Patent ID: 6385164
Filing Date: 2002-05-07
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An optical disc protector for protecting at least one side of an optical disc upon which said disc protector is mounted, said disc protector comprising:a circular main surface having a diameter the same as, or slightly larger than, an optical disc on which the protector is designed to be mounted, which main surface: is in the form of a sheet that has two substantially parallel sides, including a disc-facing side intended to face the optical disc upon which the protector is mounted; is made of an optically clear material so as to not interfere with the reading of data from an optical disc upon which the protector has been mounted; has a hole in its center to allow an optical disc upon which such a protector is mounted to be used in an optical disc reader; and has a slightly dome-shaped curvature that causes the disc-facing side of the main surface to be convex when said disc protector is not being deformed, such as by being mounted on an optical disc; and a peripheral lip attached to, and extending all the way around, the perimeter of the circular main surface, which lip: extends away from the perimeter of the disc-facing side of the main surface at an inward angle so the diameter of the peripheral lip at its end furthest from the main surface is smaller than the diameter of the main surface and of the optical discs on which the protector is designed to be used; and is flexible so as to push against the edges of an optical disc when said protector is mounted on such a disc; wherein when the disc protector is mounted on an optical disc so the peripheral lip extends around the peripheral edge the disc, the convex disc-facing side of the protector's main surface is deformed by being pressed against a flat side of the disc, and the resulting deformation of the main surface bends the peripheral portion of the main surface adjacent to the peripheral lip in a manner which increases the angle between the peripheral lip and the peripheral portion of the main surface, increasing the pressure with which the peripheral lip presses against the edge of the optical disc.