IE922178A1 - Jacket for computer magnetic disk memory - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer magnetic disk jacket for a floppy disk. A paper sheet (12) has a thermoplastic, synthetic resin layer (14) sprayed or otherwise bonded on its interior surface. An inner liner (16) is heat sealed to the thermoplastic layer (14) for protectively engaging the rotating magnetic disk (40) and forms a laminate. The laminate is folded onto itself around the magnetic disk (40) to form an envelope-like jacket (10). The thermoplastic resin (14) bonds edge flaps (18, 20, 22) to hold the laminate closed. The resin (14) has pigmentation to make the jacket (10) sufficiently opaque that it can be detected by optical detectors in some disk drives. The exterior surface of the jacket may be printed upon and is sufficiently thin that it may be folded in a magazine. Manually peelable closure panels (50, 52) may be placed over the disk access apertures (24, 30) for protection and binder tabs (82) may be integrally formed or adhered to the jacket to permit it to be bound in magazines.

Description

TITLE: JACKET FOR COMPUTER MAGNETIC DISK MEMORY Technical Field This invention relates generally to magnetic disk data storage devices for digital computers, such as the currently conventional 5 1/4 inch disk, and more particularly relates to a protective jacket which permanently retains the magnetic medium during use.

Background Art The floppy disk utilized for magnetic computer 10 data storage has been widely adopted because it holds a large quantity of data, is easily handled, and is inexpensive. Conventionally, the thin, flexible, magnetic medium disk is held in a protective outer jacket made of a strong, bulky, and stiff synthetic resin sheet material for providing a protective, secure, permanent memory medium. The protective outer jacket has an inner liner attached to its interior wall surfaces for minimizing friction with the magnetic disk, minimizing accumulation of static IE 922178 electrical charge and cleaning and maintaining lubricant on the disk surface. Patent 3,987,900 shows a protective jacket for a disk.

The conventional floppy disk jacket is made of a 5 heavy gauge PVC sheet material and works well protecting the valuable data at a very inexpensive cost. Such floppy disks, however, require special mailing envelopes because significant bending or other mechanical distortion of the conventional floppy disk exceeds the elastic limits of the PVC jacket causing a permanent crease or crimp in the jacket material, rendering the disk inoperable.

With the conventional floppy disks, printed subject matter is ordinarily affixed to the exterior surface of the jacket by first printing it upon an adhesive label and then adhering the label to the jacket. This system greatly limits the size of the printed subject matter because the disk access apertures formed thr< jh the protective jacket cannot be covered by an adhesive label and made inaccessible.

Some prior art workers have developed printing processes for printing directly upon the PVC jacket, but these processes are very, very expensive.

If floppy disks could be mechanically distorted by substantial bending and spindling and yet suffer no damage, they could be put to additional uses which are not now practical.

Accordingly, it is a purpose and feature of the present invention to provide a floppy disk which is constructed so that it can withstand substantial folding, bending, and spindling. Such a construction feature permits floppy disks to be mailed without requiring external protective special mailing envelopes and also permits them to be distributed, for example, in bound magazines or other periodicals.

It is a further purpose and feature of the present invention to provide a floppy disk of even substantially lower cost, sufficiently low to make it attractive for very large volume free distributions, comparable to the cost per person for advertising.

A further feature and purpose of the present invention is to provide a floppy disk upon which low cost, conventional printing processes may be used to apply printed messages.

Finally, it is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a floppy disk jacket which is substantially more biodegradable and therefore more environmentally responsible than the conventional floppy disk jacket.

Brief Disclosure Of Invention The invention is a jacket for a computer magnetic disk. The jacket has a paper sheet folded onto itself to form an envelope-like jacket enclosing the magnetic disk. An interior conventional liner is attached within the jacket and engages the disk. A bonding agent, preferable a thermoplastic film, is coated upon the interior surface of the paper. The bonding agent bonds to the exterior surface of the inner liner to retain it in position and also bonds the peripheral edges of the folded paper sheet. This forms a laminate having disk access apertures. Preferably, the film coating is sufficiently opaque to activate an optical sensor conventionally associated with some disk drives and one or more manually peelable closure panels are releasably adhered to the exterior of the laminate to protectively cover the disk access apertures. Detachable edge tabs may be provided for binding the floppy disk within a magazine or other periodical.

Brief Description Of Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a floppy disk jacket embodying the present invention before receiving the magnetic disk and being folded and bonded into its final configuration.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the embodiment of Fig. 1 after fabrication is completed.

Figs. 3-7 are views in perspective of alternative embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of an alternative 20 unfolded embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 8 folded and bonded to form an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a view in perspective illustrating the 25 attachment of a preferred embodiment of the invention in a periodical.

In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake 0 of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific terms so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

Detailed Description The magnetic sheet-like medium from which the magnetic disk memories are constructed and which are used in floppy disks, are extremely flexible so that they can withstand substantial bending distortion and yet, when returned to their planar configuration, are still operable. The limitation on the permitted degree of bend or spindle with conventional floppy disks arises because of the characteristics of the floppy disk jacket. Because of the characteristics of the material which is used to construct the jacket and because of its thickness, any significant bending of the jacket permanently distorts it forming a permanent crease which then is retained by the jacket, either making the disk completely inoperable or rendering it unreliable.

Fig. 1 illustrates the construction of the preferred embodiment of the invention. It shows the cut-out and assembled magnetic disk jacket blank 10 before insertion of a magnetic disk and before folding and bonding of the blank 10 into a fabricated floppy disk. The preferred jacket has a paper sheet 12 which extends to the entire periphery of the blank 10. This paper may, for example, be bleached paper of approximately 65 grams per square meter. The interior surface of the paper sheet 12 is coated with bonding agent, such as a 40 grams per square meter, low density polyethylene film 14. The film 14 is shown with a portion removed to reveal the underlying paper sheet 12 for illustration purposes, but extends preferably to the entire periphery of the paper sheet 12. It may be manufactured by any of a variety of known techniques for making such coated paper. The laminate of paper 12 and film 14 may be made over a range of thicknesses. It must be sufficiently stiff and rigid that it will activate the mechanical sensing mechanism which engage floppy disks on some conventional computer disk drives. The paper may, for example, be 2-10 mils thick. However, it must not be so thick that it loses its flexibility and suffers from the detrimental effects of the conventional PVC jacket. Another alternative embodiment utilizes a 50 gram per square meter bleached paper with 36 grams per square meter of Surlyn thermoplastic film coating.

An inner liner 16 is bonded to the bonding agent film 14. Although Fig. 1 illustrates a portion of the inner liner removed to reveal the underlying layers, it extends over the entire interior surface of the jacket 10, except that it does not extend over the three foldable flaps 18, 20, and 22.

The inner liner is bonded to the bonding agent film, preferably by utilizing a thermoplastic film 14 and applying heat in the conventional manner over the entire interfacing surfaces to soften and melt the thermoplastic layer so that when it is then permitted to cool it will be bonded to the inner liner.

Alternatively, pliable, flexible adhesive compounds may be utilized in place of the bonding agent layer 14 Ί to accomplish the bonding for assembling the preferred embodiment of Fig. 1.

The conventional disk access apertures are formed through the entire three layer laminate. These include a pair of head window apertures 24 and 26, a pair of central hole apertures 28 and 30, a pair of index hole apertures 32 and 34, and a write control notch aperture 36. The write control notch may, alternatively, be omitted as it sometimes is on conventional disks on which no writing is anticipated.

In order to form or construct a floppy disk using this jacket, a conventional magnetic disk is positioned upon the inner liner coaxially with the central hole aperture 30 and the three layer laminate comprising the paper sheet 12, bonding agent film 14, and inner liner 16 is folded onto itself along the fold line 38.

The foldable flaps 18, 20, and 22 are then folded over and the thermoplastic resin film is heated to weld the flaps to the opposite paper exterior surface.

Alternatively, flexible, pliable adhesive bonding agents may be utilized to accomplish the same purpose. Such an adhesive must not destroy the flexibility of the jacket so that it will not be strained beyond its elastic limit when the disk is bent to the degree permitted by the present invention.

Thus, the assembled floppy disk jacket 14 appears as illustrated in Fig. 2 with the magnetic disk 40 secured within the jacket 10.

The bonding agent layer 14 which is coated on the 0 paper sheet 12 serves not only to bond the paper sheet to the inner liner 16, but also as a moisture barrier protecting the interior of the floppy disk 10. This is particularly useful when using the jacket as the mailing envelope.

It is also desirable to incorporate a 5 pigmentation, preferably black, into the bonding agent film 14 because paper itself is somewhat translucent. The black pigmentation should make the jacket 10 sufficiently opaque that it will activate a disk drive optical sensor conventionally used on some computer disk drives. The quantity of opacity required is described in ANSI specification X3-162-1988. Since the chemistry of coloring such film is well known in the art, it is not described further. Alternatively, black or other opaque ink may be applied upon the surface of the paper to accomplish the same result.

Because the exposed exterior surface of the jacket 10 is paper, it can be printed upon using conventional printing techniques which are considerably less expensive than printing on PVC or other synthetic resins. Conventional printing produces a higher quality image at substantially less cost. Thus, commercial messages or advertising, instructions or supplemental information or graphical illustrations may be printed on the exterior surface of the jacket. Furthermore, because the principal bulk of the jacket is paper, it is considerably more biodegradable than 100% synthetic resin products.

In order to provide additional but temporary protection for the magnetic disk upon which the data 0 is stored, it is desirable to provide a cover over each of the disk access apertures. The covers not only protect the underlying disk and the conventional holes through it, but they also provide additional printable surfaces upon which advertising messages or addresses may be printed. However, it is also necessary that such a protective cover over the disk access apertures be easily removable.

Fig. 3 illustrates a pair of manually peelable closure panels 50 and 52 which are releasably adhered to the paper exterior of the laminate and protectively cover the central hole and head window respectively.

It is desirable that each peelable closure panel have a peripheral band 54 of releasable adhesive and an interior portion, referred to as an adhesive mask 56, which is in registration with and extends outwardly of each of the disk access apertures to prevent the peelable panel from adhering to the magnetic disk. The peelable panels 52 and 54 are illustrated in Fig. 3 partially peeled back to reveal their underside and to reveal the central aperture 30 and head window 24.

Single discrete peelable closure panels preferably cover the disk access apertures on both sides of the jacket 10 and may also be provided to cover the write control notch 36.

Fig. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the disk access apertures 60 and 62 are formed by perforations through the three layer laminate in a pattern which forms unitary, removable aperture covering closure panels 64 and 66, visible in Fig. 4, and similar closure panels on the opposite side of the floppy disk. Upon receipt of the embodiment of Fig. 4, the user simply inserts a thin, flat, stiff object under the perforations and peels it back. The embodiment of Fig. 4 is not preferred, however, because, although it is the least expensive to manufacture, it is more difficult to remove closure panels and it does not conveniently permit the data to be magnetically recorded on the disk after the magnetic disk is sealed within the outer jacket.

Fig. 5 illustrates yet another alternative embodiment in which the closure panel covers substantially the entirety of both major sides of the jacket 10. This single closure panel 72 may be formed as a single sheet with a releasable adhesive which is folded along a top fold line 74 to cover the jacket 10. A commercial message and/or an address may be preprinted upon this closure panel. The user then simply peels up the corners, as illustrated in Fig. 5, to remove the exterior closure panel 72 and permit use of the floppy disk 70.

One of the principal advantages of the present invention is that it permits substantial bending and distortion of the floppy disk without any permanent injury to it. This permits it to be inserted in magazines or other periodicals which are often rolled or folded during mailing or other distribution. When inserted in magazines, the tremendous weight of stacks of magazines will not permanently deform and pinch together the edge bends of the jacket.

A further advantage of the present invention is that a removable binding tab may be formed upon one of its four edges for binding the floppy disk with the pages of the publication itself.

Fig. 6 illustrates one floppy disk jacket embodying this structure. The floppy disk 80 of Fig. 6 has a removable closure panel releasably adhered over both major surfaces by means of a releasable adhesive in the manner described in connection with Fig. 5. However, this exterior closure panel also has an extension portion 82 which extends outwardly beyond the normal floppy disk edge 84. This outwardly extending, binding tab 82 is simply bound into the periodical in the same manner as the subscription and advertising cards commonly are currently bound in magazines. Alternatively, of course, the binder tab can bear the same releasable adhesive and be adhered to a page of the magazine. Although the tab can be cut away with a pair of scissors, it is preferred that a series of perforations be formed along the edge 84 so that the disk may be removed from the magazine in the same manner as conventional reader service cards are commonly removed in magazines.

As an alternative, illustrated in Fig. 7, a binder tab 92 may be adhered by a releasable adhesive to the floppy disk jacket 94 so that the reader merely peels it away and out of the magazine.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate yet another alternative structure for providing a binder tab. It has a floppy disk jacket 100 like that illustrated in Fig. 1, with the exception that either the entire laminate, the coated paper or just the paper sheet extends outwardly beyond the flap 120 to form a binder tab 122. The Fig. 8 embodiment is assembled as described in connection with the embodiment of Fig. 1, except that the binder tab 122 may be folded outwardly for binding with the pages of the periodical. Alternatively, as illustrated in Fig. 9, the binder tab 122 may be even longer and may extend across the back surface of the floppy disk 100 to not only protect the disk access apertures, but also form an alternative binder tab 124, illustrated in phantom.

The floppy disk jacket embodying the invention has been found not only to provide the advantages which have been described above, but upon experimentation and testing an additional advantage was discovered. Because a magnetic disk is spinning rapidly and sliding within a loose and contoured envelope, it has a small component of oscillating motion perpendicularly to its surface. This motion is termed modulation and under conventional ANSI specification, a maximum of 0.5 modulation is permitted. Testing of the disk embodying the present invention revealed an average modulation of 0.23, considerably better than the ANSI specification.

Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention provides a floppy disk jacket which is better for some purposes than a conventional disk. It is considerably less expensive to construct because it is constructed of considerably less expensive materials. Better quality images may be printed upon it at lower costs than may be printed on conventional disk jackets. It is sufficiently thin and flexible that it may be inserted in periodicals or subjected to other bending conditions without damage, and, in effect, it forms its own envelope permitting it to be mailed without additional packaging.

Fig. 10 illustrates a floppy disk 130 embodying the present invention bound in a rolled up magazine 132 in the manner contemplated with the present invention.

While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in detail, it is to be understood that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims.

Claims (13)

1. A jacket for a computer magnetic disk, the jacket comprising: (a) a paper sheet folded onto itself to form an envelope-like jacket enclosing the disk; 5 (b) a inner liner within the jacket and engaging the disk; and (c) a bonding agent coated upon the interior surface of the paper and bonding the inner liner and the peripheral edges of the folded paper 10 sheet, the paper and the inner liner forming a laminate having disk access apertures.

2. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein the bonding layer is a thermoplastic film coating upon the 15 paper.

3. A jacket in accordance with claim 2 wherein the film coating is sufficiently opaque to activate a disk drive optical sensor.

4. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein the bonding layer is a flexible adhesive.

5. A jacket in accordance with claim 4 wherein the film coating is sufficiently opaque to activate a disk drive optical sensor. 5

6. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein a manually peelable closure panel is releasably adhered to the exterior of the laminate to protectively cover at least one of said apertures, said peelable panel having an adhesive mask region in registration with 10 and extending outward of said apertures to prevent said peelable panel from adhering to the floppy disk.

7. A jacket in accordance with claim 6 wherein said closure panel covers substantially the entirety of 15 both major sides of the laminate.

8. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein a binder tab is attached to said jacket and extends outward of at least one of its edges for binding with 20 the pages of a publication.

9. A jacket in accordance with claim 8 wherein said binder tab is a unitary portion of said paper sheet extending from said bonded laminate.

10. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein said apertures are formed by perforations in a pattern forming unitary, removable aperture covers.

11. A jacket in accordance with claim 1 wherein said paper has a thickness substantially within the range of 2 to 10 mils. 5

12. A jacket in accordance with claim 3 wherein the film coated paper is substantially within the range of 5 point to 8 point.

13. A jacket for a computer magnetic disk substantially as described herein with reference to and shown in the accompanying drawings.