Limited use video cassette

A cassette housing for a recording medium and the transport mechanism for the recording medium is composed of a thin one-piece blank of self-supporting foldable material such as paperboard with indentation lines for folding it into a structure with a pair of generally parallel, spaced apart, planar side panels and an end panel between the side panels and extending normal thereto, and having tabs foldable along others of the indentation lines to form three more end panels extending normal to the side panels to enclose the transport mechanism within the structure and maintain the side panels parallel to each other with relative rigidity. The blank has cutouts to form openings in one of the end panels for passage of the recording medium therethrough while mounted on its transport mechanism. The blank also has slits therein associated with others of the indentation lines for folding portions of the blank to form further tabs for retaining the transport mechanism against substantial lateral movement within the structure. In a preferred embodiment, the recording medium is a magnetic tape and the transport mechanism is a pair of reels on which the tape is mounted for winding and unwinding as the reels rotate in synchronism. The retaining tabs allow independent freedom of rotation of the reels, and the side panels have cutouts to expose the internal portions of the hubs of the reels to permit the reels to be driven for recording or playback.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to video cassettes, and more 
particularly to a limited use recording medium cartridge having a 
one-piece structure adapted to house the transport mechanism on which the 
recording medium is wound and unwound, for loading directly into a video 
cassette recorder (VCR). 
Present-day video cassettes are generally composed of a rigid plastic case 
or housing in which a pair of reels or spools on which a magnetic 
recording tape is wound are mounted side by side for rotation in unison on 
spaced capstans or spindles constituting part of the drive mechanism of a 
VCR. A mechanical latching system is used in the cassette to hold the 
reels in position when not in use. The tape is transferred from one reel 
to the other to move laterally adjacent the head(s) of the VCR for 
recording or playback. Such cassettes or cartridges are relatively 
inexpensive to manufacture for most applications, where the tape is of 
sufficient length to record or have recorded thereon a presentation of at 
least about sixty minutes or more of viewing (or listening) time. 
Where the tape is pre-recorded with only a short presentation, however, for 
the purpose of providing an advertising, sample, or preview presentation 
which may run only a few minutes in length, for demographic distribution, 
the cost of the plastic video cassette becomes prohibitive. Moreover, such 
short presentations are usually intended for only one or a few plays, not 
for repeated viewings. Hence, ideally, the cassette used for such purposes 
should be sufficiently inexpensive, both in terms of cost of materials and 
cost of manufacture, to render it virtually disposable in normal use. Also 
the materials used in the limited use cassette are lighter in weight than 
the conventional cassette and therefore, the cost of mailing the limited 
use cassette is lower than with the conventional cassette. This is in 
contrast, of course, with the conventional video cassette which, whether 
prerecorded or to be used for recording an event, is intended for repeated 
viewings (as well as possible erasures and re-recordings) over perhaps 
many years, and therefore is not intended to be disposable in normal use. 
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive 
and easily fabricated limited use video cassette for recording and 
playback only a few times. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a video cassette 
which is sufficiently inexpensive to manufacture to render it disposable 
after limited use. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,683 to Reimer et al. discloses a magnetic tape cassette 
arrangement in which the recording tape reels are mounted in a holder 
constructed of two or more pieces which may be composed partly of 
cardboard and are joined together to hold the reels. As described in that 
patent, the holder is constructed and configured to be used in conjunction 
with a separate, rigid, precision-made plastic housing into which it is 
inserted for loading the entire cassette arrangement into the recording 
machine for recording and playback therein. 
Such prior art cassette arrangements are costly to manufacture, 
notwithstanding being constructed partially from cardboard, because of a 
multi-piece construction of the holder and the requirement of a separate, 
plastic, precision-made housing to be available for use of the overall 
structure in a recording machine. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cassette 
housing for a recording medium which is of one-piece construction and 
self-contained for loading directly in a record player. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly, according to the present invention, a low cost record cassette is 
provided for use in recording and playback in a recording machine. 
According to a principal aspect of the preferred embodiment of the 
invention, the housing for a video cassette is formed entirely from a 
single piece of self-supporting foldable material such as paperboard 
folded along preformed fold lines to enclose a pair of reels, on which the 
recording tape is wound, positioned side-by-side for rotation between a 
pair of side panels of the paperboard housing. The side panels are 
separated by end panels of the paperboard housing, by a distance just 
sufficient to accommodate the reels for rotation. One of the side panels 
has cutouts to expose the internal drive mechanism of the reels, so that 
the cassette may be mounted on the mating drive mechanism of the VCR. 
According to an important feature of the invention, the housing further 
includes tabs formed by folding out slitted portions of the paperboard 
along preformed fold lines to separate the reels from one another, and 
also to prevent them from shifting laterally, while enabling them to 
rotate freely within the paperboard housing. At least one of these tabs, 
after being folded to its separating position, forms a viewing hole in the 
paperboard housing for exposing the amount of recording tape remaining on 
a reel. If desired, before or after the reels are loaded into the housing 
and before it is closed, the reels may be further secured to prevent 
shifting during transit and storage by application of a low-tack adhesive 
to the internal surface of one of the side panels against which the reels 
rest. The adhesive is of insufficient strength to avoid being ruptured 
upon use of the cassette in a VCR, or to prevent any drag on the reels 
during play of the cassette. 
One of the end panels has cutouts for passage of the recording tape 
therethrough and against its external surface as the tape is wound and 
unwound on the reels. According to another feature of the invention, that 
external surface is coated with a material having a lower coefficient of 
friction than other portions of the surface of the paperboard housing, to 
reduce drag of the recording tape as it is transferred from one reel to 
the other, particularly during rewinding of the tape. 
Constructed in this manner, the housing is sufficiently economical to 
render the entire video cassette disposable after a single playback of a 
video recording thereon. Also, the reduced weight of the material used to 
make the cassette also reduces mailing costs for the advertiser. Although 
the preferred self-supporting foldable material used to form the cassette 
housing is paperboard and the term paperboard will be used to describe the 
invention herein, it should be understood that other thin blanks of 
self-supporting foldable materials such as corrugated board, low density 
plastic such as polyethylene and other fiber products such as pressboard 
may be used. 
A preferred method for making such a self-contained limited life cassette 
according to the invention includes forming a thin one-piece blank of 
self-supporting foldable material such as paperboard with fold lines, 
cutouts and slitted tab portions arranged and adapted to allow folding the 
paperboard into a complete housing for retaining the reels in 
juxtaposition for rotation therein. The paperboard is then partially 
folded to form two side panels and at least one end panel of the housing. 
The reels are then inserted side by side between the side panels so that 
the internal drive mechanism of the reels is exposed at cutouts in one of 
the side panels, and the recording tape wound on one of the reels is 
threaded through cutouts in the end panel so that the strip of tape 
confronts and moves along the external surface of the end panel. The free 
end of the tape is then fastened to the other (empty) reel to be wound 
thereon during use of the cassette in a tape recording machine. 
The housing is then completed by folding the paperboard at the remaining 
fold lines to securely retain the reels in place separated from one 
another while allowing them to rotate freely when loaded into and driven 
by the tape recording machine. The resulting end panels of the housing may 
be fastened together with an adhesive applied to their confronting 
surfaces or by use of lightweight adhesive tape. The end panels themselves 
and tabs associated with them are arranged and adapted to render the 
structure sufficiently rigid to prevent the corners from being crushed in 
normal handling, and the presence of the reels within the structure 
affords similar desirable rigidity to the sides of the cassette. 
It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide a low 
cost record cassette having an entirely paperboard or other 
self-supporting foldable material housing of one-piece construction for 
rotatably mounting the transport mechanism of the recording medium. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a 
disposable video cassette using a one-piece development paperboard as the 
housing for the cassette. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a paperboard housing for 
a video cassette which is both self-contained for loading directly into a 
VCR, and sufficiently rigid to avoid damage to itself or its recording 
medium contents in normal handling. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a video cassette having 
a housing of one-piece construction and which is provided with fold down 
tabs that serve to separate and prevent lateral shifting of the reels in 
the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIG. 1, a presently 
preferred embodiment of a video cassette according to the invention 
includes a housing of one-piece construction. As will be seen from the 
ensuing Figures of drawing and accompanying text, the housing is arranged 
and adapted to be developed for rotatably mounting a pair of reels for a 
recording tape in juxtaposition therein, to allow transfer of the tape 
from one reel to the other in passage across the recording or playback 
heads as the reels undergo rotation in unison when the cassette is 
operating in a video cassette recorder (VCR, not shown). 
In its initial state, the housing is a flat piece self-supporting rigid 
material preferably of development cardboard or paperboard 10 which may be 
stamped or punched from 16 point or 20 point paperboard stock, for 
example. The stock may be of any desired color or may be printed with an 
advertising message or pattern on the surface which will become the 
external surface of the housing, this being the top surface as viewed in 
FIG. 1. In the punching process, plural cutouts, fold lines and slits are 
provided in the paperboard 10 for purposes which will be discussed 
presently. 
In particular, the punching defines two side panels 11 and 12 by means of 
indentation lines or fold lines 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Fold lines 13 
and I4 define a first end panel 49 between the two side panels 11 and 12. 
Fold lines 15 and 16 define opposite ends of the side panels and also 
opposite end panel portions of fourth and third end panels 94, 93 of the 
housing. Fold lines 17 and 18 define portions of the second and final end 
panel 95 of the housing. All folds, including those to be mentioned in the 
subsequent description herein, are made downwardly as viewed in FIG. 1. 
The developmental paperboard 10 is also provided with a set of cutouts or 
punchouts some of which are configured to accommodate loading the ultimate 
cassette into a VCR, and others for use in conjunction with reels of 
recording tape to be mounted in the housing. The former include cutouts 
20, 21 and 22. Cutout 24 is intended, together with associated slits and 
fold line to be described, to allow passage of the tape from the interior 
to the exterior of the housing. Cutouts 26 and 27 are provided to expose 
the interior of the hubs which form the drive mechanism of the reels for 
the recording tape. 
Disposed along the central axis of substantial symmetry through the two 
side panels 11 and 12 are several slitted regions and associated fold 
lines, configured to form tabs for separating the two reels to be housed 
in the paperboard housing, and for preventing lateral shifting of the 
reels within the housing. Specifically, two triangular regions in side 
panel 11 include slits 30, 31 and 34, 35, and fold lines 33 and 37. Each 
of these triangular regions, when forced downward along the fold lines; 
forms a pair of triangular tabs 60, 61 and 64, 65 positioned to 
accommodate the circular shape of the reels and to hold them against 
lateral shifting in the housing. 
Another pair of tabs 42 and 46, rectangular in shape and ultimately used 
for separating the two reels, is formed by fold lines 40 and 43 along the 
aforementioned axis, in side panels 11 and 12, respectively, and by slits 
for the other three sides of each as indicated at 41 and 44. When the 
folding is completed to develop the housing, these two rectangular tabs 42 
and 46 will be disposed against one another and define the central axis 
separating the two enclosures for the reels within the housing. 
It will be observed that the end panel formed by fold lines 13 and 14 has 
at one of its ends a fold line 47 which is offset inwardly of the 
periphery of the paperboard from the fold line 15, and slits 48 extending 
from fold line 47 to the periphery along foldlines 13 and 14. When the 
thus formed rectangular tab 56 is folded downward, and the housing is 
ultimately completed, a slot is formed at the offset portion to admit the 
recording tape at one end of this end panel. As previously mentioned, the 
cutout 24 near the other end of this end panel, together with an 
associated fold line 50 and slit 51, provide a corresponding function (to 
admit the tape) at the other end. For that purpose, the tab formed bY the 
slit, fold line and cutout is folded downward to open a slot for the tape. 
Thus, the tape may be threaded from the interior to the exterior of the 
housing and back to the interior, through the slots formed at either end 
of this end panel. Moreover, the fold line of each of the tabs at these 
slots provides a smooth surface on which the tape rides as it is 
transferred from one reel to the other during recording or playback of the 
cassette. 
Slits 53 and 54 extending from fold line 16 along fold lines 13 and 14 to 
the periphery of the paperboard 10 define a tab which, when the 
development is completed, serves to enhance the rigidity at a corner of 
the housing. A similar function is provided for two other corners of the 
housing by the tabs formed by slits 80 and 81 extending from fold lines 15 
and 16, respectively, along fold line 18 to the periphery of the 
paperboard 10. At the opposite end of the paperboard, the regions 
corresponding to these tabs, at the intersection of foldlines 15 and 17 
and of 16 and 17, are simply removed because when all of the folds or 
bends are made to complete the housing the latter two tabs are positioned 
at those intersections (which are then corners of the housing). 
The process for forming the housing for the video cassette will be more 
clearly understood by further reference to the developmental stages 
depicted in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, as well as the completed housing shown in 
top and bottom views in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. Initially, paperboard 
10 is bent or folded along parallel fold lines 13 and 14 to begin the 
general definition of the housing with side panels 11 and 12 and the 
connecting end panel containing the cutouts and tape slots. Folds are also 
made along fold lines 15, 16, 17, 18, 47 and 50 to generally shape the 
strips 82, 83, 84, 86, 90, 91 which will form the other end panels and to 
form the rigidizing tabs at three of the corners, and the two tape slots 
at opposite ends of the connecting end panel. The pair of separator tabs 
42 and 46 generally disposed in the center of the side panels are then 
folded inwardly of the housing at fold lines 40 and 43. 
A pair of reels 85 and 87, one having a recording tape 75 wound thereon, 
are then inserted into the space between the side panels 11 and 12 so that 
the reels are juxtaposed with the separator tabs 42 and 46 therebetween. 
The free end of the recording tape is then threaded through the slots in 
the connecting end panel so that the tape 75 rides against the folds 47 
and 50 and associated tabs, and the external surface of the connecting end 
panel. To prevent drag along those surfaces as the tape is transferred 
from one reel to the other in rewind of the cassette, the entire external 
surface of the connecting end panel is coated with a low friction varnish 
or Teflon (DuPont Company trademark) tape, preferably before actual 
development of the housing is commenced. This procedure provides that 
surface with a lower coefficient of friction tha the other exposed 
surfaces of the housing. 
After passage of the free end of the tape through the two slots in the 
connecting end panel, it is fastened to the hub of the empty reel 85. It 
will be apparent then, that upon rotation of the empty reel during play of 
the cassette, the tape will be wound thereon as it unwinds from the other 
reel 87. 
Next, the free ends of the side panels are fully bent along fold lines 17 
and 18 parallel to the two fold lines 13 and 14, to form strips 90 and 91 
which will abut one another to form a second end panel 95 opposite the 
connecting end panel. The two strips may be bonded together by use of a 
self sealing adhesive which is applied to the abutting surfaces thereof 
after the development paperboard is stamped out, or by gluing at the time 
they are to be joined, or by use of an adhesive tape after they are 
brought together. By closing this second end panel 95, reels 85 and 87 are 
now partially secured in their respective enclosures within the housing. 
The pair of tabs at either end of strip 91 are then folded inwardly along 
fold lines 15 and 16 and inserted normal to the second end panel. Then the 
third and fourth end panels 93 and 94 of the housing are formed by bending 
opposite ends of each of the side panels 11 and 12 inwardly along fold 
lines 15 and 16 on each side panel, after each of the rigidizing tabs has 
been tucked in at the corners of the structure. The respective pairs of 
abutting strips 82, 83, and 84, 86 that form those end panels may now be 
fastened together in the same manner as was described above for the second 
end panel. This completes the six-sided housing enclosing the pair of 
reels 85 and 87, to form the video cassette. 
The triangular tabs 60, 61 and 64, 65 provided in side panel 11 are then 
bent inwardly of the housing along fold lines 33 and 34, to retain the 
reels in place against lateral shifting while allowing them freedom to 
rotate within the housing. The rectangular tabs 42 and 46 formed along 
fold lines 40 and 43 abut against one another in the housing and serve as 
retaining tabs to separate the reels to prevent them from binding against 
each other during rotation. One of these retaining tabs 42 forms a hole 70 
(FIG. 3) in the housing along a transparent flange of a reel, to permit 
viewing the extent of tape remaining on that reel. 
The circular cutouts 26 and 27 in side panel 12 forming the base of the 
housing are slightly larger than the internal slotted surface of the hole 
in the hubs 99 and 100 of reels 87 and 85 (FIG. 4). Hence, when the reels 
are mounted within the housing, the drive mechanism of the reels 
constituted by the slotted holes is exposed for mounting on the mating 
drive mechanism of the VCR when the video cassette is loaded into a VCR. 
The reels may be further secured in the housing by application of a 
low-tack adhesive to the internal surface of a side panel against which 
they rest, to prevent movement thereof during storage, handling and 
insertion. Such adhesive should be of sufficiently low adherence so that 
the reels are easily lifted by the VCR mechanism. Although not shown, the 
adhesive can alternately be placed on one or both reels. During mailing or 
shipping of the cassette a reel lock 101 as seen in FIG. 5 is used to 
maintain the reels 85 and 87 in a fixed position. The reel lock 101 
comprises a longitudinal planar section 102 having a length equal to the 
spacing of the reels 85 and 87 and a pair of downwardly depending tabs 
103, 104 adapted to fit within opposing slots in hubs 99 and 100 
respectively. 
The preferred use of a video cassette according to the present invention is 
for advertising or preview showings for distribution to demographically 
determined groups of prospective viewers. 0f course, this is not intended 
as a limitation, but for such purposes the cassette would be prerecorded 
for playback only. For other purposes, it would be desirable to allow 
recording as well as playback of the cassette. 
From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention 
provides a video cassette, and in particular a housing for a video 
cassette, which is sufficiently economical in both materials and 
fabrication process to render the entire video cassette disposable after a 
single playback of a video recording thereon. 
Although a presently preferred embodiment and process of the invention have 
been disclosed herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to 
which the present invention pertains that variations and modifications of 
the described illustrative embodiment and process may be made without 
departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. For example, 
the principles of the invention may be applied to record cassettes other 
than video cassettes. It is therefore intended that the invention shall be 
limited only by the appended claims and the rules and principles of 
applicable law.