Abstract:
A sheet having a defined pattern of reduced strength, allowing separation along the defined pattern, the pattern defining an envelope for a computer data storage disk, comprising a single sheet having a first portion having side tabs and a second portion, wherein all terminal edges of said pattern are offset from all terminal edges of the sheet by at least about ⅛ of an inch.

Description:
CONTINUING DATA/INCORPORATED MATTER/RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a CIP of application Ser. No. 09/219,177, which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0002]    This application is related to application Ser. Nos. 09/193,329 &amp; xx/xxx,xxx, the latter being a CIP of application Ser. No. 09/193,329. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0004]    This invention relates to a computer printable blank for forming a compact disk envelope for housing and identifying one or more computer disks and the like. More specifically, this invention relates to such blanks that allow for not only bleeding of the terminal edges of the envelope, but also for printing of the entire surface of the envelope and scattered printing, which gives the formed envelope a cleaner, more professional look.  
           [0005]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0006]    Compact discs are well known in the art. They are used to store digital information for use with computers, portable music players and many other devices, such as DVD players. Conventionally, compact discs have been provided and stored in a rigid plastic material cases, the cases having a hinged lid enabling one to gain access to the disc. This was satisfactory when compact discs were in a read only form (CDROM). However, nowadays many of such discs are available in read/write (CDR) and read/write/rewrite form (CDRW). Indeed, soon DVD (video and audio) disks will also be available in writable and rewritable form. Therefore, users of computers and such other devices need the ability to readily identify the contents of such discs and if necessary to vary the list of the contents when changes are made on the disc.  
           [0007]    A partial solution to this problem is the use of printable blanks for forming envelopes for floppy disks, which is well known in the art—as is the software technology to effectuate the printing of text and/or graphics thereon. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,708,285 and 5,050,792 disclose such blanks and contemplate use of such software. However, these blanks do not allow for either bleeding at all terminal edges of the envelope defined within the boundaries of the blank, printing on the entire surface of the defined envelope or for scattered printing, all of which provide a cleaner, more professional looking finished product. The problem with these blanks is that they do not offset all terminal portions of the defined envelope from all terminal edges of the blank to compensate for the inability of most, if not all, printers to print all the way to an edge of a blank; thereby rendering the finished product susceptible to an unprofessional look.  
           [0008]    Application Ser. Nos. 09/193,329 &amp; xx/xxx,xxx, which have a common inventor, Peter H. Tracy, who is an inventor of the invention disclosed herein, disclose the concept of bleeding over in the environment of a printable blank for forming a VCR box.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    To solve this problem, the present invention provides a printable blank having a compact disc envelope defined within the boundaries of the blank, but offset from all terminal edges of the blank by at least about ⅛ of an inch so as to optionally allow, prior to assembly, bleeding over of all terminal portions of the envelope, as well as printing on the entire surface of the envelope. Also, “scattered printing” is made more feasible, which is a method of printing portions of an image or text on different portions of a blank, and upon forming an envelope or container, having said portions line up, which lines up the partial graphics or text on the finished product.  
           [0010]    Therefore, according to the invention there is provided a flat sheet capable of being passed through a printer to be provided with printed matter, the sheet being marked so that it can be folded and parts of the sheet separated, to form a compact disc envelope having substantially flat front and rear faces joined to one another along a fold line to close the base of the resulting envelope; side flaps extending from either side of the front or rear face and being adhesively joined to the respective face along a fold line; and an offset of all terminal portions of the envelope from the edges of the blank of at least about ⅛ of an inch so as to optionally allow bleeding over of all terminal portions of the envelope as well as printing on the entire surface of the envelope and scattered printing.  
           [0011]    Computer software to control the printer to print text and/or graphics on any or all portions of the envelope is also provided; and the design of which is well within the knowledge of one ordinarily skilled in the art. Such software allows a user to select particular text and/or graphics and particularly position them on the envelope to their liking. This is obviously performed by mapping text and/or graphics to specific portions of the blank via an X-Y coordinate system. Scattered printing may also be obviously effectuated by one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, part of an image that would ordinarily underlie an overlapping flap may be printed directly on the flap such that upon formation of the pouch, it would appear as if the image were whole, which is quite professional looking.  
           [0012]    When such a sheet is folded and assembled, an open top is left between the two faces at the ends of those faces which are not joined to one another for insertion and removal of a compact disc. The side flaps are connected to a portion of the rear face, which thereby forms the basic pouch.  
           [0013]    Therefore, the original flat sheet can readily be passed through a computer printer without damage to the printer and blocking of the feed through printer. It is desirable that the piece of card or paper be of a conventional size to suit the printer and an A4 or letter sized sheet is very convenient. By contrast the size of the pouch should be such that the disc fits reasonably tightly in the assembled pouch. Therefore in a preferred embodiment the overall shape of the portions of the sheet which are to make the pouch are delineated within the overall sheet and the surrounding portions are discarded after printing and before the assembly of the pouch. In the case of an A4 or letter sized sheet, this should lead to a modest degree of wastage.  
           [0014]    The delineation of the sheet material which is to be used as the pouch can be achieved by printing appropriate lines and then cutting away the excess material. Preferably however, the delineation is achieved by partial severing of the sheet so that after printing a user can quickly remove the excess sheet material. This can readily be achieved by a stamping of the sheet with cut lines or perforations which do not completely sever the parts of the sheet so that the sheet remains in one piece during normal heading and passage though the printer, but can be separated easily by tearing when required.  
           [0015]    It is also preferable that the various fold lines be marked, and conveniently this can be achieved by a scoring which allows for simple and accurate folding. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    The invention will now be described, by way of example, with references to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 shows the exterior side for printing of a sheet according to the invention; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 a  shows a front-view of a pouch formed from a sheet according to the invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 b  shows cut-away rear-view of a pouch formed from a sheet according to the invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 shows text and graphic-based directions on the exterior side for printing of a sheet according to the invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 shows the schematics for tooling a cutter to form the exterior side of a sheet according to the best mode for carrying out the invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 shows the schematics for tooling a cutter to form the interior side of a sheet according to the best mode for carrying out the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    The sheet  10  shown in FIG. 1 is desirably made of a thin or light card having letter, A4 or similar size such that it may pass through a typical printer. It is provided with a number of partially cut or perforation lines as described below which keep the sheet in one piece for printing and define edge portions of the sheet that may readily be separated or torn to leave a major portion to be formed into the pouch  12  shown in FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b.    
         [0024]    First of all, printing of text and/or graphics may be provided on any portion of the defined pouch, and optionally the entire portion of the defined pouch, by passing the sheet  10  though a computer. As discussed above, a suitable program can be provided for printing on any portion of the pouch. The program may allow a user to list the contents of a disc and print that list in one or both of the areas  30  and  40  in the correct orientation or position to be readable after formation of the pouch. A user may also similarly print text and/or graphics on side flaps  41  and  42 , whether for utility, decorative or both purposes. Such software allows a user to select particular text and/or graphics and particularly position them on the envelope to their liking. This is obviously performed by mapping text and/or graphics to specific portions of the blank via an X-Y coordinate system. For example, the text “QUAKE II”™ or “GOSSAGE&#39;S CD” may be mapped to specific coordinates on the sheet such that it is printed in a centered position on front face  40 .  
         [0025]    Furthermore, such text (or graphics) may be scattered. As shown in FIG. 2 b , the text “OSSAGE&#39;S” may be printed on rear face  30  and the text “G” and “CD” printed on side flaps  42  and  41 , respectively, in the correction orientation such that upon forming the pouch, the full text “GOSSAGE&#39;S CD” appears as if it were printed on an already formed pouch, the thickness of which would not ordinarily pass through a printer.  
         [0026]    The present invention also allows bleeding over the terminal edges of faces  30  and  40  and the terminal edges of side flaps  41  and  42  by having the printer print over these edges. This provides a more professional looking finished product. As discussed above, by offsetting the terminal portions of the pouch from the edges of the blank by at least about ⅛ of an inch or 2 centimeters, such bleeding is made possible. This also allows the entire exposed portions of a formed pouch to be printed. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and  4 , the offset may both vary and exceed ⅛ of an inch. But, it is critical that the offset be at least about ⅛ of an inch to allow for bleeding and complete and scattered printing.  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 1, cut lines  20 ,  21  and  22  and score line  23  define rear face  30 .  
         [0028]    Score lines  23 ,  24  and  28  and cut line  26  define front face  40 .  
         [0029]    Score line  28  and cut line  27  define side flap  41 ; and score line  24  and cut line  25  define side flap  42 , which extend from either side of front face  40 .  
         [0030]    Cut line  26  defines finger cut-out  26 a, which aids in spreading the faces for easier insertion and removal of discs.  
         [0031]    After printing, a user removes the soon-to-be formed pouch from the blank by tearing along score lines  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  25 ,  26  and  27 . Next, rear face  30  is folded over score line  23  such that the exterior portions of the faces are facing outwardly. Side flaps  41  and  42  are then folded along score lines  28  and  24 , respectively; and then secured to respective portions of rear face  30 , forming the basic pouch thereby. The preferred method for securing the side flaps to the rear face is by way of an adhesive; and the best mode for carrying this out is by providing a layer of adhesive underlying a removable non-adhesive layer on the interior sides of side flaps  41  and  42 . While various shapes may be used, the preferred shape is shown in FIG. 4 as elements  41   a  and  41   b.    
         [0032]    As shown in FIG. 2 a , formed pouch  12  has a finger cut-out  26   a  that exposes a disc  14  within the pouch for easy removal. While this cut-out  26   a  is optional, it is preferred and is included in the best mode for carrying out the present invention.  
         [0033]    Further, as shown in FIG. 2 b , the present invention allows more applications of scattered printing by allowing text or graphics to be printed up to the termination portion of an edge.  
         [0034]    As can be seen the arrangement is quick, simple and needs no adhesive, so avoiding problems during printing.