Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention relates to packaging, and in particular
to packaging for relatively small thin articles which are
difficult to display in a secure marlner.
BACKGROUN~ OF THE INVENTION
In the music industry, for example, the packaging of
relatively small thin articles such as recorded tapes,
compact discs and the like, presents a variety of problems.
1~ Similar problems arise in the packaging of other small thin
articles, and the invention is not, therefore, eonfined
solely to the pac~aging of, for example, tapes and compact
discs.
In the particular case of compact discs, the size of
the compact discs has bsen dramatically reduced in recent
~, yeaxs, to the point where they may now be in the region of
only three inches in diame-ter. In retail stores, it is
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desirable to display discs in relatively large numbers so
that purchasers can sort through the discs on display and
make their own selection. In order to do this, they may
'' wish to extract the disc from the display, and read the
information on the label and then return it.
In the past, in the case o~ long playing phono~raph
; records for example, this has not presented any problem.
The record was contained in a recorrl sleeve, and the record
itself was o~ a relatively lar~e diameter. Pilfering of
such records, or damage to such records in the display,
while not being unknown was relatively rare.
However, in the case of compact discs and in the
i~ 30 particular case o~ tha current socalled "mini compact
~ discs", the problem of display, pilfering, and possible
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damage, becomes much more difficult to control. ~iscs
which are only three inches or so in diameter may require a
relatively large amount of infoxmation and ~raphics, in
order to inform the purchaser o the contents of the disc.
It is not practical to print all of this information on the
disc itself. If the disc is simply packaged in a sleeve
the size o~ the disc, i.e.. about three inches or so in
diameter, then the package and its contents make an obvious
target for shoplifters, and may also su~far some degrae of
1~ damage during examination by purchasers.
Somewhat similar considerations apply to the
retailing of recorded tapes. These are also relatively
small thin articles. For some years it has been the
practlce to package these tapes in elongated packages,
which ware able to pro~ide a sati,~actory form of display.
An adequate amount of space was provided ~or the printing
of ~raphics and information, and the packages were
~enerally speaking too large for shop lifters to remove.
In the particular case of th~ packaging of compact
discs, varicus attempts have been made to produce an
oversized elongated package for supporting and pro-tecting
the compact disc during display, providing adequate space
for the printing of graphics and information, and
discoura~ing shoplifters. In some cases, the approach has
been to provide a rectangular ~orm of box, with front and
back panels and side walls. This~ however~ produces a
package which is somewhat costly~ and which also takes up
more space in the display than is warrantad by the
thickness of the compact disc itself. In other cases,
attempts haYe been made $o package such compact discs on
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thinner packages. However, it i5 generally desirable in
the industry to provide a shrink wrapping of traNsparent
plastic ~ilm around the package and the disc for security
purposes and to provide durability in the retail display.
;~ Shr,ink wrapping produces relatively substantial stresses on
the package around which the film is shrunk. Unless the
' package has a certain inherent rigidity, the package itsel~
will warp and will, therefore, be unacceptable.
; A further problem has been the provision of some ~orm
of storage sleeve ~or the compact disc after it has been
purchased. It is generally accepted that compact discs can
be stored and handled and used over extended periods of
time with very little risk of damage or loss o~ fidelity,
However, consumersS in general, are not fully aware of
, this. Consumers having experience with phonograph records,~ and tapes ha~e been conditioned to the needs for exercising
!,; great care in handling and storage of such records and
tapes, and generally speaking assume that the same care i5
required in the case of compact discs.
!'' 20 It is, therefore~ generally considered desirable in
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the industry to provide some ~orm of sleeve or ~iackst in
:'`, which compact discs a~ter their purchase can be stored by
the consumer. One advantage of providing such a sleeve or
jacket is that graphics and information can be printed on
~' the sleeve, so that when the consumer stores the disc in
',~ the sleeve, it is easier for him to sort through the
:,' sl~eves and select a particular disc which he wishes to
.. ' play.
.~ Accordingly~ it is desirable if the package in which
'~ 30 the compact disc is displayed and retailed can also be
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utilized to provide a jacke$ in which the compact disc can
be stored by $he consumer in his library.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INYENTION
With a view to solving these various conflictin~
problems, the invention comprises a package for a small
thin article which, in turn, comprises a front panel having
an opening therain for receivin~ such article ~nd having
parallel side edges spaced apart a predetermined ~irst
distance, a rear panel having parallel side edges spaced
apart a predetermined fourth distance, no greater than said
~irst distance, and integrally formed along an edge of said
~ront panel, a rear intermediate pansl having side edges
spaccd apart from one another a predetermined thixd
distance less than said first distance, and bonded to said
rear panel, and, a front intermediate panel having side
edges spaced apart a predetermined third distance less than
said second distance, and bonded to said front panel, and
; to said rear intermedia-te panel.
More particularly, it is an objective of the
inventicn to provide a package having the oregoing
advantages ~ormad of cardboard material coated on one side,
and uncoa-ted on the othe~ side, and whereby said front
intermediate panel i5 bonded to said front panel, with sai~
coated side o~ said front intermediate panel registering
!, with said opening in said front panel.
More particularly, it is an objective of the
invention to proYide a package having the foregoing
advantages and further including a thin article located
within said openingl and transparent plastic ~ilm wrappad
around ~aid package and said artlcle.
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~ ore particularly, it is an ob,iective of -the
invention to provide a package having the foregoin~
advantages and wherein creases are formed between said
front panel and said rear panel and between said front
panel and said rear in-termediate panel and said front
intermediate pan~l~ and including scoring lines formed
along sald creases, and having a length less than the
length of said creases, whereby to leave portions of said
package free of scoring at each end of each said crease.
It is a further and related objective of the
invention to provide a blank of cardboard material definlng
front and rear panels. and rear intermediate and front
intermediate panels, having the characteristics described
above.
It is a fuxther and related objective of the
invention to provide a package having tha -foregoing
advantages and wherein said opening is formed in upper
region of said ~ront panel, and including lower portions o~
at least two of said ~anel, being bonded together and
~orming a sleeve available for storage of said thin article
therein.
It is a further and related objective of the
invention to provide a package of the type described, and
wherein a portion of the package is formed and glued in
such a way, as to provide a storage sleeve for the disc.
The various features of novelty which characterize
the invention are pointed out with more particularity in
the claims annexed to and forming a part of this
disclosure. For a bet-ter understanding o-f the invention,
its operating advantages and specific objects at-tained by
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its use, refererlce should be had to the accompanying
drawings and descriptive matter in which there are --
illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the
invention.
. IN THE DRAWINGS
Z Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of a package
in accordanae with the invention showing a compact disc
contained thereln;
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F~gure 2 is an elev~tional view of a cardboard
package blank for a package in accordance with the
invention showing the package blank in its flat unfolded
. configuration;
Figure 3 is a top plan view when taken as indicated
by the arrows 3-~ o~ Flgure ~ illustrating the manner in
which -the package blank shown in Figure 1 is progressivel~
~, -folded and glued into its final con~iguration;
~, Figure 4 is an enlar~ed front viaw of that portion of
the package blank of Figure 2 indicated by the circle 4;
Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view along line
0 5-5 of Flgure 1 through a package in accordance with the
, invention and showing such package having a mini-compact
,~` disc mounted therein and shrink wrapped in a plastlc film;
.'. Fi~ure 6 is an elevational view of a pa~kage blank in
accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention,
~'' lncorporating a sleeve for stora~e of the disc, after
~I purchas2, and,
` Figure 7 is an elevational view o~ the r~verse side
of the blank of Figure 6.
ESCRIPTIO~ OF THE PREFERRED EMBOD~NTS
Referring flrst of all to Figure 1, it will be seen
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that the invention is illustrated therein in the form of a
packa~e illustrat~d generally as 6, having a a mini-compact
disc indicated as ~ enclosed in a transparent form of
plastic shrink wrapping material P enclosing both the
package and the disc.
The package blank, is generally indicated as B in
Figure 2 and comprises a single rectangular piece of
cardboard having upper and lower ed~es 7 and 8 respectively
and a smooth coa-ted ou-ter surface 9 (Figure 3) and an
uncoated inner surface 10. The blank B comprises four
integrally ~ormed rectangular panels, namely first panel
12, second panel 14, third panel 16, and fourth panel 18,
all having the same length indicated by the legend "L".
The panels 12, 14, 16 and 18 have le~t-hand edges indicated
by the legends 21, 23, 25 and 27 respectively and
right-hand edges indicated by the le~ends 22, ~4, 26 and 28
respectively.
Along the ad~iacent edges of the panels 12, 14, 16 and
18, the cardboard is scored or partially cut (Figure 4) to
provide ~old creases allowing ~olding of the panels
relative to each other in a manner which will be understood
as the description herein proceeds.
More particularly, it will be noted that a fold
crease 30 is Provided between the right-hand edge ~2 of
panel 12 and the left-hand edge 23 of panel 14. A fold
crease 32 is similarl~ provided between the right-hand edge
24 of panel 14 and the left-hand edge 25 of the panel 16. A
`l Pold crease 34 is provided between the right-hand edge 28
of panel 18 and the left-hand edge 21 of panel 12. It will
be noted that the right-hand edge 26 of pan~l 16 and the
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left-hand edge 27 of panel 18 constitute free side ed~es of
the blank B.
It will be seen from Figures 2 and 4 that, in
accordance with a preferred feature of -thls invention, the
aforementioned scoring terminates inwardly of the upper and
lower edges 7 and 8 respectively of the blank B. This
provides additional strength to the final package.
A generally circular openin~ 42 having the same size
as a mini-compact disc D lFigures 1 and ~) to be housed in
the package, is provided in an appropriate position in the
first or front panel 12. Two inkegrally formed tabs 44 are
le~t to assist in positioning such a mini-compact disc in
position in the opening 42.
In order to permit the blank B to be folded into its
inal configuration, certain crit.ical relationships exist
between the widths o~ the panels 12, 14, 16 and 18. Such
i widths are indicated by the legencls W1, W2, W3 and W4
respectively in Figure 2. Before considering these
relationships in more detail herein, the manner in which
the blank B is folded into its ~inal configuration will
~irst be explained with re~erencs to Figures 3 and 5 of the
drawings. For convenience. panel 12, i.e., the upp0rmost
panel in Figure 5 wlll hereinaPter be referred to as the
` "~ront" panel of the final package while panel 18, i.e.,
; the lowermost panel in Figure 5, will be referred to as the
"rear" panel of the final package.
In the procedure sh~wn in Figure 3, the panel 14 is
glued as at G1, and panel 16 is ~olded along ~old crease 32
as indicated by the arrow F1 so that it directly overlies
~' 30 panel 14. The front or coated side 9 o~ panel 1~ is then
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glued as at G2 (Figure 3). ~he :panel 14 is then folded
along crease fold 30 as indicated by the arrow F2 until it
directly underlies front panel 12. The coated side 5 of
: panel 14 is then glued as at G3, and panel 18 is folded
along crease fold 34 as indicated by the arrow F3 until it
directly underlies panel 14. After such folding is
complete, the several panels will have the relatlve
positions shown in Figure 5.
Thus, when glued and folded, the package will be seen
to compxise a front panel 12, a rear p~nel 18, and a
rearward intermediate panel 14, and a forward intermediate
panel 16.
By folding the blank B in this manner, the surface
visible to a consumer through the opening 42 when the
package is opened and the disc D removed therefrom will be
the smooth coated outer surface 9 of panel 16. This ls
particularly advantageous in that it presents to such a
consumer a quality appearance while avoiding the additional
cost of using a blank formed of cardboard which i5 coatsd
on both sur~aces.
To permit the panels to be folded in the manner
already described, ths wid-th W3 of panel 16 should be 18ss
than the width W2 of panel 14, the width W2 of panel 14
: must be lcss than the width W1 of front panel 12, and ths
width W4 of rear panel 18 must be no greater than the width
W1 of ~ront pansl 12. It will thus be understood that the
front panel 12 will determine the final width of the folded
packa~e.
The differences between the widths of the various
panels will depend on the thickness of the cardboard from
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which the blank is formcd. In practice, it has been ~ound
that when using cardboard having a thickness of about one
sixty-fourth o~ an inch, satisfactory results have been
obtained when the differences between the respective ones
o~ each o~ the following pairs of widths W2, W1 and W3, W2
is between two and eight times the thickness of the card,
i.e., between one thirty-second and one eighth of an inch.
Similarly, the width W4 will be be-tween a value equal to
the width W1 o~ the front panel 12 and a value greater than
the width W1 minus four times the thickness of the card.
Having glued and ~olded the blank B in the manner
hereinbefore described. the disc D is positioned in the
opening 42 in the ~ront panel 12 so that it is partly
disposed behind the tabs 44. These serve to retain the
disc in -the correct position during the remainder of the
packagin~ operation. The package with a disc D so
positioned therein is then shrink-wrapped in a plastic ~ilm
P. It has been ~ound that a package as hereinbef ore
described and having four separate overlying layers or
panels o~ wldths within the a~orementioned limits has
suf~ici~nt strength to resist warping or bending during
such shrink wrapping opera-tion.
Re~erence will now be made to Figures 6 and 7 in
which there is illustrated an alternate embodiment o~ this
invention.
In Figure 6, a modifled blank B i~ formed with a
generally transverse per~oration line 50, extending
transversely across panels 18 and 12l and a lon~itudinal
perForation line 51 extending down a marginal portion o~
panel 12 par~llel to crease 22. Per~oration lines 50 and
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~1 de~ine a removable rectangular portion 52, which in the
manner to be descri~ed below, can be removed and discarded,
and leaving a marginal portion 53 attached to panel 12.
The remainder of the blank B is assentially the same
as described in the embodiment of Figures 1 and ~. However,
the arrangement of the glue lines G is significantly
different.
.; In this embodiment, two glue lines GlOa are applied
: to the reverse or uncoated side 10 of panQl 14. In
addition two glue dots GlOb are applied to the lower region
o~ panel 14 as indicated in Figure 6. It wlll be no-ted
that the glue lines GlOa terminate in an area which is
short o~ an imaginary line L extending from the
perforations 50, and the glue dots GlOb are located at the
lowermost extremity o~ the panel 14.
As shown in Figure 7 J the rlemaining glue lines are
applied to the ~ront or coated ~ace 9. Thus, glue lines
Glla are applied to the ~ront or coated face o~ the panel
~? 16, and terminat~ at a point shor-t of the imaginarY line L.
A ~urther glue line ~llb is applied along the outer free
edge o~ the panel 16, ~or reasons to be described below.
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.h Glue lines G12 are applied to panel 14, and a~ain
terminate short o~ the imaginary line L.
It will be appreciated that the panels in this blank
-~ are ~olded in exactly the same manner as ill~strated in
; Figure 3. When so folded, the glue lines GlOa and the glue
dots ~lOb will bond the panel 16 to the panel 14 in the
region of -the glue line GlOa and dots GlOb, and leave it
free of bonding in the remaining area.
When the glue lines Glla and ~llb are bonded -to the
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reverse or uncoated side 10 of the panel 12, they will bond
the upper portion of panel 16 to the upper portion of panel
12, i.e., that portion above perforation line 50. At the
lower portion o~ panels 16 and 12, they will be bonded only
in the region o~ the glue line Gllb, which corresponds to
-the marginal portion 5~ of panel 12 adjacent the
perforation line 51.
The ~lue lines ~12 also terminate short o~ the line
extending from the per~orations 50. When panel 18 is
folded over panel 14~ in the manner shown in Figure 3, the
glue lines ~12 will thus bond the panel 18 to the panel 14
only in the region o~ the glue lines G12, leavin~ the lower
portion fre~.
The package will be printed with suitable
in tructions lnot shown) to -tear -the portion ~2 along the
per~orations 50 and 51 and discard it. Whan the consumer
has done this, he will then ~ind printed underneath
instructions (not shown~ to obtain a pair of scissors, and
to cut panels 14 and 16 along an extension o~ the
per~oration line SO, i.e., the imaginary line L. When he
does this, he will then obtain a sleeve, suitable for the
storage o~ the compact disc, the sleeve consisting o~ the
:
lower portions o~ the panels 14 and 16, and marginal
,~ portion ~3, bonded together by the glue lines G11b and dots
GlOb. The lower portions of one or both o the panels 14
j and 16 will be ~rinted with suitable graphics and
in~ormation (not shown) describing the contents o~ the
~, disc. In this way, the consumer will be provided with a
simple form o~ storage sleeve which both protects the
compact disc and also provides him with in~ormation
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concerning its contents.
It will be seen that the present invention provides a
package blank for mini-compact discs and which blank can be
folded and shrink-wrapped to provide a package which will
resist bending during the shrink-wrapping operation. The
optional additional provision of a portion which can be
used to provide a disc-storage sleeve is also ad~antageous.
The foregoing is a description of preferred
embodiments of the invention which is given here by way of
example only. The invention is not to be taken as limited
to any of the specific features as described bu-t
comprehends all such variations thereof as come within the
scope o~ the sppended olaims.
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