ledgelike pads.

The hinge web may be formed with a slight curvature so as to enhance the appearance of the "spine" of the library case when in the closed position.

If desired the bottom portions of both the lid and the base or tray and/or selected sides may be reinforced by rigid materials and padding material may be provided between such rigid materials and the inner surface of the bottom portions.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show certain specific embodiments by way of example only and in which:~ Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of case in the open state, Figure 2 shows a section on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, Figure 3 shows an elevation of the rear of the case in the open position, Figure 4 shows a perspective view of another embodiment, Figure 5 shows a section along the line V-V of Fig. 4, Figure 6 shows a detail of a third embodiment, and Figure 7 shows a detail of a modified ledge construction, Referring now to the drawings there is shown therein a case intended for housing video cassette tapes of rectangular shape but of three different sizes, and comprising an outer sheet 1 to which are secured a lid portion 2 and a base or tray portion 3. The lid and the base portions may conveniently be made by vacuum forming a suitable plastics material such as PVC: the outer sheet 1 may be of the same material but of a thicker nature since in use it will form the outer aspects of the case and will therefore atrract most wear.

Between the lid and base portions 2 and 3 the outer sheet 1 forms an interconnecting web 4 which constitutes a hinge and this web 4 may be given a curvilinear configuration as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 so that when the lid is closed upon the base or tray the whole case has the appearance of a book and the web 4 takes on the appearance of a book "spine".

The base or tray 3 comprises a bottom portion 5 surrounded by a continuous raised ledge 6 on all four sides so as to retain an object, such as a video cassette, of a first particular size within the area defined by the ledge 6 and resting on the bottom portion 5.

The ledge 6 itself is surrounded by a rectangular frame 7 each corner of which is pro vided with a post 8 formed in the material thereof, each post being rectangular in crosssection and presenting external faces in the longitudinal and tranverse directions of the case itself. An object, e.g. a video cassette, of a second particular size may be held in position resting on the ledge 6 and abutting the faces 9 of the posts 8 which are opposed in the longitudinal direction of the case and an object, such as a video cassette, of a third particular size may be held in position resting on the ledge 6 and abutting the other faces 10 of said posts 8 which are opposed in the transverse direction of the case.

Thus in the specific field of use for retaining video casettes of three different sizes, the dimensions may be arranged such that the ledge 6 will retain a cassette known as the Betamax configuration resting on the bottom portion 5 and cassettes known respectively as V.H.S. and V2000 (Phillips) configurations can be retained resting on the ledge 6. A V.H.S cassette is longer and slightly narrower than a V2000 (Philips) cassette and therefore will be accommodated resting on the ledge 6 with its transverse faces resting against the faces 10 of the posts 8 opposed in the transvers direction of the case, and a V2000 cassette will be retained in the case resting on the ledge 6 with its end faces resting against the face 9 of the posts 8 opposed in the longitudinal direction of the case.

The lid portion 2 is also provided with a rectangular ledge 11 the face 12 of which abuts the face 13 of the external ledge 14 when the case is closed, the outer flange 15 nesting around the outside of the flange 7 in a sealing position, safely retaining the contents and excluding dust to a substantial degree.

The outer sheet 1 is slightly larger than the lid 2 and base or tray 3, making the case very similar in appearance to a book. The outer face of the sheet 1, as shown in Fig. 3, may be provided with a transparent external skin 16 secured on two or three sides only to the sheet 1 to enable announcement material in the form of a printed sheet to be slipped down between the sheet 1 and the outer skin 16. Such printed material could constitute the title and publishing particulars of the cassette to be housed within the case. The sheet 16 may extend fully over the whole case exterior or only part thereof and if desired, only the spine portion 4 rnay be so covered by the skin 16 to enable a thin strip of material to be inserted in the gap between the sheet 1 and spine 4 to simulate the printing of a book spine.In this case the skin 16 need not cover the whole length of the "spine".

In manufacturing the device, the sheet 1 may be formed from PVC material considerably thicker than the PVC material used in the formation of the lid 2 and tray 3, these latter parts being conveniently made by vacuum forming. The lid and the base or tray may be secured to the outer sking in any desired way e.g. by high-frequency and/or ultrasonic welding.

Whilst the "spine" 4 has been indicated as being of curvilinear nature it will be understood that this is not necessary and the outside configuration can be made flat if desired.

In order to produce an extremely strong library case, reinforcing material may be introduced between the sheet 16 and the lid or base 2 and 3 and such reinforcing material may either be constituted by sheets of thicker plastics material or by other materials such as the material known as "cardboard". Moreover if desired, between such reinforcing material and the outer skin there may be provided padding material e.g. foamed plastics. Additionally, a "frame" of such or similar reinforcing material may be introduced into the hollow formed lid 2 and/or tray 3 to form a vertical stiffening for the frame 7 of the tray 3 and its counterpart member 15 of the lid 2.

This will result in a very strong case which would avoid or minimise damage if the case were dropped on the floor and inadvertently stood upon. Alternatively selected sides only may be provided with reinforced strips. Such a reinforced contruction would obviously be considerably more expensive in manufacture than that referred to specifically in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3 above and would therefore only be adopted on what may be referred to as a "luxury" edition of the case.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, the case therein shown is basically similar to that of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and therefore like reference numerals refer to like parts.

However, in this embodiment the continuous ledge 6 of Figs. 1 and 2 is replaced by ledge-like pads 18 dimensionally representing parts of that continuous ledge. Therefore the pads 18 also will retain a "Betamax" cassette as does the ledge 6. These pads are distributed around and within the rectangular frame 7 with any desired spacing. Although not so shown, the or some of the pads may be located in the corners beneath the posts 8 and thus each would extend in two directions.

To impart additional rigidity, the external ledge 14 has an increased thickness as shown at 19, the external ledge of the lid being similarly thickened at 30 to match when the case is closed. Such thickness may be obtained by inserting a stiffening strip.

Moreover, the lid 2 has a pair of buffers or spacers 21 which abut the cassette on closure of the case to assist in retention of the cassette and prevent movement thereof in the case. If desired these buffers or spacers could be so positioned and dimensioned as to engage in the recesses in the cassette spools but in that event it would be necessary to insert the cassette in the case so that those spool recesses were uppermost before the lid was closed.

In a modification shown in Fig. 6, the lid may be provided with pads for cassette-retention purposes and formed as bubbles during vacuum-forming of the lid portion. Such pads may be of any desired shape e.g. circularly formed as shown at 22 or rectangular as shown dotted at 23. They are spaced and dimensioned as appropriate to apply maximum pressure to the cassette on closing the case, but not to cause separation of the base and the lid when closed.

If desired, the opposing ledges of the lid and tray may be shapd to interlock as shown in Fig. 7 in cross-section, the ledges 14 of the tray having a recess 24 and the ledge 11 of the lid having an interfitting projection 25 to fit thereinto, the drawing showing the parts just short of closure.

This shaping of the ledges gives additional strength so that, with the thickened ledge portions 19 and 20, the total strength is such that the case laid flat on the floor could even be stood upon without collapsing.

If desired the two bubbles 22,23 could be replaced by a single central bubble or pad of any desired shape and dimensions.

The outer dimensions of the case may be as desired.

For ease of insertion and withdrawal of cassettes or other objects from and into the case there are provided finger cut-outs 17 in the base or tray.

It will be apparent that the invention has been described only by way of example and that various modifications may be made to the specific details referred to without in any way departing from its scope. For example, the ase may be made by injection moulding techniques using polypropylene as the injection material. Also it will be clear that although the three different types of cases that can be accommodated have been exemplified as V.H.S., Betamax and V2000 (Philips), these types have been mentioned purely for convenience and any other case may be provided for, as found necessary or desirable.

Claims (11)

1. A case comprising a base or tray and a lid hinged thereto by an interconnecting web of material, in which the base or tray includes a bottom portion surrounded by a raised ledge means on all sides so as to retain an object of a first size within the area defined by said ledge means and resting on said bottom portion, the ledge means in turn being surrounded by a frame and each corner of which has a multi4aced post inwardly thereof whereby an object of a second size may be held in position resting on said ledge means and abutting those faces of said posts which are opposed in one direction, and an object of a third size may be held in position resting on said ledge means but abutting other faces of said posts and which are opposed in nother direction.

2. A case as claimed in Claim 1, which is of rectangular shape, the ledge means being surrounded by a rectangular frame, said posts each having two free faces whereby the said opposed faces of said posts are respectively in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the case.

3. A case as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the ledge means comprises a number of ledge-like pads distributed around and within said rectangular frame.

4. A case as claimed in Claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein said interconnecting web is formed with a slight curvature which is convex when the case is closed.

5. A case as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the bottom portions of both the lid and the base or tray and/or selected sides are reinforced by rigid materials.

6. A case as claimed in Claim 4, 5, wherein padding material is provided between the rigid reinforcing material and the inner surface of at least one bottom portion.

7. A case as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the inner surface of the bottom portion of the lid is provided with spacer or buffering means to contact the object when the case is closed.

8. A case as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the spacer or buffer means comprises one or more pads or bubbles formed in the material of the bottom portion itself.

9. A case substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A case substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A case substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

1 2. A case substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings.