WO2012114115A1

WO2012114115A1 - Improvements in recorded media packaging covers

Info

Publication number: WO2012114115A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/050418
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robin Benjamin TAYLOR
Original assignee: Bp Media Ltd
Priority date: 2011-02-24
Filing date: 2012-02-23
Publication date: 2012-08-30
Also published as: GB201103180D0

Abstract

There is provided a cover for an item of recorded media packaging comprising a sheet having two scores defining two main panels separated by a hinging section, the hinging section being hinged to each panel by a respective score, and a method of making the same.

Description

Improvements In Recorded Media Packaging Covers

The present invention relates to a cover for an item of recorded media packaging.

Items of recorded media are routinely packaged in plastic cases. Owing to the need to provide information regarding the contents of the case such packages are normally provided with a sheet of paper or card bearing printed information.

In some instances the plastic cases for storing recorded media are provided with a transparent plastic sleeve to hold a sheet of paper.

In other instances sheets of paper or card has been adhered to a plastic case.

US2007181454 defines an example of such an arrangement. Although the arrangement of US2007181454 represents an improvement over providing information relating to the contents of the case by holding a sheet of paper in a transparent sleeve, it has several drawbacks.

Notably the case can be resistant to opening owing to the energy required to flex the piece of card. Furthermore the card can be come unsightly over time owing to spoiling of its external surface at its hinges caused by the stress of the card hinging. Furthermore, a case employing the cover of US2007181454 cannot be used with certain types of security tag, notably 'red tags'.

The present invention seeks to address these issues.

According to the present invention there is provided a cover for an item of recorded media packaging comprising a sheet having two scores defining two main panels separated by a hinging section, the hinging section being hinged to each panel by a respective score. By forming a hinge from a score instead of a crease the hinge may be more easily operated as the thickness of the material at the hinging point is reduced. Furthermore, use of a score inhibits any aesthetic degradation of the cover along the line of the hinge.

Preferably the hinging section comprises two side parts and a back part, with each side part being hinged to a panel by a respective score

In one embodiment the back part is defined between the two side parts by respective creases.

The use of creases to define back part allows for the cover to maintain its strength as much as possible around the hinging section. In another embodiment each side part is hinged to a panel by a respective score on a first side of the cover and the back part is defined between the two side parts by respective scores on a second side of the cover.

The use of scores may be preferable to creases in some scenarios.

Preferably the cover is formed in one piece from card or paper.

Preferably the size of at least one of the panels is the same as or is smaller than the size of the surface to which it is to be attached.

By forming a panel no larger than the surface to which it is to be attached the panel does not overhang the edge of the item of recorded media packaging when it is in use. Thus the operation of security devices is still possible. By forming a panel slightly in a size smaller than the size of the surface to which it is to be attached a border is formed at least in part around the cover, the border being created from the surface of the item of recorded media packaging. Such a border allows for operation of security devices such as red tags to be unhindered irregardless of the thickness of the cover. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a cover for an item of recorded media packaging comprising the steps of forming two scores in a sheet of material so as to define two main panels separated by a hinging section, the hinging section being hinged to each panel by a respective score.

In one embodiment the method further comprises the step of forming two creases in the hinging section so as to define two side parts and a back part, the back part being defined between the two side parts by respective creases.

In another embodiment the method further comprises the step of forming two scores in the hinging section so as to define two side parts and a back part, the back part being defined between the two side part by respective scores, wherein the scores that define the back part are located on the opposite side of the sheet to the scores defining the hinging section and the panels.

Preferably the material is paper or card. A specific embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a cover made in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-section through the hinging section of the cover of Figure 1 when the cover is laid flat before being attached to an item of recorded media packaging;

Figure 3 shows the cover of Figure 1 attached to an item of recorded media packaging with the item of packaging in a closed configuration;

Figure 4 shows the item of recorded media packaging of Figure 3 having been opened;

Figure 5 shows a close-up of the end of the hinging area of the item of recorded media packaging and its cover as shown in Figure 4; and Figure 6 shows a schematic cross-section through a hinging section of a cover made in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawings, there is provided a cover 1 for an item of recorded media packaging 2, in the present embodiment a DVD case.

Cover 1 comprises two panels 3, 4 and a hinging section 5. Panels 3, 4 are for attachment to, so as to cover the sides of, a DVD box.

In the present embodiment, when laid flat cover 1 is around 279mm by 185mm in size. When in use, the cover is positioned on a DVD box with dimensions of around 137 x 14 x 189mm. Other dimensions can be used for other items of packaging. For example, for Blu-ray boxes, when laid flat a cover would be around 279 x 151 mm so as to fit a Blu-ray box with dimensions of around 137 x 14 x 170mm.

In the present embodiment cover 1 is around 320μιτι in thickness. However, it is envisaged that the application will generally be worked with sheets of around 250 to 450μιτι in thickness.

Hinging section 5 comprises three parts: back part 6 and side parts 7, 8. Panel 3 is hinged to side part 7 by score 9. Back part 6 is defined between to side parts 7 and 8 by creases 1 1 and 12. Side part 8 is hinged to panel 4 by score 10. As can be seen, scores 9, 10 run continuously between opposing edges of cover 1 . Similarly creases 1 1 , 12 run continuously between opposing edges of cover 1 .

Cover 1 is formed from a single sheet of card by introducing the two scores 9, 10 and two creases 1 1 and 12. In the present application the term 'score' means a partial cut through the cover. In the present embodiment the depth of the cut is around 50% the thickness of the cover. It is believed that normally a cut of around 40 to 60% the thickness of the card will be appropriate.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section through hinging section 5.

As can be seen from Figures 2 to 4, cover 1 has an inward facing surface 26 and an outward facing surface 25.

By forming the bead of creases 1 1 , 12 and by forming score 9, 10 on inward facing surface 16, creases 1 1 , 12 and scores 9, 10 are not visible when the cover is in use.

In order to attach cover 1 to DVD case 2 an adhesive is first applied to panels 3 and 4. DVD case 2 is positioned on panel 4 such that the panel is entirely covered by a side of DVD case 2. The cover is then folded such that panel 3 contacts the other side of DVD case 2 and is adhered in place.

None of the parts of hinging section 5 are adhered to DVD case 2.

When attaching cover 1 to DVD box 2 care is taken to ensure that the scores 9, 10 in cover 1 are on the surface facing DVD box 2 in order to ensure that hinging section operates correctly. I.e. it is inward facing surface 26 of panels 3, 4 that are adhered to DVD box 2.

As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, once attached to the DVD case panels 3 and 4 do not overhang the edges of the sides of the DVD case. Indeed, panels 3 and 4 are slightly smaller in size than the size of the sides of the item of recorded media packaging to which they are attached. Thus there is a border 23 around the edge of cover 1 when cover 1 is attached to a DVD box 2, the border 23 being formed from the exterior of DVD box 2. If panels 3 and 4 did overhang the edges of DVD box 2, in particular edge 24, then certain security devices such as red tags could not be used.

Furthermore, red tags rely on operation by a magnet. If no border is provided around the edge of a cover, and if the cover used is of too great thickness, red tags cannot be operated. Thus, the provision of a border 23 ensures that any red tag is operable.

Of particular importance is that cover 1 does not overhang an edge 24 of box 2 adjacent to the opening side 27 of box 2 as red tags are positioned at the openings of such boxes. Thus, even if cover 1 is not of a size such that when in use a border is formed all around the cover by the exterior of surface of box 2, it would be preferable if there were at least a gap between a panel of cover 1 and an edge 24 adjacent to the opening side 27 of box 2.

By cover 1 being slightly smaller than the item of recorded media packaging with which the cover is to be used a reduced amount of material to form cover 1 is required in comparison to previous covers. As can be seen, from the Figures, once cover 1 has been attached to DVD case 2, back part 6 and side parts 7, 8 remain substantially static relative to each other as the case is changed from the closed configuration shown in Figure 3 to the open configuration shown in Figures 4 and 5. As case 2 is opened panels 3, 4 move relative to side parts 7, 8 by hinging along scores 9 and 10. The provision of scores 9 and 10 allow for this action to readily occur as the thickness of the cover at scores 9 and 10 is reduced in comparison to an arrangement where the hinging between the panels and the side parts occurred by creasing.

Furthermore, hinging panels 3, 4 to side parts 7, 8 by scores instead of creases results in external surface of the cover along the line of the hinge to remain substantially unblemished as little stress is put upon the material. This is again in contrast to an arrangement where the hinging between the panels and the side parts occurred by creasing.

In a second embodiment of the invention not only are the hinges between the panels of the cover formed from scores, but so are the lines that define the back part of the hinging section. Figure 6 shows how the scores are arranged in this embodiment.

As can be seen, there is provided a cover 13, having two panels 14, 15, two side parts 16, 17, and two scores 19, 20 defining back part 18. Panels 14, 15 are hinged to side parts 16, 17 by scores 21 , 22.

This embodiment is not as preferred as the first embodiment as the provision of scores instead of creases to define back part 18 leads to a weakened construction. However, it may be preferable in some situations to use such a construction, for example for manufacturing efficiency.

It is evident that the present invention is not limited to covers for DVD boxes, but may be employed in relation to covers for boxes housing a variety of recorded media.

Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims.

Claims

Claims:

A cover for an item of recorded media packaging comprising a sheet having two scores defining two main panels separated by a hinging section, the hinging section being hinged to each panel by a respective score.

The cover of claim 1 wherein the hinging section comprises two side parts and a back part.

The cover of claim 2 wherein the back part is defined between the two side parts by respective creases.

The cover of claim 2 wherein each side part is hinged to a panel by a respective score on a first side of the cover and the back part is defined between the two side parts by respective scores on a second side of the cover.

The cover of any preceding claim wherein the cover is formed from card or paper.

The cover of any preceding claim wherein the size of at least one of the panels is the same as or is smaller than the size of the surface on the item of recorded media packaging to which it is to be, or has been, attached.

An item of recorded media packaging comprising the cover of any preceding claim.

A method of manufacturing a cover for an item of recorded media packaging comprising the steps of forming two scores in a sheet of material so as to define two main panels separated by a hinging section, the hinging section being hinged to each panel by a respective score.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of forming two creases in the hinging section so as to define two side parts and a back part, the back part being defined between the two side parts by respective creases. 10. The method of claim 8 further comprises the step of forming two scores in the hinging section so as to define two side parts and a back part, the back part being defined between the two side part by respective scores, wherein the scores that define the back part are located on the opposite side of the sheet to the scores defining the hinging section and the panels.

1 1 . The method of any of claims 8 to 10 further comprising the step of attaching the cover to an item of recorded media packaging.

12. The method of claim 1 1 wherein the means of attachment is an adhesive.

13. The method of any of claims 8 to 12 wherein the material that the cover is formed from is paper or card.

14. The method of any of claims 8 to 13 wherein the size of at least one of the panels is the same as or is smaller than the size of the surface on the item of recorded media packaging to which it is attached.

15. A cover for an item of recorded media packaging substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A method of manufacturing a cover for an item of recorded media packaging substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.