Abstract:
A compact disc storage book is formed with board book pages having pockets therein to receive compact discs. The board book is comprised of folded, printed signatures adhered to one another. A hard cover is attached to and covers the pages to protect the pages and compact discs from damage or contamination. The board book has an expandable spine, which increases its size or thickness from its smaller empty size to its larger, filled size when filled with compact discs. In the preferred method of making this storage book, the signatures have been printed and slit to form the CD receiving pockets prior to being folded on a signature folding machine. The folded signatures are fed by feeders of a signature gathering machine in proper sequence onto a gathering conveyor. The signature gathering machine has a programmable glue applicator to form the glue pattern including the glue pattern for the accordion fold, expandable backbone for the book form. The outer protective cover is attached, preferably by adhering the outer book form pages to facing sides of the casing cover.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of 60/133,120 filed May 7, 1999. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to making a book for holding a plurality of compact discs or other products in pockets on pages of the book, and to the method of manufacturing the same. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Compact discs are stored in a wide variety of manners; and there is a need for an improved method of storing the compact discs so that they are protected from being damaged and from damaging foreign material. Also, there is a need for storing and for presenting a series of compact discs on the same subject matter or course of instruction with printed instructions and information relative to the use of the CDs. For music compact discs, it is often desired to provide some printed text explaining the music on the compact disc or providing information about the disc being stored. Compact discs are often intended to be used in a particular sequence or to be stored at a particular location, which allows use of an index to locate quickly the desired compact disc for removal from storage. 
     Many of common storage devices for compact discs are expensive and rather bulky. There is a need for inexpensive compact disc storage which stores cassettes in a very small storage space. Often storage space is at a premium in retail stores selling the compact disc book or is worth a premium when shipping the compact disc book to a purchaser. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a compact disc storage book is formed with pages having pockets therein to receive and store products such as compact discs therein. The preferred compact disc storage books have text or indicia on the pages thereof with slits in the pages to form an entrance to a pocket defined between adjacent signature sheets defining one board book page. 
     In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the compact disc book is a board book comprised of folded signatures adhered to one another to form a book of board pages which can be opened to allow access to the discs being carried in pockets in the respective board pages. The term “board pages” is intended to mean thicker pages than the usual thin sheet of a magazine, such as the thick board pages often used for children&#39;s books for very young children. Typically, children&#39;s board books are for children too young to read and carry pictures of animals for the children to identify—i.e., cartoon books such as Barney or stories such as Dr. Seuss or the like. The thickness of the board book pages provides the strength and stability to support a CD and, preferably, a hard cover is provided to protect the pages and CDs from being damaged or crushed and to avoid contamination by dirt, dust, liquids, etc. 
     The present invention provides an expandable binder or spine for the book to allow the book to increase in shape as CDs are placed into the board book. Conversely, the size of the board book has a reduced thickness prior to introduction of CDs or after removal of the CDs from the board book. 
     The board book provides an inexpensive book with printed text and illustrations as well as a decorative cover. For example, if a particular course of instruction is stored on the CDs, the board book cover will have advertising informing the purchaser of the course and materials inside. The individual board pages also carry text and/or illustrations to assist the user in understanding the associated compact disc being stored and also to locate the disc at a specific, associated page for storage after use of the disc. 
     Preferably, these compact disc board books are made inexpensively using signature folding machines and signature gathering machines, which also apply adhesive in predetermined patterns to cause the signatures to be attached to one another to form the book block, but leaving unadhered pockets to receive a disc between adjacent sheets of a board page. Also, the signature folds at the backbone are not glued together so that the folded portions may expand or contract to provide an accordion-like backbone to allow expansion with insertion of the CDs into the CD pockets. The entry into the pockets is preferably a slit in one sheet that allows the lower portion or half of the CD to be inserted into the pocket while the upper, remaining portion or half of the CD is exposed and is outside of the pocket. The illustrated slit is arcuate with a central, lower point between equally-spaced upper, outer edges of the slit. 
     In accordance with the preferred method of making the CD books, signature handling equipment is used with the signatures having been printed prior to being folded, and with signatures slit on a die cutting machine. The slit, printed signature is fed into a signature folding machine to make a folded signature. The respective folded signatures are delivered to associated feeders of the gathering machine, which feeds sequentially the respective folded signatures in proper sequence onto a gathering conveyor. The preferred signature gathering machine also has a programmable gluing or adhesive applicator that allows a specific adhesive pattern to be established in order to form the CD pocket and to form the accordion, expandable backbone for the book form. The gathered pages are pressed together to adhere the pages to make the book form. Then, the cover is attached, preferably by adhering the outer sides of the book form pages to adjacent, inner facing sides of a casing or cover. The preferred cover also has an expandable, foldable spine to allow expansion as the CDs are being loaded into the pockets in the board pages, and the backbone of the board book is being expanded. Herein, the illustrated, expandable cover spine is formed by a first and second pair of adjacent, parallel fold lines in the cover. The preferred cover also is of a thick board material, which is thicker than signature board material; and it has an outer, printed signature mounted thereon and adhered thereto to provide a very decorative, outer appearance for assistance in marketing the book to purchasers. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compact disc book without discs therein and embodying the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front cover opened to expose a CD carrying page in the book of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the book of FIG. 1 but is expanded in width because of the insertion of CDs into the pockets in the book; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but with a CD in a pocket in the first page of the book; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a CD in a pocket; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the book showing some pages having CDs in pockets and other pages without a CD in a pocket; 
     FIG. 7A is an exploded view showing adjacent signatures and a glue pattern thereon for attaching the signatures to one another; 
     FIG. 7B is an exploded view of three signatures being joined together into the book block; 
     FIG. 7C is an exploded view showing the cover and adhesive for attaching the cover to the outer pages of the book block; 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the expandable backbone formed of folded portions of folded signatures without adhesive applied thereto; 
     FIG. 9 is a view of a signature having received a slot therein at a die cutting station; 
     FIG. 10 is a view of adjacent folded signatures and adhesive for adhering the signatures together; 
     FIG. 11 is a view of a signature block and a cover being wrapped about the book block; and 
     FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a process for making the CD book of FIG. 3, and then for shipping the CD books in a carton. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As shown in the drawings, for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a book  10  of the board-book kind having an outer cover  12  and an interior book block  14  of individual board book pages  16 . The cover comprises a front cover  12   a  and a rear cover  12   b , as best seen in FIG. 6, and a spine  12   c  which covers an interior backbone  18  for the book block  14 . The book block is formed of board pages  16  which are of double thickness in that they each comprise a pair of signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b , which have been folded from the flat signature sheet  20  (shown in FIG. 9) into folded signatures with a central fold or fold line  20   c . As best can be understood from viewing, FIGS. 7A,  7 B and  10 , the sheet  20   a  of a first signature  20  is adhered to a sheet  20   b  of an adjacent, second signature by an adhesive or glue  24  applied in a predetermined pattern. The folded signatures are fed from feed hoppers of a signature gathering machine while in a folded V-shape (as shown in FIG. 10) with the adhesive  24  applied to the signature sheet  20   b  as it is fed from the feed hopper; and upon contact with the signature sheet  20   a  of an adjacent signature gathered on the gathering machine, the adjacent signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b  are adhered to one another and are later pressed together to form the board block page  16  comprised of adhered sheets from adjacent, folded signatures. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the board book  10  is formed with a plurality of product-receiving pockets  30  holding a product, such as the CDs  32 , as shown in FIGS. 3-5. Herein, the pockets  32  are formed with the entrance slit or slot  34  leading into a space between the signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b  of adjacent, folded signatures. As explained hereinbefore, the signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b  are adhered together by adhesive  24  and, in this instance, the adhesive pattern is a line  36   a ,  36   b  and  36   c  of adhesive about each of three exposed edges of signature sheet  20   a . A fourth line of adhesive  38  is positioned adjacent the fold  20   c  in the signature. Because the slit  34  is in the signature sheet within the glue border (lines  36   a ,  36   b ,  36   c  and  38 ), the slit leads into an open space or pocket being defined between the sheets  20   a  and  20   b  of each board book page  16 . That is, the slit  34  leads into a hollow space between the sheets  20   a  and  20   b , which hollow space is bound by the four glued together portions of these sheets at the adhesive lines  36   a-   36   c  and  38 . The glue lines  36   a ,  36   b  and  36   c  glue together the upper, lower and outer side edges of the two sheets  20   a  and  20   b  to form a closed, sealed edge about the book board page  16 . 
     In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the board book is expandable from its position of not having any CDs therein (FIG. 1) to its expanded position where it is filled as shown in FIG.  3 . It will be appreciated that where the book has 15 to 20 CDs inside the book, that it should be capable of being expanded while keeping a nice, flat appearance with the front cover  12   a  being substantially in a plane parallel to the plane of the back cover  12   b . To provide for the expansion of the thickness of the board book  10  as it is being filled with CDs, the backbone is preferably formed from signature folds  20   c  arranged in an accordion-like fashion, as best seen in FIG. 8, with fold edge areas or portions  40  being unglued. That is, the glue line  38 , adjacent the fold line  20   c , is spaced by an unglued strip area  40  intermediate the fold or crease line  20   c  and the adhesive line  38 . This is unlike the usual board book wherein the adhesive covers the area  40  so that the sheets are glued together up to the fold. Herein, the outer cover is also made to be expandable along with the expandable cover spine  42 , which changes from its unfilled, smaller position of FIG. 1 to its expanded filled position of FIG.  3 . Thus, the CD board book has an attached, hard, protective cover  12  to protect the CDs in the pockets  30  of the board book pages  12 . 
     Turning now in greater detail to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the process used and described herein involves an automated process used to make board books; and it will be explained in connection with FIG.  12 . The signature sheets  20  are printed as well as a case outer cover sheet  50  used when forming the cover  12 , as indicated at station  51  (FIG.  12 ). After printing, the signatures are sent to a die cutting machine, such as a Bobst die cutter at a die cutting station  54 , where the slot  34  is formed in the flat signature  20 , as shown in FIG.  9 . The slot in the signature sheet  20   a  portion of the signature is preferably arcuate in shape (FIG. 9) with a central space  34   a  between an upper edge  34   b  and a lower edge  34   c  of the slot. The illustrated slot  34  has upper ends  34   e  and  34   f  of equal height from the lower, central portion of the slot  34 . The illustrated slot  34  is formed in the die cutter with waste being cut from the signature to form the space  34   a ; hence, the slot  34  is more than a mere slit where no scrap material is removed from the signature. The slot  34  serves as an entrance to the pocket. The pocket may take various forms; and the slot likewise may take various forms, particularly for products other than the thin, flat, circular CDs illustrated herein. The slotted signatures  20  are sent to a folding machine at a folding station  56  (FIG. 12) wherein the folding machine folds the signature in half to form the fold  20   c  and the two signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b . The folding machine includes pressure rollers which press the sheets  20   a  and  20   b  tightly against one another to remove air therebetween and to crease the fold  20   c . The folded signature sheets are now in a familiar signature shape to be sent to station  60  at which is located a conventional, signature-gathering machine. 
     The gathering machine typically has a large number of hoppers each assigned to receive a stack of one of the signatures of the sequence used to make up the book block. For example, the gathering machine may have 16 hoppers for depositing sixteen signatures in timed sequence to be gathered on the gathering conveyor to form the book block. Usually, only one side  20   h  (FIG. 10) of the signature has printing thereon. The other side  20   j  of the signature does not have printing thereon in this instance, although it could have printing thereon, if desired. As each signature is fed from a hopper of the gathering machine, it is fed past a gluing station, at which a glue applicator, such as a glue roller, applies a pattern of glue to the signature. Herein, the glue pattern comprises glue lines  36   a ,  36   b ,  36   c  and  38 . Herein, the printed text is on inside surfaces  20   h  of the respective signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b  when in the V position shown in FIG.  10 . The outer surfaces  20   j  and  20   k  of the respective signature sheets  20   a  and  20   b  are not printed because they are to be glued to an adjacent signature sheet to form the pockets  30 . 
     If the two-folded signatures  20  (shown in FIG. 10) bore pages 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the book block, then the lefthand signature will have page 1 on its inner surface  20   h  of a sheet  20   a ; and page 2 will be facing it on inside surface  20   h  of page  20   b . Page 3 of the text will be on inside surface  20   h  of sheet  20   a  of the right folded signature; and page 4 will be on the inside surface  20   h  of the signature sheet  20   b  of the right folded signature sheet  20   b . The adhesive will have been applied, as shown in FIG. 10 to the outer sides  20   j  of the sheets  20   a  of each of the folded signatures. This adhesive is pressed against an outer side  20   k  of an adjacent sheet  20   b  of an adjacent, folded signature. Thus, the sides  20   j  of each of the sheets  20   a  having adhesive thereon, will be pressed against a facing side  20   k  of adjacent and preceding signature sheet  20   b  of a preceding, folded signature, thereby joining the signatures together into a book block  14  having a book backbone  18  defined by the folds  20   d  of the adhered signature sheets of the book. 
     If desired, after assembling the book block, it may be trimmed to size by a trimming machine to cut one or more edges from the book block at a book block trimming station  62  (FIG.  12 ). If no trimming is desired, then the case or cover  12  may be applied immediately to the book block  14  at a cover applying station  64 . The manufacture of the preferred and illustrated case or cover  12  will be described below. 
     The illustrated cover  12  is formed with a harder and stiffer material, which is usually thicker than the stock of the signature. Herein, the cover is formed with three pieces of chip board including a central spine board  20  (FIG. 6) that is about ½ in width or greater and is connected to similar cover boards  71  and  72  by an outer printed case side sheet. At a cover-making station  59  (FIG.  12 ), the chip board for the cover is severed into three pieces including the front cover board  70 , the spline board  71  and the back cover board  72 . The front and back cover boards are identical in size. A case or cover-making machine, such as Horan FC.M. machine, applies glue to boards and adheres them to the outer case or cover sheet  50 . The case cover sheet  50  covers the entire outer sides of the chip board pieces, and preferably has edged portions  50   a  (FIG. 5) folded over and adhered to the inner sides of the chip boards. The case cover sheet  50  has hinge portions  50   b  and  50   c  that join the spline piece  65  to the front and back cover pieces  66  and  67 . The cover is folded over to form the book cover shape shown in FIGS. 1,  3  and  6 . 
     The attaching of the book covers  12  to the book blocks ( 14 ) takes place in station  64  and is done with a machine. The first and last outer sides of the book block are adhered by adhesive to the inner sides of the cover side pieces  66  and  67  to attach the book block to the cover. The spline piece  65  is not attached to the accordion backbone of the book block, but is spaced therefrom to allow the book&#39;s backbone  18  to expand. The book block will be expanded as CDs are placed into the pockets  30  of the board book pages  16 . Herein, the now-completed CD book is individually shrink-wrapped in plastic to protect the CD book and the CDs therein at a shrink wrap station  78 . The shrink-wrapped CD books are then placed in cartons at a cartoning station  79  and shipped at a shipping station  80 . 
     From the foregoing, it will be seen that there is provided a new and improved board book for products such as CDs. The CD board books can be made quickly and inexpensively on board book-making machines at high production rates to provide an inexpensive CD board book. The use of signature-gathering machines allows the fast formation of book blocks using signatures that are uniquely shaped to provide CD pockets therein. The provision of unglued strips, e.g., ¼ to ⅜ inch in width adjacent the folds in the signatures allows for an expandable backbone, which expands as CDs are placed in the pockets. 
     It will be appreciated that although various aspects of the invention have been described with respect to specific embodiments, alternatives and modifications will be apparent from the present disclosure, which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.