Hinge

An improved hinge with primary application to plastic molded containers. More particularly, this invention relates to a hinge which is compliant to bending forces applied during assembly and use of a container having a cover and a base. Importantly, the improved hinge limits the amount that the hinge may be bent.

BACKGROUND 
The proliferation of new information exchange media continues. Only a 
decade ago, the expense of a digital compact disc player and the 
relatively few audio selections available on compact disc ("CD") made that 
particular information exchange media a novelty enjoyed only by the 
well-heeled audiophile. Today, the predecessor of the compact disc, the 
magnetic cassette tape, is viewed with disdain as an inferior means for 
storing, transferring and enjoying audio information. Cassette tapes and 
cassette tape players have been all but replaced in the home, car and on 
the waists of joggers by relatively inexpensive CD players. The switch to 
the CD as the information exchange media of choice is not limited to the 
latest music. CDs are now commonly utilized to transfer information 
ranging from computer software to information databases to "books on tape. 
" 
As the advent of the CD has already revolutionized the transfer of 
information in the audio and computer readable contexts, the CD will soon 
revolutionize the method by which conventionally videotaped information is 
stored, transferred and enjoyed. In fact, many video rental stores now 
offer parallel video selections in digital video disc ("DVD") format, 
signaling the beginning of the end for conventional videotape rentals. 
Driving this transition is the basic fact that conventional magnetic tapes, 
such as cassette tapes and videotapes, have limited lifespans. As these 
devices are played and the information extracted therefrom, the tape which 
stores the information is pulled, stretched, placed in frictional contact 
with an audio head or video head and, eventually, weakened to the point of 
failure. Accordingly, devices for protecting and transporting these tapes 
need only be constructed for the purpose of surviving the limited life 
expectancy of the tape. 
CDs, in contrast, boast no ascertainable lifespan limitations. In fact, 
media contained on such properly maintained discs may be accessed an 
infinite number of times without the slightest noticeable degradation of 
the quality of the information retrieved. The single most important factor 
in preserving such CDs is the proper handling and maintenance of the CD by 
the user. 
Purchasers of CDs who intend to use the discs for their own personal 
purposes over an extended period of time will normally exercise a 
reasonable amount of caution in removing, using and storing the CD from 
and to its storage container. However, those who rent such CDs for a 
matter of days, only to eventually return the discs, often have little 
concern for the long term well-being of the CD. Such lack of concern could 
lead to any of a number of possible "injuries" to the disk, including 
warping, scratching or even breaking. 
In the rental industry, where discs have begun to appear and will soon be 
standard, the challenge to maintain the well-being of the fragile disc is 
apparent. In particular, the disc manufacturing and rental industries have 
both attempted to develop a storage and transportation container for discs 
which will withstand substantial wear and tear. This wear and tear begins 
at the storage container production facility where the typical disc 
storage container, or parts thereof, are bent somewhat so that the 
container may be assembled. Thereafter, the sources of wear and tear and 
more obvious. Specifically, disc storage cases are opened and closed many 
thousands of times, inadvertently dropped on the floor, intentionally 
dropped in disc "drop slots" at the rental center and are, furthermore, 
subjected to a wide range of other abuses limited only by the imagination. 
Accordingly, there is a need for a disc storage container which is more 
resilient to forces, both intended and unintended, applied to the 
container during assembly and use. There is also a need in the art for a 
disc storage container that affords increased ease of use in terms of its 
ability to deliver both the enclosed disc and related textual or graphic 
materials. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention meets the needs described above by providing an 
improved hinge for hingedly interconnecting the cover of the container to 
the base of a container for storing and transporting media such as CDs. 
The present invention meets the needs of the disc rental industry and 
resolves the above-identified needs by providing a disc storage container 
featuring an improved hinge. Implementation of the improved hinge provides 
greater ease of assembly of the container and increased durability during 
use. Meeting these above-indicated needs results in easily recognizable 
economic advantages. Specifically, a sturdier and easier to use container 
will break less often, need to be replaced less often will put the CD 
within the container in jeopardy of damage less often. In a common retail 
rental environment, where thousands of disks are maintained in a rental 
inventory, the savings are significant. 
More specifically, the container comprises a base tray and a cover. Within 
the base tray, a disc tray for mounting a disc is fixedly positioned. The 
cover of the container contains, on one side, two respective male portions 
of the improved hinge, which male portions mate with female portions 
defined within a corresponding position on the base tray. Additionally, 
the inside top surface of the cover contains integrally formed tab rails 
containing integrally formed, inward facing retaining tabs. The retaining 
tabs, positioned on the side of the respective tab rails so as to face the 
center of the inside top surface of the cover, are sized, spaced and 
otherwise positioned to slidably capture enclosed matter such as a card, 
pamphlet or other material intended for distribution with the disc. 
The male portions of the hinge are flexible enough to withstand outward 
bending during assembly of the cover to the base and other various forces 
that could be exerted on the hinge during normal (and most abnormal) use. 
Importantly, the hinge is constructed to allow necessary and expected 
flexibility through a predetermined range of motion, the hinge being 
constructed to stop this movement after the hinge has reached this 
acceptable bending limit. Additionally, the retaining tabs are positioned 
within the inside top surface of the cover so as to minimize the 
interference of either the retaining tabs, tab rails or enclosed matter 
with the smooth operation and complete closing of the container, as has 
long been a recognized shortcoming with other widely used designs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of 
the present invention. Generally, FIG. 1 depicts a container 10 for 
storing and transporting a disc such as a CD, DVD or the like (not shown). 
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the container 10 comprises a base tray 20, a disk 
tray 40, a cover 60 and a pair of hinges 80' and 80. Generally, the disk 
tray 40 is captively received within the base tray 20. The base tray 40 
and the cover 60 are pivotally interconnected by the hinges 80' and 80. 
More specifically, the base tray 20 comprises an inside bottom surface 22 
from which two side walls 24, 26, a rear wall 28 and a front wall 30 
extend upwardly. At the end of each side wall 24, 26 adjacent to the rear 
wall 28 (FIG. 2) ("rear corners"), the distance between the side walls 24, 
26 is reduced compared to the distance between the side walls 24, 26 
adjacent to the front wall 30 ("front corners"). This bilateral reduced 
distance defines, at each rear corner, a notch for receiving a 
corresponding portion of the hinge 80' or 80. 
The disk tray 40 is removably captured within the base tray 20. As is well 
known in the art, the disk tray 40 comprises a circular center surface 42 
and a mounting hub 44 integrally formed with the center surface 42 for 
engaging a centralized hole of a disc (not shown). About the periphery of 
the circular center surface 42 are recesses 46 for removal access to the 
disc. Tab recesses 50, 52 are disposed along the respective edges of the 
disk tray 40 adjacent to the side walls 24, 26 of the base tray 20. 
Still referring to FIG. 1, the cover 60 comprises a planar inside top 
surface 62 having a pair of downwardly extending side walls 64, 66 and a 
downwardly extending front wall 70. Parallel to each side wall 64, 66, 
integral to each of a pair of tab rails 72, 74, are inwardly directed tabs 
76, each tab being substantially parallel to the plane of the inside top 
surface 62 and substantially perpendicular to the plane of the tab rails 
72, 74. 
The cover 60 is pivotally connected to the base tray 20 by a pair of hinges 
80' and 80, one hinge being positioned at adjacent back corners of the 
container 10. Each hinge 80' and 80 comprises a male portion 84 and a 
female portion 82, the respective male and female portions of the hinge 
interconnecting in a "post/hole" arrangement. As illustration, FIG. 2 
depicts the female portion 82 of the hinge 80 integral to the base tray 20 
and the male portion 84 integral to the cover 60. FIG. 4 depicts the 
reverse arrangement, namely, the male portion 84' of the hinge 80 integral 
to the base tray 20 and the female portion 82 integral to the cover 60. 
Further description of the hinges 80' and 80 will be made with reference 
to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, although it will be understood and 
appreciated that such description is equally applicable to the embodiment 
depicted in FIG. 4. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, a pivotable hinge 80 for interconnecting the cover 
60 and the base tray 20 is shown with the female portion 82 separated from 
the male portion 84. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the side wall 
24 of the base tray 20 defines a notch for receiving a corresponding male 
hinge portion 84. The portion of the side wall 24 defining the side of the 
notch adjacent to the back wall 28 defines, through its thickness, an 
aperture 86 for receiving the post-type nipple 88 of the male portion 84. 
The male portion 84 of the hinge 80 is integral to the inside top surface 
62 of the cover 60. The male portion 84 comprises, generally, an outside 
wall 90, housing first end 91 and second or outer end 93 an inside wall 92 
having first end 89 and second or outer end 97 and a nipple 88. The 
outside wall 90 is a planar continuation of the respectively downwardly 
extending side wall 64. Importantly, although the outside wall 90 is a 
planar continuation of wall 64, it is not a continuous continuation. 
Rather, a terminating point of the downwardly extending side wall 64 of 
the cover 60 and the second or outer end 93 of the outside wall 90 define 
a gap 94 an expansion therebetween. In other words, it could be said that 
the expansion gap 94 passes through the width of the outside wall 90. 
Although the gap 94 is depicted in a particular location on the planar 
continuum between the downwardly extending side wall 64 of the cover 60 
and the outside wall 90, it will be appreciated that the gap 94 could be 
positioned at virtually any point in the aforementioned continuum. Simply, 
the gap 94 appears between the outer end 93 of the outside wall 90 and the 
back wall 68 of the cover. 
The inside wall 92 lies in a plane parallel to the outside wall 90, as also 
depicted in FIG. 2. The inside wall 92 and outside wall 90 are connected 
by an integrally formed turn portion between the two, the turn portion 
being the first end 91 of the outside wall 90. 
The nipple 88 is integral to a side of the inside wall 92 such that it 
extends away from the outside wall 90 in a plane perpendicular to the 
planes of the respective walls. Additionally, the nipple 88 corresponds in 
size, shape and location to the aperture 86 within the side wall 24 of the 
female portion 82. When the nipple 88 resides within the aperture 86, the 
inside wall 92 of the male portion 80 rotates axially about the nipple 88 
in a parallel planar arrangement with the inside wall 24 of the female 
portion 82 to move the cover 60 of the container 10 between an open and a 
closed position. 
The second end 97 of the inside wall 92 is connected to the first end 91 
(turn portion) of the outside wall 90. The inside and outside walls 90, 92 
are laterally displaced from one another, thereby defining an opening 99 
therebetween. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3C, a beneficial aspect of the present invention 
is shown in the assembly of the base 20 to the cover 60 of the container 
10. First referring to FIG. 3A, the cover 60 is depicted in a detached 
state from the base 20. To attach the cover 60 to the base 20, an inside 
wall 92' of a first male portion 84' is bent as depicted in FIG. 3B. 
Importantly, as the first male portion 84' is bent outwardly, the gap 94' 
through the rigid outside wall 90' decreases in width until no gap remains 
because the respective wall portions defining the gap are in contact. This 
effectively prevents "overbending" of the male portion 84'. The attachment 
procedure continues with the nipple 88' being placed within the aperture 
86', the configuration depicted in FIG. 3B as "88'/86'". 
Still referring to FIG. 3B, attachment of the cover 60 to the base 20 is 
completed by bending the inside wall 92 of the male member 84 so that the 
gap 94 through the outside wall 90 is reduced or eliminated, then sliding 
the nipple 88 across the side wall 24 of the base 20 until the nipple 88 
is seated within the aperture 86. 
As shown in FIG. 3B, the outside wall 90 remains rigid while the inside 
wall 92, commonly referred to as being flexibly resilient, is bending. 
FIG. 3C depicts the connective relation between the cover 60 and the base 
20 after attachment is complete. Specifically, the resilient nature of the 
well known components used to make the cover 60 result in each male member 
84' and 84 returning to its original, pre-bent shape after the nipples 88' 
and 88 are seated within their respective apertures 86' and 86. 
Accordingly, the respective gaps 94' and 94 remain through the thickness 
the respective outside wall 90' and 90 as before assembly began.