GB2261209A

GB2261209A - A compact disc storage rack

Info

Publication number: GB2261209A
Application number: GB9123612A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tat Chi Chow
Original assignee: SUN HING AUDIO EQUIPMENT MFY L; Sun Hing Audio Equipment Mfy Ltd
Current assignee: SUN HING AUDIO EQUIPMENT MFY L; Sun Hing Audio Equipment Mfy Ltd
Priority date: 1991-11-05
Filing date: 1991-11-05
Publication date: 1993-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-05
Also published as: GB9123612D0; GB2261209B

Abstract

A CD storage rack of the flipper type capable of accommodating both single and double CD cases comprises a tray 10 and a plurality of pivotable members 11 mounted transversely therein for pivotal motion between a forwardly inclined and a rearwardly inclined position. Each pivotable member 11 comprises a base and two side walls 15, 16 defining a space for receiving a small CD case, there being a gap at each end of at least one side wall 15, 16. A double CD case may be accommodated by two adjacent pivotable members 11. The height and separation of the walls 15, 16 is such that a double CD case may be opened while in the rack. Preferably, the side walls 15, 16 of adjacent pivotable members 11 include cut away portions such that they may overlap when in an inclined position. <IMAGE>

Description

A Compact Disc Storage Rack This invention relates to storage racks for compact discs and in particular to racks comprising a tray and a plurality of pivotable members mounted therein, each of which may hold a compact disc. Such racks are particularly convenient since the compact discs may be flipped through, in much the same way as cards in a card-index system, and an appropriate selection made.

With the recent growth in popularity of the compact disc (CD), many racks of the type described above, hereinafter "flipper racks", have appeared on the market. A typical flipper rack comprises a tray and a plurality of pivotable members mounted therein for pivotal motion about axes transverse to the tray, each pivotable member including a base, first and second end plates and first and second side walls defining a box-like structure for receiving a CD case.

Typically, the end plates of each pivotable member are extended upwards to form levers for flipping the pivotable member about its pivotal axis.

A major disadvantage of such flipper racks, however, is that they are only capable of holding single CD cases and the consumer is therefore unable to store his double CD cases in a flipper rack and must seek another solution to the problem of storing and conveniently selecting from his double CDs.

In GB-A-2244206, a CD rack is disclosed which seeks to present a solution to the above problem in that a flipper rack is provided which is capable of accommodating both single and double CD cases. This invention relates to improvements in such CD racks.

Whilst the CD racks of GB-A-2244206 are extremely useful in allowing both single and double CD cases to be stored in an arbitrary order, it is considered by the present inventor that their ease of use could be considerably enhanced if they were to permit CD cases to be opened while resting in the rack. In fact, the CD rack described in GB-A-2244206 does permit single CD cases to be opened in situ, but the same is not true of double CD cases.

This invention seeks to provide an improvement to the above rack in that a flipper rack is provided which permits double CD cases resting therein to be opened.

Thus, according to the invention there is provided a storage rack for single and double CD cases comprising a tray and a plurality of elongate pivotable members, each mounted transversely therein for pivotal motion about an axis transverse to the tray and including a base plate and first and second side walls defining a space for receiving a CD case, characterised in that the said base plate projects beyond both ends of at least one of the said side walls, the height and separation of the said side walls being such that opening of double CD cases resting in the rack does not require deformation of the pivotable members.

Advantageously, the said base plate projects beyond both ends of each of the said side walls.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the said height is substantially 9.3 mm, the said separation is substantially 0.8 mm greater than the thickness of a single CD case and the interior upper edges of the said side walls are truncated.

Preferably, each pivotable member also includes first and second upstanding end plates adjacent either end of the base plate. One or both of the said end plates may comprise a lever operable to pivot the said pivotable member about its axis. Preferably, the lever consists of a shaped portion of the end plate remote from the base plate, which portion may be provided with serrations to improve the grip between the lever and a user's fingers.

It is preferred that the spacings between the pivot axes of adjacent pivotable members are substantially equal.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the side walls of the pivotable members include cut away portions, with the remaining portions of the first and second side wall of one pivotable member corresponding respectively to cut away portions of the second and first side wall of the nearer adjacent pivotable member.

Normally, the tray comprises a base having first and second lateral walls transversely opposing one another and between which the pivotable members are located. The pivotable members may include a peg projecting from each end for engagement with holes or recesses in the lateral walls.

Preferably, the tray also includes front and rear inclined walls respectively for supporting the front and rear pivotable members. Most preferably each inclined wall comprises a lower region inclined at a relatively small angle and an upper region inclined at a relatively large angle.

The storage rack according to this invention, along with the manner in which it may be used for storing both single and double CD cases and permitting them to be opened will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: fig. la is a schematic representation of a single CD case; fig. lb is a schematic representation of a double CD case; fig. 2 is a cut away illustration of a storage rack according to GB-A-2244206, containing both single and double CD cases; fig. 3 illustrates a pivotable member for use therein; fig. 4-7 schematically illustrate a double CD case held in the rack of fig. 2; fig. 8 shows a second storage rack according to GB-A-2244206; figs. 9-11 show a pivotable member of the rack of fig. 8; fig. 12 schematically illustrates a double CD case held in the rack of fig. 8;; fig. 13 schematically illustrates an attempt to open a double CD case stored within a rack similar to that of fig. 2; figs. 14a and 14b are schematic illustrations whose purpose is explained below; and fig. 15 schematically illustrates a CD storage rack according to the present invention, with an opened double CD case stored therein.

Figs. la and Ib respectively illustrate a single (1) and a double (2) CD case. Each case has a side label (3) and a front cover (4). The double CD case (2) has a slot (5) at its end remote from the side label (3), which divides the end into two bars (6) of substantially the same width as the end (7) of a single CD case. At each end of the slot (5) is an end wall (8).

Referring now to fig. 2, there is shown a storage rack comprising a tray (10) and a plurality of elongate pivotable members (11) each mounted transversely therein for pivotal motion about an axis transverse to the tray. In the particular embodiment shown in fig. 2, the tray (10) includes lateral walls (12) and front (13) and rear (not shown) inclined walls. The front inclined wall (i3) is shown supporting the first pivotable member, and the storage rack is illustrated as holding a variety of single (1) and double (2) CD cases.

The pivotable member (11) is shown in fig. 3 and comprises a base plate (14) and first (15) and second (16) side walls.

As can be seen from the figure, the base plate (14) projects beyond both ends of each of the side walls (15, 16), and therefore defines a gap (17) at each end of each side wall (15, 16). The pivotable member of fig. 3 also includes first and second upstanding end plates (19), both of which include a rounded portion (18) forming a lever operable to pivot the member about its axis, and a peg (20) projecting from each end for pivotal engagement with a hole or recess in a lateral wall (12) of the tray (10).

When used to store a single CD case (1), the side walls (15, 16) and base plate (14) of the pivotable member of fig. 3 define a space for receiving an end (7) of the case (1), as is customary in flipper type CD racks.

Fig. 4 and 5 respectively show a front and side view of a double CD case (2) held in the rack of fig. 2. As can be seen from fig. 4, the end wall (8) of the slot (5) in the double CD case (2) locates in the gap (17) between the side walls (15; 16) and the end plates (19) of two adjacent pivotable members (11). In this way, each of the bars (6) of the double CD case (2) is retained in much the same way as a single CD case (1). This is shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 6 and 7 show side views of a double CD case (2) held in the rack of fig. 2 in an inclined position and an upright position respectively. As the angle of inclination shown in fig. 6 is that at which the end plates (19) of adjacent pivotable members (11) become contiguous then it can be seen that the perpendicular distance between the inner surfaces of the two outermost side walls (15', 16') must be equal to at least the maximum width of a double CD case (2).

Similarly, from fig. 7 it can be seen that the perpendicular distance between the outer surfaces of the two innermost side walls (15", 16") must be, in the upright position, equal to at most the minimum width of the slot (5).

In the case where gaps (17) are provided in only one side wall (15, 16) of each pivotal member (11), the pivotal members (11) are alternatively arranged in such a way that adjacent side walls (15; 16) of adjacent pivotal members (11) are either both provided with gaps (17) or both free of gaps. In this way, double CD cases (2) may still be accommodated, but only in half as many positions.

Fig. 8 shows a second storage rack. Similar parts in figs.

2 and 8 are designated with the same reference numerals.

The principal difference between the second and first racks is that the side walls (15, 16) of the second rack include cut away portions with the remaining portions of the first (15) and second (16) side walls of one pivotable member corresponding respectively with cut away portions of the second (16) and first (15) side walls of the nearer adjacent pivotable member. This allows the side walls (15, 16) of adjacent pivotable members to overlap when in an inclined position which relaxes the constraints mentioned above in relation to the dimensions of the first rack.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 respectively show plan, end and side views of the second pivotable member (11'). As can be seen, the side walls (15, 16) include cut away portions, with the remaining portions of the first side wall (15) corresponding to the cut away portions of the second side wall (16), and vice versa.

Fig. 12 shows a side view of a double CD case (2) when held in an inclined position in the second rack. The two innermost side walls (15a, 16a) can clearly be seen overlapping one another.

Fig. 13 shows a side view of the rearward end of a rack similar to that of fig. 2, with a double CD case (2) lying against the rear inclined wall (32). Since the double CD case inclines at a slightly larger angle than the pivotable members, both being supported by the rear inclined wall, the forward lower corner of the case is in contact with the forward side wall (15) of its respective pivotable member.

An attempt to open the double CD case door will result in its rearward lower corner (33) jamming against the rearward side wall (16) of the pivotable member and its forward edge (34) jamming against the forward side wall (15) of the pivotable member.

Of course, if the pivotable members (11) were capable of inclining further, as shown in fig. 14a, the double CD case (2) would be able to open. However, in this situation the pivotable members (11), when in an upright position as shown in fig. 14b, would be spaced too far apart to accommodate a double CD case.

It will be appreciated that the problem discussed above does not arise in the case of single CD cases since, at the hinge (31), the single CD case door consists only of relatively thin side pieces, capable of passing through the gaps (17) at the ends of the side walls (15, 16).

Fig. 15 shows a storage rack according to the invention in which a double CD case may be opened without deformation of the pivotable members. There are four principal features embodied in this rack, namely: (i) the height of the side walls (15, 16) is 9.3 mm; (ii) the spacing between the side walls (15, 16) of each pivotable member is 0.8 mm greater than the width of a standard single CD case (1); (iii) the interior upper edges (44, 45) of the side walls (15, 16) are rounded off or otherwise truncated; and (iv) the inclined wall (32) consists of a lower region (42) inclined at a relatively small angle (about 150) and an upper region (40) inclined at a relatively large angle (about 220).

A double CD case (2) is shown lying against the upper region (40) of the inclined wall (32). This extra inclination of the double CD case (2) is permitted firstly by a slightly increased separation of the side walls (15, 16) and secondly by the fact that, with the door (30) opened about its hinge (31), the lower forward corners of the case may overlap their respective side wall (15). The overlap is possible since the body of a double CD case (2) consists, in the region near the hinge (31), of two relatively thin side pieces which may pass through the gaps (17) at the ends of the side walls (15, 16).

Thus, opening of the CD case (2) allows the case to increase its angle of inclination. The rounding off of the upper interior edges (44, 45) of the side walls (15, 16) is effected to allow, in combination with the increased clearance associated with increasing inclination, the corner (33) of the door (30) to pass unobstructed.

This embodiment of the invention represents a compromise between adequate support for the CD cases and nonobstruction of the CD case doors.

The invention is, of course, applicable to the type of CD rack illustrated in fig. 8. Suitable dimensions, angles and clearances can be determined by a person skilled in the art.

It will, of course, be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and that modifications of detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A storage rack for CD cases comprising a tray and a plurality of elongate pivotable members, each mounted transversely therein for pivotal motion about an axis transverse to the tray and including a base plate and first and second side walls defining a space for receiving a CD case, characterised in that the said base plate extends beyond both ends of at least one of the said side walls, the height and separation of the said side walls being such that opening of double CD cases resting in the rack does not require deformation of the pivotable members.

2. A rack according to claim 1 wherein the said height is substantially 9.3 mm.

3. A rack according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the said separation is substantially 0.8 mm greater than the thickness of a single CD case.

4. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the interior upper edges of the said side walls are truncated.

5. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the said base plate extends beyond both ends of each of the said side walls.

6. A rack according to any preceding claim, wherein each pivotable member further includes first and second upstanding end plates adjacent either end of the base plate.

7. A rack according to claim 6 wherein at least one of the said end plates includes a lever operable to pivot the pivotable member about its axis.

8. A rack according to claim 7 wherein the lever consists of a shaped portion of the end plate, remote from the base plate.

9. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the spacings between the pivot axes of adjacent pivotable members are substantially equal.

10. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the side walls of the pivotable members include cut away portions, with the remaining portions of the first and second side walls of one pivotable member corresponding respectively the cut away portions of the second and first side wall of the nearer adjacent pivotable member.

11. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the tray comprises a base having first and second lateral walls transversely opposing one another and between which the pivotable members are located.

12. A rack according to claim 11 wherein the pivotable members include a peg projecting from each end for engagement with holes or recesses in the lateral walls.

13. A rack according to any preceding claim wherein the tray further includes front and rear inclined walls respectively for supporting the front and rear pivotable members.

14. A rack according to claim 13 in which each of the inclined walls comprises a lower region inclined at a relatively small angle and an upper region inclined at a relatively large angle.